Aatta Almond Cookies

By far the easiest cookie that I have come across on the web or anywhere else for that matter. So I had to catalog it for me to refer whenever I am in need of it. I got this recipe from Spicy Chilly who has in turn sourced it from Manjula's kitchen. My sincere thanks to these great bloggers and the wonderful cooks that they are. Over to my own keepsake of the recipe.

Ingredients:

Aatta / Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Salted Butter - 1/2 cup (or) 1/4lb
Sugar - 1 cup
Almonds (chopped) - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1/4 cup

Way to Go..

Mix the dry ingredients - Flour, Sugar and Almonds - together. To this mix, add softened butter and knead together. Add enough milk to this mixture to make a soft dough. Make small balls from the dough and press between your palms to make flat cookie shapes. Place the pressed cookie dough on a greased cookie sheet spacing them well.

Preheat the oven at 360 degrees F. Bake the cookies for 20 mins or until lightly browned.

I did add some chocolate chips for an added twist or should I say for my extra sweet tooth. :) Make some and enjoy it for yourself.

Banana Bread

I think it is called Bread simply because it rhymes well with the Banana. Otherwise to my knowledge it is just a cake devoid of icing. The same ingredients, proportions slightly different but nonetheless tastes perfectly like a cake with the added advantage being, that it can be baked in a jiffy without bothering much about folding the flour and all. Just mix them all up, pop it in the oven and get ready to enjoy after the stipulated half hour. :)

I got this recipe in one of my browsing spree to do some last minute baking for a get together at a friend's place. I ended up finding exactly what I wanted here which has in turn led me to this post. So, at any point of time, when you have a set of very ripe bananas which you dont feel like eating, you can end up making this very yummy, easy, Banana Bread..Well, I still wanted the rhyme..

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour - 1 and 1/4cup
Salted Butter - 1/2 cup (or) 1/4lb
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2 Nos
Ripe Yellow Bananas - 2 Nos
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Almonds (chopped) - 1/4 cup
Chocolate chips - 1/8 cup

Way to Go..

Cream the butter and sugar together until it has combined well. Add the ripe bananas and mix well. Break eggs into the mixture and blend nicely. To this add the flour and baking powder and mix well until all the ingredients come together. Add in the almonds and chocolate chips and mix. Pour the mixture into the baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees FH for about 30 to 35 mins. Post which you can sit back and enjoy the delicious banana goodness!!

Baking my own Cake

Cakes and Cookies are the specials I do when I come to the United States. Nothing elaborate. Just the basic ones. I understand that it is no big deal to do the same in India. All one has to do is get a decent oven which is exactly what I have not done so far. So when I did think of baking as soon as I came here, I was lost because I did not have a recipie. And as they say for Baking, you just follow the recipie. While I started my hunt, I was provided results of all exotic cakes from the regular blogs I visited.

Finally I did end up with a video which provided an easy way of baking the basic sponge cake, but to add to my agony, did not provide the measurements. So I ended up making my own cake with my own measurements except the number of eggs. By recording this, I will not be wondering the next time I decided to bake a cake. This cake came out fine and so this will be the way I bake this cake henceforth.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
Cane Sugar - 1 cup
Baking Powder - a pinch
Salted/Unsalted Butter - 20 gms
Eggs - 4 Nos.
Vanilla Extract - A few drops

Method:

In a large bowl, (Place this bowl into a bigger bowl/tub with hot water. Warm water enhances the air bubbles created due to the beating process) beat eggs using an electric beater at speed 2 for less than a minute. Add sugar and beat at speed 1 till the mixture becomes a nice soft fluffy mixture. The batter should not sink when lifted. It should leave a ribbon like line when lifted and made lines by the beater.

Once this stage is reached, add the vanilla extract and mix lightly. Sift in the flour and baking powder mix and fold it in the beaten mixture. Care should be taken to do this process gently. Once the flour has blended well with the mixture, add melted butter and fold the batter with the butter. At the end of this 'Oh so gentle process', the final batter should be light and fluffy. Pour the batter into a greased pan.

Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Pop the batter pan into the oven and bake it for 20-25 minutes or check for the cake to rise.(Mine got a wee bit overdone since I was'nt too sure of the bake time. Will keep doing it till I get it right. :) Also open to advice) Check for the done stage and enjoy it with your family tea time. Else layer it with frosting and make it into a delicious cake for any special occasion.

M3 - The Macaroni Mushroom Masala

Ooooh!! I am full.. Hmmm.. Of course I will be, if I decide to cook something and slurp it in a jiffy.

Fact is, I am a person who goes to dig the well when I am really thirsty. This time around it was hunger. Since I didn't have to cook lunch for my hubby today, I lazed around till about 1.30 in the afternoon not doing anything about lunch. Thought I could just about manage with something, when my stomach decided something else and my mind set me in motion, albeit late. Cooking rice was out of question for one person and my mind was in no mood for wheat. So I jumped on Macaroni, though it isn't one of my favourite items until now, that is, when it is mixed up with some yummy Mushroom Masala which was inspired by this recipe by Spicy Chilly. It did turn out to be an easy and delicious gravy (in this case sauce) that can accompany just about any main course. So here I go to record it, in case I end up with another day like this with a hungry stomach and a stubborn mind. When I say this, it may not be just mine.. :)

Ingredients:

Macaroni -1 cup
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Sliced Button Mushroom - 250 gms
Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - a pinch
Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp

Saute and Grind 
Sliced Onion (Big) - 1 Nos
Cut Tomato - 2 Nos
Garlic Cloves - 4 Nos
Ginger Garlic Paste - Half tsp

Way to Go..

