Simply Delicious Coconut Cookies - Low in Sugar and Saturated fat. Eggless too !

I have to admit, coconut is my favourite when it comes to sweets. I adore the Indian coconut cookies or khatai as we call it back home.

Found this recipe on www.divinetaste.com and I just couldn't stop myself from baking these goodies. I have used organic coconut oil for a healthier version.

Here is the recipe and the ingredients:

Ingredients:

100 gm plain flour
50 gm coconut Oil ( I'd add a little bit more as the cookies were slightly dry, maybe 75gm)
50 gm fine sugar (icing or confectioners sugar)
50 gm grated fresh coconut
¼ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven at 175 degree centigrade. Mix the baking powder with the flour and sieve once to make the mixture uniform. Beat the butter and the sugar until soft and creamy with the help of a spoon or a wire whisk. Put in the flour, grated coconut, vanilla essence and milk and form into a dough. Roll the dough into a cylinder. Cut into equal pieces and place them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment/paper. Lightly press the pieces with a fork. Bake at 175 degree centigrade for 15 minutes.
Makes about 24 bite sized cookies or 12 large ones

Delicious, super easy and super healthy Quinoa Salad

I have been trying to add quinoa in most salads to get the best nutrients from this amazing seed. I have to admit, it tastes so much better in salads with some feta cheese, tomatoes etc. Here is a version that I tried recently and it is a hit in our household.

Quinoa salad with Feta, Tomato, Cucumber and Walnuts

Recipe and Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa - enough for 2
1 cup boiling water

Or use the boiling method as mentioned on the quinoa pack.

1/2 cup cubed cucumber
1/2 cup - chopped cherry tomatoes
250 gm - greek feta cheese
10-12 walnuts or roasted peanuts
Few sprigs of fresh mint chopped

Dressing:
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
1 pinch sea salt 
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper 
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp honey 

Method:

- Boil the quinoa for 15-20 minutes until cooked. Fluff it up with a help of a fork
- Let the quinoa cool down completely before adding the veg
- Once the quinoa is cooled, transfer it in a bowl, add tomatoes, cucumber, feta, chopped mint and walnuts or peanuts
- Mix the ingredients for the dressing and whisk it well. Pour it just before eating or let everyone pour some as they please.
 - Garnish with mint and enjoy.

All time favourite North Indian Chhole Bhature (Tangy chickpea curry and fried bread) - Heaven on a plate :)

I have mixed two recipes to create this one delicious and quick to do recipe.  It might seem like a lot of ingredients but an ordinary Indian kitchen will have these in the cupboard anytime you need :)
One recipe is my Mom-in-law's and the other taken from Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Chhole

Chickpeas (kabuli chana)    - 2  Cups - You can use 2 cans of boiled chickpeas too
Tea Bag     1
Cumin Seeds - 2  tablespoons
Ground Anardana (crushed pomergranate seeds) - 2 tablespoons

Dried Spices                     

Coriander powder  - 1  tablespoons
Red Chilli Powder - 1 1/2  teaspoons
Turmeric powder - 1/2  teaspoons
Roasted Cumin Powder - 2  teaspoons
Garam Masala powder - 2  teaspoons
Channa Masala (ready made) - 2  teaspoons
Amchoor Powder (Mango Powder) - 2  teaspoons

Tarka

Desi Ghee or Oil - 2-3 tbsp

Ajwein Seeds (carom seeds) - 1 teaspoon
Tomato Puree - 1/2 cup

To Garnish

Green Chillies Slit - 3-4  pcs
Tomatoes Cut into rounds or squares - 3-4  pcs
Root Ginger-1 inch, cut into thin strips

Method:

1. Wash and soak kabuli chana in eight cups of water overnight, or for at least six hours. Drain and put the chickpeas into a pressure cooker with five cups of fresh water and salt. Add the tea bag. If using canned chickpeas, skip this process.

2. Grind Cumin Seeds and Anardana seeds together in a mill or using a hand blender

3. Roast this mixture dry for just 30 seconds. If you do more, it will be burnt and leave a bitter taste to your dish.

4. In a separate bowl, mix all the dried spices.  Add the boiled chick peas and the roast cumin and anardana mix.

5. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil or ghee and add the pureed tomatoes. Cook for 6-7 minutes until oil separates. Add the chickpeas to this tomato puree.

6. Heat ghee or oil to a very high temperature and take off the heat. Now add the ajwein or carom seeds and pour this mix over the chickpeas.

 7. Garnish with green chillies, ginger and chopped tomatoes and serve.

Ingredients for Bhature or Fried bread

(from Chef Harpal)

Refined flour (maida) - 2 1/2  Cup

Baking powder -1/2  teaspoons

Soda bicarbonate - 1/4  teaspoons

Yogurt - 1/2  Cup

Salt - 1  teaspoons

Powdered sugar - 2  teaspoons

Oil/Ghee - 2  tablespoons

Oil for deep frying


Method 

1. Sift together the refined flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate.
2. Mix yogurt with salt and sugar. Add to the flour, with enough water and knead lightly to make a soft dough.
3. Knead two tablespoons of oil into the dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave to rest for one hour.
4. Divide dough into sixteen equal portions. Roll into balls, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for ten minutes.
5. Grease your palms with a little oil and flatten the balls. Roll out into five-inch round bhature.
6. Heat oil in a kadai and deep-fry bhature on high heat till light brown on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper.
7. Serve hot with chhole and have fun.

