Lasaniya Batata (Garlic Flavoured potatoes in Yogurt gravy)

I have been posting recipes from other bloggers, this is my turn now, I got this recipe from my sister's book, even though she never cooks this as my BIL never allows Garlic inside the house. It's so funny when he asks me to make pulov, I love using Garlic in my pulav and he never allows me to use it, so I get satisfied using a ginger-garlic paste (which he doesn't know!).
I had copied this recipe when I went last time, but never bothered to try it out, when I called her for a gujarati recipe she reminded me of this. I had to tweak this recipe a little bit, I had some potatoes already boiled and peeled, I did not know what to do with it, so I squashed them added a bit of salt and  I made small potato balls just like small New potatoes, and then used less Garlic than the recipe indicated.

LASANIYA BATATA

INGREDIENTS:
8 small Potatoes
4 to 5 Garlic cloves
1 tbsp of chilli powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
1 and 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
few sprigs of coriander leaves
1/2 cup of Bengal Gram flour
1 and 1/2 cup of water
2 to 3 cups of yogurt
salt as required

METHOD:
Cook the potatoes peel the skin, (as I had already told you, I used the potatoes in a different way, as they were left over).
Take a wok heat 3 to 4 tbsp of oil and fry the potatoes into golden brown.
Meanwhile In a bowl take bengal gram flour using water make a paste to this add the other powders and keep it ready.
To this itself I added cumin seeds when it crackled  I added chopped garlic, do not fry it too much just a little bit.
Then to this add the flour paste, do not make it too thick, let it be in thin consistency boil this, until the raw smell disappears, do not leave it unattended as it will start thickening and might get stuck to the bottom !!, stir it continuously for further 10 to 15 minutes then add the roasted potatoes and chopped coriander leaves, required quantity of salt and yogurt, mix well and keep stirring continuously  for further 10 minutes, do not stop stirring otherwise yogurt and water split apart! It's just like making Morkuzhambu, If you are scared it is better to mix them well and leave it for 2 or 3 minutes and watch the edge of the curry you can see small bubbles popping up, then it's time to put off the stove, otherwise they split apart.
I simply gave an other tadka/seasoning with a tsp of mustard seeds, 1 Red chilli and a sprig of curry leaves.

I wanted to make Jagruti's Bajri Na Rotla to go with my Barwa Baingan, I couldn't locate my flour, I was quite disappointed, check out her blog on that, she has some lovely Gujrati recipes from her kitchen, and she calls them Kem cho series.
I am sending this to Flavours of Gujarat by simply food sensations.

Bharwa Baingan- A Gujarati cuisine

I think I have around 6 to 7 of this stuffed Brinjal recipes!, here is another one of them it is lucky you know It is already getting posted, poor others which are still in a draft state hoping to see the screen soon. Again this one I found from this blog called A2Z Vegetarian Cuisine, which has numerous Gujarati recipes in their blog, As always I look for the vegetables I have and cook before they hit the bins and on the way was small Brinjals another day or two it would have hit the bin, and this recipe caught me, beautiful photograph, not like mine though. check out her blog for more information on Brinjals.
I made a small change as I had just around 7 small Brinjals I couldn't feed my army, I decided to Increase this Dry curry with an other acceptable vegetable potatoes, she had used only two I used around 7 to 8 of them.
Here goes the recipe....

BHARWA BAINGAN

INGREDIENTS:
6 TO 7 Small Brinjals
7 to 8 medium sized Potatoes
3 tbsp of Roasted Bengal gram flour
3 tbsp Roasted peanut powder
2 tsp Coriander powder
1/4tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 and 1/2 tbsp Chilli powder
3 tbsp grated dessicated coconut
1 tsp Finely Chopped Garlic
1 tsp Amchur powder
1 tsp Sesame seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
4 to 5 tbsp of oil
chopped coriander leaves to garnish
1 sprig of curry leaves
Salt as required

