On Christmas morning we pretty much follow what has become a family tradition: coffee, juice and miniature muffins to assuage growling tummys, then we move (with the former in hand) to the living room and take down the stockings, which Santa hopefully filled with goodies and not coal. Often, depending on the age and impatience of the kids, we let them go and peak at their stockings right away. We're not Scrooges, after all.

Gifts under the tree come next. We adults leisurely take turns, keeping half an eye on the kids who are at this point madly ripping and tearing. Long about 10 or 10:30, someone suggests Bellinis. Ah yes. Good timing. Excellent thinking. I'm up for that. Mmmmmm. We follow with brunch around 11 or 11:30.

This year we're going to start with some Limoncello-drizzled fruit and a heavenly lemon curd/yogurt topping. I served it for the first time last year and it was a smash hit. You can find the recipe HERE. Then out comes our "souffle". Now my brunch dish is another tradition in our family... I have been making it since my kids were little. I must confess other than the egg to milk to bread proportion, I kind of fudge with the cheese and bacon amounts- sometimes using more than called for. And I often double or at least 1 1/2 the recipe. Everyone likes to pick at it in the kitchen all afternoon. You make it the night before and it bakes while we are opening gifts; the bacon and cheese aroma wafts through the house...can anything smell better in the morning? I think this year, just to add insult to injury, I may serve Ina's sticky buns. You will find Ina's recipe HERE. Do you think I've planned to serve enough fatty foods so far? On the 26th we're all going to need those wretched green drinks that (supposedly) cleanse our systems! And yet there is more to follow: we have our main Christmas meal in the evening!

Now I love to fuss over table settings. Do you? There were only six of us last year, but here's what our brunch table looked like.


Any traditions in your family? Please share.

My Christmas Brunch "Souffle"



Ingredients:
7 big slices bread- I use challah
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
3 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
3 strips bacon, cut in half
6 large eggs, beaten

Method:
Tear the bread in pieces and put them in a buttered baking dish. I use an oval one...see the photo. Beat eggs, add milk and then add the remaining ingredients. Sprinkle the cheese over the bread and pour the milk/egg mixture over everything. Lay bacon on top. Seal and refrigerate overnight. Bake 350° for 50 to 55 minutes. I bake it on a foil-lined baking sheet in case there is any spill over. Serves 6-8.

My daughter is staying with me for a few weeks so life has changed around here. Well to be honest, life changed quite a bit when I had my hip replaced 5 weeks ago too! (I’m doing very well, thank you.) At any rate I am now into planning meals, something I don’t do very often since I live alone. Nor does my daughter for that matter, as she lives in New York City and ends up eating out a lot.

My mother’s mother was of German ancestry and, as I have mentioned before, a brilliant cook -you know- homemade noodles ( I would come home from school and see hand cut noodles drying on tea towels draped over open kitchen cabinet doors), potato pancakes, dumplings, kuchen… all those divine things. She was my much loved Grandma Sarah Rhyff Doherty and owned a bakery in Detroit many years ago with her sister Carrie; so need I say her pastries, breads, cakes and pies were also heavenly? And did she ever know how to make perfect long johns! Does anyone else remember what those are? Lord, no wonder I am always on a diet!

I have been meaning to try this recipe for ages (you are all proabably way ahead of me on this), but because my kids are grown, I don't make waffles very often. I had the chance a while back and jumped all over it.

When I used to make waffles, I always depended on my mother's waffle recipe. It was excellent, everyone was happy, so why look further? But when I started blogging, I kept running across a recipe for raised waffles by Marion Cunningham. Cunningham is an award-winning food writer and prolific cookbook author. I read about her waffles first on David Lebovitz's blog, then on Orangette  (Who, by the way, didn't like them!). I think you'll enjoy reading David's article if you have time.

The idea sounded great to me for two reasons: 1) I love yeast-based pancakes so why wouldn't I love raised waffles? and 2) you do all the work the night before so it's perfect when you have guests.

Well, as far as I'm concerned, these were delicious! I'm throwing Mother's recipe away; that's how good these were. Marion's are light as a feather with a very slight yeasty taste which I love. And if I hadn't told my guests they were raised waffles, they would never have known. (Well, they put butter and maple syrup on them before tasting and I tasted them plain before garnishing!) Such a morning time-saver to throw them together the night before and let them do their magic while you sleep! And it IS magic.

