Carrot Halva (Microwave)

Christmas is over :-( . Hope you all had a good time enjoying all the goodness this festival brings, not to mention good food, gifts, parties and so on. I had a good time too and am having a good time now as well, shopping around in the big sale season! I tell you I love shopping and I do not know many people who do not :-)!

The blogosphere is filled with recipes of Christmas goodies and it made things more festive. May be I will share them sometimes later. Today, I am sharing this Halva which is an all time favourite in my household especially during winters. This Carrot Halva is the microwave version. I had posted the conventional one long back. You can check the recipe here.

This is probably going to be my last post this year.. Lets end it with this sweet dish! Wishing you all the very best in the coming year!

Coming back to today's recipe:

Carrot Halva (Microwave):

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded carrots.
1 tbsp ghee
½ cup milk.
¼ cup sugar or less.
A few strands of saffron.
2 cardamom pods crushed.
Almond flakes and chopped pistachios to garnish.



Process:

1. Add the carrots to a safe microwave bowl and add ghee. Give a good stir so that the ghee is nicely coated on the shredded carrots.

2. Add milk, crushed cardamom, saffron and sugar and mix such that all the carrots is covered by it.

3.Microwave on a high for 3-5 minutes and stir and microwave again for 3-5 minutes.

4. Follow this cycle till done. Mine took 20 minutes. If you are making a lesser amount it will be done quicker and also time differs from microwave to microwave. So adjust accordingly.

5. Finally, garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve warm or cold.

Sending this off to my event - Winter Warmers held here.

Enjoy!

Aaloo Palak

There are certain vegetables, I am not really very fond of but, still they find a regular place in my menu. Thats because they are very essential for a healthy vegetarian diet. One such veggie is 'Spinach'. I feel as if it leaves a bitter after taste in my mouth and this is why I always combine it with one of my favourite things. I also add a little sugar which is obviously optional. It results in things like these. This time I am combining it with potato, which is an all favourite with me and with many people I know. So, this combo works great. Have a look!

Aaloo Palak:

Ingredients:

5-6 baby potatoes, boiled peeled and chopped into chunks.
2 cup baby spinach washed and chopped finely.
1 tbsp oil.
1 tsp cumin seeds.
Few strands on ginger.
1 green chilli, seeded and chopped.
¼ cup chopped onion.
¼ tsp turmeric powder.
½ tsp red chilli powder.
1 heaped tsp coriander powder.
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice.
½ tsp sugar or crushed jaggery(optional).
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish.

Process:

1. Heat a pan and add oil. When heated add the cumin seeds, chili and ginger.

2. After a few seconds add the chopped onions and sauté for a minute till the onions are translucent.

3. Add the chopped potatoes and stir. Add all the spices and salt except garam masala. Cook for 5 minutes.

4. Now add the chopped spinach and give it a good stir. Cover the pan for 3-4 minutes and keep the gas on medium.

5. Now, add garam masala, lemon juice and sugar/jaggery if using. Give it a good stir and cook for a minute. Turn off the gas and cover the pan for 5 minutes.

6. Transfer the subji in a serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/ chappati.

Sending this off to Sara's Event Only Green. This event is the brain child of Pari.

Enjoy!

Mango Choco Chip Tea Loaf

I had baked this cake around 3 weeks back. It happened when, I was cleaning and reshuffling my kitchen shelves when I spotted a can of mango slices sitting at one corner. I had bought it long back from Tesco and it was till to be used.

Long back I had bookmarked this recipe from Madhuram's site. She had made it from here. I thought of using my long desolated mango slices can for it. However, I didnot want it to be overly mango-ey. So, I decided to add some chocolate chips to it. The original recipe was vegan but mine is not as the chocolate chips I used are not vegan. Otherwise, it a nearly vegan cake! I drained the syrup form the can and churned the slices into a smooth puree. It measured 1 cup which was half a cup less than stated in the original recipe. I also added half a tsp of baking soda for leavening. I reduced the amount of sugar as the mango puree was already very sweet. I baked it for extra 4-5 minutes to get a nice golden crust. It just looked and smelled awesome when out of oven.

This Tea Loaf makes its way to Champa's Bake-Off, Suma's Blog Anniversary Event-Bakomania and to Sameena's Cookies n Cake for X mas Event.

P.S: Don't forget to check out what Suma's giveaway for the event!

