Kuttu Atta Chila in Navratra

Navratras are here and everyone is busy fasting...or should I say feasting. Well these days navratras have become more of a fest than fast, with Haldiram's and Bikanerwalas coming up with navratra chaat, tikki, thali and what not.

If you are like me and want to eat light during the 9 days fast then I have just the right recipe for you. We usually use kuttu atta and singhada aata to make fried puris or paranthas which we eat with equally oily aloo sabzi during navratras. You can use the same flour to create something filling, healthy and yet tasty. You can remove/add few ingredients based on what you eat or avoid during fast.

Ingredients:

1. Kuttu atta or singhada atta - 2-3 serving spoon
2. chopped green chilies - 1
3. chopped tomatoes - 1
4. chopped fresh coriander - 2 spoons
5. Sendha Salt - to taste
6. Oil to cook - 1/2 spoon

Method:

1. Take your selected flour in a bowl and and pour 2-3 spoon water in it. Mix well to create a smooth paste.
2. Add some more water to adjust the consistency to make a thin paste so that it falls freely from the spoon.
3. Add salt to taste and mix.
4. Heat a non stick pan and and little oil to it.
5. Pour and spread the flour mix in pan with a spoon.
6. Sprinkle chopped coriander, green chilies and tomatoes on this, cover and cook for 3-4 mins.
7. Flip and cook from other side as well.
8. You can enjoy this with a peanuts chutney or curd.

Atta Chocolate Cake

It is every alternate day that my little three years old keeps on requesting me to bake a black cake for him so that he can celebrate his birthday. Black cake does not mean that I burn the cake; it simply is a dark chocolate cake as he is still not able to clearly draw the line between black and dark brown.

I am more than happy to fulfill his demand as he is a fussy eater and cake is one thing he enjoys. But baking a cake with refined flour was what made me worried. Hence, I thought about experimenting with whole wheat flour to make a cake that is both healthy and yummy and will give a balance of carbs and proteins to my little one.

I succeeded in first attempt and here is my recipe to bake a quickie atta (whole wheat flour) cake.

Ingredients:

1.       Whole wheat flour (atta) : 1 cup

2.       Refined oil/unsalted butter: A little more than one cup but less than 1 ¼

3.       Eggs: 3

4.       Brown sugar/grounded white sugar : 1 cup (you can use a little more if it is brown sugar)

5.       Chocolate powder: 2-3 spoons (If you want a dark chocolate cake then increase this as well as sugar content)

6.       Vanilla essence :  1 tea spoon

7.       Baking Powder: 1 level tea spoon

8.       Assorted nuts chopped – ½ bowl

9.       Milk – About half cup

Method:

1.       Sieve wheat flour and mix baking soda with it. Mix well and keep aside.

2.       Grind the sugar finely and add it to a blender.

3.       Add butter or refined oil to this and mix for about 3-4 mins in blender

4.       One by one add all three eggs. Churn the blender for about a minute after adding each egg.

5.       Add vanilla essence and mix well.

6.       Add the chocolate powder to the sieved flour and mix with a spoon.

7.       Slowly add this flour mixture to the blender. Do not put the entire flour in one go. Add a little and blend and so on.

8.       If the mixture is too thick then add some milk and mix well. The final consistency should be a thick layer of batter falling freely from your spoon. If batter falls in thick chunks then add some more milk. (generally a little less than half cup milk is sufficient for these measurements)

9.       Add half of the chopped nuts and give it a good mix.

10.   Grease a baking dish with some oil and pour the batter in it. Top it with remaining nuts.

11.   Set the microwave on convection at 220 degrees.

12.   Ones the desired temperature is reached put the baking dish in for 10 mins.

13.   After convection 10 mins are over, microwave for another 4 mins.

14.   Check the cake with a knife. If it comes out clean your cake is done.

15.   You can top is with some icing sugar to make it pretty for your little one or add some colorful candies.

There can be many variations to this cake. You can do it without chocolate and with only nuts. You can also add a couple of mashed bananas to the batter to make a banana cake. Any other fruit like tinned pineapple or dried plums can be added for a little tangy flavor as per the taste buds of you children. The sugar can be replaced with brown sugar or even jaggery in same amounts. 