Marion Cunningham's Raised Waffles


Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water
1 package dried yeast
2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

Use a  large bowl; the batter will rise to double its original volume.
Put the water in the mixing bowl and sprinkle in the yeast. Let stand to dissolve for 5 minutes. Add the milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour to the yeast mixture and beat until smooth and blended.

Cover with plastic wrap and let stand overnight at room temperature.
This  is what it looked like when I got up (you can see how much it raised during the night and then fell a little):


Just before cooking the waffles, beat in the eggs, add the baking soda , and stir until well mixed. The batter will be very thin. 

Pour about 1/2-3/4  cup batter into a very hot waffle iron. Bake until golden and crisp. This batter will keep for several days in the refrigerator.


Look at this texture!

Satpuro in Sindhi means layered rotis, or parantha..Sat means seven and puro means layered...This parathas can be served for breakfast, lunch or for dinner with any sort of curry or simply just with yogurt and pickle..I have bookmarked this recipe at Alka's Sindhi Rasoi and immediately i loved this layered paratha since it goes for easy preparation..This satpuro phulko tastes marvellous with any sort of gravies eventhough we just  enjoyed these rotis with mixed veggies kurma, we loved it..This layered rotis goes for wheat flour, pepper powder, salt and oil also its completely healthy, this layered roti can be prepared with many variations but i loved this simple and easy preparation....Sending to T&T -SindhiRasoi guest hosted by Ria, event by Lakshmi..



2cups Wheat flour
1/2tsp Pepper powder
2tbsp Oil
Salt
Water

Take the flour, pepper powder, salt and a tablespoon of oil in a bowl,knead as a soft dough, keep aside for 15minutes..knead again well and take a small portion of the dough, roll as circles with rolling pin, with a knife cut it vertically into 4 ribbons with an inch each..Sprinkle some wheat flour, oil over all pieces..roll all pieces one over the other and make a ball ..carefully roll it as chapathi with rolling pin..

Place the chapathis over a hot pan, drizzle some oil and cook on medium flame until they get well cooked..Serve with any sort of gravies or curd..

Kulcha is a type of Indian flat bread made with a either maida flour or with a combination of maida or whole wheat flour, its quite popular in North India and its usually baked in an clay oven until its turns golden brown, since its not that much easier to get a clay oven here, i went for stove top for cooking this kulchas which i stuffed with a spicy aloo matar masala, this kulchas tastes spicy, delicious at the same time,also its quite an easy flatbread which can be conserved two or three days in fridge, everyone at home enjoyed just having the kulchas with thick curd spices with a simple tadka and we loved it..



2cups Maida flour
1/4cup Milk
1/4cup Yogurt
1tsp Baking soda
1tsp Nigella seeds
Salt
2tbsp Oil

For Aloo matar masala:
2nos Potatoes (cooked)
1/2cup Green peas
1no Onions (big & chopped)
1tsp Red chilly powder
1/2tsp Coriander powder
1tsp Garam masala powder
2tsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Salt
1/2tsp Fennel seeds
Oil

Heat oil, fry the fennel seeds, saute the onions and salt until the onions turns transculent, now add the green peas, chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala,cook everything simmer until the veggies get half cooked, add the cooked and smashed potatoes, saute everything for few minutes..finally add the coriander leaves and put off the stove..keep aside and let them cool, makes 6-8 medium sized balls of this masala..

Meanwhile make the dough for kulchas, combine all the ingredients except the oil and nigella seeds, make a smooth and soft dough,keep aside for an hour..Knead again the dough and make 6-8medium sized balls, flatten the ball with a rolling pin, gently place the already prepared masala ball, cover the stuffing with the dough and roll again as flat disc..brush the kulchas with oil, sprinkle the nigella seeds..

Heat a tawa,once its hot..gently place the kulchas (no need of drizzling the oil) and cook on both sides until they turns golden brown..Enjoy with any sort of side dishes..

You didn't often find my father in the kitchen. But there were three things he did know how to make to perfection: pineapple sherbet, caramel popcorn and something we all called Houseboat Special. (Hamburger meat broken up and browned, with a can of mushrom soup added and the entire thing poured over toast.)

