Khandvi - A Gujarati snack

We are hungry. There is nothing that proves this more than the fact that I havent been able to click a single photograph of a dish before wolfing it down over the past months. Blogging requires discipline and blogging about food requires restraint both of which have been happily absent in my world for some time now. My little boy is 7 months old and time flew like the blink of an eye. My sweet daughter is nearly 7 years old and is discerning when it comes to food. But to my delight, she is imbibing tolerance in her approach to home cooked food. For her nothing compares to home cooked food which is a boon but can be a pain on days when I want to take off. I love her and love cooking for her. She is my biggest cheer leader when it comes to making new dishes. But she is not the worst critic since she will only procrastinate eating anything she doesnt like by looks or taste.

Yesterday I made a nice little snack for those after school hunger pangs. It was in her favourite colour too!
Khandvi is a gujarati snack made out of besan (chickpea flour) and butter milk mainly. Thin rolls of the cooked flour served seasoned, with or without a delicious filling. I thinned home made yogurt to obtain butter milk. Since bland or sweet tastes are not appreciated in my house, I spiced up the dish with heat from green chillies.

The only decision point in this dish is when the flour is ready to spread. And the other important note to remember is to use ungreased surface for spreading. I went through a few blogs which said the surface has to be greased but with that I could not roll at all. I wasted atleast 10-15 mins thinking the batter was not ready for the spread. But as soon as I wiped off the grease and spread, I could roll easily. Hence a word of warning.
Stuffing in khandvi is optional and can be left plain. Folks at my house did not relish it without the stuffing so I didnt have much of a choice but to add filling. I personally liked either.
I have also provided some pictures of the stages of the batter while cooking. Spreading and rolling pictures are also provided. Hope that helps.

Khandvi 

Recipe adapted from here
Servings: 16 - 18 rolls (2 inches in width)
Prep Time: 10 mins  Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

1 cup Besan (Chick pea flour)
3/4 cup thick Yogurt
2 1/4 cup Water
2 tsp Lime juice
1/2 - 1 tsp Turmeric
Pinch of Hing
1/2 tsp Salt or to taste

Grind

3- 4 Green chillies
1/2 inch Ginger

Stuff

1 cup Coriander (cut fine)
1/4 cup grated Coconut (optional)

Season

3 tsp Oil
2 tsp Mustard seeds
2 Green chillies (cut very fine)
20 Curry leaves (cut very fine)

Instructions

1. Coarse grind green chillies and ginger with a couple of spoons of water.
2. Mix coriander and coconut required for the suffing
3. Keep the flat spreading surface ready. I used backs of steel thali plates as well as aluminium foil and both worked very well. Do not grease them.
4. Add water to the yogurt and mix well using a wire whisk or a fork.
5. To this add the ginger chilli paste, turmeric, hing and salt and mix well.
6. Now add the besan in while stirring and ensure that there are no lumps formed. Whisk till it is a smooth batter. Atlernately use an electric beater to make life easier.
7. Cook this batter in a heavy bottomed vessel, on low heat, while continously stirring. The batter should not become lumpy or stick to the bottom of the vessel. 
8. Continue to stir and cook while the batter becomes thick.
9. The readiness of the batter can be checked by spread a spoonful on a plate. Wait for around five minutes for it to cool and then roll from the edge. If it rolls it is ready else cook some more. 
10. When the batter is ready, work fast to spread it on the surfaces. The batter should not become overtly thick since it becomes difficult to spread. Ofcourse we do have a window of 5-10 mins. I took that much time to spread it on all available surfaces and the batter had not  become thicker or harder. 
11. Take a blob of the batter and spread it using a spatula on to the flat surface. Spread it thin.
12. Leave it to cool for nearly 10 mins.
13. If making a stuffed khandvi, then spread the stuffing evenly on top of the cooled batter.
14. Slice the spread batter into long strips, around 2 inches wide.
15. Pick up the end of the strip, at the shorter end and start rolling. 
16. Place all the rolls onto a serving plate.
17. Now prepare the seasoning by heating oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add in mustard seeds. 
18. When the seeds crackle, add in finely cut green chillies and curry leaves. 
19. Spoon the filling onto the rolls.
20. Serve Khandvi warm.
21. Khandvi can also be prepared ahead of time. Refridgerate the rolls, warm (I used microwave oven) and season before serving.

