Protein Rich Savoury Oats / Homemade Masala Oats

A twist in our regular Masala oats or Savory oats, this dish is creamy, spicy and extremely healthy.

I recently turned Vegan (Have I already told you that in my previous posts?!) and It has made my lie a little more challenging because I have to make 3 different kind of dishes for all three meals almost every day since my little princess has her own demands and I haven't managed to turned my DH into a Vegan yet.

Anyway, I was a hardcore fan of Eggs in Masala oats where I would break 2-3 eggs into the boiling oats + veggies + masalas mixture. I admit that I do miss that sometimes but I have discovered a few things that replace that taste. This Masala oats with Tofu is one of those dishes that is one of my absolute favorites.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	248.3		Calories
Fat	11.4		Grams
Carbohydrates	29.1		Grams
Dietary Fiber	7.2		Grams
Sodium	45		mg
Vitamin A	79.3		%
Vitamin C	41.4		%
Calcium	43.5		%
Iron	21.3		%
Protein	11		Grams
Sugar	5		Grams

Ingredients  Onion Chopped  1  Curry Leaves a few Tomato Chopped 1  Frozen Peas(optional) 3/4 cup Salt to taste Oats  1/2 cup (Gives 2 servings) Chopped Veggies of Choice 1 cup Tofu cubes 1/2 cup or more Coriander leaves  a handful Almonds Soaked (1/2 hr) a handful Sesame seeds soaked  2 teaspoons Cooking Oil  1 teaspoon Mustard seeds        1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds           1/2 teaspoon Ginger Garlic paste     1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder 1/4 teaspoon Sambar Powder 1/4 teaspoon Chilli Powder (Optional)    1/4 teaspoon Water 2 cups

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard and cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add curry leaves.

Add Onion, cover and cook for just a minute.

Now, add all the veggies except tomatoes and peas. Add the Ginger garlic paste as well. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add 2 cups of water, tomato and peas. Cover again and let it boil while we make almond-sesame mixture.

Grind the almonds and sesame seeds together with water just enough to make a paste.

Add the Almond-sesame paste and salt to the boiling mixture and give a good stir.

Add the masala powders, mix well and let the mixture boil for another minute.

Add oats and Tofu now, mix well so that there are no lumps. Cover and cook in simmer for at least 5 minutes before removing from flame.

Garnish with chopped Coriander leaves and serve hot.

* Add any veggies you want like cauliflower, broccoli, Zucchini and you can also add cooked beans and chickpeas.
* Adding Tofu is optional and if you aren't Vegan, feel free to add Paneer and even eggs.
* For 1/2 cup  oats, I add 2 cups of water but you can add more or less according to the consistency you would like.

Please feel free to watch the video of the same recipe here

Sorghum or Jowar cake / Vegan Cake / Jowar Jaggery Cake

Jowar or Sorghum Cake is vegan and can also be made Gluten free by just excluding the baking Powder. It is one of the healthiest and deliciously guilt-free cakes you can find.

I know I have been away from this blog for a long time now. As much as I love cooking, I haven't been able to be very active because of some personal reasons. I am hoping to be as regular as I can from now on...

Here's a recipe of a Cake that has no maida, no sugar, no eggs or butter and in case you are wondering how on earth a cake can taste good without all the ingredients that make it tasty, I assure you that it is not only healthy but very tasty too!

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	66.5		Calories
Fat	1.9		Grams
Carbohydrates	11.5		Grams
Dietary Fiber	0.4		Grams
Sodium	6.1		mg
Vitamin A	0.1		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	0.5		%
Iron	0.7		%
Protein	1.1		Grams
Sugar	0.1		Grams

Ingredients
Jowar flour	2 cups
Soy milk	3/4 cup
Jaggery	1 cup
Vegetable oil	3/4 cup
Salt	a pinch
Baking powder	1 teaspoon
Baking soda	1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla essence	1 teaspoon
Cocoa powder	2 tablespoons
Walnuts chopped	a handful
Apple cider vinegar	1 teaspoon

Add 6 tablespoons of  warm water to flax seeds powder, mix and set aside.

Sieve and combine all the dry ingredients together except for walnuts and mix well.

In a bowl, add Soy milk, jaggery powder and Flax seeds mixture. Mix well till jaggery is completely melted.

Add oil ,vanilla essence and give it a mix.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well to make a smooth batter.

Add a teaspoon of Apple cider vinegar and mix well till combined.

Add chopped and roasted walnuts and fold gently.

