Peppa Paneer Frankie Wrap

This dish I am dedicating to my nephew in Chennai - In my week at Chennai not too long ago, there were at least 2 or 3 nights when this young man wanted these Frankie Wraps from a kiosk - apparently a hot joint for these ever so popular short eat. I think these also go by the name of kaati rolls. I have never dared to try one from that vendor - needed a well-adjusted tummy for that, but I tried my own version, a lot healthier one, of course. You can literally make this in under 10 minutes, providing of course you have the ingredients handy - but the beauty is you can make these with just about anything you have around the house - but the one think you do need is a rumali roti or a big tortilla wrap. I particularly like red, yellow and orange peppers for this recipe since they lend a fantastic fresh flavor to the wrap -
Since the wrap itself is caloric, I avoid using any more fat than I have to so I use my olive oil spray.

Ingredients - for up to 4 wraps
1/2 each of Red, Yellow and Orange peppers
1 medium sized onionPaneer but long about 1 cup
1-2 green chilies slit fine and thin
1tsp of sesame seeds
1tbsp humus - this can be subbed by mayonnaise or any other spread of your choice - but bear in mind, hummus is your healthiest and in my opinion tastiest bet
1tsp olive oil (optional as an alternative to olive oil spray)
1tsp sambar powder
2tbsp Szechuan stir fry sauce - spicy
4 large tortillas (250 cals each) Lighter version most welcome

Preparation
Cut all the veggies and the paneer lengthwise
lightly spray them with olive oil spray and sprinkle the sambar podi (powder) over them
In a non stick pan, roast them on high heat
Add the stir-fry sauce over it and allow it to simmer for a minute or two.

I just toasted the tortilla over the flame like a phukla
Add the stuffing and roll - put it on a wide pan tawa and allow it to gets those delectable toasted spots.
Stick a toothpick to keep it from unravelling.
Serve by itself or with a hot ketchup

And that's a wrap for the weekend folks adios until the next post and HAPPPPPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL YOU GORGEOUS MOMS OUT TEHRE _ LOVE YOU!

Papineberry Juice

This is an adaptation of a recipe that was presented in the Dr. Oz Show last week which gives a great kickstart to the day. It contains all the goodness of papaya, pineapple, blueberries, kiwi, flaxseed meal, a dash of ginger powder and a little sage to make it aromatic, this drink will have you hit the ground running.

Ingredients
1 cup papaya
1 cup pineapple
1/2 cup blueberries
1kiwi
2tbsp flaxseed meal
3leaves of sage
2tsp of ginger powder
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup of ice cubes
1cup of water

Grind them into a flowing shake and drink up and let me know what you think :)

Plum Kuchen - Celebrating Friendship

 So... this recipe has been in my files for almost a year - when I first met my beautiful Argentinian friend, Fla, who I do love dearly - She and I work together on other stuff and hit it off from day one - Although we are both a bit feisty- she more than me - something clicks and I've enjoyed having her in my life - She brings with her a familiar warmth and affection - very typical of Indians - where we are not afraid to feel or show that we feel - she shares the same wonderfully close relationship with her family and children that most of us Indians tend to with ours and there was not a moment when we felt any awkwardness in the relationship -
She was supposed to be a guest on my blog and share with me some Italian/ Argentinian recipes - She is of Italian origin. But we've had a deadlock about the interview part - I did what I have done with my other interviewees - sent her questions to answer about herself - She does not type these out and send it to me, instead, in this day and age of technology, wants me to physically take notes and paraphrase for her - Now for people who blog, you know how much work even putting out a recipe with pictures is - I held my ground that her answers would b typed by her and sent to me and I would post verbatim - The deadlock continues, but I gave her the heads up about posting some of the recipes she made for me - The first of the recipes that I absolutely LOVED was this plum cake - for Kuchen is nothing but "cake" in German.
Today was to be a special occasion - You see, I have 3 Anitas in my life who have enriched it a lot - My "french" friend whom I've known for almost 10 years now, who is as I write, hanging in Melbourne (so jealous), - She also introduced me to Fla whose cake I blog today; my fabulous baker friend Anita Gupta who has been a guest on my blog whose website, Maliha Creations is a sight for sore eyes.  And the third Anita, a UVA grad (soon to be) who teaches Zumba at the university - My Tuesday and Thursday nights were my most anticipated because she as my daughter rightly wrote, set the floor on fire and gave us all the most fabulous workouts - She may think I'm way over the top in my adoration of her, but she is truly an inspiration and I do love her a whole lot!
This last one was the one who was to come over today and the cake was made in her honor - But being a busy student trying to wrap up her undergrad program, she had to bail out of coming today - I am saddened by the thought that she will no longer be teaching here :( - c'est la vie - all good things do come to an end, mostly...no? But I must make the cake again for when she comes over -

I also want to celebrate all the beautiful friends I have made since writing this blog - so many great women out there - I celebrate you today as well -

But my thoughts go back to Fla who is away in Arizona, to attend her son's graduation - So I am dedicating her cake to that special event in her life - And a friendly word to her - Get back soon, woman- we have work to do!  As for Zumba Anita, a fresh cake in your honor is being planned :)

