Stuffed Riceball Lollipops

It was a sunny day outside. Me n Kiddo both were not well and so she skipped school. And it was our day :D
We had Vermicelli Upma in breakfast. After few hours my daughter said, "Mumma, aaj lunch me kya hai?"
I gathered my senses to find that I had half a pot of leftover rice from the previous dinner and in no mood to cook any lunch.

Neither me nor she was willing to have that boring rice and we were tired of eating fried rice of all sorts. So I decided upon having stuffed rice balls. Sounded interesting to me n she both :)
So, I quickly peeked into my fridge to find out what else I have in the store After finding out few veggies that can be sneaked inside my surprise rice balls, I started the process.

My kid, who is a picky eater and skips eating her veggies, loved this and easily ate the 'lollipops'!

For the stuffing:


Carrot- 1 small
Cauliflower- 1 small floret
Boiled potato- 1 small
Green Peas- a handful
Ginger-garlic paste- 1 tsp
Salt- as per taste
Black Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
Fennel powder- 1 tbsp
Coriander Powder- 1 tbsp

Note: You may add any veggies of your choice like beetroot, cabbage, onion and bell peppers too. I had none of these so I skipped them.

For the crust of the riceball:

Cooked rice- 1- 2 cups
Bread crumbs- 2 cups
Salt- as per taste
Oil (for deep frying)- 3-4 cups

I did not use bread crumbs. I had leftover paavs from my previous failed attempts. So I ground them in my mixer to a fine powder. *winks*


Procedure:

• Grind the cooked/ leftover rice to a paste. 
• Add 1 cup bread crumbs to this paste along with salt.

• Now in a mixer, take cauliflower, carrot and peas. Grind them to a coarse mixture.
• Mash a boiled potato and add  them to this mixture.Add all the spices.

•  Now grease your palm with oil and flatten a small ball of rice paste on your palm.
• Stuff a tablespoon of the veggie mix onto this and seal the ball with the help of your fingers.Roll this ball over breadcrumbs so as to coat them well.

 

•  Similarly, form balls out of all the rice paste.

• When you are finished forming the balls, deep fry them.If you want to have them later, you may let them rest in the fridge for some time. Remove on a tissue paper and serve with a toothpick inserted in them along with ketchup or any Chutney of your choice. :)

 

Super easy and very yummy. A good use of leftover rice. You can use freshly cooked rice too!

So next time you have a tea party or a cocktail party, serve these and gather the appreciation.

Happy Cooking!!

 

Ladi-Paav : Dinner rolls

Who on earth does not love paav-bhaaji.. The soft paavs with the creamy spicy bhaaji along with onion and wedges of lemon. Isn't it blissful!!

So yesterday, I tried to bake paav for dinner. Unfortunately, I went for a nap with my daughter and that nap turned into a deep sleep :-D

I forgot to knead the dough but back in the mind I was getting crazy to bake them. So I immediately got up and went straight into my kitchen and started the preparations. However, we could not have paav-bhaaji for dinner yesterday and ended up with khichdi. But eventually I baked a batch of these beauties and they turned out to be extremely fluffy and light, just like the store bought ones. And I don't remember which number of attempt this was but it was the most successful one and I was on cloud nine after they came out of the oven.

And now, without much adieu I shall start the recipe!

For the ladi paav:

Active dry yeast- 2+1/4 tsp
Sugar- 2tbsp
Maida- 2 cups
Melted Butter- 3 tbsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Lukewarm water(100C-105C)- 1 Cup

Steps:


The very first step is to activate/proof the yeast. Make sure the yeast is fresh and not expired or been kept for very long.PLEASE throw away any yeast that has been opened but not used for over 3 months or so because the dough won't raise otherwise. I did the same mistake and wasted many batches of my effort.
Take warm water in a cup and add sugar and yeast to it and stir well and keep aside covered for 10-15 minutes.
You will find that the yeast has become frothy and little bit raised on the top.


Now in a bowl take maida and add melted butter and salt and the proofed yeast water and knead well.
If your dough gets too sticky(like mine went) and unmanageable you can always add a little more flour. The dough should be sticky yet firm and soft. Knead well till 8-10 minutes. This is very important so as to activate gluten in the dough.

Grease a bowl and roll the dough in it. Keep covered with a wet cloth or kitchen towel for about 1.5- 2 hours depending on the weather outside.

After 2 hours you will find that the dough has doubled up in size. Its time to punch it back again.

Dough initially

Doubled up in size

The mesh due to the yeast!

Punch it back

Roll them into balls and keep aside

They are again doubled up- Second Rise

Clean your kitchen counter and sprinkle some flour over it and punch your dough again and release all the air. Push the dough away from you with the help of the balls of your palm. Bring the dough to its normal volume.

