Whole wheat almond and lemon cookies

I have always been hesitant to try lemon cookies wondering how it will taste. But last week one of my good neighbours gave me nice plump and juicy home grown lemons. Since when I received it I have been thinking of trying some bakes with that. Though I thought of  baking a lemon cake I ended up baking cookies with it. Nevertheless it was yum .. Honestly I am salivating while writing this thinking about that lemony taste it leaves over your palate once you eat these cookies ;)

So following is the recipe

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup 

Ground almonds- 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup (powdered)

Lemon juice - one large or 2 med sized ones

Baking powder - a pinch

Milk - few tspns

Method

As any other recipe of mine throw in all the ingredients  into  big bowl and gently bring it together to form a soft dough . Use milk only to bring the ingredients together. Let the dough rest for a while , about 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees cCelsius

Make small balls of the dough, flatten it and place it on a greased baking tray and press slightly with a wet fork

Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.

Place the tray in the oven( I usually place the tray in the top rack of the oven) and bake for about 15- 17 mins until you get a nice aroma and sides of the cookies are slightly brown.

Remove the tray and gently remove the cookies and place it on a wire rack. Let it cool and take a bite.

Store the rest of the cookies in an airtight jar.

Bake and enjoy

thanks!

Whole wheat almond cookies

Cookies are one of my favourite bakes ever for various reasons..easy to bake, can use simple and healthy ingredients and above all kids love to eat it anytime 







I have  experimented and baked a lot of cookies in the past with various ingredients and almond cookies has been a favourite cookies forever. I added the chocolate flavour for the extra oomph for the product ;)

Ingredients 
Whole wheat flour - one cup
Butter - half cup
Sugar - half cup
Almond powder - half cup
Cocoa powder - 3tspn
Milk - 1/4 cup
Slivered almonds - 1/3 cu p

Method
Throw in all the ingredients in a big mixing bowl and mix it tenderly into a soft dough.
Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven at 150 degrees Celsius.
Make small balls from the dough , flatten it and roll it in the almond flakes.
Place it on a greased baking tray and bake for 15-17 mins until the almind flakes turn golden colour.
Remove the cookies from the rack and let it cool on a wire rack
One cooled store in an airtight jar or just munch on :)
Happy baking !


I dint use and baking powder or baking soda in the recipe, the cookies came out good.

Whole wheat cheese straws

The following is an incredibly easy recipe of cheese straws which can be made easily, I used whole wheat flour and some grated carrots to make it more healthier. I am in love with recipes which doesn't seek help of any baking agent and this is one among it, so all the more happy :)

Recently bought Vikas Khanna's cook book and loved this recipe .. made few alterations using whole wheat flour and making it veg. The original recipe called for shredded chicken .. so you can actually use that!

Ok so following is the recipe.

200 gms whole wheat flour

125 gms butter

50 gms cheddar cheese

50 gms parmesan cheese

one whole egg and one egg yolk

one med sized carrot finely grated

chopped coriander - 2 tbspn

salt and pepper and any other seasoning you wish ( like paprika or herbs)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Sift the flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt.

Add the butter and rub in until it looks fine like bread crumbs.

Stir in the cheese, beat the egg and egg yolk and stir in the seasoning too.

Mix to a dough.

Take small balls from the dough and roll into thin straws and lay on a greased baking tray ( I don't use any parchment or foil to line the tray)

Bake for 15- 20 mins. Cool for 5 mins and then transfer to a cooling rack.

And is done .. just munch on! :)

Whole wheat Dulce de leche cake

I am a big fan of caramel and since when I saw the method of making dulce de luche by pressure cooking condensed milk tin I have been making it occasionally though since it is very addictive. Also have been reading lots of recipes which uses DDL. This time I thought of trying a cake of Rachel Allen, one of my favourite baker :) 

So this cake is all about including DDL in the batter, I used whole wheat flour instead of white flour and the cake had a very distinct flavour of the DDL. Cake is equally loved by both kids and adults :)

Its as easy as any other cake recipe 

 

Ingredients

Butter - 175 gms

Light brown sugar  ( powdered) - 100 gms 

Vanilla extract - 1 tspn

Dulce de luche - 200 gms

Eggs - 2 no.s

Whole wheat flour - 1 1/3 cup

Baking powder - 1.5 tspn

Ground almonds - 100 gms

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Cream the butter until soft in a large bowl

Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and dulce de luche and beat the mixture for a good few minutes until the mixture is smooth and light.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl for a few seconds and add to the creamed butter mixture beating all the time. Tip in the ground almonds, then sift the flour, and baking powder gently and fold until combined.

