HOLIDAY SUGAR COOKIES WITH OATS

Sugar cookies are an all time favorite of kids and adults alike. These buttery, moderately sweet and crunchy cookies are rolled out cookies which can be shaped and decorated as per your choice. That is the reason they are perfect for holidays.  Santa's little helpers in your home will be happy to assist you in decorating these.

Usually these cookies are made with all purpose white flour but I made these cookies with oats and multi grain flour.  They came out to be so tasty that 90 percent of these finished much before the Christmas Eve.

My recipe is very healthy and simple.  All you need is a few ingredients and a food processor.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter(at room temperature), 1/2 cup canola oil, 1egg, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 cups ground oatmeal, 1 cup multi grain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 1tbsp milk.

Method:

Sift together flours, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set it aside. Put butter, oil and sugar in a bowl of electric mixer and beat until light in color. Add  egg and milk and beat till well blended. Put mixer on low speed. Gradually add flour mix and beat till the mixture turns into a dough. This dough should not be too hard or too soft. Divide dough into two parts and wrap each part separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for two to three hours.

Roll out dough.  Sprinkle powder sugar on the rolling pin and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place one inch apart on a greased baking sheet and bake in a pre heated oven for 8  - 10 minutes on 350 degree F (180 degree C).

Cool cookies for five to seven hours before icing them.

Ingredients for Icing:

1 cup confectioners sugar, 2 tbsp meringue powder, food coloring, sprinkles, 1/3 cup warm water.

Method:

In a mixing bowl beat confectioners sugar, meringue powder and warm water with electric beater or food processor. Beat till stiff. Add color as per your choice. Decorate your cookies with icing gun.  Use your favorite sprinkles.  Enjoy.

I want to wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a blessed New Year.

SPICY MATAR CHAAT (CHAAT MADE OF PEAS)

Delhi is famous for its foods and flavors but the real flavor comes from the chaats, savory snacks.  There is so much variety in this category.  There is papri chaat, potato chaat, kachalu(taro root) chaat, sweet potato chaat and matar chaat. There is no end to this list.

 The word Chaat is used for a group of hot, spicy and tangy, vegetarian snacks from north India. The Hindi word ‘chaatna’ means 'to lick'. Chaat dishes are so delicious that they make you smack your lips and lick the plate clean. Chaat is a comfort food often sold by street vendors... You can see people standing all around a Chaat cart, eating and licking their plates.  When you find many people around a chaat vendor or shop, it is a certificate that his chaat is simply scrumptious.  It’s a kind of celebration in congregation.

So I have decided to explore this area of Delhi street foods over next few times. Today we are going to get into matar chaat.  This is a delicious yet easy snack to make, using dry peas, or 'matar.  These peas are creamy and light greenish in color, almost like chickpea. They are available in the lentil section of any grocery store.

Ingredients: 

2 cups of dry peas, salt to taste, ½ tsp red chili powder, 1 tsp cumin seeds roasted and coarsely ground, 1 tsp chaat masala, 1 tsp of tamarind pulp

Ingredients for garnishing:

1 onion peeled and finely chopped, 1 medium potato boiled and cut into small cubes, 2 green chilies finely chopped(optional), ¼ cup  chopped fresh coriander leaves, 3 tbsp green chutney made of mint and coriander leaves, 3 tbsp sweet chutney made of tamarind or dry mango powder. (For the recipe of green chutney and sweet chutney see my blog Papri Chaat of May 7, 2012)

Method:

Wash and soak peas overnight. Place in a pressure cooker with four cups of water. Once pressure is made, cook for 5 minutes on the full flame. If you don’t want to boil in the pressure cooker, boil the peas in a covered pan until they turn soft. Once cooker cools off, check that peas are soft enough. If too much water is there, drain it.  Now mix tamarind pulp in ¼ cup of hot water, stir it well and add it to dry peas. Add chaat masala, chili powder, salt, cumin powder to the peas. Just before serving add chopped onion and potato and green chilies. Sprinkle fresh coriander leaves on the top.

Serve green chutney and sweet chutney in separate bowls so that your guests can help themselves as per their need.  Some people like more tangy taste so they prefer just green chutney but others might have little sweet tooth so they might be opting for sweet and sour tamarind or dry mango powder chutney. Personally I like to mix both in my chaat for a magical taste.

EGGLESS SUGAR COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING

This Diwali I wanted to make cookies along with my usual batch of traditional sweets (mithai).  In most Hindu households nothing non vegetarian is eaten on the Diwali day, so I decided to make these cookies without any eggs for the guests and the family.  As I wanted to decorate these cookies with the royal icing, I had to stick to no egg royal icing also. 
I must say the end result was very satisfactory as everyone had two or three of these cookies in one go.  I wanted to make these cookies without any white flour so I used multi grain flour instead.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

½  cup sugar, ½  cup butter on a room temperature,  2 tbsp milk,  1 tbsp vanilla extract,  1 cup multi grain flour,  1 ½  tsp baking powder, 1 pinch salt,  3 tbsp flour,  2 tbsp sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).  In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and milk, and mix. 

In a separate bowl, combine the one cup of flour with the salt and baking powder.  Now mix the wet and dry ingredients to make a dough.  This dough will be slightly sticky.  Once mixed, add about 3 tablespoons of flour, until the dough becomes smooth.  Now pour two tablespoons of sugar on a flat tray.  

