SESAME AND OATS CRACKERS

Sesame seeds are an excellent source of copper, a very good source of magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, molybdenum, and selenium. The rich assortment of minerals in sesame seeds translate into many health benefits.

While sesame seeds have been grown in tropical regions throughout the world since prehistoric times, traditional myths hold that their origins go back even further. According to Assyrian legend, when the gods met to create the world, they drank wine made from sesame seeds.

These seeds were thought to have first originated in India and were mentioned in early Hindu legends. In these legends, tales are told in which sesame seeds represent a symbol of immortality. From India, sesame seeds were introduced throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Sesame seeds were one of the first crops processed for oil as well as one of the earliest condiments. The addition of sesame seeds to baked goods can be traced back to ancient Egyptian times from an ancient tomb painting that depicts a baker adding the seeds to bread dough.

Sesame seeds were brought to the United States from Africa during the late 17th century. Currently, the largest commercial producers of sesame seeds include India, China and Mexico.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat and multi-grain flour, 1 cup ground oats, 1 tbsp wheat bran, 1 cup toasted sesame seeds, 1/4 tsp carom seeds(ajwain), 1/2 tsp coriander powder, a pinch of baking soda, salt to taste, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1/2 cup or less water.

Method:

Combine flours, sesame seeds, baking soda, wheat bran, carom seeds, coriander powder and salt in a big bowl.  Make a well in the middle and add oil. Make crumbs of flour mix with oil. Now add water little by little and make a stiff but pliable dough.  Divide dough in half, wrap each half into a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness by using knife or pizza cutter cut into small rectangles.  Preheat oven to 375 degree F(200 degree C).  Bake for ten minutes, then flip and bake for 5 - 7 minutes more until sticks are crisp but not brown.  Remove from oven, cool completely and store in an airtight container.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CLUSTERS WITH FRUITS

There is a famous saying: "Chocolate comes from cocoa which is a plant. Therefore, chocolate counts as salad".   

Every Valentine Day on February 14th love-struck men and women spend more than 1 billion dollars on chocolate products. Blame Cupid for the love-struck part, but why chocolate? What does chocolate really have to do with the most romantic day of the year?  Modern science has linked the chemical phenylethylamine in chocolate with the feelings of excitement, attraction and even pleasure. Indeed, eating chocolate can have significant influence on mood, leading to pleasant feelings.

I have used white chocolate today with fruits like dry cranberries and cherries to balance the sweetness of white chocolate.  White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, milk solids and sugar and has ivory appearance.  White chocolate bar was first launched in 1930s in Europe by Swiss company, Nestle.  In North America, Kuno Baedeker developed a white chocolate in 1945.

I have used clusters of cashews and fruits and covered it with white chocolate. It is very easy to make these and impress your valentine not just on Feb 14 but all year round.

Ingredients:

1cup white chocolate cut into small pieces, 3 tbsp milk, 1/2 cup cashews divided into halves, 1/4 cup dry cranberries, 1/4 cup dry cherries

Method:

Melt white chocolate on medium flame in a heavy pan. Add milk to it.  Mix well.

Spread a sheet of aluminum foil, make a mound of three pieces of cashews and a couple of cranberries on it. Make at least nine ten of these clusters. When chocolate melts, spoon it on the top of cluster of nuts and fruits.  Similarly make a cluster of cashews and cherries and pour melted chocolate on it.

Once it cools off, place the aluminum foil in the refrigerator till it sets, about half an hour.

If it is still sticky, wet your hands a little and make balls of these clusters, if you like a specific shape.

Enjoy.

Have a very happy Valentine Day.

FALAFAL : PROTEIN PACKED BALLS

Falafal is a deep fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans or even combination of both.  It is a traditional Middle Eastern food, commonly served in pita bread topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce and drizzled with tahini sauce.  Falafal can be served alone or as an appetizer with hummus. (Hummus recipe was in my previous blog)

The origin of Falafal is controversial.  The common theory is that it originated in Egypt and that it can be traced back to Pharaonic Egypt. 

Falafal plays an important role in Israeli cuisine.  It is considered to be the national dish of Israel and is readily available in every restaurant or corner shop.

In North America, prior to 1970s, Falafal was found only in Middle Eastern restaurants but today it is easily available as street food all over North America.  With people turning vegetarian due to health reasons, Falafal has been accepted as a healthy alternative.

Falafal has very high nutritional value. Since it is made of chickpeas, it is full of protein, complex carbohydrates and fiber. Chickpeas are also low in fat and salt and contain no  bad cholesterol.  It can be baked to reduce the high fat content which comes from deep frying. Only problem is baking will change the texture and the flavor of this dish.