Pour the batter in a baking tin and bake for about 30 - 40 mins or until the skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tins for about 10 minutes , loosen the edges and carefully remove the cake on a wire rack to cool down completely.

Making dulce de luche ( dulce de luche is boiled condensed milk) 

Boil unopened tins of condensed milk for 2 hours  and let the tins cool completely.

Alternatively you can pressure cook the tin in low flame for about 20 - 25 mins with pressure. Open the tin only when its cooled completely.

Bake and enjoy!!

Review about the Mast Kalandar's Special Navratri Traditional Thalis - CMH Road, Indiranagar, Bangalore

It was one of those say when me and my friends visited a branch of the much renowned  and popular restaurant chain , Mast Kalandar.

We were welcomed wholeheartedly and Chef Samta Gupta generously talked about the use of Senda namak ( rock salt ), the way it absorbs the impurities from our body and are specially and compulsorily used during the vrath . She also mentioned that it absorbs the impurities from the surrounding if it’s kept out in a bowl. Wow !!!I was impressed about that little but golden piece of info and happy that I have been using this salt all through my cooking for the past couple of months.

Another important ingredient is kuttu flour ( buckwheat flour) which is popular globally these days and people end up making anything and everything including pancakes.

Anyway to say more about the event, we had couple of cooking demo about few dishes cooked during vrath and they generously passed on the recipes too. Not to forget to mention I am going to try the makhana kheer which is really mouth-watering. The sweet tooth in me couldn't wait to try the delicacy at the event :) . I am sure to try once or more in my kitchen too.

They had a spread of the utsav  thali and the vrath thali both  of it was looking fabulous . The people being so generous, we could taste all the dishes we wished for and undoubtedly all tasted yum!  The vrath thali too tasted good even after having so many restricted ingredients.

They look very promising about the sourcing of their ingredients from the right places too , so why not try it this navarathri :) 

I would really recommend trying their spread during the navarathra days.

Ustav thali ( Rs 229)

Vrath thali ( RS 229)

The thali lookswholesome, healthy and tasty and the upvas thali really stick to the norms of restricted  ingredients during the fasting days.

  

Try out ! 
Happy Durga pooja and Navarathri !!

Thankyou!

Mozzarella cheese, garlic and green chilli stuffed bread loaf recipe

Another easy recipe of stuffed bread. I stuffed  coarsely chopped mozzarella cheese , green chillis and garlic. Bread making is very easy if you get the rising of the yeast right as I have said in many bread baking posts.

 

For this bread you need

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups

Refined flour - 1 cup

Warm water - 1 cup

Yeast - 2 tspn

Salt - 1 tspn

Sugar - 2 tspn

Butter - 2 tspn

Mozzarella cheese - 100 gms

Green chillis - 2 med sized

garlic - 3-4 cloves

Method

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in warm water and let it rise for some 10-15 mins or until it froths up.

Sieve the flour and salt into the yeast water mixture and knead . Add the butter and knead again. Let it rise in a huge bowl for 1- 2 hours or until the dough rises up.

Meantime make a mixture of the cheese, garlic and chillis .

Divide the dough into two portions and then spread out one portion in a floured surface. Spread out the dough and spread half of the stuffing mixture and roll the dough into a cylinder. Repeat the same for the second part of dough.

Place two loaves in a greased square tin of the size of the loaf and let rise for another 10-20 mins

Meanwhile preheat the oven at 200 degrees 

Once the oven is hot place the tray in the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until you see the crust turning brown. Slowly pull out the tray and tap. If you hear a hollow sound the bread is baked right.

Remove the tray and remove the loaves from the pan and place in a wire rack.

Once cooled a bit slice the loaf.

Tips

The temperature of the water is crucial, so warm the water for one min the in microwave at power high mode.

To knead the dough if you have kneading hooks please feel free to use it to bring the dough together  and just do the final kneading with hand if you prefer.

Trust me bread baking is very easy and once youget used to it you can avoid purchasing commerical bread and make your own variations with various flours too.

Easy bread making .. right.. bake and enjoy baking!!! :)

Thanks!

Homemade ketchup - easy recipe

This is something which have been in my mind for a really long time and just got postponed and as they say every thin has a time I just happened to make this today. But no, I like to believe I really wanted to make it today and hence made. 

