Maple Oatmeal cookies (Eggless)

These cookies are easy to make, taste delicious & healthy too as no sugar is added to it. My husband’s colleague, who is a good baker, sent these cookies for me. When I took the 1st bite Mmmmm it was sooo yummy just melting in my mouth.  Then I asked for the recipe & he shared it with me. His recipe was having egg but mine was eggless & adding the nuts, will give the extra flavour to these cookies. Believe me the taste was super delicious. A must try recipe. So here u go….

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all purpose flour 
 1 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ cup maple syrup
2 tblsp cup honey (optional)
2 tblsp butter (should be in room tempr.)
1/4 cup yogurt or you can use buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans & walnuts
choco chips (optional)

Preparation:

In a small bowl, beat curd. Keep aside.

Tale a medium size bowl. Add all the dry ingredients to it except nuts. Mix well.
Now in a large bowl, take butter. Beat it properly. Add honey & maple syrup & again beat it.
Now add the dry ingredients to bowl and mix together. Add the curd to it. & mix properly with your hands. It will be kind of sticky. Add the raisins, chcoco chips ,pecans and walnuts and mix.
 If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour/ oats. 
Cool the mix for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto the baking sheet. 
Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. U can Broil the cookies for 2-3 mins for the nice dark color
 Place cookies on rack to cool for 10-15 minutes and now Enjoy with hot hot tea.

My 2nd TRY ...

Chocolate burfi with ricotta cheese

A simple easy to make, quick and delicious sweet.. My husband is a huge lover of sweets. So for his birthday , I decided  to make something in sweets , so I  prepared pineapple cake, mango custard and this chocolate burfi. 

Then one thing came to my mind that,  why not to try the burfi with ricotta cheese as I had a packet of ricotta cheese sitting in my fridge. After finishing cakes & custard, I started to make this burfi.

Initially I didn't think about to make chocolate burfi , I decided to make normal burfi only but  Immediately I thought to add some choco chips  while making the burfi , then thought why not add some nuts in here for a crunchy bite to the burfi.

It tastes absolutely awesome and the husband loved it too...If you are a chocolate lover – you should try this recipe.  so lets start the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 small tin of sweetened condensed milk
Milk powder- 2 tblsp (optional)
Ricotta cheese-450gm
Butter/ ghee - 2tblsp
1/3 cup Cocoa powder / Chocolate chips 8 oz
¼ tsp  cardamom powder
Chopped Nuts for garnishing

Method

Take a non-stick pan/ kadhai. Melt butter, add the ricotta cheese, stir well  on medium-high flame  until mixture leaves the pan. Now add condensed milk, milk powder, cocoa powder and cardamom powder. As we are using condensed milk so stir it continuously not to let it stick to bottom and burn. 

Cook over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and leaves the sides of the pan.
Pour mixture in prepared greased tin and refrigerate for 30 mts.
Cut in desired shape. Serve at room temperature.

Rajastani Dal Baati

So many cultures, so many variety foods and each culture has a dish that stands out and authentic. I just love India. Today it’s a dish from Land of Kings aka Rajasthan. You would have guessed by now, yes! Its “dal baati”. Kudos to my friend Pooja Patodi (our ex-neighbor) for feasting us till we sleep there and now you being not here but still huge source of inspiration. Now it’s one of my new baby in cooking arsenel and next time we meet, Im going to treat you! Till we meet, I will try and make it perfect. It’s in the menu for dinner tonight with gatte ki sabzi! But 1 thing I must admit, I am not able to be as generous regarding amounts of ghees the dish typically uses but I am more than satisfied wid the taste... Happy happy..

