Buckwheat cake

Buckwheat atta cake , vegan cake

Defying the regular cakes, this one was super moist, yummy and extremely filling and satisfying with coffee. Try this for your next fast! 

1 cup Buckwheat flour / kuttu atta

1 cup ground oats

1 cup roughly ground almonds 

1 cup soaked and crushed dried dates

1-2 tbsp honey 

500 ml apple sauce

1 grated Apple 

1/4 cup oil

3 tsp baking powder 

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla / cinnamon 

Method 

Mix all the ingredients well. Adjust sweetness and consistency.

Pour into a prepared dish.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C. 

Cover half way through and cook till a needle comes out clean.

Top with home made apple chips. 

To make apple chips, slice apples and bake in oven turning it once. 

Then microwave them to dry.

Enjoy healthy cake !

Buckwheat healthy daal dhokli

Buckwheat dal dhokli

When I have different new ingredients, my brain starts to spin and I start thinking how I could make a different dish out of it. Who says dal dhokli can't be made with another kind of flour? So I tried buckwheat and was ready it might fall apart inside the dal as I boil it. I also used a local dal called green lentil. It looks like a bigger firm of black masoor and looks like tuar inside.  But it worked well. Here it goes. Healthy and yummy recipe. 

Ingredients 

1 cup green lentil/ tuar dal. 

1/2 cup kale leaves chopped

1 onion chopped

500 gms chopped tomatoes 

1 tbsp garlic crushed

1 tbsp grated ginger

1-2 chopped green chillies

10-12 curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp each of cumin and methi seeds

1/5 tsp hing

1-2 cup crushed peanuts 

Walnut size tamarind soaked in water

1 tbsp jaggery

Salt 

Chilli powder 

Dhaniya powder

Haldi

Garam masala 

1 tbsp oil

Chopped coriander 

For dhokli..

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup oats meal optional 

Salt 

1/4 tsp ajwain

Chili powder 

1 tbsp oil

Method

Mix all the flours and other ingredients for dhokli and make into a stiff dough. 

In a pressure cooker add dals, kale leaves, salt , haldi, tomatoes, crushed peanuts and boil well.

Heat oil  add hing, cumin, methi and mustard and let them crackle.

Add ginger, garlic , green chillies and curry leaves and sauté.

Add chopped onions and sauté.

Add the dry masalas and pour dal in it.

Add water to make it a little thin.

Add jaggery and tamarind pulp.

Roll dough and cut into small squares.

Put these into the boiling dal.

Boil for about 15 mins till dhoklis float.

Add chopped dhaniya and ghee and serve it with rice or just the way it is. 

Enjoy the healthy dish on a rainy or cold day ! We love it.  

Buckwheat/ kuttu bread

Buckwheat / kuttu bread

A dear friend is on special diet and is off wheat products. As she craved for something different , I tried my hand on this idea of using buckwheat. Just a mix and bake kind of bread but relished by us too. Do try!

Ingredients 

1 cup buckwheat

1/2 tsp fresh yeast

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp chili flakes 

Buckwheat groat to sprinkle 

Method 

Mix all the ingredients with warm water and make into a thick batter.

Beat for few mins. 

Pour into a greased baking dish.

Top with buckwheat groat.

Keep for 1 hour for it to rise.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 deg C till golden brown on top and knife comes clean. 

Cool and slice. Top with butter and enjoy the good healthy bread.

Healthy and spicy seeds chutney

I like to make various chutnies and this one is delightful! High on taste and great on health.

Ingredients 

1/4cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

5-7 pods of garlic 

1 tsp chili powder 

Salt to taste

Method 

Roast the seeds till golden.

Cool and add other ingredients and grind to a rough powder.

Eat as you like... Over dosas, idlis, sprinkled over eggs or on vada pao.

Bengali beet chops

I

As kids we enjoyed the delicious sweet and nutty beetroot chops in Kharagpur made in the cafeteria made close to our home.  I have been long thinking of making them but never got to doing it. Boiled beetroot packet motivated me to make them. Loving the flavors that are in my kitchen right now. Very nice smells and very nutritious. Worth trying these yummy treats.
Ingredients
2 cups boiled and grated beetroots
3 cups boiled and mashed potatoes
1/2 cup chopped beans
1/2 cup green peas
1 grated carrots
1 chopped chilli
1 tsp grated ginger
chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
2 crushed cloves
1 crushed green cardamom
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala, I used dabeli masala
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
For coating
Cornstarch
Suji/semolina
Oil to fry or shallow fry
Method
Mix all the vegetables together.
Add peanuts, masalas, salt and mix well.
Heat oil , add cumin and let them crackle. Add sesame and let them crackle too. 
Add the mashed vegetables and cook till water is evaporated.
Cool and make cutlets.
Coat with mixture of cornstarch and suji and shallow fry or deep fry !
Yum yum yum is the only word to this.Health and taste ek saath!

Rasam

South Indian cuisine is one of my favorite. Flavorful, healthy and delicious. Has so much variety and so much taste. Rasam is one such dish. A light soup, healthy and good for the soul. Can be made anytime and is good for those colds and during winters or rainy days to drive away your blues. 

Ingredients 

5-6 tomatoes chopped 

2 tsp crushed garlic

Few curry leaves

Walnut size tamarind 

1 tsp oil

1-2 tsp mustard seeds

Pinch of Hing

Ingredients of Spice mix 

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander 

1/2 tsp pepper

1 dry red chilli

Method

Crush the spices roughly for the spice mix.

In a pot pour 5 cups water.

Add chopped tomatoes ,tamarind, crushed garlic ,Hing,salt and spice mix. 

Boil on slow flame for about 30 mins.

