Eggless Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients

For the filling

• 200 g carrot
• 140 g beans
• 100 g cauliflower
• 100 g green peas
• 2 mashed potatoes
• 1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed dissolved in 3 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt or any thick yogurt
• Salt and pepper to taste

For pastry

• 200 g flour
• 1/2 cup butter (approx 113 g butter), cold
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup milk, plus more if needed while kneading into a dough

For garnishing

• 1 large tomato, sliced round
• Finely chopped cilantro
• Grated cheese

Method

• Steam vegetables in water until cooked
• Place all the ingredients for the pastry into a food processor or stand mixer and mix well until the mixture forms a nice dough
• 
• Line a round 10″ tin with parchment paper and press the dough into the tin to cover the bottom up and sides evenly
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• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the pastry for 10 minutes until slightly brown
• Mix all the ingredients for the filling and spread over the baked pastry
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• Place the tomatoes over the top and sprinkle with chopped cilantro and grated cheese
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• Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese melts
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Cut into pieces and enjoy 😊

Baked Aloo Tikki

My aunt Banu Chithi makes amazing Aloo Tikki. Tikki is a very popular snack in North India. I was missing the Delhi chat especially Aloo Tikki topped with Chole. I tried out my aunt’s recipe and it turned out yummy ! I baked the Aloo Tikki following some tips given by my aunt, baked Aloo Tikki tastes as good as the shallow fried one. 

Makes : 20-25 tikkis

Ingredients

• Potatoes, large – 2
• Ginger, 1 inch piece
• Green chilly – 1 to 2
• Garlic, 2 cloves 
• Bread – 2 slices
• Corn starch – 1/4 cup
• Bread crumbs – 1 cup or more to coat the Tikki
• Salt to taste 
• Water as needed to make the corn starch paste 

Method

• Steam the potatoes in a rice cooker or a steamer on stove top. The important fact is potatoes must not be cooked by immersing them in water but rather steamed. This is to cook the potatoes well and at the same time keep them dry. The potatoes should be thoroughly cooked ( if they mash easily it means they are well cooked )
• Mash the potatoes well and keep aside 
• Grind the ginger, green chillies and garlic to a coarse paste ( do not add water while grinding )
• Mix the corn starch and water well to form a paste of dripping consistency
• 

• Mash the bread slices along with the mashed potatoes. It is best to use a stand mixer or food processor to mix the bread and potatoes so that you get a smooth Tikki base. Mix in the ground ginger chilli garlic paste and salt.
• Shape the potato bread spice mixture into medium sized circles, and dip in the corn starch paste 
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• 
  
• Roll the coated Tikki in bread crumbs 
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• Grease a cookie sheet with oil and place the tikkis 1 inch apart 
• Preheat the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes
• Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit
• After 10 minutes, turn the tikkis to bake the other side for another 10 minutes. The first side must be golden brown in color, if not bake for some more time before turning the side 
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• Once both sides are baked store the Aloo tikkis in a hot pot or casserole until ready to serve 
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• Serve hot with chutney or Chole 
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Layered Corn Cake

Corn layer cake is a yummy snack that is a perfect snack for a tea party or a yummy evening treat for kids !

Ingredients

• 3 cups potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1 cup steam mixed vegetables (Beans, carrot, green peas)
• 1 cup cooked sweet corn
• 4 slices of bread (white or brown)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp ginger-green chilli paste
• 1/4 tsp garam masala ( I used freshly powdered garam masala, the recipe for the same will follow soon on my blog )
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup tomato ketchup

Method

• Steam the mixed vegetables and add some salt. Keep aside
• Steam the corn and add some salt. Keep aside
• Soak the bread in little water for few minutes. Remove the excess water and mash the bread slices. Keep aside
• Take the mashed potatoes in a vessel and add the vegetables, mashed bread, half of the corn, the ginger – green chilli paste, salt, sugar, lemon juice and garam masala. Mix everything together thoroughly
• Take an 8 or 9 inch cake pan, line it with parchment paper and grease with the oil
• Sprinkle bread crumbs at the bottom of the pan until the circumference is fully covered with bread crumbs
• Take half of the potato-vegetable-corn mixture and spread it well
• Spread the tomato ketchup and remaining corn
• Make the second layer of the potato-vegetable-corn mixture and spread it well
• Sprinkle bread crumbs on top
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Place the corn layer cake inside the oven and bake for around 30-40 minutes
• Once done, allows the corn layer cake to cool on a cooling rack for 15-20 minutes and then invert on a serving plate

Serve hot with tomato ketchup 🙂

 

Idly

Idly is a traditional South Indian breakfast dish, made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils and rice. With tips from elders and experience of idly making for a few years, I can now confidently say that I have a recipe for the perfect idly. This is a perfect first food for your baby too. I started this for my son when he was 9 months old.

