Orange Cornmeal Cake

 

We had our baby #2 last month and life is so busy and crazy. My daughter wants me to bake a cake for a long time and I did not get time for that.

My daughter said she would help  to mix the batter and add all ingredients, so made this for her..

I baked the cake without egg so that my parents can also have it.

Next time , I promised her that I would make the rainbow cake.

Original recipe source : eatgood4life.

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup

Cornmeal – 1 cup

Brown Sugar – 3/4 cup

Baking powder – 3 tsp.

Orange Juice – 1/2 cup

Olive oil – 1/2 cup

Zest of 1 Orange

Frozen corn – 1/4 cup.

white sugar – 1/3 cup for topping

Method

Preheat the oven at 350°F , Grease the baking pan with olive oil. In a large bowl , Mix all the wet ingredients gently. Add dry ingredients and whisk all together. 

Pour the batter into the pan , Sprinkle white sugar on the top and bake for at least  30 – 35 mins or toothpick inserted comes out clean,

Cool in pan for 20 mins ; Cut and serve the cake.

Pudina ( Mint ) Thuvayal

 

Pudina Thuvayal is a most common one at my home. It goes well with rice and if it is made in a chutney consistency , it goes well with idly and dosas as well.

Ingredients

Pudina leaves – 2 bunch

coconut (shredded ) – 1/4 cup ( optional )

Red chillies -  5 ( long ones )

urad dhal -  2 tbsp.

Tamarind – small lemon size

Asafoetida -  small pinch

Salt -  as per taste.

Oil – 1 tbsp

Method

1) Clean and Wash the Pudina leaves.

2) Heat oil in the pan , Add Urad dhal , Red chillies  and Asafoetida. Fry until the urad dhal turn brown.

3) Remove it from the pan and Saute the pudina leaves in the same pan.

4) Allow it to cool. Grind the Urad dhal , Red chillies , Asafoetida along with tamarind and salt in a blender first.

5) Then add pudina leaves and coconut along with little water and grind it.

This goes well with hot rice ,  ghee or sesame oil  with papad.

Baked Vegetable Samosas

 

Its been a while I baked anything and today I felt like eating something crunchy and spicy and thought I can make samosas , but a baked one with less oil.

Ingredients

Spring roll pastry sheet - 6

Potato – 2  ( boiled )

Peas – 1/2 cup ( frozen)

Corn – 1/ 4 cup ( frozen)

Onions – 1 small medium

Chilly powder – 1 1/2  tsp

Salt – as required

Cumin powder – 1tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp ( optional , I did not add it )

Preparation

Thaw the pastry sheet.

Boil the potatoes. Cut the onions into thin slices. In a pan , add oil , fry the onions.

Mash the potatoes and add it to the onions. Then add Peas , Corn and cook for sometime. Add salt , Chilli powder , cumin powder , garam masala and toss it well. Cook for 5 – 10 mins  and remove from stove.

Pre heat the oven at 400 F. Cut the Pastry sheet into half. Place the potato mixture on the sheet fold into triangle. Grease the baking sheet with oil and brush the samosas with oil . Bake the samosas for 15 – 20 mins and turn on both sides until they are slightly brown.

Remove from oven and enjoy with tomato sauce.

Kaaradayan Nonbu Adai

 

Kaaradayan nonbu is celebrated  by Brahmin community during the month of March ( Tamil month of Maasi – Panguni ) . During this , nonbu adai is prepared and offered as prasadham to God . The ladies tie the charadu  (yellow thread )  around the neck and pray for the long life of husband.

Two types of adai are made - Sweet and savory one

Sweet Adai

Ingredients

Rice flour – 1 cup

Jaggery powder – 1 cup

Coconut – 1/4 cup ( finely chopped is good ) , but I used grated coconut

Water – 1 1/2 cup

Cardamom powder – a pinch.

Black eyed beans / kaaramani -  2 tbsp

salt – a pinch

Oil – 1 tbsp..

Method

In the pan , dry roast the rice flour until it changes color and keep it aside. Cook the kaaramani until soft ( if you soak the kaaramani before hand , make sure to cook for lesser time , so that it does not turn mushy.

Melt the jaggery in a pan by adding water, filter it to remove impurities. Now add the cooked kaaramani , grated coconut , oil and a pinch of salt to jaggery water and boil it . Then start adding rice flour and continuously stir so that no lumps are formed. Cook well until it leaves the side of the pan. Allow it to cool.

Divide the dough into equal parts, flatten it and put the hole in center and steam the adai’s for about 15 mins.

Serve it with butter.

Salt or Savory Adai

Ingredients

Rice Flour – 1 cup

Black eyed beans / kaaramani - 2 tbsp..