METHOD:
In a bowl mix all the powders cumin, asafoetida, coriander, turmeirc, peanut, bengal gram flour, coconut, amchur, garlic, sesame seeds mix everything together and keep aside with a little bit of salt.
Take the potatoes, peel them cut into nice big chunks and boil them in a bowl, with a pinch of salt, by the time you get the Brinjals ready the potatoes would have cooked.
Meanwhile wash the brinjals cut their heads of slit them into 4 not completely till the 3/4th of the vegetable so they stay intact, fill each one of them with ready mixture, I coated all the Brinjals with oil too... and set them aside.
Next take a wok heat 4 to 5 tbsp of oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, when they splutter and change colour add the stuffed brinjals slowly roast them and cover it with a lid add a sprig of curry leaves, Meanwhile your potatoes would be ready, drain out the liquid, then coat the left over mixture to the potatoes with a 2 tbsp of oil, and then add this with Brinjals in the wok, Now and then take out the cover and saute it carefully not to break the cooking cuties, add a one or two tsp of oil so they get roasted very well sprinkle a little bit of water while coating the potatoes, add a bit of salt (remember that you have already added salt while cooking potatoes and in the mixture fillling the Brinjals), When they get cooked well and the potatoes too get roasted well, it's well and done.

I am sending this to Flavours of Gujarat event hosted by simply sensational food.

Sukhdi or Golpapdi - A Gujarati dessert

Another One from Asha's Gujarati cuisine, which was interesting to try out, She said that it was a Great and authentic Gujarati delicacy. whatever it is my H loved it as much as I did, don't look at her photo and wonder how does it ever compare with mine, I made it like a halwa and popped it into a plate, Check out her blog at the link above to look at this beautiful click of sweet carved out into a heart, then make it and eat it, it's really nice not too sweet and good for health as it is made with wheat flour!,  searching for Gujarati recipes I stumbled into an other blog called Enjoy Indian food by Meera, who has got loads of Gujarati dishes dished out in her kitchen, and writes about the same sweet, and explains why it is called Gol papdi even though it is not Gol (round) in shape, she says Gol means Jaggery. Try out her version too...

SUKHDI OR GOLPAPDI

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Cup Ghee
1 Cup Wheat flour
3/4th cup Brown sugar/ white sugar/Jaggery
1tbsp of poppy seeds
1 tsp of cardamom powder

METHOD:
Heat Ghee in a kadai, when hot add poppy seeds, then add wheat flour and start stirring continuously until you get a nice aroma of a roasted flour, then add the sugar and mix well, add cardamom and 2 tbsp of milk, it starts leaving out the sides, flatten it and cut it into squares and you can decorate with cashew, raisins or blanched almonds.
I removed it before it became more like a cake, It was a like brown mass, and later it became hard not to bite though, It was delicious. I used to both brown sugar and Jaggery to make this sweet
I am sending this to simply food who is hosting the flavours of Gujarat.

Lilva Pulao

Good morning!, I know you must be wondering what am I doing at 5:30am, God knows why I am out of sleep, I have been going through Migraine attacks from past week, consuming loads of tablets to get me through my day to day life has changed my sleeping, eating, and grumbling of my tummy is becoming too much for me. Tossing and turning over on the bed, didn't bring back my sleep, so...?, I decided to get up and with a cup of masala chai, I decided to write this post up, that was my Good morning!
Back to the post, when I saw this event ''Flavours of Gujarat''  from simplyfood, I was very interested in participating, as I love different kinds of flavours in spices and cuisines from various places. I didn't want to miss this one. I started searching for recipes, I remembered reading about RCI Gujarat in Foodelicious blog, Of course, everybody knows about Asha I think, what a fabulous blog she has with such varied recipes, I have Bookmarked so many of her recipes, and I have tried a few of them, here is one of them.
Please do visit Asha's blog for her Gujarati cuisine and her little Intro on Gujarat which is interesting.
I have a little intimacy with Gujarat as I visited Gujarat twice because of my sister who lived there for few years, even today my sister loves that place she lived in a place called Umbergauv (I suppose that is how it is spelt), she still visits this place often during Holi to meet her friends. Oh!, when I started writing this I am remembering lot of things incidents took place during my visits, one of them was funny, hilarious and scary too..
A few years back when my kids were small, My parents, aunt, me and my kids went to visit my sis, it was a long journey and of course we did enjoy the long train journey, passing through all those tunnels and munching loads of things, looking through the window and enjoying the beautiful scenery, I will stop here now otherwise I might write the whole journey, ok the day we reached came home, had a lovely bath, had food slept for a while got up in the evening had tea, packed some snacks and decided to visit the beach which is just 4 to 5 miles from her house, My BIL made two Autos, My sis, me, mum, niece and my eldest in one auto then My BIL, Dad, Aunt and my twins  in an other Auto. My BIL was telling the Rickshawals very strictly that he shouldn't allow anybody else in both the vehicles, I never understood anything, chup-chap se baita (quietly I sat) and then asked my sis what was going on and she told me that here in umbergaov, the rickshawalas take as many people as they want!, I was thinking how could that be possible, when we went a few yards my sis showed me some Autos and I was dumbfounded, I was telling her this is such a small vehicle and what were they trying to do, 4 to 5 adults squeezed in the back and two adults on each side of the driver's seat, can you believe it ? Oh! my God!, what if the Auto topples, and she even told me our Automan was driving little better than those ones as BIL had warned them!, the roads were so narrow and an other vehicle which can pass through can only be a two wheeler, after being said and done my Autowala stopped at one junction and allowed a woman to sit next to him and dropped her some place, I was keeping my fingers crossed till we reached our destination.  After that we walked down to the beach and were enjoying the sea with our little ones, 1/2 an hour passed the other Auto never turned up when we called my BIL's mobile he said not to panic and they were on their way, but they came 2 hours late, and it was getting darker and I saw my BIL afar limping down and my Dad, Aunt and kids trailing behind him, within few minutes my BIL was surrounded by few people and kids came running, they hugged and cried. I didn't know what happened, then when we all sat down, out came the story, their Rickshawala also took a woman to drop her nearby but so rashly he was driving he went into a small pothole, even though it was small because of his rash driving the Auto toppled everybody in the Auto were thrown out, that women was admitted in the hospital, All the three adults had minor injuries, my kids had some rashes but they were in such a shock. It took almost a year for my kids to accept travelling in an Auto was not really all that bad, Dad and Aunt had some health problems for a month and we tried to make most of our holiday a success. I still love to go back there sometime, everybody in the flat were so friendly and so caring. I owe these recipes to the unforgettable experience I had and when thinking back, I have a hearty laugh, I and love to try all the recipes from that state. Coming back to the recipe, it is a simple and tasty dish, which has the flavour of Lilva beans.
The fresh Lilva beans-Surti papdi-Avarekaalu-Vaal beans has a unique flavour which is really mouthwatering, people in south India, enjoy this in various dishes.

