Announcing Veggie/ Fruit A Month Event- Bottle Gourd

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I take utmost pleasure in announcing that in this New Year the very popular Veggie/ Fruit A Month Event created by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan is being hosted at Vegetarian Tastebuds . I have chosen 'Bottle Gourd' as the star vegetable for this month.

Bottle gourd is known by various names like Opo Squash, Long Melon or Calabash in English and as Lauki, Ghiya, Doodhi in hindi and as Suraikkaii in Tamil. Bottle gourd is a treasure chest of goodness. Let me list some health benefits of bottle gourd-

• Bottle gourd comprises of 96% of water so it is very good for kids and people with digestive disorders as it is very light on stomach and relieves constipation.
• It has got only 12 calories per 100 grams so it is ideal for weight watchers.
• It is very high in sodium and potassium and is helpful for people with hypertension.

Now coming back to the event there are some rules for this event-

1. "Bottle Gourd" has to be the star ingredient in the dish.
2. Prepare a vegetarian recipe (eggs are allowed).
3. The recipe can be for breakfast, lunch, dinner, starters, entrées, side dishes, snacks, desserts and beverages. 
4. Recipe has to be NEW. Archived entries are NOT allowed. I know you all are very creative so put on your thinking caps.
5. Use of the logo is mandatory to help spread the word about the event.
6. Link your post to this announcement and to Priya's event page.
7. Non bloggers are also welcome just send me your name, recipe and a picture and I will include it in the round up.
8. Please send me your entries between Jan'01 to Jan'31 at vegetariantastebuds@gmail.com with 'bottle gourd' as the subject. Your details must include-

• Your Name
• Name of the blog
• Recipe Name
• Recipe URL
• Photograph of your dish. Please ensure the picture is not large.

Round up will be posted in first week of February. Thanks to dear Priya for letting me host this event. Blogger buddies do send me your creative dishes. This is my first event and please help me make it a success. 

Currently the Veggie/ Fruit Event- Cucumber is being hosted at Ambrosia till Jan'15th, so send in your cucumber entries as well to Ambrosia.

Thekua ~ Indian Cookies For Indian Cooking Challenge

This month for the Indian Cooking Challenge, Srivalli challenged us to prepare traditional Indian cookies from the state of Bihar and these are called as Thekua or Khajur. These are crispy biscuits which are deep fried in oil and makes perfect tea time snack.

I had been too busy this month and am very late to post this but still happy that I am able to join in the gang at ICC.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour- 2 Cups
Semolina- 4 Tablespoons
Powdered Sugar- 8 Tablespoons
Grated Dry Coconut- 4 Teaspoons
Cardamom Powder- 1/8 Teaspoon
Oil/ Ghee- 8 Teaspoons + More for deep frying
Water- To make a dough

Procedure:

Mix flour, sugar, coconut, semolina and cardamom together and add in 8 teaspoons of oil. Using water bring everything together to form a crumbly dough. Meanwhile keep the oil to heat in a deep frying pan at medium heat.

 Roll out the dough to about 3-4 mm thickness, then using a cookie cutter cut out the shapes. Gather the trimmed edges and again repeat the rolling and cutting procedure till all the dough is used up.

Prick the cookies with a fork to prevent them from puffing. Deep fry these cookies in hot oil on medium heat till they turn golden brown in colour. Remove the cookies from oil and place them on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Once cool store these cookies in an airtight container, these stay good for about 2 weeks.

Thinner cookies are more crisper than the thick ones and next time I would increase the sugar little bit more as my family has got sweet tooth.

Eggless Rosette Cookies

Christmas is around the corner and these Rosette cookies or Achappam as they call in Kerala ( Southern Indian State) are traditionally made around this festive time. To know more about their origin I took help of Wikipedia and it seems that these cookies originated in the Scandinavia.  

These cookies are made using special mould which is made of iron and has intricate design with wooden handle. The mould is dipped in hot oil and then immersed in the batter which is then fried to get these delicious treats.

I made these rossette for the first time and almost all the recipes call for eggs but since we don't take eggs I was little sceptical as how these would turn out, but these turned out super good and were a real treat.