                                                                                Grandpa and Dad at the cabin, late 40's

And his father, my grandfather, made only one thing: buckwheat pancakes. Which is what this post is all about.
 
                                                                                                   Grandpa at the cabin, 1937
 
My grandfather owned some property and a cabin on Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay. It was prime wooded area with a great deal of marshland. I loved visiting the cabin; it was a child's delight with its double bunk beds, all kinds of wildlife, labrador retrievers to play with, the river to explore, a small pond with plenty of fish, marshland to paddle around and acres of forest to wander in.

                                                                                  The cabin, after two additions, 1989

Grandpa had canoes, duck boats, small outboard boats, (in later years an air boat), to use on the Rifle River and in the marshes. He was always into some project or other, but took time to help us search for beaver and muskrat lodges, black walnuts (which my mother loved), berries and grapes to make jams and even took us frog hunting; we all learned at a really young age to skin and prepare frog legs for our dinner.

My grandmother was quite an artist and she set up her easel in locations all over the property. My sister and I have some of her work, in watercolors and chalk, which we treasure greatly.

But what I remember most are my grandfather's buckwheat pancakes. He used a starter dough and made them every morning for breakfast along with side pork. To this day, I prefer side pork to bacon anytime I have pancakes, although it's not readily available in Florida markets. And bacon and side pork are not interchangeable. Fresh side pork is basically bacon without the curing and salt. It's thicker, takes longer to cook (sometimes we added a little water at first) and the rind is quite chewy. The aromas of side pork and bacon are entirely different.


Slowly, over the years as grandpa aged, the starter dough disappeared and my Mother developed a similar pancake recipe without the starter, which grandpa used the remainder of his life. It's nearly as good as the original and Grandpa thought so too.

I was really stumped on how to describe these to you so I asked my sister. The texture is not fluffy or cakey like most pancakes, but more dense. She thought I should describe them as a little like crepes, but thicker. The batter is definitely thinner than most pancake batter and the pancakes are about 5 inches across. Best to use the freshest buttermilk you can (which is a little thicker) and be sure to shake it well. I like them with buckwheat flour, which is the way my grandfather made them, but my sister uses only all purpose flour. She is the only one of us who still makes them and usually only when she has company at her Leland cabin. I don't make them anymore either but sure am happy to chow down on hers when I visit. And I made a batch for this post. Dad always liked to put brown sugar and butter on them; I like warm Michigan maple syrup.

Grandpa Smith's Buckwheat Pancakes


Ingredients:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 tablespoons crisco oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup hot water


Method:
Mix the first six ingredients. Mix the soda with the hot water and add to the flour mixture. The batter will be quite thin.
Cook on an oiled pancake griddle. When you see the bubbles appear in the pancakes, it's time to flip. Cook only about 3 more minutes.

Last month I discovered these little gems. You can make the batter a couple hours ahead of time and bake when you want. When I made my first batch and bit into one, it was a surprise to find it wasn't very sweet. You expect a muffin to be sweet. But you've got to remember one word in the recipe name: pancake.
And that's what these taste like. Pancake in flavor, but light and airy like a soufflé and shaped like a muffin. All bases covered. You're gonna love these for breakfast or Sunday brunch. You can serve them with only maple syrup of course, but it's interesting mixing the syrup with fresh fruit...or, if you prefer, top with jam and some crème fraiche. Keep thinking pancakes here. Anything you like on your pancakes, you're going to like on these. 

They were a hit with my troops and you should have seen the surprised looks when everyone thought they were biting into a muffin! 
Pass the maple syrup, please!

