‘Only’ Event For November and the Giveaway

Hi friends!

The month of November surely says ‘come winter’. The onset of winter invites a lot of greens and veggies and surely it’s the best time to cook curries using them. Yes, you have guessed it right the theme for this month’s event is CURRIES.

Come up with innovative curries and send them across to Kamalika of Janaki’s Kitchen, who is going to guest host this event.

 

The rules and details of the event can be checked in her blog here.

For the giveaway, www.tarladalal.com is giving a book called Swadisht Subziyan

This book provides you recipes of curries from various regions of India. For winning the giveaway leave the links of your entries sent to Kamalika in this giveaway page and I will pick up a winner randomly after the event is over.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Orangey-Nutty Choco Fudge…a virtual treat for my bro on Bhai-Dooj

Hi!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Diwali. We had gone to our hometown to celebrate Diwali with our family as it was the first major celebration after my FIL passed away. Diwali was fun as all of us were together after a long time and kids had loads of fun bursting crackers and eating sweets and savouries.

 

My elder son is visiting us for Diwali so food at home is cooked as per his demands, right from breakfast to dinner. In all this I managed to make this sweet to carry it for every one. It’s an amazingly tasty preparation and the orange flavour makes it even more worthy and the nuts in the fudge add a nice crunchy bite .

The sweet is extremely easy to make and gets done in a matter of few minutes if you have all the ingredients in hand. S, simply loved it and I cut the fudge into bite size cubes as it’s easy to serve and eat.

Ingredients

500gms dark chocolate chopped

400gms condensed milk

50gms white butter

1/2tsp vanilla essence

zest of one orange

about 2 cups of roasted and chopped nuts (cashewnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios, almonds)

Method

In a pan mix chocolate and condensed milk, cook on low flame till the chocolate melts. Ensure that no point the mixture boils.

Add the zest, essence, all the nuts and mix thoroughly. As the mixture thickens, switch off the gas.

Grease a 15” by 10” plate and pour the chocolate mixture into it.

Refrigerate it for about 2-3 hours and then cut into 1” cubes.

These can be wrapped in colourful wrapping papers and gifted.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’- Sweets and Desserts guest hosted by Gayathri.

Also, reposting

Vatalya daleeche ladoo and Darsaan for the same.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Soybean Curry and Carom seed Flavoured Flatbread

Hi!

As you all know one thing that prominently dominates in this blog is surely the curry and I used to post curries very regularly earlier and I believe I’m posting a curry after a long time.

As a mother it is my responsibility that the kid gets his proper quota of protein and hence I keep using different legumes so that I’m able to break the monotony. This time for a change I used soybeans to make the curry and to compliment it I made ajwain (carom seeds) paratha ( flat bread).

My husband found that these beans were a little heavy on the stomach but the kid enjoyed it thoroughly. The soybeans do take time to soak and to get cooked so one should try this curry only when one has time in hand.

Ingredients For Soybean Curry

about 3cups of soaked and boiled soybeans

Paste 1

3medium onions

4-5garlic pods

a small piece ginger

1/2tsp cumin seeds

a small piece cinnamon

2green cardamom

Paste 2

2tomatoes roasted

Spices

2 bay leaves

1/2tsp turmeric pwd

1-1/2tsp red chilli pwd

2tsp coriander pwd

1/2tsp cumin pwd

Others

salt to taste

oil for cooking

For the Flat Bread

2 cups whole wheat flour

2tsp carom seeds

1/2tsp salt

whole wheat flour for dusting

oil for cooking

water as required

Method to make the curry

Grind together the ingredients under paste1.

Heat oil (about 3tbsp) and add bay leaves.

Once the leaves are golden in colour add the paste1 and ‘bhuno’ on a low flame till the oil separates. If required keep adding a spoon of water after short intervals.

Paste2- To roast the tomatoes insert a fork at the top of a tomato and roast it directly on the flame. Cool and peel the skin and then grind it.

After the paste1 is nicely cooked and the oil separates at the edges add the paste2.

As the tomatoes are already cooked the oil separates easily. Add the remaining spices and salt to taste.

Mix thoroughly and add the cooked soybeans. Mix and add about 2 cups of water. Bring the curry to a boil and then cover and cook on low flame for another 10-15mins.

Serve hot with the ajwain parathas.

Method For the flatbread

Mix all the ingredients and using water knead a soft dough. Cover and leave for 15mins.