Now pinch out balls from the dough as you do while making chapatis. Make round balls of the dough approximately the size of a big lemon.
Grease a baking tray or pan and dust it with some flour.

 Place the dough balls in the greased baking tray at a distance of 1 inch. Leave them covered again for 1 hour till they again rise and get connected to each other. Now its time for baking.

Preheat the oven at 200C for 10 minutes and bake these for around 8-10 minutes or till they get a golden hue on top. Mine went a bit longer and they got brown on the underside.

Take them out and place on a wire rack till they are cool if you want to store them. You may have them immediately too. These can be stored wrapped in a cellophane sheet for 3-4 days :)

See the mesh and air pockets inside

 This is a very easy and foolproof recipe and trust me you won't buy paavs from the store once you bake these yourselves at home. Hygienic and Homemade.. what else better to give your family. Give it a try. Happy Baking fellas!

Eggless Surprise Heart Inside cake

Its Valentine!! No, no.. I don't have a great inclination towards these so called days. I feel all days are same and lovers don't need a special day to celebrate :)

But, for me.. I got another reason to bake! Yayyyy.. and whats better than to give a surprise to your soulmate, that too inside a cake :-D. So moi decided to bake an eggless surprise inside cake. Excited?? Yes yes definitely!
 Last time I baked it, it was a disaster :(. The cake was wayy crumbly an falling apart. This is my second try and hoping it comes out good *fingerscrossed*

Cutting it short, here is all you need.

You need to bake two different cakes. One is to be cut and stuffed inside other.

For the red velvet heart:

Maida/ All Purpose flour- 1.5 cup (use a small measuring cup for this coz you only need to cut hearts out of it)
Baking Powder- 1.5 tsp
Baking Soda- 1/4 tsp
salt- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1 cup
Curd- 1 cup
Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp
Oil/ Ghee- 1/4 cup
Food Color or beetroot juice(for a natural choice)- 1 tsp


For the sponge cake:


Maida/ All Purpose flour- 1.5 cup (use a bigger measuring cup for this )
Baking Powder- 1.5 tsp
Baking Soda- 1/4 tsp
salt- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1 cup
Curd- 1 cup
Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp
Oil/ Ghee- 1/4 cup

Instructions for red velvet cake:

Preheat your oven to 180C for 10 minutes.

Mix Curd and sugar in a bowl till creamy and sugar is dissolved.

Sieve together maida, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Add essence and oil to the curd and sugar mix. To this add the food color and mix well.
Add the sieved flour a little at a time and whisk till you get a creamy batter. You may add a few teaspoons of milk if you find the batter a bit hard.

The batter is ready. Grease a baking tin with oil and dust with maida. Pour the batter into the tin and bake at 180C for 35 Mins approx or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

After 5 mins, remove from tin and let this sit on a wire rack. Cool completely before cutting.

After it is cooled off completely, cut hearts out of it using a heart shaped cookie cutter. Keep these aside.

Instructions for the sponge cake with surprise inside: 

Follow the same procedure as above to make the batter except adding the food color.

Now grease a baking tin and pour a few tablespoons of batter in it. Place the heart shaped cake pieces with point side downwards. Place them close to each other in a row in the centre of the tin. Now pour the remaining white batter on top of them so as to cover them well enough.

I can see the heart :) Can you?

Place the baking tin in the oven and again bake for 35-40 minutes depending on how long the oven takes to bake.

Again after 5 minutes remove from tin and place it on a wire rack until it cools off completely.

Let your loved ones come home and let him cut the cake. If you can't wait and are impatient like me.. cut the cake beforehand and check the insides. Mine is not so neat coz I cut it while it was warm and so it sliced unevenly. But this time the cake was not falling apart.. *winning smiles*.

I placed the cake in the deep freeze section for about an hour and then used a sharp knife to cut slices. I wish hubby could cut it.. Look at the outcome!

One for me and one for you!

This is not so perfect but come on.. I did it and I need some bragging about it!!
Hope that was easy-peasy right? M doing my victory dance.. :)

Stuffed Cheesy Garlic Breadsticks

Garlic cheesy breadsticks

Today, I wanted to do something 'hatke' for dinner. I was not in a mood to cook the usual meals..so i hopped on to make garlic breadsticks.

It was pre-planned, so since morning i was busy scheduling it and after dropping lil one to school I went to the market to arrange for all the ingredients. I got everything other than mixed herbs and finally I found a solution for that too. ;)

I wanted to bake fresh for hubby while he was back from office. He simply loved the bread and my LO too asked for another serving of it with her favorite ketchup. Now moving further,lets have a look at what all we need.

