Its been a while since I baked cookies. Oatmeal and chocolate combo is something I did not think about, until my nephew mentioned that he liked it the best. In my search on line I came across this recipe mentioned in Baking Sheet which was taken from the book The Frog Commissary Cookbook. I followed the recipe and what I tasted was something perfect and wonderful especially when taken out of the oven and chewed on. It does have a wonderful flavor and I warmed it up in the microwave for a few seconds before I had it every time once it had cooled because it was perfect when it was warm.

Gadgets:

Baking Tray

Mixing bowls

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Ice Cream scoper

Hand held electrical mixer

Parchment paper


Ingredients:

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups oats (rolled or "quick," but not "instant") (I used rolled oats)
2 cups chocolate chips (about 12-oz.) (I used semi sweet chocolate)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix with the butter, sugars, vanilla together and then add one egg at a time.

3. Mix together baking powder soda, flour, oats, salt and chocolate chips.

4. Mix the wet and dry until they are mixed and place 1 inch balls on the parchment paper allowing 1 1/2 inches between them.

5. Bake for 14 minutes but do flip the tray half way to bake evenly.It will be a little soft when removed from oven allow it to sit for a few minutes on a rack before storing them.

Makes 4 dozen cookies.

Krishna Sweets in Coimbatore is very popular for its mysore pak. I know of so many people who love this sweet in my family and among my friends circle. The closest to the one in Krishna Sweets was this recipe that Mrs. Saraswathi Vishwanathan shared with me. She also gave me a hands on demo in preparing the perfect mysore pak that I have tasted so far in the U.S. I know most of you want to stay away from this sweet because it is made with lots of clarified butter or browned butter. The spin on that is substituting one cup of ghee with regular olive oil to make it a little healthy, not that it gets any healthy because the channa flour needs to be bathed in that fat to produce the perfect mysore pak. For all those mysore pak lovers I am sending it to JFI: Chickpea hosted by Sometime Foodie and Just For You event hosted by Alka of Sindhirasoi.

Gadgets:

Heavy Bottom Wok

Metal Spatula

Heavy Bottom Saucepan

Bowl

Prepared Tray

Pizza Cutter


Ingredients:

Besan Flour - 1 cups

Sugar- 2 cups

Ghee - 1 1/2 cups

Olive Oil - 1/2 cup

Water - 3/4 cup


Preparation:

1. Heat ghee and olive oil in a saucepan. Place the heat on low.

2. Heat the wok and add 2 tbsp ghee and roast the channa/ besan flour for 5 minutes or until the raw smell leaves. Remove and place in a bowl.

3. In that same wok add sugar and water and allow it to reach 100 degrees in the candy thermometer or 1 string consistency.



4. Add 5 tsp of the ghee oil mixture to the sugar mixture and mix well. Then add the roasted channa/ besan flour to the sugar liquid and mix well to remove all the clumps and make it into a smooth pasty liquid.

5. Keep mixing well for about 20-30 minutes on medium high until the mixture begins to froth and leaves the sides and keep adding the ghee that is kept warm a little by little.

6. Transfer it onto the prepared tray and cut into squares or diamonds using the pizza cutter.

With winter comes snow and cold or cough. Due to over indulgence during the holidays and lack of exercise makes most people fall sick. According to Pujashree Madhioli Saraswathi, also known as Sri Akka  recommended that we have Jeera (Cumin)/ Ajwain(omam) water on a regular basis to keep our body temperature in sync with the changing seasons. My family and I have been doing just that and it always helps a lot especially when one initially catches a cold or have a terrible cough, sour throat. In fact, it helped me get over my cold faster without expanding into a flu or cough. Either by diluting the concentrated portion with warm water and drinking through the day or by adding honey to the concentrate and having 3 tbsp morning and evening it helps the cold to disappear faster. I give it to my daughter every day when the seasons change to keep her from catching a cold.