LILVA BEANS / VAAL BEANS / AVAREKAALU PULAO

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup of Lilva beans ( I used dried ones)
1 and 1/2 cup Basmati Rice
Salt as required
2 cloves
1'' cinnamon stick

Grind to paste:
1/2 cup Coriander leaves
4 Green chillies
2 to 3 cloves
1'' Ginger

I did not make it the way Asha made it, she cooked the rice separately.

METHOD:
As I had no fresh or frozen beans, I soaked the beans previous night as I used 1/2 cup it usually doubles up to almost a cup as it swells. Clean the water, Boil the beans for sometime until you make everything else ready and do not throw away this water use it when cooking everything together.
Grind coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, and chillies into a paste (The paste was not too smooth as she said not to add water).
In a pressure cooker, heat oil then add the dry Ingredients once they change colour, add the ground paste and saute it for a few minutes until the raw smell disappears, Then add the Lilva beans mix well, add the required quantity of water and  ( water is 1: 1 and 3/4th ),  washed Basmati rice and required quantity of salt. Closed the lid of the cooker and in a low flame allow it cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
Now it is ready and garnish with coriander and serve it with some raitha.

I am sending this to Flavours of Gujarat event by simply food

Beetroot Pulav

Hi everybody, hope all of you have been doing well, well, I have not been, after a long time I have been stuck with Migraine, but I had to do this really, as I cooked everything and I want to share with you all ! as how much I enjoyed cooking and the family enjoyed eating.
:) well, I didn't mean this Rice, H hates Beetroots, kids and me we love this veggie, even though I don't like it when it colours everything around you.  I always cook this veggie when H is not at home !, so this was one of those days I made this rice.

BEETROOT RICE

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup of chopped Beetroots

1 and 1/2 cups Basmati Rice

4 to 5 sprigs of coriander leaves

2 sprigs of curry leaves

Salt as required

2 Bay leaves

2 cloves

1'' cinnamon

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp of Coriander powder

1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of Garam masala

4 tbsp of oil

Wet Ingredients:

1'' Ginger piece

3 Cloves of Garlic

1 Onion

3 to 4 Green chillies

2 to 3 tbsp of fresh coconut

METHOD:

First of all wash the beetroots, I had small beetroots so I used around 3 of them, peel and chop them into small cubes and set aside.

Peel the skins of Ginger, Garlic and onions and chop them and grind them with all the other Ingredients under the heading wet Ingredients and keep aside.