Form the dough into 12 equal-sized balls, and flatten until approximately 1/2 inch thick. Cut your favorite shapes with a cookie cutter and roll one side into the sugar to coat.  Place these on a baking sheet with sugar coated side up.   Bake for eight to ten minutes, until bottom is golden brown.  Let these cookies cool off for 4 to 5 hours and then you can decorate them with royal icing.

Egg-less Royal Icing 

Royal icing is a baker's staple for decorating cookies and cakes, and most recipes call for egg whites or meringue powder. However, with a little variation I decorated these cookies with an egg-free royal icing.

 

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar, 4 tsp milk, 1 ½ tsp light corn syrup, ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Measure the sugar and pour it into a clean glass bowl.  Add milk, and stir it until the lumps of sugar are all gone.  Stir in corn syrup; if you want a thinner consistency, add another tsp of syrup.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Now add color as per your choice or the design you want to make. Creativity has no limits.

Once icing on the cookies dries up, you may keep them in an airtight container. Enjoy as a  dessert or with a cup of coffee.

BESAN LADDOO

Besan(chickpea flour) laddoo is a very popular Indian sweet generally made during the festival season. It is very easy and less time consuming unlike other sweets.

I associate this dessert with my mother and grand mother's mouth watering laddoos.  They made it so perfect that I did not even like the store bought laddoos.  My grandmother often made these laddoos with lots of crushed almonds during the winter time. When I asked her why did she make them only during the winter, her reply amazed me.  She said we are more susceptible to cold during the winter months so if you eat just one laddoo a day, cold won't come near you. 

So this Diwali, I made the besan laddoos for the family.  My recipe is quite simple.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups besan( chickpea flour), 3 tbsp sooji (semolina), 5 tbsp of ghee or clarifying butter, little less than 2 cups of powered sugar, 20 - 25 almonds,1/2 tsp cardamom powder.

Method:

Pan roast besan and sooji on a low to medium heat, depending on your stove.. Sooji takes less time to roast and besan takes 8 to 10 minutes on a slow flame.  So it would be better to roast both of them in different pans.

Once roasted, mix both in the same pan. In the meanwhile crush almonds in your grinder or mixer. Add these almonds to the mix.

On a slow flame add ghee to the mix.  Once ghee melts, mix it very well with the flours and almonds. Sprinkle cardamom powder and stir it again.

Turn off the stove and add sugar. Mix it very well. Let it cool off for a couple of minutes and take a small portion at a time and make balls.  Set them in a plate.

When these besan laddoos cool off completely, you can store them in an airtight container. They can be preserved for good month or so.

Enjoy these mouth watering laddoos and have lots of fun on Diwali. I wish you all good health and good fortune.

EGGLESS HOME MADE RAVIOLI

Last month I had bought a hand cranked pasta machine and was too excited to make pasta of multigrain flour.  Since fusilli, spaghetti, fettuccine, lasagna pasta are available easily, I wanted to make ravioli at home with some spicy filling.  I did not want to use eggs in making the dough due to health reasons.  This kind of pasta was quite popular during the World War II when eggs were scarce.

I made pasta dough with semolina and multigrain flour.  Semolina adds body to the dough whether you use all purpose white flour or wheat flour along with it.  In fact use of semolina works well if you are making shaped pasta or pasta with some stuffing, like ravioli.
I served this pasta with Alfredo and fresh tomato sauce which was loved by my family.

 

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Ingredients for dough:
1 cup semolina, 1 cup multi grain flour, ¼ tsp salt, ¾ cup of water, 1 tsp olive oil

Method:
Combine all the ingredients and make elastic but little sticky dough.  Leave it covered for 15 to 20 minutes on a room temperature.  Now dust your work area with flour and knead the dough again for 3 minutes.   Now pasta can be rolled with a pin or it can be shaped into flat sheet with the machine. It should not be more than 2 cm thick. Spread the flat dough sheet on a cutting board. Put a spoonful of filling on this sheet with an inch apart.  You may put filling even closer depending on the size of the ravioli you want. With the basting brush spread some olive oil on the edges.  Cover the ravioli with another section of dough sheet. Seal the ravioli on the edges. Cut into squares with the ravioli cutter, starting in the center of the sheet and working outward.  Now gently remove the ravioli. Place the ravioli in a large dish sprinkled with flour.  If you want to freeze some of it use parchment or wax paper between the layers in an airtight container.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Chill in refrigerator until ready to cook.

To cook, simply drop in boiling water with salt and a ½ tsp of oil.  Fresh ravioli is cooked in 3 to 4 minutes.  Once water is drained, put the boiled ravioli in a flat dish.  Warm up a tsp of olive oil in a pan, put ¼ tsp of oregano in the oil and pour this on the warm ravioli. In the meanwhile keep Alfredo and fresh tomato sauce ready.  Serve in the plate by pouring Alfredo sauce on the top of ravioli and tomato sauce on the side of the plate.  Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and fresh black pepper. Bon appetit.

For Cheese filling:

 
Make your filling ready before you roll out pasta sheets to make ravioli.