Pancake Soufflé Muffins with Strawberry-Maple Syrup
Recipe from Bill Telepan via Fine Cooking


Ingredients for the muffins:
Nonstick cooking spray 
10-1/2 oz. (2-1/3 cups) all-purpose flour 
4-1/2 oz. (1 cup plus 2 Tbs.) cake flour 
2 tsp. baking soda 
2 tsp. baking powder 
1 tsp. kosher salt 
6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature 
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar 
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly 
6 T bs. granulated sugar 
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 
3-1/3 cups buttermilk, at room temperature 
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Ingredients for the syrup:
1 cup pure maple syrup 
1 cup quartered, hulled ripe strawberries

Method:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Liberally spray two 12-cup muffin pans with the cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large, clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed to firm (but not dry) peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
In another large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the mixer on medium-high speed until thick, ribbony, and lemon-yellow, about 6 minutes. Add the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla; mix on medium-low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Add one-third of the buttermilk and mix to combine. Alternate adding the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk, ending with the buttermilk and mixing until just combined.
With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter, leaving some streaks.
Scoop about 1/2 cup of the batter into each muffin cup—you can fill the cups to the rims. Bake, rotating the pans after 10 minutes, until browned on top and puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out dry, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Make the syrup: 
While the muffins are baking, bring the maple syrup to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Put the strawberries in a medium serving bowl. Pour the syrup over the berries and set aside in a warm spot.
With an offset spatula, pop the muffins out of the cups and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with the syrup.
Makes 24 muffins.

Most of us would have definitely know about this spongy steam cooked besan cakes named as Khaman Dhoklas from Gujarat, dunno somehow i missed making this spongy dhoklas and i really had an opportunity to try them sterday for sending to Nayna's Flavours of Gujarat...Few months back, this khaman dhokla was one of the challenge for Indian cooking challenge, i have missed that challenge coz of some reasons, fortunately i followed making this dhoklas with the same procedure as given for Indian Cooking Challenge and they turned out truly very spongy and yummy..Traditionally this dhoklas are made by grinding channadal along with spices and fermented, later this fermented batter will be steam cooked and cut into medium sized cubes finally garnished with grated coconut  and coriander leaves with tempered mustard seeds and sesame seeds..This instant version of khaman dhokla is completely very easy to make and will get ready in less minutes compared to the traditional one..Sending to Only Event-Low Oil/Low Calorie guest hosted by Priya, event by Pari..



1cup Gram flour
1/2cup Curd
1/2cup Water
1/2tsp Baking soda
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
1/2tsp Green chilly paste
1/4tsp Lemon juice
1packet Eno Salt
1tsp Sugar
Salt
1/4tsp Mustard seeds
1/4tsp Sesame seeds
2tbsp Grated coconut
1tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)

Mix the curd and water together, gradually add the gram flour and turn them as like idli batter..add the baking soda, give a stir..Heat a pressure cooker with enough water, place a plate..now add the lemon juice, salt, green chilly paste,sugar,eno salt and turmeric powder, mix well...Pour this batter in a greased vessel and place gently into the pressure cooker..close the cooker and cook in high flame..

Steam cook this batter until the steam comes and put the flame in simmer, cook again for 10minutes..Remove the lid and insert a toothpick to check whether they get cooked well..Meanwhile heat a pan with oil, fry the sesame seeds, mustard seeds and pour over the cooked dhoklas..cut them as cubes and serve along with grated coconuts and chopped coriander leaves..

Enjoy this dhoklas warm with spicy green chutney..

I have bookmarked this sprouted chickpea bread from Umm Mymoonah's Sprouted chickpea bread which she send from my Let's Sprouts event..I tried this bread last week using sprouted chickpeas and this bread was really delicious when they were still warm when served along with nutella spread or else with salted butter...We enjoyed having this healthy bread for our snacks with a cup of coffee..I prepared this bread with few changes according to my taste by adding dry basil leaves, whole wheat flour and fennel seeds instead of dry fenugreek leaves and caraway seeds as the original recipe went for..Thanks a ton to Umm for sharing this healthy, nutritious and beautiful bread...Am sending this bread to Only Event-Low Oil/Low Calorie guest hosted by Priya, event by Pari..



2+1/2cups Wholewheat flour
1/4cup Sprouted chickpeas
1tbsp Dry basil leaves
1tbsp Yogurt
3/4tsp Active dry yeast
1tbsp Oil
1/2tsp Sugar
Salt
1/2cup Luke warm water
1tbsp Fennel seeds

Grind the sprouted chickpeas as a coarse paste, in a large bowl take the flour,sprouted chickpeas, dry basil leaves,yogurt, dry yeast, oil, sugar salt, fennel seeds (keep some fennel seeds aside) and water, mix everything together to make a smooth dough, cover the bowl with a lid and leave it in a warm place for two hours..