I always use my big wok or Pressure cooker when making pulav, Heat 4 tbsp of oil, add the whole spices, cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, Bay leaves after a minute add the Beetroots and the Grounded masala paste and keep stirring otherwise it starts sticking,  fry it some more time, then add all the spice powders, curry leaves and then Water.

I always add 1 : 1 and 3/4th  of water while cooking Basmati rice, and for 1/2 cup add an other 3/4th cup of water.

Then wash Basmati rice just once and add it to the wok or pressure cooker with required quantity of salt mix well and chopped coriander leaves then close the lid.

I usually keep the flame completely low and leave it for exactly 20 minutes and absolutely you are right, it gets cooked very well. If I am using a pressure cooker I just put it off after 15 to 20 minutes, but if it is wok I can lift up and see right ?.

Well, That's it, the Rice is ready, allow it cool a little bit, and you can separate the grains carefully and serve it with Raitha of your choice.

Something things you should know about Beetroot,well you might be aware of it, I suppose it's nothing wrong in writing again though isn't it ? First of all I am no authority on this, this is from lot of sources.....

Beet roots (Beta Vulgaris) is Rich in Vitamin C, Calcium, Phosphorous and Iron. As it is very rich in fibre, low in calories and little fat they say that improves bowel movement so it is good for people suffering from Constipation, It is good especially relating to digestive and the blood. Pigment molecule betamin protects against oxidation stress, It reduces toxicity cleans the liver, gall bladder and kidneys. It increases Stamina, Blood cell count, purification of blood, It helps in lowering cholesterol too. It is said that people suffering from Anemia, Alzheimer's and Cancer.

They say drinking Raw Beetroot juice than cooking it keeps all its qualities intact.
I sending this to Healing food Beetroots hosted by Priya of Mharorajastan, who has some fabulous recipes, I always look for different style of cooking, spices etc., which I see in her blog. The Healing food event was started by Siri. Priya has written a paragraph about the Beetroots check out her blog and she has got this from this Info source. check that out too...

Green Tomato Pickle and Green Tomato Khorma

I know this is so tyring for me, doing last minute entries, well, I am always like that I think, I told you in my last post that I have been in her kitchen looking for recipes matching with my Ingredients in my pantry, fridge, freezer, Garden etc., yes, your guess is absolutely right!, I have been growing some veggies in my garden you must have seen lataji mentioning so in my comment section I had few plants growing, actually I was not really happy about it, as the weather keeps changing the best I could get was the pepper, chillies, swiss chard and Tomatoes, that's right, I will be posting a recipe today with Home grown Tomatoes, Tried and tested from Aparna's kitchen.
Here is a click of my Tomatoes, which I took , not a good one though.
I had to try out something of my own, but T & T was hosted, as I was searching through the recipes I saw these recipes..

So, I had a bunch of Green Tomatoes, few of them were turning red too..., just today I plucked a few red ones!

Don't they look lovely, coming to the recipe..

GREEN TOMATO PICKLE

Does it look nice?, Mmmm.., it was too gorgeous I should say, especially my son loved it so much, he wants to make it with remaining Green tomatoes!, It was a great hit in the family, I made only so much as I used some for the Kurma, so it lasted only 2 days, because kept eating with anything and everything! thanks Aparna for this lovely recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

6 TO 7 Green Tomatoes

3 tbsp of sesame seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp of Fenugreek powder (I used Schwartz fenugreek powder)

1/2 tsp of Mustard powder (I used Colman's mustard powder)

2 tsp of Chilli powder

Salt as required (sorry I forgot to measure it :) )

1/4 tsp of Jaggery

1Sprig of Curry leaves

METHOD:

Wash and cut the tomatoes in half and again into half and again into halves (1/4), To this add the  Chilli powder, Jaggery and salt mix well and leave it aside.

Take a wok, heat oil add mustard seeds, when it splutters, add the curry leaves and do not make it burn, add the marinated Tomatoes immediately, stir well, allow the tomatoes to cook for about 5 minutes, they should cook without losing the skin or becoming mushy. Then add the fenugreek powder, mustard powder and leave it for an other 2 minute or so, and then take off the heat.

After it cools down you can bottle it up and Aparna says you have to refrigerate it and stays good up to one week.

I did not bottle them up or put them in the fridge as I made only so much which you can see in the cup and it stayed in my counter top.

