Banana Oat Muffin

I am very proud to bake this yummy muffin for my sweet hubby. Its been our mid day snack ever since i tried out the recipe. He loves the muffin and taking that as an advantage I add few extra ingredients which he dislikes to see on table. And i have been success on that part as he never guessed about it. Banana oat muffin is just not a muffin with all those basic baking ingredients and banana. But I used to put all the good things while baking to overpower the badness in baking. I can't name this recipe as Banana Oat Muffin since i have thrown dates, chiaseeds, flaxseed and raisins into this. Also butter free. So can name it as "Health freak Muffin" ;)...

Servings: 16 nos
Baking time: 20-25 mins
Preparation time : 15 mins
Level: Easy

Ingredients: 

1	Wheat Flour	2 cups
2	Oats	1 cup
3	Banana	3 medium size
4	Dates	50 gm
5	Milk	3/4 cup
6	Egg	1
7	Brown sugar	1/2 cup
8	Canola/ OliveOil	60 ml
9	Baking powder	2 Tsp
10	Baking soda	1 Tsp
11	Salt	1/2 tsp
12	Flaxseed powder	2 Tbsp
13	Chiaseed	3 Tbsp
14	Cinnamon powder	1 Tsp
15	Nutmeg	1/2 tsp
16	Raisins	25 gm

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 205 degrees C.

2. Combine all dry ingredients flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, dates, raisins, chia seed, flaxseed powder and spices cinnamon powder and nutmeg

3. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients egg, milk and oil and beat

4. Add mashed banana to the egg mixture and combine well

5. Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture and mix until just combines. Don't over do.

6. Line the muffin cups and spoon the batter to each cup till half.

7. Bake them at 205 degree C for 20-25 mins or until the toothpick when inserted comes out clean.

Note:
1. Vary the recipe by adding your own choices of nuts and dry fruits.
2. The baking time depends on the oven you use. So make it 15 mins in oven and check with toothpick for further baking.

Rogan Josh

Rogan Josh with a twist!!!

Rogan Josh is from Kashmir, meaning  cooked in oil at high heat. Tradionally Rogan josh is a Lamb dish cooked with Kashmiri chillies which gives the red color to the curry. But I made a twist by swapping Chicken for Mutton. I have also cooked Rogan josh with Mutton. But I couldn't find any big difference in the taste of the curry except the meat. The gravy is enriched with all kind of spices and curd is added to lessen the intense taste of red chillies. I make few non veg dishes in my pressure cooker to get a well blended gravy. You could also use skillet, but cooking time varies little longer than the pressure cooker. This recipe is adapted from Hawkin's recipe book.

Servings: 2
Cooker time: 10 mins
Preparation time : 20 mins
Level: Moderate

Ingredients:

	Mutton / Chicken	500 gm
	Vegetable Oil	1/4 cup
	Bay leaves	2
	Cinnamon	2 ½ cm stick
	Green cardamoms	2
	Onions	200 gm
	Tomatoes	150 gm
	Turmeric powder	1 Tsp
	Red chilli powder	1 Tbsp
	Curd beaten	¾ cup

Salt

as required

Roast and Grind:

	Coriander seeds	1 Tbsp
	Cumin seeds	2 Tsp
	Poppy seeds	1/2 Tbsp
	Almonds	10
	Brown cardamoms peeled	1
	Peppercorns	¼ Tsp
	Cloves	2
	Mace	a pinch
	Whole dry red kashmiri chillies	3
	Ginger	15 gm
	Garlic	5 flakes
	Nutmeg grated	A pinch

Method:

1. In a pan, roast together coriander seeds, cumin seeds, poppy seeds, shelled almonds, brown cardamoms, peppercorns, cloves, mace and grind to a paste along with whole chillies, ginger, garlic and nutmeg adding little water.

2. Heat oil in cooker. Add bay leaves, cinnamon and green cardamoms. Stir for a few seconds. 3. Add onions and fry till golden brown. 4. Add ground paste, tomatoes, turmeric and chilli powders. Stir.

