Khandvi | Kids Appetizers

Hi Peeps

Wish you a very happy Diwali!

This month I am participating in blogging marathon after a long time.

Sharing a very yummy appetizer today. It comes from Gujrati cusine, but it is loved by all in India and out of.

Kids especially love this since it is not too spicy but very tasty it is :). The texture of khandvi is very soft and silky. Preparing it perfectly is a bit tricky, I am not there yet, but trying :)

Ingredients

1 cup besan (bengal gram flour)

1 cup curds (dahi)

a pinch of asafoetida (hing)

1/2 teaspoon drops of lemon juice

1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)

2 tsp fresh grated ginger

green chilli paste (optional - I did not use since I was making for kids)

salt to taste

oil for greasing 

For tempering:

2 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)

1 tsp sesame seeds (til)

1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)

2 green chillies split vertically

curry leaves

For The Garnish

2 tbsp freshly grated coconut (optional)

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (dhania)

Method 

Grease 3 thalis (10” diameter each) with oil on both the sides and keep aside.

Combine the curds and 1½ cups of water in a deep bowl, mix well and keep aside.

Combine the besan, curds-water mixture, asafoetida, lemon juice, turmeric powder, ginger-green chilli paste and salt in a deep non-stick pan and mix well using a whisk till no lumps remain to make a smooth mixture.

Switch on the flame and cook on a slow flame for 9 minutes, while stirring continuously or till it thickens.

Spread a spoonful of the batter on a greased thali, wait for a few seconds and try to roll it up. If it doesn’t roll then cook for 1 more minute and then check once more if it gets rolled perfectly.

While it is still hot, pour little portions of the mixture on the insides of 3 greased thalis and spread the mixture in a circular motion into a thin layer using a vati.

Turn all the 3 thalis and spread the remaining mixture on their back side in the similar matter as step 6.

Allow them to cool for 5 to 10 minutes and roll them up tightly.

Cut each roll into 6 equal pieces and keep aside.

For the tempering, heat the oil in a small non-stick pan and add the mustard seeds.

When the seeds crackle, add the sesame seeds, asafoetida and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds.

Pour the tempering over the khandvis.

Garnish with coconut and coriander and serve.

Sending this to Srivalli's Kid’s Delight event, guest hosted by Sapana, themed on Bite Size Appetizers

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM

Diwali special chiroti - diwali snacks

Chiroti is a popular dessert in traditional Maharastra cuisine. This delicacy is called Pathir Pheni or Khaja. 

Chiroti is a fried flaky pastry with concentric circles of delicate layers. 

Making chiroti is not a complicated process as it might appear to the beginner cook. A stack of three to four thinly rolled out rotis that have been smeared with a paste of rice flour/corn flour are rolled up into a cylindrical log and sliced into 1/2″ thick pieces. These cut out pieces are again rolled out thin and deep fried to a golden shade. This crunchy delight is highly addictive. Chiroti is one the best Indian sweets recipes that you can make for family and friends this Diwali. :)

Ingredients

Plain Flour - 2 cups (maida)

Ghee - 2 tbsps, melted

Salt - pinch

Sugar - 3/4 cup, powdered and mixed with 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

For paste:

Rice flour or corn flour - 2 tbsps

Ghee - 1 1/2 tbsps, melted

For sugar syrup: (if using syrup to dip the chiroti)

Sugar - 1 cup, granulated

Water - 1 cup

Cardamom powder: 1/2 tsp

Method

In a bowl, add the flour, salt and melted ghee and mix well. Slowly add enough water to make a smooth yet firm dough like puri dough. Cover the dough and keep aside for an hour.

The authentic recipe calls for deep frying in ghee. I have deep fried in oil.

Ensure that the dough is tight and not soft like chapati dough.

While the dough is resting prepare the powdered sugar mixture. In a bowl, add the powdered sugar and cardamom powder and mix well. Keep aside.

If using sugar syrup to dip the fried chiroti, prepare the syrup. Heat water and granulated sugar in a vessel till sugar is melted and then continue to simmer till the mixture thickens to single thread consistency on low flame. Add cardamom powder and mix. Turn off flame. Keep aside.

