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Orange nankhatai


After plain nankhatais, there is the second version of nankhatis-Tasty Orange flavoured nankhatais

Ingredients

3/4 cup maida/all purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of red orange colour
Pinch of cooking soda
1 tsp orange essence
1/3 cup ghee

Sieve the maida and soda and keep aside. Beat the sugar and ghee well and add in orange essence and red orange colour. Mix well and add the sieved flour little by little and make a dough. Make small balls and flatten them. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes till done.

Cool well and serve.
* I didnt have Orange zest, if you have you can add them instead of the food colour.

Plain milk buns

Recipe source: DK of Chef in you

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour/maida
2 tsp dry active yeast
3 tbsp butter
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tbsp sugar

Heat the milk till lukewarm and add butter. Heat water till lukewarm and add the yeast and sugar. Mix and let it stay till it froths up. Add salt and butter-milk mix to it and stir. Add in the flour little by little and keep mixing to get a dough. Knead well for 10 minutes and place in a greased bowl and cover with slightly wet cloth. Place the bowl in a warm area till the dough doubles in size.

Make medium sized balls and arrange them by flattening slightly on a baking tray leaving some gap in between.

Leave it to double again and then bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes until it is done and slightly brown.

Cool and serve

I decorated the buns with little bit of mixed fruit jam.

Guest post :Asha Sathya narayanan

Asha has sent in her recipe for losing weight..she says

Dry roast 1 portion of Horse gram and 1 portion of Barley (1:1) and ground coarse in a mixie.  Cook in the cooker for 8 whistles as barley takes time to be cooked.  This is to be had early n the morning as a soup before breakfast. If needed one can add jeera and pepper powder for taste. It is very helpful to lose inches.  However this cannot be a substitute for walks or exercises.  I have been doing this for the last one month. It does help a lot. I hope this helps some of them who wish to lose some inches.

* Pls note that Asha is not a registered medicial practitioner and this is a friendly advise as mentioned in a book. Like she says this is not a substitute for exercises to lose weight.

Budding blogger :Geeta

Meet Geeta of Sun Moon and Potatoes in the budding blogger segment.

She says-

"Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy. And cooking done with care is an act of love." -
Craig Claiborne, Kitchen Primer


I am Geetha from ‘Sun Moon & Potatoes’. I am a passionate cook, mom to a little boy and a Regulatory Affairs Executive by profession. My mom and grandmother are expert cooks. I always loved the food they made; but I never thought that some day, I would be trying to recreate them in my kitchen to perfection.
My journey of culinary adventures did not start until I came to Dublin. When I used to take lunch into work, most of my Irish colleagues would be very curious about Indian cuisine. I loved the fact that they wanted to know more about Indian cooking. The endless questions never bothered me and that’s when I realized my passion for cooking. It’s at the same time when my darling husband (who is a big foodie himself) also encouraged me to set up a website and share the recipes with the world. He took it upon himself to set it up for me once the name was selected and here it is... just over a year old now.
Now you must be wondering... but why the name Sun Moon and Potatoes?? The name signifies that every element of the earth seeps into the dishes I conjure up. This could be a hearty potato creation or an opulent, extravagant recipe of seafood paella. I use this space to express my uninhibited joy of living, cooking and loving.
My speciality is cuisine from Kerala but I love to try all types of recipes. When someone asks me for a specific recipe, I can never wait until I try it out in my kitchen. My main aim is to make delicious recipe quickly and with the least ingredients possible or alternatively, with readily available ingredients. As soon as I have cooked something, my hubby is ready with the camera to take some shots, before he can dive into the food. I always look forward to his comments about the recipe.
So now I would like to welcome you all to my world www.sunmoonandpotatoes.com – feel free to explore, express and experiment.
I would like to say a big thank you to EC for introducing me on the Budding Blogger series.

Nankhatai



Ingredients

3/4 cup maida/all purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of cooking soda
1/3 cup ghee
Cardamom powder a bit

Sieve the maida and soda and keep aside. Beat the sugar and ghee well and add in the cardamom powder. Add the sieved flour little by little and make a dough. Make small balls and flatten them. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes till done.

Cool well and serve.

Chapati noodles

Recipe source: Raji from Raks Kitchen..

Ingredients

3 chapatis
2 tsp oil
1 medium onion sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup mixed vegetables shredded (cabbage, carrot, capsicum)
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp tomato sauce
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Finely chopped coriander leaves

Cut the chapati into four and then cut them lengthwise. Heat oil, add onions and fry till light pink. Add the shredded vegetables and sprinkle some water for it to get cooked. When dry, add soya sauce, tomato sauce, red chilli powder and salt. Mix well on high flame and add the chapati pieces. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice, mix well and serve.