Once they get doubled their volume, punch down the air and knead the dough for few minutes..I used rectangular mould for making out this bread, flatten the dough and sprinkle the fennel seeds over the dough..Cover it and leave it until they rise again..Preheat the oven to 350F..Arrange the flattened dough in the oven and bake for 20minutes or until the crust turns brown..

Serve with any spread or simply with salted butter..

Happy Mother's Day!

My mother is no longer with us, but this is still her day as far as I'm concerned. Imagine I'll always feel like that...it's a day of remembering for my sister and me. We often celebrated Mother's birthday at the same time as it was also in May, on the 16th. And you'll love this: her first name was May! And she had a sister named June. And another sister named Fannie. Well OK, so maybe that one didn't work out so well....Fannie was also born in May. Anyway, my family always had a double remembrance in May. This is one of my favorite photos of my mother. As you can see, she was a really good sport about wearing those ridiculous paper hats that come in the Christmas poppers. We liked this photo so much we even put it in her funeral program. It really pleased my dad, who had never seen it before.


In honor of Mother's Day, I thought it might be fun to give you Mother's (really old) recipe for her very favorite lunch/brunch: Eggs Benedict. The two of us went out to lunch a lot and if Eggs Benedict was on the menu, she'd order it. Her eyes would light up when the plate was put in front of her. She was fussy about it too. It had to be perfect hollandaise or her nose would crinkle just a little. As she grew older, she no longer made it at home for herself, but I still have her recipe to share with you. Nothing fancy, only plain and simple Eggs Benedict. Just the way she liked it. Perhaps you could add a little fresh fruit or a lovely fruit salsa to add another element on the plate.

The dish begins with an English Muffin. Now every layer of this dish is important and Mother introduced me years ago to Wolferman's English muffins. Have you heard of them? They are hands down the best, unless you make them yourself and even then, maybe not. So I started my dish with those. (I loved having an excuse for a new order... their flavors are wonderful and I was completely out of them.)

And then, of course, you brown some lovely Canadian bacon to put on top of your buttered muffin (Nobody said Eggs Benedict was a health food.) Next, poach two eggs. Perfectly. You know, the way Julia Child says to do them. Put those on top of the Canadian bacon and top with Mother's Hollandaise Sauce, which is perfection itself and so light it almost floats away. I've never made hollandaise any other way. After you taste this, you won't either. Some things just don't need improving.


Mother's Hollandaise Sauce



Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon cold water
Pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Method:

In a medium heatproof bowl set over (but not in) a large saucepan filled with 2 inches of simmering water, whisk the egg yolks with the cold water and salt until warm to the touch. Slowly drizzle in half of the melted butter in a thin stream, whisking constantly until incorporated. Continue whisking in the melted butter until the sauce is thick and emulsified. Whisk in the lemon juice, hot sauce and Worcestershire and serve warm. Serves 2.

Make ahead: The sauce can be kept warm over the hot water bath off the heat for 30 minutes. Whisk occasionally and reheat over hot water.

Our most awaited vacation gonna start from tomorrow, we will be leaving earlier tomorrow morning to our summer vacation destination, needless to say that am waiting eagerly for this break and am damn sure i'll definitely enjoy this break, no cooking, washing and mobing for few days..Am very much excited and i'll meet u all after 15days friends, dont forget to send ur entries to my ongoing event..Will definitely check my mails once am back from the vacation..Before leaving for vacation, i wanted to post this healthy,nutritious parathas with drumstick leaves and oats which i prepared today for our dinner, finally i finished my frozen drumstick leaves by using them in parathas..Healthy parathas to enjoy without any guilt and we loved it..Sending to Vegetable Marathan-Drumstick guest hosted by Ruchikacooks and to Global Kadai-Indian Flavoured Flat Bread guest hosted by Sandhya, event by Cilantro and to Neha's Kid's Menu..



2cups Wheat flour
1cup Oats (grounded)
1/2cup Drumstick leaves
1tsp Ajwain seeds
1tsp Cumin seed powder
Salt
Oil
1cup Yogurt

Mix the wheat flour, grounded oats, drumstick leaves, ajwain seeds and cumin seed powder in a large bowl,add the salt,water (if needed) and yogurt,knead everything as soft and smooth dough..Let them sit for few minutes..make medium sized balls with the dough and roll as circles..

