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Healthy Vegetarian & Vegan food recipes, from around the world.

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Lamingtons : Lemon Pound cake with Choco Dressing

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When Gayathri gave this months Challenge for making Eggless Lamingtons, I was so skeptical since I had this similar thing in Turkey and that was fabulous. Off course there was Egg in it and I was not sure how will that taste without it. Anyways, I looked for the recipes and got through this one from K.O Rasoi. Fab pics and good description, this was my choice for the day. 

They say, always check the measurements and ingredients well before start baking. And people like me, repeat the same mistake again and again. Like this time, where the recipe says Sour Cream, I picked up Single Cream packet and where it said Lemon Zest, I had Lemon Juice. After jotting down everything on the Platform, when I went back to the recipe page, my mind blew off and I cursed my laziness a lot. But then I had to make something, I thought of making Lamingtons some other day and continued with the things in hand. I was actually hoping to get something tasty if not a Pound cake with whatever Ingredients I had. 


The moment when you check with the skewer if the cake is done or not arrived, and I hopelessly tried it once, perfectly clean.. hmm… then again, ohh wow ! It seems nice. I turned off the oven and took it out. Blimey !! What a wonderful smell and texture it was boasting. And when I tasted it, I jumped over with excitement. It was truly one of the best cakes, I have had ever in my life.. And am not exaggerating. I bet you would say the same if you try the recipe to the T. Its really a keeper with its melting in mouth taste and am definitely going to try with variations again. 

Thank you Gayathri for this amazing Challenge, or I never would have played with the Ingredients and a special thanks to my laziness too 🙂 


What to use :

  • 2 cups Self raising Flour 
  • 1 cup Skimmed Milk powder 
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Butter
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 cup Single Cream ( Malayi )
  • 1/2 cup Orange Juice
  • 1/4 cup Lemon Juice 

For the Chocolate Dressing

  • 1/4 cup Nutella
  • 1 Medium chocolate bar
  • 1/2 cup Single Cream 
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut 



How to Make ?

  • Sift together the dry Ingredients and keep aside. 
  • In a seperate bowl, mix together Cream, butter and Sugar till it gets fluffy. This will take around 7-8 minutes of continuous whisking. 
  • Add on Orange Juice and Lemon juice and mix again for a minute. 
  • Gradually start mixing flour to this mixture, folding gently and not rigorously. Take care not to beat it too much. 
  • Grease a Baking Tin with Oil and pour in the cake mix into it. 
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees. Check with a skewer or knife and if comes out clean, let the cake cool for sometime. 

  • While its getting cooler, prepare the chocolate sauce. 
  • Throw in the chocolate pieces in a bowl and micro for 30 seconds. Chocolate burns out very quickly so check once in between and stir it. 
  • Add nutella into the warm chocolate and mix well
  • Add Cream to the mix and heat it again for 30 sec. Take it out and keep aside, you can also keep it inside Fridge for 10 minutes to allow the temperature come down quickly. The main aim is to apply the chocolate which is not too hot, else it will make the cake soggy quickly.
  • Meanwhile, our cake has cooled down. Cut it into rectangular strips and pile the chocolate dressing over one of the strip. Place the other strip on top of it and cut into squares. 
  • Dip those squares in the chocolate mix and roll them over the coconut. 



My Notes:

  • I like serving them a little warm since they melt in mouth when warm. Jutst micro them for 15 sec and enjoy the luxury
  • They are extremely high in empty calories, so diet watchers, please be aware.. They are so so addictive 🙂

Linked to Bake Fest -34 hosted by Full Scoops and started by Cooks Joy 

Urad Daal Fritters

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So, its another episode for the Series ”Be My Guest’‘ and my guest of honor this Month is Vardhini. Vardhini has not been that old on the block, but looking at her wonderful Space, you can never guess. It’s just an year she is here and is already one of those we look up to for good recipes and inviting clicks. A software professional by career and a wonderful cook by choice, she is basically from Chennai and currently staying in US. Her blog ‘’Cooks Joy’’ represents her inner joy while cooking and also the desire to make it a joyful place for the people who share similar thoughts. 


