Wholewheat Ragi Pancakes

Hola people!

Life has been busy. My little squirrel is growing up too fast and has started playschool (big milestone right? Phew!). The settling period is on and most days she sails through the time managing a few wails towards the end. My heart feels so heavy but I do realize that it is all part of a process.  

Soooo, with her playschool I had to introduce some lifestyle changes in my routine too. I wake up early now, prepare breakfast (duty calls) and then wake her up followed by bathing, feeding and dressing her up (oh dear mothers, you know the grind!). Anyway so my stories are really pancaked these days. I have been preparing pancakes for adira for breakfast before she goes to school. Ofcourse I feed her different things on different days but only the pancakes make it to my stories (who want to see besan ka sheera on the story board right?). A lot of you messaged me asking for the wholewheat-ragi pancake recipe.

Now I have two versions of it; with egg and eggless. I will share the recipe of both. Though there is just a minor change. I haven’t clicked a decent picture of the pancakes so a screenshot of the boomerang from my insta story will have to suffice for the moment.

How to get your child to eat fruit?

not the best picure...but it works for the moment

As parents a lot of us struggle with feeding our children three basic meals leave alone those extra portions of fruits as mid meal snacks. Really! The food fight seems eternal for some mothers I know. 

There have been innumerable instances when I have met friends complaining their kids don’t touch a fruit. 

For me a day without fruit is counted a day incomplete. I need to have a portion if not portions of fruits everyday. It is just a habit that I have inculcated in my lifestyle and also into adira’s now. Whether it be a vacation or a staycation or just a routine day at home, fruits are a must. 

So here are a few suggestions that might help you with feeding your child some fruitilicious goodness.

START EARLY: Most babies can start eating a fruit at 5 months. So you start with the mushy ones like banana and chiku. The sooner they develop a taste for fruits the better.

Egg Muffins

Just yesterday, when I had posted a story about egg muffins, I got flooded with messages for its recipe. Well this just gave the lazy writer in me a nudge to switch on the laptop and fill in another page of my little diary.

Egg muffins generally occupy the breakfast menu but because I tried these for my little one and there is no set menu for toddlers, I served it to her for dinner. My husband suggested that it will make a filling snack for his evening hunger pangs. It is unbelievably easy to make and is very healthy.

Healthy Cheese Quesadillas for Toddlers

Hi! 

I am not sure how many of you have given up on my blog since I have been so lousy and lazy, not posting anything for ages now. I am in true sense playing the role of a seasonal blogger. But the fact is that motherhood is keeping me insanely busy.

I want to keep the nest organised looking spic and span the whole time and that comes at the price of posting lesser on the blog.

However, just the other day I cooked something for adira and she loved it! I thought it will be a crime if I do not share it with all the mothers struggling with their picky toddlers. Your spouse will love it too!

It’s easy, nutritious and delicious! 

INGREDIENTS

For the Dough

1 cup bathua ( washed and cut)

2 cups Wholewheat flour /atta 

Water as per requirement

Salt as per taste

For the Quesadilla 

2 tbsp ghee

A slice of cheese

Few leaves of spinach ( boiled)

2 tbsp crushed cottage cheese

Salt as per taste

1/2 tsp pepper

Pinch of oregano

RECIPE

For the Dough

Pour water in a pan. Bring it to a boil. 

Add bathua leaves to it. 

Cover the pan with a plate and let it cook till the leaves become soft and wilted

Take it off the stove and blend the bathua to form a purée.

Add this purée to atta, add salt and some water and knead it to firm a soft dough.

For the Quesadilla 

Put a griddle on flame and let it become hot. 

Meanwhile, taks some dough and form two small balls.

Roll theme into two thin rotis.

Put a roti on the hot griddle and cook it from both sides without using any oil or ghee. 

Repeat the same with the other roti.

Now place one roti on a plate, add a slice of cheese on top, add crushed cottage cheese to it.

Sprinkle some salt, pepper and oregano.