Beautifully textured Orange and Blueberry Cake

Hello Everyone, Hope you had an amazing Easter Break. Did you get to any baking or cooking?

Now, because I have a lot of homemade applesauce stored in my freezer and that my hubby knows that I can make this beautiful bread/cake using that sauce, I was asked to make it again :)  I have to say, it's absolutely yummy and perfect to go with a cup of tea.

The recipe for it is:

1 and 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 and 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

5 tablespoons Butter, (measured and melted)

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 cup (dry measuring cup) Unsweetened Applesauce

1/4 cup (dry measuring cup) Plain Yogurt (low fat or fat free)

4 tablespoons Orange Juice (Freshly Squeezed)

1 tablespoon Orange Zest

1/2 cup Milk semi skimmed

1 cup Blueberries (I use fresh)

1/2 cup Chopped Pecans and Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Coat well a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter and line with parchment paper as the recipe contains nuts. Make sure the loaf tin is the correct size as it's a big recipe. I used a round pan as my loaf pan was too small for it.

In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; keep it aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, orange juice and zest.

In a large bowl cream together the melted butter and sugar for about 5 minutes using an electric mixer. To this add the above wet mixture and beat well for another 2-3 minutes.

Now to the above add the flour and milk alternatively and beat for a couple of seconds after each addition. Start with flour and end with flour.

Fold in the blueberries and nuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake between 60-70 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for about an hour before you can remove the bread from the pan. Cool it completely on the wire rack (preferably overnight) before cutting it into slices.

 

http://www.egglesscooking.com/2010/09/20/orange-blueberry-bread/

Yummy and Guilt Free Vanilla cupcakes made with applesauce

About time, I posted a new recipe !

How it all started - with homemade unsweetened apple sauce :)

One of my dear friends has an apple tree in her lovely garden and she was very kind to give me a couple. Can't beat the taste of organic home grown apples :) I didn't know what to do with them as there were a lot of apples. I had read somewhere that we can bake using apple sauce instead of the eggs, so I decided to make an apple sauce and freeze it ! After a couple of weeks (can you believe), I thought of trying out the new substitute that I have never used before.  I found an easy recipe on one of the blogs, called Madhuram's Eggless Cooking and put it to the test :) It worked like a magic but I would change a few things to it (although it is a fat free, guilt free cup cake recipe ) to start with.

To make the Applesauce - I used about 6 medium sized apples and used just enough water to soak them, about a cup.  Add more if you feel it's very dry. Cook the apples in a pan until the they are soft and properly cooked. Now, puree the apples and you are done !

Recipe for the cupcakes:

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup white sugar ( I'd substitute with a half a cup or maybe 3/4th cup sugar)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup applesauce

2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

Pour the wet mix into the dry mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over-mix.

Fill the cupcake liners about tow-thirds full with batter. Bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake and comes out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

For a completely vegan recipe, check here http://www.egglesscooking.com/2013/09/03/vegan-vanilla-cupcakes-recipe/

My first post !

Chocolate truffles :)

Lately, I have been reading a lot of blogs, when I say a lot, I mean a LOT of blogs.  And because I already have a page on Facebook about cooking called Cook Along - Lets get cooking
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/292430720802688), I thought of creating my own blog too.  It's more dynamic, looks pretty and most importantly, it feels more personal, as if I can really connect with the reader.

I will share my favourite vegetarian recipes, (tried and tested ones) and also post reviews on vegetarian, egg-less products available in the shops.

So, please feel free to view my posts and add comments.

Let's just start cooking, delicious and healthy and not so healthy (once in a while) meals.

Beginning on a sweet note (why not, always a hit), here is what I made last week on Valentine's day, my husband's favourite chocolate truffles.

Recipe:

I followed Jamie Oliver's recipe, they were super tasty but little bit too rich for my taste. I'd cut down the cream to half and that should be just fine.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chocolate-recipes/amazing-diy-chocolate-truffles

Here is my modified version:

• 150 ml double cream 
• 1 knob unsalted butter
• Finely grated zest of 1 clementine
• 200 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 handful ground nuts, (Brazil nuts, toasted almonds and hazelnuts)
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, to coat
  
  
  Heat up the cream on a low-medium heat. As soon as tiny bubbles start to appear on the cream, add the butter. Mix in the orange zest and once the butter melts, pour the mixture over the broken pieces of dark chocolate or vice a versa (in a bowl of course). Once the chocolate has melted completely, mix it well. Let it cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes or you can keep it in the fridge and take the bowl out 2 hours before serving.
  
  
  Make small bite size balls, coat a few in ground nut mix, I used Hazelnuts and the others in cocoa powder. Let them rest in the fridge for 10-15 minutes so that they are easy to handle.
  
  
  Now, just eat these beauties and enjoy the indulgence.