Mango Choco Chip Tea Loaf:

Ingredients:

1½ cup AP Flour.
1½ tsp baking powder.
½ tsp baking soda.
¼ tsp salt.
⅓ cup sunflower oil.
1 cup mango puree.
1 tsp vanilla essence.
¼ cup chocolate chips.
⅔ cup - 2 tbsp sugar.

Process:

1. Grease a 1 lb loaf pan and dust it with flour. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes.

2. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the sugar and mix thoroughly.

3. Add mango puree, oil, vanilla essence in the dry ingredients mixture and mix gently to get a uniform batter. Add in the chocolate chips and fold it in the batter.

4. Pour the batter into the greased tin and bake for about 35- 40 minutes till done.

5. Cool it on a wire rack for 10 minutes before taking it out of the tin. Cool it completely before slicing.
 Serve cold ot warm with a cup of tea!

Enjoy!

An Event Announcement and C3 Soup

Winter is in full bloom here and with that there are a few dishes that are making way to our table more than at any other time of the year. 'Soups' for examples comes to my mind first. But there are lot many things that we cook mostly in winter that keeps us warm and going. So here I am with my first event here -'Winter Warmers', very apt for the season, I believe. I look forward to your contribution, be it a piping hot soup or a warm salad, a warm halva or a sizzling brownie. It can be even a hot cup of tea or coffee! The options are numerous and varied.. So, friends send in your delicious entries! Here are a few rules of the event, you would like to know:

1. Make something thats keeps you warms and going during cold wintery days.

2. It can be any course of the meal.

3. Recipe has to be strict vegetarian. No eggs allowed!

4. Multiple Entries are welcome. Old entries are allowed with new entries. That means if you are sending two new entries, you can send two of your old entries for the event.

5. Please send in your entries starting today, 15th Dec 2010 till on or before January 30th 2011. Roundup will be there by first week of February.

6. Bloggers can simply send your Name and URL of your recipe at theveggiehut@gmail.com (theveggiehut AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Winter Warmers" with the following details-

Name:
Recipe Name and Url:
Picture of the dish reduced to 300px:

Non bloggers can email me your name, recipe and picture at theveggiehut@gmail.com (theveggiehut AT gmail DOT com) with the subject of "Winter Warmers"

7. Link back to this announcement page is mandatory and I would really appreciate if you can include this logo in your posts.

Looking forward to your entries!

My very first entry to my very first event is this soup- C3 Soup. Well it is the actually, Carrot Coconut and Coriander Soup. It looks like a rather long name, so I call it C3 Soup. I had this soup here in a restraunt and needless to say I loved it. I am big on Tomato Soup but this one seemed to give a nice competition to my old all time favourite soup. I googled to find a suitable recipe and landed here. I have made some variation to it and here is my version.

Lets have alook at the ingredients:

4 large carrots.

1/4 cup chopped onions.

1/4 cup chopped coriander.

1/4 cup coconut milk( You may increase or decrease it by 2 tbsp)

2 cloves.

1 bay leaf.

Salt and pepper to taste.

2 tsp Sugar (Optional).

Process:

1. Wash and peel the carrots. Cut them into chunks. In a pressure cooker add the onions. cloves, bay   leaves and chopped carrots.

2. Add a cup of water. Pressure cook it on a medium till two whistles.

3. Let it cool down. Take out the cloves and bay leaf and discard. Churn it in a mixture till smooth and creamy with no lumps.

4. Heat a pan and add the mixture. Bring it to a boil and lower the gas.

5.  Add the chopped coriander leaves and coconut milk. Season with salt, pepper and sugar and stir. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot with your choice of bread.

I love this soup a bit sweet but my husband likes othewise so I donot add the sugar in his part. You can make your choice.

Send in your 'Winter Warmer' recipes for my event and enjoy your winter. Cheers!

Spiced Whole Wheat Oats Pancakes

I have tried these pancakes from Tarla Dalal's Book, I mentioned here. I loved them immensely. They can be prepared in no time and are perfect for breakfast. And the icing on th cake is- they are very healthy too!

Spiced Wholemeal and Oats Pancakes:


Makes 8:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup quick rolled oats.
a good pinch of nutmeg powder.
a good pinch of cardamom powder
¼ tsp cinnamon powder.
2 tbsp powdered sugar.
1 tsp oil.
½ cup low fat milk.
½ tsp Eno’s fruit salt.
a pinch of salt.
3 tbsp oil for cooking.
Honey for serving.
8 orange slices.