No matter what mode of cooking you prefer, Falafal is an easy dish to make. It is very simple and less time consuming.  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup chickpeas or garbanzo beans or white channa, 1 medium onion chopped finely, 3 cloves of garlic chopped finely or crushed, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp red pepper(optional), 1 tsp cumin powder, 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper, 2 1/2 tbsp wheat flour(or white flour), 1/2 cup fresh parsley cleaned, washed and chopped, 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice, salt to taste, oil for deep frying.

Method:

Soak chickpeas overnight. Next morning boil them in a pressure cooker or in a covered pan till they are very tender. Mash chickpeas but save the stock( this stock can be used for any vegetarian soup). Combine all the ingredients with mashed chickpeas and blend them in a food processor.  Form them into small or medium sized balls or patties.  Deep fry these on medium flame. Turn to cook from the other side. Drain the oil on a paper towel. Serve them hot with hummus.

You can make big patties and use them in a vegetable burger with lettuce, onion and tomato etc.

HUMMUS:THE HEALTHY DIP

Other day we had a guest over who was about to visit Middle East and Israel. He is a vegetarian so his biggest worry was the kind of food available in those countries.  He told us he was planning to pack lots of Indian snacks with him so that he could survive the four-five days tour. Just then I decided to cook some authentic Middle Eastern vegetarian dishes to give him some options available in those countries.  I cooked falafal, hummus, lentil pilaf with the yogurt and cucumber dip. I must acknowledge he enjoyed the food and took some generous helpings.

Just like a good host in the Middle East, I enjoyed my food being appreciated.  It is a known fact that hospitality in the Middle Eastern countries is considered a duty.  "If people are standing at the door of your house, don't shut it before them," and "Give the guest food to eat even though you yourself are starving," are two sayings which remind people of this duty.

 I have never visited any Middle Eastern country so my only experience of eating Lebanese, Persian, Jordanian or Greek food comes from dinning out in Chicago's Arab town restaurants.  With that in mind, I decided to make Hummus from scratch.

Today, hummus is very popular as a side dish, dip or spread, all over the globe.  Since it is a very healthy dip, health food stores have come up with different flavors of Hummus. There is hardly any party where hummus is not served as an appetizer.  It is made with cooked and mashed chickpeas, sesame seeds, olive oil and lemon juice.  Most people make hummus with tahini but I have made it by roasting and grinding sesame seeds.  The quality of hummus does not suffer with this process.

Ingredients:

2 cups chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked, 3/4 cup olive oil, 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, juice of 1 medium size lemon, 1/2 tsp paprika or degi lal mirch,1/2 tsp  freshly ground black pepper,  1 tsp cumin powder, 1 cup sesame seeds roasted and powdered OR 1 cup tahini, salt to taste.

Method:

Roast the sesame seeds and then powder them finely.  Blend the cooked chickpeas, all the spices, salt and garlic in a food processorl.  Add the powdered sesame seeds, lemon juice and olive oil to the chickpeas mix and blend to smooth paste.  Garnish with olive oil and paprika. 

Enjoy with chips, vegetables or falafal.

Recipe for Falafal will be in the next blog.

APPLE KHEER

I love making desserts where I can quiz guests about the ingredients in my dish. Apple pudding or kheer is one such dessert. For New Years party I made this dessert which came out to be so tasty that everyone took second or even third helpings. Most of my guests could not figure out if it was apple kheer. The best part is it is very simple and less time consuming.  Apple kheer is a Mughal Era  dish but i gave it a modern touch by adding custard powder. I hope you will like to try it for your next party.

Ingredients:

2cups milk, 2medium size apples, 8 tsp sugar, 10 cashews, 20 raisins,  8 almonds, 1tsp cardamom powder, 2 tsp custard powder,1/4 cup cold milk.

Method:

Wash, peel and grate apples.   In a non stick pan add these grated apples and sugar and cook them till all the water evaporates. In a heavy bottom pan boil milk. After one boil reduce flame but keep stirring.  In the meanwhile chop cashews and soak raisins in lukewarm water. In a 1/4 cup of milk, mix custard powder and stir well so no lumps are left.  After five to seven minutes,  add the custard mix to the boiling milk. Keep stirring.  When it begins to thicken add cashews and raisins and stir again.  Now mix the cooked apples to the milk and stir well, give one boil and turn off the flame.

Roast and chop almonds and garnish the kheer. Enjoy this healthy and delicious dessert.

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.