As always, I would recommend you to check with your doctor before introducing any new food for your baby. Once you start a new food, follow the 3-4 day rule, i.e wait for 3 days before starting the next new food to watch out for any reactions

Idly is a food that can be enjoyed by all age groups: babies, kids and adults 😊

To make idly it is best if you have an equipment called a wet grinder. Something similar to this : Premier Wonder Table Top Wet Grinder 110v 1.5L https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004OPIBV2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_sMs.xbTE025QD

However I have also heard success stories of making idly batter in the Vitamix blender. 

Soaking time: 6-7 hours 

Grinding time : 30-40 minutes 

Yields: Around 8 qt idly batter

Ingredients 

• I use a rice nazhi for my measurements of rice and dal,   nazhi is a big cup used for measuring rice in most house holds. This is an approximate conversion in cup measure:
  • 1 nazhi idly rice or raw rice  = 1 3/4 cup idly rice or raw rice 
    
  • 1 nazhi urad dal = 1 3/4 cup urad dal
• 4 nazhis idly rice or white parboiled rice ( available in Indian stores or Asian stores )
• A handful of raw rice 
• 1 1/4 nazhi whole urad dal ( available in Indian stores or Asian stores)
• 1 tbsp methi seeds or fenugreek seeds ( available in Indian stores or Asian stores )
• Salt, to taste 
• Water, as needed (Approximately 4.5 cups of water will be needed to make the batter)

Method

Note : I have used a wet grinder for grinding the batter 

• Wash thoroughly and soak urad dal and rice separately in plenty of water for 6 hours. Soak the methi seeds separately in water
• While grinding, you can use the same water used for soaking. Drain and collect the soaked water in another vessel
  
• Place the soaked methi in the grinder, add around 1/8 cup water and grind for a minute
• Add the soaked urad dal, around 1/2 cup water and continue grinding. Keep adding 1/2 cup of water at regular intervals while the grinder is running. The batter should become smooth and fluffy. Allow about 20 minutes for dal grinding. (For 1 nazhi or 1 3/4 cup urad , you will need up adding around 3 – 3 1/4 cups of water)
• This is how the fluffy and smooth urad dal batter should look: 
•   
• Remove the dal paste and place the soaked rice in grinder.  Add 1/2 a cup of water initially and keep adding water at regualar intervals. Rice paste should be ground coarsely for making soft idlis. Grind the rice for around 10-15 minutes (The rice paste will need approximately 1 1/2 cups of water)
•  
  
• When done, add salt and the collected dal paste to the rice paste and mix well with a ladle for few minutes till both the batters blend well. The final idli batter should be of medium thickness and of pouring consistency
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• Leave overnight (8-10 hrs) for fermentation till it rises well
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• Whisk the dough with a spoon in the morning
  
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•   Grease the idli mould with oil and fill the dough in the cups of the idli stand. Pour 1 cup of water in the pressure pan or fill up to the required level in an idly cooker
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• Steam the idlis for 10-15 minutes until well cooked and soft. Remove the stand from the cooker. Cool slightly and remove the idlies one by one from the idly mould using a spoon
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• Serve hot and enjoy with sambhar or chutney 😊
  

Note: The idly batter can be stored in a refrigerator. You can enjoy soft idlies for at least 3-4 days and then make dosa from the same batter too 

Potato Dosa

It’s been a long time since I made a food post !!! Well, life’s been busy with a new job. My little one also stopped giving me trouble to eat for a while, and was okay to eat plain rice and a simple dal for a dinner too, so I had no more challenges to try out a new food experiment ! But he is back to challenge me, he is demanding variety again!  so I have to start innovating and try out new recipes for him 🙂 This means you will see more regular food posts on my blog 🙂

Can we really make a dosa with potato you would wonder, but it tastes yummy and kids will really love it 🙂 Here is the recipe !

This recipe is inspired from Chandra Padmanabhan’s recipe from the book Dakshin: Vegetarian Recipes from South India

Ingredients

• 1 cup rice flour
• 2 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup thick and sour yogurt ( I used greek yogurt)
• 1-2 small green chillies, ground to a paste consistency ( I only used 1 since I was making it for my son)
• Salt, to taste
• Water, as required

Method

• Boil the potatoes until they are very well cooked
• Peel the potatoes and mash it well and keep aside
• Mix the mashed potatoes, rice flour, yogurt, green chilly paste and salt together, adding water as required to form a batter of pouring consistency
• Heat a griddle or tava, grease it with oil or ghee and make the dosas. I would suggest to make smaller pancake sized or uttapam sized dosas
• Serve hot with ketchup or chutney 🙂

 

 

 

Tavalai Adai (Shallow fried lentil dosa )

Tavalai adai, a delicious dosa variety that is prepared in a kadai ( saute pan ). The dosa is shallow fried and is crispy like vada on the outside and soft and fluffy like a dosa inside. This is a treasured recipe from my Mother in law. Three reasons why you should try out this dosa : easy to make, delicious and kid’s favourite 😀 Oh, wait I have another reason for you too, it will make use of your left over idly batter too 😊 In the above picture, the dosa is served with tomato chutney, coconut chutney and cranberry pickle.