GREEN TOMATO KHORMA

INGREDIENTS:

7 t 8 Green Tomatoes

3/4 th Cup Yogurt

2 Green Chillies

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

4 to 5 tbsp of oil

1 sprig curry leaves

4 to 5 sprigs of Coriander leaves

1 Sprig of curry leaves

2 bay leaves

TO GRIND

1 Big Onion

1/2 '' Ginger

3 to 4 Garlic pods

1/2 tbsp Poppy seeds

4 tbsp of freshly Grated coconut

2 cloves

1 Cardamom

1 Green chilli

METHOD:

Cut the Tomatoes into 4 pieces and keep aside. Take all the Ingredients from the Grind and make it into a paste.  Take a wok heat oil add Green chillies, Turmeric powder and  Bay leaves fry for a minute then add the ground paste and fry until all the raw smells disappear and oil oozes out, then add the chopped tomatoes and fry for few minutes then add a cup of water.

Meanwhile when it is cooking take the yogurt, add the Garam masala chopped coriander leaves, sugar, mix well, and add this to the cooked Tomatoes, do not boil after yogurt is added otherwise it will curdle and spoil the curry. you can leave it in the wok for a few minutes stirring continuously so that it doesn't curdle. Take off the heat and serve hot with chappatis 

or with Rice like my husband had. 

well, anyways, it was a great dish, we all loved it, thanks Aparna for the lovely dishes...

Hope valli will accept this last one entry I still had an other two, I think I will just post it later on for some other events.

I am sending this of to zlamushka's Tried and tested event hosted by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles and this month is hosted by valli of cooking4allseasons.

I am also sending this  to Nupur's , it's been a long time, I entered her event, I love her blog I especially chose these dishes keeping Nupur's Iron chef edition event in mind, I have missed so many of her events, even though I cooked from other blogs but never could post them :(, and I really didn't want to miss this event and when I saw these recipes, I thought this was perfect, Hope Nupur accepts this and likes it, I am truthful here Nupur, I really did this for your event, I would like to participate in these kind of events as I have always told that I always look for new recipes and try and cook something new every day from other blogs.

Red Velvet Cup Cakes (? )- or shall I call it Beets cup cakes

When I saw this in her blog, I was so interested because of two things, one is the bright colour and the other is the beetroots. As I have told you in my previous posts, she does a lot of Ground work and you have to read about it in her blog. She says it is so famous in US and goes on telling a story about a lady who was impressed that she really wanted to try it out on her own and asked for the recipe, but was refused and proceeded on buying the recipe and was charged so much, I mean a way too much, that she took her revenge by giving the recipe to every one!
She even quotes from New york times, which I think you should read it in her blog and here is the link to the original recipe. She has a group of twitter friends who experiment new things and this was one of them, she says she adopted this recipe from Hannah's seeing Red, I adopted this from her blog with the changes she made to the originally recipe. The only variation I did was getting very tempted I added my flax seed mixture. Check out her blog about all the information about this gorgeous looking cakes.
As she says the cakes sold used the Red colour or the beetles, which we cannot use as a vegetarian she says substituting beets was a wonderful trick. and it certainly looked Red.

EGGLESS RED VELVET CUP CAKES

INGREDIENTS:

1 and 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

1 and 1/4 cup Sugar

1 and 1/2 tbsp Cocoa powder

1 and 1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 Cup Pureed beets

1/3 cup oil

3  tbsp Lemon Juice

1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp Flax seed

METHOD:

First of all I took fresh medium sized beets as Aparna did, peeled and cooked them until soft, with 2 to 3 tbsp of water make it into a puree and keep aside until needed.

Mix all the flour, sugar, cocoa,  and Baking powder and salt in a bowl, then take an other bowl whisk together Pureed beets,oil, lemon juice, flax seed powder, vanilla extract lightly so they all combine together well, then pour the dry ingredients mix well combined pour this into 12 cups equally.

Bake the cakes at 180c for about 20 to 25 minutes (I took a little longer), it totally depends on your ovens, insert a tooth pick to check if it is done then cool them on a wire rack.

Once it is cooled decorate it with any frosting of your choice, Aparna tells us that it is usually served with a butter roux frosting or cream cheese frosting.

But she has served it a mascarpone frosting, She has made her own mascarpone cheese but I used shop bought, as I had not planned on this, and on a whim I made these cup cakes!

So, here goes how you have to make this frosting....