Pour the batter to an oiled and lined cake pan and spread the batter evenly.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.

Insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake to check if it is cooked through.

Invert the cake on a plate if you want or cut it in the cake pan and serve hot/cold, enjoy!

** You can use any millet flour and make this cake.
** If you are not a vegan, do use eggs in place of flax gel.
** Be careful while handling the cake. Since this is almost Gluten-free, it tends to break if you tried to move it around too much.

Find the video of the same recipe here

Bakarkhani/ Baqerkhani (A basic recipe)

A Mughlai delicacy, luxuriously rich and tasty, Bakarkhani is an Indian flat bread which has a hard crust and bread like or layered inside. There are many, many versions of Bakarkhani and this recipe is of the basic Bakarkhani which is modified to a slightly healthier version of the original recipe.

Bakarkhani originated in Bangladesh and has evolved into many variations including the saffron infused ones to the sweetish dessert types. The original Bakarkhani is made of flour, Milk, yeast, sugar and ghee with some sprinkled nuts and raisins. The famous version of Bakarkhani is the Kashmiri Bakarkahni which is sweet, rich and deliciously tasty. Anyway, I have adapted this recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor's  website since it was the easiest recipe I found.

This post is a part of Culinary Blog Hoppers monthly Blog hop and the theme is Indian Flat breads. I chose Bakarkhani since it seemed so very unique and yet so familiar. Though I have never tasted Bakarkhani, I have read a lot about these flat breads and wanted to attempt it at least once. I'm sure what i have presented here is not perfect since the original ones are more flatter and look much like flat breads than anything like I have made. But I am posting here nonetheless hoping that you would like my modified version too.

After my last post that I posted a month back, I have realized that no matter how much you are drawn to your passion and hobbies and try to make time for them, you always give up eventually when your family needs you more than your mind heart needs your passion for hobby. You know, I just confused myself with what I just wrote and yet, I'm not able to change anything in the lines above. Anyhow, here I am with another recipe which I'm sure is not perfect and yet hoping you would forgive the imperfection of this post and the delays in my posts.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	155		Calories
Fat	2		%
Carbohydrates	30.4		%
Dietary Fiber	0.8		%
Sodium	86.6		mg
Vitamin A	2.6		%
Vitamin C	0.6		%
Calcium	4.5		%
Iron	0.2		%
Protein	4.9		Grams
Sugar	4.5		Grams

Ingredients
Plain flor/ Maida	2 cups
Milk	1 and 1/4 cup
Yeast	1 tablespoon
Brown sugar/ Sugar	2 tablespoons
Salt	a pinch
Baking powder	1/2 teaspoon
Ghee	4 tablespoons
Almonds	a handful
Chironji seeds	a handful
Raisins	a handful
Elaichi powder	1/4 teaspoon

Dissolve the brown sugar in warm milk. Add dry active yeast, mix well and let it rest so that the yeast can get active.

Warm some water and add Chironji seeds and raisins. Set them aside to soak for 10 mins.
Sieve together Flour, salt and Baking powder. Pour in the yeast and milk mixture, add elaici powder and mix.

Using your hand, mix the flour to form a firm dough. Let it aside covered in wet muslin cloth for 10 minutes.
Add melted ghee little by little and start kneading the dough.

Knead the dough till it is smooth and even textured all over. It takes about 10 minutes.
Now, blanch a handful of almonds and peel the skin off. Slice them and keep aside.
Drain water and add the soaked chironji and raisins along with sliced almonds to the kneaded dough and mix well. You may have to knead it for few more minutes.

Once the nuts and raisins are mixed well into the dough, set the dough in a warm place to raise for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into small balls (of your desired size) and flatten them one by one. I did not flatten them enough since I wanted them a little fluffy and bread-like and not the biscuit-like texture.
Prick the spread dough with a fork or tooth pick
Bake in a prheated over or tandoori oven for 15-20 minutes till the color of the crust turns brown and gets hard.

* The breads should be flatter so if you are attempting this, please do flatten the dough.
* For sweeter version, just replace brown sugar with 4 tablespoons of white sugar.
* For more rich taste, you can brush butter once the Bakarkhanis are baked and hot.
* Serve hot with curries
* If using tandoori oven, you don't have to add baking powder.