Ketchup is a product which is sometimes inevitable in a household, its a taste enhancer for kids and adults equally! And trust me its really easy to make and when we do it we can make our own combinations too.. Today I have made a simple one by keeping the taste buds of my kids in mind. Since there is no preservatives I doubt it will stay good for more than 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

I asked my son to taste the sauce, he came and smelled it and his eyes gleamed and I kept telling myselves it has come out right. He tasted it and confirmed it .. Happy meeee :)

Ingredients 

Olive oil - 2 tspns

Garlic cloves - 2-3 , chopped

Onion - half

Tomatoes - 1/2 kg ( coarsely chopped)

Good quality vinegar - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1 tspn

Ground black pepper - 1/2 tspn

1/4 cup - brown sugar

Method

Heat the olive oil in a wide heavy-bottomed non-reactive pan over medium heat. 

Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute, stirring constantly. 

Add the tomatoes, vinegar, salt, black pepper, and cook until the tomato pieces fall apart, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and blend.

I used a hand blender to puree the contents in the pan or blend in a mixer in batches  and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Stir in the brown sugar return the mixture to the stove and cook again over medium heat, stirring often, until it thickens a bit more, between 15 and 30 additional minutes .Taste for seasoning.

Let the ketchup cool to room temperature, where it will thicken a bit more, then transfer it to jars with tight-fitting lids. Will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. 

Tips : adjust the seasoning to your taste. You may add pepper, oregano, ginger, or any other seasoning of your choice. Add red chillie powder or saute chillies along the tomatoes and puree it if you want it hot.

Enjoy home made ketchup!

Thanks :)

Whole wheat chocolate and copra (dried coconut) cookies recipe

Had couple of dried coconuts( copra) in stock. Thought of trying out cookies, yea that's the easiest I can think of with any ingredient  and I am sure its not surprising for you either :D

I used liquid jaggery instead of sugar and also used whole wheat so yea , I can claim it to be comparatively healthy. 

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour - 1.5 cups

Powdered copra( dried coconut) - 1 cup

Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup

Thick jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup

Cocoa powder - 2-3 tspns

Choco chips ( optional)

Hazelnuts ( optional - 1/4 cup

Egg - one ( I use country egg)

Baking powder - 1/4 tspn

Method
Throw in all the ingredients in a huge bowl and bring it together gently and knead it with fingers to a soft dough. If you feel the dough is not coming together please add few spoons of milk and make the dough softer.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
Scoop out small portions of dough , make a ball and place it on the greased baking tray.
Place the tray in the top rack of the oven and bake for about 15- 17 mins on until the bottom of the cookie turns brown and not dark /burnt.

Remove the cookie carefully from the tray using a spatula and place it on a wire rack and let it cool.
Once cooled store in an airtight container.

Bake and enjoy!
Thanks!!! :)

Easy amaranthus leaves with peanuts recipe

This is another easy recipe which I make quite often . Dhant leaves which is easily available around is rich in calcium and iron and is very good for growing up children and of course adults too. I combine these leaves with roasted peanuts so that it gives the protein too. Another advantage of adding peanuts is that it makes the dish stay dry and not soggy since the peanuts absorbs the moisture from the leaves. 

Clean the leaves well in water, rinse and let it dry under the fan for 1-2 hours so that the water is removed from the leaves as much as possible so that you get a nice fresh looking dish.

Ingredients

Finely chopped leaves of amaranthus - 3-4 cups

Peanuts - 1/3 cup

Garlic - 7-8 cloves

Turmeric powder  - 1/2 tspn

Salt - as required

Oil - 1 tspn

For seasoning 

Rice

Dried red chillies

Oil - 2 tspns

Method

Heat the wok/ kadai and add the oil. 

Throw in the finely chopped leaves, garlic, peanuts and stir well.

Add the turmeric powder and salt.

Close the lid for few minutes and let it cook.

To season add oil in a small pan and when the oil is med hot add the rice and chillies. Once it splutters well add it to the dish and mix well just before you serve

Tip :It will b good if we do the seasoning just before serving the dish else the rice can turn soggy

You may also add green chillies or red chilli powder to the dish if you prefer it spicy

Easy to cook and enjoy :) 

Thanks!!

Easy Broccoli and egg burji recipe

I should confess this is kind of a cheat recipe :D

Me and my husband loves sauteed/ stir fried brocooli but our kids doesn't accept that way, so usually I make parathas which they happily eat and another one is burji. Tho' my kids knows it has broccoli they accept and enjoy this way. Its a very simple dish to make with min ingredients. The recipe follows!