Process:

1. Combine all the ingredients except fruit salt in a bowl with enough water to form a smooth batter.
2. Heat  the pan and grease it with a little oil. Add the fruit salt in the batter and whisk it to mix well.
3. Pour spoonful of the batter on the pan to make 3 inch diameter pancake. Cook it till bubbles appears on the surface. Flip it and cook on the other side till light golden.
4. Repeat the process to make total 8 pancakes.
5. Serve hot with honey and orange segments.

Sending this off to Priya's Event- Cooking with whole food-Oats. This event is the brain child of Kiran.

One last peek before you go!

Enjoy! Have a lovely weekend!

Banana & Almond Smoothie

Ever since I have developed an interest for cooking, I always check for recipes in cookbooks, magazines and if I like any of them, I just keep the page or jot the recipe in my dairy. I found this recipe in a Tupperware booklet and liked it. Most of the time, I have one or two very ripe bananas that need to be used immediately. Well, baking a cake out of it is a good option but having a lot of it is surely not good for my waistline! So, I find making a smoothie a safe bet. This smoothie is perfect for breakfast and is very nutritious too. Almonds add a very rich flavour to it!

Ingredients:

250 ml low fat milk

2 tbsp yoghurt.

1 tbsp Almond powder.

1 very ripe banana.

1 tbsp honey.

Makes 1 large glass or 2 small ones.

Process:

Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend it till smooth. Pour into two glass. Decorate with a whole almond. Serve.

Enjoy! Sending it off to Veggie/Fruit a month -Banana guest hosted by US Masala. This event is the brain child of Priya

1st Blog Anniversary with Black Forest Cake!

It is exactly one year today since I started this blog 'The Veggie Hut'. I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude to all my readers and blogosphere friends for their support and encouragement throughout the year. That is the reason I have reached this milestone today. Thanks a ton friends!

During this journey of a year, I have known so many food enthusiasts from around the globe, have experimented and tried my hands on new recipes, have made some blogosphere buddies and lots more. In a nut shell, it has been a enriching experience and a win-win decision to start this blog!

On this special occassion, I would like to share the recipe of 'Black Forest Cake'. I am sharing it from my drafts as I had saved it for this day :-).

I have refered this recipe from Nita Mehta's Book and I am satisfied with the results. Lets check the recipe now. First we have to prepare a ‘Rich Eggless Chocolate Cake’. We will need:

Ingredients:

½ tin condensed milk.
½ cup milk.
1 cup flour.
¼ cup powdered sugar.
¼ cup cocoa powder.
½ cup oil.
1 tsp baking powder.
½ tsp soda bicarbonate.
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Process:

1. Grease a swiss roll baking tin and dust it nicely with flour. Preheat the oven at 175 C for 10-15 minutes.

2. Sieve flour, cocoa, baking powder and soda bi-carb together. Keep aside.

3. Beat oil, sugar and essence till well mixed. Add condensed milk and milk. Beat well till well incorporated.

4. To this mixture add flour mixture in 2-3 batches, mixing well all the time. Beat well for 4-5 minutes till the mixture is light and fluffy and of a soft dropping consistency. Add a few spoons of milk if needed.

5. Transfer the cake mixture to the prepare tin. Level it.

6. Bake it at 175 C for 15-20 minutes. If the same cake is prepared in a small square or round tin it will take around 35-40 minutes to bake it.

7. Insert a clean knife in the middle of the cake to check if it is done. If it comes out clean, switch off the oven and take the cake out. Remove from tin after 10-15 minutes, by inverting on the wire rack.

I was in a hurry to take it out of the tin. I didnot wait for more than 5 minutes.. Thats evident from the picture!

For the black forest cake we will need.

1 chocolate cake (From above)
150 gm glazed cherries.
1 tbsp rum (Gives the flavour, I encourage to use it or use rum essence).
2-3 tbsp sugar.
¼ cup water.
50 gm dark chocolate flakes.

Cream Icing:

250 gm double cream- chilled.
4 tbsp sugar or to taste.

Process:

1. Cut the sheet of chocolate cake into 2 equal halves. Slice off thin slices from the sides. Place one half upside down on a flat plate.