As it goes for almost all of us, she started blogging just to document the recipes she tried and now this has grown into her Passion and love. She says she has been giving generous time to Blogging lately and the feedback and comments from her readers keep her driven and motivated. Her favourite cuisine is Indian ( off course ! ) and when I asked her to pick some of her favourites from her own blog, she got all jumbled up (Well, so did I when I went through her posts )and lastly picked these few:Low fat Dahi Vada
Simple Spinach Dal
Kuzhi Paniyaram
Tamarind Rice

When I asked for any message for the readers, she was spirited enough to advise on sticking to your hobbies, never say ‘’ no time’’ since we have to create time sometimes.. Well Said dear !!
It was a tough job going through her recipes and selecting those which fits all the parameters equally, in terms of inviting pictures, perfectly turned out recipes and innovative attempts keeping the tradition alive. Pheww !! Almost every recipe I went through depicts all the above things inone or other ways, but somehow I managed to get through the enormous task and finally listed down the five recipes I loved most from her. Highly recommended from me , do give them a go.. Well, I will !


Buttermilk Biscuits. Look at the wonderfully described step by step recipe
Eggplant Parmesan I always wanted to bake this, amazing clicks
Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread.. Wow !! The lovely colorful bites
Badam Halwa .. making me drool over and those clicks.. are just soo inviting
Masala Vadai .. Cant believe these tempting bites could be amazingly healthy



Over to Vardhini now:


When Nupur asked me to be part of her “Be My Guest” series, I gladly accepted. She has a wonderful blog with interesting recipes. Thanks Nupur for having me as your guest. I chose this snack that is loved by kids and adults and is also easy to make.

I normally try a low fat version of any snack using the kuzhi paniyaram pan and did the same for bonda too. But, though the bonda was cooked properly it did not puff up. So I stuck with the deep fried version. The kids loved it and I had a hard time clicking the pictures because they were standing right next to me asking for bondas :). They were glad when I announced that the photos were done and the next minute the bowl was empty. The best accompaniment to bonda is coconut chutney. Off to the recipe.




Ingredients

  • 1 cup urad dal (Ulutham paruppu)
  • Salt
  • A pinch of baking soda (optional)
  • 1 green chilly thinly sliced
  • 1/4 tsp peppercorns (slightly crushed)
  • 1 tbsp rice flour
  • Oil to deep fry



Method:


Soak urad dal for 2 hours
.

Grind using very little water. (Just enough water for the grinder stone to move.) You can also use a mixie to grind.                    




To the ground batter, add salt.              



Add a pinch of baking soda if using.         
 



Add green chillies and pepper corns.          



Add rice flour. Mix.           



Heat oil and take small portions of the batter and drop in oil. Shape does not matter.



When they have a nice brown color, they are done.            
 



Bondas were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They were all gone in a matter of minutes.



Enjoy!

Low Fat Carrot Beet Bottle Guard halwa

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Low fat things have sped high in the race for a while now. There was a time when I also started looking for the labels with ”Fat free ” or ”Low fat” notions. Fortunately, I am into reading a lot which made me understand that Low fat things are not always healthier. Infact they might be even worse due to presence of high Salt/sugar content or artificial preservatives in them. I do a very extensive research on whatever I buy now and see that mostly Full fat versions work best for me. 


Off course I do a mix of Lo fat and Full fat dairy products, cheese, desserts and Oils once in a while. That really depends on the food I am preparing. Like in a cake where recipe calls for Milk/ yoghurt, its probably not the best idea to go for low fat versions. Trust me, I am burnt on this and now swears to never use low fat dairy in bakes. Apart from that, I use skimmed milk for making almost any Indian Dessert, it does take more time to cook but works for me. I am also adamant to all baked versions of the ”not-so-unhealthy” chips or fries. They are loaded with salt and preservatives to make them equally in texture in comparison to their fried counterparts. 



Anyways, enough of the ”gyan”, I am here to share an actual Low fat and healthy recipe with you. It’s the Gajar halwa with Beet, coconut and Bottle Guard in it. I have used very less sugar and ghee in the recipe and it turned out really well. Just an outcome of the leftovers, this was a weekend treat for us. Just to give it a fusion touch, I served it with a dollop of Double Cream and added a tiny bit of Vanilla essence too. A different taste and real indulgence. It was also quicker since I didn’t use any liquid form of milk rather skimmed milk powder, which worked as if I added Khoya into it and got cook faster. 



Ingredients:

  • 1 cup grated Beetroot
  • 2 cups Grated Carrots
  • 1 cup grated Bottle guard
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut ( shredded )
  • 1/4 cup Sugar 
  • 1/2 cup skimmed milk powder
  • 2 tbsp Ghee
  • 1 tsp Cardamom powder 
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Garnishing

  • 2 tbsp Double Cream
  • Few saffron strands



Method:

  • Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker , combine grated carrot, beetroot and bottle guard together and sauté for a min. Cook with pressure till two whistles. No need to add water here since bottle guard will release enough water to get it cooked. 
  • Heat another tbsp. or ghee in a wide pan, sauté coconut for a min on low flame.
  • Add cooked mixture of carrot, beet and bottle guard and stir well to combine everything. Add sugar and milk powder and cook on low flame stirring in between for almost 10 min. Turn it off, when the mixture absorbs all the liquid and get a but dry. 
  • Add vanilla essence and cardamom powder, give a nice stir and keep it covered for a minutes. 



