My Favourite Breakfast

I am not too much of a breakfast person - all I prefer in the mornings is a good big cuppa chai and a couple of my favourite Parle-G biscuits. That said, I still do have some favourite breakfast items and almost on top of my list is a delicacy which I have been extremely fond of since my childhood days. The white steaming fluffy white cloud like idlis in my opinion are one of the best things we can have for breakfast. There are enough and more recipes for Idlis in the blogosphere so I am not going to put a recipe for this one. This will just be a simple photo post with Idli, Molgapodhi, Sambhar and Tomato Onion Chutney a feast for breakfast.

Maple Roasted Almonds with Sea-salt

Fall is slowly turning to winter and my love for all things nutty is re-kindling. Just as I was thinking of another seasoning for nuts I thought of maple syrup and oh la la ..a wonderful snack was born. Take a cup full of Almonds, set them to roast at 350 F for 5-8 mins. Remove toss with a 1/3 to 1/2 cup of Maple Syrup and coat well. Put it back in the oven for another 5-8 mins of till the syrup is well absorbed. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with Sea-salt.

Chana Dal Vada / Paruppu Vadai / Mixed Lentil Fritters

My mom-in-law makes these amazing chana dal vadas. These are a common occurrence during festival times and are also offered as Naivedya to the Gods. I am sure this tradition would have come from all the priests tired of eating only sweets for Naivedya but whatever the origins these vadas are to die for.

Ingredients
1 Cup Chana Dal
2-3 Tbsp Tuvar Dal
2 Tbsp Rice
1 Tbsp Udad Dal
8-10 Dry Red Chillies * Mix of Kashmiri and Byadagi varieties
Generous pinch Asafoetida
1-2 Twigs Curry Leaves
1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro
3-4 Green Chillies
Salt
1 Onion Chopped * Optional
Oil for deep frying

Method
1. Pick clean the lentils and wash in 3-4 changes of water. Soak for 3-4 hours
2.Coarsely grind the lentils along with curry leaves, green chillies, red chillies using as little water as possible. It is alright if a few pieces of lentil are not ground completely.
3. To this add salt, asafoetida and chopped cilantro and chopped onion if using.
4.  Heat oil in a wok for deep frying. Turn the heat to medium high.
5. Make small flat rounds and put them in oil and fry them on both sides till golden and crisp.
6. Serve hot.

Masala Almonds - Healthy Chakna

Almonds = Healthy but both me and hubby are lazy about eating them. Don't much like them give me cashews anytime ;). I was on the lookout for honey roasted almonds but most recipes I had called for sugar along with honey and so I dropped the idea. Since I had planned to make something with Almonds, I decided to make it in the style of Masala Peanuts that we made during fasting season. So here goes a quick and snappy way to make Masala Almonds. Another note Masala = Spice(s) what I have here is my combination, feel free to explore and experiment. Enjoy them just like that or with your favorite drink.

Ingredients
2 Cups Almonds
1 Tbsp Oil
Masala
Salt
Roasted Cumin & Pepper Powder
Red Chilli Powder
Amchur / Dry Mango Powder
Sugar
Method
1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Coat almonds with oil and spread them in a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 5-7 mins till crispy.
3. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the masala mix, toss to coat evenly and return to oven for another 5 mins.
4. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 to 40 mins. The almonds will be crispy and spicy perfect for chilled Beer.

Cheese Crackers

I recently joined FoodBuzz a foodie community website. I came across Kath's site through FoodBuzz and a couple of her recipes caught my immediate fancy. Anyone who knows me knows I am big cheese fan and for that matter so is my hubby. We enjoy our cheese and we pick up quite a variety on our travels. So when I came across Kath's post titled "Melt-in-your-mouth Homemade Cheese Crackers!" I just had to make them. I made some very minor modifications and used a different cheese as I was out of Tillamook Cheddar. So here's the recipe as I made it but do visit her site to see the lovely step by step pics.

Ingredients

1½ Cups (6 oz) grated Cabot Buffalo Wing Extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces

¾ Cup (90 g) flour, plus more for dusting

½ tsp salt * I omitted as cheese has enough salt

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp milk

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1 Tbsp Sugar

1 to 2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease or line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add flour and spices. Now cut in the butter till you have a bread-crumb like mixture. Add cheese and mix it with a spatula or by hand.

3. Add milk one Tbsp at a time and knead the dough with light hands till it comes together to form a ball.

4. Roll out on a floured board with a rolling pin.

5. Cut into desired shape with a knife, pizza cutter or cookie cutter shapes. Poke a small hole in the center of each cracker.