Spiced Mini Apple Pies

It is the beginning of fall here and the weather is absolutely lovely. Warm days compliment cooler nights. Happiness compliments the rash of colours in the nature around us. But the icing on the cake is that Deepavali compliments Halloween! Indian houses here in the US are beautifully decorated with fall adornments and halloween spooks and the entranceways are bathed perfectly in the light emanating from Deepavali diyas.
Such joy to share the festival of lights with all the pumpkins and "Mohabbatein" leaves!
Most of all, this is the first Deepavali for our two month old sonny boy. I simply could not allow the festival to roll by without celebrating to the maximum extent possible amidst all the newborn chores and chaos.

My dear family esp the hubby abhors sweet food in any form. Except for the occasional Mysore Pak. The darling dotzy has only now begun to relish sweets but mostly prefers baked goods to the traditional Indian fare. Hence I decided to kick start the Deepavali food fest with the Apple pie. It falls easy on the pallette and is so warm that it automatically fills you with love. Adding a twist to the classic and making it less sweet suits our tastes. Baking a pie is like an experience. The whole house is awash with the wonderful smell, the taste buds thank us and is appetizing to look at. I love the crusty flaky exterior of a pie so much that I could eat just the crust and be very happy. Given a choice of a 9 inch pie/cake or muffin sized portions I always tend to choose the latter since its easier to store and gets consumed real fast. Size is inversely proportional to the want in our house. That is how we ended up with mini spiced apple pies!

The pie dough recipe in this post is a keeper. It is extremely flaky and has a nice crust without being hard. It can be used as the go-to dough for all kinds of filling- spicy,veggie, sweet, salty. The recipe makes enough for a 9 inch pie base and the pie topper. Alternately it makes enough for 12 mini pie bases and their tops.

Spiced Mini Apple Pies

Servings: 12 mini pies (standard muffin size)
Prep Time: 45 mins (including cooling time)  Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

For the Pie Dough

2 cups All Purpose Flour (or substitute half Whole Wheat flour, I have done this and it remains delicious)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 cup Chilled Yogurt (replaces 1 egg)
3/4 cup Chilled butter cut into cubes (can be reduced to 1/2 cup if desired)
2 tbsp Sugar (increase to 5 tbsp if a sweet crust beckons)
2 tbsp Chilled Water
Pinch of Salt

For the Apple Pie filling

2 Gala Apples (the apple really held up well and did not get mushy when baked for 35 mins)
3-4 tsp Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder
1/3 cup Sugar

Instructions

For the Pie Dough

1. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar
2. Drop in the chilled butter cubes and lightly mix it into the flour till the mixture is crumbly. I used my fingers for this and it took around 5 minutes. 
3. Add in the chilled yogurt and mix. The dough should start coming around.
4. If required mix in the chilled water one tbsp at a time till a ball of dough is formed. 
5. Do not knead the mix. Merely collect the dough to form a ball. 
6. Cling wrap the dough and refrigerate for 30 mins.
7. If refrigerated for more time the dough becomes harder. Allow dough to rest on the counter till it is pliable before using.

For the Apple pie filling

1. Toss all the ingredients for the filling together.
2. Do not mix it a lot in advance since the juice from the apples oozes out which could make the pie soggy. 

Making the Pie

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a muffin tray lightly.
2. I use a trick to make it easier to get the pies out after they are done - Place strips of foil in the muffin cup with ends hanging out. The pies can later be pulled out using the over hanging tabs. 
3. Roll out the pie dough between two sheets of parchment (to make cleaning simpler) to a thin sheet. I kept it at 1/5 inch thick but it could be made thicker upto 1/4 inch. 
4. To make mini pies, cut out rounds from the dough sheet around an inch bigger than the size of the muffin cup.
5. Insert it into the muffin cup and lightly press against the walls of the cup to make a pie base. (It is easier to close the pie if the pie base juts out of the muffin cup.)
6. Put in one and half tbsp of the filling into the pie base
7. Cut out another round of dough which is slightly smaller than the first one.
8. Cover the pie with this and press all around to seal the pie. 
9. At the point you could make the edges fluted or press all around the edge using a fork.
10. With a knife make small slits on the pie top to help bake the filling nicely. 
11. Brush the top with some milk to prevent dryness while baking
12. Bake at 350 F for 30 - 35 minutes till the top has browned and  you can see the filling bubbling inside. Mostly you could go by the heavenly smell and know its done!
13. Serve warm or cold. We like both ways. 