MASCARPONE FROSTING:

3/4th cup cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup Mascarpone cheese

1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD:

Beat the chilled cream first until stiff add sugar and vanilla essence and beat well until it incorporates well, I used a masher and break open the mascarpone lumps, Add this to the whipped cream and beat on well just as long as it gets well Incorporated into the cream, as she points it is quite soft and is better to keep it refrigerated,

Then I decorated the cup cakes as I desired.

My Verdict:  The cakes were good as any eggless cakes were, the frosting made it extra special, kids liked it but not too much as they thought it was weird to use beets in a cake!, then I sent some to my friends who said it was quite nice and liked it!, My husband never touched it as he hates Beetroots!, I have to always beg him or forcefully make him eat the dry curry I usually make.

Take an other look at my Red cup cakes..........

The cakes were not only RED but my hands were too..

I am sending this of to Tried and tested event of Zlamushka's, being carried on by Lakshmi and this month hosted by valli of cooking4allseasons.
Hope valli will still accept my entries, as I have tried but not able to post them on time...

Savoury Spring Onion and Paneer Rolls

Another day another recipe from her kitchen to mine, I am cooking my way through her kitchen I think almost every day. Should I say almost everyday, I made something for my kids again which they immensely enjoyed, they said it was Gorgeous, thanks Aparna.
I was looking through my fridge, and I saw this tupperware box and of course I suddenly remembered what was Inside this, That was my paneer, which I had made, 3 days back, yes, I thought I should do something, started with a subji and ended making these Paneer Rolls, when I was searching through her blog for pasta recipes, This one caught my attention and I had thought I should make this someday as it is a savoury and has cheese, both of which my kids will relish.
Here comes the recipe and a little things which I need to tell you about it through Aparna's research and her own words quote and unquote!, She says about these rolls in her blog....

'' This recipe for the dough is adapted from the Yeasted Breakfast Bread Dough in my Tassajara Bread Book. I used this dough because it is less rich compared to the dough usually used for cinnamon rolls. I made some adjustments to the dough recipe and made it egg-free as well.
I guess the tweaking of the recipe is fine as the author of the book, Edward Espe Brown himself says,
       ''Recipes do not belong to anyone-- given to me, I give them to you.  Recipes are only a guide, a skeletal   framework, to be fleshed out according to your nature and desire.  Your life, your love, will bring these recipes into full  creation (p.vi).''
She says these rolls come out soft and savoury filling makes it more tastier and can be served as a snack or with a soup''

SAVOURY SPRING ONION AND PANEER ROLLS

INGREDIENTS:

For the dough: Part I
1 Cup Luke warm Water
2 tbsp Honey
1 3/4th Active dry yeast
1/3 Cup dry milk (milk powder)
1 tsp Ground Flax seed powder in 1 tbsp water (or an egg)
1 1/2 cups of Whole wheat Flour ( I used 1 cup of Whole wheat Flour and 1/2 cup Rye Flour)

Part II:
3 tbsp Oil ( I used butter)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Roasted and Crushed Cumin seeds
1 tsp roasted and crushed cumin seeds powder
1 Cup All Purpose Flour (plain flour)
About 1/2 cup or so flour for kneading

FOR THE FILLING:

1 and 1/2 cups of chopped spring onions greens and whites
1/2 cup of sweet corn (I used fresh)
1tsp oil
1 and 1/2 cup crumbled paneer
1 to 1 and 1/2 tsp of Red chilli flakes (or according to taste)
1 tsp of Italian herbs
salt to taste
Cheddar cheese for topping

Sweet corn Spring Onion and paneer filling ready to go into the bread

METHOD:
In a bowl dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water and honey.  leave it for a few minutes, you can see the kind of foam forming up. Beat flax seed and water then add this to the bowl, add milk powder (or egg) mix well.  Add the whole wheat flour and mix into a batter and beat well (Brown says 100 strokes so Aparna says in her blog)
Cover with a cling film or whatever method you use to let your dough rise. Allow it to rise to double in size.

Now when it is rising make your filling use all of the spring onions cut them into thin slices, crumble your paneer and keep your sweet corn ready. Take a wok, add a tsp of oil add the onions and saute it for a minute, do not saute it too much let it remain green and crunchy then add the sweet corn and saute for an other 2 minutes then add chilli flakes, Italian herbs and salt to taste, put off the stove allow it to cool and then add the crumbled paneer, now your filling is ready.

