Little Hearts (or maybe Big Hearts)

Coming from Chennai, India any cold is COLD for me. Moving to US, I have been forced to face the harsh winters (and huge utility bills thanks to the heaters). Snow is nice as long as it is fresh. After a day, it would become hard ice. So venturing out of the house is quite an adventure by itself. With two layers of clothes, thick jacket, cap, ear muff, scarf, snow boots and gloves you are sure to feel that you have now been trained to become an Eskimo. Maybe now you can tell your company that you are ready to be deployed in a project in Iceland. 

But I should say winters sure increase the family time because you cannot venture out  as easily as in summer time. Huddled close with your loved ones, Sound of Music movie, hot chocolate and warm cookies to munch on...what more could someone want.  I made Palimers. But I know them as Little Hearts (from India). It was quite easy to make with the Ina Garten's recipe. Here is my version:

Ingredients

Puff Pastry Sheet - 1

Sugar - 1 cup

Salt - 1 tsp

Cooking Spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450' F. Combine the sugar and salt. Pour 1/2 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on a flat surface . Unfold the sheet of puff pastry (I defrosted it by placing the un-folded sheet in the microwave for a  minute) onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. With a rolling pin roll the dough until it is13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the pastry towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Roll from the sides towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices on the cut side up on the parchment paper over the baking  sheets (I used cooking spray on top of the parchment paper). Sprinkle sugar on top of the slices. 

Bake the cookies for 6-7 minutes until caramelized and brown on the bottom. Turn it to the other side and bake for another 4-5 minutes until caramelized. Transfer to rack and allow to cool.

Palmiers are ready and yummy!

Zucchini Cutlet

It has been a month since my last post. I have been traveling around US visiting Washington, Denver, Portland and Chicago. So the month of May has been full of packing, unpacking, cooking and packing food for N. I tried this zucchini cutlet the previous month and it has been lying in my drafts for a long time. I love this recipe since it is easy, fat free and stomach filling at the same time. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Zucchini  - 1 (grated)
Onion - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)
Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tsp (optional)
Green Chilli - 1 or 2 (finely chopped)
Bread Crumbs - 1/2 - 1 cup (for rolling)
Flour - 1-2 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1-2 tbsp

Preparation

Grate the zucchini and slightly squeeze to get the water out. Keep the zucchini water aside. Add onion, green chili, ginger-garlic paste and salt and mix well. Roll the mixture into small balls. Add flour to the zucchini water and mix well. Flatten the balls, dip in zucchini flour mixture and roll over bread crumbs. Heat non stick pan. Drizzle a table spoon of oil. Place the patties on pan. When the bottom is browned, flip it to the other side and cook. Serve with ketchup.

Zucchini cutlet is ready and yummy!!!

Bread Upma

There are always days when you find that there are food items left over from the previous week that you just don't feel like eating, but you also don't have the heart to throw them. I always seem to have couple of bread slices like that. That is when I got the idea of making Bread Upma. The recipe is simple and gets done within a couple of minutes.

Ingredients

Bread Slices - 6-7

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp (for tossing)

Onion - 1 medium sized

Tomato - 1

Ginger - 1/2 tsp chopped

Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Oil

Curry Leaves and Coriander - For Garnish

Preparation

Toast the bread slices in a toaster or tava till they are crispy. Cut into small pieces and toss it with salt and chilli powder. Keep aside. In a hot pan, add oil. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds finish popping, add onion and fry till slight brown. Add tomato and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add chilli powder and fry for 2 minutes. Add salt as per taste. Add bread pieces and toss for 1-2 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves and coriander.

Bread Upma is ready and yummy!!! 

P.S: Tomato ketchup is a good accompaniment for this dish.

This goes to CoL - Leftover Delicacies 

~ Ramya

Cabbage Khaman Dhokla

First of all I would like to wish all my readers a very happy and prosperous new year. I had wanted to write a post of 1st Jan itself but then in my house new year is also celebrated like a festival. Oil bath, new dress and visit to temple is how we start the day. This new year we had a horde of relatives and it was quite a busy day for me. I decided to make dhokla as an evening tiffin. I used Gits - Khaman Dhokla mix but with a twist. Here we go with the recipe:

Ingredients

Gits Khaman Dhokla Mix - 1 small pkt
Cabbage (ground into paste) - 4 tbsp

Group 2

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Sesame Seeds - 1 tsp
Green Chillies - 2
Oil

Group 3

Coconut
Chopped Corriander

Preparation

Make the Dhokla batter as specified in the Gits Dhokla Mix. Add the cabbage paste and mix well. As per taste you can change the quantity of the paste. Transfer the batter to a greased vessel and steam for 10-12 minutes.

For tempering heat oil and add group 2 ingredients one by one. Add a tsp of water. Transfer this over the steamed dhoklas. Garnish with Group 3 ingredients.

Cabbage Dhokla is ready and yummy!!!