NOTE: Please plan your menu ahead coz the dough needs to rise beforehand!

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida- 3 cups
active dry Yeast- 1/2 tbsp
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Warm water- 1.5 cup(start with little water and gradually add more if you need)
Salt- 1.5 tsp
Garlic paste- 2- 3 tbsp (i used ready to eat garlic powder)
Paprika/ Chilli flakes- 2-3 tbsp
Black pepper- 2-3 tbsp
Mixed herbs for seasoning- as per taste
Butter/olive oil - 2 tbsp for mixing the dough + 1 cup for smearing and greasing afterwards
Mozarella Cheese- 1 cube (for grating and sprinkling inside)


Procedure:


Step 1 is to activate the yeast. Take warm water and add yeast and sugar to make a paste like texture of yeast. Keep it aside and let it bubble up. This will take 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, take maida in a bowl and add salt and oil to it. Mix well.

Add the frothy yeast water to the flour and knead well. I added water little by little so as to make a soft yet firm dough. You may add few spoons of warm water afterwards to knead the dough if you want.

The dough should be soft and stretchy at this point. Apply a little oil on the top of dough so thet it does not form any skin. Let it rest for about 2 hours or so till the dough rises and doubles up. Mine took very long to rise as it is a bit cold out here. So, I placed it in a slightly heated oven( after switching off the oven).

After the dough has risen, sprinkle some maida on your work floor and punch the dough so as to release the air inside.

Preheat the oven at 200C for 10 minutes.

With a rolling-pin make a flat circle out of the dough( You may use half of the dough first and then go on with the other half).

Sprinkle the garlic powder on top of it. If you do not have garlic powder you can use 1 tbsp of garlic paste + 1 tbsp of paprika per bread. Grate cheese over this garlic paste and bring together the two ends of rolled out circle and seal the edges with your fingers.

Smear some olive oil or butter on the baking tray. Place the rolled out bread on it and cut into stripes using a knife. Again smear some more oil on top of it and sprinkle black pepper and mixed herbs over it.

(I did not have mixed herbs, so what i did was i sprinkled some black pepper along with oregano and tulsi leaves and voila.. no one could guess that ;))

Bake for about 15 minutes on 200C till both the surfaces of the bread get a nice golden hue and a crispy crust.

In the oven

Enjoy with your favorite dip or plain ketchup however you want.

Say cheese!

The gooey inside and the crispy outer of this bread with the rustic aroma of garlic and peppers are a simple yet delicious treat to your palates. Go have a treat! :)

Whole- wheat Bread Loaf

Whole wheat Bread

Baking bread was one of the worst fears I had. One, because the yeast won't froth or second, the dough won't rise. It was yesterday only that I threw 3 batches of failed yeast :(

But I never stopped ( I may sound boastful) but I only know the happiness while I saw my yeast getting frothy. And the dough raising beautifully to create this bundle of loaf. So, let's skip to the recipe we are making today which is a healthy yet delicious Whole wheat bread.

Ingredients:

Whole-wheat flour/ Atta- 3 cups (start with small cups)
Curd- 2 tbsp
Active dry yeast- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1tbsp
Salt- 1.5 tsp
Warm water(to activate yeast)- 1.5 cups
Oil/Butter- 2tbsp

Procedure:

Take warm water in a glass or bowl and add yeast and sugar to it and stir vigorously. Make sure that the water is not hot enough, so that if you dip a finger in it, it should not be uncomfortably hot else you may kill the yeast. Yeast need warm cozy environment to bubble up. Cover the glass with a lid and rest it for 10- 15 minutes or till yeast mix becomes frothy.

 Meanwhile prepare the flour by adding salt and oil to it.

Add the frothy yeast to the flour along with curd and knead well.

The dough should be elastic and stretchy. Fold the dough inwards with your hands as if you are making a pocket out of it and cover it with a damp cloth or you can simply place it in a casserole/hot pot. This way it will rise good.

Let the dough rest for at least 2 hours. After all making bread is all about patience ;). Meanwhile, you can continue with your household chores or watch any favorite flicks on the TV. :)

The dough must be doubled up in size after few hours. Now, again punch the dough and release all the locked air inside. You may add a little flour at this time and give the dough a good stretch in your kitchen work space.

Now grease a bread loaf tin with some oil and dust it with flour. Make a loaf-like structure of the dough and place it in the tin. Let it rise again. It may take an hour or so for the same.

 Preheat the oven at 180Cfor about 10 minutes.