Top this with a layer of boiled spinach leaves and finally with the second roti. 

Put ghee on the griddle and place the entire thing on the pan. Let it become brown and crisp.

Brush some ghee on the other side, flip it and let cook. 

Press the top a little so the cheese gets melted.

Take it off the griddle and cut it into triangles.

Serve it hot to adults. Let them cool down and then serve the toddlers. 

NOTE:

• You can make this dish with plain dough or spinach dough.
• You can add grated broccoli, capsicum and other veggies. Use your  imagination.

Hope you and your family enjoy relishing this as much as we did ! 

Happy Cooking! 

Creamy Methi Paneer

Hi!

So I realise that I have been absent from my blog for sometime but if you have been following my posts since the beginning you must have got used to my erratic frequency of writing. I know I know that it is not an excuse for not posting in a while but please let me use it as one this time. 

So yesterday we had someone coming over and I was in charge of the dinner menu. I realised the refrigerator just had capsicum so I made capsicum-potatoes or Shimla mirch-aloo as we call it normally. Dal is always obvious. I was glad when my father-in-law got paneer. I knew it will make the perfect third dish. 

I had got tired of making the same old kadai paneer and butter paneer masala, so this time I thought of making a new kind of paneer dish. ( I will not lie it was also because I have recently found out that I am allergic to a few things and onions and tomatoes are among those things!). 

The idea of this dish comes from something my mom cooks for us but I have brought in my own changes to it and the result is phenomenal. 

So this creamy paneer dish is not as much work as it looks. It was loved by everyone, even my little girl! So it is definitely a win. 

If you want to make something rich looking and rich tasting but do not want to work extremely hard, this dish is your answer.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

3 tbsp oil

2 tbsp yellow butter

2 cloves of garlic (crushed or grated)

3 tbsp wholewheat flour (atta)

Handful of cashews

3/4th cup of milk

Salt as required

1 tbsp of pepper

1 tbsp of mixed herbs

2 handfuls of crushed kasoori methi

375gms paneer (cottage cheese)

Water as required.

RECIPE

Grind cashews in a mixer with some water to get a runny cashew paste. Yes runny not thick.

Pour oil in a wok and let it get warm.

Add butter cubes to the oil and let them melt.

Toss in the grated garlic and let it fry for 30 seconds.

Add the wholewheat flour to the garlic oil and cook it for a minute. 

Add half a cup of water to the flour to form a paste, followed by the runny cashew paste.

Give it all a good stir and let it simmer. Add milk to this and let it all come to a boil.

Throw in the crushed dried fenugreek (kasoori methi) and let it cook.

Keep adding a little water and a little milk if the gravy looks too thick.

Add salt, pepper and mixed herbs to the gravy and let it come to a boil.

Toss the cubed paneer into the gravy. Let it all cook for a few minutes and allow the flavours to come together.

Transfer it to your serving dish, sprinkle some pepper on top and serve hot.

Honestly I can eat this dish even without a bread. My little squirrel licked it off her plate in no time. But you can serve it with any bread of your choice. 

NOTE:

If your gravy looks too runny even after a lot of simmering make a paste of wholewheat flour, milk and water and add it to the gravy. The consistency of this paste should be the same as honey. 

I hope this dish comes to your rescue when you are uncertain about the next dinner party at your place, because believe me it is definitely a winner!

P.S: the title of this post is creamy methi paneer and not methi malai paneer because there is NO malai in it!

Healthy Homemade Cookies For Kids and Everyone

                                               

I have always loved baking. However, I have also been moody with it. For example when I got married I baked a lot for the family. I baked for my husband on every special occasion ( check out my strawberry cupcakes from one Valentine’s Day). 

With adira in our lives now I have been so busy doing the mundane chores that my other hobbies had taken a backseat. But I am glad that I am back to doing those things again. Ofcourse not at the same pace but I am definitely doing them again. 

Baking is one of those things. I don’t bake everyday anyway but I had completely left it for a while. 