Khandvi : Low Oil Gujarati Snack

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What is known as Khandvi in Gujarat, and Suralichi Wadi in Maharashtra, is an extremely popular Indian snack. Its like a savoury swiss-roll, made from chickpea flour, spices and sour buttermilk, then topped with a splash of coriander, coconut and Mustard seeds. For most people who have only relished it in Snack shops, Khandvi seems to be a very tough recipe; actually, the traditional cook-top method did require monitoring and technique. But with this microwave-recipe, it is easy to make Khandvi whenever you want, and in practically half the original time. The key to making good Khandvi is the exact proportion of ingredients, and the final test which determines if the mixture is cooked or not! So all those of you who have been intimidated by this recipe before, read on and discover the easiest recipe for the best Khandvi, aka Suralichi Wadi ever!


Cooking this in Microwave not only saves time but also is a simple no fuss recipe. The main technique is in spreading the batter over the plate. You have to spread it really thin and even otherwise the rolls will not be perfect. I have made it several times, still I could not make the perfect even rolls each time. So if you also face the same problem, do not bother. It doesnt effect the taste at all. 

  Ingredients: 
1 cup besan (bengal gram flour)
1 cup sour curds (dahi) mixed with 1 1/2 cups of water or 2 cups Buttermilk
2 to 3 drops of lemon juice
2 tsp ginger-green chilli paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
For the Tempering
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
salt to taste
3 1/4 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds ( rai / sarson)
5 to 6 curry leaves (kadi patta)
1/2 tsp finely chopped green chillies (optional)
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
For The Garnish
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander (dhania)
Method:
Combine the Besan, buttermilk, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, salt and turmeric powder in a microwave safe bowl and whisk well so that no lumps remain. Microwave on high for 5 minutes.
Remove, mix well and microwave on high again for 3 more minutes. Again, remove, mix well and microwave again on high 2 more minutes.
Spread the cooked batter over a aluminium foil or back of a greased thali to a very thin circle, while its still hot. Take care not to make it uneven at certain places as its very common mistake to do. I have done it myself, many times. This will not spoil the taste though, just the finishing would not be perfect.
Cool and cut into strips of almost 3″ wide and roll them neatly. Take care while doing this as the rolls may break. If it does, that means the batter has not cooked properly. You can make a trial and error case, where you just spread a quarter of the batter in a Thali and then let it cool down. Roll them first and if it breaks in between, cook the batter a little more and repeat the process.
Heat the oil in small pan and add the musturd seeds. When seeds crackle, add the sesame seeds, curry leaves, Asafoetida and green chillies and saute for 10 seconds.
Spread them over the khandvi and garnish with coconut and coriander. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Linked to Breakfast Recipes event running @ Cooking for all seasons. 

Almond Oats Cookies

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Wow !! Season’s first snow, although just bit.. Its freezing outside today and am sipping a cuppa with my favorite Almond Cookies. Weather has changed finally and the dark breezes of Winters have started to embrace the surroundings. Very soon it will be snowing heavy ,  Already excited about that !


How good does it feel when whole family is sitting together on Winter evening its always a celebration when family is around. You just need to have a cup of tea and some warm snacks or cookies. These cookies serve perfect for such occasions. Enriched with goodness of Whole wheat, Oats, Almonds, Honey and Olive oil, there is nothing dodgy about them. We all strive to keep things healthy for our family and this roll is not an exception. So binge on Ladies, for this Winter, wellbeing is on its way 🙂


Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil 
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour 
1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds, please dont powder them just crush or chop small
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp honey
1/2 cup Milk

Method:

In a mixing bowl add all of the ingredients. Gently fold in with your hands or wooden spatula. 
Place spoonfuls of cookies some apart since they will expand during baking, and flatten slightly with a fork or your fingers. 
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to brown around the edges. Cool cookies in cookie sheets for about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy with tea or coffee. 


