Kabuli Kabab

You know how you come up with an idea. Then suddenly you find that that idea sort of takes over your life. And then you either lose sleep over it or you start dreaming about it the minute you fall asleep. I wish I could say this about my ambitions in life. At this point, I am only able to say that about food.

I’d been meaning to make chhole for ages. And the reason that I wanted to make it was not the craving for chhole or any such thing. It was so that I could make kababs from the leftovers. S was content eating the chhole as it was, but I stopped him on day three to make these little beauties. We argued a bit about why I had to turn the chhole into something else when it was perfectly good and was being consumed as is. I finally told him, “This is what I want to do with it. I’ve been dreaming about it. If it works well, you’ll love it.” He couldn’t say much about it. And the best part was that we both loved it.

1 cup Chhole
2-3 slices Bread
½ tsp Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Mash the chhole or puree it in a mixer. Add the bread slices and crumble them into this mixture. Add salt and chilli powder to taste. Make small balls and cook them in a lightly greased “Appey Kayli”. (You could also flatten the balls slightly and shallow fry them on a griddle.) Cook on each side for a couple of minutes. Serve with green chutney or tomato ketchup.

Since I used a non stick pan, I had low fat kababs. The oil that went into the chhole was the only oil in these. I will try this with different leftovers (like rajma) and share my success stories with you.

Vegetable Cutlets

I’ve always talked about how Amma made food fun for us. Dinner on most weekends at home would be pasta, soup, vegetable upma, potato bonda, cutlets, stuffed parathas… you get the drift, don’t you? On days when there were too many leftovers or when she was held up at work, the lunch and dinner menu would be identical and we’d just make some fresh rice and make appalams. Although I never complained once about what was served, deep inside I’d cringe when it was rice. Now, much as I still don’t love rice the way S does, I find that it is the easiest thing to dish out, weekday or weekend. While I may prefer pasta or chapattis, I do relish rice.


But those snacks that became dinner will always have a special place in my heart. And cutlets would top the list. The mere thought of those dark brown beauties can make me go weak in the knees. It can make me long for a bite. And knowing this, Amma makes these little things for me almost every time I visit them. I haven’t made these myself in about 3 or 4 years now. And I’m desperately hoping that blogging about this today will help me get over this drought.


4 Potatoes, boiled, peeled and diced
1 Carrot, diced
½ cup Beans, diced
¼ cup Peas

2 slices Bread
2 Onions, chopped finely
2 tsp Chilli Paste
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 tsp Garlic Paste
Salt to Taste
1 tbsp Oil


¼ cup Bread Crumbs
2 tbsp Flour

Oil for frying

Pressure cook the carrot, beans and peas together.

Heat the tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add the chilli, ginger and garlic pastes and fry again for about 2-3 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrot, beans and peas along with the bread slices. Season with salt and mash the mixture.

Allow the mixture to cool. Meanwhile, mix the flour with a little water to make a batter. Place the bread crumbs on a plate. Heat the oil for frying.

Make small balls of the vegetable mixture and flatten them. Coat them with the flour batter and then roll them in the bread crumbs until they are evenly covered. Slide each cutlet into the hot oil and fry on each side until slightly dark brown. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve with tomato ketchup.

I’ve seen many variations of this, some with beetroot, some with mint leaves. I have not taken very kindly to the mint leaves version. I have no idea why. I do vary the vegetables in this as well, adding cauliflower at times. But the four vegetables that I’ve used in this recipe are standard. The combination of these vegetables remains a favourite. It still transports me back to my childhood… to the time when I didn’t have to worry so much about deep fried potatoes. Actually to a time when I had almost nothing to worry about.

I’ve had this in my drafts for ages now. And this is off to dear Sia at MonsoonSpice as she hosts the

Ode to Potato event and to Dhivya of Culinary Bazaar as she hosts the Potato Fest!

Maple Banana Walnut Loaf

I grew up in Madras. It remains my favourite city in India. I can defend it to the last drop of blood I have flowing in my veins, should the need ever arise. Thankfully, I doubt I'd have to. I have so many wonderful memories linked to that wonderful city. I have lived almost all over the country except the East. I have enjoyed living in most cities that I have called home since I left Madras. Delhi/Gurgaon is the only exception. I lived here before and when I left, I almost swore never to come back. I do remember telling my mother that I'd love to come back in 5 years' time as long as I'm making at least three times my (then) salary. Little did I know that my words would come true. I left in 2001 to come back in 2006, married to S. To a place I had never liked calling home. And after about a year and a half here, I still don't. One of the things I realize now is that I keep comparing this place to Madras. So, this time around, since I knew we were here for a fixed period, I decided to focus on the things that I do like, few and far between as they may be.