Contrary to my excuse for not baking, now adira is my reason to bake. You know how kids love biscuits. Also, biscuits come to our rescue when out for dinner or in a public place to keep these toddlers occupied. No, I am not proud of handing her a biscuit every time. Rather a lot of times I carry fresh cuts of cucumber/carrot/apple/pear. But sometimes these kids just need a biscuit.

Easy Mango Lollies

I picked out the softest mango from the refrigerator this afternoon to make a thick smoothie for my 11 months old. However, when I tasted  that soft mushy mango, it was just a little too tangy for my girl. I kept the half cut mango aside undecided what I will do with it later and went on to pick another one. I then prepared a quick smoothie from a relatively sweeter mango and transferred it into a bowl to be devoured by my daughter afterwards. I moved on to  the half cut mango.


I could have made “aamras” for everyone which is just another synonym for a mango smoothie. But I decided to choose the no-milky way. I don't know how at that moment I was struck by my childhood memories; my childhood memories with my nani dearest. May god bless her soul. She used to make us absolutely yummy ‘nimbu pani’, ‘rasna’ and “mango” lollies to beat the summer heat. So reminiscing my memories with her I decided to make everyone mango lollies for dessert.

Now these lollies are unabashedly easy, fresh and simply delicious. It has a two-ingredients recipe and no you are not getting any prizes for guessing them. Mango and sugar!! That is it! I made these the traditional way like my nani used to; in ice cube molds. However, you can purchase the cute looking, colourful Icecream molds available in the market these days if you please.

So all you lazy people or even the not so lazy ones why don't you try these and make your near and dear ones super happy. After all who doesn't like some fruity coolers in the summers.

This is how the lollies looked! Small, cute and very inviting 

Ingredients ( prepared 6 cubed mango lollies)

1 mango
2.5 tbsp sugar

Recipe

Dice the mangoes and put them in a bowl.

Add sugar to it.

Blend them in a mixer or use a hand blender.

Transfer the thick mixture into the ice cube molds.

Put a toothpick or a disposable fruit fork into each mold.

Put the ice cube  tray into the freezer.

Check it in a few hours. When done just use a knife to take the lollies out of their molds.


Lick. Slurp. Enjoy.

Foodie Emotions

Unlike most of my food posts which are followed by a recipe this one is an exception. In this one, emotions follow. This post is mainly about how I felt today as I was baking a set of six muffins. I have always confessed that I am a moody baker. By moody I mean a lot of things. Firstly, I am not an everyday baker so I am moody that way. Secondly I should really need to be in a good mood to bake and not bake just for the namesake. Thirdly, I don’t care if it is an occasion if I feel like baking for that occasion I do else I simply buy from outside. 

Navratan Korma "my style"

Hello, hello, hello! 

While I promised on my Instagram account that I will soon blog about navratan korma "my style", something rather someone life changing took place (details of that will follow in the times to come). Hence the delay. 

So I ended up making navratan korma simply because I didn't have one big portion of a single veggie. Rather I had a farrago of vegetables lying ALMOST lifelessly in the refrigerator. I thought of bringing them to life by cooking them. 

Everybody at my place enjoyed this dish. It is not as hard as it looks and is quite luxurious for the effort it requires. If you have a dinner planned, you can definitely serve this to the guests. 

INGREDIENTS (serves 2)

Handful of beans ( roughly cut)

Handful of sweet corn

Half a bowl of peas

1 capsicum (roughly chopped) 

1 potato (roughly chopped)

1 onion (puréed)

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

2 tomatoes (puréed)

3 tbsp Ready made tomato purée 

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

3 tbsp oil

3 tbsp malai/ heavy cream

Salt to taste

1 tbsp coriander powder

3/4 tbsp garam masala

RECIPE 

Put oil in a pan. Once hot, add cumin seeds and coriander seeds and let them crackle.

Add puréed onion and cook till it becomes pale. 

Add ginger garlic paste and cook for another minute. 