Do check out more of the amazing Indian flat breads presented by my fellow hoppers:

Tawa Aloo Kulcha by Piyali
http://mytrystwithfoodandtravel.blogspot.in/2016/10/tava-aloo-kulcha-recipe-stuffed.html

Restaurant style Roti by Jayashree
http://www.evergreendishes.com/recipe/restaurant-style-roti/

Schezwan Paratha by Shubha
http://www.shubhaskitchen.com/2016/10/schezwan-parata.html

Zucchini Paratha by Padma
http://www.masalakorb.com/zucchini-paratha-easy-indian-flatbread/%0A#flatbreads

Chocolate Mud Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Dense like a fudge, deliciously moist, super rich and chocolaty, Chocolate Mud cake is a definite hit among any cakes or desserts and truly satisfying for intense chocolate flavor lovers. The chocolate ganache is just perfect as filling and the topping which is finger licking good and makes this cake more desirable.

Chocolate cake is always at the top of the list of my weekend cheat day cravings and my first choice for any birthdays in my family. I was hoping for Naveen to choose this cake for his birthday when I asked what cake he wanted me to bake for his birthday and that was more than a month ago. He loved the combination of creamy and bittersweet chocolate ganache with a chocolaty mud cake.

It is the time for our usual Culinary hoppers monthly Blog hop and the topic is my favorite, favorite baked dishes. I did make a specific dish (Dilkhush) but felt that it is way too simple and scraped the post off. Anyway, I used this recipe for a perfect Mud cake adapted from www.chelsea.co.nz which is very easy and goes very well with dark chocolate ganache.

One thing I learnt about kids after having one of my own is, even though they don't hear you calling their names 100 times a metre away, they can hear you opening a chocolate wrapper in kitchen even if they are locked in a room! (Came across a post that said the same which made me realise that it is so true). My little beast comes running to the fridge as soon as she hears the sound of my Amul dark chocolate wrapper and watches eagerly while I reluctantly cut her a piece. Since chocolate ganache I made did not contain anything else but fine dark chocolate and Amul heavy cream, I did let her eat a huge chunk of the cake (which I regretted in just over 30 seconds!) and she happily smeared it all over her face, body and the floor. It took me more than 20 minutes to clean her up and the mess she made. So unlike me, she looked very satisfied and peaceful.

If you are looking for a blissful chocolate experience, do use good quality dark chocolate and not a chocolate compound. If you are looking for an egg-less version, just skip egg and add 1/4 cup of buttermilk/Yogurt. Please excuse the clumsy piping decoration since I am very weak at it. Hoping that you guys will like it as much as I did, here is the recipe for a classic chocolate mud cake with Chocolate Ganache.

Ingredients (For Mud cake)
Plain flour/ Maida	2 cups
Cocoa powder	1/4 cup
Brown sugar/ Sugar	1 cup
Salt	a pinch
Baking Powder	1 teaspoon
Baking soda	1 teaspoon
Lemon juice	of half a lemon
Milk	1 cup
Dark chocolate	250 grams
Freshly brewed coffee decauction	1 cup
Cooking oil	1/2 cup
Egg (optional)	1
Ingredients (For Chocolate Ganache)
Dark chocolate	400 grams
Heavy cream	1 cup

Method: Mud cake

Sieve together Plain flour, Salt, baking Powder and Baking soda. Add sugar, cocoa and mix well.
For a cup of milk, add lemon juice and set it aside. In a sauce pan, Mix together coffee, Grated dark Chocolate, oil and egg. Heat under low flame till the chocolate is melted completely and keep stirring.
Once the mixture looks smooth, add the milk and lemon juice mixture, mix and set it aside to cool.

Once the mixture is warm, add it to the dry ingredients, mix well.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line the cake tins and Pour the batter into them. Tap them to lose the bubbles.
Bake for 35 minutes at 180 degrees and for 5 minutes in 160 degrees. Once baked, let them cool completely before removing them out of the tins.

* Baking time varies in each oven so make sure to check the cakes if they are cooked after 25 minutes.

This is how good the cake comes out. Just so yumm!!

Method: Chocolate Ganache

Grate the chocolate and keep it aside. In a thick bottomed vessel, heat the cream under low flame till it is hot and not boiling. Pour the hot cream over the grated chocolate and let it rest for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, stir and mix well till the ganache is smooth.

If you want to glaze the cake, you can pour this hot mixture over your cake for a beautiful chocolate glaze.
To thicken the ganache for filling, let it rest overnight. Keep it covered with a cling wrap.

I have also cut the tops of the cakes and frozen them overnight. To assemble the cake, keep the bottom of the cake on a pre-lined base and pour little sugar syrup. This step is completely optional and I have used coffee to make the cake moist.
Now, fill with Ganache, place the top half of cake and decorate it as per your wish.