Most of my childhood memories are linked to Madras. The school I went to. The college where I realized I could be all that I wanted to be, if only I tried. The part time jobs I held that helped partially fund my years at University. The bakery from where my birthday cake arrived promptly, year after year. This bakery was also where where we'd rush after dance classes before catching the IIT bus back home. Adyar Bakery House is one place that I will never be able to forget. Their cookies and puffs were beyond description, but it was their cakes that really took the cake. They don't make much of the stuff they used to. They're probably changing with the times. I loved their walnut cake and tea cake. When I was going through my books to find a nice loaf to bake, I came across this recipe which instantly transported me to Sardar Patel Road in Madras.

I modified the recipe to make this loaf today.

1 cup Flour

3/4 cup Atta(Whole Wheat Flour)

1/3 cup Brown Sugar

2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

2 medium ripe Bananas, mashed

1/3 cup Maple Syrup

3 tbsp Oil

2 Eggs, beaten

2 tbsp Milk

1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350F (180 C).

Grease and flour or line a loaf tin.

Combine the flour, wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, mix the mashed bananas, eggs, maple syrup, oil and milk until the mixture comes together. Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are mositened. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts and bake for 50-55 minutes.

Today happens to be the birthday of one more of my partners in crime since my college days: Mangalam. It is almost amazing to see people call the college I went to the most boring of colleges in Madras. The four girls that I have been closest to over the last decade and a half all happened to be in the same college. And three of them walked into my life right there. I have enough and more memories linked to these friends that have Madras as the backdrop. And sometimes I wonder if I might have had as much fun back then if it wasn't for these girls. So, here's to you Manga. I hope you have a wonderful year ahead.

Cornmeal Vegetable Salad

I moved to a hostel about 11 years ago. For someone who ate vegetables everyday until that point even if it was bitter gourd, hostel food was an eye opener. The food that was cooked seemed specific to no region. At least no region I know would claim that they cook beetroots until they turn green. Horrible would be the best word to describe the “vegetable” served at lunch time. No, wait. That might be an understatement. Also, every vegetable dish had loads of coconut, onions, fennel seeds and chana dal. Finding the actual vegetable of the day was like a treasure hunt. I went off vegetables during that period and ate rasam rice and papads for lunch. But I was not used to not eating my dear vegetables. On my way back from French class, I would stop by at the market to buy some salad vegetables. That was difficult too as I couldn’t buy just one of each and I didn’t have a fridge where I could store any thing I didn’t consume the same day. Finally, I found one vendor in the Muthialpet market who’d give an assortment of vegetables for a fixed price everyday. A salad to me somehow always meant chopped cucumber and tomatoes seasoned with salt, sugar and pepper, garnished with some coriander leaves. It was almost as if there could be no deviation from this. But I got tired of that pretty soon and started adding radish, cabbage, carrots, onions and whatever else I could to increase my fibre intake. I would recommend a stay at the Pondicherry Central University girls’ hostel to any of you who want to lose weight. Thanks to my focus on academics, the breaking up of an 8 year old relationship, and the wonderful food, I lost 10 kilos in 6 months flat. I still like to think of it as the food. I doubt acads and relationships had anything to do with it.



Thankfully, my awareness about salads has increased over the years, especially so in the 9 months that I have been blogging. I have found recipes for a variety of salads. I look at ingredients and then work out substitutes if I have to. At times, the end result is lip smacking and at others, the less said the better. Here’s one lovely recipe that I cooked up. It was very tasty and filling. But what I loved about it was the fact that it was perfect eye candy!


½ cup Cornmeal
½ cup Green Chana (Green Garbanzo Beans)
½ cup Chickpeas, soaked and cooked
1 Cucumber, cut into strips
1 Carrot, cut into strips
½ each Red, Yellow and Green Capsicum, cut into strips
1 Tomato, cut into strips
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tsp Roasted Garlic flakes
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Lime Juice
Salt and Pepper to taste


Place the cornmeal in a microwave safe bowl. Add 1 cup of hot water and cook for 3 minutes on high.