Heat a tawa, once its hot, gently drop the rolled circles and drizzle few drops of oil, cook on both sides until they get cooked...Serve immediately with any sort of side dishes...

I bookmarked long back this cabbage roti and oats coconut chutney at Usha's Veg Inspirations, yesterday i got an opportunity to try out these both dishes for our dinner, i used chinese cabbages to make these rotis which turned out the dough bit sticky eventhough they tasted very delicious and crunchiness of the cabbage turned out this rotis more delicious..Coming to the oats coconut chutney, i didnt even opened my mouth before serving this oats coconut chutney to my family with cabbage rotis, none found out the secret ingredient until i revealed that i used oats in this chutney, I tempered this chutney with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves  while Usha didnt went for this ,else i prepared them exactly as she went for..This oats coconut chutney is going to be a keeper for me and thanks to usha for sharing these both delectable and healthy dishes...Sending this both dishes to T&T-Veg Inspirations guest hosted by Saveur..



Cabbage Roti:
3cups Whole wheat flour
1+1/2cups Cabbage (finely chopped)
2tbsp Flax seed meal
1tsp Chilli powder
1/2tsp Ajwain seeds
1/2tsp Caraway seeds
1/2tsp Coriander powder
3/4tsp Cumin powder
Salt
Water
Oil for cooking

Mix the whole wheat flour, cabbage, flax seed meal along with all spices, add water little by little until they turns a smooth dough, keep aside for 15minutes, knead again the dough by adding few more flour as this dough tends to be bit sticky..make medium sized balls from the dough and roll them as rotis..

Heat a pan, drop the rolled rotis, drizzle few drops of oil and cook on both sides until they get well cooked..



Oats Coconut Chutney:
2tbsp Urad dal
2tbsp Channa dal
1/2cup Quick cooking oats
3/4cup Grated coconut
4no Green chillies
Few curry leaves
Salt
1/2tsp Mustard seeds+urad dal

Dry roast the urad dal and channa dal one by one until they turns well roasted, dry roast the quick cooking oats for few minutes, dry roast curry leaves in the same pan and keep aside...Grind coarsely the oats, roasted dals and curry leaves, add the grated coconut, green chillies with enough water and grind as bit coarsely paste, finally heat some oil, fry the mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves..add this tempered spices to the chutney and enjoy along with cabbage rotis...

My mom used to prepare this sweet puttu often when we were kids, she makes these puttu even for breakfast or else for snacks..This puttu was one of my favourite dish which hardly needs raw rice, sugar, a teaspoon of ghee, cardamom powder and grated fresh coconuts..This dish gets ready in very less time and my mom prepare her rice flour herself at home but grinding soaked and slightly dried raw rice which she used to steam cook in pressure cooker and finally add the remaining ingredients when the steamed rice flour were still warm and serve us immediatley..But i prepared this rice flour puttu using the store bought rice flour by roasting them and steam cooking the rice flour, this method is really handy, quick, easy also very simple to make out this delicious rice puttu..Sending this steam cooked rice puttu to Bergamot's Steamy Kitchen Event and Sharmi's Let's Munch:Light Tea Time Snacks...



2cups Rice flour
1cup Sugar
1tsp Cardamom powder
Salt
Water as per need
1cup Grated coconut
1tsp Ghee

Roast the rice flour in a pan for few minutes..Sprinkle enough water and salt to the rice flour little by little, you should be able to form balls at the same time you should able to crumble it back..Steam cook this flour for 20 minutes in pressure cooker..Take the flour and transfer to a big plate, smash if they are some lumps, add the sugar, cardamom powder, ghee, grated coconut and mix everything well using a wooden spatula....

Serve immediately..