Ingredients:
1 liter milk, 1 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar, 1 onion diced finely, 1 small green pepper cut into small pieces, ¼ tsp lemon pepper, ¼ tsp cumin seeds, and salt to taste.

Method:
Boil milk in a big pan. When it starts boiling, add lemon juice or vinegar to curdle the milk. Turn off the flame. When it cools off, pass through this curdled milk through a cheese cloth to let all whey drain out.  Hang it on a kitchen sink tap for two hours. Once water drains out, mash the cheese in a bowl between your fingers.
Take a skillet, warm a tsp of oil, put cumin seeds, diced onion, green pepper and saute for two minutes.  Add salt, lemon pepper and the then mashed cheese. Mix everything well and turn off the flame.  Let it cool off completely.  Your filling for the ravioli is ready. 
You may use vegetables like spinach, mushrooms and even butternut squash as a filling.

For Alfredo and Fresh Tomato Sauce:
Make these sauces ready when your ravioli is cooked as freshness of the sauce is the key 

ingredient.

 Alfredo sauce Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter, ½ cup cream, ¼ cup milk, ½ cup grated white cheddar cheese, 1/8 tsp black pepper.
Method:

Warm up butter, add cream, milk and cheddar cheese.  Stir it for a few seconds, add black pepper and pour over the freshly cooked ravioli just before serving.

Tomato sauce Ingredients:

3 medium size tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 medium onion cut into small pieces, ¼ tsp garlic salt, ½ tsp dry basil, ½ tsp chives, ¼ tsp sugar, 2 tsp olive oil

Method:
In a skillet sauté onion, garlic till they become tender. Let this mix cool off.  Put this with chopped tomatoes in a food processor and pulse it for a minute. Pout this mix in the same skillet over medium flame.  When it starts to boil, add garlic salt, basil, chives and sugar and mix well. Pour this fresh tomato sauce on the side of the ravioli in the same plate.

SWEET AND SPICY LEMON JAM

In August our lemon tree in the front yard is laden with juicy, shiny yellow lemons.  This year I did not want to make Lemonade or digestive lemon pickle.  I decided to make either lemon chutney or lemon jam.  As we all know that lemon juice, rind and zest are used in a variety of ways.  Every part of lemon has a nutritional value.  For example lemon has no saturated fat, has a few calories and packed with vitamin C and essential minerals.  Lemon juice, rind and zest are used in variety of ways in cooking and baking all over the world.  I used the whole lemon to make this spicy and sweet jam.

This chutney or jam can be eaten with your food to spice up.  You can even use as a spread on crackers or toast.  It is better to eat this jam or chutney after three or four days otherwise it might taste bitter as skin of the lemons is boiled as well. The lemony taste of this jam along with the spices gives it a tingling kick on the palate.

This recipe is very simple but you will be satisfied with the end result and guests will be impressed by your culinary skills?  It is less time consuming than usual pickle making.

Ingredients:

18 small and medium lemons with thin skin, 2 ½ cups of sugar, 2 tsp of salt,  ½  tsp roasted and powdered fenugreek seeds, ½  tsp brown mustard seeds powdered, 1/8 tsp asafetida, ¼  tsp dry ginger powder

Method:

Extract juice of 6 lemons and keep it aside.  Cut 12 lemons into small pieces and take out the pits.  Put all the cut pieces into a pressure cooker and cook it for either three whistles or five to seven minutes till the skin is very tender.  When it cools off, open the pressure cooker put these boiled pieces in the food processor and pulse it for 30 seconds.  Now pour all this mix and lemon juice in a pan.  You might have small pieces of lemon in it which is okay.  Cook it on a medium flame.  Add salt and spices. Mix well. Let a boil come then add sugar. After two boils, let it simmer till it begins to thicken. Take a spoonful, cool it and taste it to check sugar and salt.  If you are a connoisseur of sweets, you might need more sugar. So adjust sugar or salt as per your taste. When it cools off completely, bottle the jam and refrigerate it.

TIRAMISU WITHOUT RAW EGGS AND ALCOHOL

Tiramisu, meaning "pick me up or lift me up" is a coffee flavored popular Italian dessert.  It is made of ladyfinger cookies dipped in coffee and layered with whipped mixture of egg yolks , egg whites,sugar, mascarpone cheese flavored with cocoa.  It's origin is often disputed between different regions of Italy.

Most accounts of the origin of Tiramisu date its invention to the 1960s in the region of Veneto, Italy, at the restaurant "Le Beccherie".  Most of the cook books mentioned Tiramisu  recipe somewhere in early 80s.

With the time, countless variations of Tiramisu have come up. Some cooks use other cakes or sweet, yeasted breads, such as panettone, in place of ladyfingers.  Other cheese mixtures are used as well, some containing raw eggs, and others containing no eggs at all. Marsala wine can be added to the recipe, but other liquors are frequently substituted for it in both the coffee and the cheese mixture, including dark rum, Madeira, port, brandy or Irish Cream.  Some chefs don't use coffee or cocoa, instead they have worked with raspberries, strawberries, peach rum and even root beer.

Many people don't try this decadent dessert just because it has raw eggs which pose a health hazard in case not refrigerated properly.   My sis in law and  I have tried to create Tiramisu without eggs and  liquor.  Here is the recipe of vegetarian Tiramisu or Tiramisu without eggs or  alcohol.