Ragi Mudde (Finger Millet Balls)

Ragi (Finger Millet) is that wonder grain to which peans ought to be written. It is the richest source of calcium and helps builds bone strength in our bodies and therefore essential for growing children and also in older adults. It is a wonderful source of anti-oxidants and has a good amount of dietary fiber which ensures that we feel fuller for a longer time thus reducing the chances of snacking in between meals or over-eating. The slow digestion aids in controlling blood sugar levels and therefore can be a staple in a diabetic's diet. It has a very small percentage of fat but even then its unsaturated fats.
Ragi is one of the best sources of protein providing many of the essential amino acids which should be reason enough to be incorporated into all vegetarian diets. It is one of the main sources of Methionine which helps reduce cholesterol, reduce fat inside the livers and help protect kidneys.
When sprouted, Ragi develops Vitamin C which helps in absorption of the Iron content in the grain.
Ragi can be prepared in many number of ways,as a ball, sweet or salty porridge, flatbreads, sweets especially with jaggery, each very tasty!
In this post I will talk about making the easiest preparation with Ragi called the Mudde. It is a staple in Karnataka especially among the rural folk. But I think it is about time that the urbanscape adopted this wonder grain into their diets and reap the benefits.

Ragi Mudde (Finger Millet Balls)

Servings: 4 balls
Prep Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Ragi Flour
3 1/2 cups Water
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Oil (optional)

Instructions

• Heat water in a vessel and along with salt, oil and 4 tbsp of Ragi flour.
• When the water starts to boil (notice bubbles appearing through the flour) stir in the remaining flour.
• Use a  1-inch thick wooden dowel or the back of a big wooden spoon (which wont break under pressure) to combine the flour well into the water.
• Allow it to cook for 5 mins and remove from stove. By now the raw smell of ragi must be replaced by a cooked smell.
• Let it cool for 2-3 mins (this step is optional but my hand cant take the heat)
• Take a large blob of the mix and place on a slightly greased flat plate. (1/2 tsp of Oil)
• Now wet your hands with water and shake off the excess.
• Working quickly knead the dough a couple of times and then start to roll it into a ball. 
• You might have to dip your hand in water to prevent the dough from sticking to your hand. Optionally work with greased hands.
• Roll the ball in your hands till the surface is smooth.
• Repeat with the rest of the flour. 
• Serve hot with a side dish like Gojju, Sambhar or Hidakbele Saaru which have a watery consistency and not too thick.
• To eat, pinch off a piece of the mudde from the ball, soak it in the side dish and pop it in your mouth. Ideally the mudde should be swallowed without chewing. although I must admit I havent mastered that yet.

Eggless Blueberry Coffee Cake

At the outset let me share with you that I dint expect this to be a hit. But thats exactly what it turned out to be  and more with my daughter lapping up every bit of it with gusto. This cake is a very simple preparation and I made it on a Saturday night while chatting with a friend which made it all the more enjoyable.
Coffee cakes are usually moist and tender and come out of the oven ready to eat. No frosting required. Although having a streusel on top or glaze or chocolate syrup drizzle are standard dress-ups for it, it can nevertheless be enjoyed without any of those.

I chose to not top it with anything and also chose to make it low calorie by substituting apple sauce for a lot of the butter. The taste of apple is hardly noticeable especially if its a fine paste. What I forgot to add in was nuts and I am going to do it the next time. Almonds would complement the blueberries very well, especially the shavings.

Its an easy way to get kids to eat fruits and nuts, trust me!

Eggless Blueberry Coffee Cake

Servings: 1 9-inch cake
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 40 - 50 mins

Ingredients 

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup Blueberries (if frozen do not thaw)
1/3 cup Butter
1/2 cup Applesauce
3/4 cup Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder (I used 1/2 tsp Double acting)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1 cup Yogurt
1 tsp Vanilla extract (I accidentally put in nearly 2.5 tsp of extract and it was still very yummy)

Instructions 

1. Line a 9-inch cake tin with parchment paper or grease it and keep aside
2. Preheat oven to 350 F
3. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl and set aside
4. Cream butter and sugar by hand or with a beater.
5. Add the applesauce and vanilla essence and continue to beat
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternating with yogurt.
7. Combine well using a whisk but refrain from mixing too much. 
8. Add in the blueberries and fold in. Be gentle since they pop easily. 
9. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake it at 350 for 40-50 mins till a skewer inserted in comes out clean. 
10. Remove from oven and cool it in the tin for 5 mins and then continue to cool it on a wire rack. 