Gadgets:

Sauce pan
Measuring cups and spoons
Filter



Ingredients:

Water - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 3 tbsp
Omam/ajwain - 1 tsp
Basil / Tulasi - 4 leaves(optional)
Honey - 6 tsp




Preparation:

1. Boil water and add cumin seeds, ajwain seeds and boil for 5 minutes on low heat.

2. After 5 minutes remove from heat and add basil or tulasi leaves to it and allow to soak up.

3. Filter the liquid and add honey to it and have 3 tbsp of the liquid. The excess can be stored in the fridge and warmed.

4. For those who can handle without honey you can keep adding this to a warm cup of water and keep drinking them.

Note: This is however an home remedy and can be tried but is not the only way to heal your cold or cough.

For the loving wishes from fellow blogger's and all the visitors to my blog I would like to wish you all a very happy new year. I wish you all have abundance of good health, wealth, happiness, luck, love, fun, laughter and amazing experiences.

 I have been documenting some recipes that I have been preparing from time to time thinking some day I would blog about it when I find some time. One such thing was the masala bun. I have been looking at this recipe from The Singing chef's blog for some months and at last I found some occasion to make it. A great recipe to try if you are in a mood to bake. The first time I followed as per the recipe and once I figured out the consistency of the dough I have been playing around with the dough's taste and filling. The best combination that my family enjoyed was the one with the potato and onion stuffing. Thank you Raaga for this bun recipe.

Gadgets:

Baking Tray
Bowls
Measuring cups and Spoons
Oven
Wok


Ingredients:

For Bun:

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Whole Wheat Flour or Regular Atta - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp
Yeast - 1 whole packet
Hot water - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup
Chilli Powder - 2 tsp
Cilantro - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 1/2 tsp plus extra for prep the dough
Jalapeno - a few

For Potato Filling:

Boiled Potato - 4
Red Onions - 1 1/2
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Green Chilli - 1
Asasoetida - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Cilantro - 3 tbsp



Ingredients:

1. For preparing wet ingredients add salt, sugar and hot water in a bowl and mix for the salt and sugar to dissolve. Add milk to bring the liquid to warm temp and then add yeast and allow to sit until they foam and then add oil.

3. For dry ingredients add flour, chilli powder and cilantro and mix them well. Add the liquid mix and mix to form a dough. Make a ball and then apply 1 tsp of oil to coat the dough and allow it to rest anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour. The dough has to double.

4. For the filling heat the oil in a wok. Add asafoetida, green chillis, garlic, onion and salt and cook until the onions are well done. Then add turmeric, potato and cilantro and mix well and cook it for 4 minutes and remove from flame and allow to cool a little before making the buns.

5. Set the oven to 400 degrees and when the dough is ready take a little over a golf ball size dough and pat it. Place the prepared stuffing 1 1/2 tbsp in the center and cover up the filling with the dough. Place it on a baking tray and add jalapenos on top and bake for 14 -15 minutes.

5. When the bun is done brush them a little with ghee or melted butter to give it a gloss and serve them hot with any chutney.

I have never baked a pie before. I always known someday I would break the unknown resistance to baking pies. It was my husbands birthday a few days ago and I wanted to make something special for him. Looking through all the baking books I was having a hard time making up my mind as to what to bake. In the end I gave the book(Home Baking by Parragon Publishing) my friend Dhanu had gifted me and asked him to pick out something that he would like to try. He picked the Banaoffe Pie for its simplicity. So I set out to do something I have never prepared before. I did make a lot of changes to the recipe from the book as I had to make do with ingredients I had at home.

Gadgets:

Spring foam pan- 9 inches
Cutting Board
Knife
Measuring spoon
Tin Opener
Saucepan or rice cooker with plenty of water
Food Processor
Microwave safe cup


Ingredients:

Banana - 8 ripe but firm to touch
Fat Free Condensed Milk - 1 tin
Dark Chocolate - 1/4 cups melted for drizzling
Graham Crackers - 18 full crackers
Butter - 6 tbsp
Almonds - 1/2 cup
Lemon or Orange juice - 1 tsp


Preparation:

1. Place the tin of condensed milk immersed in a sauce pan or rice cooker full of water and cook it on low for 2 hours. When that is done remove, open and allow it to cool.