Ingredients:

Half pint(250 grams)heavy whipping cream, 8 oz(250 grams)mascarpone cheese at room temperature, 4 tsp instant coffee, 6 tsp sugar,  4 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 dozen lady finger cookies, 2 1/2 tbsp of powdered sugar.


Method:

Take a cup of water, put instant coffee and 6 tsp of sugar and boil till sugar dissolves. Add two tsp of vanilla extract to it.  When it cools off, dip ladyfinger cookies one by one and lay them in 8x8 inches dish. (As seen in the picture).

Beat mascarpone cheese with 1 tbsp of powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.  Mascarpone cheese has natural sweetness so if you prefer less sweet , you may reduce the quantity of sugar in it.  You can spread this cheese mix on the top of the coffee dipped ladyfinger cookies in the pie plate.(see in the picture).  Sprinkle some cocoa powder on it.

Beat whipping cream with 1 1/2 tbsp of powdered sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Spread this cream mixture on the top of cheese spread in the pie plate.(see the picture).  Now dust it with some cocoa powder.  Put in the refrigerator for ten minutes.

Repeat the same process again.  Lay another layer of coffee dipped ladyfinger cookies, then mascarpone cheese layer and then cream layer, followed by cocoa powder sprinkled on.

Chill for at least 2 hours and then serve.  For the best results make Tiramisu at least 24 hours before serving.

SPINACH DIP WITH VEGETABLES

Dips are commonly used for finger foods, appetizers and other foods which can be held easily in the hand.  Thick dips based on sour cream, cream cheese, Greek yogurt or hung yogurt, mayonnaise or even beans are a staple of American hors d'oeuvres spread.  Dips are used to enhance the flavor of the foods such as pita bread, corn chips, crackers and cut up raw vegetables.  Unlike other sauces which are applied on the food, dips are typically for dipping the food into them.

If your family is not a big connoisseurs of raw vegetables or salads, you can make this spinach dip with some cut vegetables and they won't be able to resist eating them.
Spinach dip has many condiments and spices other than spinach.  For convenience frozen spinach can be used but fresh spinach certainly enhances the taste.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box (10 ounces) frozen spinach chopped, thawed, well drained or one bunch of fresh spinach washed, steamed and chopped very fine,  1 container (16 ounces) sour cream or Greek yogurt, 1 (8oz) pack of cream cheese on room temperature, 1 can (8 ounces) water chestnuts washed under running water and chopped into very small pieces,  1 packet onion soup mix, fresh vegetables to be eaten with the dip, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp of chives.

METHOD:

Mix together Greek yogurt, cream cheese, onion soup mix, spinach and water chestnuts.  Add spices,  Chill 30 minutes or until just before serving.
Serve with cubed bread and vegetables like carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber and bell peppers.

Sugar cookies with royal icing

By definition, a sugar cookie consists of sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and, baking powder or baking soda. Sugar cookies may be formed by hand or rolled and cut into shapes. They are commonly decorated with frosting, sprinkles, or a combination of both. They can also be cut into decorative shapes and figures. In North America, sugar cookies are popular during the Christmas and Halloween time.

However, the modern incarnation of the authentic sugar cookie can be traced back to the mid 1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. There, German Protestant settlers created the round, crumbly, buttery cookie that came to be known as the Nazareth Sugar Cookie. Sugar cookies probably derived from an earlier, unleavened cookie called a “jumble,” which is a biscuit that gained popularity in the 17th and 18th century in Europe mainly because as a non-leavened food, it could be dried and stored for many months.

The modern Nazareth-style sugar cookie has gained enormous popularity in America. Sometime in the 1930s it became a tradition for children to leave sugar cookies and milk out for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. Because of how easy it is to cut and shape the sugar cookie dough, custom cookies have become wildly popular.

My niece made these sugar cookies for her son's fifth birthday.   Her son wanted a birthday theme The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  She and her son worked hard to create butterfly and caterpillar cookies to perfection.  The end result made the kid a very happy boy.  Adults who looked at these cookies were impressed by her baking, icing and artistic skills.  I am very happy to share the recipe of sugar cookies and the royal icing here:

Ingredients (for cookies):

1 1/2 cups butter on room temperature, 2 cups white sugar, 4 eggs, 1tsp vanilla extract,  5 cups white flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt

Method (for cookies):

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Ingredients (for icing):

2 lbs confectioner’s sugar, 3/4 cup meringue powder(dry egg white powder), 1 1/2 cup warm water, 2 to 3 tbsp some extract or flavoring.

Method (for icing):

Add the dry ingredients first. Use your mixer’s whisk attachment to incorporate the sugar and meringue powder.  Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while mixing. At first the icing will be very liquid-like.

Continue to mix it at medium to high speed until it is fluffy and stiff peaks form.  It takes about 7-10 minutes.  Mixing times vary as per your mixer or food processor.  You can stop mixing as soon as it becomes stiff.  

You can mix color in this stiff icing.  Color choice and shape are purely individual decision.