In a small bowl, mix rice flour with melted ghee and keep aside. This paste is used to bind the layers of rotis.

Pinch off dough such that you have 6 large lemon sized balls. Roll each into thin rotis. Place a roti on your work surface, smear a tsp of the prepared rice flour paste all over the roti. Place another rolled out roti over it and again smear with a tsp of rice flour paste. Again repeat the process by placing another roti over the second roti and smear with rice flour paste. Now gently roll the pilled up rotis into a log and cut into 1/2" thick circles. Make another log following the same process using the remaining three rotis.

With the help of the rolling pin roll out each of the thick circles into thin rotis of 4" to 5" in diameter.

Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once hot, reduce flame to low medium and place 3 or 4 rolled out chirotis into the hot oil. Splash the hot oil from the sides using the slotted spoon on top of the chiroti.This helps in puffing up chiroti nicely and all the layers will get separated. Deep fry the chirotis on a medium flame, flipping them gently to cook all over. Once they turn to a golden shade, remove onto an absorbant paper. Immediately sprinkle a heaped tbsp of the powdered sugar over each of the hot chirotis so that the sugar adheres to them while it is hot.

If using sugar syrup, place the hot chirotis that have been removed from the oil into the prepared sugar syrup. Allow them to absorb the syrup. 

Store in an airtight container and they stay fresh for at least one week to ten days.

Mixed lentil muthia / muthadi

I came to know about muthia after marriage. Sharing this lovely recipe from MIL

Ingredients

1.5 cups of soaked tuvar daal 

1/2 cup soaked split chickpeas (chane ki dal)

1/2 cup soaked moong daal

chipped ginger 1 tbsp or more

red chilly powder or green chillies chopped to taste

whole cumin seeds 2 tsp

whole pepper corns 2 tsp

turmeric powder 1 tsp

salt to taste

chopped fenugreek leaves/coriander leaves(optioanl)

Procedure:

Blend the daals together in a mixie jar or food processor without adding any water to it.

In  a bowl add the chopped greens and the lentil paste , add the turmeric powder and salt to taste.Now mix together everything, using your fingers, making it a loose dough. You can add a  little chick pea flour or any millet flours (like bajra or jowar or even corn meal)to make the dough to a workable consistency. I 

Make small lemon sized balls with the mixture and keep them on a greased glass or ceramic plate.

Steam the balls in a steamer or keep them covered in a strainer on top of boiling water.Cut the balls and temper them.  

The tempering

oil 1 tsp

asafoetida 1/8 tsp

whole red chilly broken in two parts

small variety mustard seeds (rai) 1 tsp

sesame seeds 2 tsp

Heat oil in a pan and add the remaining ingredients in the order of the list one by one. As soon as the sesame is fried as it is added last, add the dumplings and toss them with the tempering mix. let the balls become crisp in oil. 

The greens or other vegetables like grated carrots, cabbage and spring onion make a great combination for such dumplings.

Namak Paare | Easy diwali snacks

Hope you had a good diwali! Sharing one of the very popular diwali snack. .namak paare..these munchies are so addictive and so easy to prepare! 

You got to try these if not already! 

These are excellent with tea or pickle or on their own too :)

Ingredients -

• 3 Cup – APF(maida)
• 1 cup - Wheat flour
• 2 tsp – Carom Seeds
• 3 Tbsps – Oil for kneading the dough
• 2 tsp - crushed kasoori methi
• to taste – Salt
• Oil for frying

Method -

1. In a large bowl mix flour, salt, kasoori methi & carom seeds.
2. Add oil for knading mix gently. Now hold the flour in your fist, if it forms a loose clump, then the amount of oil is fine, if it doesn’t then add a bit more oil.
3. Using water knead the dough. The dough should be slightly hard to touch. Wrap in a wet muslin cloth & keep it aside for 1/2 hour.
4. Form big balls with the dough. Roll these balls using a rolling pin. Use a knife to cut square or rhombus shaped pieces.
5. Heat oil in a big wok, fry these pastry till golden brown.
6. Enjoy warm with tea or coffee or pickle.  It will store well in air-tight container at room temp for several days.