Hope you enjoy this healthy variation of the cake. Do share your variations in this cake.

Curd Rice with a Twist

Curd Rice is famous recipe from southern parts of India and is normally consumed at the end of a meal. This recipe is authentically cooked sans any spices and hence is very light on stomach.

Here I am presenting a little twisted version of it and hope you will enjoy it as an option when you feel like eating light on stomach khichdi.

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 1 cup
   
2. 1 cup boiled american corns 
3. 2 capsicums finely chopped
4. curry leaves - 6-8
5. chana daal - 2 spoon
6. urad daal (white) - 2 spoons
7. Ginger finely chopped or grated - 1 spoon
8. 2 green chilies finely chopped
9. 2 cup curd
10. salt to taste
11. black pepper to taste
12. mustard seeds - 1 spoon

Serves : 2 people

Method:

1. Cook rice by boiling them in more that double the amount of water. We need rice to be a little over cooked for this recipe .
2. When rice is done, then drain them by removing access water and let them cool.
3. Heat a pan and add 1 spoon oil to it.
4. When oil is hot add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
5. Add urad daal and chana daal to this and let it cook for 2-3 mins.
6. Add green chilies, curry leaves and ginger to the pan and give a good stir for another 2 mins
7. Now add boiled corns and capsicum to the pan and stir well. Let this cook for 2 mins and then turn off the flame as we do not want the vegetables to over cook.
8. Whisk the curd and add it to the rice bowl. Stir well while mashing the rice with spoon.
9. Add some salt and pepper according to your taste to this and mix again.
10. Now add the prepared vegetable tampering to the bowl and give one final stir.
11. This can be consumed as it is or chilled with some chutney or home made pickle.

Veg Soya Kababs

The soya kababs are a very healthy snack option for those trying to loose weight as it is rich in protein and does not contain carbs like potato.

Ingredients:

1. Soya granules - 2 cups

2. Boiled peas - 1/2 cup

3. 1 medium onion
4. 1 green chilly
5. Besan/Gram flour - 4 big spoon
6. Chilly powder - 1/2 tbl spoon
7. Coriander powder - 1 tbl spoon
8. Roasted jeera/cumin powder - 1/2 tbl spoon
9. Garam masala - 1/4 tbl spoon
10. Chaat masala - 1/2 tbl spoon
11. Chopped ginger - 1 tbl spoon
12. Fresh coriander - 3 big spoon
13. Salt to taste
14. Refined oil - 2-3 spoon

Serves: 5-6

Method:

1. Soak soya granules in boiling hot water for 5 mins and then strain them by removing extra water.
2. In a pan heat 1 spoon refined oil and add finely chopped onion to it. Saute the onion till it turns light pink in colour.
3. Put finely chopped ginger and green chilly in this and saute again for 2 mins.
4. Put gram flour/besan and saute it for 3-4 mins so that besan is cooked properly.
5. Now add red chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, chaat masala and garam masala to the pan and mix well.
6. Mash the peas and add them to pan and mix well.
7. Add soaked soya granules to the above and 1/2 katori water. Mix well so that mixture is properly binded.
8. Turn off the gas and take out mixture in a bowl and let it cool.

9. Add salt and green coriander to the mixture and mix well. If you find mixture is a little wet then you can add some bread crumbs or oats to improve the texture. Bread crumbs and oats soaks extra moisture.

10. Make round shaped kabas from this mixture.

11. Heat 2 spoon oil in a non stick pan and shallow fry the kababs on slow flame from both sides.

12. These can be served with mint chutney or tomato ketchup.