Ingredients

For the dal
All daals (mixed) chana dal (split Bengal gram),toovar (arhar) dal,  moong dal (split green gram) , massor daal – 1cup
1 tbsp urad dal (split black lentils)
1 tbsp whole moong (whole green gram)
3 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tsp cumin- coriander  powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 bayleaves (tejpatta)
1 tsp cumin seeds- mustard seeds
Ginger garlic  paste- 1 tsp
Green chilli paste- ½ tsp
1 large onion- roughly chopped
2 tomatoes- chopped
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tblsp lemon juice
2-3 tbsp oil
salt to taste
chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

For the baatis
1 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
1/4 cup semolina (rava) optional
1/4tsp each- cumin seeds, carom seeds & fennel seeds
Baking powder ¼ tsp
1tblsp yogurt 
1/4th cup melted ghee
salt to taste

For serving
melted ghee
1 recipe churma

Method

For the dal 

Clean and wash the dals and keep aside. Heat oil in the cooker. Add bay leaves, hing, splutter cumin-mustard seeds. Add chopped onion. Sauté till translucent.  Add the ginger garlic & chilli paste. Sauté till raw smell of ginger and garlic goes away. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chilli powder & cumin-coriander powder. Adjust salt. Sauté till the tomatoes are cooked. Add garam masala & mix well. Now add all the soaked daal & give double amount of water as per the daal. Mix well. 
Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles or till the dals are cooked. Switch off the flame. Now remove the lid. Adjust the consistency of the dal if required, add some water. Add the lemon juice & coriander leaves. Adjust  salt and simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

For the baatis 

Take a large bowl. Add flour & ghee. Mix well with your hands now add all the ingredients and knead into stiff dough. don't knead it for long time. Keep it covered for at least 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C. 
Take a portion of the dough & make lemon size balls. Press them slightly.
Grease the baking tray. Place the battis on it. 
Bake  them in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes till the baatis are cooked on the insides also. don't worry if you will see cracks in the batti that means it is baking properly.


Now the important part. How to serve them. Arrange the baatis on a serving plate break each baati into two pieces and pour melted ghee on the baatis.
Now take the ghee dipped battis in a bowl. Pour hot dal over the baatis. 
Serve hot  with churma . We had it with gate ki sabzi…yummm… 

Cheesy Noodle cutlet

 Today's recipe is a simple, quick & delicious snack. Cutlet with a twist ie Noodle cutlet. Actually the truth is I never had this before. Thanks to one of my friend Nilu who prepared this cutlets on my husband’s birthday. When we took the 1st bite it was just yumm. The best cutlet I ever had. I was so impressed by that recipe that I had to try it out. When I asked her about the recipe she told me that she got the recipe from Mummy ka magic from youtube. I prepared this for evening snacks and it was a hit, the hubby just loved it…very nice way to use your leftover noodles into cutlets & moreover we can make it without potatoes. So those who are diabetic can enjoy this too... So here are the delightful cutlets.

Ingredients

1/4th cup green peas boiled
1/4th cup sweet corn boiled
2 tblsp gramflour (besan)
2 cups boiled noodles, soaked & drained
1tsp roasted cumin powder
1tsp garlic powder
1tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp garam masala
1/4tsp turmeric powder
2tblsp milk
½ cup grated cheese ( I used mozzarella & cheddar)
Breadcrumbs for coating
Oil to shallow fry
Salt to taste
Maggie masala- 1 small pouch

Method:

Take a large bowl. Add corn & green peas to it. Mast it properly with the help of your hands. Add boiled noodles to it & mast it. Again add 2tblsp gram flour to it. Mix it properly. Now add roasted cumin powder, Maggie masala, salt, chilli flakes, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, grated cheese to it.  Add 2tblsp milk & mash well.
Take 1 ½ cups bread crumbs in a plate. 
Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape them into balls and further press them lightly to make cutlets. Coat each cutlet evenly with bread crumbs.


Now heat 2-3 tblsp oil in a non-stick pan. Place these cutlets on the pan and shallow fry, turning sides, till they turn golden brown on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper. Transfer onto a serving plate and serve hot with tomato ketchup. 

Chai/ tea Masala powder

Here comes my fav Chai masala/ Masala tea powder...

 Chai masala powder adds a unique taste & aroma to the tea. It has lots of health benefits too due to presence of so many spices.  This is very easy to make as all the ingredients are mostly available in your kitchen & you can keep it in a air tight container for long time. You just hav to add ½ tsp while making the tea. You can use your own choice of spices but friends here is my secret chai masala powder.