Make lemon size balls and using whole wheat flour roll a 4-5” disc. Apply a few drops of oil and spread it on the disc. Fold it into a half and apply oil again and fold again, what you get is a triangle shaped dough.

Roll this using flour into a triangle shaped flat bread.

My parathas are not very thick and have a thickness of about 3mm.

Roast the parathas on a flat pan using a little oil on either side. These parathas taste best when roasted using ghee but I preferred using oil for obvious reason…calories!!

Store covered and best served hot.

 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Herbed Wheat Buns and Winner of ‘Only’- Fasting Food

Hi!

In my last post I had very confidently said that I will post regularly as I was pretty confident that S will lend me his data card till we get a permanent internet connection but S had to travel in the last week so I had no internet service at home but now that I’ve got a one do castigate me if I’m not regular here as that will be only because of my laziness..

The city in which I live now is surely not a favourite of mine and ever since I’ve landed here I’m praying that we move out fast from here..so you can realise how ecstatic I’m in life right now!!!

I’ve repeatedly reiterated that baking and especially making breads is therapeutic (one can check more here) in removing depression so I decided again to bake a bread. Unlike my previous city where I would be waiting for the yeast to rise in winter and I surely found out various methods to do so (one can check out my post here to know more), in this city yeast proofing takes no time what I’ll battle making here is surely the pie and quiche..

I decided to make some buns with herbs and spice. These buns are rustic, have a hard crust but are soft inside. The wheat does make it a little dense but I rather have a little dense bread than compromising on health. The buns were surely tasty and the kid finished it fast. These are perfect for the hunger pangs as these are filling and healthy too. If you want to have lighter buns use only the APF.

Ingredients

2 cups APF

1-1/2 cups of whole wheat flour

1tbsp active yeast

1tsp sugar/honey

4tbsp melted butter

1cup lukewarm milk

3-4tbsp finely chopped coriander

3tsp chilli flakes

1tsp salt

Method

Proofing the yeast:

The first step is to create a sponge (the common term used by bakers). This step is important because it gives the yeast a head start…and it allows you to check to see if the yeast is in fact alive and well. Place the active yeast in a small bowl and add the sugar to the yeast, then add about 1cup of the warmed milk and mix slightly (make sure the milk is not over 40° C or you will kill the yeast).

Place the flour into a large bowl and sprinkle the salt around the edges. Form a well in the middle, then add the sponge mixture and egg, making sure to blend in a small amount of flour with the sponge. Let the mixture sit for about 10-15 minutes in a warm location to allow the sponge to develop. You will notice bubbles forming as the fermentation process gets going, and the sponge looks like, …a sponge. You are now ready to begin mixing and kneading the dough.

Melt the butter and add it to the remaining milk (remember…keep the milk mixture warm, but not over 40° C). Add the herbs and spice along with the salt. Mix the dough well in the bowl, then place it onto a clean work surface and begin kneading. You should knead the dough for about 10-12 minutes, or until the dough is smooth, soft and slightly moist to the touch, the dough feels elastic and kneading helps to develop the gluten.

Place the kneaded dough in a clean bowl, lightly coat the top of the dough with oil, then cover with a clean towel and allow the dough to rise for about one hour in a warm location. The fermentation process is complete when the dough has doubled in volume. A dent will remain or fill very slowly after you press lightly into the top of the dough. If the dough springs back, fermentation is not complete. Once the fermentation process is complete, you are ready to make the buns.

Begin by splitting the dough into two equal parts and then 4 parts and finally 4parts into 8 so that you would get 8 equal pieces.

Make 8 balls and place them on a greased tray and let them rise again for 15-20 mins.  Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180C.

Apply a milk wash and bake the buns for 15-20 mins or till the crust turns golden in colour.

Cool the buns and they are ready to be gobbled.

Sending this to Yeastspotting

And finally the winner of the ‘Only’- Fasting Food event. Sadly, I had only two links to choose the winner and using the random method the number picked was comment number ten which was mine. For the first time I thought of leaving the link as I always thought that it is better that the others win, so I never participated. I can’t say that the luck favoured me this time as there were not many entries. I hope this month’s event will get a huge response as it’s the festive month.

New bloggers, whom I’ve not visited yet and will like me to peep in your blog, please leave a link to your space and I’ll surely drop in and learn more from you.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad