Irish soda bread

It appears everyone has their favorite Irish soda bread recipe. Some with olives, some with raisins, some with both, some with neither. The essential ingredients in a traditional Irish soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The acid in buttermilk reacts with the base of the baking soda to provide the bread’s leavening.

Its been an all time favorite in our household. Its really quick to make and doesn't require any proving time.. 

Soda bread dries out quickly so is only good for a day or two. It is best eaten freshly baked and warm or toasted.

Here is a simple recipe that I use.. 

Ingredients :

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning ( I used the Pre- mix that comes in the market)

1 cup chopped black olives

21/4 cups buttermilk

Method

Before going into the oven

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly oil a large baking sheet using olive oil or cooking spray. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Add the italian seasoning and chopped olives and stir well to combine.
2. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture. Pour the buttermilk into the well. Stir the buttermilk into the flour mixture, starting in the center and working your way to the outside of the bowl until a dough forms. If needed, add additional buttermilk (1 tablespoon at a time) to form the dough.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Form a large disc out of the dough. Cut the dough in half with a knife and with floured hands, form two small discs out of the dough.( or you can make it one large loaf like i did) ... Using a serrated knife, cut a ¼-inch deep square or X into each disc of dough.
4. Place both discs of dough on the lightly-oiled baking sheet. Be sure to place the discs far apart, as they will rise while baking. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and bread tests clean when poked with a knife. Remove from the oven and allow bread to cool at least 20 minutes before slicing!
   
   

The simplest ever Eggless pancakes!

Samarth had been asking for some pancakes for the longest time ever! I decided to google for an easy recipe that would also be eggless (so in case I don't have eggs at home on a particular day, I could still make them). In fact I am always on the lookout for eggless recipes for the same reason. 

So here you go, easy peasy way to make yummy tasty, McDonald's style pancakes! 

You'll need:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of milk

1.5 tablespoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 tablespoon of oil

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Sift dry ingredients together and make a well. Add wet ingredients and whisk well. Set it aside for 10 minutes.

Grease a griddle pan with a little butter and pour a ladle of batter. Don't spread it. Bubbles will start to form on the surface. 

Flip it over after a bit, make sure it is a gentle brown colour.

Drizzle honey over it, fold and serve!

Vada Paav - Mumbai Ishtyle!

Tried my hand at making authentic Vada paav last night for a snack and it turned out awesome! It is such a popular street food in Mumbai that it also has a wiki entry honouring it, read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vada_pav

The best part about making this lip-smacking snack is how easy the ingredients are to find in your own pantry/fridge and how simple the entire process is. You can take my word for it, as I am a person who hasn't ventured much into the world of fried snacks [i.e pakoras/vadas etc].

Ingredients:
2 whole boiled potatoes - you can pressure cook them in a bit of turmeric and then mash them either by hand or with a masher.
1 tsp mustard seeds [rai]
a few curry leaves and coriander leaves, finely chopped
Asafoetida [Hing] - a pinch
1 or 2 green chillies finely chopped as per your taste.

For the batter:
3/4 cup of gram flour [besan]
1/2 tsp of tamarind paste
1/2 tsp / as per your taste, of red chilli powder
A hint of salt and asafoetida

1. Heat a bit of oil in a kadhai and add mustard seeds in it. When it finishes sputtering, add green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves. Mix together and then add the mashed potatoes, and salt as per taste. Mix well and fry for a bit of time. Remove off the flame and allow to cool.

2. In a bowl, add besan, and the other ingredients mentioned for the batter, with as less water as possible, just to make a thick paste. Remember, if the paste is too thin, it will not coat the potato mix.

3. Make medium sized balls of the potato mix, dip in the besan batter and deep fry. Serve hot with Indian paav and you can also make a coriander chutney and garlic chutney to go with it. I made neither as this was just a last minute effort. I did serve it with sliced onion though.

                       

Gobhi ke Parathey

Gobi Ke Parathey !! They were quite yummy, a successful attempt :)

Ingredients :

Whole wheat dough made as you would make usually for parathas. 

For the filling:

1 medium sized Gobhi [cauliflower] - into florets and minced finely

Instead of onions, I used shallots - so, 7-8 shallots, minced finely

Garlic cloves - 2 or 3, as per your preference, finely crushed.

Usual spice mix - dhaniya powder, haldi [turmeric], garam masala [a teaspoon each]

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Make the dough for the parathey and let it stay for about 30 minutes, covered with a moist cloth.

2. Mince the cauliflower and shallots together and saute well with the crushed garlic in a little bit of oil with the spices. It should look like this when it is done. This is your filling. Top with coriander.