Check out the dough if it rised take it out, add crushed cumin and black pepper and butter or oil and fold in and  add the 1 cup flour and knead till the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Place the dough on a floured surface and knead it for 5 to 10  minutes with floured hands, as the dough will be stickPlace the dough on a floured surface, into a smooth dough, cover and leave the dough to rise again to double in size.
Once it is double in size, punch it lightly, then flour the surface and roll into a rectangle as Aparna says I made two halves and rolled them into rectangles into 1/4'' thick do not make it too thin, then keep the longer side facing towards you, then spread the filling leaving the space free in edges.
Dipping your finger in water wet the dough in the edges, Roll the dough rectangle tightly and seal the edges and cut them into 6 pieces place the cut side up in a greased tin giving space between them so they might expand and allow it to rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven 1/2 an hour before brush the rolls with milk and  bake the rolls  at 190c for 20 minutes, after 1/2 way through fill the top with grated cheese and bake them again for further 10 to 15 minutes so the rolls are well baked and cheese is melted and the rolls are browned.
serve warm.

MY VERDICT : I did everything as she had told, valli had told not to tweak recipes, I tried to stick on to it, but when I saw my left over rye flour I couldn't resist, then added some sweet corns in the filling as my kids like it, The flour was not sticky as Aparna said in its first level itself it was like a dough, I do not know it might be because of rye flour, I did not add too much flour later on, I just dipped my hand in the flour while I was kneading  the dough turned out very well, and the result was perfect.
My kids just loved it, they said it was amazing..., thanks for the recipe Aparna....
Of course needless to say I am sending this of to valli's Tried and tested event started by zlamushka, which is being taken care of by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles.

I would also like to send this to Bake off event and it is also yeast spotted.

Fusilli with Roasted Red Pepper(capsicum) and Tomato sauce

Hi all, Hope you are all doing well, I have this habit of checking all the events in the blogging world  and try to cook something out from either my own creations/books/blogs. well, I should say I really enjoy rather I should say the whole family enjoy the different kind of menus we have everyday, I even take photos of what I have dished out, but I would say a big BUT, have they ever made themselves visible or appeared in my blog Oops!, that is the big question, I never get time to post them on time, As we all know our dear fellow blogger and a wonderful friend to me, who mails me and writes to me, when ever I need her, my Inspiration to the baking world and my introduction to daring bakers and other baking blogs, I have already told you about her in my many previous posts, I even write her name when ever I join something telling them I came to their blog/event through her. When I am writing my intro I feel I owe it to her, I am hoping someday I would like to meet her.  So, all this introduction was to tell you people I did not want to miss this opportunity to participate in  Zlamushka's Tried and Tested event which is now being taken care of by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles, being hosted this month by our dear Queen of MW Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons!.
I have a few to post, hoping at least I will post some of them...
As I had already told that my kids love for pasta, as Aparna says her Akshya loves pasta and pitza, my kids are none less the same, I think this applies to most of the kids around the world, My second daughter has become an expert on cooking pasta, she makes her own Tomato sauce by changing the spices she includes in them!, only thing I need to provide her is pasta and passata or pureed Tomatoes as she hates Tomatoes if she ever finds skin of tomatoes in her plate, she says she doesn't know why she can't swallow them!, but if it is completely mashed it's fine for her!, well and good for me when they are hungry, I know at least they don't wait until I come back home, she makes pasta for everybody.
That's how I planned to make this one, when I came back home, she had already started cooking pasta, so, I took over from there, as I remembered Aparna's Penne with Roasted Red Pepper (Capsicum) and Tomato sauce, is what I was going to do...

FUSILLI WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER (CAPSICUM) AND TOMATO SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

300 of Fusilli

1 tsp of Olive oil

FOR THE SAUCE:

2 Big red peppers
2 Big Tomatoes
1 Big Onion
2 to 3 tbsp of Olive oil
1 tsp Red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp of Ginger-Garlic paste
4 tbsp of broken walnuts
1 tbsp of honey (optional)
1 tsp Italian herbs

METHOD:
Cook pasta as per the Instructions with a tsp of oil, this helps the pasta not sticking with each other, then drain out all the water and run cold water over it, which keeps them apart..
To make the sauce:
Brush the peppers and tomatoes with oil and grill/roast it on the stove top, this blisters the skin on the top remove the skin chop them and keep aside with both the vegetables.
Chop the onions with a tsp of oil saute them until they are brown in colour or caramelized, keep them aside to cool.
Once they are cool, Puree the sauteed Onions, Roasted Peppers, Tomatoes and walnuts.
Take a wok, heat 2 tbsp of oil, add G-G Paste, saute for a minute then add the pureed Tomato sauce add Salt, Chilli flakes, Italian Herbs and honey as per taste and may be 1/2 or 3/4 th cup of water to make that into a sauce consistency and allow it boil for few minutes.
Once the sauce is ready either mix the cooked Fusilli or serve it on top of it with choice of your cheese or eat it just like that.