In another bowl, place the salad vegetables along with the green chana and the chickpeas. Mix the olive oil and lime juice together and add the herbs, chilli flakes, garlic flakes. Add the cornmeal to the vegetables and pour the lime juice mixture over the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.

This salad is so simple to put together that I am fairly certain I’ll make this more often. I’m sending this to

Coffee who is hosting this month’s Jihva for Ingredients.

Khichdi and Kadhi

Wherever I go, I try and sample the local cuisine of the place. Of course I sample global foods without ever once having even flown over those lands. I’d never seek out Indian food while traveling abroad. Firstly, I am not the biggest fan of Indian food to have the face of this earth. I enjoy it as I do any food. Secondly, I don’t like to lose out on the chances (to taste different cuisines) that life offers me. While in Paris, I had the misfortune of being with two Indians who’d seek out atrociously expensive Indian food at Strasbourg Saint-Denise every night. They spoke no French and they sort of emotionally blackmailed me all the time. They didn’t know how to ask for food without any meat and were unwilling to learn basic French. To top it all, they thought a trip to McDonald’s constituted sampling local food! I used to travel all over the city each day after work picking up small snacks along the way, taking in everything the beautiful city had to offer. My academics in Tourism will never be a waste. (And I can beg you all never to order Baingan Bharta anywhere in Paris!)


The first Indian state that I traveled extensively in happens to be Gujarat. I should have said the first Indian state that I didn’t “belong to”. This was about 21 years ago. Until that time, our travel was limited to the three states that I have called home: Maharashtra, Karnataka and TamilNadu. I don’t count going to Tirupati as it is closer to Madras than it is to most urbanized parts of A.P. Gujarat left its indelible mark on me. Literally and figuratively. Literally as it was the very first time I was experiencing temperatures higher than 40 degrees Celsius. (Yes, Madras in those days wasn’t half as hot as it is now.) I developed heat boils, which, as they healed, left scars on my neck and legs. (I even had to have one boil surgically removed.) Figuratively, I was so impressed with what the state had to offer that I made three or four trips since then. And I keep going back.


One of the things I love about any place is the food on offer. It’s not like I’m never disappointed. But Gujarat has never disappointed me in this matter. From the khakhras to the dhoklas and khandvis to the theplas and rotlis to the quintessential khichdi and kadhi… I love them all. I once joked to my cousin about wanting to marry a Gujju boy so my MIL could feed me all the lovely stuff. She said, “Your MIL will probably get stuff from the shop, as it is so much simpler, which you can also do”. Initially, I got my recipes from my dear friend M who could never understand why I loved her food so. As soon as Tarla Dalal came out with her Gujarati Cookbook, one copy was on my bookshelf.

I think this book of Tarla Dalal’s is like the Rasachandrika of Gujarati cooking. The recipes that M gave me are almost identical to the ones in the book. So I love it even more. Khichdi and Kadhi is a combination that I used to make very often when I was single. There was this time when I was attending German classes in the morning and so had very little time to make lunch. I ate khichdi for lunch throughout this 7 week period. There’s a slight variation to my khichdi and that is the addition of vegetables. I also add equal amounts of rice and dal as it makes me feel good. (Don’t ask why!)

1 cup Rice (Basmati or Sona Masuri), washed and drained
1 cup Green Gram (Moong) Dal, washed and drained
1 tsp Oil
1 cup Mixed Vegetables (Carrots, Beans, Peas)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Peppercorns
1” piece Cinnamon
2 Cloves
1 tsp Green Chilli Paste
¼ tsp Asafoetida
Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the cumin seeds, asafetida, peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves. When the cumin crackles add the rice, dal and vegetables. Fry for a minute and add the chilli paste and salt. Add about 4-5 cups of boiling hot water and cook for 20 minutes (4-5 whistles).

While the khichdi is cooking, get the kadhi going.

2 tbsp Gram flour (Besan)

2 cups Curd

2 cups Water
½ tsp Green Chilli Paste
½ tsp Ginger Paste

2 Curry Leaves

1 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste

For the tempering:

1 tsp Ghee (clarified butter)

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Mustard Seeds

¼ tsp Asafoetida

1 Red chilli, broken into bits

Beat the curds with the gram flour and water until you get a smooth mixture. Add the green chilli and ginger pastes, curry leaves, sugar and salt. Bring this mixture to a boil on a low flame.

In a frying ladle, heat the ghee and add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the asafetida and the red chilli. Add the tempering to the kadhi and boil for 1-2 minutes.