Home made Strawberry Jam

The strawberry season generally starts in mid June in Illinois, USA and continues for three four weeks, depending on the weather and how many people come to pick strawberries.  Most of the strawberry farms were within an hour and a half drive from where we live.  Some farms have attractions for children while some others have miles of fields around them.  We went to strawberry farm at Marengo, Illinois.  We were seven adults and six children and were given baskets by the farm managers to pick strawberries.  The deal was we could eat strawberries for free but whatever we fill our baskets with, we were to pay only for that.  Picking strawberries was a wonderful experience with loads of fun.  These delectable red berries were very sweet and juicy.  Since we got so many strawberries, I decided to make jam out of these.

I did not know making strawberry jam was so easy.  Only tough part was to bottle the jam so that it can be preserved for sometime.  Most people put double sugar but I tried with less sugar as my strawberries were very sweet.

Ingredients:

5 cups crushed strawberries, 1/4 cup lemon juice, 6 tbsp pectin, 5 cups of sugar

Method:

Combine strawberries, lemon juice in a saucepan.  Gradually stir in pectin.  Bring mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly.  It is a good idea to wear kitchen mitts while stirring the hot mixture as it tends to splash.  Add sugar and stir so that sugar gets dissolved.  Bring it to a boil for another minute while stirring constantly.  Mixture will get to thicken a little. Turn off the flame.  Skim foam if necessary.  Transfer the hot jam to hot sterile bottles. Fill the bottles leaving a gap of 1 CM or 0.5" from the rim.

In the meanwhile, wash the jars and lids separately and put them in boiling water in order to sterilized.  Take them out on a  towel before filling them with hot prepared jam.  If your jars will be cold, they will crack when you fill them with hot jam.

Once jam is filled, mount the lid and twist to close with moderate strength. Take a big pot of lukewarm water.  Place the jam filled jars in the water.  Make sure that water level in the pot is above the top layer of the jars.  Boil this for ten minutes by covering the pot with the lid.  Turn off the flame and let jars stay in the pot till water cools off. Take them out on a towel.  Leave them out for 12 to 24 hours before putting them in the refrigerator.  If the middle of the jar lid is firm it means it is sealed properly but if it is not sealed properly, you may have to repeat the process of pasteurizing with different lid.

If you prefer to eat your jam within three weeks, you can omit pectin.

Enjoy your home made scrumptious strawberry jam.

Cherry Salsa

My brother's backyard has a cherry tree which is laden with beautiful looking red and crimson cherries. Last week my sister-in-law and I picked these cherries of a branch.

We decided to make cherry salsa with those. Result was so yummy that I could not stop myself from eating that. The best part is, it is way too simple and requires a very few ingredients.

Whether tart or sweet, cherries are a great pain reliever and help you against the pre mature aging. Cherries, along with many other berries, are a rich source of antioxidants. They help prevent or repair the damage that is done to the body’s cells by free radicals. This means that antioxidants replace free radicals in our body before they can cause any damage. Cherries help in relieving arthritis and gout. By helping reduce inflammation in the body, the anthocyanin and bioflavonoids in cherries also help eliminate migraine headaches. These compounds are known to have similar activity to aspirin and ibuprofen.

With such nutritious value, it was hard to throw away those tart cherries. So we made a salsa and ate with brown rice crackers. Here is the simple recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups tart cherries, 1 medium red onion chopped finely, 1 green chilly pepper, 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves washed and chopped finely, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp cumin powder, 1/4 tsp sugar

Method:

Wash and cut cherries into two halves. Take out the pits and put them in a big bowl.
Add onion, salt, sugar and cumin powder and mix it well. Take out the seeds of the green chilly pepper before chopping into small pieces. Add this to the mixture. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. No need for lemon juice as cherries are tart enough.
Have the salsa with corn chips or any kind of crackers. Bon appetit !

Gazpacho, the cold soup

Gazpacho is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold. It originated in Southern Spain. Gazpacho is widely eaten in Spain and Portugal especially in the hot summer months as it is very refreshing.

Traditionally, gazpacho was made by pounding the vegetables in a mortar with a pestle. This laborious method is still used sometimes as it helps keep the gazpacho cool and does not give a completely smooth consistency created by blenders and food processors. A traditional way of preparation was to pound garlic cloves in a mortar, then a little soaked stale bread, olive oil and salt were added to make a paste. The very ripe tomatoes and vinegar were added to this mix.  In the days before refrigeration the gazpacho was left in an unglazed earthenware pot to cool by evaporation, and some water was added.

The basic Gazpacho gave rise to many variants. Gazpacho can be classified by color. Red, white and pale green are the colors of the different kinds of Gazpacho. The red or the basic one includes tomatoes, white one does not include tomatoes but it includes some dried fruits and the last variant the green one is made with certain spices and condiments.

Often Gazpacho is made with sour cream and then some vegetables are added for a flavor. I tried to make gazpacho a little bit more healthy so I completely omitted the sour cream. Instead I used butter milk and yogurt to give a smooth texture plus the cucumber, basil, mint and sprig onion were added to fit into the true definition of Gazpacho.

Ingredients:

2 cups butter milk, 4 tbsp of fresh yogurt, 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, 1 English cucumber peeled, seeds removed and chopped in to small pieces, 1/2 cup scallion chopped, salt to taste, 1 tbsp juice of fresh lemon, hot sauce or tabasco (optional)

Method:

Puree yogurt, butter milk, basil, mint, scallion in a blender. Add cucumber. Pulse until just combined but still slightly chunky.
Stir in lemon juice and hot sauce, and season with salt. Chill soup at least 2 hours before serving. This soup is best served the same day. You may top each serving with thin cucumber slices if desired.

