Eggless Blueberry Muffin

There are times when I feel so lazy to cook daily routine food and want to do something else to make things more exciting. That’s the time when baking comes to my rescue. Baking is an art new to me which I am acquiring slowly and steadily. I love baking be it cakes, muffins, bread etc. It brings me inner joy and pleasure and make me forget all the hassles of day-to-day life. These days I have been experimenting more of ‘egg less’ cakes as I am still learning it. Its fascinating and exciting to see that cakes can still be as moist and fluffy as they are with eggs. Most of my ‘egg less’ baking involves less butter and hence a guilt free delight. I dedicate this yummy muffin recipe to all blueberry lovers. I love blueberry in any form and what would be more appealing than a blueberry muffin or a cake. Its one of my favorite cake. You can even frost this muffins with blueberry mousse to make wonderful cupcakes. I will try for sure and will update my blog accordingly. Till then enjoy this!
Ingredients :-

All Purpose Flour	1 and 1/2 cup minus 3 tbsp
Fresh Blueberries	1 Cup
Cornstarch	3 tbsp
Plain Yogurt/Curd	1 cup
Oil	1/2 cup
Sugar	3/4 cup
Baking Powder	1 tsp
Baking Soda	1/2 tsp
Vanilla Essence	1 tsp

Method :-

• Wash and dry  the blueberries with kitchen towel and sprinkle 1-2 tsp all purpose flour. Keep aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit/ 180 degree Celsius.
• Line the muffin tray with muffin liners.
• Sieve the all purpose flour and cornstarch together twice or thrice to ensure that they mix evenly. Keep it aside
• Mix curd and sugar in big bowl well. Add the baking powder and baking soda and mix well. let it rest for 3-4 minutes.
• Now you can see the mixture slightly frothy. Now mix oil and vanilla well to it.
• Add the flour in batches and mix well so that no lumps remain.
• Add the blueberries to the mixture and mix evenly.
• Spoon 3/4th of the prepared muffin liner with batter.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes clean.
• Cool over on a wire rack.

Note :-

• Do not forget to sprinkle some All purpose flour on blueberries so that blueberries doesn’t sink to bottom.
• Do not beat batter after adding blueberries.
• Sieving is important part. Don’t miss that as it ensures the even mixing and remove lumps if any.

Dahi Bhindi/Okra in Yogurt Sauce

Hope you all had very good Memorial Day long weekend. Its been a while I have posted anything on my blog. Okra is one of my favorite vegetable and I love to try different recipes using it. I love its crispiness after deep/shallow frying. The dish which I have tried here is scrumptious and delicious and was surprised to not see it in the menu of Indian restaurants in the USA. I think this dish will be a winner in the restaurants and people will surely like it (of course, if properly made). Dahi Bhindi can be cooked in 3 different ways (that I know of) – Rajasthani, Kerala and Hyderabadi style (each representing different states, flavors and culture of India). This particular recipe follows the Hyderabadi style adapted from Tarla Dalal (famous Indian food writer/chef) with some variations. The creamy texture of the gravy with crisp okras will just amaze you to think how simple dishes can sometimes be so incredible. This will definitely make you more hungry. Hope you would love it like I do.

Ingredients :-

Bhindi/Okra, Washed, dried and chopped	2 cups
Onion, Finely chopped	1 large
Tomatoes, Finely chopped	2 large
Ginger-Garlic Paste	1 teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Yogurt, beaten	1 cup
Grated Coconut, Frozen/Fresh	1 tablespoon
Cashew Nuts	6-8
Warm milk	3-4 tablespoon
Kasoori Methi/ Dried Fenugreek Leaves	1 tablespoon
Garam Masala	1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Amchur Powder/Dried Mango Powder	1/2-1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Coriander Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Oil	1-2 tablespoon

For tempering :-

Mustard Seeds	1 tablespoon
Curry Leaves	6-7
Cumin/Jeera	1/2 teaspoon
Urad Dal/Split Black Lentils	1 teaspoon
Red Chillies, Halved	2-3
Hing/Asafoetida	A pinch
Oil	1 tablespoon

Method :-

• Soak the cashews in warm milk for about 10 minutes.
• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan and add okra pieces to it. Saute the okras on high flame till it crisp.
• Remove and drain okras on a tissue paper. Keep them aside till needed.
• Grind soaked cashews and coconut to smooth paste adding the milk used for soaking. Keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and urad dal in it. When they crackle add red chillies, asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Add the chopped onion and saute it until they turn light golden.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for another minute till the raw smell disappears and onion turns golden brown.
• Now add all the dry masalas/powder (garam masala powder, red chilli powder, amchur powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder) along with Kasoori methi and fry for 2 minutes.
• Mix the chopped tomatoes and fry it until tomatoes turns mushy and oil separates out.
• Now add grounded cashew-coconut paste and mix it well. Keep stirring for a minute.
• Add yogurt, sugar and salt  to taste and mix well.
• Depending on the consistency add 1/2 – 1  cup of water. Simmer the gravy for about 5 minutes.
• Mix in the okra pieces and adjust the seasonings according to taste. You can add more water if consistency is thick and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
• Serve hot with Roti/Indian bread or Rice.