2. Beat cream with sugar till the cream is thick and stands soft peaks. Keep it in the freeze till needed.

3. Dissolve sugar in water with rum. Thinly slice the cherries keeping aside 5-6 for decoration.

4. When the cake is completely cooled down, brush the sugar and rum syrup generously over the cake. The cake will soak it and will be moist. Spread a layer of cream over it evenly. Now spread a thin layer of sliced cherries.

5. Place the other half of the cake. Brush with syrup generously. Cover the whole of the cake with cream icing evenly.

6. Cover the cake sides with chocolate flakes. Decorate the top with chocolate flakes and cherries as desired.

7. Keep the cake in the freeze and take it out 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Sending it off to Champa's Bake Off!

Ginger and Cardamom Tea

Weather is real bad here with snow and the mercury level not budging at all. I feel like staying at home all the time sunk inside my cosy blanket. What can be better than having a cup hot tea in such weather! Can I hear a lot of Yeahs!!

To tell you the truth, I am not a tea addict like my hubby (he cannot say no to a cup of tea). I do have a cup of it everyday in the morning (I have developed this habit after coming to this cold country). But on bad cold days, I can go for another cup. Flavours and sweetness of tea vary accoring to a person's taste. I love it sweet with spices. I am sharing this one which has ginger and cardamom flavours. Its simply iressistable on a cold day.

Here is what you will need:

Slightly more than 1 cup water.

1 cup low fat milk.

2 tea bags (I use Tetley Extra Strong)

1 cardamom pod.

1'' ginger peice.

Sugar to taste.

For 2 cups.

Process:

1. In a saucepan boil water. Pound ginger and cardamom pod in pestle and mortar.
2. Add it to the boiling water along with tea bags. The flavours will be infused into the boiling water. 
3. Now add milk to it and keep the heat on a medium. Let it boil for 2 minutes. The colour should come out nice.
4. Add sugar to taste ( I add 2 tsp per cup) and boil again on a medium for 2 minutes.
5. Strain and pour into your cup.

Enjoy with biscuits of your choice. If you are feeling more indulgent have it with pakoras. It is a deadly combination!

Sev Puri

The very word 'Sev Puri' conjures up tastes that tantalise my mouth and puts me in a craving mode. I usually keep the papdi/puri made in advance, so that I can satisfy my recurring cravings without much delay. It is very simple and we need a few ingredients to assemble it. Surely enough, we all have them in our pantry most of the time. Lets have a look at the recipe now.

Serves 2.

12 Papdi
1 large boiled potato, peeled and chopped.
¼ cup chopped onion.
¼ cup deseeded & chopped tomato.
¼ cup green chutney.
¼ cup tamarind chutney.
¼ cup nylon sev.

Process:

First place the papdis on a plate. Place chopped potato, tomato and onion equally on each
of the papdi. Top it with a teaspoon of green chutney and tamarind chutney. Finally top it
with a teaspoon of nylon sev.

Voila! The chat is ready to serve..

Sending this off to Pari's Event 'Only Chat'

Now before the Chat becomes soggy because of my photography sessions I must devour them all. Make your plate now! Enjoy!

Pinwheel Cookies

Baking at home is always a satisfying experience, if the outcome is good and appreciated by all. This time I have baked these cookies- Pinwheel Cookies! They look cute and taste awesome. A very balanced taste of chocolate and vanilla which seems to be made for each other is this creation. I first saw them as a kid and I was very intrigued as to how one could make it. Definately, I didnot dig it up to the end then. But now, since I have developed a liking for baking, I did and there it is! They take a bit of time to make but are well worth the efforts. Without much ado, here is the recipe!

Pinwheel Cookies:

Makes about 20.

240 gm flour.
1 tsp baking powder.
1/8 tsp salt.
120 gm butter.
150 gm powdered sugar.
1 tsp vanilla essence.
3 tbsp cocoa powder.
½ cup milk to make the dough.

Process:

1. Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together. Grease a large baking tray.

2. Cream butter and powdered sugar till light and fluffy. This will take about 3-4 minutes with the help of a electric hand mixer.

3. To this butter and sugar mixture add the flour, vanilla essence. Add milk little by little and mix gently to make stiff but smooth dough.

4. Divide the dough into two parts and blend cocoa powder in one and set the other aside. Use a little milk (2 tsp) to blend the cocoa powder till it is well incorporated and the dough is even brown in colour.