5. Add 1/3rd of the curd and stir fry till curd is well blended. Do the same for remaining curd .Stir fry till oil shows separately. 6. Add meat and salt. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes. 7. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix well

8. Close cooker. Bring to full pressure on high heat. After the first whistle reduce heat and cook for 10 minutes.

9. Remove cooker from heat. Allow to cool naturally.

10. Open cooker, transfer to serving bowl and garnish with cilantro.

Note:
1. Goes well with nan, chapathi or pulao
2. If you are using chicken reduce the frying time from 10 to 5 mins ( see no.6 in method)
3. You can also substitute cashew nut instead of almond.

Vegetable Cutlet

One more delicious tea snack is veg cutlet. Crispy outside moisture inside makes it the perfect mid day snack for children of any age. Potato as a main ingredient, you can add any vegetables of your choice to it. Children who are fussy at their vegetables will never complain about this veg dish instead they will love it..

Ingredients: 

1	Potato	400 gm
2	Beans	50 gm
3	Carrot	50 gm
4	Garlic	10 gm
5	Ginger	8 gm
6	Onion	50 gm
7	Green chillies	2 nos
8	Garam masala	1 Tsp
9	Red chilli powder	1 Tsp
10	Turmeric pdr	1/4 Tsp
11	Amchur	1/2 Tsp
12	Cumin seeds	1/2 Tsp
13	Salt
14	Coriander leaves
15	Cornflour	320 gm
16	Bread Crumbs	150 gm

17.       Vegetable Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Boil all the vegetables till they become soft. I used carrot, beans along with potato. You can use peas, cauliflower along with carrot, beans and potato.

2. Mash the boiled vegetables 

3. Add ginger garlic paste, onion, green chillies, garam masala, turmeric pdr, chilli pdr, Amchur, Cumin seeds, salt and coriander leaves

4. Add bread crumbs & cornflour little by little until it absorbs all the moisture from the mixture. 

5. Mix the remaining cornflour in water

6. Make equal sizes of balls out of the mixture and make it flat

7. Dip the patties in the corn flour mixture

8. Roll the patties in the remaining bread crumbs and deep fry

9. Serve hot with ketch up

Note:

1. Oil should be in medium heat.

2. You can also make coriander chutney or tamarind chutney as accompaniment.

3. For fun side you can shape the patties as you wish. eg: Heart, oval, cone etc

4. The cutlet can also be used to make veg burgers.

Masala vada

When i hear about vada of any kind first thing come to my mind is not the Indian festival but the rain at dusk. Wow!! Garam chai with masala vada never beatable combination during rainy season. In most festivals it will be served as appetizer. Also available in most of the bakeries as tea snack. Many friends of us who are from other part of world likes masala vada and often compare it with their meatballs. But Masala vada is pure vegetarian making it healthier than the meat ball with nutritional value of Dal (Bengal gram) and goodness of spices. Goes great with tea. Usually we hear elders saying there is no feast without vada and payasam. I prepared this recipe during one fine snowy day with all my childood memories of monsoon.  

Paruppu vada aka Masala vada.

Servings : 10 pcs

Preparation time: 20 mins + soaking time 3-6 hrs

Cooking time: 15-20 mins 

Level:  High

             

Ingredients: Kadalaparupu (Bengalgram)      150 gm Onion                                         75 gm Green chilli                                4 nos Dried Red chilli                         2 nos Asofoetida                                1/2 tsp Ginger                                       15 gm Fennel seeds                             2 Tbsp Coriander leaves                       2 Tbsp   Salt as req Vegetable Oil  for deep frying

Method:

1. Soak channa dal in water for 3- 4 hrs.

2. Grind the dal along with ginger, asofoetida, red chillies and salt. Do not add water. Grind it coarsely leaving some whole chana dal

3. Mix finely chopped onions, green chilli (I used red one due to unavailability) , chopped coriander leaves and fennel seeds to the dal mixture.

4. Don't let the mixture sit for a while.  Take lemon size portion from the dal mixture and pat it either using hands or by throwing onto smooth surface (Zip lock cover) and fry them till brown and crisp.

5. Serve hot with coconut or coriander chutney.