Ingredients

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1tsp baking powder

1 lb of red plums

Fresh lemon juice to squeeze over the cake before baking

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350

Butter a 9 inch pan (I used pyrex)

Cream butter and sugar

Add eggs 1 at a time

Then the flour with the baking powder

Mix until it s a creamy batter (don’t over mix)

Spread batter into the pan - NOTE - This batter is quite thick and will spread sort of thin in the pan

Cut the plums into halves or quarters depending on the size

Place them over the batter in rows

Sprinkle with 2 tbsp of sugar and add the lemon juice

Bake for 30 minutes on a regular oven not convection

Using pyrex glass can speed up the process

Do the toothpick check 

Enjoy mes amies, until the next post

This is off to BAKE FEST, Event hosted by me, started by Vardhini

Linking this to Divya's Showcase your dessert event

Avocado Bread

With Dr. Oz stressing each time I turn him on about the goodness of this rather fatty green fruit, I thought I'd make something out of it other than the standard guacamole - Don't know if I have talked about before, but after my third baby, I ended up with a rather sluggish gall bladder and it was very difficult for me to digest any fat - I ended up having violent reactions to fat esp that of avocado - which had been a staple in the house before then - One would be happy right to develop an allergy to fat - well this I can tell you friends, altho I would to lose that muffin top that constantly reminds me of my motherhood status, I would rather not have it go this way - as in developing food allergies, coz many are the discomforts that come along with allergies - Moving to Virginia first made me aware of how allergic I was to pollen, tree pollen to be precise and cats! - I did not know that - And I had the "good" fortune of being bitten by a tick and ended up with Lyme disease in 2007 - That has led to a few freakish annual appearances of swollen joints  - Don't mean to go on about my ailments, but just saying - we deal with all kinds of unexpected issues!

But after 4 years, I have re-introduced Avocado into the home - My hubby and daughter who are the only two who like guacamole usually satisfied their cravings outside or from a dubba from WholeFoods
I thought perhaps baking it would reduce the chance of aggravating or reopening old issues -
The bread was SO delicious and I do believe this recipe is a keeper - I pretty well followed my Zucchini bread recipe and went about it in a similar way, subbing Avocados for Zucchinis. I did not add any nuts or chocolate chips which might have distracted from tasting the avocado

DID I mention that this cake was made FROM Scratch by my darling daughter? She amazed me with her precision and efficiency - Happy she is getting to an age when she can do lots of things on her own - Yes - I got me a sous chef :)

Ingredients

•    3 cups all-purpose flour

•    1/2 teaspoon baking powder

•    1 teaspoon salt

•    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

•    1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

•    1 teaspoon baking soda

•    3 eggs

•    2 cups white sugar

•    1 cup vegetable oil

•    2 teaspoons vanilla extract

•    3 avocados mushed

•    1 tablespoon lemon zest

Preparation

Preheat oven at 350 degrees F. Grease (2) 9 by 5-inch loaf pans.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and baking soda.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar, and continue beating until well blended. Stir in oil, vanilla, mushed up avocado, orange zest. Stir in sifted ingredients. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove loaves from pans and cool. 

There you have it mes amiea!

Linking this to the Bake Fest  event happening on my blog -

Onion Flower Pakodas & Event Announcement

Onion Flower Pakoras AKA Vengaya Poo Pakoda

For those who saw these beautiful flowers as a garnish on my Paella Primavera post, this time I decided to use them in pakodas - just like I had used Zucchini flowers for bajjis last summer when we had Zucchinis coming out our ears :). This beautiful purple flower resembles a mum and is as potent as its stalk (green onions) and its bulb which is the onion itself - I guess it takes a while for these plants to mature enough to put out flowers, since these are  from the crop we planted last year. Hubby dear has been busy making me my veggie garden - my horrible allergies prevent me from being too active outdoors this time of year - and I am eternally grateful to have married this wonderful man who not only LOVES pottering around the garden, but has the greenest thumb

Onion flower/Vengaya Poo

Spring Onion stalk

Method:
For these pakoras, I used the simple, standard method of mixing equal proportions of besan (chickpea flour) and rice flour.
Ass asafetida (just a pinch) some sambar powder/curry powder for spice and salt
Wash these beauties well and dab dry with towel or wash before hand and allow to dry naturally
Heat oil to fry
Dip the flower into the batter and fry
Drain excess oil from the pakoras with paper towels
Serve hot by itself or with some ketchup

Close up :)

And now, I am happy to announce that my Blog is hosting the Bake Fest this month of May - This event is a brainchild of Vardhini of Zesty Palette/ Cook's Joy- Look forward to all your entires

1. Send in any recipe which has been baked / broiled.

2. Only vegetarian or vegan recipes please. I normally accept eggs in baking and hence eggs are allowed.

3. Usage of the logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word.

4. Link to this event announcement and Vardhini original Bake Fest announcement is mandatory. If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with the links.