Ingredients 

Finely chopped broccoli - 1/2 cup 

Eggs ( I use country eggs) - 2 

Finely chopped onion ( optional)

Finely chopped garlic- 2 tspn

Salt and pepper - as required

For seasoning a pinch of oregano and chilli flakes

Olive oil - 2 tbspn

Method

Heat the kadai /wok and add the olive oil and throw in the finely chopped garlic and broccoli, onion too if you are using it . Once it is semi cooked move the contents to the side of the wok and break the eggs in the middle and scramble it quickly . Mix it with the rest of the contents in the wok and bring it together.

Add the seasoning and mix well again. Switch off flame and serve hot!

I do a pre cleaning of the broccoli florets by immersing in hot water with a pinch of turmeric powder and salt. Drain , rinse and strain and use for cooking.

Easy broccoli and egg burji recipe right :)

Rice bran and hazelnut cookies sweetened with jaggery

Rice bran and hazelnut cookies sweetened with jaggery

(Something which is easy to bake, tasty and healthy as well) 


As i have said many times in the past I just love baking cookies because its very easy to assemble and bake and also there are lot of options which we can explore. So this time I boldly tried baking cookies with rice bran just to see what could be the result. And thankfully it was accepted my family. I can proudly share the recipe with you all.

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Rice bran - 1/2 cup
Hazelnuts - 1/2 cup ( crushed)
Thick jaggery syrup - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/3 tspn
Egg - one ( I use country egg )
Choco chips ( optional)

Method 

Throw in all the ingredients in a huge bowl and gently bring in together . I dint use any milk in this recipe since the ingredients came together when I mixed. You may add more jaggery syrup or few spoons of milk if you find it difficult to make the soft dough.
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius
One the soft dough is formed, scoop spoonful of dough, roll and flatten slightly and place in the greased baking tray.
Keep the tray in the top rack of the oven and bake for about 15-18 minutes until you see the bottom of the cookies have turned dark brown.
Remove the tray from the oven and gently remove each cookie and place in the wire rack to cool.
Once cool the cookies becomes crisp , store in a air tight container .

As i said isnt it easy to bake these cookies ! Bake and enjoy!! :)

Thanks!

Khara Pera - Easy no cook milk pedas

Something which is very easy to make and undoubtedly tasty and sweet :) 

Most of you must be already knowing this recipe but I was delighted to discover it today , better late than never I say :) 

This book has been one of my recent purchases and is soaking in the this book forever since then. Since I have the ingredients required I just gave it a try. The results were good and took hardly 15 mins to put it together and get it ready.

The recipe is as follows

Butter ( unsalted) - 1/2 cup at room temperature

Sugar - 2/3 cup

Dry milk powder - 1 3/4 cups

Milk - 1 tspn as necessary

few drops of esence or nuts ( optional)

Method

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light a fluffy. Using your hands work in the milk powder and milk to make a medium soft dough. Flavour with essence, nuts if desired.

Wash and dry your hands and then take small portions of the dough and roll out smooth and flatten.

Store in the refrigerator well sealed and will stay goo upto 4 days.

Isnt it an easy recipe? I was delighted to make it ..hopefully so do you :)

Thanks !

My black beauties - Tips and tricks to handle and season cast iron utensils

My black beauties

This post is not about any dish or recipe but about something more precious than that, yes asyou guessed its about my cooking utensils. I have always been inclined to the traditional vessels which has been used by our mothers and grandmothers. When I got married and started ruling my own kitchen I started working on my love for cooking and the lifeless utensils too :) ( Oh I love them a lot)

The story takes me back to that time when I went to my native place for the delivery of my first child. Whenever my husband comes to visit me I observed he has no luggage to carry,, :P that's when I thought of  packing his bag with one utensil each time he return. Yes, now I realise I was so intelligent to do that then.. ha ha.. because as many of you now once the baby comes you cant think of carrying anything much extra.

Anyway all the tough job starts when you want to season the utensils.

Among the above collection except for the big kadai which my mom gave the rest of it was bought and seasoned by me. Among that the big dosa tava was the first among the lot.

Few pointers to season the pan

1. You can smear oil well inside out of the pan leave it for some time before you start using it.
2. Use sesame oil to rub the pan when you want to cook in it
3. Also use a half onion to rub the pan with oil.