Porridge are quite a healthy, filling breakfast dish which is usually prepared with oats cooked in milk and served along with nuts,fruits or else simply with honey..My version of porridge goes for a powder prepared with sprouted green gram,sprouted horsegram, sago,quinoa, oats, barley,flaxseeds, wheat,ragi and brown rice..This porridge mix is really very handy and very filling breakfast porridge for people who were dieting..Adding horsegram to this porridge mix turned out this mix as an interesting porridge coz horsegram are very much adviced to the peoples whoever wanted to reduce their weight, usually this porridge mix goes for nuts like almonds and cashews which i skipped completely in this mix...U can cook this porridge mix with milk or water by adding honey or sugar, my choice goes for water and honey, its such a filling breakfast sometimes i dont even feel tired or hungry for long hours..Sending this healthy mix to my own event Let's Sprout, Kiran's CWF-Barley and finally to CWS-Sago guest hosted by Niloufer...



1cup Sprouted green gram
1cup Quinoa
2cups Sprouted horsegram
1/4cup Sago
1/2cup Barley
1/2cup Brown rice
1cup Wheat
1cup Rolled oats
1/4cup Flaxseeds
1/2cup Whole ragi

Dry the sprouted green gram and sprouted horsegram in sun or over a thick towel for overnite..once everything gets dry, dry roast all the ingredients given for making the porridge mix one by one until a nice aroma comes, keep aside and let them cool completely...Grind this roasted grains as fine powder, sieve the powder, grind again until all the grains get finished and conserve them in air tightened bottle..

Making Porridge:
2tbsp Porridge mix
1cup Water/milk
Honey/Sugar

Bring boil the water or milk, add the porridge mix, mix well without lumps, finally add the honey or sugar and enjoy for breakfast...

Most of our evening dinner goes for salads, soups or Indian foods like adais and dosas apart from idilies coz steamed cooked dishes are not that much welcome,yeah none at home love idlies, after a long hesitation and discussion everyone at home said 'Yes' to some steamed cooked soft fluffy idlies..Instead of making idli batter and fermentation i went for this instant version of healthy idlies with wheat rava,grated carrots and rolled oats for making this soft and healthy idlies..I served this cute soft and healthy idlies along with spicy coconut chutney, for my surprise even my hubby enjoyed having this beautiful, cute looking idlies..



1cup Wheat rava/cracked wheat
1cup Rolled oats
1/4cup Grated carrots
2nos Green chillies (chopped)
1tsp Ginger (grated)
1tsp Eno salt
1cup Sour curd
1tsp Mustard seeds, urad dal +channa dal
2tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
Few curry leaves
Salt
Oil

Take the cracked wheat, rolled oats, grated carrots, chopped green chillies,chopped coriander leaves, grated ginger, sour curd with enough salt in a bowl, mix everything well, meanwhile heat enough oil, let crack the mustard seeds, urad dal and channa dal, add the curry leaves finally and drop gently this tempered spices to the already prepared batter, mix well...finally add the eno salt and water to turn the batter as thick idly batter... Grease the idli moulds with oil and pour the idli batter in the moulds, steam cook for 10 minutes in idli cooker..

Enjoy this fluffy idlies with coconut chutney...

The name of this dosa sounds very interesting also long at the same time na?? yeah this dosa is prepared with sprouted moong, sprouted black eyed peas and drumstick leaves which doesnt need fermentation also its very healthy and nutritious...I'll be leaving for vacation next weekend for two weeks, everyone at home waiting eagerly for this two weeks of vacation, so before leaving to vacation am trying to clean my freezer and fridge, while going through my freezer i got a bag of drumstick leaves which i have frozen two months back and also some sprouted black eyed peas which i sprouted and arranged in freezer before few months..Immediately i wanted to make something for our dinner with these frozen leaves and sprouted peas along with freshly sprouted whole moong beans which i sprouted two days back..I just soaked half a cup of brown rice for two hours and prepared this healthy dosa batter using sprouted moong, sprouted black-eyed peas and drumstick leaves, we enjoyed this dosa with Oats coconut chutney which i prepared from Usha of Veg Inspirations, we loved having this crispy dosa with healthy chutney..Do try this combo friends, u will definitely enjoy having this dosa for the sure..



2cups Sprouted whole moong
1cup Sprouted black-eyes peas (thawed)
1/2cup Brown rice (soaked for two hours)
1/2cup Drumstick leaves
2nos Green chillies
1tbsp Ginger (minced)
Salt

Grind as a bit coarse paste with sprouted whole moong, sprouted black-eyes peas, brown rice, drumstick leaves, green chillies and minced ginger with enough salt..