How to make Applesauce at home

1. Peel and core 2 medium sized apples, cut them into cubes and boil the pieces in 1/2 cup water till soft and mushy. About 10 mins.
2. Once cooled, grind the softened pieces into a paste or mash with a fork to get 1 cup Applesauce

Ragi Rotti (Finger Millet flatbread)

If there is one thing which is quintessential Karnataka food it would have to be Ragi. Karnataka is one of the biggest producers of Ragi in India. And no wonder that almost every kannada household would stock it in their pantry to readily whip up Mudde (cooked Ragi ball) or Rotti (Ragi flat bread) best eaten with Bussaru or Chutney respectively.

I prefer the Rotti over Mudde and make it often at home. It is one of the best after school snacks for kids to restore their energy and to provide them with nutrition without fuss. I tend to flavour it with onion, green chillies, coriander leaves and optionally spices. It is easy to make and easy to eat and is one of the healthiest dishes to be had.

Ragi Rotti (Finger Millet flatbread)
Servings: 8 Rottis
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 5 mins (for each Rotti)
Ingredients
2 Cups Ragi flour
1 Medium Onion
2-3 Green Chillies
A bunch of coriander leaves
1 cup Spinach leaves
1 cup Water
1 tsp Cumin powder (optional)
1 tsp Coriander powder (optional)
Salt to taste
Instructions
Cook the spinach leaves (Microwave or stove-top) and grind to a fine paste.
In a bowl mix together flour, salt and spices.
Add to this minced onion, green chillies, coriander leaves and mix well.
Add in spinach paste till crumbly.
Add water, a little at a time, to make a soft dough.
Keep aside covered for 30 mins if desired.
Wet a small piece of cloth (handkerchief) completely and squeeze to remove excess water
Spread it out on a flat surface.
Place a dough ball on the wet cloth and flatten it using fingers dipped into water
Slide the cloth along with the flattened dough and flip it onto a hot skillet
Drizzle  oil around the flattened bread and cook on both sides.
Tip :- If the flour on any part of the bread shows up white, it isnt cooked. Spread a drop of oil or water and cook the spot. 

Khara Biscuit / Eggless Whole Wheat Savoury Cookies

The day before we have to leave for any trip, I have this last minute urge to make and take along a snack. I have made cookies in the past and some savoury bakes. I tend to make the non fried variety so that we can have guilt free indulgence. I, for one get very hungry when I step into a car for any journey greater than an hour.
Our trip to Chicago over the 4th of July weekend had a very hectic prep time because of work pressure during the week. Packing just came down to picking up a stack of ironed clothes off the cupboard and shoving it into the suitcase. I mention this especially because I am a light packer, never carrying any extras. There was a lot of prep work where food was concerned since we prefer to pack lunches for the day outings. So we packed a mini kitchen into two big bags complete with ground pulav masala!
Getting back to what I wanted to post about. Amidst all the crazy kitchen activity I made Khara Biscuit to take along for the ride. I made it with whole wheat pastry flour.

Khara biscuit conjures up memories of Butter Sponge visits when we were kids. Many of our Sundays would start with Sweet bun, Khara bun combo for breakfast and on some extra special occasions it would be accompanied by the Benne Biscuit, Khara Biscuit combo. Yummy!! For me the yard stick in judging a bakery's goods is the Benne Biscuit, Khara biscuit they make as compared to Butter Sponge Bakery in Gandhi Bazar. My attempt here was very close and even though they turned out extremely good, I cannot claim to have recreated the magic. The biscuits turned out delicious and were a huge hit. Its simple to make and easy to stow.