In a pan, heat oil, sufficient to saute the onions and garlic cloves (I added them for an additional flavour for the macaroni. You can just do with the ginger garlic paste alone if you wish to). Once the onions have softened, add little ginger garlic paste and saute till cooked. Add tomato and saute till soft. Let it cool and grind it to a smooth paste.

Bring water to a boil in a pan and cook macaroni with enough salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Once cooked, drain water and keep it aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and saute sliced mushrooms till it starts leaving water. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder, coriander powder and a little salt until all of it blends with the mushrooms. This should take just few mins. I read somewhere about a renowned chef saying that mushrooms have to be sauted until they release all their moisture and are slightly crispy. But I'nt too sure I like it that way. So I let it be a little soft. Be free to choose your way.

Coming back to where we were, add in the ground paste and sufficient salt to taste. Mix it with the mushrooms and let it cook covered for sometime. Sift in a little pepper powder, mix well and let it cook for 2 more mins.

To serve, layer macaroni and mushroom sauce on a plate or mix it in a bowl and enjoy the slurpy goodness of Italian pasta, the Indian way.







Footnote: As a side dish for Indian breads or rice, add two green chillies when mushrooms are sauted for added spice and garnish with finely chopped coriander while serving.

Rava Laddoo

Laddoos..Mmm.. yummy yummy.. Those mini globes that are given and taken on any joyous occasion back home.. I am sure there will not be a single living Indian who will not drool for the word laddoo. And for the rest of the world, it is until they give in to the temptation of their first laddoo. I may be wrong in my assumptions here because there maybe quite a number who may just dont like anything sweet. I belong to the group for whom each single tooth given by nature is all sweet coated.. :) But nature has its way of applying brakes by coating all of sweet all over me.. So there comes the stop signal for all the laddoo worship.. :)

Well, for me, any food that I eat or the aroma that it spreads reminds me of people associated with it. As of the rava laddoo that I am going to post here, they will forever remind me of my dear friend Rupa who is the first other person I spoke after landing in the United States. (Of course I am counting out the apartment maintnance person) When I was pathetically homesick and lonely, I should say that the heavens send her to me. I dutifully dedicate this work to her because it is she who taught me to do it. And since it is the type that can be made in a jiffy, all of us can get on to doing it. So here goes the dedication.

Rava Laddoo

Ingredients:

Rava (Sooji) - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1 tsp
Shredded coconut - 2 tbsp (optional)
Few Cashews, Almonds & Raisins
Lukewarm milk - 1/4 cup

Way to Go..

In a large pan, heat the ghee on medium heat and roast the cashews, almonds, raisins and keep aside. To the same pan add the rava and saute until slightly brown. Take care so that the rava is not burnt or browned too much. The taste of the laddoos primarily depends on the roasted rava.

Let the roasted rava cool to room temperature. Add the sugar, shredded coconut and the roasted nuts and raisins and mix well. Add milk slowly to this mixture. Use the hands in this process because the mixture should constantly be checked to be made into laddoos..

Once the mixture comes into the right consistency, take a little of the mixture and press it in your hands to make firm round shapes. When the laddoo you make does not break away, there your done with your yummy mini globes.. Sit back and enjoy or give it away to family and friends and enjoy more..

Mango Mango..

Well.. What is life without food. As far as food goes, the human species can be divided into two categories.. Those that live to eat and those that eat to live.. And each one of us would fall into one category or the other based on the specific food that we eat at any point of time.. And when it comes to the king of fruits I belong to the live to eat category.. Oh yes.. The mango season in India was the time I lived to eat it.. without any guilt.. Is it human to possess any guilt when you love..The one thing that I miss the most after coming to the United States after my parents and friends are the king of all fruits - my dear mango.. Oh.. If I were a poet, I would write one too many odes to my dear mango..

So here goes my first food post on my favourite vegetable/fruit. Here I will be using the vegetable variety of mango - the raw mango. It is a simple rice dish that I learnt from a colleague while I was working in India. Ok.. No more waiting..

Simple Mango Rice

Ingredients:

Grated Raw Mango - 1/2 cup

Cooked Rice - 2 cups
Onion - 1 small
Green chillies - 3 to 4
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Small piece of ginger finely chopped
Seasoning - Oil, Mustard and Urad Dal
Salt to taste
Chopped Cilantro for garnishing

Way to Go..

Heat oil in a pan and season with mustard and urad dal. You may add roasted peanuts also at this stage if you like the extra bite.

Add in chopped onions and green chillies and saute till tender. Then, add chopped ginger, grated raw mango and turmeric and saute for a couple of minutes.

Once the raw smell of turmeric goes, add cooked rice and salt and mix well for a few minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Your steaming cup of rice with the tangy taste of mango is ready to fill your heart and stomach.. Enjoy!