These rules applies for the dosa tava and the appam chatti strictly.
I have used the above two methods for quite a long time .

Few other tips are
Rub the pan with little salt
If you use eggs, break an egg before start making dosas.
the above two are what I have heard dint use these tips much.

You have to be really persistent and patient enough to stick on to these rules to get your tava seasoned. By no means you should take out your nonstick tava :) Hope you get me ;)

When you using kadais it is  easier .. please don't think that you have to use a ladle full of oil. Trust me you don't have to .. Initially use the kadai to season and then add the vegs/ other ingredients and cook those dishes which need water in the second stage of cooking.

Warning : the dish will trun a little dark due to the iron content.

So you need to empty the dish as soon as you finish cooking and not leave the food in the vessel.
Once you keep doing this one day you will realise the food doesn't turn dark anymore ..may be then you can leave thefood in the kadai if you choose that way.

If you think why so much of hard work when you get stuffs of a non stick tava or kadai in a breeze.

These are few of my reasons
Research have showed that
Nonstick tava/pan emits toxins when heated after a certain point, it is hazardous to the person who inhales it.
Nonstick tava/pan has a coating which is not healthy as well.

Even if you ignore the above two points the most interesting factor for me in the taste .. Yes trust me .. the dosas made in the iron tava is much tastier than the one made in non stick . The texture is also very different from the one made in nonstick ins what I feel. And if you think I use a lot of oil, absolutely no .. Just one drop of oil is enough for one dosa.

Few other tips and tricks 
If you have observed how they make dosas in the restaurants .. they sprinkle water and adjust the temperature of the tava.. I do the same thing. My family is now used to the 'hus bus' I create when I make dosa.. I put the oil and then sprinkle the water and then pour the batter and spread it think or thick whichever way I want.

Maintenance of cast iron utensils

Please for God sake don't scrub the pans and remove each molecule of oil in it.. Once you finish cooking just wash it with a little of dish washer liquid and scrub lightly. You never have to keep it squeaky clean. that little bit of oil helps the vessels not getting rusted and eventually it gets seasoned better.

Sourcing of utensils

And before I finish my unusually long post I will write some pointers about the sourcing of such utensils

• Get into the local markets of your area. Please don't visit malls , they might have it but may be 5x the price of it.
• I have also seen in some supermarkets where again its priced very steep.
• Instead whenever you visit any villages or smaller cities take a walk into their local city markets.
• Even if you are in bigger cities you will certainly find it you do a small research about the local markets of that place.
• And then some online sites abroad also provides cast iron pans which are already seasoned .. So just look around if you adamant and persistent enough to find it you will definitely find it :) I know optimism works !! 

So folks get on to  hunting, shopping, seasoning and cooking yummy authentic dishes !!

Please get back for any queries and doubts 

Thank you :)

Whole wheat double chocolate chip cookies

A cookie which is  made a little less sinful by using whole wheat flour :)

Been long  I have baked something rich with a lot of cocoa and chocolate, but have baked this cookies a couple of times and really loved the recipe and the cookies are really yum

I love baking cookies as the method is very simple and you see the result also very soon :) and ofcourse there is numerous variations you can do with these cute little ones.

Ingredients

Whole wheat Flour - 1.5 cups
Cocoa - 1/3 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup ( powdered)

Butter - half cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tspn

Baking soda - 1/2 tspn

Egg - one 

Chocolate chips / bits - 125 gms

Vanilla essence - few drops

Milk - 1/3 - 1/2 cup

Method 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Throw in all the ingredients except milk and chocolate chips in a large bowl and mix gently with the fingers, once all the ingredients comes together if you feel the dough is not soft enough  add milk using a spoon and gently mix again. Add more milk if required. Gently add the chocolate chips and incorporate in the dough. Once the soft dough is formed scoop out spoonful of dough and place it on a greased baking tray and bake for about 15- 17 mins until you see the cookies puffed up and of course you get a nice aroma of the chocolate, butter and vanilla ..reminds me to write something .. when my kids walked in after school my daughter said  .. chocolate as it was told in the movie  'Frozen' :) . So I hope you get the hint :)

And yea back to the recipe, remove the cookies from the tray to the wore rack and let it to cool. Store it in an airtight container and enjoy eating it too :)

Original recipe source is here , made few alterations of using wheat flour and addition of milk :) 

Bake and enjoy :)

Whole green gram and oats dosa recipe

Whole green gram and oats dosa recipe : Something quick, easy and healthy !