Notes:
I had to bake them for 15 min and  then 2 more min to get that perfect crisp texture. Although these cookies are tempting while warm, they get more crunchy when cool off. 
Store in an airtight Container for 2 upto weeks. 
Off to Vardhini’s New U

Pradnya’s Bake Fest

 Ramya’s ABC Desserts
Shema’s Cookie PArty

Thekua.. The Indian Whole Wheat Cookies

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Bihar, one of the largest states in India, in terms of area as well as population, is known for its association with Lord Buddha. A land-locked state, it falls mid-way between West Bengal in the east and Uttar Pradesh in the west and stands bounded by Nepal in north and by Jharkhand in south.
Lord Buddha attained enlightenment in Bihar and hence Buddhism has had a significant impact on the state. People are largely vegetarian though there are many who are fond of chicken and meat dishes. A remarkable factor of the Bihari cuisine is that the state has imbibed the best and most suitable aspects of the Mauryan, Gupta, Turk, Afghan and Persian and European style of cooking and, at the same time, retained a food culture that bears a distinct hallmark of Bihar.

‘Thekua’, or ‘khajur’, is one of the traditional sweet items in Bihar’s homes. Be it ‘Teej’ or ‘Jitiya’ – festivals when Hindu women keep fast praying for the welfare of their husbands and. children respectively, this is a mandatory item prepared at home, There are many variations of this item; like it could be crispy or soft, big or small etc. But the cooking method is more or less the same. This recipe has been specially made for this month’s Indian Cooking Challenge by Srivalli.

Thekua can be made with either Sugar or Jaggery. I actually used a combination of both in my preparation. S is not very fond of jaggery so it was a compulsion for me to use Sugar in it to make him enjoy this as well. Also, I deep fried some and baked the rest of them. Both were equally good and different in their own taste and texture. Plz remember Coconut is very important in this recipe, and that decides the taste of the final make. So keeping all this is in mind, here is my version of Thekua A.K.A. Indian Cookies.:)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup Semolina ( Sooji / Rava)
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup grated Jaggery
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1 tsp fennel powder
1/2 cup grated Coconut
2 tbsp Ghee
1/2 cup warm Milk to knead

Oil for deep frying OR
if you are baking it : A pinch of Baking Soda.

Method:
Mix all the ingredients and knead into a stiff dough. Keep aside for 20 min. You can use more milk to knead if it’s required.
Cut into desired shapes and size. I used a cookie cutter for the same.
Heat oil in a wok and deep fry all the thekuas in batches. Best enjoyed warm, crispy and flavourful. Could be kept in an air tight container for upto 2 weeks.

For baking, just mix baking soda while kneading and bake in a preheated Oven at 180 degrees for 20  min untill golden on top. Dust with some icing sugar before serving..

Love ’em !! 🙂

  

Instant Microwave Dhokla

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Gujarat is the only vegetarian state in India.  Majority of Gujaratis of are staunch vegetarians.Despite having an extensive coastline for sea food, due influence of Jain vegetarianism and traditional Hinduism.  However, the goodness of millet, yogurt, buttermilk, coconut, groundnut, sesame seeds and jaggery makes sure that this non-meat food is not lacking in proteins.  Cuisine can vary widely in flavor and heat and also changes with the seasonal availability of vegetables,  depending on a given family’s tastes as well as the region of Gujarat they are from. North Gujarat, Kathiawad, Kachchh, and Surti Gujarati are the four major regions of Gujarat that all bring their own style to Gujarati food. Many Gujarati dishes are distinctively sweet, salty, and spicy at the same time. 


Dhokla is one such Farsaan from Gujarati Cuisine which never fails to entice Food lovers. Its simplicity and nutritive value is just an added factor apart from the mouth watering taste it offers. And combining this traditional recipe with the modern methods of cooking such as in Microwave makes life even simpler for us. Instant and easy, yet retains all the goodness and spongy texture. Its a hands down way if enjoying your favorite snack at tea time.. instantly 🙂



Ingredients:
1/2 cup Besan or Chick pea flour
1 tsp Salt 
1 tsp grated ginger 
1 tbsp Oil 
1 tsp Baking Soda


For Garnishing :
Few sprigs of Coriander
Few red chilies
1 tsp Mustard seeds, Cumin seed each 
1 tsp Mustard Oil 



Method:
Combine all ingredients except baking soda and mix well with each other. Keep aside for 15 min.
Combine with Soda and pour into a Microwave Safe Dish. I used a round dish slightly bigger than a bowl. 
Micro on full power for 3 minutes. Take it out and let it rest for 2 min, since it will be very hot and soft. 
Meanwhile, prepare the Seasoning. Heat mustard oil in a pan, splutter Mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Add red dried chilies and fry till light brown. Try not to burn it, so keep the flame low. 
Sizzle it over the warm Dhokla ,Cut it and enjoy warm. 