Ingredients:

Fine Rice Flour- 3/4 Cup ( Make sure to use non roasted flour)

All Purpose Flour- 1/2 Cup

Sugar- 1/2 Cup

Banana Purée- 1 tbsp

Thick Coconut Milk- 1/2 Cup

Cardamom Powder- 1/2 Tsp

Black Sesame Seeds- 1 Tbsp

Water- To make the batter

Salt- A Pinch

Oil - To Deep Fry

Procedure:

• Heat oil in a frying pan and keep the rosette mould immersed in hot oil.
• Prepare the batter by mixing rice flour, all purpose flour, sugar, banana purée, coconut milk, cardamom powder, black sesame seeds, salt together and add water to make a smooth, lump free batter of neither too thin nor too thick but of flowing consistency.
• When the oil is hot enough take out the mould from it and immediately immerse the mould upto 3/4th in the prepared batter. Take care not to fully immerse the mould in the batter else the cookies will not come out of the mould.
• Take out the mould from the batter and immediately immerse it in the hot oil. 
• Let the batter fry for 20-30 seconds in medium heat along with the mould.
• Now gently tap the mould to release the cookie in the oil. If the cookie doesn't come out on it own then use a skewer to remove the cookie. However with practise these cookies come out perfectly.
• Fry on both sides till the cookies turn slight golden. 
• Make sure to fry only a couple of these at a time, since these turn dark very quickly.
• Also the mould has to be hot each time before being dipped into the batter. If the mould is not hot then the batter won't come off in hot oil.

Linking these to #cookielove blog hop co hosted by me along with other wonderful bloggers. Do check them here.

Vegetarian Tastebuds in thekitchn

I am delighted to see my Cornmeal Dumplings Stir Fry post feature as delicious link in "thekitchn.com".

Delicious links for 12.05.2011

Pumpkin butter made in the slow cooker, and a rich and hearty Italian soup, plus fried cornmeal dumplings, Indian-style.

Today's Delicious Links

• Italian Chicken, Bean, & Tomato Soup - Erin's Food Files.

• Quince muffins - In Erika's Kitchen.

• Crock Pot Pumpkin Butter - Taste for Adventure

• Cornmeal Dumplings Stir Fry - Vegetarian Tastebuds.

Cookielove~ Savoury Cookies~ Mathri

This is the time for love blog hop and the theme for this month is cookie...so get ready for some cookielove. My family loves cookies and I always keep my cookie jar full, my DH and daughter have got sweet tooth and always prefer sweet cookies but I like to munch on savoury ones with my cup of tea. These spiced cookies are called Mathri in India and are generally deep fried. These cookies are very crunchy and flaky, the more the amount of fat used the more crunchy these will be.

Instead of deep frying I have baked these cookies and to make them vegan I have used canola oil instead of ghee (clarified butter).

I have used dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri methi) to flavour these cookies.

Another spice which I have used is Black pepper..really adds a pep to these cookies. But these spices are optional and can be adjusted according to the tastebuds.

Ingredients: 

Whole Wheat Flour- 1 Cup

All Purpose Flour- 1/2 Cup

Gram Flour (Besan)- 1/2 Cup

Semolina- 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder- A pinch

Raw Sugar- 1 tsp

Dried Fenugreek Leaves ( Kasuri Methi)- 1 tbsp

Black Pepper Powder- 1 tsp

Cumin Coarsely Crushed- 1/4 tsp

Salt- To Taste

Oil/ Clarified Butter- 1/2 Cup (hot)

Warm Water- 1/2 Cup to make the dough

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven at 200 Degrees C.
• In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients except oil and water. 
• Add hot oil to the flour mix little by little and mix everything together with a spoon. 
• Now add warm little by little and bring the dough together. Do not knead.
• Now transfer the dough on a clean surface and roll with a rolling pin. The dough will not be sticky because of the presence of fat.
• Roll the dough to the desired thickness and cut into round shapes with the help of cookie cutter.
• Arrange in a baking tray and bake on the top rack for about 10 minutes, after 10 minutes turn over the cookies and let them bake for another 10 minutes. 
• Keep a close eye on these as they brown very quickly.
• Let the cookies cool  and store them in an airtight container. These cookies have shelf life of almost a week.

On another important note we celebrated UAE National Day on 2nd December. UAE turned 40 this year. This is a country which has provided good opportunities to many in all the fields along with being a safe and  multicultural nation.

And the kids celebrated the National Day in school with great joy and my daughter came back home singing "Let's salute the UAE on 2nd of December...."

And on this day I am celebrating my first blog anniversary. It had been a fun year filled with lots of good experiences...I got to know so many wonderful bloggers without whom this journey of mine would not have been possible. 

