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!