My verdict : The plates were clean that meant the pasta was well liked, I had a eye on this recipe as I felt it very interesting because she had added walnuts in this, I felt this was a healthy dish to be Book marked, they had cheese on top to relish it more, hubby ate it just like that!, me as I am not a big fan of pasta I ate the sauce just like that to see if everything was perfect, may be I would have liked it bit more spicy but my kids loved it just the way it was!, thanks aparna.

Take a look at my pasta plate one more time....

I will try to come back tomorrow with few more recipes which I have tried from My Diverse Kitchen. take care, bye for now, Have a good day ahead....

Mango - Quinoa Halwa in Microwave

Hi Everybody, Hope you are all doing well, Days have been quite busy!, thank God!, school has reopened and I think life is going to back to normal, (should I say quite mechanical) whatever it is days are going to be different, at least for my kids, they will now be out from their couch!
I thought we will be left with a little bit of summer still, but there is no chance that's not going to happen, the gloomy weather is already on its way!, trying to tell us in its own way that the winter days are going to come soon.
It's raining from morning and I was thinking of bringing all my plants Indoors, well, I haven't told you have I :), During summer I really wanted to enjoy growing somethings in my garden, and I did really enjoyed it, I forgot blogging and thought I will do this first and later on blogging!, and it was such fun!, I will post some of my pics of my plants next time.
When this delightful lady announced this event, or shall I say every time she announced, I really wanted to give it a try, and I would just gape at all those lovely ladies, creating dishes in different shapes, colours, sizes, quantities etc. I wanted to give it a go!, but never really thought about it, My friend had come to visit me and when he left I thought I wanted to make some sweet quickly while I was cooking my traditional menu!, I just had mangoes which were too ripened and that was then I thought of making halwa, so I started of but twisted it a little bit by adding Quinoa making it more healthier. Anyway even though I made this before the deadline, I could never post it at all, and she is too quick for me, I thought of posting it the next day and ask her add me into her event, she already posted her round - up. well, even then thanks valli with your cooking with Microwave rubbing off on me I made this lovely Halwa and everybody enjoyed it!, only my son who ate 3/4th of it said, there was something weird!, I think the quinoa I tried to hide was something different for him!!
well, here goes the recipe..... and thanks to valli making me do something in Microwave very bravely :))

MANGO - QUINOA HALWA

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup Mango Pulp

1/4 Cup Quinoa

4 tbsp of Milk

3/4 th Cup Sugar

3/4 th Cup water

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

1/4 Cup Raisins

1/4 Cup Ghee

METHOD:

First of all I took around 4 mangoes, peeled the skin and cut them into pieces and blended them into a puree in my mixie, and it came up to 1 cup.

When I was cooking My MW was in high (800W) all the time.  Then  I cooked Quinoa in the Microwave with 3/4th cup of water, I Microwaved it till 7 for 2 times (I have shown a Photograph of my MW timer so you would know where the 7 is!).

Then I added Mango pulp and cooked it one more time till 7 one more time.

Then I added sugar and milk and cooked it 2 more time on 7 again

It became mushy and the whole thing was soggy and I added 2 tbsp of Ghee and mixed it well, and put it on 7 timer again and cooked again.

It started becoming thicker and starting to a halwa consistency after one more time on the 7 timer.

This is my MW timer I just wanted to show where the 7 on my timer was!

Then I took my MW pyrex bowl poured the left over ghee and raisins and put the timer on 2, Oh! the Grave mistake I made, but in the half that is when it came in between 0 and 1 I had to switch it of, as the house started getting a burnt smell the Raisins started burning!!, so, I could save some of them and I had to throw some to the bin as they were burnt, then I Garnished Halwa with Raisins and some Almond slices and served it hot. Take an other look at my cute little MW Halwa.

I am sending this to Lubna and Yasmeen's Ramdan event fasting to feasting, as I feel with quinoa it is a healthy diet too. and to Nivedita's MW - fruits event which of course was started by Srivalli of cooking for all seasons. Hope all of them like my MW - Halwa...., bye for now and will come back soon... take care..