5. Thinly roll out both the halves 1/8’’ thick into equal size pieces. Shape them in equal rectangular pieces by scraping off the excess. Keep them aside and repeat the process till all the dough is used.

6. Place the chocolate piece on top of the white one. Roll the two tightly just as in swiss rolls and allow to stand in a cool place for 20-30 minutes. While the roll is sitting preheat your oven at 175 C for 15 minutes.

7. Cut into ¼’’ thick slices and place them on the prepared baking tray.

8. Bake at 175 C in a preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes till they are done.

9. When done, take them out of the oven, let it stay on the tray for 2 minutes and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. When completely cooled put them in your cookie jar.

Sending this off to Champa's Bake Off. Have a nice weekend! Enjoy!!

Crunchy Fruit and Veggie Salad

I love salads and the one I am sharing today is my recent favourite. It has all my favourite ingredients - fruits and nuts! My hubby who doesnot have too much liking for salads, is also a huge fan of this one. When I serve him this, not one bit is left in the plate. Do try it out and I am sure you will like it :-)!

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

200g pack of crunchy salad leaves (Escarole, Radicchio, Frisee leaves and thinly sliced
carrot and cabbage).
2 tomatoes sliced in halves.
1 cup chopped pineapple chunks.
1 cup grapes.
1 small red onion cut in strips.
¼ cup dried cranberries.
¼ cup walnuts.
¼ cup chopped coriander leaves.

For the dressing:

¼ cup virgin olive oil.
2 tbsp lemon juice.
1 tbsp ketchup.
2 tbsp chilli sauce.
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
2 tbsp sugar.

Process:

1. Toss all the salad ingredients together. Keep them in the refrigerator until needed.

2. Mix all the dressing ingredients and stir well. Keep in the refrigerator.

3. Before serving add the dressing to the salad and toss well. Serve in individual plates.

Enjoy! Have a nice weekend!

Couscous Upma

After an indulgent Diwali, its time to shed off those extra calories by eating some healthy food. I am here with a healthy Upma. But before that, I have to announce a product review from CSN Stores. I am sure no one needs an introduction about them. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish briefcases to cute cookware to chic lighting pieces! So, stay tuned for the review!

Now coming back to the recipe, I had brought a few cook books from India one being 'Healthy Breakfast' Tarla Dalal. There was one recipe whish uses broken bulgar wheat to make this upma. I replaced it with couscous and here is what I made!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 Cup Couscous.
1 small onion finely chopped.
1 green chill, slit.
Few strands of ginger.
¼ cup green peas.
¼ cup carrots diced.
½ tsp mustard seeds.
3-4 curry leaves.
1 tbsp oil.
Salt to taste.
2 tbsp chopped coriander.
1 tbsp lemon juice.

Process:

Clean and wash the couscous thoroughly. Boil cups of water and add a pinch of salt. Add
the washed couscous to it. Let it come to boil and take it off gas and cover the pan with
a lid. Keep it for 3-4 minutes. Couscous will be cooked and soft, each grain separated.
Drain off any excess water.

In a pan, heat oil. Add the curry leaves, grated ginger, green chilli and mustard seeds.
When they crackle add the chopped onions and sauté for a minute. Add the diced carrots
and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add peas and cooked couscous and give a good stir. Add salt
to taste and lemon juice. Take it off gas and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with
chopped coriander leaves.

Sending this off to Priya Mitharwal's Event- Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday-9th Nov 2010.

Enjoy!

Diwali Wishes and a sweet dish- Kalakand!

Hi Friends,

At the very outset my heartiest belated wishes to you for Diwali! Hope you a had a good time and enjoyed a lot! Actually, I was planning to post this dish on the diwali day but could manage time to do so. Anyways, better late than never! I had made it specially for Diwali. I had referred the recipe from a small booklet of 'Milkmaid'. I have incorporated a few simple changes to the recipe. It tended to be a bit crumbly in the beginning but once properly set it was fine. That's why, you can see that all the pieces of the sweet are not uniform in shapes. But that does not lower the taste. Hope you would like it too..