Sending this to blogging marathon 58 hosted by Srivalli.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#58

Pink Pound Cake

Like most girls, little miss loves everything pink! And then she wanted a pink cake! I thought of few options to make the cake pink—beetroot, strawberry..then thought why not add rooh afza to the batter and get lovely rose flavoured and aromatic cake..and yes it was pink too J

Any suggestions to get a lovely pink color for the cakes ?

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter (at room temperature) - 1/2 cup 

Sifted Cake flour - 150 grams 

Milk at room temperature - 3 Tbsp

Granulated sugar - 150 grams ( 3/4 cup)

Pure Vanilla extract - 1 and 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Large eggs (at room temperature) - 2

Rooh afza - 2 tbsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 F or 177 C and place the rack in the middle or center of the oven.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, rooh afza and the vanilla extract.

In another bowl add the flour, baking powder,sugar and salt and mix. you can use a hand mixer. Now add the butter and half of the egg mixture and mix at low speed just until the flour is moistened.

 If you are using hand mixer, you might want to do it a bit longer. This will help to aerate the cake batter and to develop the cake structure. Scrape down the batter and add the remaining egg mixture in 2 additions beating for about 30 seconds after each addition.

Scrape the batter in to the loaf pan which we kept ready earlier. 

Bake this cake for about 55 - 60 until the tooth pick when inserted comes out clean and the outer crust is golden brown. Keep an eye on the cake. At about 30 minutes, if you see that the outer crust of the cake is browning to too fast, here is what you do. Take an aluminium foil large enough to cover the open part of the loaf pan. Apply butter to it and cover the loaf pan with foil (butter side inside ).

When the cake is done, remove from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Transfer the cake to a lightly butter wire rack.

This cake can be frozen for up to 2 months or remains fresh in the fridge for about a week or so.

ENJOY!!

Sending this to blogging marathon 58 hosted by Srivalli.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#58

Garlic and cilantro/fenugreek rolls | Bread baking

Baking is therapeutic, its like creating something magical! I baked these garlic cilantro fenugreek pull apart rolls for the first time for a birthday party. They came out excellent with the yummy filling.
It was loved by my friends and vanished in no time!

Ingredients

For the  dough

4  cups – All purpose flour  (Maida)
1 Tbsp Instant yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil/butter

For the filling

Mix all the ingredients given below to prepare the filling.

2 Tbsp butter at room temperature
1 tsp mixed herbs – oregano,basil,rosemary and garlic powder
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp fine chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
Few sprigs of fresh fenugreek leaves.. You can use kasoori methi if fresh not available
Prove the yeast – add the sugar to 1/2 cup of warm water. Mix well. The water has to be just the right temperature- not too hot because that will kill the yeast not too cool because the yeast won’t prove. Drop some on the back of your wrist and it should feel warm there. Add the yeast and rest covered for 10-15 minutes. The yeast should froth like soapy bubbles. If it doesn’t, throw the mix and start afresh. Proper proving of the yeast is vital to good bread!
In a big bowl, take the flour and salt. Mix.
Once the yeast has bloomed, add it to the flour and knead the dough with the remaining 1 cup of water. It will be sticky and it is meant to be like that.
Add the Olive oil/butter and knead for another 10-12 minutes.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with cling film, or a kitchen towel and rest for 11/2 to 2 hours. The dough should double up. The time actually depends on the weather conditions-if very hot, it doubles sooner than the 1 ½ hours. This is the first prove.
Remove from the bowl once the dough is doubled and gently knock out the air. Here I split the dough into two. I used one half to make the pull apart rolls and the other half for a square focaccia and 6 mini burger buns.
Roll it out into a  big square or circle as desired of about one inch thickness . Spread the filling generously.
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Roll the circle/square to make a cylinder.
Cut into equal pieces using a pizza-cutter or a knife.
Place the cut cylinders into a well greased baking pan.
Cover and let it rise for about 45 minutes (till doubled)
When there are 20 minutes to go, pre-heat the oven at 200C.
Brush gently with milk and bake  at 180C for 20-25 minutes till golden brown
Serve fresh out of the oven.