Khara Biscuit / Eggless Whole Wheat Savoury Cookies

Servings: 20 biscuits
Prep Time: 1 hr        Cook Time: 20 - 25 mins

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 cup Butter (softened on the counter)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Ginger paste
2 Green Chillies finely chopped
1 tsp Coriander leaves finely chopped
1/2 tsp Curry leaves finely chopped
1 tsp Salt (or to taste)
1 tsp Sugar
1/4 cup Yoghurt

Instructions

1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.
2. To this add the ginger paste, green chillies, coriander leaves, curry leaves and mix well. 
3. Add the butter to this and mix to form a stiff dough. Do not overmix. 
4. If the mix turns out crumbly add yoghurt very little at a time to get a stiff dough consistency. 
5. Put the dough into a ziplock bag and refridgerate it for 30 mins to ensure that the butter does not stop melting while rolling the dough. 
6. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to a 1 inch thick circle. 
8. Cut out round shaped biscuits and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. 
9. Prick the biscuit with a fork to prevent it from puffing up. These are after all biscuits. 
10. Continue to do this for the rest of the dough making sure to leave atleast 1 inch between each cookie.
11. Bake for 20 mins or till the biscuit feels a little firm. 
12. Remove from the oven and cool in tray for 5 mins and further on a wire rack. 
13. The biscuit firms a little more while cooling. 
14. This biscuit stores well in an air tight container in the fridge for 5 days. .

Masala Chana Dal with Kale

Kale is a wonderful green. Has an interesting look and a unique taste. I like baby Kale in salads but I usually cook the bigger leaves. Pesto comes out wonderful using Kale as I have tried here. Today for dinner I wanted to make a simple Dal dish using Chana Dal. This particular recipe is credited to my neighbour who had served it to us at dinner on the day we landed in Kansas. I could never forget the taste and is one of my favourite dal dishes since.Its a very simple dish akin to most Dal preparations and goes well with Chapathi or Rice. The vegetable best suited for this Dal is the bottle gourd but since I did not have it handy today, I decided to substitute it with a green. I picked Kale for no bigger reason than that was the first box I laid my hands on in the fridge. I am sure it would work very well with spinach or amaranth.

Masala Chana Dal with Kale

Servings: 2 cups
Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Chana Dal
2 cups cut Kale leaves
1 small Onion
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 Green chillies
Salt to taste
3 tsp Oil

Instructions

1. Remove the thick stem portion from the Kale leaves simply by tearing the leaves away from the stem. Wash thoroughly and cut or tear them into smaller size.
2. Boil or steam the washed chana dal till half cooked. I used the pressure cooker and switched off the stove after one whistle.
3. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add cumin seeds to it.
4. Add in green chillies when the cumin seeds sputter and saute for half a minute.
5. Add in turmeric and onions and saute till onions turn transluscent.
6. Saute after adding cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala and then add Kale.
7. Cook till Kale wilts. Add salt at this point
8. Now add the contents of the pan to the boiled/steamed channa dal and boil till cooked. I used the pressure cooker again. I added the pan contents to the half cooked channa dal inside the cooker and cooked till another whistle. 
9. Make sure to not over cook the chana dal so as to mash them all up. The dal dish is done when the lentil retains its shape and is still soft to the touch. 
10. Serve Masala Dal hot with Chapatis or Rice. 

Pesarattu (Moong Dal Dosa)

Today was a one of a kind foodie day. It started with bread for breakfast, idli for lunch and dosa for dinner. The dotzy was finally confused and called her dinner brunch! I have been inundated with whole green moong dal (green gram) after I ended up buying it every time I visited the Indian grocery store over the past two months. I could not remember that I had bought it already. I have been asking friends to help me use it in bulk and one of my sweet friends S suggested Pesarattu. I thought that was going to be a long drawn process and procrastinated on the idea till another friend S told me how easily it can be done. The clincher was the fact that this is an instant dosa mix (if you have soaked dal handy) and I love a no prep recipe.

The word "Pesarattu" is derived from "Pesaru" which is what Moong dal is called in Telugu and "Attu" which is what Dosa is commonly called in Telugu. Pesara Pappu is what the yellow split moong dal is called. So Pesarattu is simply a moong dal crepe or dosa. And might I add a yummy one at that. The only prep required for this dosa is soaking of moong dals for atleast 6 hrs or even overnight. If the moong beans have sprouted it is healthier.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can add flavours as you please. Add in mint to get a fresher flavour or coriander to get the friendly homely taste. Add in onions and carrots to enhance the flavour.