Add all the veggies, sprinkle some water, reduce the flame, cover and cook till veggies become soft.

Add puréed tomatoes and cook for a minute, followed by the spices. Stir everything well and keep cooking. 

Add readymade purée. Cook for another few minutes followed by dollops of malai. Mix everything well. 

Cook for another minute or two and serve hot garnishing with a thread of cream on top. 

NOTE: 

You can use as many veggies as you like. Cauliflower, babycorn, mushrooms are just a few suggestions. 

You can add a paste made of cashew nuts and water to make this dish richer. 

Hope you enjoy relishing this with your loved ones. Bon appetite! 

Macaroni in Orange Sauce

Hello again! 

Yesterday night me and my dearest husband were home alone and since I was in charge of the dinner it had to be understood by default that my husband would like to have something other than the normal dal roti sabzi. 

Originally I wanted to make pasta in orange sauce. But since we didn't have any pasta at home and the macaroni was in abundance, I ended up making macaroni in orange sauce. 

My husband and I both enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy cooking it and having it with your loved once. 

INGREDIENTS (serves 2 hungry people)

4-5 fistfuls of macaroni (boiled with a spoon of oil)

Fistful of grated pizza cheese 

1/2 tbsp garlic chilli seasoning

1 capsicum (diced and steamed)

Handful of beans (chopped and steamed)

For Orange Sauce 

Mix the below mentioned two sauces

Red Sauce

2 Bay leaves

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

3 tomatoes (puréed)

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp ketchup 

White Sauce

2 tbsp butter 

1/2 tbsp garlic paste

1.5 tbsp all purpose flour

1 cup milk

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Oregano to taste 

RECIPE

Red Sauce

Put oil in a pan. Add bay leaves to it and let them crackle.

Add garlic paste and cook for a minute.

Add puréed tomatoes and salt and cook till tomatoes reduce to almost half.

Add ketchup and pepper. Let it cook for a few minutes, then turn the flame off. 

White Sauce

Put butter in a pan. Add garlic paste to it and cook for a minute. 

Add all purpose flour, sauté for a few seconds.

And milk and stir really well to avoid lumps.

Let it simmer for a minute or two. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Cook for a few more seconds, then turn the flame off.

Orange Sauce

Mix the above two sauces. Add some milk if it gets too thick and let it come to a boil. 

Final Macaroni

Add grated cheese to the Orange sauce and stir well.

Add the boiled macaroni, steamed capsicum and beans and mix them all well.

Cook for a few minutes, drizzling some garlic chilli seasoning. 

Serve hot with toasted buttered bread. 

NOTE:

You can use wholewheat pasta for a healthier version.

I didn't have too many veggies at hand so I used what was lying in the fridge. You can add mushrooms, broccoli, red and yellow bell peppers.

You can use a tbsp of sugar instead of ketchup  to balance out the tang of the tomato purée.

I didn't have fresh basil leaves. If you can hold of them, add them to your red sauce, sparing a few for garnish.

You can serve this with garlic bread or focaccia. I used what I had in stock.

HAPPY COOKING! 

Chinese Idli

So the other day we had some leftover idli batter at our place. Now even though I love south- indian food, I just can’t bring myself to have the same sambhar (lentils cooked with veggies) and coconut chutney (sauce) the next day.

Hence, I decided to cook some steaming hot idlis but with a twist.

This recipe is originally my sister’s, but I cooked this dish with a few changes of my own. I personally savor these idlis and my dear husband and father-in-law also appreciated them.

You can have it for breakfast or as an evening snack. Women, this is a wonderful and easy dish to keep on your menu for your next get together. Also, kids will love to have it in their tiffin boxes since it is a pleasant change from the conventional masala idli that is cooked with curry leaves and black mustard seeds.

