Cranberry Relish

December is my favourite month of the year- in december both my hubby and I celebrate our birthdays as well as our weddnig anniversary – not to mention Christmas and New year...and of course, lots of pre christmas dinner parties... which means loads of good food and fun. For this one month, amongst all the partying, I normally forget all about calorie intake and simply indulge and enjoy.

So I thought, at least, I could indulge with something a little healthy (which has kind of become a synonym of my name, according to my best friend!), to compensate all the rich good food and keep a balance.

This week, when my hubby bought this box of cranberries, the moment I saw the box, it was very clear in my mind what I was gonna do with them. This recipe is very easy to make and tastes really awesome.

I had it with some rosemary and cheese crisps, while my hubby enjoyed it with papad / poppadams and it tastes good with Roti or bread.

The sourness of the cranberries, the flavours of all the spices and a slight sweet hint makes this relish an instant hit. We enjoyed this so much that my hubby already got another box of cranberries :-)

Ingredients

100 grams - cranberries, cut into half

1/8 tsp - fennel seeds (saunf)

a generous pinch of nigella seeds (kalonji)

3 tbsp - sunflower oil

1 - red whole chilli

1 tbsp - raisins

1/4 tsp - turmeric powder (haldi)

1/2 tsp - red chilli powder, more or less

1 tsp - coriander powder (dhaniya powder)

1/8 tsp - garam masala powder

1/4 tsp - mustard seed powder (peesi rai)

salt to taste

2 tbsp - water

a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)
2 - bayleaves

1 1/2 tsp - sugar, more or less

Method

1. In a bowl mix together the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt, garam masala powder, mustard seed powder with 2 tbsp of water and keep aside. 
2. Heat oil in a non stick pan, add the fennel seeds, nigella seeds, hing and red whole chilli.
3. Add the spice paste to the oil and saute for a minute on medium heat. 
4. Add the cranberries, raisins and mix. Cover the lid and cook on medium heat until the cranberries are soft. 
5. Add the sugar and cook again for half a minute.
6. Remove from the heat and serve. The relish tastes good hot as well as cold. 

Enjoy!

Spelt Shortbread

For me, cooking and baking is a stress buster, it really helps me to keep my calm. A little while ago, I was really in a foul mood, so bad, that, my head was hurting me. I thought, if I don't do something, this bad day could turn into a very bad day. 

So, of course, I went into the kitchen. Took out the baking tray, whole wheat flour (aata), all purpose flour (maida), baking powder, sugar, oil and even butter (which I normally do not use much in my baking) but, then without doing anything, I left the kitchen, went to the study, turned on the computer, thought this would help. I started organising the desktop, deleting unwanted mails, when suddenly my eyes fell on an email from my friend with the subject "Shortbread". I opened it, read it, went to the kitchen and started making it. While making it, believe me, I did not for once think about what happened a while ago, and got busy making the shortbread.

Thanks to this good friend of mine, who gave me this recipe, I was back to normal that day. Oh, by the way, the smell that emanates from the oven, when this lovely shortbread is being baked, definitely made me very happy :-)

Ingredients

125 gram - spelt flour (you can also make it with maida instead of spelt flour)

50 gram - cornflour

15 gram - semolina (suji)

125 gram - butter unsalted at room temperature

70 gram - sugar

a pinch of salt

castor sugar (optional)

Method

1. Add the sugar and the butter to a bowl and mix well with your hands.
2. Add the semolina, cornflour, spelt flour (you can also use maida instead of spelt flour) and salt in another bowl and mix.
3. Add the flour mixture, a little at a time and mix in with the butter, by the end, you will get a soft dough. 
4. Put the dough in a small rectangular baking tray and press the dough, with the palm of your hand and level it using an inverted small flat botommed bowl or cup (I used a stainless stell bowl). Alternately, you can also roll out the dough using a rolling pin and transfer the rolled out dough on to a baking tray. (the former method is quicker and fuss-free)
5. Using a knife, cut to the size you wish to have. (My shortbread pieces were 2.5 cm wide and 5 cms long). Don't forget to prick the dough with a fork.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 160 degrees C for 38-40 minutes. 
7. Let the tray rest in the oven for 2 minutes, take out the tray and immediately, cut again where you cut previously to seperate the biscuits and prevent breaking. 
8. Sprinkle a little castor sugar on the top of the shortbread and let it cool completely before storing it an air tight container. 

Enjoy!

Tiny Pineapple Wonders!

Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy and wise. Learnt this classic piece of human wisdom when I was in Kindergarten. However, applying it to daily life is another matter altogether. For both my hubby and me, it's the opposite case. We both are not morning people.