Gourmet Upma

Other day I was meeting some old friends over brunch.  It was a pot luck so I decided to make Upma as my share of dishes to the bruch spread.  Upma is a common South Indian breakfast dish cooked as a thick porridge from dry roasted semolina.   There are many ways of preparing Upma.  In fact every cook usually incorporates variations to Upma flavor by adding certain spices and condiments.

Upma can be made in a very simple and basic way by not adding any condiments.  In fact the basic one would be just semolina, water, salt and mustard seeds.  I have added some other spices and condiments and turned the Upma into a gourmet one.  My friends liked it so much that they took second and third helpings.  Here is me recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup Semolina(sooji), 2 cups of boiling water, 1 medium onion chopped finely, 1/2 cup chopped red pepper(bell pepper),  1 medium potato boiled and cut into small cubes, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 12 - 15 curry leaves, 3 tsp cooking oil, 1 tsp ghee, 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, 1/4 cup cashews, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast semolina.  You may roast semolina a day before and put in a airtight container.  

Heat the cooking oil, add cumin seeds and after 10 seconds add mustard seeds.  When they stop spluttering, add onion.  When onion turn light brown, add red pepper and potato cubes.  Sauté this mix for  two minutes.  Add curry leaves, peanuts, cashews and coriander powder.  Now add roasted semolina to this. 

Mix it well and add salt.  Add two cups of boiling water to this mix and stir continuously till the mixture thickens.

At the end, sprinkle melted ghee and stir it once.

Enjoy hot with pickle, chutney or just a cup of tea or coffee.

Rasgulla the King of Indian Sweets

Rasgulla is a syrupy sweet of Bengal and Orissa. It is mainly prepared by kneading chenna(the cottage cheese of India). These are rolled into small balls, and then boiled in light syrup made of sugar. This is done until the sugar enters the balls. Rasgulla or Rasagolla(as called in Bengal) has a very interesting history.

Rasgullas were invented in the holy city of Puri(Orissa)back in the 13th century. The Hindu female deity Lakshmi(Goddess of wealth) is served rasagollas on the last day of the annual Rath Yatra festival at Puri. Since this is almost 700 year old tradition the existence of this white spongy sweet is that old too.

The recipe or rasgulla then spread from Orissa to West Bengal. All this happened during the Renaissance when the Brahmin cooks from Orissa were employed by the Bengali families. It was from here that the various Orissa delicacies got incorporated into the Bengali kitchen.

Nobin Das, who was a confectioner in Kolkata is considered as the father of rasgulla. He is famously known as "Rasagolla's Columbus". He modified the original recipe of this sweet to give it longer shelf life. It was K.C. Das, son of Nobin Das who started the canned Rasgulla concept and that is how Rasgulla reached other parts of India. With the time, it gained popularity around the wold.

I consider Rasgulla as the king of all Indian sweets. If you eat one Rasgulla it is very hard to resist not to take second or third helping.

I decided to make the Rasgulla at home.  Here is my simple recipe:

Ingredients:

5 cups of milk, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of water, 1/2 tsp of rose or kewra essence

Method:

Take milk in a heavy pan and boil on the medium flame. When milk starts to boil, reduce the flame and add lemon juice gradually. Stir it gently till milk starts to curdle. Turn off the flame and let it cool off for a while. Take cheese cloth, place it on a colander and let curdled milk pass through the cheese cloth. Whey will drain away and thick creamy chenna will be left in the cheese cloth. Run this chenna or paneer under the cold water so that no residues of lemon are left in this. Now collect the opposite links of the cheese cloth tie then on the water tap of the kitchen sink.

Let all the water drain away. It takes almost an hour to two hours. After two hours or so, you may squeeze the chenna bundle gently between your palms so that no excess water is left. Transfer the chenna into a pan and knead it for 25 minutes. Put a drop of oil on your hands and make small round balls. When all the balls are made, place these on a plate.

In the meanwhile, make a sugar syrup by adding one cup of sugar to four cups of water in an uncovered pressure cooker. Give it a boil till all the sugar is dissolved. Now put six or seven of the white chenna balls in the pressure cooker(depends on the size of your cooker) and close the lid of the cooker. These chenna balls will expand in the sugar syrup. When steam starts to build, reduce the flame to low and put the timer for exact 7 minutes. Turn off the stove and immediately put the pressure cooker under the cold water tap in the kitchen sink. This will help opening the lid.

Take out the rasgullas in a big bowl with some syrup. Let them cool off.  Add rose or kewra essence to the bowl.  Then put this bowl in the refrigerator.

Your mouth watering Bengali rasgullas are ready. Enjoy with friends and family.

Note:

It will be a good idea to make chenna a night before so that by next morning all the whey will drain away.  If little water is left in the chenna, your rasgullas will turn flat or even break.

Pongal : the comfort food

One of those days when your stomach is acting out and you want to have some food which gives you that soothing feeling, it is Pongal. Pongal in South India and khichdi in North India are the comfort foods. They are pretty much made with same ingredients. Only difference is the way they are cooked.