Serve the kadhi along with the khichdi. This would also go down as a classic comfort food for me. S doesn’t care much for kadhi and sometimes I make the mixed vegetable khichdi alone which we have with pickle and curd.

This is my first entry to the Regional Cuisine of India: Gujarat event which is being hosted by Mythili. if time permits, I'll send in my other recipes too. I'd like to send the Khichdi to

Meeta's Monthly Mingle. The theme this month is One-Dish Dinners. Happy hosting Meeta and Mythili!

Whole Wheat Calzones

I love pizzas. I mean really really love them. But in all the years that I lived alone, I probably ordered pizzas about 5 times. That’s like once in 2 years. Since the time I got married, we’ve ordered pizza exactly once. The day we shifted into the apartment we currently occupy. For some reason, I have never quite liked getting food home. For starters, there’s the minimum order quantity. This means that, in all likelihood, we’ll have leftovers. Then there’s the problem of rotis applying for jobs at GoodYear or MRF. There’s also the problem of transferring food to the right utensils, heating it up, bringing out the plates and cleaning up after the meal. Given the trouble involved, if I don’t feel like cooking, I’d much rather just go out and eat. Somehow, even the hottest freshest pizza goes cold in the 30 minute trip to your doorstep.


How do I tackle my craving for this Italian creation? Earlier, I did this by making enough visits to Amma’s. Now I do so by making it at home. Turning the all flour version to the whole wheat version was one step towards making my favourite food healthier. Making this folded pizza was the next step. I made do with just 5 grams of cheese powder as opposed to the 100 grams that I normally use in an open pizza.

For the dough:

1 cup Wheat Flour
½ cup Flour
1 tbsp Yeast
1/8 cup Oil
1/2 tbsp Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt1 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Mixed Herbs
1/4 cup Water, boiling
1/4 cup Milk

For the sauce:

1 Onion, sliced
1 medium Tomato, chopped finely
1 Capsicum, sliced (I used small portions of green, red and yellow capsicum)
2 tsp Chilli Flakes
1/8 cup Broccoli, cut
1/8 cup Sweet Corn

1/8 cup Brinjal, chopped
6 Button Mushrooms, chopped
3 tbsp Spinach, chopped
3 pods Garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp Cheese Powder
1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp Fresh Basil, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Olive Oil
Salt to Taste

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the chilli flakes, garlic, and herbs. Add the wheat flour and flour and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

For the sauce:

In a pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions. Fry for a minute or two. Add the capsicum, corn, brinjal, mushroom, spinach and broccoli and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley, basil, oregano, chilli flakes, cheese powder, salt, sugar and pepper and fry for another minute. Add the tomato and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the ketchup and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes. This mixture should be much drier than pizza sauce.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate.Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Spread each portion into a circle on a greased plate. Place a little sauce on one side of the dough and fold the dough over. Seal the edges and press down using a fork. Make slits on top.

Bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes.This is so easy to make that I wonder why I didn’t try this earlier. It tasted great at dinner time and was just as good the next day at lunch too. It would be great to take on a picnic or during travel.

This one dish meal goes to Meeta for her Monthly Mingle. The theme this month is One-Dish Dinners. Other one dish meals at The Singing Chef can be found here.

Egg Biryani

Biryani. The very word makes my mouth water. Made differently in each state in India, I've often heard people say, "This isn't authentic, ours is." Well, I've always loved Egg Biryani and have ordered it as often as possible. I never attempted making it at home (without a readymade mix, i.e.). And somehow, my food never smells good. I know some people whose kitchens start spreading aromas almost as soon as they’ve placed the pan over the flame. With my cooking, it almost never happens. Until a week ago, I could safely say, “It never happens”, but my biryani changed all that. For the very first time in all these years of cooking, the aroma of my cooking actually made us drool. So, I don't know if this authentic or not. I didn't cook it in layers, I didn't cook the rice separately from the rest of the stuff and I didn't marinate anything and I most definitely used no curd.


But nonetheless, I think it was great and I’m sharing with you my very first attempt at a biryani.

