Choco Coffee Cake ~ A Guest Post For Grishma At Zaika Zabardast

Some time back, I saw a Facebook message from Grishma of Zaika Zabardast where she invited me to write a guest post for her wonderful blog, and I did not even think twice as there are two strong reasons for it....first that it's my first guest post and I was really honoured and secondly Grishma is a lovely person. Most of you must be familiar with her blog Zaika Zabardast. I remember stumbling to her site and the first thing which attracted me was her site's name, so catchy and I loved her recipe and fabulous pictures. She is a lacto vegetarian like me and is a pretty girl who seems to have so much of energy.

I am sharing a super easy and vegan choco coffee cake which can be made in a jiffy. Check out Grishma's space for the recipe and do say hi to her. Also visit her Facebook page and tweets @zaikazabardast for beautiful pictures and yum recipes.

And I am linking this cake to Priya's Healthy Diet Event~Baked Goodies hosted by me.

Onion And Garlic Focaccia

" This is the best thing you ever made ".......... this is what my husband said after having this Focaccia bread. And I said , then what about all those dishes which I made during past 8 years of married life ? He did not answer this, and I too left the conversation at that point. Some times, some things are better left unspoken...right? 

And now coming to the bone of contention I.e the Focaccia, I got the basic olive oil dough recipe from the book Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day. This is the first recipe I tried from this book and enjoyed a lot. There is no kneading required and the result is one delicious bread. Serve it for breakfast or stir up some soup and enjoy your dinner.

Ingredients: 

Basic Olive Oil Dough Recipe: ( This is the original proportion for the dough but I have halved the ingredients while making the recipe) :

Lukewarm Water- 2 3/4 Cup

Instant Yeast- 1 1/2 Tablespoon

Salt- 1 1/2 Tablespoon

Sugar- 1 Tablespoon

Olive Oil- 1/4 Cup

All Purpose Flour- 6 1/2 Cups

Other Ingredients which I added in the dough: 

Chopped Spring Onions- 3 Tablespoons

Garlic- 3 Cloves (Pounded)

Green Chillies- 2 or 3 (Crushed)

For Topping: 

Olive Oil- 2 Tablespoon + 1 Tablespoon for greasing

Red Onions- 1/4th of small onion ( Thinly Sliced)

Italian Seasoning- 1 Teaspoon

Coarse Sea Salt- For Sprinkling On Top

Procedure:

• In a food container which has lid add in luke warm water, yeast, salt, sugar, spring onions, garlic, green chillies and olive oil together so that everything is mixed well.
• Then in that mix in the flour without kneading, using a spoon. If the dough is too sticky, use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
• Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top) approximately 2 hours.
• The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise but I refrigerated the dough overnight as it is easier to handle cold dough.
• Twenty minutes before baking pre heat the oven to 425 Degrees F with an empty broiler tray on any shelf.
• Grease the baking tray with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and set aside. 
• Take out the dough from the refrigerator and with the help of little flour shape it into a ball. Now place the ball in the prepared baking tray and with the help of hands press the dough from all sides, flatten it as thin as required. Keep it covered with a damp cloth for resting for about half an hour.
• Meanwhile heat 2 Tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan. Add in onions and sauté until softened but not browned. Keep it aside.
• Now after the dough has rested make some indentations with thumb in the dough. Sprinkle the sautéed onions along with its oil sparingly over the surface of the dough. Do not add lot of onions else the surface may not brown attractively. 
• Sprinkle Italian seasoning, coarse sea salt on top of the dough.
• Now before keeping the tray inside the oven, pour 1 cup of hot water in the empty broiler tray which is already inside the oven. Place the baking tray inside the oven and quickly shut the oven door. 
• Bake for about 25- 30 minutes or till the crust if golden brown in colour. Baking time may vary according to the thickness of the focaccia.

Serve warm.

Linking this to Vardhini's Bake Fest hosted at Tomato Blues.

Round Up Of Veggie/Fruit A Month Event ~ Bottle Gourd

The world is divided into two kinds of people, one kind who hates bottle gourd and other kind who do not love bottle gourd. Keeping this fact in my mind I was really apprehensive as to whether I will even get a single entry from fellow bloggers, and thought that my event will be doomed, but my lovely blogger friends did not fail to amaze me and sent some really wonderful entries. I am really thankful to all of you for taking out your time and mailing your entries to me. Special thanks to our lovely Priya who sent me 5 entries, she is a real inspiration.