We happen to go to Balaji temple of Greater Chicago in Aurora to attend a Annprashan(when a six month old kid eats solid food). This temple cafeteria has the best food. We ordered yogurt rice, tamarind rice,dosa, idli, vada and Pongal . Pongal was delicious beyond words. So much so, my niece even joked that she was thinking of coming to this cafeteria on a date with her husband just to enjoy freshly made Pongal.

I decided to make this comfort food. The end result was pretty good. So here is the recipe I am too glad to share with you all.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice(washed twice), 1/4 cup mung dal(green gram yellow or split)washed, salt to taste, 5 or 6 cashews(split into halves and pan fried), 1/2 tsp of asafetida(hing powder), 1 tsp ginger grated, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp pepper corn, 1 tbsp cooking oil, 1 tsp ghee, 7 or 8 curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a deep pan.  Fry clean mung dal and rice for one minute. Add salt and 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds.  Add three cups of water.  Either pressure cook it for three or four whistles or cook in a pan till rice is mushy.

Heat ghee,  add hing powder, grated ginger, sauté for two seconds.  Add other half of cumin, mustard seeds, peppercorn and curry leaves. Add fried cashews and mix well. Decorate with a couple of cashews.

Enjoy with yogurt or pickle.

Chickpeas(Channa) Punjabi style

There is hardly anyone who would not like this high protein classic beans, called Channa or Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans.  Chickpeas are cooked in varied ways all over the world.  But the chickpeas or channa cooked in Punjabi style has a perfect blend of spices and the aroma of this dish brings one home.  In fact if you have tasted the street food of Delhi, it is not possible to miss eating Chana bhatura(bread) at the corner shop of your neighborhood.

My sister who has been living in Chicago for half a century has been cooking channa (chickpeas) for every party or cookout on popular demand.  Her channa  masala  has such a distinct taste that all Indian and American friends love this dish.  It has a perfect blend of spices and condiments..

Here is her way of cooking channa:

Cham Cham : the most delicious Indian sweet

After being in Chicago over a month and eating healthy food, I had a craving for Indian sweet called Cham Cham.  The sweet shops in India town sell most sweets but their taste and flavor is no match to the  sweets prepared in India: original and authentic.  So I decided to make this sweet at home.

Cham Cham is a Bengali sweet which originated in the 19th century India.  Over the years it has evolved into varied shapes, colors and flavors. Cham Cham is not just a delicious sweetmeat, it has a very appetizing  look too.  No wonder some people use Cham Cham as a term of endearment for their loved ones.  If you have tasted Cham Cham before, you are sure to drool at the very thought of it.  Those of you who have not tasted it, it has matchless flavor which can't be explained in words.

Cham Cham is made with freshly prepared chena or paneer.

Ingredients:

For chena and syrup:

5 cups of milk, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, 2 cups of sugar, 4 cups of water

For stuffing:

1/4 cup mawa or khoya, 1/4 tsp cardamom powder, 3 tbsp confectioner sugar, 3 drops kewra essence, 10-12 saffron threads, 5-6 pistachios chopped finely.

Method:

Take milk in a heavy pan and boil it on the medium flame.  When milk starts to boil, reduce the flame and add lemon juice gradually. Stir it gently.  Milk will start to curdle.  Turn of the stove and let it cool off a bit.  Take cheese cloth or any muslin cloth.  Place it on a colander and let the curdled milk pass through this muslin cloth.  Whey will drain away and thick chena will be left in the cloth.  Run this chena or paneer under the cold water tap so that no residues of lemon are left in the chena.  Now collect the opposite links of the cheese cloth, tie them and hang on the water tap in your kitchen sink.

Let all the water drain away.  It takes almost an hour. After an hour you may squeeze the chena bundle gently between your palms so that no excess water is left. Transfer the chena into a pan and knead it for 30-35 minutes. Put a drop of oil on your hands and make round balls.  When all the balls are made, turn these into oval shape by pressing the front and the sides. Place these on a plate.

In the meanwhile prepare the sugar syrup by adding 2 cups of sugar and 4 cups of water in an uncovered pressure cooker.  Boil it till all sugar dissolves.  Add saffron threads so that Cham Cham turns light yellow.  I could add food color but I wanted to go organic and that is why I preferred saffron threads.  Now put only 6 or 7 prepared Cham Cham to this syrup.  Cham Cham expands in the sweet syrup.  Close the lid of the pressure cooker.  When steam starts to build or it whistles once, reduce the flame and put timer for exact seven minutes.  Now turn off the stove and place the cooker under the cold water in the kitchen sink immediately.

Open the cooker and place the Cham Cham in a flat big bowl with some sugar syrup.  Let it cool completely.  Place this bowl in the refrigerator for two hours so that Cham Cham turn a little hard.

Method for Stuffing:

Mash khoya or mawa with a spoon, add cardamom powder, confectioner sugar and mix well.  Now take the hard Cham Cham, slit it vertically in the middle, stuff it with khoya mix and put it back in the same flat plate.  Repeat this process with all the Cham Cham pieces.  When all is done, sprinkle the kewra essence and garnish with chopped pistachio.

Your delicious Cham Cham is ready.  Cham Cham tastes better after 10-12 hours as it soaks the syrup more.  It can stay fresh in the refrigerator for a week in a covered bowl.  Enjoy.