2. In the meantime powder the almonds and the graham crackers into a coarse mixture and add melted butter in the microwave and add that to this mixture.

3. Coat the spring form pan with some butter and then add this mixture to it and distribute to form the pie base /crust and place it in the oven at for 12 minutes, remove and allow to cool.

4. Cut the banana into thin slices coat them with some lemon or range juice and place it in the baked pie crust. Spoon in the cooled condensed milk over the banana and continue to layer. In the end add some melted chocolate and allow to set in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.

4. Cut an serve then with some whipped cream. Delicioso!!!

The last two months I have not been very prompt in posting on " This book Makes Me Cook", but I have always been thinking of posting about it. In Oct I wanted to post on "Naughtiest Girl In School" and wanted to bake a cake as that was what really tempted me when I read the book. In November we needed to post on " Alice In Wonderland" and I got around to baking the cake. I thought it would be appropriate to blog on both the books in one post and make up for the belated posting. On top of it all I wanted to also send this into Aparna's My Diverse Kitchen's birthday celebration.

Elizabeth a fascinating little girl is the main character in Enid Blyton's Naughtiest Girl In School. Her strong will and compassion to help others turns her into a very loveable girl. In Chapter 1 and 3 there is a mention of a current cake. In India during Christmas time at most bakeries they sell plum cake. Its a cake that is made of currants, raisins, dry fruits and fruit mix. While I was reading the book the mention of currants cake made me want to bake a plum cake. This is a recipe that I have been perfecting to taste like the ones that you find in India and I think at last I come close to it. Below is a clipping from the book.

Lines From Chapter 1

Elizabeth's things were packed and ready. She had a neat brown trunk, with "E. Allen" painted on it in black. She had a tuck-box too, with a big currant cake inside, a box of chocolate, a tin of toffee, a jam sandwich, and a tin of shortbread.

"You will have to share these things with the others," said Miss Scott, as she packed the things neatly inside.

Lines From Chapter 3

A bell rang loudly, and the girls looked cheerful, "Good! Tea!" said Ruth. "Come on. Wash first, all of you, and do your hairs. Yours looks awful, Elizabeth." Elizabeth did not like her dark curls being called "awful." She went up to her bedroom and did her hair neatly, and washed her hands. She was very hungry, and thought with pleasure of her currant cake and jam sandwich.

Elizabeth put out her sandwich and her currant cake and took her place too. Grace was said and then the boys and girls began to chatter quietly.Suddenly Nora banged on the table. She was at the head of it. Everyone at her table stopped speaking."I nearly forgot to say something," said Nora.

"Elizabeth Allen does not wish to share her things with anyone, so don't ask her for a piece of her cake, will you? She wants it all herself." "All right!" said the other children, and they stared at Elizabeth in surprise. Elizabeth went on eating her bread and butter. Next to her was Ruth, opening a large pot of shrimp-paste that smelt simply delicious. She passed it round the table-but did not offer Elizabeth any.

She cut her currant cake. It looked quite nice. She suddenly felt that she really couldn't eat it all by her self, she must offer it to the others too. She didn't mind being thought naughty, but being thought mean was different.

Alice In Wonderland by Charles Lutwidge is about a girl who falls into the a rabbit hole and then it is a real adventure. In that story Alice attends a tea party. My original idea was to have a tea party with tea pots, mini cakes and sandwiches with signs that said "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" instead I had a hot cup of tea with a slice of plum cake. Though I am posting it way past the posting date I wanted to still share this recipe.