3. Stuff and roll out. Fry each paratha lightly, drizzling the pan with a bit of oil when required. 

4. Enjoy the delicious treat - I served it with some black gram curry [kaale channey] and a bit of curd by the side. 

Onion,tomatoes and Dill Uttapams

Ingredients:
Uttapam batter: enough to make for 3-4 people
I bowl of finely chopped tomatoes
1 bowl of finely chopped onions
1 bowl of finely chopped dill.
2-3 finely chopped green chillies ( depending on spice level required)


Method: 
 For the batter:
Uttapam batter is made up of 1 portion of urad dal and 3 portions of rice. One half of the rice is boiled rice and other half is kolam or basmati or any rice other than boiled rice. Rice and dal are washed separately and left overnight to soak well and after grinding them very fine separately, they are mixed well and left to ferment in a warm place for 12 to 18 hours.
 To make the Uttapams : 

• Put your non-stick pan or tawa on burner and heat it up to medium heat. Use a serving spoon to spread the batter thick, spread a tsp of oil on sides (optional) take a handful of all the ingredients ( tomatoes,onions,chillies and dill) and spread over one side of the uttappam( side facing you- do this while the batter is still wet so that the veggies settle into the batter well).Cover the pan for a while.
•  Fire should be between medium and low. When it is ready (light brown) remove the lid and turn the Uttapam with the help of a spatula.
• Allow it to bake for a while without the lid now. Turn it once more and keep it for less than a minute to make it crisp.
•  Serve with sambar and coconut chutney

Spring Onion Parathas

Ingredients:

• -2 cups maida
• -2 cups atta or wheat flour
• -salt to taste
• -5-6 spring onions
• -very finely chopped green chillis (can be omitted for kids)
• -water to knead the dough
• -2 tsps oil
• -butter for frying the paranthas
• 
  
• Directions:
• 

1. Make a not very hard dough of maida (plain flour), atta(wheat flour), salt and very finely chopped spring onions. You may add finely grated green chillis also.
2. Add 2 tsps oil and set aside for half an hour
3. Roll each parantha into a circle of 6"diameter and fry in hot tava adding butter on both sides till golden brown. 

Serve hot with Tomato pickle or Raita.

Breakfast Special : Egg Bhurjee

We had an eggalicious weekend!! :):) Hubby and I just L.O.V.E our eggie breakfasts on weekends - so I decided to make a bhurjee [scrambled eggs but desi style]

You will need :

3 eggs - nicely beaten

1 small onion and tomato - diced

1 green chilly

Get the ingredients chopped and ready. Meanwhile whisk the eggs in a bowl and set aside.

Toss the onions in a bit of oil and saute well. Add tomato and the chilly

I do not know what is the traditional way to make it. But this is what I usually do - scrape the onion mixture to the side of your wok and pour in the eggs on the other side. Let it form into an omelette and then break it up.

Add salt and half a tsp of garam masala

Garnish with coriander and serve with pav [Indian bread bun]

Carrot Rava Adai

One of my quick inventions for breakfast. This is a filling and delicious adai.

Ingredients :
1 cup carrot ( grated)
2 cups rava/semolina/sooji
2 green chillies ( chopped)
3-4 tbsps corriander leaves ( chopped) 
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 tsp red chilli pwd.
salt to taste.


Method :
Mix all the ingredients (except oil) with water. Add the water, little by little to make a thick batter. 

Make sure the tawa is hot, before pouring a ladle of batter onto it. This adai, will not be thin like a dosa, it will be slightly thicker. 

Hence to ensure even cooking, after spreading the batter ;drizzle a little oil around the adai and in the center. Shut the dosa with a lid till the upper portion gets cooked properly .

Once it is cooked, remove the lid and turn the adai, to make it crisp like the other side. 


Serve hot, with pudina chutney. 

Neer dosa with Tomato Chutney

Neer Dosa is a special kind of dosa from Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada) prepared from rice. Neer in Kannada means ‘Water’. Neer dosa is prepared by grinding soaked rice into a thin watery batter and then made into pancakes (thin) on hot griddle. Neer dosa is very easy to prepare as you can make it without much planning and is easy to make and tasty too. The best part is this dosa does not require any fermentation. This dosa comes out lacy thin and white

Ingredients

2 cups Raw rice (Sona Masoori)
Salt to taste
Water (to grind)

Oil to make dosa

To prepare Batter

Wash 2 cups of rice and soak it in water for around 3-4 hours, I usually soak it overnight.
Grind soaked rice to a fine paste with 1 cup water. Shift the batter into bowl and then add, salt, enough water to make a thin batter (a little thicker than water approx 2- 2 ½ cups). Keep aside for sometime, usually they say it should sit for couple of hours but it’s optional. I generally leave it for an hour or so in a warm place.

To prepare Dosas
Heat a dosa tava (hot) pour 1 ladleful of mixture in centre. Spread to make a round flat pancake shape, tilt griddle in all directions to allow batter to spread thinly. Or else you can splash the batter from little above on the hot griddle (like ravva dosa), drizzle little oil around the edges. After a minute or so you will see the dosa’s edges will start to separate from the pan. When done flip over, drizzle a little oil, cook for a minute. Fold in half and then quarter like a kerchief.

