Quick 5 minute oat dosas

                                                                              

Ingredients:

• Rolled oats - 1 cup
• Urad dal - 1/2 cup (slit black gram)
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Cooking soda - a pinch
• Water - ~2 cups or as needed to get the right consistency

Preparation:

1. Grind the oats and the Urad dal into a fine powder in a mixer
2. To the powdered mixture add salt and Cooking soda
3. Add water to the mixture and whisk thoroughly to make a fine paste with no lumps (consistency should be similar to the normal dosa batter)
4. Finally on a heated pan spread the mixture and roast it well to enjoy a crispy dosa (use ghee instead of oil to roast - it is yummy!)

A few chutney recipes  to go with it - Cabbage Chutney, bitter gourd chutney, Radish Chutney.

Gujarati Namkeen Khandvi

Khandvi

Ingredients

• Gram flour (Besan) - 1 cup
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Water - 2 cups
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ginger - 1/4 tsp, grated
• Salt - 1/2 tsp, according to taste

Seasoning

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 2-3 whole
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Coconut - 1 tbsp, freshly grated
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Curry leaf - 1 sprig
• Coriander leaf - 1/8 cup, chopped

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, take the gram flour and yogurt and whisk well to get rid of all the lumps, add water as you mix
2. Add the salt, grated ginger, turmeric and mix well
3. Pour the mixture either in a microwave safe bowl and place in the microwave for 2 minutes - remove and stir. Repeat the same 4 times until you have microwaved the mixture for a total of 8 minutes
4. The mixture should snow look like a thick paste. Keep this aside.
5. Take 3 large plates, turn them over and grease (You could also grease and use your kitchen counter)
6. Take scoops of the mixture and spread it on the greased surface as thin as you can. Leave it to cool for about 10-15 minutes
7. When cool, cut into strips two inches wide and roll them tightly
8. Heat two tablespoons of oil for the seasoning and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole green chillies and asafoetida in that order
9. When the seasoning splutters, pour it over the rolled pieces and finally sprinkle the freshly grated coconut and serve

(This dish is best served with tangy mint sauce / chutney )

Easy Halwa!

Papaya Halwa

Ingredient

• Papaya - 2 cups, 1 whole fruit ( grated or chopped into cubes)
• Sugar - 3-4 tbsp, depending on how sweet your fruit is
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
• Nuts(almond , cashew.,etc) - A fist full 
• Ghee - 2-3 tbsp 

Preparation

1. Heat a pan with ghee, on medium flame add the nuts and saute until partially golden brown 
2. Remove the nuts from the pan and keep aside 
3. In the same pan with the remaining ghee add your papaya and start to saute on low flame for 10-12 minutes
4. The fruit will change in color and  release juices as you continue, now mash the fruit with a potato masher (if cubes)
5. Continue to saute for another 10 minutes and you will notice a change in consistency of the fruit mixture
6. Here add sugar if you wish to and continue to cook
7. Finally once the entire mixture comes together and separates from the pan add cardamom powder and your nuts
8. Serve warm and enjoy!

Finger millet and Banana cake

Finger millet and Banana cake

Today was my daughter's 8th month birthday and I wanted to bake something for her which she could actually eat and enjoy herself too. If not a lot at least a couple of bites. She loves her bananas and her daily semi solid food is Ragi(Finger millet). I had eaten a lot of Ragi(Finger millet) biscuits and cookies, but cake!? Well well...here we go....

Ingredients 

• Finger millet (Instant Ragi flour - Huri Hittu) - 3/4 cup
• All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
• Banana - 2 , pureed (1 cup)
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Yogurt - 3-4 tbsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - a pinch

Preparation 

1. Grease your baking tray and preheat the oven at 190 C /375 F
2. In a large mixing bowl sift the finger millet flour and baking powder
3. Add baking powder and cardamom powder to the millet flour mixture and mix well
4. In a separate bowl take the pureed banana mixture and add oil, yogurt and sugar, mix well till the sugar melts
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well
6. Pour the batter into the greased baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes

Eggless cookies!