5. You can send in any number of new entries and a maximum of 2 old entries.

6. PLEASE ONLY USE LINKY to submit your entries (no email entries please!!!)

Paella Primavera

Paella Primavera 

A paella? I thought that too although I knew it was a "famous" spanish dish and I sensed it was pretty "fishy" - So I never bothered to venture into that area at all - Until I got a recipe from Vegetarian the magazine and I must tell you, this was an extreme surprise and an uncontrollable delight - It was a veggie version of the Paella - that's right folks, no squid, octopus or any other sea creature in it - my heart danced, really - and i was thinking if I am describing this dish to a person who has no clue what a paella is, what would I equate it to? In Indian terms, I would say a flavorful biryani or pulao/pilaf -

We all know Spain is the capitol of Saffron, that exclusive and amazing spice which we Indians have verily adopted into our cuisine - Or perhaps Saffron has also been a spice that was used widely in India - whatever the case, it is in fact the essence of this flavorful rice dish.  As my luck would have it, my beautiful onion chives have these violet blossoms on them right now. Not too long ago, I read that these blossoms can be used as a pretty and edible garnish - And this is exactly what I did. I LOVED the colors of the paella and cannot wait to make it again, when my family visits me - MIGHT I ADD That the flowers carry the same fragrance as the onion and have the same sharp, glorious sting on the palate that the onion has! 

It will be my "showoff" dish for sure :)

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

2 cups of broccoli florets

1 diced zucchini

1/2 red onion finely chopped (optional)

1/2 each of orange and yellow peppers (you can sub with red and green too)

1 cup of spanish rice (I subbed with basmati) essentially, you need a short grain white rice.

1.5 tsp of crushed saffron

10 green olives, pitted and chopped

10 red olives, pitted and chopped

cherry tomatoes (about 10 if available) OR

2 finely chopped romas

3 big cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of finely chopped onion chives

2 tsp of olive oil

2 tsp parsely

1 tsp of patatas bravas mix or essentially paprika (cannot help it - need a bit of spice)

salt and pepper after cooking and before serving

Water - about a cup (use discretion as different rice cook differently)

Preparation

• In a wide mouthed pan (banali) which is the traditional utensil to cook a paella in,  add the oil, onion, broccoli, garlic, Zucchini and peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes - At this time throw in half the parsley too.
• Add 3/4 cup of water along with the washed rice
• To this, add the saffron and allow to cook covered on medium low flame for 10 minutes
• Add the olives, chives and tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes covered.
• Remove from flame. Transfer into a serving dish  and garnish with the remainder of parsley, salt, pepper and onion flowers if you can find them :)

Congratulations! you've just made yourself a fine Spanish dish :) PLEASE try it and let me know!

Thought for the Day - Keep expanding your horizons whether in your culinary department of any other. 

Love until the next post

Cashew Chutney & Onion Chutney

A cold and dreary day with much needed rain - I've learnt to appreciate rain a lot more after we moved her to well water - every mm counts. We have had several summers where water curfews were imposed when watering the lawn was an indulgence not to be exercised.  But a rainy day always makes me hungrier for some reason and I want to make something that warms the cockles - Steamed Sweet Potatoes was what I settled on - Hubby dear comes home and asks me what I plan to make with it - as a sort of spread - my mind sifts through the chutney spread files that are stored away in the brain, but I thought I'd make two chutneys - One I have made often - onion chutney and the other a variation of its more commonly prepared nut cousin, peanuts - And settled on cashews. Yes, that plan excited me. So I got to work and literally in 5-7 minutes, we were all smacking our lips after tasting this spicy, tongue-tickling oh-so nutty chutney - If you like nuts and cashews in particular, trust me my friends you will not be disappointed!

Here is the recipe
3/4 cup of roasted cashews
5 green chilies
2 red chilies (dried)
urad dal 1/4 cup
olive oil- 2 tsp
salt to taste
Tempering with olive oil (1tsp), mustard seeds and curry leaves

Preparation
I first used 2 tsp to roast the urad dal and the chilies, like we normally do for any chutney and then threw in the cashews for a minute before removing from flame.
I ground it warm in my Magic Bullet into a fine paste and tempered it

Spread this over your steamed sweet potatoes - while the chutney has a fine kick to it, it is beautifully set off by the sweetness of the sweet potato.

NOTE: the guilt of fat from the cashews can be lessened by the fact that you have had a most satisfying and completely healthy meal for I recently saw on Dr. Oz - Here is the quote from his website

Cashews are one of the top 4 anti-cancer Super foods! 

These nuts contain proanthocyanidins, a class of flavanolds that actually starve tumors and prevent cancer cells from dividing. In some studies, it’s been shown that eating 12 cashews a day can reduce your colon cancer risk.

There you go folks, the Ozacle has spoken :)

Onion Chuntey

1 med. sized red onion
4 red chilies
1 green chili
asafetida
olive oil 2 tsp
urad 2 tsp

Preparation
Fry in the oil all the ingredients and grind adding salt when you do.
Temper with the same ingredients as the above chutney

Enjoy mes amies.