Oats aval dosa


Ingredients

2 cups beaten rice/poha/aval
1 cup oats
1/4 cup rice flour
Salt to taste
1/4 cup curds
1 green chilli finely chopped
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Oil to required

Soak the beaten rice in 2 cups water for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients except oil and little more water as required for batter and keep aside for 10 minutes.

Heat tava and pour a ladle full of water to a medium thickness dosa. Spread few drops of oil around and allow to cook on medium flame till done. Slowly invert and cook on other side as well till cooked.


Serve hot with spicy chutney/sambar of your choice.
Healthy, soft and instant dosa ready..

Bajra Jowar Besan thalipeeth


Ingredients

1/2 cup bajra flour
1/2 cup jowar flour
1/2 cup gram flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 finely chopped onion
Salt to taste
Finely cut coriander leaves
1 green chilli cut finely
Oil as required to cook

Mix all the ingredients with water to a soft dough except oil. Keep covered for 10 minutes. Make medium sized balls and pat on a slightly wet plastic sheet to medium thickness. Slowly put it over a hot tava and cook with few drops of oil in the sides till brown spots appear. Turn and cook on other side as well. Serve hot with raita of your choice.




Orange flavoured cookies

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour/maida
1/2 cup vanaspati/shortening
3/4 cup sugar powdered
1 tsp orange essence
1 tsp orange zest (if you have)
Pinch of orange colour
Sieve the sugar and flour together to remove any lumps. Add the essence, zest and mix well. Add the colour to the vanaspati, mix and then add it little by little to the flour mix. Keep mixing till you get a dough. Make small balls of it and flatten them a bit.

Preheat oven to 180 deg. Arrange the flattened balls leaving some gap between each biscuit. Bake in convention mode for 8 mins. Cool for 10 minutes before storing in an air tight container.

* I didnt have orange zest yet the essence gave a good orange flavour to the biscuit..If you have them you can include the zest too for more flavour..

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Biscuit pudding


Recipe source: Srividhya's version at Appetizing Recipes..However I tried it with biscuits instead of cakes..

Ingredients

A pack of crisp biscuits (I used one with nuts)
2 cups milk
3 tbsp custard powder
4 tbsp sugar
Chocolate strands for garnishing

Heat the milk keeping aside a 1/4 cup. Mix the custard powder with the 1/4 cup milk. Add sugar to the hot milk and when it dissolves, add the custard powder mixed with milk. Continue to heat until the custard starts getting thick..Keep stirring and cool well.

Place a layer biscuits on a tray close to each other. Use the broken pieces to fill in the gaps. Pour one portion of custard mix over it. Next place another layer of biscuits and pour in the rest of the custard over it and spread well. Garnish with chocolate strands.

Allow it to get set well by refrigerating for some time. Cut into pieces and serve

Eggless vanilla muffins


Tried this recipe from Sharmi's blog Sharmis passion. It came out really good..

Ingredients

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cooking butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup milk
2 tbsp coloured sugar balls

Sieve the flours, salt and baking powder together for two times.

Beat butter and sugar well till fluffy. Mix the essence and milk seperately and add it to the butter mix. Beat till creamy and add the flour mix slowly. Mix well till smooth without lumps. Add coloured sugar balls and mix.

Line the muffin liners in the tray and pour batter till 3/4th. To make a big cake, the same batter can be poured into a cake baking tray too.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes till toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and serve.

Garnish as desired.

Bran rice akkaravadisal


Ingredients

2/3 cup bran rice
1/ 3 cup greengram dal
4 tbsp bengalgram dal
1 cup jaggery
1 tsp cardamom powder
A bit of pachai karpooram (edible camphor)
Few roasted cashews and raisins
1 cup milk
2 tbsp ghee

Soak the rice in enough water for one hour. Pressure cook rice and dals with 2 cups of water and milk.

In a seperate vessel, add little water to the jaggery and heat till it starts boiling. Add cardamom powder to it and cooked rice and dal. Mix well. Add the edible camphor, ghee and mix well. Cook for five minutes.

Garnish with roasted cashews and raisins.

* If it gets thick, add some more milk and mix well before serving.