1 cup Basmati Rice, washed and soaked
4 Eggs, boiled, peeled and halved
¼ cup Soya Chunks, soaked and drained (optional)
4 Fake Chicken Drumsticks, cooked (optional)
2 tbsp Oil
1 Bay Leaf
3 Star Anise flowers
1 Green Cardamom
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Onion, sliced
Salt to taste

To Garnish:

¼ cup Fried Sliced Onions
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped

To be Ground to a Paste:

1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Poppy Seeds
1 tbsp Cashews
1 tbsp Peanuts
1/4 tsp Carom Seeds
1 Onion
4 pods Garlic
4 Red Chillies
1 tsp Fennel Seeds

Heat the oil. Add the cumin seeds, star anise, cardamom, bay leaf and onion. Fry for about 3-4 minutes. Add the paste and fry for about 5 minutes. Add the rice, soya chunks, fake chicken, eggs and about 1 and ¾ cup boiling water. Add salt to taste. Pressure cook for 3 whistles on a low flame.

Garnish with the fried onions and coriander leaves. Serve with a raita.

This is off to Think Spice - Think Star Anise hosted by Sunita. I brought Star Anise from Madras as I was forced to. I needed it to make Sig's Kadala Curry. I couldn't find this spice in any shop then (despite drawing it for the shop keepers) and I am so happy that I could use it now.

Lasuni Chhole

There’s this friend of mine. We worked together in Hyderabad and lived about 5 streets away from each other. We spent many evenings together, cooking and eating at home, or checking out the many restaurants that kept mushrooming in the twin cities. But one thing irked me. She’d always try out their chhole-bhature. And then say that they didn’t know how to prepare it. We argued endlessly about why she had to bother ordering the stuff at all, but you know how these arguments go, don’t you?


One day, I decided to make chhole at home and she gave me this recipe over the phone. Being the ardent devotee of garlic that I am, I fell for it. It is simple and every time I make it, I get nice compliments. Now, that’s not easy to resist, is it? This may not be the recipe that she gave me, but it is what I remember and make time and again!

2 cups Chickpeas, soaked and boiled
3 tbsp Garlic, chopped finely
3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped finely
2 Onions, chopped finely
2 Tomatoes, chopped finely
1 tsp Ginger, julienned
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
2 tsp Chilli Powder
½ tsp Pomegranate Seeds, powdered
1 tsp Chana Masala (optional)
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to Taste


Mix the chickpeas with the garlic and coriander leaves and keep aside for an hour or two.

Heat the oil in a pressure pan. Add the onions and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes along with the ginger and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the cumin and coriander powders along with the chilli powder. Add the salt and the powdered pomegranate seeds. If you are using the chana masala, add it now. Add the marinated chickpeas and about 1 ½ cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles (7 minutes).

When done, add some water depending on the consistency you're looking to achieve and mash a few chickpeas to thicken the gravy.

Serve with pooris, rotis or parathas. This is off to Sra for her A Fruit A Month (AFAM) - Pomegranate event. I used the seeds of this fruit... finally something different.

Carrot Cake

Chitra did it. I can safely put the blame on her this time. This woman had been chasing me for a carrot halwa recipe since the time her little one, D, turned one. I think I gave her some vague inputs as I had never attempted making anything close to a halwa in my life. Finally, she made it last week when her little one turned 18 months. I had other plans. I’ve been wanting to make use of carrots before they go out of season. Sunny days in Delhi can only mean that summer isn’t too far away. And that means that we’ll soon be back to gourds and potatoes and the colourful mandis and redis will have become a thing of the past. But as with everything else in life, I know that winter and spring shall return.


Carrots. I have always loved them. The only thing I haven’t done with them is make upkari. For some reason, I have never liked it. Amma didn’t make it and I had it once at a friend’s place and thought it wasn’t exactly worth it. I can eat carrots in pulao, in salads, in mixed vegetable stir fries, in soups, you get the picture, don’t you? But the upkari/poriyal/karumadu type of thing is just not my stick of carrot!

Carrots as dessert: I’ve always liked them. Carrot Halwa and Carrot Kheer. I haven’t ever attempted to make these. I’m not sure I will. But who knows. Much as I am not a kheer person, I quite liked carrot kheer the one time that I was served it. But the one thing I’ve been wanting to make for over 3 years now since the very first time I tasted it at Barista is the carrot cake. I’ve seen umpteen recipes for this cake. Many called for ingredients I didn’t have at hand. Many seemed unnecessarily complicated. Each of the four books that I acquired over the last few months has at least one recipe for carrot cake. I spent most of last evening poring over each book to come up with a recipe that combines just about all of them. The cake turned out really well and I’m over the moon.