~ Ramya

Scones using Microwave

A few days back I was searching the internet for interesting microwave recipes. I came across the recipe for making scones which I felt was really a quick snack to make. The original recipe is here. I modified it to suit my taste and here is my version of the recipe:

Ingredients

Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Salted Butter (cold) - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Almonds (crushed) - 1/4 cup
Milk - 5 tbsp
Baking Powder - 3 tsp

Preparation

Mix together the flour and baking powder. Rub the butter till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the crushed almonds and sugar (I used white sugar). Add milk and make it to a soft dough using a fork. Do not knead the dough. Sprinkle flour place the dough on the sprinkled surface. Shape into a 1 inch thick square. Cut into squares, place it on a paper towel in the microwave. Cook at High or Full Power for 2 minutes or till a knife comes out clean when inserted. Allow a standing time of 3 minutes. Serve warm with cream or jam.

Note: The microwave minutes may vary. While Aparna of Mydiversekitchen had kept it for 3 minutes, mine were done in 2 minutes itself.

Scones are ready and Yummy!!!

This recipe is going to Vandana’s Baking for Beginners

Ribbon Pakoda

I had been doing lot of sweet snacks. Nirmal suddenly had the craving for Ribbon Pakoda. This was the first time that I was doing ribbon pakoda and it came out well. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Besan Flour (Chickpea Flour) - 3/4 cup
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Salt - as per taste
Oil - For deep frying

Preparation

Mix all the flours, asafoetida, chilli powder, ginger garlic paste and salt. Add water and make a soft dough. Heat oil for deep frying. Put the dough into murukku press and squeeze into hot oil into a big circle. Deep fry till golden brown. Leave to drain on a paper napkin.

Ribbon Pakoda is ready and Yummy!!!

Papad Paratha & Pudina Dal

I was getting bored of making the same chappathi for Nirmal (my husband) everyday. I had read about Papad Paratha a couple of years back in some magazine. I don't remember which magazine I had read it in. So I would give credit to 'Whomsoever it may concern'. With whatever I could remember of the recipe that I read I decided to try it and the result was good. So here we go with the recipe

Papad Paratha

Ingredients (For making 5 parathas)

Papad (Any variety) - 2
Onion - 1 finely chopped
Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Green Chillies - 2 finely chopped
Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Sugar - 1/4 tsp

For the Paratha Dough

Wheat Flour - 1.5 cups
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/4 tsp (I use sugar for the paratha to be soft and fluffy)
Water 3/4 cup

Preparation


Stuffing

I used Lijjad's masala papad. Microwave the papads for 1 minute. Crush the papads into really small pieces. Add all the other ingredients to the crushed papads.

Paratha

Prepare the dough by mixing all the dough ingredients together. In case the dough is sticky add some more wheat flour. Make small balls out of the dough. Using a rolling pin flatten the dough. Place a spoon of the stuffing and close the flattened dough from all sides. Once again use a rolling pin and flatten the stuffed dough.

In a tava put the flattened dough. Cook it on both sides. Add 2-3 drops of ghee to add to the taste.

Papad Paratha is ready and Yummy!!!


Pudina Dhal

Ingredients

Group 1

Moong Dal - 2 handfuls
Red Gram Dal - 1 handful
Onion - 1 (sliced)
Tomato - 1 (cut finely)
Asafoetida - a pinch
Turmeric Powder - a pinch
Ginger - 1/2 tsp (chopped finely)
Garlic - 2 pods (optional)
Green chillies - 2

Group 2

Pudina - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 2

Group 3

Salt - as per taste
Mustard Seed - 1 tsp
Coriander Leaves - For garnishing


Preparation

Pressure cook all the Group 1 ingredients together for 3 whistles. Once this is done, mash the mixture. (This will ensure that no ingredient stands out separately).

Saute the Group 2 ingredients together for 2-3 minutes. Blend the Group 2 ingredients after sauteing.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves to the oil. Add the mashed mixture. Add the blended Group 2 ingredients to the mixture. Add salt and allow it to boil for another 2 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Pudina dal is ready and Yummy!!!


Note: In the picture I have also made yellow dal. Before adding the group2 ingredients, I just took some of it and kept it separately. It looked like I had made separate dishes.

Microwave Dhokla

Ingredients

Gram Flour (Besan) - 1 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1 pinch
Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)
Soda bi-carb - 1 pinch
Lemon Juice - 2 tsp
Water - 1 cup
Mustard Seed - 1 tsp
Green Chillies (slit along the longer side) - 4-5
Water - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1 tbsp

Preparation

Mix besan, water (1 cup), 1 tsp oil, turmeric powder, salt, sugar, chilli paste, ginger paste to a smooth batter. (Use the food processor or mixie. It is easier) Add soda bi-carb to the batter and pour lemon juice and beat well for a few seconds. Pour this mixture to a greased (with oil) flat dish. Microwave for 6 minutes.

To temper, microwave oil, green chillies, mustard seeds, water (3/4 cup) for around 4 minutes. Pour over the dhokla and wait for 1/2 hour for the dhokla to absorb it and become soft. Cut into 1" pieces (I used an ice cream scooper) and sprinkle chopped coriander.

Dhokla is ready and Yummy!!!