From being Raji who was only a mother and a wife I transitioned into being Raji At Vegetarian Tastebuds and truly cherished each and every day of blogging. Each new post brought me close to new friends. I came to know people from different countries and learnt about their food cultures, I tried my hands on various cuisines which I never thought I would try, I stepped towards a healthy life and I started socializing on social network sites like Facebook and Twitter...what more can I ask? 

I sincerely want to thank each and every reader of mine who has taken time out to read my posts and drop in their comments.A big big thank you.  

Sending these cookies to Vardhini's Bake Fest event hosted by Sangeetha at Spicy Treats and to Radhika's Let's Cook #10 event.

Now Coming to the Cookielove..I am co hosting this blog hop along with-

Badger Girl Learns to Cook/ Kimberly Aime/ @BdgerGrl

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves/ Becky Higgins

BigFatBaker/ Erin Meyer/ @BigFatBaker

Bloc de recetas/ Salomé/ @Blocderecetas

Bon a croquer /Valerie/ @Valouth

CafeTerraBlog/ Terra Baltosiewich / @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess/ Lora/ @cakeduchess

Creative Cooking Corner/ Karriann Graf/ @KarriannGraf

Easily Good Eats/ Three-Cookies

Georgiecakes /Georgie Kubarych /@georgiecakes

Hobby And More / Richa/ @betit19

knitstamatic / Deb/ @knitstamatic

Mike's Baking / Mike R./ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos / Junia/ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies / T.R./ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake / Jessica Hose/ @jesshose

Queen's Notebook /Elizabeth Quirino/ @Mango_Queen

Savoring Every Bite /Linda Geiler/ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem / Reem /@simplyreem

Soni's Food for Thought / Soni/ @sonisfood

Teaspoon of Spice /Deanna Segrave-Daly/ @tspbasil

That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!/ Liz / @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food / Laura /@TAofCRF

The Spicy RD / EA Stewart /@thespicyrd

The Wimpy Vegetarian /Susan Pridmore /@chezsuzanne

Vegan Yack Attack! /Jackie Sobon/ @veganyackattack

December is #cookielove month!

Please join in on the #cookielove fun by linking up any cookie recipe from the month of December 2011. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #cookielove event! The twitter hashtag is #cookielove 

Vegan Carrot And Cranberry Breakfast Muffins

Muffins for breakfast...mmm...who would not love them and they are great for lazy and cool weekend mornings when I wake up late and drag myself to the kitchen to make my cuppa and then again curl on the couch trying to steal some more minutes of sleep. On the other hand my DH wakes up at 6 even on weekends and is already finished with his gym and tea even before I get out of my dreams, then he looks at me with a smile expecting to get breakfast soon and I set off to the kitchen to whip up something quick for him. To save my husband from the misery of waiting for his breakfast on weekend,  I made these muffins a day before and refrigerated them to be used for next mornings breakfast.

So the result...a happy husband and a happy me.

When I was clicking the pictures my daughter came back from school and wanted to lend her hands for the shot resulting in this picture.

These muffins stay good for 2-3 days when stored in refrigerator. Just microwave them for a minute and they will be ready for tasty breakfast.

I was inspired by Sukaina of Sips And Spoonfuls to create recipe card.

Click on the recipe card to print the recipe

Cornmeal Dumplings Stir Fry/ Cornmeal Kozhukattai

Giving something healthy and at the same time nothing very heavy to my kiddo as evening snacks is a daily challenge for me. Store bought chips and other snacks are a big no no and I like to make something quick for her.

I usually make dumplings with rice ( ammini kozhukkatai) but this time I tried with cornmeal after seeing the recipe here. Instead of stir frying, these dumplings can be steamed and then seasoned for a more healthier version. 

Ingredients:

For Dumplings-

Water- 1 Cup
Oil- 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder- A pinch
Salt- 1/4 tsp
Fine Cornmeal- 1/2 Cup

For Seasoning-

Oil- 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds- 1/2 tsp
Split Black Gram- 1/2 tsp
Green Chilly- 1 (chopped)
 Dried Red Chilli- 1 (broken)
Curry Leaves- 6-8
Fresh Coconut Grated- 1tbsp

Procedure:

• In a pan heat water and and add oil, turmeric powder and salt. Let the water boil.
• Reduce the heat and add cornmeal into the water. Stir the mixture so that there are no lumps. 
• Cook until all the water is absorbed. Switch off the gas and remove the mixture onto a plate.
• Once the mixture is cool enough to handle, pinch out small portions out of the dough and make marble sized balls. Keep the balls aside in a plate.
• Now heat oil in a wide frying pan and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter add in split black gram. When the gram turns little golden brown add in both green and red chilli and curry leaves. 
• Now gently add in the cornmeal dumplings and cook in medium heat. Do not turn or toss the dumplings at this stage as they may break.
• After 3-4 minutes gently toss the pan and let the dumplings cook again for 2-3 minutes.
• Switch off the gas and season with fresh grated coconut.