Note :-

• You can even deep fry the okras. That will turn the okras more crispy. I prefer pan frying for healthy option.
• Make sure okras are well dried before you cut.
• Cook okras without adding any salt and do not cover. This will reduce / remove the stickiness in the Okra.
• Adding sugar is optional to reduce the sourness of the dish.
• You can save some of the tempering to add it at last as garnishing.

Tandoori Aloo/Roasted Baby Potatoes

Potatoes always finds its place in most parties. You can serve it as an appetizer, side dish, curry/main dish, sweet dish, etc. Yeah you heard it right! You can even make sweet dish out of Potatoes. I have had Gulab Jamuns (deep fried balls in sugar syrup), Jalebis and sweet pudding made of potatoes. The potatoes are great for people fasting on special occasions. For me, the baby potatoes, tastes best when roasted in any flavor/spices. Tandoori Chicken is one of the favorite Indian appetizer but you can make the same juicy and delicious dish with potatoes, paneer (cottage cheese) or cauliflower. I tried the vegetarian version with baby Potatoes to make Tandoori Aloo and its a great snack for vegetarians. I like the potato skin but I peeled it off when trying this dish. Potato skin is healthy and gives a distinct flavor so you might want to try with the skin on. The broiling technique gives the charred and slightly burnt taste which closely matches with the ‘tandoor’ flavor. When broiling, for best results, keep checking potatoes frequently otherwise it will burn more than you want. So enjoy this easy and quick appetizer!

Ingredients :-

Baby Potatoes	20-22
Roasted Chana (Bengal Gram) Powder	2 tablespoon
Fresh Hung Curd	1 1/4 cup
Fresh Cream	1 tablespoon
Dried Fenugreek Leaves/Kasoori Methi	1/4 tablespoon
Oil	1 tablespoon
Salt	to taste
Kashmiri Red Chillies, dry	4 whole
Garlic	3-4 cloves
Ginger	1/2 inch
Coriander-Cumin Powder	2 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Garam Masala Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Cilantro/Coriander Leaves	1 tablespoon
Lemon Juice	1 teaspoon
Chaat Masala	1/2 teaspoon

Method :-

• Ground Red chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander-cumin powder into paste with help of little water. This is your grounded masala/spice/paste.
  
• Wash the potatoes thoroughly, peel the skin off, pierce them with a fork and cook them till they get par boiled or half cooked.
  
• Mix grounded paste, roasted chana powder, kasoori methi, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt with hung curd and whisk it until you get uniform mixture.
• Add the parboiled potatoes to the curf mixture and let it marinate for 1 hour.
• Heat a pan and add oil to it. When oil becomes hot add the potato-curd mixture to it and let it cook for about 15 minutes in low heat till all the liquids of masala dries up. Add  cream to it and give it a mix. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top of it . Serve hot with some drizzled lemon juice and chat masala on top of it.
• You can serve this tandoori aloos as appetizers with  some thinly sliced onion, tomatoes, green bell peppers and cilantro chutney. You can also serve it as filling for wraps.

Note :-

• You can also bake potatoes in oven. Grease your baking tray or line in the tray with aluminum foil and bake them for 5 to 7 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F. Broiling will give the best taste & effect.
  
• For making hung curd, tie fresh curd tightly in muslin or cheese cloth (it will look like a ball) and hang it till the water drains out completely. Usually, I hang the cloth around water faucet over the sink for about an hour for best results.
• If you want to save time you can use store bought tandoori masala available in any Indian/Asian market instead of making grounded masala.
• If you have time, marinate potatoes overnight for best results.
  
• Remember, potatoes are to be parboiled otherwise they will break up easily while marinating.
• Don’t forget to prick the potatoes before marinating as it will help in seeping the masala/spice inside potatoes.