Salt – based on taste

Ginger – few cut into tiny pieces

Green chillies – 2

Asafoetida – a pinch

Curry leaves – few

Coconut - 1/4 cup ( finely chopped is good ) , but I used grated coconut

Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp

Urad dhal – 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp.

Method

In the pan , dry roast the rice flour until it changes color and keep it aside. Cook the kaaramani until soft ( if you soak the kaaramani before hand , make sure to cook for lesser time , so that it does not turn mushy.

In the kadai , Do the seasoning with Mustard seeds , urad dhal , curry leaves , ginger. Add 1 1/2 cup water and allow it to boil. Add kaaramani , coconut , salt and slowly add rice flour and continuously stir such that no lumps are formed.

Cook well until it leaves the side of the pan. Allow it to cool.

Divide the dough into equal parts, flatten it and put the hole in center and steam the adai’s for about 15 mins.

Serve it with butter.

Chiroti Rava Dosa

 

I prepared Rava dosa using Chiroti rava few weeks back and it tasted very good. Chiroti Rava is very fine form of Sooji rava. My mom got this last time from India.

Ingredients

Servings : 6  or 7 dosas

Chiroti Rava – 1/2 cup ( or you can use regular sooji rava )

Rice Flour – 1/4 cup

Maida – 1/2 cup

Salt – as per taste

Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

Green chillies – 1 or 2 based on how spicy it is

Cilantro – chopped – 1 tbsp

Buttermilk – 1/2 cup ( optional , instead you can use water )

Water – 1 1/2 cup

Asafoetida – a pinch

Oil – for dosas

Preparation

Mix Rava , rice flour , maida in a bowl and add water / buttermilk to form a thin batter.

Add all other ingredients and mix well and leave it aside for 30 minutes.

Heat the Skillet and once it is ready , pour the batter with ladle from corners to center ( Make sure to pour the batter from a 2 to 3 inches height and not like regular dosas )

Sprinkle oil on the corners and cook it for 1 –2 mins or until one side is golden brown. Flip and cook the other side as well.

Crispy Rava dosa is now ready to serve. You can have this with Coriander  / coconut chutney or Sambhar.

Quinoa Adai

Ingredients
Quinoa – 2 cup
Toor Dhal – 3/4 cup
Urad dhal – 1/4 cup
Chana dhal – 1/3 cup
Moong dhal – 2 tbsp.
Red chillies – 5
green chillies – 1
Salt – based on taste
Asafoetida – 2 tsp
Preparation
Soak Quinoa and dhals for atleast 3 hours. Then grind quinoa and dhal together along with red chillies , Green chillies to a thick batter. Add salt and Asafoetida and mix well.
Heat a tawa and pour a ladle of batter and spread it to a circle. Spray the oil in the corners and allow it to cook until the corners turns brown. Flip the adai and cook the other side.
Serve it hot with any spicy chutney of your choice. I prepared coriander chutney.
   

Almond meal pancakes

 

Almond meal is low in carb and has a good fiber content. It is more healthier and can be used to make muffins , breads and pancakes. I was looking for a pancake recipe and got this from lowcarbdiets.com.

The recipe suggested for sweetener and I substituted with brown sugar.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond meal
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar

Preparation

Beat the eggs in the bowl. Add Almond meal , water , salt , sugar and oil and blend all together .

Make the pancakes in a non stick pan using little oil. Enjoy with maple syrup and a dollop of butter

Note : If you are on low carb diet , instead of maple syrup , you can substitute with Agave syrup

Akki Roti ( Rice Roti )

Akki Roti is one of the unique breakfast dish in the state of Karnataka , India. Akki means Rice in Kannada. My Mom used to make this for evening tiffin usually. I never made this after marriage and felt like eating the other day and ended up making for dinner.
Below is the recipe details
Ingredients
Rice flour – 2 cups
Carrot – Shredded ( 1/2 cup )
Onions – 2  ( chopped )
Green chillies – 2 ( depends on the how spice you want ) – nicely chopped
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coriander leaves – 1/2 bunch ( chopped )
Water – to knead the dough
Oil – to grease
Method
Take the rice flour in a bowl . Add the  chopped onions , green chillies, cumin seeds , salt , corainder leaves, carrots into the bowl.
Now add the water slowly to the bowl and mix well until everything comes together to a soft dough ( it should be like the chapathi dough consistency )
Leave it aside for 15 – 20 mins
Take a plastic sheet and grease it with oil , Pinch a lemon size dough and pat  and spread in the sheet like a circle using your hands  ( it should be not too thick or very thin )

Heat the pan and place the sheet upside down and remove the sheet carefully so that roti falls into the pan.
Add little oil and toast the roti on both sides.
Serve it hot with any chutney of your choice.