Vegan Beet Bundt

Since I took the vegan challenge I had not made any dessert or sweet as most of the Indian sweets I make are made with ghee and milk. But when I saw this vegan bundt cake at Food Librarian's space I was amazed at it's texture and since I had all the ingredients handy, I immediately put on my baking gloves.

The cake turned out to be super moist and had rich flavour. Beetroot gives this cake a wonderful red colour and softness. 

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour- 1 Cup

Beetroot Puree- 1 Cup ( Steam 2 medium beets and purée in a blender)

Canola Oil- 1/4 Cup + 1 Tbsp

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder- 4 tbsp

Vanilla Extract- 1/2 tsp

Packed Brown Sugar- 3/4 Cup

Baking Powder- 1 tsp

Salt- 1/8 tsp

Confectioner's Sugar- For dusting (optional)

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven at 190 degrees C and grease the bundt pan and keep aside.
• In a bowl cream together oil and brown sugar. Add in the beet purée, cocoa powder, vanilla extract and mix together.
• In another bowl sieve all purpose flour, salt and baking powder together.
• Add this dry mixture to the wet beet mixture and mix everything together just until combined.
• Pour the mixture in the prepared bundt pan and bake for 35- 40 minutes or till done. If a screwer inserted in the centre of the bundt comes out clean, the bundt is done.
• Wait for the bundt cake to cool and then invert in a plate.

My husband and daughter liked their cake with generous dusting of confectioner's sugar and I enjoyed mine plain.

Note-Instead of cocoa powder 1/4 cup of any non dairy choco chip can be substituted .And dairy choco chip can be substituted for a non vegan version.

Sending this bundt to National Bundt day at Mary- The Food Librarian's space.

Also linking this to Srivalli's Kid's Delight Event hosted at Cooks Hideout space.

Daal Banjari

I am completing first week of my Vegan challenge and till now have been successful in sticking to the vegan diet. I have replaced my milk tea to soy milk masala tea and now loving it. The breakfast is mostly semolina upma or oats with a dash of soy milk and some fruits or brown rice poha and even Vegan french toasts.

Lunch comprises of lentils with roti or any tofu dish with rotis/ parathas and dinner is mostly dosas/ idlis/ roti subzi. I made these lentils for our lunch and it was super good. This daal belongs from Indian State of Rajasthan. The recipe is adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's tasty eating for healthy living book, earlier I have tried this Daal Lucknowi from that book.

Ingredients:

Whole Black Gram with Skin( Urad daal)- 2/3 Cup (soaked)

Split Bengal Gram- 1/3 Cup (soaked)

Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp

Salt- to taste

Onions- 2 Small chopped

Cloves- 2

Cinnamon Stick- 1 Inch

Dry Red Chillies- 2

Ginger- 1 Inch Piece (crushed in mortar)

Garlic- 2 cloves (crushed in mortar)

Coriander Powder- 1 tsp

Green Chilly- 1

Black Pepper Powder- 1/4 tsp

Coriander Leaves- to garnish

Oil- 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Pressure cook both grams together with turmeric powder, salt and 3 cups of water till 4-5 whistles.
• Heat oil in a pan, add cloves, cinnamon, onions, crushed ginger and garlic with dried red chillies and green chilly and sautè till onions turn golden brown.
• Add the cooked grams, black pepper powder and coriander powder. Boil for 5-10 minutes. Check seasoning.
• Transfer to a bowl and garnish with coriander leaves.

Lauki Ka Kofta

I have been a Lacto Vegetarian all my life and now slowly trying transitioning into being Vegan. This is going to be very very difficult for me as I love my masala chai , paneer dishes and all the ghee laden Indian sweets like mysore pak to its core. So to give myself a boost I have joined 21 Days Vegan Kickstart India challenge and hope I can stick to it. 