Gadgets:

Baking pan -9 inches

Mixing Bowl

Spatula

Hand held Mixer

Measuring cups, spoons and scale

Saucepan

Sieve

Ingredients:

All Purpose Four - 250 gms

Sugar for Cake - 250 gms

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp

Fruit Cake Mix - 1/4 cup

Raisins and currants - 1/3 cup

Butter - 250 gms

Eggs - 1 whole at room temp and liquid egg white for 3 eggs

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 ts

Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp

Clove Powder - 1/4 tsp

Cashew Nuts pieces - 1/4 cup

Caramel Sauce - use 80% of the liquid

Sugar - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the sauce pan and add the sugar. Add some water and allow the sugar to melt and change into a dark amber color and thickens.

2. Remove the saucepan from the stove and very carefully add 1 cup of water(watch out there will be a lot of smoke and splattering of caramel) and put it back on the stove to melt again.

3. When the liquid is completely melted the liquid starts to boil remove from flame and allow this liquid to cool.

4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and start to make the cake after the caramel has cooled.

5. Add sugar and butter and blend well using a hand mixer. Add eggs, vanilla and mix well. Add the caramel sauce and mix well.

6. Using a sieve mix the baking powder and APF. Take a 1/4 cup of this mix and coat the dry fruits, fruit mix and nuts so that they get distributed evenly and not settle to the bottom of the cake.

7. Add the flour and the flour coated fruit mix a little at a time and mix with the liquid mix.

8.Transfer to a baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until it passes the tooth pick test.

____________________________________________________________________

The other "This Book Makes Me Cook" blogger's:

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen - Orange Marmalade Cake

Harini of Tongue Ticklers - Vegan Cheesecake Brownies

Sweatha of Experiments, Emotions, Experiences with Food - Chocolate Pudding Cake

Siri of Siri's Corner - Veggie Finger Sanwiches

Rachel of Tangerine's Kitchen - Sandwiches For My Mad Tea Party

In every Indian store around the country you will find Chakli, which is the most sought after savory snack. It is spicy, crunchy, savory and tastes perfect with a hot cup of tea or coffee on any given afternoon. The traditional mullu murruku is a mix of rice flour and udad flour, but chakili is just rice flour and a spices deep fried. I did not follow any recipe, I just went with the flow and made them yesterday. Thought it would be perfect to snack on the whole of next week when my family meets. Its really easy and I was done in 15 minutes from start to finish.

Gadgets:

Wok
The mold to make the chakili
The press to make the chakili
Bowl
Tin to store


Ingredients:

Rice flour - 2 cups
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp (for spice)
Paprika powder - 1 tsp (for flavor)
Butter - 3 tbsp
Salt
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp
Water
Oil for deep frying

Preparation:

1. Preheat oil on medium high. The oil is ready when you drop a piece of a dough in oil and it raises swiftly to the top.

2. Add all the dry mixture into a bowl.Add butter and mix it well into the flour.

3. Add water 1/4 cup at a time and mix well to form a dough that is wet but not sticky.

4. Put this into the press with the star shaped mold and press it over the oil that has been preheated.

5. Deep fry to golden brown. Remove and allow to drain over a paper towel to remove excess oil. When it cools store in an air tight container.

Channa Masala Or Chole has always been one of my favorite side dishes. There are a zillion ways to make it and I think every family or household must have their own recipe. Sometimes when I taste chole I always think about one of two places where I have tasted some memorable ones. Some like it with potatoes, with lot of gravy, with very little gravy, made with different types of channa or garbanzo beans. To me what I really enjoyed as a kid was bread Chole from Richie Rich restaurant. Its the flavour and taste that is so embedded in my head and I always want to recreate that in my kitchen. So I must have tried a lot of recipes and at last come across the one that my sisters friend Sandhya from Detroit had given her. The closest to the RR chole for me. But then my sister told me that she adds the channa masala while cooking the beans and this added a very nice taste to the recipe.So there I Incorporated that into the recipe as well. The end product is a chole /channa masala that I totally enjoyed for dinner with some Tandoori Roti. I like this recipe for its taste and simplicity. So give it a try and let me know for all those who are ready to venture into making another version of channa masala.