Eggless Whole Wheat Oat and Chocolate chip Cookies

Ingredients

• Rolled oats (Quick cooking) - 1 1/2 cups
• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
• Wheat bran - 1/3 cup
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
• Sea salt - 1/3 tsp
• Unsalted butter/ margarine (softened) - 1/2 cup
• Sugar (preferably brown sugar) - 1 cup
• Yogurt - 3 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Chocolate chips - 1 1/4 cup

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F
2. Mill the oats in a food processor (I used the rolled oats as is, as it gives a nice rich, crunchy texture to the cookies)
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (the oats, wheat flour, bran, baking powder, soda and salt) and set aside
4. In a relatively larger bowl, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and then the yogurt and the vanilla extract one at a time, beating for a couple of minutes after each addition
5. Add the dry mixture to this and mix well to create the dough. Add in the chocolate chips and stir to combine well
6. Make dough balls (each with 2 tbsp of the dough - this makes quite large cookies, adjust the amount of dough depending on the size you want)
7. Grease a baking tray. Place 6-8 dough balls on the baking tray and flatten so that each one is not more than 0.5 cm thick (a rough measure). Make sure to leave sufficient space between them since each dough ball needs space to rise and expand as it bakes
8. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 14-18 minutes (based on how chewy vs. crispy you want them)
9. Voila, the cookies are ready! These cookies are great to munch as is of course, but they are also great with vanilla ice cream or in an "Oreo" shake.

Hasty tasty cinnamon rolls!

No eggs and no yeast

Ingredients

The Dough

• All purpose flour - 1/2 cup ;more for rolling
• Whole wheat flour - 1/3 cup
• Cottage Cheese - 100 gm
• Buttermilk - 4tbsp
• Granulated Sugar - 5tbsp
• Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp, melted
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Baking powder - 2 tsp
• Table salt - 1/2tsp
• Baking soda - 1/4tsp

The Filling

• Unsalted butter - 1/3 tbsp, melted
• Brown SUgar - 2/3 cup
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 tsp
• Ground all spices - 1/4 tsp
• Nuts - 1/3cup

The glaze

• Confectioner's sugar - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Preparation

Make the dough

Whisk together the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter and Vanilla until smooth, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda and continue to whisk slowly until the dough clumps together. The dough will be soft and moist. 

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands for another 4-5minutes until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 8X6-inch rectangle. 

Pre heat the oven to 200 C/ 400F. Grease your muffin pan with butter.(you could also use your springform pan)

Making the filling

Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving a 1/4 -inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and all spices. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.

Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough. Pinch the seam end to seal and leave the ends open. 

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 6-8 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan. They should fill the pan however not to worry if there are small gaps. 

Bake until golden brown and firm to touch, 18-22 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the rolls to a serving plate. 

Make the glaze

In a bowl, mix confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. It should have a thick but pourable consistency, you can add more milk if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls and let stand for 15 minutes before serving. 

The healthy wealthy cake!

Whole wheat Gulkand and dry fruits cake (Eggless) 

Prep time :20 minutes Bake time: 20-25 minutes Total time : 40-45 minutes

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 3/4 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp
Gulkand - 1/2 cup (a sweet preserve of rose petals)

Unsalted butter / Margarine - 100 g , room temperature

Yogurt - 1/3 cup

Almond extract - 1/2 tsp

Dry fruits - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup (if you desire)

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 190C/375F
2. Grease a small cake pan and line with parchment sheet (you could use cupcake moulds too!)
3. Mix together sifted whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt 
4. In a mixing bowl, vigorously whisk together the yogurt, butter and gulkand ( if you wish to, add powdered brown sugar into this mixture and whisk)
5. To this mixture almond extract and continue to whisk 
6. Next, add sifted whole wheat flour and mix well
7. Fold in the dry fruits
8. Fill in the greased cake pan up to two thirds and sprinkle a few dry fruits on top
9. Bake for about 24-28 minutes (16-18 minutes if cupcakes) . Do the clean toothpick check and remove when done
10. Let the cupcakes cool in the moulds for about 5 minutes and then on a cooling rack and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes

The Breakfast Cake

Ingredients

• Quick cooking oats - 1/2 cup
• All purpose flour - 1/2 cup 
• Apple and Banana - 1 each, pureed
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Yogurt - 1/4 cup
• Vegetable oil/ melted margarine - 1/4 cup 
• Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp
• Handful of chocolate chips
• Salt a pinch

Preparation

1. Grease a rectangular baking tray with oil and preheat the oven to 190 C/ 200F
2. Grind the oats
3. Mix all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, powdered oats and salt in a bowl and mix well with a fork. 
4. To the fresh fruit puree, add yogurt and powdered sugar to make a thick batter
5. In a large bowl add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips into wet ingredients and mix lightly with a whisk to combine all the ingredients together.
6. Finally add the oil and mix well
7. Pour the batter in the greased baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes

Recipe source: Sanjeeta K K