Heat oil and add mustard. Let them splatter.

Add curry leaves and pour into rasam.

Add coriander leaves and serve hot. 

Protein packed healthy vadas

Diet protein packed vada with rasam 

My quest for healthier options for all the calorie rich foods never stops me from experimenting in my little kitchen. I saw this donut maker and I wanted to make my all time favorite ... Rasam vada without those extra calories. Today I tried mixed daals and they were passed by full marks by my friends and family. Sharing this goodness on my blog. 

1/2 cup red masoor

1/4 cup Chana dal

1/4 cup tuar

1/4 cup urad

1/4 cup quinoa 

1/4 cup dalia

1/4 cup rice

1 tbsp ginger

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp cumin 

1/6 tsp Hing

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp baking powder

2-3 tbsp curd

1 chopped onion

Salt to taste

Method 

Soak all the grains for about 2-3 hours.

Grind them with green chillies and ginger .You can also add them chopped instead. Add curd to grind. Keep the batter thick. 

Add oil , onions, spices and baking powder and mix well.

Heat donut maker. Apply butter on both sides. 

Pour spoon fulls into each slot.

Close the griddle and cook for about 5-7 mins. 

Serve them hot with steaming rasam or chutney! 

Delicious and healthy !!

Whole wheat and white pao

White flour and whole wheat flour pao

I had been planning these a long time. At my college we used to make those white buns and immediately polished them off with butter. Nothing like hot buns with melting butter and this is what we did today as I baked these perfect paos! My home was filled with warm smells lifting my spirits and the low temperature and dull skies were soon forgotten . Soft, spongy, smooth and just soul satisfying .... Sharing the recipe of the perfect paos. They aren't stretchy like the ones at store. Enjoy it

Makes 28 white paos

Ingredients 

4 cups white flour

2 cups warm whole milk

20 gms fresh yeast

3-4 / 40 gms tbsp butter

2 tsp salt

Whole wheat pao ( makes 16 pao)

3 cups atta

1.5 cups milk

7.5 gms fresh yeast

3 tbsp butter

1.5 tsp salt

Method

I used the food processor that made my work lighter but you could knead it with hand.

In a bowl add the flour and salt.

Warm milk just enough so that it's warm to touch and NOT HOT.

Mix the fresh yeast in it and pour into the flour.

Turn the processor on and keep kneading. It looks too wet and impossible to come together but let the gluten break. Keep working on it.

Add the butter and keep working on the dough. 

In about 15 mins you will see it's coming together. 

Use oil on ur hands if you need to as it comes together like a baby's bum ... That's how we were told at college ☺️

Keep this for about an hour or so or till its double in size.

Use oil in your hands and roll into a cylinder.

Cut into equal sizes and roll into smooth balls.

In a buttered tray put these balls leaving about an inch of space between for them to rise.

Keep covered for another hour or so or till it rises to a double. 

Preheat oven to 200 degC. 

Brush the dough balls with milk and put into the oven.

Bake for about 12-15 mins till they are golden brown.

Remove and brush with melted butter.

Remove from tray to avoid sweating!

Enjoyyyy these hot out of the oven with chilled slice of butter melting Inbetween... Is heaven close?? Sure is.

Apple pasta

Kuch nahi se signature dish 😉

What do you do when you are stuck in a place in an apartment in the middle of fields on a lake side on Xmas with EVERYTHING closed? Slushy snow and cold winds and you want to cook the last dinner in your holiday home and you look inside your carry-with-you pantry and very few things there with no scope of eating out or cooking anything decent. I now decide to waken up the wanna be chef in me and push my limits. Pasta, a bottle of walnut pesto, few olives, olive oil and ..... No vegs :( .. Just apples that my hubby picked up from the farm we are holidaying on.....ok... Never mind ... Make pasta with apples 😳😜. My hubby tried to look excited and kids ....DARE NOT SAY ANYTHING😉and so here I go. Caramelized apples and olive pasta with sun dried tomato walnut pasta!!!!!! My hubby said .... Maan gaye yaar tumhe and kids polished off everything! Boiled some fusilli. Chopped apples and tossed them in olive oil and salt till they are golden brown. Sprinkle chilli powder. Add chopped olives and pour into the pasta. Mix the ready made pasta sauce and serve with ( thank God for few pepperonis) a smile. Happy me! 

Mock sarson ka saag

Rapeseed greens

Living here in Germany I have learnt to figure out my way with cravings for Indian vegetables and curries by modifying what we get here. If sarson isn't available here , doesn't mean we miss out on the lovely saag we got home. I walked through few Turkish stores and found these leaves which smell like mustard greens. I decided to experiment these which are used in salads here. It came out so yummy! I teamed it with pungent carrot instant pickle. Sharing it here on my blog.

Ingredients 

2 cup fulls chopped rapeseed greens

1 cup chopped kale leaves

1 cup spinach 

3-4 green chilles

2 tbsp chopped ginger

2 tbsp chopped garlic

2 chopped onions

1 cup tomato purée

1 cup milk

2 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp maize flour

Salt

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 lemon 

Method

In a pressure cooker add all the greens , 1 tbsp ginger, green chillies and salt and boil for 15 mins.

Cool and grind with maize flour, milk and little water to get a thick paste.

Heat ghee and add cumin and let it crackle.

Add ginger and garlic and let it brown.

Now tip in onions and brown well.

Add chilli powder and tomato purée.

Cook well and pour the saag paste.

Cook well on low flame for an hour.

Add more water if needed. 

Add butter and mix well.

Squeeze lemon and stir well.

Pour into bowls and top with tadka of ghee , cumin and chilli powder. You can also use garlic in tadka. 

Serve hot with makki ki rotis and pickles.