After the dough has risen considerably place it in the preheated oven for 20-25 minuted at about 180C and bake. My bread was baked but it did not attain the golden brown crust so I baked for 5 more minutes with only the top coil on.

See how beautifully it has baked and it was tasting no less than the store brought ones. Cool it down completely on the wire rack and slice it in desired sizes.

Enjoy with soup or tea or coffee or however you want to! :) Happy Baking!

Dal- Bukhara

Dal-Bukhara

My hubby is a fan of dal-makhni and that too the one served in the restaurants in our home-town. Dal-makhni has a permanent place in the menus we order, but now we have shifted to a new place an year back and here that authentic taste is not at all available. :(

This sunday I decided to make dal makhni but i did not have whole black urad dal. Instead i was having a packet full of split black urad dal. So, I decided on making the recipe from the same. And believe me,it tasted as good as the original recipe and hubby dear was like,'Wow!!!' :) This version is popularly known as 'Dal-Bukhara'

Note: This is a high calorie version.. so peeps excuse me for the abundance of Ghee n cream and calories ;)

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Rajma/kidney beans- 1 cup

Split Black Urad Dal- 1 cup

Tomatoes- 2 big

Ginger- Garlic paste- 1 tbsp

Kashmiri Chilli powder- 1.5 tsp (u can use normal red chilli powder too)

Butter- 2tbsp

Fresh cream- 1 cup

Salt- acc to taste

sugar- 1/2 tsp

Kasuri methi- 1 tsp

Elaichi pods- 2

Ghee- 2 tsp

Jeera/Cumin- 1tsp

Turmeric pwder-1/4 tsp

Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Procedure:

1. Pick, Wash and soak Dal and rajma overnight.
2. In a pressure cooker, add both rajma and dal with the elaichi pods and a little salt. Pressure cook for about 10-12 whistles.The dals and rajma should be completely mushy. Check with a spoon. If not cooked, give some more whistles till its well-cooked.
3. Meanwhile, make a puree of tomatoes in a blender.
4. Now in a thick-bottomed kadhai/wok, add ghee. When it gets hot let the cumin seeds crackle.
5. Add the tomato puree and fry till it changes colour and the raw smell goes off.
6. Now add ginger-garlic paste. Fry again till raw smell is not there.
7. Toss in all dry spices, Chilli powder, turmeric Powder sugar and salt.Mix well
8. Now add the mushy dal+Rajma mix to the pan and stir.
9. To this add Butter( I used homemade) and stir well. 
10. Finally add fresh cream and mix well.. let the dal simmer in low flame for about half an hour. Meanwhile, toast some kasuri methi in a pan and then crush it between your palms and add the powder to your Dal. This gives the recipe a next level. Trust me!

This Dal has a tendency to sit in the bottom of the pan..so please keep a check and keep stirring to avoid it getting burnt. If your dal gets too thick you can add some milk/ hot water to adjust consistency.

Although this recipe has no onions..u can still taste the same rich taste and that's the magic! U can have it with any Indian Bread of your choice. It can also be enjoyed with hot Jeera Rice or Plain Rice too.. :)

Enjoy!

Eggless Whole wheat cookies

Eggless Wholewheat Cookies

Yesterday I posted about Eggless Choco Chip cookies. After their instant hit, I decided to make something healthy and guilt free. So today I am presenting healthy Whole wheat cookies made out of very little butter and moreover they are eggless.

Here is the recipe:

Whole wheat flour- 1 cup
Granulated Sugar-  3- 4 tbsp depending on how sweet you want
Salt- 1/2 tsp (omit this if using salted butter)
Baking Soda- 1/2 tsp
Butter(unsalted)- 2 tbsp( i used homemade butter)
peeled Cardamom- 3-4
Vanilla Essence- 1/2 tsp
Curd- 1+ 1/2 tbsp
Tutti Frutty- A fistful to mix and some to garnish

•  Preheat your oven to 200^C for 10 mins.
• Grind Sugar and cardamom together
• Whisk butter and sugar nicely till sugar incorporates well.

 

• Add curd, essence,tutti frutty and salt.

 

• mix well.
• Add flour and soda and mix well wth fingers till you achieve a sticky but firm dough. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Make small round balls out of the dough and place them on a baking tray with a distance of half an inch.

 

 

• Make a dent in the middle and press tutti frutty on the dent.
  
  
    Set your oven to 200^C for 20 minutes. Keep a check on your cookies as they turn golden. Some ovens may take less or more time. Vigilance is the key.
• Allow them to cool on a wire rack till they come to room temperature.

  

  My home was full of aroma while these beauties were baking!

• Afterwards store them in an air-tight box and treat yourself. GuiltFree :)