Instant Jalebi

This is my blog-anniversary Post. Its been a year I started to blog. I started the blog with a dedication to my brother and am celebrating today with a dedication to my son who just loves these. "Jalebi" the word itself is mouth watering. Its one of the tastiest Indian dessert. Its my son's favorite sweet and he can trade his lunch/dinner for this. Its actually very good for Acidity patients, they say "If eaten with a glass of milk every morning then the acidity will be cured". But I am not sure how much it is true. Its high in calories for sure as it fried and dipped in sugar syrup so will add few pounds. But its fine to eat once in a while.

This is a very easy recipe and makes Jalebi's perfect ,crispy and instant every time. Just follow the recipe as it is. I have done this couple of times and would do it whenever my son wants. Its healthy since we'll be using fresh oil and right ingredients. Since its Instant you cannot store it and eat later, it has been eaten warm. So prepare this at the nth moment. You can add any color you want to make look like jalebi's.

Ingredients:

For the jalebi batter
1 cup plain flour (maida)
1 teaspoon Bengal gram flour (besan)
1/2 teaspoon fresh yeast, crumbled
1 tablespoon melted ghee
1 teaspoon sugar
2 to 3 drops of lemon yellow food colouring
For the sugar syrup
2 cups sugar
a few saffron strands
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
Other ingredients
ghee/oil for deep frying


Method:

For the jalebi batter-
Sieve the plain flour and gram flour together. Dissolve the yeast in 1 tablespoon of water. Mix the flour mixture, yeast solution, ghee, sugar and lemon yellow food colouring with 2/3 cup of water to make a thick batter, making sure that no lumps remain. Keep aside for 10 minutes till the yeast ferments.
For the sugar syrup-
Dissolve the sugar in 1 cup of water and simmer for 5 minutes till the syrup is of 1 string consistency. Add the saffron and lemon juice and mix. Remove from the fire and keep aside.

Heat the ghee/oil in a broad saucepan [about 1" deep]. Fill the Jalebi batter into a piping bag/ketchup bottle with a single hole nozzle or a thick cloth with a small hole in the center which is finished with button-hole stitch. Press out round whirls of the batter into the hot ghee/oil working closely from centre to the outside of the whirl. Deep fry the Jalebis till golden brown and transfer into the warm sugar syrup. Drain immediately and serve hot.
Tips
Do not allow the Jalebi batter to over ferment. Fry the Jalebis immediately once the batter has rested for 10 minutes.

"Recipe from Tarla dala(dot)com"

Spinach Chapathi/ Tortilla with Zucchini Palya/sabzi

"Go Green"would be the best name for this dish, as everything is green.In my last grocery shopping I was looking for some tortilla's for making chips and found spinach tortilla and liked the color but I didn't feel like buying as I felt its kinda old. So i thought how about i try it at home and see how it tastes. It was really tasty, healthy and a lovely color. Its simple though as we do regular methi chapati. I usually have the baby spinach bag in my refrigerator, so it made my life a little simpler.

Ingredients:

Chapati:
1 cup Baby spinach
2 cups Wheat flour
1tsp salt
1tsp oil

Palya/Subzi:

4 Zuchhini
2tsp huli pudi/curry powder
1tbsp fresh coconut grated
1tsp oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
salt to taste
jageery(optional)
1tsp cilantro for garnish


Method:
Chapati-
Grind the spinach with a little water in a blender/food processor. Now mix that with the wheatflour, salt and oil and make a dough. Now roll each ball and roast it on the griddle for 2 mins on each side.

Palya/Subzi:
Cut the zucchini into cube shapes.Prepare the tempering with mustard seeds and ural dal. Now add the chopped zucchini and fry for 2-3 mins and then add salt and saute for a min more. Now add huli pudi/ curry powder, jaggery and coconut. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with chapati.


I am sending this post to 'Healing Foods Event'-Spinach, hosted by Divya.