I am sure many of you are wondering, why is this dosa called “Tavalai adai”. When my mother-in-law first introduced me to this dosa, I did not really think much about the name, as I was just concentrating on relishing this dosa. But while writing the title for my blog, I got curious and took the help of my friend “Google”. It turns out this dosa has its roots in Thanjavore and probably got the name from the brass pan (colloquially thavalai or thavala in Tamil) it was made in traditionally.

Now, let’s get to the recipe

Makes : Around 30 dosas (My dosas were around 5 inches in diameter )

Note: This recipe is tagged as toddler friendly, but please adjust the spice level when making it for your lil one 

Ingredients 

• Raw rice (I used sona masoori) – 2 cups
• Parboiled rice (Idly rice) – 1/4 cup
• Tur dal – 3/4 cup
• Chana dal – 1/4 cup
• Prepared idly batter – 1/2 cup
• Greek yogurt (or any thick yogurt) – 3.5 oz
• Grated coconut – 1/4 cup
• Whole Urad dal – 1/4 cup
• Salt to taste
• For the tempering ( Below tempering is for a medium spice level )
  • 5-6 tsp oil
  • 1 tbsp urad dal
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • A sprig of curry leaves
  • 2 inch ginger piece, finely chopped
  • 1-2 green chillies
  • 1 red chilly

Method

• Soak the rice and dal separately for 3-4 hours
• Note: I used a wet grinder for making the batter
• Grind the dal for 5 minutes, adding water as needed until all the dals have blended well, and the batter has a coarse consistency
• Grind the rice for 5 minutes, adding water as needed until the batter has a coarse consistency
• Add the coconut, idly batter, salt and yogurt and blend well. The consistency of the tavalai adai batter must be slightly thicker than the regular dosa batter
•  
• To prepare the tempering, use the same kadai in which you will prepare the dosas. It is preferable to use a narrow mouthed kadai or pan. Heat 5-6 tsp of oil in the kadai, and add the mustard seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add the urad dal, curry leaves, ginger, green chilies, and red chilly
• Add the tempering to the batter and mix well
  • Note: If serving this dish for kids, you can either skip the tempering or avoid adding green chillies and red chilly
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the kadai or pan
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• Pour enough dosa batter to cover the circumference of the bottom of the pan
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• Close the pan with a lid and cook the dosa surface bubbles and the bottom is reddish brown
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• Invert the dosa and cook the other side for about a minute
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• Remove the dosa from the heat using a spatula and drain on a paper towel (You can keep the dosas hot in an insulated vessel like a casserole )
• For making variety tavalai adai :
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  • You can add your favorite toppings to this dosa and enjoy it like a vegetable tavala adai too. I have tried the following combinations : carrot & cucumber, onion, pineapple & cheese
  • For the “carrot & cucumber” and “onion” version: add the topping , 30 seconds after you pour the batter in the pan, the rest of the steps are the same
  • For the “pineapple & cheese” version: add the topping of finely chopped pineapples, 30 seconds after you pour the batter. Once both sides of the dosa are cooked, add cheese on the top surface of the dosa, drizzle a little extra oil and cook for an additional 30 seconds until the cheese melts

Enjoy the tavalai adai 🙂

 

 

 

References used to find the story behind the dosa’s name:

http://www.tamildictionary.org/tamil_english.php?id=10467 ; http://cooknrelish.blogspot.com/2014/01/multi-lentil-fritter-or-thavala-vada.html

 

Noodles and Vegetable beans hot pot

  
Enjoy this nutritious and colorful noodles that can be packed as a yummy meal for your kid’s lunch box. It’s a quick and easy dish to try for your little ones. This recipe is adapted from Jyoti Parekh’s recipe.

Ingredients 

• 1 cup noodles, boiled in salt water
• 1/2 cup kidney beans or rajma 
• 1 tomato, boiled and puréed 
• 1/2 cup boiled green peas
• 1 small onion, chopped 
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 
• 1/4 cup carrot, chopped and boiled 
• 1 tbsp butter 
• 1 tsp corn flour 
• 1 tsp soya sauce 
• 1/4 tsp chili sauce
• Salt to taste 
• 1/4 cup crispy potato wafers

Method 

• Cook the noodles according to the package instructions adding some salt 
• Cook the tomato and purée the tomato adding some salt 
• Cook the rajma and cook in the tomato purée for few minutes 
• Cook the green peas and carrot 
• Melt butter and sauté onion and garlic to light brown 
• Add the rajma in tomato purée
• Add the green peas, carrot, corn flour, soya sauce, chilly sauce, salt to taste and 1/2 cup water to make a curry like consistency 
• Bring to a boil
• For the potato wafers, slice the potatoes into thin circles and frying in oil 
• Place noodles in a lunch box or a serving dish. Pour the vegetables on top and sprinkle potato wafers at the time of serving 

Enjoy 😊