So here is the round up of the event in the order I received the entries.

Very first entry is from Prajusha of  iCookiPost  who sent this superb bottle gourd halwa. Look at the awesome colour...this is a must make winter sweet.

Next entry comes from my friend Priya Sreeram of Bon Appetit. She sent me two entries, first one is Herbed Bottle Gourd Dosa. What an innovative way to sneak this veggie in kids meal.

Second entry from Priya Sreeram is Bottle Gourd Green Peas Khichdi. Khichdi is a treat in winters and makes a great comfort food.

Another dear friend Sangee of Spicy Treats sent in her Bottle Gourd Red Chori Kara Kuzhambu. Her spicy treat and lovely picture made me drool and drool.

Another entry from Sangee is Bottle Gourd Onion Rasam...this is a super innovative dish which is sure to keep us warm in winters.

Gayathri of Gayathri's Cook Spot sent in her Lauki Kofta Curry. I know that most of the people like koftas and this one with all the spices is a real treat.

Amy of Food Corner sent in Bottle Gourd Curry, she tried this vegetable for first time and this will go very well with rice.

Sravani of Srav's Culinary Concepts sent in Sorakaya Pulusu, this sweet, spicy and tangy dish will add zing to lunch.

Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds sent in Palak-Doodhi Muthia. Muthias are very healthy and this one with the addition of spinach is more so healthy.

Harini Of Tamalpaku sent in Bottle Gourd Lentil Curry, one simple but flavourful curry which will be loved by kids as well.

Rajani of My Kitchen Trials sent her Handvo, I was really amazed at the beautiful crust. And it is one of my favourite dish.

Saraniya of Sara's Tasty Buds sent her Lauki Patties. This is a real innovation and a wonderful tea time snack.

Next Neetu of Tips And Deals sent in Lauki Chana Daal Curry. Very healthy and hearty dish and the garnishing of green chillies is a lovely sight.

Madhuram aka the eggless baking queen sent in Low Carb Bottle Gourd And Cauliflower Soup from her blog Veg Corner. The soup is a comfort in this chill weather and her pictures are amazing.

Nisha from Nisha's Kitchen sent me Bottle Gourd Adai, south Indian style pancakes which is rich with lentils and makes a great breakfast or dinner.

Hema of Aromatic Cooking sent in Bottle Gourd in Peanut Sauce. Mmm..it looked super delicious with lots of peanuts and spices.

Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal sent Lauki Kheer. She made this to celebrate her kiddos birthday, indeed a sweet treat to celebrate a very sweet and special day.

Shireen of Ruchik Randhap sent Eggless Chocolate & Bottle Gourd Cake. This was one moist and superb looking cake with beautiful strawberries on top, which I was glad she tried from my blog :)and got to say that her pictures are beautiful. Thanks Shireen :)

Suma of Veggie Platter sent in Bottle Gourd Tomato Chutney, this is a unique chutney, with superb flavours and wonderful garnishing.

Now comes in entries from Priya of Priya's Easy & Tasty Recipes. First is Bottle Gourd And Drumstick Leaves Daal, this is one innovative recipe with healthy ingredients.

Then Priya sent her Bottle Gourd, Chickpeas And Sesame Rice. This one pot meal is complete in itself with veggie and lentil. All in all a superb recipe.

Next is her Bottle Gourd And Chickpeas In Yoghurt Gravy. This dish is a leftover magic..leftover chickpeas and bottle gourd has been transformed into one super dish.

And the next is Bottle Gourd Roasted Moong Daal Podi Stir Fry. This is a nutritious curry and makes great lunchbox menu.

Priya's final contribution is Bottle Gourd Moong Daal Sambhar, which goes very well with dosa, idlis and needless to say it looks really yummmmmmm.

Now finally my own contribution to the event. First is Bottle Gourd Chocolate Cake.

Next is Lauki Muthia or Bottle Gourd Steamed And Seasoned Cake.

Then comes in Lauki Muthia Curry or Bottle Gourd Steamed Cake Curry

Last of my contribution is Handvo or Savoury Lentil And Vegetable Cake.

Hopefully you all will enjoy this round up and bottle gourd will be less hated or more loved by everybody. Thanks again to all the contributors. To err is human and to forgive is divine, so folks if I have not included your entry in the round up kindly mail me, and I will rectify the error.