I think this batter may work well with tomato as well although we might have to spread the batter thicker and sprinkle fine cut tomato pieces on top while on the skillet. I am also going to try this with avocado the next time and avoid rice flour altogether.

Pesarattu (Moong Dal Dosa) 

Servings: 20 Dosas
Prep Time: 8 hrs (soak time) + 10 mins for grinding Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

3 cups sprouted Moong dal
1/2 cup Rice flour
1/2 cup Water
1 1/2 tsp Jeera powder
4 Green chillies
A bunch of Coriander
1 Medium sized Onion (optional)
1 Medium sized Carrot (optional)
Salt to taste

Instructions 

Grind all the ingredients together till you get a fine paste. Add more water as required to make it easier to grind and to get it to a spreadable batter consistency.
Add finely chopped onions and grated carrot to the batter and mix well. This step is optional.
Heat a skillet on medium flame.
Pour a ladle of batter in the center of the skillet. Using the back of the ladle (it has to be a heat resistant material ofcourse) spread the batter outward in one continuos circlular motion without lifting the ladle away.
If onion and carrot have been added, be slower with the spreading as it the batter is denser and it may clump.
Allow the dosa to cook till nicely browned on the bottom.
Using a large heat resistant spatula flip the dosa and cook it for a couple of seconds on the other side.
Serve dosa hot with Chutney and / or Chutney powder.

Tomato Puri (not the chaat)

Puris are my darling dotzy's all time favourite breakfast and today being a Sunday we decided to feast on them. 

I had seen that Rafs was hosting the Tried and Tasted event this month and the featured blog was Maayeka. Incidentally I had come across this blog a couple of weeks ago and one of Mrs. Anjana Chaturvedi's recipes, the tomato poori, had caught my fancy. I tried it out today and it was super yummy. I had to really scramble to get pictures before they got devoured. The accompaniment to the puris was the most kid friendly side dish, onion and potato curry. 

The original recipe can be found here. The only deviation I made was to not add the baking soda. 

Tomato Puri

Servings: 16 puris
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Fine Semolina (Rava)
1 tsp Cumin powder (or use Cumin seeds)
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 1/2 tbps Mint leaves (finely chopped)
1 Tomato pureed
Salt to taste
Oil for deep fry

Instructions 

1. Mix the flour, semolina, cumin powder, red chilli powder, salt, mint leaves and oil. 
2. To this add the tomato puree and mix
3. Knead and form a dough, adding a little water if required.
4. Cover and keep aside for 30 minutes
5. Heat the oil till it becomes hot enough to fry.
6. Pinch off dough and roll it in your hands to form 1 1/2 inch diameter balls
7. Using a rolling pin, roll the ball out to a 4 inch wide dough circle.
8. Slide this into the hot oil and fry till golden brown. 
9. While frying, gently patting the poori with a slotted spoon while enable it to puff up.
10. Drain excess oil, remove the poori and place it on a tray covered with paper tissue. This helps absorb any excess oil. 
11. Serve tomato puri hot with onion-potato curry or chutney. 

How to Puree Tomato

1. Boil 3 cups of water
2. Make slits in the tomato and immerse it in the boiling water.
3. Allow it to cook in the boiling water for around 4 minutes till soft
4. Remove from hot water and immerse it in cold (room temperature) water for 5 minutes
5. The above process is called blanching.
6. Remove the skin of the tomato in a thin layer
7. Grind it to a puree in a mixer/blender. Do not add water while grinding.
8. Use the puree in any recipe which requires tomato puree. 

Sending this to Tried and Tasted event being hosted by Rafs!

Dill Semolina Upma (Rava Porridge with Sopsige soppu)

Dill is, I think, the queen of herbs and the gender bias is because not only does it look dainty and beautiful, it also smells extremely good! It not only lends a unique taste to whatever dish it adorns but also imparts a fragrance while cooking that lights up the kitchen. It is easy enough to use whether cooked (a quick saute) or raw and adds a flavourful dimension to the spread.
Upma is the quintessential quick one pot meal in many households across South India. It is the meal of choice for the lunch box and dinner atleast once a week in my house. There is an interesting equation in our house with respect to this dish. My brother loves it like he loves nothing else and my hubby's brother hates it like he hates nothing else! So when the twain meet, the cooks are left wondering whom to please! Each time my brother visited my house in the US, there would be uppit on the table for atleast one meal everyday.