1 ¼ cup Carrots, grated
½ cup Cashews, powdered
¼ cup Almonds, powdered
¾ cup Brown Sugar
½ cup Oil
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
A pinch of Nutmeg Powder
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup Flour
2 ¼ tsp Baking Powder
¼ cup Raisins

To Decorate:

1 tbsp Icing Sugar, sifted


Preheat the oven to 400F (200 C).

Grease and flour/line an 8-inch cake tin.

In a bowl, beat the eggs until light. Add the sugar and oil and beat well. Add the carrots, almond and cashew powders and raisins.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and the cinnamon and nutmeg powders. Fold in the carrot-egg mixture and mix gently until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a knife/skewer, inserted into the centre of the cake, comes out clean.

Transfer the cake to a wire rack and cool. Sprinkle icing sugar over the cake using a small sieve.

My first attempt at making a carrot cake has been successful. I will probably try making a beet cake next. There’s ample time for all that.

I made this little cake to wish my friends S and R a very happy anniversary. And of course, this is also to wish all of you a very Happy Valentine’s Day! We cut it at midnight and relished it. This morning it was neatly cut into several portions to be distributed to friends.

Whole Wheat Herb Pizza

Is the first born always a favourite? I love baking. I have always loved it more than I have loved cooking. I am yet to figure out why. It could be the influence of having started with one before the other. This seems to be true with all my hobbies. I learnt cross stitch in class 5 and continue to make stuff as enthusiastically using it even today. But crochet and tatting, or even sewing, have had to be satisfied with the tag of “also ran”. The same is not true of my academics or career. In these matters, the youngest child always seems the most pampered one. (Yes, I have not always been in HR!)

If I had a choice between baking something for dinner and cooking something for dinner, it is anybody’s guess which one I’d pick. Until recently, baking meant bringing out the flour. So it was the one reason that I put off baking. But I’m discovering healthy alternatives to most foods that I otherwise used frequently. And it was completely by accident that I started baking yeast breads with wheat flour. I happened to run out of all purpose flour. And that was a turning point.

Some time ago, I made pizza at home and tweaked the dough for the base. I must say I’m mighty glad I did!

For the dough:

1 cup Wheat Flour
½ cup Flour

1 tbsp Yeast

1/8 cup Oil

1/2 tbsp Sugar

3/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
1 tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp Mixed Herbs

1/4 cup Water, boiling

1/4 cup Milk

For the sauce:

1 Onion, sliced

2-3 medium Tomatoes, chopped finely

1 Capsicum, sliced (I used small portions of red and yellow capsicum)

2 tsp Chilli Flakes

1/8 cup Broccoli, cut
1/8 cup Sweet Corn

6 Button Mushrooms
3 pods Garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Fresh Parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp Fresh Basil, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Olive Oil

Salt to Taste

100g Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1 tsp Olive Oil

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the chilli flakes, garlic and herbs. Add the wheat flour and flour and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

For the sauce:
In a pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions. Fry for a minute or two. Add the capsicum, mushrooms, corn and broccoli and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the parsley, basil, oregano, chilli flakes, salt, sugar and pepper and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the ketchup and cook the mixture for a couple of minutes.

To Proceed:

Grease a pizza plate.

Spread the dough over the plate. (You could roll the dough using a rolling pin. I prefer doing this by hand.) Spread the olive oil over the dough. Spread enough sauce over the base. Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza.

Bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes. When done, cut into wedges. Enjoy your meal.

I somehow didn’t realize that I could compare notes with a dear friend who, for as long as I remember, has been “health conscious”. Of late, I’ve been having food related discussions with her. Earlier, it was always about life, love and academics. It’s funny how I never made this connection before. I spent quite a bit of time with her when I visited Madras as she was visiting with her daughter from Seattle. She treated me to home made whole wheat pizza.

Birthdays don’t always have to be about cakes, do they? Actually, who am I kidding? They have to be about cakes. But I’ve given myself the liberty of celebrating the birthday of one my oldest (no, I didn't mean her age!!) friends with a wheat-herb pizza. Happy Birthday Shobhi!!

Ragi Doddak with Onion Tomato Chutney

Leisurely breakfasts are always pushed to the weekend. In our house, a weekend breakfast usually turns out to be brunch. We're so full (and tired) after eating (and making) something elaborate that we don't feel like lunch. On good days, we have a snack at 4 or 5 in the afternoon. On others, the breakfast is expected to take us all the way to dinner without as much as a little whimper. Last Saturday was one such. One such bad day, I mean. Breakfast ended at 1 p.m. We had tea and cookies at about 4.30. After which we drove 200 km, with another couple, to Karnal to have dinner at a Punjabi haveli style Dhaba called Haveli. Now, I am certain. I had this lingering doubt, but not any more. We must be "foodies", mustn't we?

