This page has been started on demand--- for Reshma, and Divya and
Biju --- very cute couple and for lil Divs to become the trendy mom
...who hopefully will use her mobile to surf and make breakfast
.....books ka zamana gaya kiddo :)
the first recipe is an idea for breakfast...... a vegetarian health food one.... i cooked up !!!!!
I
call these experiments because i do not use any system to measure
ingredients i am using in cooking ...no weighing, spoon or cup....so
everything is an experiment ..i do this everyday and the only concession
i have is to make food with my heart and soul in the process of cooking
.....so 99% of the time i put out delicious food on the table ......but
do have disasters on some days..... but everything is a learning
experience ...... and cooking can be the most calming thing for me to do
in the day ......
Whole Wheat Pancakes made with Jaggery (Eggless)
Ingredients :
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of melted and strained jaggery
1/4 cup of grated coconut or 1/4 cup of cooked and mashed pumpkin or a mashed banana
1 1/2 teaspoons of Eno fruit salts (i never use baking powder or baking soda)
water to get the consistency of the batter to the required thickness
a pinch of salt to get the balance in flavour.
Mix the dry ingredients to the required dropping consistency.
Brush a non stick girdle with either butter or oil and pour the batter with a biggish ladle.
Allow it to brown on one side, flip it over and repeat on the other side.
Keep warm in the oven till u finish making all the pancakes and serve with honey.
2.Cake made in a Wok (for Reshu :))
now this is
only for people who are living away from home and need to bake....one
does need a big hard bottomed wok though :) otherwise the cake is the
same as a normal cake ....except for the fact i use Eno fruit
salts...instead of baking powder ....
Ingrdients
1 1/2 cups of flour not the self raising variety (maida for Indians)
1 cup sugar (powdered if possible)
3 eggs
200gms butter (slated)
1 tablespoon Vanilla essence
1tablespoon of Eno fruit salts
milk if required to get the desired consistency of the cake mix
Method
Put on the heavy bottomed wok on low fire and then start mixing the cake batter.
Bring
the butter to room temperature and beat along with the eggs and sugar,
to get a fluffy mixture, add the eno fruit salt and beat some more. Then
slowly add the flour and keep folding in one direction, add the vanilla
essence and beat till you get a mix that falls down in a smooth way,
when you hold up the spatula or beater.Grease a round cake tin, pour in
the cake mix and place the cake tin in the wok, bake for 40- 45 minutes
till the cake is done....ensure that the cake tin fits in the wok and
that the wok can be covered with a lid.
To check if the cake is
done, immerse a tooth pick or knitting needle into the cake and it
should come out clean ... cool the cake and cut into wedges and either
serve plain or with ur desired sauce or jam or it can also be used in a
trifle pudding !!!
One thing i must confess
to is that when i cook i never ever use a measuring cup or spoon i do
everything by an understanding of how much of each ingredient is
required. I have always cooked like this and only use a measuring cup
for baking a cake. I even make biscuits like this. I have always been
like this but luckily i have never gone wrong with the end product.
Normal Pancake with eggs
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of flour
i
always use whole wheat flour, unless it is over, i also use sorghum
flour (jowar atta for Indians) The use of sorghum flour gives the best
pancakes i have ever made or eaten, but of course taste is a matter of
subjective preferences.
2 eggs
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup sugar ....i do not like the pancakes too sweet and if the sugar level is too high ...it can cause them to burn...
100gms of butter (i use limited amount of butter than most people)
milk if required
1 teaspoon of eno fruit salts
1 tablespoon of vanilla essence
Method
Crack
the eggs into the bowl, add the sugar, and butter and beat, add the
fruit salts,vanilla essence,honey and fold in the flour. Add milk or
water to get the desired pouring consistency, that should not be too
watery. Ladle onto a non stick girdle and let it brown on one side,
before flipping it and browning on the other side too. Make the entire
lot and keep warm in the oven till serving them. Serve with honey or any
sauce of your choice or even jam. My younger son and I like to have
them plain.
Cutlets or Something similar using leftovers and Grated Beetroot.
Ingredients
2 cups any left over vegetable or meat (shredded)
1big boiled and mashed potato
1 beetroot skinned and grated (you can steam the grated beetroot if your kids do not like the taste of beetroot)
1-2 green chillies chopped finely
1 finely chopped onion
salt to taste
a few slices of bread or one can even add leftover cooked rice,or shredded flat bread too.
1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro/coriander
1teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you want it a bit on the hot side.
Method
Mash
up all the ingredients and check the amount of salt, add bread crumbs
if the mix is a bit watery. Make small balls of the mix and flatten a
bit and shallow fry on a girdle till brown on both sides and serve hot
with sauce.
This can be good for breakfast or as an evening
snack, it can also be carried to school as a meal for small children or
even office going people.
Vermicelli Vegetable Upma
(I
also use vermicelli to make a Chinese dish with vegetables and egg or
shredded chicken, this can be made in a jiffy in the mornings for
breakfast or even as a snack for tea)
Ingredients
1 packet vermicelli
1 onion diced finely
1 tomato diced finely
3-4 green chillies
1/2 cup of green peas
1/4 cup of finely diced capsicum
1/4 cup of grated carrot
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
3-4 tablespoons of cooking oil
1teaspoon of cumin seeds (jeera) and mustard seeds
a handfull of chopped corriander leaves
Method
Dry
roast the vermicelli in a wok and keep aside, pour the oil into the wok
and add the mustard and cumin seeds and wait till it splutters. Then
add the chopped onions, once they become pink, add the turmeric, chopped
tomatoes,green chillies and other vegetables. Stir it a little and put a
lid on, to let the vegetables cook with an occasional stirring, when
nearly done, toss in the vermicelli and stir. Add enough water to just
immerse the vermicelli, and put the lid back on with an occasional
stirring till the upma is done. Serve with a garnishing of corriander
leaves.
Once when living on the tea estate i send this
dish across to my neighbour to taste. She asked me the recipe and made
it and was waiting for her husband to reach home for tea. She was
carrying then and as it was getting late for her husband to reach home,
she asked the cook's assistant to get her a glass of milk. The young boy
had never seen vermicelli made as a savoury dish. In India it is always
made as a sweet dish, and he thought that Madam had asked for the milk
to be mixed into the prepared vermicelli dish. So he happily poured the
milk into the prepared dish and warmed it and it curdled!!! now the chap
panicked and called the lady of the house to take a look ......she was
so upset at what she saw but had no option to throw away the mess and
make it all over again!!!!!!!!