Most of our Indian gravies and curries are vegan, that is if we don't add ladles and ladles of cream or ghee tadka to make it rich. One such gravy dish which is my favourite is Lauki Ka Kofta. I love those kofta balls floating in delicious gravy. I have made the kofta balls in non stick aebleskiver pan ( appam pan) with very less oil and have not added any cream in the gravy, thus it's completely vegan.

Ingredients:

For the kofta balls-

Bottle Gourd/ Lauki/ Opo Squash- 2 Cups grated

Chick Pea Flour( Besan)- 1/2 Cup

Salt- To taste

Red Chilli Powder- As per taste

Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder)- 1/4tsp

Green Chillies- 2( Optional)

Canola Oil- To shallow fry in aebleskiever pan

For the gravy-

Onion- 1 Large

Ginger- 1 Inch Piece

Garlic- 2 or 3 Cloves

Tomatoes- 3 Medium Sized ( ground)

Whole Dry Red Chillies- 2

Green Chilly- 1(optional)

Salt- To Taste

Red Chilli Powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder- 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder- 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder- 1/2 tsp

Canola Oil- 2 Tbsp

Procedure:

• Add salt in the grated bottle gourd and keep aside for few minutes, then squeeze out the water.
• Mix with it chick pea flour, red chilli powder, dry mango powder and make a dough out of it.
• Make 12 equal balls of the dough. In the appam pan put few drops of oil in each section and then put the kofta balls for shallow frying. 
• Keep the pan covered and once the bottom side turns light brown turn it over and cook covered the other side as well.
• Take out the kofta balls from the pan and keep aside. 
• For the gravy grind onions, ginger, garlic and red chillies together. 
• Heat oil in a deep pan and once hot add in the onion paste and fry till raw smell disappears.
• Add in the tomato paste along with turmeric powder, coriander powder, green chilly, salt and red chilly powder. Fry till the mixture starts leaving oil from the side.
• Add in 2-3 cups of water and bring to boil. Now keep the gravy in simmer for another 5 minutes.
• Add in garam masala and switch off the gas. 

Before serving add the kofta balls in the gravy and heat it for another minute or so. Serve hot with rotis or parathas.

Linking this to Squashlove blog hop 

Oats And Honey Bread

After devouring all the Diwali sweets and snacks I have developed an aversion to sweets....but I know it's going to be temporary and soon I will again enjoy sweet treats. 

So for a change I baked this bread and I was really impressed by it. It has got beautiful crust and soft insides and tastes excellent with either honey or even butter. My kiddo enjoyed this with spoonfuls of honey and has ordered me to make this more frequently. I was quite surprised at her request since the only bread she eats is white milk bread. And this bread is now going to feature regularly in my kitchen.

Recipe Source: Allrecipes

Ingredients: 

All Purpose Flour- 3 Cups

Rolled Oats- 1/2 Cup + little more for sprinkling on top

Honey- 3 tbsp

Unsalted Butter- 2 tbsp (at room temperature)

Salt- 1 tsp

Active Dry Yeast- 1 1/2 tsp

Warm Water- 1 1/4 Cup

Milk- For brushing the top

Dried Melon Seeds, Sunflower Seeds- little for sprinkling (optional)

Procedure:

• Combine flour, oats and salt in a large bowl and keep aside.
• In the warm water add in butter, honey and yeast. Mix till dissolved and leave aside for a couple of minutes till the yeast turns frothy.
• Add the yeast mixture to the bowl containing the dry ingredients and mix.
• Knead the dough for 10-15 minutes till the dough turns smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to another bowl and cover the bowl with a greased cling film. Leave the dough to rise for about an hour.
• Punch back the dough and knead for a couple of minutes.
• Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll each piece in a ball. Arrange the balls in a greased baking dish and cover again with cling film. Leave it to rise for another 45 minutes.
• Remove the cling film and brush the top with milk and sprinkle oats and seeds on top.
• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes or till the crust turns golden brown.

Serve the bread warm with honey....it tastes divine.

Sending these to Radhika's Winter Carnival and Vardhini's Bake Fest#1

Malai Laddoo/ Cottage Cheese Sweet - Think Pink

Before few days I got an invite from Arva of I live in a frying pan to join the Fooderati Arabia group...can't tell you how excited I was. I immediately accepted the invite and was happy to be a part of the group consisting of talented bloggers from UAE...these guys have wonderful blogs and I was amazed at how active they were in the group. They meet regularly, organize many monthly events, outings and they are a great support group. 