Chewy butterscotch cookies


Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup shortening/vanaspati
3/4 cup sugar (powdered)
3 tbsp butterscotch chips
1/2 tsp butterscotch essence

Sieve the sugar and flour together twice. Add the essence to the vanaspati and mix well. Add vanaspati little by little to the flour and keep mixing it. Finally add the butterscotch chips and mix well. Make small balls, flatten them slightly and make impressions with fork. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.



Vegetable seekh kabab


Ingredients

2 cups finely chopped and cooked mixed vegetables (cabbage, carrot, beans)
2 medium potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)
1/4 cup sweet corn cooked and mashed
4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 green chilli finely chopped or paste
1/4 tsp ginger paste
2 tbsp gram flour
1/4 tsp chaat masala powder
Finely chopped coriander leaves

Heat 1 tbsp oil and add the cumin seeds. When it splutters, add the green chillies and ginger paste. Add the mixed vegetables, sweet corn and mashed potatoes. Add salt, chaat masala and gram flour. Mix well to get rid of the raw smell of gram flour. Finally add coriander leaves and mix. Allow it to cool for some time.

Use skewers to roll them into long kebabs or make bite sized kababs with toothpicks. 

Cook them on all sides on a hot tava with few drops of oil till golden brown.

Serve hot with some tomato sauce. 



Eggless Pound cake


Recipe adapted from Gayathri's Cookspot..she has an amazing collection of eggless bakes and this is one of them..

Ingredients

1.5 cups -3 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp cornflour
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp +1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 cup curd
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tsp salt
185 grams cooking butter

Sieve both the flours three times to mix it evenly. Mix to it - sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt well.

Mix vanilla essence, buttermilk, 3 tbsp milk, 1/4 cup milk, vinegar and curd and whisk lightly.

Add butter to the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the liquid mixture. Mix well. Add another 1/3 rd of the liquid mixture and beat again. Finally add the last 1/3 rd and beat well. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Pour into greased baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Since I used smaller pan, it was done 10 minutes earlier.

Allow it to cool well and garnish as desired or serve as it is


Oats moong halwa


Ingredients

1/2 cup oats (dry roast)
1/4 cup greengram dal soaked in water for 1 hour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 tbsp ghee
Almond sliced or roasted cashews

Grind the soaked dal to a smooth paste with little water. Powder the roasted oats and keep aside. Heat the ghee in a non stick pan and add the dal paste and cook well till the raw smell of the dal vanishes. Add a little milk in between if required. Now add the roasted oats powder and milk. Cook for 2 minutes and add sugar and cook till everything gets mixed well and thick.

Garnish with sliced almonds or roasted cashews.


Bajra Alu thalipeeth


Ingredients

2 cups bajra flour
2 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp wheat flour
Salt to taste
2 small boiled and mashed potatoes
Finely chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 small onion chopped finely
Oil as required

Mix all the ingredients except oil and use warm water to make a soft dough. Grease a plastic sheet with few drops of oil. Make balls of the dough and pat them on the greased sheetto medium thickness rounds. Cook on hot tava with drops of oil till brown spots appear on both sides and it is well cooked.

Serve hot with raita of your choice.

2 - Min Eggless Microwave mug cake


Recipe source: Nithi's version at 4th sense cooking..Thanks for the perfect recipe Nithi

Ingredients

3 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp powdered sugar
3 tbsp milk
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cooking soda

For butterscotch cake-
1/4 tsp butterscotch essence 
2 tbsp butterscotch chips 
2 tbsp all purpose flour

OR

For chocolate cake -
 1/4 tsp chocolate essence
2 tsp chocolate chips
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients well in a microwave safe mug to get a smooth batter without lumps. Microwave on high for exactly 2 mins. Allow it to set for 10 minutes and it is ready to eat.

Jowar roti


Ingredients

2 cups jowar flour
Salt to taste
Warm water
Ghee as required

Make a soft dough of the flour, salt and warm water. Make medium sized balls and pat on a greased sheet to medium thickness roti. Slowly put it on a hot tava and pat the upper surface with little water. Allow it to cook and slowly invert and cook on other side as well. When done, put it directly on tava as we do for pulkhas and serve hot with ghee.