The pull aparts are great on their own or can be served for any of the meals :).
Happy Diwali! !

Sending this to blogging marathon 58 hosted by Srivalli.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#58

Anzac biscotti (oats and coconut biscotti)

Hi Peeps

A warm hello from my side. Hope you are having a good weekend. I am finally all settled here back in home. Things are not as bad as we anticipate or fuss about. Sometimes it just takes a little time and positive attitude to get adjusted to a new place or an old place after a long time! :) 

Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
2 eggs
¾ – 1 cup sugar (original recipe suggests 1 cup, I used 3/4)
1 tablespoon golden syrup/honey (I used honey)

Method:
Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F
In a bowl, mix flour, rolled oats and coconut.
In another bowl, beat the sugar, golden syrup or honey and eggs until pale yellow.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Let the dough rest for 5- 15 minutes. (This will allow the oatmeal to absorb part of the moisture and make the dough easier to handle)
Divide the dough evenly into 2 equal mounds and place on the prepared baking sheet. With moist hands, space the dough evenly apart and form into logs. Bake until lightly browned, about 25-30 minutes.
pCool for 10  minutes.
Using a serrated knife, cut the logs crosswise into ¼ – ½ inch thick diagonal slices.
Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the same baking sheet.
Bake until the cookies are pale golden.
Let cool completely.Enjoy!

Rose Brioche

Have you ever had a cooking date? I had a couple of them with my bestie back in Sydney. We spent the entire day chatting, gossiping, playing with the kids and doing a culinary experiment. That is when this came up. The Briochee came out lovely and serve as perfect appetizers. The cooking process is a bit lengthy if you are not used to bread baking, but then you hardly realize the time when you have lovely company, right? :)

For Brioche Dough:

Ingredients
2+1/2cups Bread flour
1tsp Instant yeast
1/2cup Luke Warm Milk
1no Egg
2tsp Sugar
1/2tsp Salt
75grms Butter (room temperature)

Method:
Mix the yeat sugar and salt with the luke warm milk,keep aside until the yeast turns foamy. Add the foamy yeast, egg to the flour and knead everything gradually until the dough turns soft. Now add the butter and knead the dough again for few minutes.Arrange the dough in a greased bowl,covered with a towel,keep in warm place until the dough double in volume.


Potato Masala:

Ingredients
3nos Potatoes (cooked and mashed)
1no Onion (chopped)
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/4tsp Cumin powder
1/2tsp Garam masala powder
Salt
Oil
Coriander leaves (chopped)

Method:
Heat the oil, add the chopped onions, saute until they turns transparent.
Add the mashed potatoes and cook with chilly powder, cumin powder and garam masala powder, salt.Toss everything gently and cook in simmer for few minutes.Finally add the chopped coriander leaves,put off the stove.


For assembling the roses briochées:
Punch down the dough and knead the dough again for few minutes.
Roll the dough and divide the dough as three equal balls.
Roll the ball with the rolling pin as medium thick flat disc.
With a cookie cutter, cut the dough as medium sized circles.
Make 4 slashes on the circle, from the edges towards the centre, as shown in picture.
Make a small ball from the stuffing, keep in the centre of the circle and bring two opposite edges towards the centre.
Now bring the remaining two opposite edges around the already sealed edges to form a rose like shape. Brush the briochee with milk and sprinkle some sesame seeds.

Continue the same process with the remaining dough and remaining stuffing.
Arrange the prepared briochées over a baking sheet, cover it with a towel and keep aside for half an hour until they rises a bit.
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C
Brush the top of briochées with egg yolk beatened with water.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until the crust turns golden brown.
Remove the roses briochées from the oven and let it cool completely in a wire rack.
Enjoy warm.