Upma comes in many varieties. It can be made with semolina, vermiciilli, coarse rice flour (akki thari) or even leftover bread. Any vegetables that can be cooked can get into this dish. Raw vegetables are somethign I have never tried in an upma and I am not likely to. It can even be spiced up to one's palate with garam masala powder or freshly roasted and ground spices. Onion is a common fixture in upma, although leaving it out does not dampen the taste in any way.

This recipe is to make combine the aromatic dill and the tasty upma. Its easy to make and you need one pot to make it.

Dill Semolina Upma

Servings: 3
Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

2 cups Rava/Semolina (coarse not fine)
4 cups Water
1 bunch Dill leaves
1 medium Onion

For the seasoning

5 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric
3 Green chillies
1 tsp Jeera
1 tsp Channa Dal
1 tsp Urad Dal
2 tbsp Groundnuts / Cashewnuts

Instructions

Wash the dill leaves, remove thicker stems and cut it into fine shreds.
Heat a heavy bottomed vessel and roast the Rava in it till it reddens. This may take around 10 minutes on Medium heat. Make sure to not over brown them. It is time to stop when you start getting the smell from the roasted semolina. Keep aside on a plate.
In the same heavy bottomed vessel, heat the oil and add mustard seeds to it.
When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the rest of the seasoning ingredients.
Saute for half a minute.
Now add onions and saute till transluscent.
Add the dill and saute for a few minutes till the leaves become tender.
Pour in the water, add salt and allow it to come to a boil. This is the time for a quick taste check to see if the salt is enough or more. If more, squeeze 2 tsp of lemon juice.
Pour the roasted semolina little at a time into the vessel while constantly stirring. Stir to avoid lumps.
The rava coagulates with the water to form a porridge consistency, mix well and cover and continue to heat on a very low heat for another 5 minutes.
Serve upma hot plain or accompanied by chutney or yoghurt.

Eggless Doughnuts dipped in Cinnamon Sugar or Chocolate glaze

Doughnuts are my father-in-law's absolute favourite junk food of the West. When we came to the US a few years back on a holiday, he used to steer his gang of friends many times towards the Dunkin Donuts close to our apartment and enjoy the donuts there. My mother-in-law always refused even a single bite for the reason that she doesn't enjoy eating sweets. In hindsight I am glad that she did not eat them. What we did not know back then was they contain eggs which is a strict no for her.

Cinnamon sugar dipped doughnuts were what we ate at the fall festival last year with my parents and they are what saved the day at the Fisherman's Wharf during our visit to SFO a month back. V was starving and I was all out of snacks and we did not find anything there that looked "less fishy". We bought a bag of fresh mini doughnuts and the darling wolfed it down as if they were her favourite savoury snack.
With all the memories gushing, I decide to try my hand at making them at home and without eggs. They turned out amazingly tasty. Making it at home also meant that I could control the amount of sugar that goes into it. This confectionery is deep fried and packs some sugar so even though it is easy to make, it may not be something to eat while on a diet. But for those cravings, give it a try!

Eggless Donuts dipped in Cinnamon Sugar or Chocolate glaze

Servings: 10 regular sized donuts (I made 6 regular donuts and 6 doughnut holes)
Prep Time: 2 hrs (including 1.5 hrs rise time) Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups of All Purpose Flour
3 tbsp Fine powdered sugar
1/4 cup Milk
1 tbsp Butter
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp Vanilla essence

For the Cinnamon Sugar topping

2 tbsp of Fine powdered sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

For the Chocolate Glaze

4 tbsp Fine powdered Sugar
2 tbsp Cocoa powder
2 1/2 tsp Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla essence