Rava idli


Ingredients

2 cups roasted rava
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp bengalgram dal
1 tsp blackgram dal
Few curry leaves
Bit of ginger paste
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Few roasted cashew pieces
1/4 tsp eno fruit salt
1/4 cup beaten curd
Salt to taste

Mix the rava with curds, salt and 1 cup water. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add bengalgram dal, blackgram dal, curry leaves and ginger and add to the rava batter. Add coriander leaves, cashews and mix well. Let it stay covered for 10 minutes. Add more water if required to get a thick batter. Grease idli plates with a drop of oil. Add eno to the batter and mix. Pour immediately into idli moulds and steam cook for 5-7 minutes. Insert a toothpic to check if it comes out clean, else cook for another 1 or 2 minutes.

Serve hot with chutney/sambar of your choice.

Budding blogger : Lani

Meet Lani of Fig and Walnut blog in the Budding blogger series

She says -

My name is Lani, I am a cooking teacher in Australia and have just started my food blog, Fig and Walnut. I love all types of cooking, and want to share my recipes with the world! I have lots of multicultural influences in my cooking - my family is greek, my partner is Sri Lankan, my step family is Italian - cooking is in my blood. I travel to different places around the world every year to find new influences for my cooking - last year I travelled to Malaysia and China and learnt some great new recipes. This year I am off to the deep south in the USA to learn some Cajun and Creole recipes, and to Sri Lanka to pick up some short eat recipes and perfect my curries! Subscribe to my email newsletter for some exclusive recipes, or to my feed to get all my latest updates.

Fig and Walnut showcases my cooking ideas, recipes, restaurant reviews, and general food chatter that I have collected on my travels and through my work as a cooking teacher for the local council. I have a passion for baking and love to experiment with different types of breads, cakes, sweets and pastries. I am also largely vegetarian so my blog includes a special Vegetarian and Vegan section where you can view all my meat and animal product-free recipes. Though for the meat lovers I do have recipes with meat! I also often recommend meat substitutions for the vegetarians who would like to try my meat recipes.

My previous career was as a filmmaker so I love to populate my blog with lots of photos of my recipes. I am based out of both Melbourne, Australia and Phoenix, Arizona, USA throughout the year so my recipe base will  never run dry!

Butter Badushah


Its raining sweet and savories in the blogging world for the upcoming Deepavali festival..I also finally tried out something that I have never tried earlier - Badushah. The recipe is as it is from one of my favourite blogger - Sharmilee of Sharmis passion..Also have a look at Raji's version at Raks kitchen with recipe and video for Badushah but with a different measurement for ingredients. Both of them have provided step by step instructions with special tips and leave no space for going wrong in any way......

Ingredients

1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tbsp beaten curd
1 tsp sugar
1.5 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cooking soda
1/2 cup sugar
Cardamom powder for flavour
3/4 cup water
Bit of lemon juice
Water as required
Oil to fry

Mix the butter, oil, sugar, curd and soda well. Slowly add in the flour and keep mixing it well. Finally add water as required to get a soft dough. Keep aside for 10 minutes and prepare the sugar syrup by that time.

Heat the sugar and water to get a single string consistency. Add in the lemon juice and cardamom powder and keep aside. Make small balls of the dough and flatten them slightly. To make the corners decorative, have a look at the videos at Sharmis blog or Raks kitchen. 

Heat oil in medium flame. Put a small piece of the flour to check the heat. If it pops up immediately, put in a few pieces of the badushah and switch off the stove. Dont disturb it and let it cook in the oil. When the bubbles settle down, switch on the stove again and cook on medium flame till golden brown. Drain excess oil in a tissue paper and dip in the sugar syrup. Let it stay soaked for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a greased plate. Repeat for rest of the dough.

Although it takes a reasonable time to prepare these, the end results are just fantastic. Garnish with cardamom powder or saffron strands.

Jowar paniyaram


Ingredients

2 cups jowar flour
2 tbsp rice flour
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp bengalgram dal
1 tsp blackgram dal
Few curry leaves
Bit of ginger
Salt to taste
Finely chopped onion -1
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Optional : Grated carrots, cabbage

Mix jowar flour, rice flour, salt, coriander leaves with water to get thick batter consistency and keep aside. Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add bengalgram dal, blackgram dal, chopped curry leaves, ginger and onion. Fry for a minute and add to the batter.

Heat paniyaram pan and grease it with little oil. Add the batter into the holes and allow it to cook well till golden brown on the lower side. Slowly turn and cook on other side as well till done.

Remove from pan and serve hot with chutney/sambar of your choice.

A quick and healthy breakfast and can be served also as an evening snack.

Eggless microwave vanilla cake



This week I am paired with Radhika of Tickling palates -the brain behind the Blog Hop Wednesday series. I tried to follow a theme of baking throughout this series until now and this time too I baked a eggless vanilla cake in Microwave mode from Radhika's blog. However I substituted the cocoa powder with all purpose flour to make it a vanilla flavoured cake.