Khaman Dhokla

Khaman dhokla, yummy snack from the streets of gujarat. These can be enjoyed as breakfast, snack or as a farsaan (savoury accompaniment) in the lunch or dinner menu. Traditioanlly it is made by soaking and grinding chana dal. These versatile dhoklas can be steamed in a traditional dhokla steamer or in a microwave oven.

Ingredients

1 cup besan (Bengal gram flour)

1 1/2 tbsp semolina (rava)

3 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp ginger- green chilli paste

1/2 tsp citric acid (nimbu ka phool) or 1 tsp lemon juice

salt to taste

1 1/2 tsp fruit salt

1/4 tsp oil for greasing

Other Ingredients

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)

1/2 tsp sesame seeds (til)

2 green chillies , chopped

a pinch of asafoetida (hing)

2 to 3 curry leaves (kadi patta)

For The Garnish

2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)

Method

Combine all the ingredients together, except the fruit salt in a bowl and mix well adding water as required (approximately ¾ cup) to make a thick batter.Just before steaming, add the fruit salt and add 2 tsp of water over it.

When the bubbles form, mix gently.Pour the batter immediately into a greased thali/flat vessel and shake the it to spread the batter in an even layer.

Steam for 12 to 15 minutes or till the dhoklas are cooked. Keep aside.

Tempering:

Heat the oil in small pan and add the mustard seeds.

When the seeds crackle, add the sesame seeds, green chillies and asafoetida, mix well and sauté on a medium flame for a second, while stirring continuously.

Remove from the flame, add 2 tbsp of water and mix well. Pour the tempering over the dhoklas.

Cool slightly and cut into equal pieces. Serve immediately garnished with coriander.

This is my entry for Blogging Marathon #50, Week 1, Day 1, with the theme Colorful dishes for kidswhich also happens to be the theme Varada of Varada's Kitchen is hosting as a part of Srivalli's Kids Delight series.

Nayana's event: Event announcement ~ Lets cook for Mothersday

Bread besan toasties

Ingredients:

finely chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger, green chilies and coriander leaves

4 bread slices

oil for shallow frying

1 cup besan/chickpea flour

turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida and salt

Method:

In a bowl or small pan, take finely chopped onions, tomatoes, ginger, green chilies and coriander leaves. everything has to be finely chopped. otherwise its difficult to manage medium pieces of onions and tomatoes while frying the toast. Add besan/gram flour, turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida and salt.add water.whisk to a medium consistency batter.

there should be no lumps in the batter. avoid make thin batter. in case the batter makes thin, add a few tablespoons of besan and whisk again.Heat 1 tbsp oil for frying in a tava or frying pan.

Dip the bread slice in the batter. with your hands, coat the bread slice evenly with the batter. also place the chopped onions & tomatoes on the bread slices with your hands. don’t keep the bread too long in the batter as then the slice breaks. Place the batter coated bread slices on the tava.
When the base is cooked and browned, flip and fry the other side. Flip and fry a couple of times to get even browning and cooking. fry the remaining bread slices in the same way. you can add more oil if required while frying the remaining batch. Remove and serve the besan toasts immediately, plain or with tomato ketchup or coriander chutney.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 47.

Microwave Masala Peanut | Snacks on the go

Hi friends, 

Sharing a very simple and yummy snack which can be enjoyed with a cup of tea or can be munched on while on the go or just like that! I made this for the first time. Satisfied with the taste. Coating the peanuts completely with the flour was bit challenging. Any suggestions for accomplishing that are most welcome :)

Ingredients:

Cooking time - 15 mins; MW power - 900W

Raw Peanuts (shelled) - 1 1/2 cups

Besan/Kadalai Maavu/Chick Pea Flour - 2 tbsp heaped

Rice Flour - 1 tbsp - heaped

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Cumin powder - a big pinch

Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste

Water - as required

Oil - 4 tbsp

Method:

In a wide bottomed glass (or any microwave-proof) bowl heat the oil in Microwave oven for 4 mins. Meanwhile, mix the peanuts, besan, rice flour, chilli powder, cumin powder and salt. Sprinkle water a teaspoon at a time and mix. Repeat until the mixture is coated all over the peanuts and resembles a crumble. Add the mixture to the hot oil and mix until the oil is coated all over. Microwave for 6 minutes stirring once in between. Allow 3 minutes of standing time (Leave in the microwave for 3 minutes undisturbed after it is done). Perfect snack with a cup of tea.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46.