* Sorry for such a lengthy post but I hope I have covered everything as much as I could.
*  For an egg-less version, just skip egg and add 1/4 cup of buttermilk/Yogurt.
* Baking time varies in each oven so make sure to check the cakes if they are cooked after 25 minutes.
* Making the cake moist with sugar syrup or coffee is completely optional. The coffee syrup made the cake more bitter-sweet and we loved it that way.
* I coated my cake with the thickened ganache first and then made some hot ganache to pour over it before I piped whipping cream.

Please do check out all these amazing baked goodies from my fellow bloggers:

Jalapeno Cheddar Corn bread by Parvathy
http://crackleandtemper.ca/jalapeno-cheddar-cornbread-eggless/

Masala Khara biscuits by Marudhus Kitchen ,Vani
http://marudhuskitchen.com/www/chilli-biscuits-savoury-cookieschilimasala-khara-biscuits/

Eggless Ladi Pav by Padma
http://www.masalakorb.com/eggless-ladi-pav-bread-buns-recipe-mumbai-pav-rolls/

Simple Cocoa Brownies by Swati
http://www.letscookhealthytonight.com/simple-cocoa-brownies/

Naan Khatai by Jayashree
http://www.evergreendishes.com/recipe/nan-katai-biscuits/

Coconut Laddoo/ Coconut Laadu/ Coconut Laddu ~~Festival recipes

A delicious creamy dessert, a perfect offering for festivals, Coconut laddus can be prepared within minutes with very few ingredients and definitely makes you lick your lips wanting for more!

Shree Krishna Janmashtami is very special to me since I am attached to Lord Krishna and his teachings from my childhood and have always held him close to my heart and belief. Every year, even though our family does not celebrate it with more than a regular Pooja and preparing some simple payasa, I make sure I prepare all the delicious treats I can think of and make it a grand event. This year, I decided to stick to the desserts and dishes I can prepare quickly and easily. This is one of those recipes I made for this Janmashtami and it was simply delicious.

Since it has been ages since I stopped posting regularly, I have now decided to write up as many posts as I can and let them be in the drafts so that I can post them as and when I like. Anyway, Ganesha Chaturthi is just around the corner and I found this post apt for the occasion.

The recipe is very simple with just 3 ingredients and does not take more than 15 minutes to cook. If you do not have condensed milk, just replace it with a cup of powdered sugar and half a cup of thick milk, bring it to boil and then add coconut.I have used 2 whole coconuts which came up to 2 cups + 1/2 cup when grated and the recipe makes about 20 laddoos. Change the quantities accordingly.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	68.5		Calories
Fat	4.6		%
Carbohydrates	6.4		%
Dietary Fiber	1.1		%
Sodium	10.4		mg
Vitamin A	0.4		%
Vitamin C	0.7		%
Calcium	2.2		%
Iron	1.6		%
Protein	1		Grams
Sugar	5.3		Grams

Ingredients
Desicated/Grated coconut	2 cups + 1/2 cup
Condensed milk	1 cup
Cardamom powder	1 teaspoon

If using fresh coconut, dry roast it on medium heat for about 10 minutes till the coconut doesn't seem soggy. Keep stirring so that the color of the coconut doesn't change. Keep it aside to cool down completely.If using ready made coconut powder, skip this step.
Once the coconut has cooled down, Grind it coarsely and separate half a cup and set it aside to coat the laddoos later.
Heat a kadai and add a cup of condensed milk. Keep the flame medium and let the condensed milk get heated up.

Add 2 cups of the ground coconut and mix well. Stir every 2 minutes and keep the flame in low. Cook for 10 minutes and keep stirring every 2 minutes. After 10 minutes, add elaichi/cardamom powder, mix well.

Once the mixture starts to leave sides, remove from flame and let the mixture cool down. When the mixture has cooled down to a temperature that you can touch, make small balls and cover with grated coconut till the ball is well coated. Cool the laddoos completely and serve.

* If you do not have condensed milk, just replace it with a cup of powdered sugar and half a cup of thick milk, bring it to boil and then add coconut.I have used 2 whole coconuts which came up to 2 cups + 1/2 cup when grated and the recipe makes about 20 laddoos. Change the quantities accordingly.
* If refregerated, the ladoos can stay up to 3 weeks.
* The laddoos taste mildly sweet so if you want it sweeter, just add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk.
* You can also add nuts and dry fruits at the end but fry them in ghee before adding.