Konkani breakfast numbers include a Doddak. I had posted the cream of wheat version earlier. The other version, made of wheat flour, also ranks highly on my list of breakfast favourites. On Saturday, I modified the wheat flour version to make use of some ragi flour that I'd asked a dear friend to bring along from Chennai. I also wanted to try out a chutney that I've eaten at many restaurants. I used my imagination to create the chutney to go with the dosa. And I'm so happy to know that this recipe's a keeper.
Ragi Doddak:

1/2 cup Finger Millet (Ragi) Flour

1/2 cup Wheat Flour

2 tbsp Cream of Wheat (Rava/Sooji)
2 tbsp Coconut, scraped

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste
1/4 cup Coriander, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

For the tempering:

1 tsp Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
7-8 Curry Leaves

Prepare the tempering in a small kadhai and transfer the contents to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients except the oil and mix well using a little water. (The batter should not be too watery. It should be a little thicker than dosa batter.)

Spread the dough onto a hot griddle and pour a few drops of oil on all sides. Make a slit in the centre using the spatula and pour a few drops into this slit. (This helps the oil reach the centre and aids in crispening that portion.)

Turn over and allow the other side to crispen as well.

Onion Tomato Chutney

1 Onion, diced

3 Tomatoes, blanched

1 tbsp Coconut, scraped

3 Green Chillies

1" piece Ginger

Salt to taste

For the tempering:

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

Grind all the ingredients for the chutney together.

Heat the oil for the tempering in a kadhai. Add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the asafoetida along with the curry leaves. Pour the ground mixture into the oil and cook for a couple of minutes.

I tried both these dishes for the first time on Saturday and I must say I was very pleased with the way they turned out. Finger millet or Ragi is considered very healthy. More details can be found here. Substituting the coconut chutney with an Onion Tomato chutney was another healthy move. And this is off to Suganya who is hosting this month's WBB, my dear friend Nandita’s initiative.

Coriander Buns

Mr. Yeast and I have been on talking terms for quite a while. We, in fact, have been getting along like a house on fire. The list of yeast breads that I want to try out keeps on getting longer and the only thing that is stopping me at the moment is the cold weather. It takes ages for the dough to rise at these temperatures and I’m sure that in a couple of weeks’ time, I’ll be back to making my own bread.

Sometime ago, when I was visiting my parents, I made these beauties. The first batch was gone in no time and Amma put the second batch away before anyone could lay their hands on them. She said they needed to savour them even after I’d come back to Gurgaon.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tbsp Oil

1 1/2 tbsp Yeast

1 1/2 tbsp Sugar
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 cup Boiling water
1/4 cup Milk

1/4 cup Coriander Leaves, chopped

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

For the filling:
1 large Potato, washed and chopped finely
2 Onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup Cauliflower, finely chopped
2 tbsp Carrot, finely chopped
2 tbsp Beans, finely chopped

1 tbsp Oil

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Cumin-Coriander Powder

Salt to taste

For the Topping:

1 tbsp Sesame Seeds

For the dough:

Take a huge mixing bowl and place the oil, salt and sugar in it. Add boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk now to bring the mixture to room temperature. Add the yeast and mix well. Add the flours, coriander leaves, turmeric and chilli powders and knead into a dough. Place the dough in a greased vessel and cover it with a damp muslin cloth. Allow to rise until double in size (roughly 45-50 minutes).

Knead the dough for a minute and then divide into 10 equal portions.

For the filling:

Heat the oil, add the asafoetida and cumin seeds. When the cumin crackles, add the chopped onions and fry for a minute before adding the other vegetables, salt, chilli, turmeric and cumin-coriander powders. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes.

To Proceed:

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Take a portion of the dough and spread it on to your palm. Place some stuffing in the centre and bring the edges and seal. Roll in the sesame seeds and place on a greased baking sheet or tray. Repeat with the other portions.

Allow to rise for 50-60 minutes and then bake for 12-15 minutes.

The addition of spices to the dough made this an interesting variation from the Masala Buns I'd made in the past. The colour of the buns was really "to die for". And my brother thought we'd brought these buns home from the bakery down the street. I take that as the best compliment.