Crochet Poncho

This is my first big project in crochet and I took around 3 months to complete but it looks amazing and I am very happy that I tried it. The white yarn looks neat and goes well on any color dress. I used to have one in my childhood which my Mom had crochet it for me and I had it for a long time.I even remember the color of it...RED. I saw this in a book that I borrowed from the library.
I fell in love the time I saw this and started of right away. But I couldnt spend much of my time on this so it took me 3 months to complete but I think its perfect for Spring.Don't you think so?

Rava Dosa/Crepes

Dosa's are everyones favorite. This is an easy to make Dosa which needs no fermenting time or soaking. Just mix and do whenever you feel like.That's what I like most about. The Rave in this makes it crispier thats why kids love them. They are not as heavy as the Masala Dosa. Its perfect for evening snack.

Ingredients:
1/2cup Rava/Fine Sooji
1/2cup Rice Flour
1/4cup Maida/All purpose Flour
1tbsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
1tsp Cumin seeds
2 Green chillies finely chopped
Salt to taste
Method:
Mix all the flours and Sooji with salt , cumin seeds, green chillies and coriander leaves in a big bowl. Now add water to make a very thin batter. It has to be double the quantity. Now heat a griddle and sprinkle the batter with hands/Big spoon. It should be a very thin. Leave it for a min and add a spoon of oil. Let it cook and starts to leave the griddle, then turn over and cook for a min. Serve hot with chutney.

Tofu Ravioli

Ravioli is an Italian dish, which is mainly a stuffed Pasta. Its a delicate and a very refreshing dish.This Ravioli dish is so easy and can be made anytime, if the stuffing is ready. Here I have used Won-ton wrappers as the base.They are readily available in the super-market, so just fill the stuffing and steam it for couple of minutes and dress it with the sauce and its ready to eat. This Tofu stuffing was so yummy and tasty that you will not go to any fancy restaurant anymore. I am actually looking forward to make them again.

Ingredients:

1 pkg won ton wrappers (or vegan pasta dough rolled out)
1 cup extra firm tofu
1/2 cup fresh spinach finely chopped
5-10 mushrooms chopped
1/2 a red bell pepper finely chopped
1 large Onions or scallions chopped fine
1/3 c. gr sunflower seeds (use spice grinder-optional)[I didn't us it]
4-6 sun dried tomatoes soaked in boiling water
3-4 baby carrots finely grated
3 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp crushed rosemary
2-3 cloves garlic crushed
splash of lemon juice
Milk to thin
fresh cracked pepper to taste
sea salt to taste

Tomato sauce
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1 medium Onion chopped
2 cups Canned Tomatoes no salt added
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 tsp Oregano dried
1/2 tsp Basil dried
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth (Stock)
2tbsp Tomato Paste
1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper
Directions:

First put all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor and blend it well. Now heat a pan with a tsp of olive oil and saute the sauce till it gets thick and all the water is evaporated. Keep aside and let it cool a bit.

Mill sunflower seeds into meal consistency then set aside.Drain sun dried tomatoes and finely chop.Blend sliced tofu, lemon juice, sea salt, yeast and milk until ricotta like consistency in a food processor. Finely dice tomatoes, red peppers, and chives. Blend with tofu mixture by hand with a fork just until well mixed. In a small bowl combine tofu mixture with remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Now heat a tsp of olive oil in a frying pan and add this mixture and fry it for 5-6 minutes set aside and cool it.

Place a 1 Tbsp of mixture in center of won ton wrapper. Wet(I brushed fat free milk on the wrappers,you can use just water/butter too), crimp and seal edges of wrapper Securely (or the wrapper will open in the pan and contents will spill out). Cook a few(8 minutes on each side) at a time in your vegetable steamer making sure to not crowd pan or they will stick to each other and be gluey. Keep warm on a covered dish while the remainder cook. Toss with a bit of olive oil when they are cooked to prevent sticking.Top with a little fresh chopped parsley or cilantro, sauce and Parmesan cheese as desired.

I am sending this post to Jyothi's First Event "Pasta Party".