6. Place crackers atleast 1/4th inch apart and bake for 12-15 minutes.

WARNING: These are highly addictive :)

Instant Khaman Dhokla - Microwave

Sometimes my early days in Gujarat re-surface and so do my cravings for Gujarati snacks especially Khaman and Khandvi two of my absolute favourite items. My mom has been making the traditional style khaman for years and it is essentially her recipe that I have tweaked a little bit. I have also deviated from her way of steaming the dhoklas to making mine in the microwave to save the time and effort. Another under 30 minutes recipe which I am very proud of ..

Khaman Dhokla

Ingredients
For The Batter
1 Cup Besan aka Chana Dal Flour or Gram Flour
1 1/2 Tbsp Sooji  or Rava (Semolina)
1 tsp lime or lemon juice * (My mom sometimes uses citric acid crystals or nimbu ke phool)
3 tsp sugar
1 tsp ginger-green chilli pounded ( For best results pound them or grind them very coarsely)
salt to taste

1 1/2 tsp Eno Fruit Salt or  1/2 tsp Baking Soda

For the Tempering
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
1/2 tsp Sesame seeds (til)
2 Green Chillies , chopped
A pinch of asafoetida (hing)
A few curry leaves (optional)
1/3 Cup Water
2 tsp Sugar

For the Garnish
1 Tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
1 Tbsp dry unsweeted coconut even freshly grated will do

Implements / Utensils
Mixing Bowl
Tempering Bowl
Microwave safe pie dish or
Traditional Steaming pot and plate

Method
1. Mix together all the ingredients for the batter except Eno or baking soda using enough 1 cup water to make a thick batter.

2. Add in Eno or soda, sprinkle a little water over Eno and mix well.

3. When the mixture rises, mix well and pour it into a greased microwaveable pie dish. I use the salad takeaway container and microwave on high for 2 to 3 mins. Let stand for one minute and then again microwave for 1 or 2 mins

Since each microwave is different, you will need to check the timing a little. Check for doneness using a toothpick till it comes out clean.

4. For the tempering, heat the oil in a small wok and add the mustard seeds, sesame seeeds, green chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida. When the mustard seeds crackle, slowly add 1/3 cup of water a tsp of sugar and pour this over the steamed dhoklas.

5. Cut into pieces and serve with green chutney.

Notes:
1. Traditional steamer would take 8 to 10 minutes

Punjabi Samosa

A few weeks ago, I got this sudden craving for garma garam Samosa's - the kind you get in farsan shops in Bombay or more like the ones we get on almost all vada and samosa pav joints in Bombay. Now being so far away from India and in the America's didn't help the matter till I decided to take the matters in my own kitchen and come up with a variant of the ubiquitous Punjabi Samosa made at my home. I enjoyed making and eating them and have captured most steps in pictures.

Punjabi Samosa

Ingredients for the Crust:
1 cup Maida a.ka. All purpose flour
2 tbsp Melted Ghee
1 tsp Ajwain (Carom Seeds)
Salt to taste
Water (as needed)

Ingredients for the Filling
4 medium sized Potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed with hands
1/3 cup Peas boiled and drained
1 tbsp Ginger crushed
salt
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Amchur powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder *Adjust to taste
1/2 tsp Chat Masala
1 to 2 tsp Lemon juice
1-2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp jeera

Dry Roast and crush to a coarse spice mix using a rolling pin or pound and pestle
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Fresh Crushed Pepper
1 - 2 tsp Whole Sukha Dhaniya seeds
1 -2 tsp Anardana
Oil to deep fry

Implements / Utensils Required
1 Saute Pan
1 Wok /Kadhai
1 Mixing bowl to knead the dough
1 Rolling Pin
1 Slotted spoon / jali
 Paper towels

Method:

1. Add ajwain and salt to the flour and mix with fingers.
2. Add the melted ghee to the flour mixture and rub till the mix resembles bread crumbs.
3 Add water 1 tbsp at a time to make a stiff dough. Knead and keep covered with a wet muslin cloth.

4. In a kadhai add ghee splutter jeera, saute ginger then add potatoes. Cook for a couple of minutes
5. Add salt and all dry spices leave for a couple of minutes then add boiled peas.
6. Switch of the gas and them add lemon juice.
7. Optionally you can also add some corriander leaves (cilantro) or some mint leaves finely chopped and / or kaju and kismis though I personally like my Samosas without kaju and kismis

8. Divide the dough into small balls. Flatten each ball and roll like a chapati.
9. Cut into half shape it into a cone.

10. Fill each cone with the filling mixture and seal the samosa.

11. Fry on low temperature oil for the first 5 minutes and then increase the heat and fry till golden.

12. Serve with Tamarind and Date chutney and Green Chutney