For the roasted tomato chutney... 

Ingredients : 

-8 tomatoes ( Ripe)
-5-6 red chillies
- Methi seeds - 1 tsp
-2 onions - Chopped in 2 halves
-5-6 cloves of garlic
-ginger paste
- Jaggery - 5 tbsp
-mustard seeds - 1 tsp
-Salt ( to taste)
- Oil - 2tbsp


Method 
Roast all the ingredients except the Mustard seeds in a nonstick pan or kadhai. 
2. Once the tomatoes have become pulpy ,mashed and give out a good aroma , take it off the gas.( don't keep it too long, or it will burn)

3. After it has cooled grind it to a fine paste ( you can add a little water if the paste is too thick  along with salt. 

4. Temper the chutney with mustard seeds. 

Paneer Pudine ka Paratha

Ingredients:-

Wheat Flour - 250gms

Pudina 1 cup (chopped finely)

Panner 1-1/2 cup (grated)

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tblsp

Jeera powder - 1 tsp

Green Chillies ( finely chopped) - 3

Lemon juice- 3 tbsp

Salt as per taste

Oil/ghee

Method:-

-Combine wheat flour and salt into a smooth dough.

- Mix crumbled paneer,pudina ,salt, Jeera powder, ginger-garlic paste,green chillies & lemon juice.

-Roll out small disc, place 2tbsp of the stuffing and close the edges

-Flatten it and dust it with more flour and roll out until the stuffing is not seen

-Fry on non-stick tawa with oil.

(TIP : I put the paneer in some hot water before i crumbled it. It makes it very soft and supple.)

Dosa

Ingredients for the batter:

-Parboiled rice (ukda chawal) : 2 3/4 cups

-Rice raw rice :   1/4 cup

-Split black gram skinless  (urad dal) : 1 cup

-Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds ) :   1 tspn

-Salt  (to taste)  & Oil as required...

Method to make Batter :

Wash and soak both the rice for atleast four hours. Wash and soak the urad dal also for atleast four hours. Drain and mix. Grind to a fine batter adding water as required. Transfer the batter in a deep vessel, cover with a tight fitting lid and keep it in a dark and warm place overnight to ferment. Since its the winters these days in Bangalore, I keep the batter under the gas stove and that keeps it warm. 

So i make the batter in the morning and then through the day, with all the cooking that takes place on the gas, the batter is kept warm.

Just before making the dosas, add salt to taste and mix lightly

Method to make Dosa:

Heat a tawa. Drizzle a little oil and wipe with a wet cloth so that the tawa is at the right temperature. Drop a ladle full of batter on the tawa and spread it in a circular motion as thin as possible. Drizzle a little oil all around and let the dosa cook on medium heat. When ready the edges will begin to separate from the tawa. Gently run an imaginary line in the middle and close the dosa to make a half circle and serve hot with Dosai chutney podi , chutney and sambhar.

Dosai milagaipodi ( Chutney pwd)

Bread Dosa

Bread Dosa..

Ingredients : 

• 10 slices White Bread
• 1/2 cup Semolina (rawa/suji)
• 1 tsp Rice Flour
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp Split Black Gram Skinless (Dhuli Urad Dal)
• 1 medium Onion (chopped)
• 1-2 Green Chillies (chopped)
• 1/2 inch piece Ginger (chopped)
• 2-3 Curry Leaves (chopped)
• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 2 tsp Yogurt (whisked)
• Oil to deep fry 

Method : 
- Take the bread slices, cut the brown edges and soak it in water for two minutes. Squeeze out the excess water and gently crush the bread. Keep aside. 

-In a bowl, take semolina, rice flour, salt and water and make a thin batter. Add the crumbled bread and yogurt to the batter and blend it well in a mixer. Pour it out in a clean bowl and check the consistency.

passing the rice flour through a sieve to avoid lumps

Semolina and rice flour mixed together to make a light batter

Adding the batter ,crushed bread & yoghurt into the mixer

Checking the batter for consistency

-In a pan, heat two tablespoons of oil and add mustard seeds, black gram, curry leaves, chopped ginger, green chillies, onion and sauté till light brown. Allow it to cool a little and then mix it to the batter.

Chopped ginger,chillies and onions... 

Add the Urad dal and mustard seeds

Sautéing the onions, chillies and ginger in the kadhai

Sautéing the onions, chillies and ginger in the kadhai

 -Take a dosa tawa, dab it with a little oil and wipe it with a clean wet cloth.-Pour a big spoonful of the batter onto the hot tawa and spread wide.

-Drizzle a little oil on top and sides and cook for two to three minutes. Turn and cook the other side till brown and crisp.

-Serve with Mint chutney.