Corn-Methi Baked Cutlets

Cutlets baked is somewhat not digestible right?...I felt the same way when i saw this recipe in Parita's blog. Thanks Parita for this recipe but I fell in love for 2 main reasons 1. Being the photography 2. Being "baked". Now a days I so freak out of deep fried....'baked' sound makes me feel good and light. Cutlets are my all time favorite snack, as its healthy because of lots of vegetables in it. This is a very simple and easy to make cutlets. It can be deep fried or shallow fried but I chose to stick with the baked part. Mine became a little bland as I reduced the quantity of spices in it but it will be yummy if its spicy. So follow the exact amount of spices in the recipe.

Ingredients:

1cup Boiled and mashed potato
1/2cup Fresh Methi leaves(chopped)
1/2cup Sweet corn
2tbsp Bread crumbs +2tbsp (for rolling it)
2 green chillies finely chopped
1tsp sugar(i skipped it)
1tsp chat masala
1tsp lime juice
salt to taste

Method:

Mix everything other than 2 tbsp bread crumbs for rolling. Make a nice dough,add extra bread crumbs if the dough is too soft. Divide into equal 8 parts and make small balls out f it and flatten it flat. Now roll each cutlet in the bread crumbs(i used regular bread crumbs as i didn't have coriander bread crumbs) and place it on a greased baking sheet and spray cooking spray on the top as well and bake at 400*F for 15 Min's on each side. Enjoy it hot with a green chutney or ketchup.

[Note: These cutlets can be used as Patty in the burgers.]

Bisi Bele Bath (2 versions)

Bisi Bele Bath is a kannada term which means Hot lentil Rice. Its one of the tasty rice and everyone loves it.Its a rich and heavy food as it has a combination of both Rice and dal. My son loves this and he calls it BBBath. Its been a while since I made it at home as I am on a strict diet.

My New year resolution(lol) is to shed some weight and its been going on good and I am happy that I am able to keep up my first resolution for the year. So I am in hunt of just good, healthy food and under 400 calories.So obviously BBB is not under 400 calories or you can't stop with just few spoons. Then today suddenly i realized of experimenting it with cracked wheat which is one of my common food now a days. As we all know wheat is healthier than Rice and I wasn't disappointed. It was very tasty and I loved it. I have even tried doing Pulao, Pongal and kheer.All are yummy and tasty.Will post those recipe soon.

Ingredients:

Regular BBB
=========
1 cup Rice
1/2cup Toor Dal
1tbsp MTR BBB powder
1tsp Tamarind paste
1/2tsp jaggery
salt to taste
1cup vegetables(beans, carrot, peas,speckled beans, lima beans, potato)
1/2cup Onion and Bell peppers

For tempering:
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
1tsp Peanut
3-4 curry leaves
pinch of hing

Method:

Cook the Toor dal in the pressure cooker. Now a deep frying pan heat 1/2tsp oil and saute onions and bell peppers till its soft(by frying these seperately it stays crispier and bell peppers give a nice taste in BBB) and keep aside. Now take the cooked dal in the same pan and boil it and add vegetables, masala powder, tamarind paste, salt and jaggery. Once it boils for 2-3 mins then add rice and keep adding boiling water(always add boiling water to BBB so u dont vary the temperature and the taste remains the same) to get to a consistency. Once the rice is cooked add onion and bell peppers and tempering and boil once and serve with Raita.

[Note: By adding the onion and bell pepper in the final keeps them crisp and dosent melt with so much of boiling. You can even add everything and pressure cook it, but cooking in an open vessel has a different taste.(This is my mom's tip)]
BBB with Cracked Wheat.
==================
(substitute rice with cracked wheat the rest remains the same)
Ingredients:
1/2cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup toor dal(even less will do)
The rest follow the above ingredients.

Method:

Roast the cracked wheat with a little oil in the pan till u get a nice aroma out of it. then add the dal, vegetables, masalas, tamarind, jaggery,salt , tempering and cook till the wheat is cooked and the consistency is reached.Serve hot with Raita and baked Chips.
[Note: 1/2 cup is quite a filling for 1 person.]