Before going into the recipe, I would like to say something about this illuminating festival. Diwali is a festival which celebrates the victory of good over evil. As per the Hindus, it is the day when

Lord Rama returned to his kingdom, Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, after putting an end to the demon Ravana of Lanka. In Ayodhya, the people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. So, it is an occasion in honor of Rama's victory over Ravana; of truth's victory over evil. But, we Jains have a totally different occasion of celebrating this festival. It is the festival of jubilation to commemorate the Moksha attained by our 24^th Tirthankar Lord Mahavira on Amaavashya of Kartika in Pavapuri,India. According to our Holy Scriptures many Gods and Demi-Gods were present on that occasion, illuminating the darkness of Amaavashya. To symbolically keep the light of Lord Mahavira's knowledge alive, ordinary people also illuminated their homes. Hence the name of the festival - Deepawali.

Sweets and Lights are a very important part of this occassion. So, lets see how I made this Kalakand. Kalakand when normally made from milk takes a lot of time. Since I used condensed milk it was considerably quicker!

 Makes 16 peice.
 Ingredients:

1 tin milk maid.

2 cups full fat milk.

2-3 tbsp curd.

1 tsp lime juice.

2 cardamom pods crushed finely.

Few strands of saffron.

Pistachios and almond flakes to garnish.

Process:

Heat a non stick pan. Add milk and boil on a high flame. When it comes to a boil add the curd and take it off thegas for a moment. Give it a good stir. The milk will curdle. Now put it back on heat and add the condensed milk and give it a good stir. Add the lime juice  and stir. It will curdle too. Now add the crushed cardamom pods and saffron threads. At this moment if you want to add a little more sugar to your taste you can. Keep stirring and heating the curdled milk till it dries up. It will take about 25- 30 minutes.

Set it in a lined square tin and garnish it with pistachios and almonds. Let it cool down and then using it pizza cutter cut it into square size. Keep it in refrigerator.

Serve cold!
Sendin g this sweet to PJ's ongoing event- Lets Celebrate-Bengali Sweets,This event is the brain child of Nivedita And also sending it to Mina's Event CMT-Sweets started by Jagruti

Belated Diwali Wishes again! Wish you a very joyous, prosperous year ahead!

Tom-Veg Soup

Finally, I am back from India. Actually, I was around 2 weeks back and now I am 'kind of settled' after my - 'sort of' long holiday break! Also, finally I am back to blogging :-)..Needless to say I had a lovely time back home with family and friends. As it happens after coming back from India, there is a straight 20 degree change in temperature. The mornings and evenings have already started to be really cold here and what I need at these times is a piping hot soup to keep me warm and going! So, yes I am here with a hearty and healthy soup. And obviously, it has my favourite ingredient-'Tomato' and hence the name- Tom-Veg Soup!

Tom-Veg Soup:

A piping hot and filling soup for cold days.

Ingredients:

For 2 people:

2 large tomatoes
¼ cup finely shredded cabbage.
¼ cup grated carrots.
¼ cup chopped spring onions.
2 tbsp green beans chopped.
1 small onion finely chopped.
1 small tomato chopped.
Handful of coriander leaves chopped.
1 bay leaf.
1 tbsp sugar or less.
Salt to taste.
Freshly ground pepper to taste.
1 tsp corn flour.
1 tbsp tomato ketchup.
1 tsp oil.

Process:

Cut the tomatoes into chunks and boil in 1½ cup water and microwave it for 3 minutes on a high. Blend them and strain. Heat oil in a pan and add the bay leaf. Sauté and add the onion. After a minute add the beans and sauté for another minute. Add shredded cabbage and carrot and heat for 2 minutes. Now add the tomato puree and heat for 3-4 minutes. Mix the corn flour in a little water and add to the boiling soup mixture. Give it a good stir. Add tomato ketchup, salt, sugar, pepper, chopped spring onion, chopped tomato and coriander leaves. Give it a boil and then lower the heat. Cover the pan and heat for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with your choice of bread but I had it by itself.

Happy Blogging! Enjoy!

Plum & Apple Crumble

A very easy and yummy dessert that does not need any elaborate preparation!

Sending this off to Baking from a Book-4 hosted by Sowjanya. This event is the brain child of Champa. Also sending this off to Champa's weekly Bake-Off.

Ingredients:

2-3 Fresh Plums deseeded and cut into wedges.

2 medium fresh apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges.

1 tsp golden syrup.

Splash of water.

1 tbsp caster sugar.

Pinch of cinnamon powder.