Gadgets:

Pressure Cooker
Bowl
Wok
Spatula
Blender
Cutting Board
Knife
Measuring Cups and Spoons


Ingredients:

Channa/Garbonzo Beans - soaked in water over night 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium size
Tomato - 4 Roma ( more than the onion)
Cilantro - 1/2 bunch
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch grated
Green Chilli - 1 ( seeds removed)
Turmeric - 2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Channa Masala - 3 tsp
Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
Pepprika - 1 tsp
Salt
Pepper 4 or 5 whole
Bay leaves - 1
Cinnamon - 1 inch sticks 2
Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
Potato - 1 boiled (optional)
Sugar - 1/4 tsp




Preparation:

1. Place the soaked Channa/beans in a bowl add some water, salt, 1/2 tsp of channa masala and turmeric powder. Add some water inside the pressure cooker and then place this bowl and pressure cook for 4 whistles on medium heat.

2. Heat the wok add oil 2 tsp and add onion then garlic, ginger and cook. When the onions are well cooked add tomatoes and cook until they are well done. Cool this mix and add fresh cilantro bfore blending them into a paste or sauce.

3. Heat the remaining oil. Add bay leaves, pepper and cinnamon. Allow them to get roasted for a few seconds and then add green chillis and the paste.Cook them on medium heat for 5 minutes.

4. Remove the beans from the pressure cooker and add them to the sauce. Add all the powders , potato (optional) and cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium head.

5.Garnish with cilantro and serve it with some hot naan, roti, batura or bread.

The Santa Ana winds were blowing yesterday and it was so hot to be out doors. I decided to stay home and catch up on things. With lunch to prepare I was thinking of what to serve. Ever since I had aloo paratha at the Indian Diwali Mela in San Diego last week I was thinking of making some soon. But then when I opened the fridge I saw this huge bag of broccoli looking at me and so I decided to experiment with them to make a paratha. On mentioning it to my husband he told me that it would not taste good as the veggie has an after taste, but he was ready to try. I followed the ground rules for making the paratha and what turned out was a very delicious spicy paratha that made me want to blog about. If you are wondering if it was that good I invite you to try them and believe me it might be your favorite soon. Since the parata was very spicy serving them with store bought Greek yogurt and sweet pickle was so perfect.

Gadgets:

Bowls
Grater or food processor
Towel or salad spinner
Wok
Griddle
Spatula
Measuring spoons and cups
Cutting Board
Rolling pin
Knife
Cover

Ingredients:

For dough:



Whole wheat flour/atta - 3 cups plus extra for rolling paratha
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp plus 1 tsp for coating the dough
Water - 1 cup plus 1/4 if required.
Ghee - a few tbsps for the paratha

For Filling:



Broccoli - 4 cups shredded
Salt
Ginger - 2 tsp grated
Garlic - 3 cloves
Red Onion - 1/4 thinly sliced
Jalapeno - 1/2 deseeded
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cilantro - 1/2 bunch washed and finely chopped


Preparation:


1. The flour salt and mix well. Add oil and mix well and then the water. Either using your hands or using the food processor work the dough into a ball.Apply some oil, cover and put the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.

2. Heat the wok with some oil.Add garlic, ginger, onions and green chilli and cook it well. Either using the grater or food processor grate the broccoli that are pre washed and all water is removed using the salad spinner.

3. Add this grated broccoli to the wok and cook well. Add the powders and cilantro and allow it to cool before making the parata.

4. Taking a little over a golf ball size dough roll it out the dough into a circle in such a way that the center has more dough and the outer area are thin.

5. Place a ladle full of the cooled broccoli mix in the center and gather the corners of the dough to the center so as to cover the mix inside.

6. Flatten it with your palm and remove all air bubbles that might have been trapped with the poke of a knife reseal it and roll out the paratha.