Thanks for the simple yet delicious cake recipe Radhika

Ingredients

1.5 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1.25 cups powdered sugar
1 cup milk
5 tbsp butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp white vinegar

Sift flour with sugar and baking soda and keep aside. Add milk, oil, essence and vinegar and mix well together. Bake in a greased microwave safe bowl for 5-7 minutes in high temperature setting. Allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

Simple and quick microwave cake ready to serve.

Eggless chocolate chip cookies




Radhika's brainchild Blog Hop Wednesday enters another week today and my blog hop partner is Pratima of Prats Corner. I chose to try her Eggless Chocolate chip cookies and they were perfect..I used chocolate essence instead of vanilla and chopped chocolate pieces instead of chocolate chips..I chopped the chocolate too finely and it melted during baking...so ensure that you dont grate the chocolates pieces or chop it very finely..

Ingredients

170 grams all purpose flour
100 grams sugar (powdered)
Bit of baking powder
120 grams soft unsalted butter
Chocolate chips or chopped chocolate pieces as desired
1 tsp chocolate essence

Beat the butter and sugar well until creamy. Add the essence and mix well. Sieve flour and baking powder and add slowly to the butter mixture. Finally add choco chips and mix lightly. Make balls, flatten them and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes till edges start getting brown.

Cool it well to let it get crisp.

Shortbread cookies



Blog Hop Wednesdays initiated by Radhika of Tickling Palates enters another week and this week my Blog Hop partner is Monika of Sin-A-Mon blog..The Alphabet shortbread cookies from her blog very attractive and I chose to try them out..They were really good and vanished away quickly..Thanks Monika for this delicious one..Since I tried just half the quantity, the measurements given below are also half of the original. Also I skipped lemon zest since I didnt have any.. 

Ingredients

 3 cups all purpose flour/maida
1.5 cups soft butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
Sugar candies for toppings

Cream the butter well. Add sugar powdered and mix again till creamy. Add in the essence, salt and flour and make a soft dough. Cover in a plastic sheet and refrigerate for atleast an hour.

Take a small portion, roll into a thick round, sprinkle candies and cut desired shapes.

Line on a baking tray and chill for 15 minutes. Preheat oven at 175 degrees and bake for 8 minutes.

Cool well and serve.


Carrot Onion chutney


Ingredients

3 big carrots (skin peeled and grated)
1 medium onion (chopped)
Salt to taste
2 red chillies
2 tsp oil
Bit of asafoetida

Heat 1 tsp oil, add onions  and fry till light pink. Remove the onions and heat the remaining 1 tsp oil. Add the grated carrots and fry till the raw smell goes off. Cool and grind with red chillies, asafoetida and salt till smooth.

Tasty and healthy chutney to go with dosa/idli/upma varieties.

Eggless Butterless Oats cake

This week, my partner for the Blog Hop Wednesdays stared by Radhika of Tickling palates is Kalyani of Sizzling Tastebuds..I chose to try her Eggless Butterless Oats cake but brought in minor changes to make it a Vanilla flavoured one.


Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup coarsely powdered oats
1 1/2 cup sugar (powdered)
1/2 tsp baking soda
Salt 2 pinches
10 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla essence

Sieve the flour with salt and baking soda 2-3 times. Add the sugar and oats to it and keep aside. Beat cooking oil, water and essence for a few minutes and add the flour mix to it. Gently get everything together and pour in a greased pan. Preheat oven to 180 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes checking if the cake is done by getting a clean toothpick back when inserted in the cake.

Cool well and garnish as desired. I cut the cake into two and make a orange flavoured butter cream with orange essence, butter and icing sugar. Spread the cream over one part and cover it with the other part. Spread some more butter cream over it and in the sides.  Add a bit of red orange colour to the remaining butter cream mixture and garnish the cake as desired.

Although this cake wouldnt be fluffy and the texture wouldnt be like the normal cake because of the addition of oats, it definetely is a good option to try for kids evening snacks.






Nutritious cereal bar



Ingredients

2 cups crisp breakfast cereals with nuts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup demerara sugar
2 tbsp butter

Heat butter, sugar and honey on low flame till sugar melts. Add in the cereals and mix well.
                                     

Spread on butter paper or greased plate and roll slightly with the greased rolling pin to even it out. Let it cool for 10 minutes and cut into bars.

Cool well and serve.