Through this group I came to know about Breast Cancer Awareness event. October is Breast Cancer awareness month and I am contributing by making a pink post. For people residing in Dubai~ our two fellow FIA members Rajani And Lin are donating 10% of their sales to the Safe & Sound- Breast Cancer Awareness Programme. Visit them at their FB page to know more.

Do support the breast cancer campaign by liking Safe & Sound.

Ingredients: 

Cottage Cheese( Paneer)- 250 grams

Condensed Milk- 3/4 Cup

Cardamom Powder- A pinch

Beetroot Purée- 1 tsp ( or few drops of red food colour)

Clarified Butter( ghee)- 2 tsp

Procedure:

• Grate and mash the cottage cheese.
• In a non stick pan add in the clarified butter along with cottage cheese and condensed milk and cook on low heat.
• When the mixture starts thickening and leaving the sides of pan add in the cardamom powder and turn of the heat.
• Transfer the mixture in a plate and divide it in two parts.
• In one part add in the beetroot purée/ food colour and mix it nicely. The mixture will turn pink in colour.
• Once the mixture cools take out a portion out of  the white part and roll it in a small marble size round and keep aside. 
• Then take the pink colour dough and take out a big portion out of it. Roll it in a little big round and then with thumb make an impression in the centre, keep the white coloured small marble inside it and then seal all the sides and make a round ball.
• Repeat the process with other balls as well.
• I made some with white centre and some with pink centre.

This is how the laddoos looked from inside.

These are best when served fresh but  can also be kept in refrigerator for 2 days.

Do check out what our other FIA members have posted for this event-

The Pink Ribbon - According To Dina
Pink Ribbon Salad- Life in the food lane
Strawberry & Fig Tartlet- Eaternal Zest
Raspberry Melting Moments/ Orange Blossom Fig Torte- La Me`re Culinaire
Super Foods And Cancer- Irina Savva
Chicken Curry Spring Rolls- Ginger & Scotch
Going Pink- Devina Divecha

Mysore Pak/ Gram Flour Fudge

Mysore Pak aka Gram Flour Fudge is a sinfully rich sweet with only three ingredients...a bite of it will make you crave for more and more...and if eaten without moderation it is sure to make us pull out fat pants from the closet. I was wondering about its name origin...and there came Wikipedia at my rescue. Mysore pak seems to be originated in the kitchen of royal palace of Mysore and hence got it's name.

Mysore Pak is of two kinds...one is a bit hard with crumbly texture and the other has soft and smooth texture and just melts in the mouth. Our family is fond of the softer one so I made this. I saw this recipe in Sharmi's space and immediately bookmarked it. Thanks for this wonderful recipe Sharmi...it's just so perfect.

Ingredients: ( Recipe Source- Sharmispassions)

Besan/ Gram Flour- 1 Cup

Ghee/ Clarified Butter- 1 Cup ( 3/4 Cup in flour and 1/4 Cup while stirring)

Sugar- 1 Cup

Water- 1/4 Cup

Procedure:

• Roast the gram flour in a non stick pan with 1 tsp of ghee. Roast in low heat by continuous stirring till the raw smell of flour disappears. 
• Sieve the flour so that there are no lumps.
• In a bowl put the flour and add the 3/4 Cup of ghee. Mix well without any lumps. Keep the paste aside for 15 minutes.
• Grease a plate with ghee and keep aside.
• Meanwhile mix together sugar and water in a non stick pan and keep on medium heat with occasional stirring till single thread consistency is achieved. 
• Keep the remaining 1/4 Cup of ghee to heat in low flame. 
• Now reduce the gas flame to low and add the flour paste slowly by slowly in the sugar syrup while continuously stirring it with another hand.
• Now start adding to it the hot 1/4th Cup of ghee slowly by slowly in intervals. Keep stirring.
• Slowly the mixture will start leaving the sides and it will start coming together without sticking to the pan.
• At this stage pour the mixture in the greased plate. It will spread itself smoothly.
• When little cool cut it into desired shapes.

Garlic And Sesame Sticks

Though garlic is known for its medicinal benefits but it's a big no no at my mother's and MIL's place. During festivals and good days it is completely banned in their kitchen. But me and my DH have always been garlic lovers. Till I moved to Dubai I was unaware of garlic bread but once I tasted it there was no going back. I like to add garlic to most of my gravy dishes.