Many a times, whilst reading, or surfing the net or in my case also following what you guys have been up to, we have these sudden hunger pangs and cravings to eat something. My hubby generally settles for something junk, while I prefer having a cup of warm milk with biscuits (I am a milkaddict). But, this weekend, on saturday midnight, my dearest really wanted to have something sweet and we were, a rare exception, out of chocolates. So, in the middle of the night, I baked these tiny wonders, obviously he was more than happy to help me.

I adapted my recipe Bournvita Bundt Cakes  a bit and came up with these cute looking things. Pineapple and coconut were a beautiful combination. And it just took just around 6-7 mins of baking time.

We had a little mid-night tea party, and there was a very happy face sitting beside me and seeing him happy, I was the happiest :-)

Ingredients

2 tbsp heaped - whole wheat flour (aata)

1 tbsp heaped - pineapples, finely chopped (one slice from the can)

1/8 tsp - baking powder

2 tbsp - honey

2 tbsp - sunflower oil

2 tbsp - coconut milk

2 tbsp - dessicated coconut

a pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. 
2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the pineapple pieces with the rest of the ingredients. 
3. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix lightly. 
4. Spoon the batter into the paper moulds and put them on a baking tray.
5. Place the tray in the center of the preheated oven and bake for around 6-7 minutes. Serve. 

Enjoy!

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

It's been ages since I made some pudding, and have had a rising desire for pudding for some days now. But the winter is coming - which generally means much more rich food and therefore, the recipe that I am gonna share with you is relatively healthy, and at the same time very simple to make and delicious and of course chocolatey.

So, it fit perfectly last weekend, as I was thinking about making something new, while my hubby was net-surfing - he stumbled upon this website, where he saw this recipe and he shouted from the study, "Hey! I found a very healthy-chocolate pudding recipe online. I think, it's something for you."

I was busy in my thoughts, and did not really pay attention to what he was saying, partly also because of the loud music on Radio (I always have music on when I am cooking). He shouted again, and when he did not get any response from me, he came to the kitchen, and said, "I have been calling you, but forget it, do we have avocado at home?" "Yes, we do, but why?" I said. He dissappeared for a minute, and came back with a print out and said with a grin on his face, "Today's dessert". How could I refuse making this recipe, especially when my dearest so expectantly gave me the recipe.

Of course, we had this dessert that day, with a few teeny-weeny changes from my side. This is the link, where he found that recipe, and, here is how I made it.

Ingredients
 
1 - ripe avocado, peeled and seeded

2 tbsp - butter unsalted

3 tbsp - cocoa powder

3 tbsp - honey (adjust according to your taste)

1 tbsp - walnuts, very finely crushed + to garnish

a generous pinch of cinnamon powder

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup - coconut milk (more or less) (you may also use almond milk)

Method

1.  Put the avocado and butter in a bowl and mash together with a fork until smooth.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix vigorously until everything is mixed and smooth.
3. Garnish with the crushed walnuts and serve. (if the pudding ends up too thick, correct the consistency by adding a little more coconut milk to it)

Have a lovely weekend!

Moong Dal ke Parathe/Lentil Parathe

We are enjoying a perfect european autumn - have had lots of lovely weather lately, slightly cool but sunny and bright - locally called an "altweibersommer" - literally translated - an old wives' summer. The term relates not to geriatric specimens of female persuasion, but rather to a local spider art which is particularly active weaving it's webs during warm autumns.

Anyway....back from ugggh spiders to it's been so beautiful as of late, and I hope it remains like this for a little longer. The weather is just perfect for long walks (which we definitely need after all the Diwali indulgence). These are a few photos from a short autumn walk this week. 

Isn't it beautiful?

Coming to today's recipe - Moong dal ke parathe or as we call them back home - mogar ki pudi - is a very typical rajasthani dish - and you can eat them hot and fresh, or even for the next 3 - 4 days as they don't spoil.

I have had these a number of times (made by mom and my MIL) but I really had not bothered until now to make them at home. But, this time, when my in laws were here, I made them, with the help of my MIL. It tastes great with red chilli pickles or salted yogurt or shrikhand (thick sweet yogurt).

Ingredients

2 cups - whole wheat flour (aata)

60 grams - yellow moong dal (split yellow gram)

3 tbsp - sunflower oil

2 tsp - red chilli powder

1/2 tsp - garam masala

1/2 tsp - coriander seeds, finely crushed

1 tsp - kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

salt to taste

water to knead the dough

oil to roast the parathas

Method

1. Soak the dal/lentils for an hour and cook until slightly soft.
2. Mix together everything in a bowl and knead using water. The dough should be medium soft. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 mins. 
3. Divide the dough into small size balls and roll the balls out into a paratha.
4. Roast the paratha on both the sides on a non stick pan, using oil on each side until brown spots appear on the surface. 
5. Serve.

I had them with shrikhand , while my hubby enjoyed them with red chilli pickle.

Enjoy!