Chicken Ghee Roast – A Sinful Heaven

Truly admitting, I love Chicken in any form. At times when I became vegetarian for about 2 years, I missed chicken and was tempted to eat on lot of occasions. As a replacement to chicken, I had to satisfy myself with Paneer delicacies. Its probably the most sought after food by Vegetarians in India. But even best of Vegetarian recipes couldn’t stop me drooling over delicious recipes of chicken enjoyed by people around me. So in short my love for Chicken was never lost, it was indeed hidden somewhere deep in my stomach & thoughts. The dish I have tried today is categorized as one of the favorites in Mangalorian cuisine. I did not know about this fantastic Mangalorian preparation until I saw it in one of Indian cookery show and instantly thought of trying it. I have never tried the original one but was very happy the way it came out and now it has become one of my  favorite side dish or as starter. Ghee (Clarified Butter) Roast is said to be native to coastal Karnataka. The word ‘Roast’ loosely means braising rather than actually sticking the meat into an oven. The first step is to braise the chicken and then add spices into the same pot to cook slowly till it becomes tender. A more healthier version would be to reduce the quantity of ghee but I think the dish will miss that distinct ‘ghee roasted’ aroma and flavor. I would suggest indulging in this heavenly delicacy only occasionally. As always, the freshly grounded masala (spices) tastes lot better. I hope you like this recipe. Enjoy!!

Ingredients :-

Ghee (Clarified Butter)	1/2 cup
Chicken, dried and cut in bite size	1 kg
Thick Yogurt/Curd	1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Lemon Juice	1 tablespoon
Jaggery/Sugar (Optional)	2 tablespoon
Curry Leaves	10-12
Kashmiri Red Chillies	15-20
Small Red Chillies	7-8
Black Peppercorns	7-8
Coriander Seeds	1 1/2 tablespoon
Cumin Seeds	1/2 tablespoon
Fenugreek Seeds	1/2 teaspoon
Cloves	4
Garlic cloves	12-16
Tamarind paste	1 1/2 tablepoon
Salt	to taste
Fresh Cilantro Leaves, Finely chopped	1-2 tablespoons

Method :-

• Marinate the chicken with curd, turmeric powder, lemon juice,  1/2 tsp of salt for a minimum of 3-4 hrs or overnight in the refrigerator. I marinated it for overnight.
• Heat a pan and dry roast the red chilies on low flame for 2 mts. Keep in mind that it should not burn otherwise it will spoil the dish. Remove from fire and keep aside. In the same pan, add a tsp of ghee and roast, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves and peppercorns on low flame for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
• Grind the red chillies and spices along with garlic and tamarind to make a fine paste. This is your ground spice/masala.
• Heat a big pan with 1/4 cup of ghee and fry the marinated chicken until it gets almost cooked, but not fully cooked.
• Remove the sauteed chicken pieces and keep aside. Remove the remaining liquid into another bowl.
• To the same pan add the remaining ghee and fry the ground spice/masala paste for 5 to 8 minutes over medium flame, or until the spice/masala starts leaving ghee on the sides. Make sure not to burn the spice/masala mixture while doing this process.
• Add the fried chicken pieces and mix well. Add the left over liquid,curry leaves and jaggery/sugar and cook on medium flame for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste. Remember that marinated chicken already had salt added in it. So add salt accordingly.
• Reduce the flame and cover the chicken with lid. Cook the chicken till the spices/masala dries up and there is thick coating of spice/masala on chicken pieces. This will take approximately 8-10 minutes on medium flame.
  
• Remove lid, roast the chicken for 2-3 minutes. Turn off flame, remove onto a serving bowl.
• Finally garnish the chicken with chopped cilantro leaves and serve immediately.

Notes :-

• Kashmiri Red chillies are not spicy at all. So you may go easy with the quantity of Kashmiri chillies. Also the small chillies are hot in taste so add according to your taste.
• Adding sugar/jaggery suppresses the hotness of the dish.
• Ghee gives extraordinary flavor to this dish but if you think its heavy on your calorie count then you can decrease the quantity of ghee and add some olive oil instead.
• Any part of chicken goes well with this dish but it will taste best if made with chicken in bone.

Falafel – The Healthy Way

Mediterranean food is one of my family favorites. You name it and we cant resist it – Falafel, Hummus, Lentil soup, Shawarma, salads like Fattoush. These are really very quick and  easy to make at home. Falafel is a popular middle eastern dish in form of patties made of chickpeas or fava beans or both. These patties are common form of street food in middle east generally served in pita bread which acts as pocket and topped with salads, pickles, hummus and tahini based sauce. Generally they are deep fried but I have taken healthier route by baking them which came out pretty well. These patties are  filling and also nutritious as it contains plenty of important nutrients like vitamins A and C, iron and fibre. I have made my own low fat yogurt dressing which goes very well these patties.