My DH eats raw garlic to control cholesterol and I always stock big mouthwash bottle for him :) 

Long back I saw this recipe in RC's blog and since have made it quite often. These are so addictive that I was left with only few of these to photograph.

Ingredients:

Oats- 1/2 Cup

All Purpose Flour- 1 Cup

Butter- 4tbsps

Sesame Seeds- 1/4 Cup

Garlic Powder- 2 tsp

Chilli Flakes- 1 tsp

Baking Powder- 1/2 tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp

Salt- To taste

Water- To Knead

Procedure:

• Coarsely grind oats and mix it with all the dry ingredients together in a big bowl.
• Melt the butter and add it in the flour mix. The flour mix will attain bread crumbs like texture.
• Add water little by little and knead the flour to form a stiff dough.
• Cover the dough with a plastic wrap and keep aside for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven at 190 degrees C.
• Take large portion of the dough and roll it ( the dough will not be sticky and will easily roll without use of any flour) in a square shape. 
• Using a knife cut 1 inch wide and 4-5 inches long strips out of it. Arrange the strips on a greased baking sheet.
• Repeat the process with remaining dough.
• Bake for 15 minutes and then turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes. Keep an eye during the last minutes. 

Allow them to cool and while these are hot resist yourself hard to stop from eating these crunchy munchy sticks.

Oats And Carrot Kheer

Happy Dussehra....celebrate the festival with this heart friendly but at the same time delicious kheer. My family enjoyed this kheer a lot and it's not very time consuming to make. 

I have used only saffron and cardamom for the flavouring. Nuts can be added to make the kheer more rich and flavourful.

Ingredients:

Milk- 3 Cups ( I have used half cream milk)

Carrot- 1 medium (grated)

Oats- 2 tbsp

Sugar- 4 tbsp( or more)

Saffron- A pinch soaked in a tbsp of warm milk

Cardamom Powder- A pinch

Procedure:

• Dry roast the oats for 2-3 minutes. Keep aside.
• Boil the milk in a pan and add the grated carrots.
• Once the carrots get cooked add in the oats.
• Continue boiling and keep stirring in between.
• The oats will cook in around 5 minutes. 
• Once the oats have cooked add in the sugar and soaked saffron. Boil for another 5 minutes and add in the cardamom powder.
• Remove from heat and serve hot.

Sending this kheer to Diwali Special-Sweets & Savouries, Serve it- Festival Potluck, Diwali Sweet Recipes- Festival recipes-Indian sweet recipes, Diwali- Festival of Lights, My Diwali My Way

Also sending this to Pari's Only-Sweets and Dessert event hosted by Gayathri.

Moong Daal Khichdi With Okra Raita

Sometimes simple and comfort food is what we crave for and what can be more simpler than a khichdi (rice with lentils), and when served with okra raita it makes a complete satisfying meal. 

Ingredients: For the khichdi

Rice- 1 Cup

Yellow moong daal- 1/2 Cup

Tomato- 2 ( ground)

Salt- To taste

Turmeric Powder- 1/4 tsp

Whole Black Pepper- 1tsp

Cumin Seeds- 1 tsp

Ghee- 1 tbsp

Procedure:

• Wash and soak rice and daal together for an hour.
• Dry roast black pepper and cumin till aromatic and coarsely grind them.
• Heat a pressure cooker and add the ghee. Once hot add in the ground spices, tomato and stir.
• Add in the soaked and drained rice and daal and mix well.
• Pour in 4 cups of water and add salt and turmeric powder.
• Put in the lid of the pressure cooker and keep for cooking till 4-5 whistles comes.
• Serve it hot with a big dollop of ghee and the raita.

Ingredients:

Curd- 2 Cups ( Well beaten)

Salt- To taste

Roasted Cumin Powder- 1/2 Tsp

Red Chilli Powder- To Taste

Black Salt- A Pinch

Okra/ Lady's Finger- 6-7

Oil - To fry the okras

Procedure:

• Cut the okras in approximately half inch wide rounds and fry in hot oil till they become soft but they should not loose their colour. Drain and keep them aside.
• In the beaten curd add all the spices, salt then mix well and keep it chilled in the fridge.
• Add in the fried okras just before serving, else they may become very soggy.

Sending this to CWS- Rice event originally started by Priya and hosted this month at Reva's space.