Notes:
Dont keep it for long as it tends to get hard. You can reheat it but the taste will not be the same. Prefer to prepare the quantity you would require at the moment. 


Linked to Breakfast Recipes event running @ Cooking for all seasons. 

Some tips, here n there S# 4

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1. Lets say you have made parantha dough with grated veggies like carrot, onions etc. or mixing various flour like oats, ragi etc.. And you are left with some of it and not willing to make them for the next meal. You can use that dough as a stuffing in fresh plain dough. Just use it as as you do with stuffing like alu parantha etc. This will taste different and you will use it all 🙂
2. Talking about food combinations starch and acids should never be eaten in one meal. For instance, white bread and citrus juices cannot be digested together. Fats and sugars too should not be eaten in one meal. Simply put, do not combine cereals, bread, potatoes or other such foods with oranges, grapefruit, pineapple or other acidic foods.
3. Because of the acid content of yogurt, it makes a fabulous marinade to tenderize meats. Do not use aluminium pans when preparing anything with yogurt. The acid in the yogurt will react with the aluminium.



4. Add a few grains of rice to Table Salt to stop it from getting moist and lumpy. 
5. For Gas trouble put a little hing, roasted cumin seeds and black pepper in buttermilk and drink it. It will feel better after belching. 
6. Got some Silver Jewellery blackened??? Clean it with VIM Bar with a little warm water, it will start shining like new 🙂
7. If you have issues with flies specially during Monsoons, try this simple tip. After making tea, dry the leftover. Burn it on live coal, this will prevent flies to come to your place. 



8. For lice, use Coconut oil mixed with powdered Custard apple seeds which is strained and rubbed on the hair. Then comb your hair with a fine comb after applying the oil. The lice will drop off. 
9. If there are mice holes in the house, fill them up with melted Tar. The mice will run away. 
10. Often you get cracks between the toes because of wet feet. Use coconut oil mixed with edible camphor and apply it overnight for few days, you will get smooth feet 🙂


No Bake Mango Cake : Instant and Healthy

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Who doesn’t like moist cakes, I have never seen one in my life. In my opinion, its better if you buy one then to bake it at home. Hey Passionate bakers, please don’t take me wrong. The reason why am saying this is that most of the times when you buy it from Market, it’s usually for a special occasion which typically would associate a good number of people, and hence more mouths for that cake. But, and a big BUT, when you bake it at home, we often do it to try another GREAT recipe that we have come across or bookmarked for long. Or for some people like me, just because you love baking. And then there is just you and your family and according to the Golden Rule, the one preparing food always takes it more with all the tasting and stuff. So my point here is, you can still cut down on the amount of cake you are having when you buy it, but it will be more when you bake it. Pooff !! BUT WHO CARES !! 🙂 Cakes are lovely and the aroma when fills the kitchen, nothing can beat that. So, Lets bake a cake again darlings 😉

 This is actually a no bake cake which is kind of steamed in microwave and is amazingly flavourful in taste. I got the recipe from Santosh Kitchen, (see the Original one here) and instantly bookmarked it. It came out exactly how I expected it to be. Easy, aromatic and flavourful and not to forget, quite nippy to make. You can count it in the range of healthy cakes and you can play with the ingredients to a good extent. As of now, I just reserved it same as the original recipe, keeping Mango as the core ingredient which was nevertheless the perfect partner for this. With very little amount of fat present in this cake and a combination of all healthy ingredients, Did somebody say Cakes are Bad ??? 😀

Ingredients:
1 cup fine Semolina ( Sooji )
2 tbsp Rice Flour
1 cup Mango Puree or Pulp
2 tbsp grated Coconut
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Olive oil
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 cup Almond flakes
1 tsp Ghee

Method:
Roast Semolina or Rawa with 1 tsp of Ghee until light brown. Take care not to burn it. Let it cool down at room temperature.
Mix Semolina with all the ingredients except Mango pulp. Keep aside for 10 min so that semolina becomes soft. Now add the Mango pulp into it and mix well. If you feel batter is a bit  thick, you can add little more milk. Batter should not be runny though.

Grease the baking dish with Oil and pour the batter into it. Spread the almond flakes on top.. and Microwave it for 6 min on high. Take out and if required micro it again on medium for 1 more min. Mine was done this way.
Serve it warm, do not reheat it as this will spoil the taste.

Off to Radhika’s Winter Carnival
Sreelu’s Thanks Giving Recipes 
Vidhya’s Love Lock with Sweets
Srav’s Holiday Baking 
Julie’s Christmas Delicacy 
Vatsala’s Microwave Easy Cooking started by Srivalli 
Pari’s ONLY Cookies and Cakes