Ingredients :-

For Falafel

Chickpeas	1 cup
Spring Onion, Chopped	4-5 stalks
Bread Crumbs	1/4 cup
Green Chillies, Chopped	3-4
Garlic, Chopped	4-5 cloves
Fresh Cilantro Leaves, Chopped	2 tablespoon
Parsley Leaves, Chopped	2 tablespoon
Baking Powder	a pinch
Cumin Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Black Pepper Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	To taste
Lemon Juice	1/4 teaspoon
Olive Oil	1 tablespoon
Cooking Oil Spray	Preferably Olive Oil

For Yogurt Sauce

Yogurt, hung	1/2 cup
Cream	2 tablespoon
Fresh Cilantro Leaves, Chopped	1 tablespoon
Garlic, chopped	2-3 cloves
Fresh Parsley, Chopped	1 tablespoon
Salt	to taste
Lemon Juice	1/2 teaspoon

To Serve

Green Bell Peppers, thinly sliced	1/4 cup
Red Onions, thinly sliced	1/4 cup
Tomatoes, thinly sliced	1/4 cup
Hummus	2 tablespoon
Yogurt Sauce	2-3 tablespoon
Salt	To taste
Lemon Juice	1/2 teaspoon
Olive Oil	1 teaspoon
Crushed Red Peppers	To taste
Lettuce, shredded	1 Cup
Pita Pockets	6

Method :-

Falafel Patties

• Preheat the oven to 375 degree Fahrenheit.
• Soak chickpeas overnight. Wash and drain it next morning.
• Grind the chickpeas along with garlic, coriander leaves, parsley, spring onion greens, green chillies and breadcrumbs in a food processor to a coarse mixture.
• The final mixture should be little coarse and grainy in texture.
• Add baking powder, lemon juice, olive oil and cumin powder to it and mix well.
• Season it with salt and pepper powder.
• Knead the mixture well and allow it to rest for a couple of hours in a refrigerator.
• Spray a foil lined baking pan with cooking oil spray.
• Make small balls from the batter. Press them lightly between palms and place them on baking pan. Spray more oil on top of these balls.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dry and slightly browned. They would not brown too much but would be firm to touch when done.

Yogurt Sauce

• Mix all the ingredients of yogurt sauce together and refrigerate till needed.

To Arrange and Serve

• Mix green bell peppers, onion, tomato, lemon juice, olive oil, crushed red peppers, salt together and mix well.
• Cut the pitas into halve, warm it for 30 secs in microwave and spread yogurt sauce and hummus inside the pockets.
• Fill the pitas with 2-3 falafels, vegetable mixture and lettuce.
• On top you can add more hummus and yogurt sauce, if needed.

Note :-

• You can also make you own pita bread. I will try my own and let you know how it came out.
• You can also make burgers and rolls with these patties.
• The fried version might taste better so trying it once in a while would be a better choice.
• If prepared in advance, the falafel batter can be stored in refrigerator and fried/baked later.
• You can also bake/fry a large batch and freeze them. Just before assembling thaw and microwave it. Rest is a easy peasy.
• Hummus can be bought from a store or freshly made at home. For this experiment, I have used Sabra brand Hummus bought from Wal-Mart. I’ll try to play around and experiment to make my version of Hummus sometime in the future.

Dahi Kebab/Yogurt Dumplings – Lip smacking Vegetarian Kebab

Kebab is thought to be originated somewhere in Middle East by some Persian Soldiers. As per some theory it was introduced in India by Moghul(Mughals) in 16th century. Since then Kebab has become integral part of Indian cusine by using its own traditional Indian spices and marinating techniques. Traditionally, kebabs are skewered meats or vegetables cooked on a grill or even under the oven broiler. But these days, kebabs can be made using paneer, chicken, seafood or even fruit. They are best enjoyed with chutneys like cilantro or mint one. My 1st recipe under Kebab section is a vegetarian one – Dahi Kebab. This is a soft, tasty, vegetarian kebab made from hung curd and cheese with crunchiness of onion and flavors of ginger and pepper.

Ingredients:-

Yogurt	500 gm
Onion, chopped	2 medium
Green chillies, chopped	4
Cheese, grated	3/4 cup
Coriander seeds and Black Pepper	2 Tablespoons
Ginger,chopped	1 Tablespoon
Red chilli flakes	1 1/2 Tablespoon
Roasted Gram flour/Besan	1/2 cup
Paneer/Cottage Cheese	3/4 cup
Cornflour	2 Tablespoon
Oil	For frying
Salt	To taste

Method :-

• Lay a muslin cloth over the bowl and pour the yogurt into it. Pick up the edges of the cloth and tie a knot. Hang it till it turns into a cheesy mixture.
• Grate the cheese. Dry roast coriander seeds & black pepper.Grind into powder.
• Mix grated cheese, a little coriander pepper powder, green chillies, onions, ginger and salt.
• Take hung yoghurt in a bowl, add red chilli flakes and the rest of the coriander pepper powder.
• Bind with besan, paneer and corn flour.
• Put in the filling and shape into kebabs. Deep fry in oil and serve hot.
• Remove and place onto an absorbent paper and serve hot with a chutney or sauce.

Note:-

• You can decrease/increase the quantity of chillies you want.
• Yogurt can be hung in advance and can be stored in freeze for 2-3 days.