Ingredients 

5-10 whole black pepper
7-8 pcs of dry ginger / saunth or u can use dry ginger powder
1 tblsp fennel seeds 
7-8 long  cinnamon pieces
20 gm small green cardamom
5 gm cloves
1 whole nutmeg / jaiphal
10 dry basil leaves/ tulsi
10 dried mint leaves

METHOOD:

Place nutmeg in grinder and grind into a fine powder. Then grind the dry ginger  and  finally ground all the spices together until all are powdered nicely.
 Store in an airtight jar in a cool, dry part of your kitchen.

Chickpeas sundal

For making sundal u will need:

Chickpeas- 2 cups (soaked in water for 7-8 hours)
Dry red chilli- 2-3 nos
Roughly chopped green chillies- 1tsp
Mustard seeds- 1tsp
Asafoetida/ hing- a pinch
Curry leaves- a few
Salt to taste
Vegetable Oil- 1tblsp
Grated coconut- 2 tblsp
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
1 tblsp lemon juice

Method:

In a pressure cooker, place chickpeas , salt and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Add water in such a way that it s just 1/2" over the chickpeas.

Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles till they becomes soft. Once done, let the pressure come down on its own. Once pressure releases, remove peas and drain in a colander completely. 

Heat oil in a pan. Add  Dry red chillis & crackle mustard seeds, now add asafoetida, green chillies, curry leaves to it. When curry leaves starts spluttering add the boiled chickpeas to it. Adjust salt. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice to it. Now garnish with some grated coconut. 
Your chickpeas sundal is ready to serve. Serve as a side dish with rice, pullav  or u can have it with parathas.

Dum Aloo

Dum alloo is one of the fav recipe of my hubby. He loves to have it with all different things.. It may b with Puri ,  paratha or nomal phulkas..so I decided to make  this on his bday. I also invited some of  our friends for the occassion & Prepared his fav pinapple cake, then for dinner puri, dum alloo, veg pullav, channa daal masala & mix veg. For dessert I prepared mango custard. One of my friend brought noodles cutlet & chenna poda (ricotta chese cake). All liked the food but above all dum allo was very demanding. Friends just loved it!!!  Just to mention that I made some changes to the recipe that day, like rather than boiling the potatoes I deep fried them & added curd & some spices to the dum alloo which made it super yummy.. so thought of sharing it in my blog before the procedure goes away from my mind :) so friends here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

10-12 Small Potatoes cut into 2 pieces or u can cut them into 4 pieces if they are big
2 Medium Size Onions
1 tblsp Ginger garlic paste
2 medium size tomatoes (boil for 2 mins, peel & blend to make tomato puree)
1 tsp fennel seed powder
A pinch of hing/ asafoetida
4 Green Cardamoms
1″ Stick of Cinnamon
1-2 bay leafs
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1tsp nigella seeds
¼ th  cup curd (whipped)
1 Teaspoon of Turmeric power
1tsp red chilli powder
1tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 Tablespoon Garam Masala 
2 Tablespoons of mustard Oil
Vegetable oil for deep frying the potatoes
Chopped Cilantro/Coriander leaves for Garnish
Salt to taste

Preparation:

Peel the potatoes and soak them water for 1-2 mins. 
Heat oil in a kadai & deep fry the potatoes till brown. You can also sallow fry  the potatoes if you are health cautious.  Set aside.
Heat mustard oil in a pan. Add cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamoms. When they start to sizzle add the Cumin seeds, hing. When the cumin seeds start crackling add nigella seeds & fennel seeds powder. Now add Onions and fry them till they are glazed and slightly brown. At this stage add Kashmiri red chilli powder ( to maintain a good colour in your curry). Don’t let them burn stir for 3-4 sec. & immediately add the ginger garlic paste to it. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder & salt.  Sauté for 3-4 min till oil appears in masala now add tomato puree to masala & mix well. Sauté for another 2-3 min till masalas are done. Now add whipped curd to masala & stir continuously for 2-3 min. It’s the time to throw in the fried potatoes. Mix well with masala. Cover & cook for 5-7 mins till all the masala coats the potatoes and the potatoes are tender. If it will start sticking in bottom you can sprinkle some water.
Now throw in some garam masala & chopped coriander leaves. Mix well. Your dum allo is ready to serve now.
Serve hot with puri, hot phulka or paratha.