Cauliflower and Baby Corn Manchurian

At one time, Indo-Chinese was my favourite cuisine while eating out. I think that was before I discovered Italian eateries. At one time, I could make a lot of Italian food at home, but could never make Chinese food. Amma had eaten cauliflower manchurian somewhere and had fallen in love with it.

I got this recipe from a lady at my gym many years ago. It has not just remained in my family, but has been shared with many friends. Last week Amma called to ask for the recipe and I gave it to her over the phone. My colleague heard me give her the recipe. The very next day Amma called and told me that it had come out very well and my colleague, A, said she had made it for her husband and some guests and they were floored. All this made me want to eat the stuff. So I made this to celebrate the first birthday of our baby. We don't have to have cake all the time, do we?

I had some cauliflower and baby corn in the fridge that I wanted to use up before I left for my week long vacation to paradise a.k.a. Madras. I shouldn't be saying this myself, but the manchurian was fantastic. We polished off an entire bowlful in a matter of minutes along with our plum wine (that seems to have been the wine of the month!). We also had some sweet corn vegetable soup to complete our meal.

1 cup Cauliflower florets, steamed

1 cup Baby Corn, steamed

Oil for frying

For the Batter:

1/4 cup Corn Flour

1/4 cup Flour

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste

1 tsp Garlic Paste

1 tsp Ginger Paste

A few drops Soy Sauce

Salt to taste

For the sauce:

1 bunch Spring Onions, whites and greens chopped separately

1 tbsp Garlic Paste

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste

1 tsp Ginger Paste

1 tsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Red Chilli Sauce

1 tsp Green Chilli Sauce

2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Oil

To make the batter, mix the flours and add the ginger, chilli and garlic pastes. Add the soy sauce and some salt. Add about 1/3 cup water to make a batter. (This must be thinner than pancake batter.)

Heat the oil. Dip the cauliflower and baby corn pieces in the batter and drop into the oil. Fry until golden in colour. Remove and drain on absorbent paper.

To make the sauce, heat the table spoon of oil and add the ginger, chilli and garlic pastes and fry for a few minutes. Add the spring onion greens and fry for a minute. Add the red and green chilli sauces along with the soy sauce and mix well. Add the tomato ketchup and salt. Stir in the fried cauliflower and baby corn pieces. Garnish with the spring onion greens.

This makes a great appetizer. This would rank as one of my favourite snacks. This time it turned out almost as good as the one I used to relish at the bandi near the Malleswaram market in Bangalore. I am almost there. Yippee!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I tasted my first chocolate chip cookie in the U.S. I am fairly certain the brand must have been Chips Ahoy. I was hooked from the first bite. I remember that any brand of chocolate chip cookies that we got in India didn't taste quite the same. (I must admit, I don't care for Hide and Seek even now.) I had this habit of getting stuff from my parents in return for the first rank in class. From a watch to a bicycle to a badminton racquet to a new bag... the list was endless. When I graduated from University with the first rank and two gold medals, Amma asked me what I'd like. I asked her for a box of expensive chocolate chip cookies. She bought it for me and I'd planned on savouring each cookie. The box was such a disappointment. Hard cookies with huge chunks of chocolate. Hardly what I'd been fantasising about.

The following year, in Paris, I discovered fantastic cookies at Marks and Spencers. I brought them back for friends, family and myself. I figured that I simply had to make these myself. Last year, I discovered a recipe on the Hershey's site. I had a batch of wonderful cookies. But they were extremely "rich". This recipe isn't as rich. And the cookies are a lot chewier. And the fact that each cookie has a mouthful of chocolate chips is not something I'd complain about.

1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour or Atta
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).

Beat the sugar and the butter until fluffy and add the essence and the egg and mix well. Fold in the flours and gently stir the chocolate chips in. Grease a cookie sheet and drop spoonfuls of the dough on to the sheet. Leave ample space in between each cookie.

Bake for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and then store in an air tight container.

I'm sending this plate of these cookies to dear Sig who just celebrated her birthday over the weekend. I meant to post this on Saturday, but I was busy in Chennai with my cousin's wedding. Happy Birthday Sig!

This plate also goes to Meeta as my entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle. This month's theme is comfort foods. These cookies, along with a glass of milk, is a nice snack. It is one of those foods that help me believe that all is truly well with the world. A warm cookie with a cold glass of milk... aahhh!