Bread poha cutlet | Bread and beaten rice fritters

Hi friends. .for the last week of bm 46 I am sharing this easy cutlet for breakfast on the go! .This dish is very simple with few everyday ingredients which makes it more easier and handy .you can pack it for the kids or whole family for munching in the car. No one can resist these crispy cutlets for sure...

method :
1 cup poha (beatened rice flakes, medium or thin variety )
2 boiled potatoes  OR 3-4 bread slices ( i used bread )
1-2 finely chopped green chillies
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
1/4 cup besan ( gram flour )
2 tsps red chilli pwd ( pls adjust to ur taste )
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
handful of chopped cilantro
oil for deep frying
method :

Wash poha under cold running water ,strain and keep it aside for 10-15 mins.Meanwhile,chop onions ,green chillies and cilantro finely.Crumple and mash the poha with your hands,add mashed boiled potato ,besan ,chillies,ilantro,salt,red chilli pwd and lemon juice.If adding bread slices instead of potatoes,then just dip them in water and squeeze them completely and mash it with your hands .Mix everything together and make walnut size balls out of it and give desired shapes.Deep fry in hot oil on medium heat till golden brown in colour.Serve hot with ketchup or green corriander chutney.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46. 

Chuda | Chiwda | Snacks

My family loves to munch on this with tea..going to the recipe without much ado..

INGREDIENTS-
Flattened Rice/Chivda (Thin) /Poha-2.5 cup
Puffed rice / murmure- 2 cup
Corn chivda- 1 cup
Peanuts / moongphali -3/4 cup
Roasted chana daal/ daaliya - 1/2 cup
Green chilies, chopped - 1 tbsp
Curry leaves -10
Spice mix-
Chili powder/Lal mirch - 1tsp
Castor sugar/pisi hui chini - 2 tsp
Citric acid / tatri / Nimbu phool,powdered - a pinch of
Turmeric / Haldi -3/4 tsp
Salt - to taste

PROCEDURE-

Dry roast the poha on high flame else it is not crispy and crunchy. Roast the murmure/ puffed rice also on high flame. Remove the poha and murmure in a wide pan.
Roast peanuts in little oil on slow flame until they turn reddish. Similarly roast the daaliya and coconut pieces on slow flame. Remove them on top of the poha and murmure.
Heat enough oil in a deep and wide pan/kadhai .Fry the corn flakes in oil. Remove these on the poha and murmure.
Fry the curry leaves till they become crisp,drain on a colander.After it cools down, coarsly crush the fried curry leaves and mix with all the ingredients.
Now fry chopped green chilies till crisp and then drain.
Take a small bowl and mix all the spices in it and keep aside.When you finish frying all the ingredients, immediately add the spice mix in oil and add it to the chiwda and mix well.
Let it cool down completely then store in a air tight container.
Serving Suggestions - Serve with any hot or cold beverage.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 45.

Besan Paare and a book review

My family and other animals- Five stars all the way for this one. This is a wonderful account of a 10-year old boy's childhood years on the greek island of Corfu after his family moves there from England in the 1930s. The boy is a rabid naturalist, and is always collecting poisonous, slithering, leggy, and/or hostile creatures home (much to his family's dismay) to study and keep as pets. I could not help laughing out loud in the train while reading it, sometimes trying to suppress my laughter and getting suspicious looks from fellow passengers! wisely consider your reading spot! Howling of laughter in public places might cause you troubles, but the best part - you won't care a bit and will always consider it worthy!