For the crumble topping:

1 tbsp butter.

1 tbsp brown sugar.

1 tbsp AP flour.

1 tbsp rolled oats.

Pinch of cinnamon.

Serves 2

Process:

Preheat the oven at 200 C. Line 2 heat proof bowls or ramekins with the plums wedges with the skin down followed by apple wedges. Drizzle golden syrup over it and add a splash of water. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon powder and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile for the crumble topping, mix all the ingredients and rub it well till it resembles rough crumbs. Remove the bowls from the oven squeeze them lightly with the back of a spoon. Then cover it with the crumble mixture. Bake it in the oven for 20-22 minutes till the crumb layer is nice golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or chilled custard.

No pain...Khaman Dhokla

Why 'No pain?' Well, I love Khaman Dhokla and sometimes I have severe cravings for it. So, I always keep a packet of Gits instant Dhokla in my pantry for those crazy cravings. Its not that I am doing a product review or anything. It is just that, I have always been satisfied with the way Gits Dhokla have come out. In fact, I don't know how to go about making Dhokla from scratch. When, I saw Nayna's Event - Flavours of Gujarat, I decided to write about my experience about making instant Khaman Dhokla, so that next time you need it fast you don't have to dig in your recipe book. I am in no way encouraging you to use instant stuff. It is just my experience!

I always remember the dailogue from the movie, 3 Idiots when I think of Gujrati cuisine, I donot remember it exactly but it was like  "dhokla, fafda, handwa, thepla, khakhra, etc.  Something like "Bush ne Iraq pe do dhokla gira diya" as if they were missiles. :D.  Hopefully I will try all these recipes in coming days:

Now coming to Dhokla again- Follow the instructions at the back of the Gits Dhokla pack for the Dhokla and tempering.

What I like to do in addition to that is soaking them in a Sugary-Lemony Syrup. 

For it you will need:

1/2 cup water.

1/4 cup sugar.

Generous pinch of salt.

Juice of 1 small lemon.

Process: 

Mix all the ingredients and let it sit till the sugar dissolves. Chill it in a refrigerator till needed.

Just 5 mins before serving pour the juice over the dhokla and let it sit for 3-5 mins. It should not become very soggy but the juice should be well infused. Serve with green chutney, tamarind chutney or ketchup.

Sending this off to Nayna's Event- Flavour of Gujarat. Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Finally, I have managed to squeeze some time for my blog. Actually, there are so many things in our 'To-Do' list on our India visit that my blogging has taken a back seat. I think it happens with everybody. I am having a lovely time here socialising, relaxing, catching up with friends and having good food prepared by my Mom.  

Before flying to India, I had prepared and taken pictures of a few dishes intending to post it soon. But, it seems like I had been postponing it a little too long. Today, I am sharing the recipe of 'Blueberry Muffins' which I tried from the book -101 Cakes and Bakes from BBC Books. The recipe was named 'Buttermilk Berry Muffins' in the book but I prefer to call it simply 'Blueberry Muffins'. I have baked these muffins twice and was happy with the results both times. My husband loved it. It was the first time I used an Egg-replacer powder of the brand name Orgran. I have followed rest of the recipe as given in the book. I hope to experiment with the egg replacer powder more often.

Needless to say sending this off to Baking from a book 4 event guest hosted by Sowjanya. This event is the brain child of Champa. Also sending it off to Champa's Weekly Event Bake Off and Sri's EFM-Cakes and Bakes Series.

 Ingredients:

400 g AP flour.

175 g caster sugar.

1 tbsp baking powder.

Finely grated rind of one lemon.

284 ml buttermilk.

Egg replacer powder in place of 2 eggs.

85 g butter, melted.

250 g fresh blueberries.

Makes 12.

Process:

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a 12 cup muffin tray. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, lemon rind, sugar and salt. Prepare the egg replacer powder as per the instructions given in the box. In a separate bowl mix butter, buttermilk and the prepared egg replacer. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Mix it lightly so that it is well combined. Do not over do. Fold in the blueberries and spoon it into the prepared tin.

Bake it for 25 mins until risen and pale golden on top. Leave to cool on wire rack for 5 mins. Place them on the wire rack to cool further.  

These muffins are very delicate when hot. I have tried it second time substituting the butter with 1/4 cup + 2tbsp oil. They came out good too.

Enjoy!