Heat a pan or tawa, pour a ladle of this dosa batter, spread the batter as circles, drizzle few drops of oil and cook on both sides until they get well cooked...serve hot with spicy chutneys...

When summer is around, we guys couldnt stop buying watermelons, once they get finished either me or my H will definitely get them from the nearby chinese store, where we get tiny but very sweet seedless watermelons, after having the sweet watermelon chunks, immediately my H will cut the leftover white rinds and arrange in a plastic box so that i can cook them whenever i need to make something with those white rinds..I have prepared gravies and halwa with those white rinds of watermelon but this time here comes a roti which i saw in Usha's Veg Inspirations and immediately i wanted to try them, i prepared this rotis two days back and served with mixed veggies kurma for our dinner, this roti was really amazing, tasty, healthy at the same time none at home found out the secret ingredient i used in this rotis, when i told that i used some finely grated watermelon white rind in this rotis, they were surprised and enjoyed having this roti...Thanks to Usha for sharing this healthy roti and its gonna be often present in our menu...I followed the same process as Usha went for making this rotis, eventhough i have added few ajwain seeds to give more flavour to this beautiful rotis.



3cups Wheat flour
1cup Watermelon white rinds (finely grated)
1/2cup Carrot (grated)
1tsp Red chilli powder
1tsp Cumin powder
1/2tsp Coriander powder
1/2tsp Cumin seeds
1/2tsp Ajwain seeds
Salt

In a large bowl, add the wheat flour, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder,cumin seeds and ajwain seeds and mix well, add the grated watermelon rinds and grated carrots, mix well into the dough and knead with enough water (if needed) as a smooth, stiff and non sticky dough..Let them sit for few minutes..makes medium sized balls with the dough and roll as circles..

Heat a tawa, once its hot, gently drop the rolled circles and drizzle few drops of oil, cook on both sides until they get cooked...Serve immediately with any sort of side dishes...

Dunno wat about u all, but my pantry is always filled with breads and buns, coz everyone at home like to have a simple bread toast served either with jam or nutella or simply with butter along with hot coffee or chocolate..Before we used to buy white breads and have them usually for breakfast, since i started enjoying healthy and fibre rich foods, i changed even my white bread slices to whole wheat bread slices, my teddies like bread as upma and i do prepare often in stove top, for the first time i wanted give a try in microwave oven...Yesterday, i prepared this simple bread upma with some leftover wheat breads in microwave oven coz it was too hot here and its completely a hard task for me to cook something especially for our dinner, so i prepared this simple bread upma for our sterday's dinner in less than 30minutes through microwaven oven and we enjoyed along with ketchup also with a simple tomato salad..



6nos Whole wheat bread slices (cubed)
1no Onion (big & chopped finely)
2nos Green chillies (slit opened)
1tsp Ginger (minced)
1tsp Mustard seeds+urad dal
1/2tsp Channadal
3nos Dry red chillies
1/4tsp Asafoetida powder
1/4tsp Turmeric powder
Curry leaves
Oil
Salt

Heat enough oil in a microwave safe bowl for 2 minutes in high, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, dry red chillies, asafoetida powder to the oil and cook again in microwave oven for 5minutes in high until the dals turns golden brown..now add the chopped onions, minced ginger, slit opened green chillies, curry leaves and cook everything again in high for 10 minutes (stir in between)along with turmeric powder and salt...finally add the cubed bread chunks, toss everything gently until they get well mixed with the spices, cook everything again for 10minutes in high (stir in between)..

Serve with ketchup or spicy chutneys..

My experience making foods with home made sprouts goes this time to a healthy, nutritious and delicious crispy dosas, this crispy dosa goes for our usual way of making batter and u have to leave them for fermentation overnite, the next day the batter is ready to make these crispy healthy dosas...I have added some rolled oats to make this batter to turn them even more healthier, this dosas suits prefectly for any ages..Simple, healthy dosas which turn out really super crispy and i served this dosa along with spicy coconut chutney and both together works out wonder and we had a healthy dinner yesterday...



1+1/2cups Sprouted kala channa
1+1/2cups Brown rice
1/2cup Parboiled rice
1/2cup Rolled oats