 It captures the culture of the period on the Greek island of Corfu. It contains animals with unique personalities. Colorful characters abound in the form of the family's driver, Spiro, the tutor, Kralefsky, and numerous friends. This family has to be one of the first dysfunctional families to be chronicled. Though I enjoyed Gerald's explorations and fascinating descriptions of nature and its creatures I loved reading about the hilarious family dynamics. The asthmatic guest and his horse-blanket, Margo kissing a pair of mummified feet or the incident with mommy-the-scorpion. I'm not a big nature person, and while this book is written by a future zoologist it doesn't seem to matter. The story is much more than a catalog of a boys adventures on Corfu, but rather a story of a very real family (just didn’t understand their source of income, since none of them seem to be working as such..and they spending quiet leisurely on the party’s and  changing the villas..)

Sometimes it's pretty hard to tell them apart... my family and the animals, that is. I don't know why my brothers and sisters complain so much. With snakes in the bath and scorpions on the lunch table, our house, on the island of Corfu, is a bit like a circus.

This was such a delightful book. I can only recommend it to all my friends out there. (the fact that I decided to write a review for it, coz I am too lazy to do it normally and just enjoy reading books ;))

What better to read a interesting book and munching your fav snack with a cuppa tea..coming to todays recipe ..

You will need :-

250 g chickpea flour or besan

250 g plain flour or chapatti flour

50 g fine semolina

100 ml oil

Salt to taste

2-3 tsp red chilli powder ( you can adjust to your liking )

2 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp ajwain ( carom seeds )

Oil to fry para

Masala powder to sprinkle on crackers

Red chilli powder 1 tsp.

Dry mango powder 1/2 tsp. ( Amchoor Powder )

Garam masala 1/2 tsp.

Chaat masala 1 tsp.

Anardaana powder 1/2 tsp. ( pomegranate powder )

Method :-

Mix all the masala powder ( to sprinkle ) in one bowl and leave it aside.

Mix chickpea flour, plain flour, semolina, 100 ml oil, salt, sesame seeds, ajawain seeds and red chilli powder in a bowl.

Combine everything and make a stiff pliable dough. ( like a puri dough )

Cover with wet cloth and leave it 10-15 minutes.

Divide dough into 4-5 equal parts.

Make a ball from each part of the dough and roll into a circle on a flat surface with rolling pin about 1/2 " thick .

Prick the circle with fork so para doesn't fluff up.

Cut each of the rolled dough into half with pizza cutter or knife. ( if you feel like whatever shape you desire you can 

give like square or diamond but I preffered long sheets )

Heat oil in a heavy bottom kadai , fry the paras on a medium to low heat until brown.

Remove it from the hot oil. 

Sprinkle masala powder which prepared earlier and let it cool to room temperature they will go crispy.

Enjoy !

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 45.

Cabbage and Methi Muthia (Cabbage and fenugreek dumplings) | Gujrati Cusine | Healthy Recipe | Kids Delight

Muthias are steamed dumplings which is a good low fat snack which can be served at breakfast time or can be served as a tea time snack. I wanted to try this for a long time. I was introduced to this yummy and healthy snack after my marriage.
My MIL made it. I wanted to make the lauki muthi but that kept postponing. Finally made the cabbage and methi muthias..loved the result. Do try this yummy and healthy snack.
The yummy recipe is from here and here.

Ingredients:
4 cups grated Cabbage
1/2 cup Besan(Chickpea flour)
2 tbsp Whole wheat flour
2 tbsp semolina
2 tbps jowar flour
1 tsp Green chili paste (optional)
1 tsp grated Ginger
1 tsp Carom seeds(ajwain,optional)
1 cup chopped methi (you can use 2 tsp Kasuri methi instead)
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
 tsp Lemon juice Salt(or pinch of citric acid)
half tsp eno (or a pinch of Cooking soda)
1 tbsp Oil (optional)
1/2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Curd

For the tempering:
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Sesame seeds-1 tsp
Asafoetida-1/4 tsp
Dried Red chilli/Green chilli-4
Curry leaves-10
Oil-3 tbsp
Coriander leaves,to garnish
2 tsp grated coconut for garnish (optional)