Split green gram(Moong Dal chilka) with Spinach

Other day my sister cooked split green gram and spinach combination for dinner.  This was so flavorful and tasty that it was very hard not to take second or even third helping with my chapatis and rice.  I fell so much in love with this combo that next day I had it as a soup.
Come to think of it, this combination of split green gram ( mung dal )with spinach is a boon providing us with the essential nutrients.
Green gram split is high in fiber.  If you are having trouble losing weight because of the hunger pangs when you reduce your calories intake, try adding green gram to your diet.  One cup of green gram serving has 15 grams of fiber and will fill you up.  One cup of this lentil provides 537 milligrams of potassium which helps reduce high blood pressure.  It is a great source of 14 grams of protein per serving.
Similarly, spinach has iron, vitamins and minerals essential for our well being.  This dark green leafy vegetable is important for our skin. hair and bone health.  It provides us with proteins as well.

I am very happy sharing that recipe with you all which is super yummy and beneficial.

Ingredients:

1 cup mung dal(split green gram), 2 cups spinach leaves washed and chopped, 3 cups water, 2 tsp cooking oil, 2 fresh tomatoes chopped finely, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp asafoetida(hing), 1 tsp turmeric, 3 cloves of garlic minced,  1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 onion chopped into small pcs., 1 tsp fresh ginger grated, 1 tbsp ghee or clarifying butter, salt to taste, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala or any curry powder.

Method:

Wash mung dal in the running water and keep it aside.
 In the pressure cooker, heat cooking oil, add asafoetida, cumin seeds and turmeric in that order.  Reduce the flame to slow.  Add minced garlic and saute for five seconds.  Add washed dal to the cooker.
Now add spinach, tomatoes and water to this mix.  Increase the flame to medium.  Close the lid and let pressure cook it till two whistles.  Turn off the flame.
In a separate pan, heat ghee or butter and add mustard seeds.  When they stop spluttering add ginger and onion and cook on the slow flame.  Now add salt as per your taste. Sprinkle coriander powder on this mix.  Once pressure cooker opens up add this mix to the cooked dal and spinach.  Let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.  Turn off the flame and add garam masala.  Close the lid so that flavors of the spices remain intact.
Enjoy with rice or chapati.  You may enjoy this as a soup.

Vegetables in white sauce

Many times we do not feel like making an elaborate dinner and yet want to eat something healthy.  One of those evenings I cooked this medley of vegetables in a white sauce but without any cheese.  Most of the time people like to bake this dish but I did not have the time and the patience for that.  First time I had this dish at my sister’s home.  She cooked it with very little white flour and I loved the taste of it.  It was light and healthy.
I have used cauliflower, broccoli and corn but you may add mushrooms or any other vegetables you prefer.  It is not spicy as I have used just salt and black pepper  but the end result was very tasty and I enjoyed with crackers.

Ingredients

1cup Broccoli (cut into small pieces), 1 cup cauliflower (cut into small pieces), 1 cup of uncooked sweet corn kernels, 1 medium onion(chopped finely), 1 tbsp of white flour, 1tsp of butter, 1 ½ cup of skimmed milk, salt and black pepper to taste, 1 ½ tsp of cooking oil

Method:

 Wash broccoli, cauliflower and corn kernels well and soak them in water.   Sauté onion in a cooking oil till they turn pink.  Now drain the water of the vegetables in a colander and add to the sautéed onion.  Lower the flame and cover the lid.  Stir the vegetables occasionally.  When the turn tender turn off the flame.
In another pan, roast the white flour on a very slow flame. After thirty seconds add butter and mix it well.  Add milk and stir it well so that no lumps are formed. When it gets well blended add to the vegetable mix.  Add salt and pepper. 
Enjoy with your favorite crackers or bread. 

Citrus Saffron Sweet Rice

How many times we all have to deal with leftover rice.  I generally make some savory dish out of those by adding vegetables, peanuts and other condiments.  This time I decided to make a dessert out of my leftover rice.  The result was a gourmet dish which can make anyone take second helping.  Saffron rice is a popular dish on any auspicious occasion in India but by adding orange zest it gave a very refreshing citrus flavor to my rice dish.

 Ingredients:

2 ½ cups cooked rice, 1 cup sugar, 1 ½ tbsp ghee (purifying butter),  2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 1 pinch of saffron, 1 tbsp of warm milk, a few drops of saffron color, 20 almonds slivered, 10 cashews divided into two parts, 15 raisins, peel of one orange

Method:

Scrape the white bitter pith of the orange peel.  Wash the zest, dry it between the paper towel. Take ¾ cup of sugar and zest of the orange and mince it in the mixer. Combine rice and this orange sugar mix in a bowl and keep it aside. Sprinkle leftover ¼ cup of sugar on the top of this rice mix.
In the meanwhile, combine warm milk, saffron threads and saffron color and keep it aside.
Heat ghee in a non stick pan and add cloves and cardamom and sauté for 30 seconds on a slow flame. Add rice and orange sugar mix into this.  Stir it occasionally on medium flame for 4-5 minutes till liquid of the sugar almost evaporates.  Now add saffron milk to it and lower the flame. Cook for another two minutes.
Add almonds, cashews and raisins to the mix.
Enjoy it warm.