As I have mentioned in many of my previous posts I mostly miss to soak rice or pulses for the traditional dosas and idlis in the south Indian kitchen , another reason being my little girl has an aversion towards urad dal except when its made to vadas.. tricky I know! .. But dare any mother challenge little kids with any breakfast thing which is not of their taste or choice early in the morning. No , don't worry not junk or cereals either.. I just can never bring myselves feeding cereals for breakfast for growing up kids so far!
Having said about it , I just soaked some green gram and went to sleep at night. Morning put together moong with oats and made some crispy dosas , mom and kids both happy :)

Ingredients
Whole moong dal - 1/2 cup
Oats - 1 cup
Salt - as required
Water - sufficient 

Method
Soak the whole moong overnight and grind in the morning along with one cup of oats.
Add water to bring the batter to the required consistency.
Keep the tava on flame and heat it.
Sprinkle water if the tava happens to be too hot and then smear the tawa with sesame oil and make dosas as usual. You can really spread thin dosas with this batter.
Enjoy with coconut chutney, tomato chutney or podi.

I usually make dosas in the traditional cast iron tava, the more you use it the more it get seasoned. I have been using it for years for the reason that I detest using nonstick vessels. We just need few drops of oil and the dosas comes out tadty and crispy in this tava.

I made a simply chutney griding coconut, onions and green chilies toegther seasoning with a poinch of salt., simple and goes well with this dosa.

Enjoy :)


PLEASE NOTE : This batter needs no fermentation. 

Sev

Came across the recipe of sev recently and since my daughter loves savories, thought of giving it a try too. I made few alterations in the recipe, the main changes made was in the measurement of the flour.The flour measurement in the original recipe resulted in a loose dough .

Ingredients
Heat oil for deep frying.
Fill the mould with enough dough and press out directly into oil .
Deep fry on medium heat till crisp and golden yellow.
Note : making this a bit messy affair since the bengal gram flour is very sticky, so be very careful while filling the mould and placing the blade. 

Hence the altered recipe is as follows :)

4-6 cups of bengal gram flour

2 - 2.5 tsp salt

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp asafoetida

1 cup water

oil for deep frying

1/2 cup butter or1/4 cup oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds and pepper powder

Method

Mix well salt, asafoetida and butter in water until they dissolve ( you may also heat it a bit and let t cool).

Add all the remaining ingredients and prepare the dough

Profiteroles

Cream puffs or profiteroles or chocolate eclairs looks similar or very close to me , kids and adults love it equally too. The best part about the recipes for these is its very easy to make and there are no baking agents added to these.
Now let me get on to the recipe.
We need to make choux paste for making all the above

Recipe for choux paste
Measure 
    1 cup flour and keep aside

Combine
     1 cup milk
     1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
     1 tbspn sugar
     1/2 tspn salt

Method    
Bring the mixture ( milk, butter, sugar, salt)  to a full boil over med heat. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. The mixture will look rough at first but it will suddenly be smooth, at which point you should stir it faster.

In a few minutes the paste will become dry and not cling to the spoon or the sides of the pan.

Do not over cook or over stir at this point.

Transfer to a bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add four eggs one at a time and with a wooden spoon beating rigorously after each addition or on low speed with a mixer.
Make sure that the paste is smooth each time before adding the next egg.

Scoop the paste into a pastry bag fitted a 1/2 inch clean tip. Shape the paste into  profiteroles on a ungreased baking sheet. I placed cupcake liners in  cupcake moulds and scooped into it. 

Bake at 200 degrees for 10 minutes and then for another 10- 15 minutes or until the top turns brown  at 180 degrees.
To serve slice the profiteroles into half, fill with whipped cream and top it with melted chocolate.

Very easy to make and serve :) .. Enjoy!!


NOTE: I used whole wheat flour instead of refined flour
Recipe courtesy : Joy of cooking

Carrot and hazelnut milk shake

One of those days when I dint have any fruits or any other things which I usually give for kids during their snacks time.. I checked my fridge to find carrots and then thought of making a milk shake. For a twist I added some hazelnuts. Easy to make, healthy and nutritious too..

Ingredients

Milk - 2 cups

Carrots - 2 med sizes

Hazelnuts - a handful

Sugar ( I used organic sugar) or honey

Method

Chop the carrots and throw it in the pressure cooker along with the hazelnuts. Pressure cook until it gets cooked. Once it is gets cooked blend it with milk and sugar and serve. 

Easy and enjoy!