Instructions

1. Proof* the yeast in a container. (Heat the water till warm, 20 secs in microwave, to it add a tsp of sugar and the yeast. Stir well and let it sit for 10 mins till it froths up)
2. Mix the flour, sugar, salt in another container.
3. To that add milk, melted (room temperature) butter and the yeast mix and mix well
4. Knead with hand till dough consistency. At this point if it is too sticky use a couple of tbsp of flour but putting in a little at a time.
5. Place the dough in a container, cover it with a cling wrap and let it rest in a wam place (above the fridge) for an hour.  Allow it to double in size.
6. Now knead the dough softly on a lightly floured surface and flatten it with hands to form a disc of 1/4 inch thickness
7. Use a cutter to cut out the round shape of a doughnut. I used a steel cup which was 2.5 inches wide.
8. Use a bottle cap to cut out and remove the center forming a hole.
9. Place the ring doughnut onto a lightly floured plate/tray.
10. Continue with the rest of the dough till complete.
11. To make doughnut holes - simply pull off a small amount of dough and shape delicately into a ball. Place on floured tray.
12. Cover the tray with cling wrap and let it rest in a warm place.
13. In the meantime, heat the oil till it is hot enough to fry.
14. Also prepare the dips as outlined below.
15. Fry the doughnuts till golden brown. Remove from oil after excess oil drips off.
16. Place on a try lined with paper tissue to soak in excess oil.
17. Doughnuts are best eaten warm. Serve them with coffee or hot chocolate to make it a delicious snack.

For Cinnamon Sugar Dip

1. Mix the sugar and cinammon powder in a vessel.
2. Roll the doughnut in the mixture till it is nicely coated with the mixture
3. Remove and place on a wire rack to set

For Chocolate Glaze

1. Mix the milk, sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla essence and stir till there are no lumps.
2. Place the doughnut in the mixture, flat side down and get the glaze on one side.
3. Remove and place on a wire rack to set with the non glaze side down. (Place some paper under the wire rack to soak up any drippings to help ease cleanup)

*I have been using Red Star Active Dry Yeast and it proofs up like a dream.

Whole Wheat Calzone

Calzone is a God-sent for fussy eaters. It is basically a turnover or a folded Pizza and is extremely popular in my house because of the easy eating. Unlike a pizza there is not much fear of the topping falling off the base and then having to eat the whole thing like bread with a side dish. It's compact shapeis great for being grabbed in one toddler hand while jumping to in front of the TV to the tune of M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E.
Use whole grains in the dough, get really creative with the veggies and bake to make it a healthy brunch/snack/dinner and enables the delivery of a lot of nutrition. Make it bite-sized and it can become an entree to a big meal. I am sure it would provide a surprise element to the lunch box.

The calzone also reminds me of the Kadabu that we make during Ganesha festival and is tradionally covered with a rice flour sleeve. And somewhere that connection works very well on our apetite to devour this tasty sandwich. The fact that I dont have to remind my daughter to eat at every bite, makes this my most favoured recipe. It is easy enough to make but I am yet to learn about dough storage.

I made it on a busy day and I had a couple of things already going in the kitchen. Not much effort and I like the fact that I dont have to pre-cook anything!

Whole Wheat Calzone

Servings: 10 Calzones     

Prep Time: 3 hrs (including rise time)    Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Pizza dough

1/2 Medium Onion (I used sweet onion)

16 Cherry tomatoes (or 1 regular tomato)

1/2 Capsicum

1 Jalapeno

1/2 cup Corn (I used frozen)

1 cup Tomato sauce (preparation instructions in this post)

Salt

Black Pepper powdered

Spice Mix of choice

Mozzarella Cheese - as much or as little as desired

Instructions

1. Prepare the pizza dough as per instructions here.
2. To make the suffing, mix all the vegetables, salt, pepper and any other spice of your choice in a bowl. Keep aside. 
3. Once the dough has risen, pull out a good sized ball of dough and roll it out on a floured surface with a rolling pin
4. Brush the dough circle with tomato sauce.
5. Pile on a proportionate quantity of stuffing onto the rolled out dough making sure that it lies on the bottom half of the dough. Leave some space around the edges.
6. Optionally, pile on mozzarella cheese on top of the veggies.
7. Fold the top half over the bottom half and seal the edges by pressing the edges together all along the semi-circle.
8. Make indentations along the edges with a fork.
9. Keep the stuffed dough in a baking tray, covered with a towel or cling wrap, and allow to rise in a warm place for around 30 minutes.
10. While the stuffed dough is rising preheat the oven to 350
11. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and turn it over and bake for another 5 minutes to get them evenly browned on both sides.
12. Serve calzones warm, especially important if kids are going to munch on them.

Sending this to Healthy Foods for Healthy Kids – Italian Dishes and Nithu’s page