7. Heat the griddle to med high and cook the parata on both side by adding some ghee.

8. Serve them hot with some thick yogurt, sweet it spicy pickle and lassi.

Ven pogal is south version of kichidi. They serve it at all weddings for breakfast and also made as prasadham during pooja times. The truth is I never liked ven pongal until Dec of 1998. I was visiting my sister that Christmas and she had 2 other families there. It was a task to decide on what to prepare for lunch, breakfast or dinner. My sisters mother in law Mrs. Viswanathan was the main chef there and decided on ven pongal for the day because most of them liked it. But she did not know that I was not a big fan of it. I decided to avoid her that morning with concern that she would ask me to taste the pongal. But then the inevitable happened. It was lunch time and I was thinking of having some snacks and escape from the kitchen. I thought no one would notice as there were so many people there. To my luck my sisters mother in law saw me and she asked me to have lunch. Since I usually enjoy all the food she prepares she could not understand why I was not interested in having the pongal. I decided to tell her the truth. She suggested that I give it a try and out of respect I agreed. Well! I was  since then I have made it so many times.

Little did I know that my amma did not like ven pongal like me. When she visited me I told her I will make ven pongal and guess what she kept giving me other options. With a knowing smile I asked her if she disliked ven pongal and she said yes. I told her my story and asked her to try it and she was ready to taste it and became a convert like me.

So if there is anyone out there who does like ven pongal please give it a try and let me know if this recipe converted you.

Gadgets:

Pressure cooker
Wok
Spatula
Grater
Measuring cups and spoons
Bowl

Ingredients:

Rice (long grain, basmati or any other kind) - 1/2 cup
Moong Dhal - 1/2 cup lightly roasted
Milk - 1/2 cup (skip this if vegan)
Ginger - 1 inch grated
Pepper (whole) - 1 tbsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Water - 4 1/2 cup
Cashew nut- 1/4 cup cut into smaller pieces
Oil - 2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Curry Leaves - a few

Preparation:


1. Measure rice and dal into a bowl and wash it well.

3. Place the rice and dal  in the pressure cooker after adding some salt, 4 cups of water and milk and cook it on medium heat for 3 whistles.

4. Open the pressure cooker and using a potato smasher mix the rice well.

5. Heat the wok add the oil and ghee. When it warms up add cashews and whole peppers. The pepper will pop so please cover it with a lid and then add the cumin seeds and let it roast a little. Add ginger  and curry leaves. Give it a mix and add 1/2 cup water.

5. Add to rice and mix well.. Taste for salt and serve it hot with a dab of ghee and coconut chutney and some tomato sambar.

A tradition in our house for Diwali is making ribbon pakoda. Though I am not too fond of  frying or standing in front of the oil forever, I still have the zest to prepare ribbon every year. To make these you need to have the press that allows the dough to make strands of ribbons to be deep fried in oil. This year I made it again and documented it. There are many versions to making this and this is my version. What I liked about it was the oil in the wok did not reduce at all.

Gadgets:

Heavy bottom pan or a wok
Spatula
The press to make ribbons
Mixing Bowl
Measuring cups and spoons


Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 1 cup
Besan Flour - 2 cups
Butter - 2 tbsps
Salt
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida mixed in water (I used the solid piece of asafoetida and soaked in 2 cups of water)
Turmeric - 1/3 tsp
Oil for deep frying

Preparation:

1. Add rice and besan flour with salt, chili powder and turmeric in a bowl.

2. Add room temperature butter and mix it well and for making the rest of the dough add the asafoetida water little by little and make into a dough that is not sticky.

3. Heat the oil on medium high and add a tbsp of the heated oil to the dough and mix well. Add a little bit of the dough into the heated oil and when it raises up fast the oil is ready for frying ribbons.

4. Add the dough into the press and make ribbons and fry in the oil.

5. Fry until golden brown and crunchy. Transfer into a paper towel for any oil to drain off.

6. Store in a air tight container.