Method:
Take the grated cabbage in a bowl. Add all the rest of the ingredients(except the ingredients for tadka) and mix until it forms a very soft dough like texture.The water from cabbage would be enough to make the dough,if you need you can sprinkle some water to make it to a smooth dough,softer than the roti dough.If your dough becomes very soft add a couple of tbsp of besan to it and mix well. Make small oblong balls with the dough and place them on a greased steamer and steam them for about 20 mins. I did not have a stove steamer, so used my microwave idli maker to steam the muthia. I was not sure if it would work, but glad it did solve the purpose very well :)
To check it whether its done use the toothpick method.Just prick them with the tooth pick,if it comes out clean then it is done otherwise it needs to be cooked for longer time.
Let them cool completely. Cut them into bite sized pieces and keep them ready for the tadka.
Heat oil in a nonstick pan and crackle mustard seeds.Add the slit green chillies,red chilies and fry them together.Add curry leaves and sesame seeds and let them splutter.
Once the seeds start to splutter add the cut dumplings and reduce the flame to low and toast them for about 7-8 mins stirring often so that all sides gets crispy.
Garnish with Coriander leaves and grated coconut.
Serve them hot/warm with Green chutney, dates chutney or ketchup.

Variations:
1.Cabbage Kababs - You can deep fry the dumplings after slicing and serve as cabbage kababs.or just make fritters with this mixture without steaming the dumplings.
2.Cabbage Kofta -  Make a tomato or curd based gravy or onion-tomato gravy and add these muthiyas in it just before serving.
3.Cabbage Dahi Vada - Arrange muthiya in a dish and pour whipped salted curd over it, sprinkle red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, sweet chutney and green chutney and serve as cabbage dahi vada.
4.Cabbage Appe -  Make cabbage appe, in a appe maker with the same mixture.
5.Low Fat Snack - Slice muthiyas and add lemon juice and fresh coriander and serve with ketchup.
6. Cabbage pakoda kadhi - You can add these to curd and chickpea kadhi.They taste nice in any of the forms.

Notes:
1. You can make muthiyas from cabbage, bottle gourd (Lauki), spinach (palak), fresh fenugreek leaves (methi), grated mix vegetables, left over dry khichdi (an Indian lentil and rice preparation) or even with left over vegetable pulao (mix vegetable rice).
2. If using Sweet Gourd (Lauki) then squeeze extra water from it after grating and if using pulao then mash the rice a little and add 1 tbls extra curd. into it.
3. Add a pinch of cooking soda as it will make the muthia soft and fluffy.You can even use 1/2 tsp eno(fruit salt) instead of  cooking soda.It is entirely optional.
4. It is good to add carom seeds when preparing anything with chickpea flour as it will yield in easy digestion.You can skip if you want.
5. You can also use jowar flour instead of besan(chickpea flour) for a healthy option.
6. You can replace kasuri methi with the freshly chopped fenugreek leaves.

Sending this to:

dishes recipe hosted by Full scoops and Priya’s versatile recipes 

, Walk through memory lane event by Sapana and Gayathri

    

http://accessiblediary.blogspot.in/2014/06/event-announcement-and-giveaway.html

Kid delight event : Iron rich food by http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com.au/2010/01/announcing-kids-delight-wholesome.html
hosted by www.sizzlingtastebuds.com/2014/06/event-hosting-giveaway-iron-rich-foods.html

http://cooking4allseasons.blogspot.in/2014/06/come-join-us-for-breakfast-june-event.html

Quick snack - Puffy sticks - Puff pastry sticks

Hi Friends

Sharing with you today a very simple and light snack.

Ingredients:
1 Puff pastry sheet
1 tsp canola oil
1 tsp chat masala

Method:
Thaw the puff pastry sheets for 5 mins. Smear some oil and chat masala on sheet. Cut it into 1cm wide strips. Line a baking tray with foil. Twist the strips on the foil and bake for approx 15 mins..
Quick and easy snack is ready. You can munch these with soup as a starter or enjoy with a cuppa tea..my daughter loved it with tea.

Inspired by the bread sticks posted by pari here

Sending this to her event 

Sending this to Gayathri's - Walk down the memory lane
http://gayathriscookspot.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/maa-inji-oorugai-ginger-mango-pickle.html