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

INGREDIENTS (serves 3)

6 idlis (each cut into quarters)

1 tbsp of ginger garlic paste

1 onion (thinly sliced)

1 tomato (chopped)

2 capsicums (thinly sliced)

1 spring onion (chopped)

3 tbsp tomato puree

3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Salt to taste

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic chili seasoning

2 tbsp oil

RECIPE

Put oil in a wok. Add sliced onions to it.

Wait for the onions to get golden brown and then add ginger garlic paste. Cook for two minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and salt and cook till tomatoes become tender.

Add ketchup and pepper and stir well.

Add idli quarters and sliced capsicum and give it all a good stir. Cook for a minute.

Tip in the tomato puree and garlic-chilli seasoning. Cook for another two minutes.

Sprinkle the chopped spring onion leaves, switch the flame off, and cover the wok for a few minutes before serving hot.

NOTE:

You can make rice or suji (semolina) idlis as per your liking.

If you do not have garlic-chilli seasoning, you can simply add chilli flakes.

You can also add some soy sauce and some green chilli sauce to it for added flavour.

You can pack this dish with nutrition by adding veggies like carrots and beans to it. The kids won’t mind it.

Happy Cooking!!!

Home-cooked Peri Peri Chicken

It is often said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I am wondering why they didn’t tell the poor men that the same thing works for women too. I think my dearest husband realized the unsaid.  I am saying this because a fortnight back his cooking instinct suddenly became active and he decided to put on a chef's cap. He wanted to cook me a meal and not just any two-minute maggi meal (though that too is special in its own way).

We went grocery shopping, which is a chore my husband absolutely loves. He turns into a kid when he goes grocery shopping (believe me it is cute!). Since it was just the two of us at home that night, he decided to cook us some peri-peri grilled chicken (now stop drooling and read further ;)) and lord it was one of the yummiest home cooked meals I had had in ages!

Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup

It's the season of chilly breeze and chapped lips yet again. And as much as we love the nipping cold we also love our hot cups of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and soup. 

Today I am going to share with you my recipe of cream of tomato soup. It's not authentic Italian nor is it close to tamatar ka shorba. I will call mine a friendship between the two. 

This soup is extremely filling and can be your dinner if had with a small portion of grilled veggies.

To make your cup read below 

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

10 tomatoes (boiled and peeled) 

3 carrots (boiled)

2 bay leaves 

6 cloves of garlic

3 tbsp butter

Salt to taste

2 tbsp brown sugar

3.5 tbsp pepper

4 tbsp fresh coriander leaves

8 cups of water

3 tbsp malai/ heavy cream 

RECIPE

Purée the boiled and peeled tomatoes and carrots.

Put butter in a deep bottom pan. Add bay leaves and stir for a few seconds.

Add garlic and sauté till golden brown.

Pour in the puréed tomatoes and carrots.

Cook till the purée reduces by a quarter.

Add water, sugar, pepper, salt and half of coriander leaves and keep cooking. 

After 10 minutes of cooking add malai and cook for another ten minutes.

Take a taste test. Add sugar, salt or pepper as per your liking. 

Strain the entire soup into a different bowl  to get a smooth texture. 

Serve hot with dash of cream, some pepper and coriander leaves with bread sticks on the side. 

NOTE

Do not throw away the water in which you have boiled tomatoes and carrots. Instead use it in place of plain water for a better flavour.

You can substitute 2 tbsp of brown sugar  with 1.5 tbsp of white sugar. 

I chose to add on to the nutritional value by adding carrots. You can also add some beetroot. 

Stay warm and full with a cup of this rich soup. Happy winter! 

Pizza Style Sandwiches

So the other day hunger pangs came knocking on my stomach. Not wanting to eat the same old butter toast, I started surveying the refridgerator to cook myself something interesting. 

While I was frisking things my eyes went on a box of pizza sauce sitting in the side shelf. Instantly a picture of pizza popped over my head. 

Since there was no pizza base available and I didn't want to do all that baking I thought of creating a sandwich that tastes like pizza and hence this post. 

Your kids will love this with their glass of milkshake and so will the adults.

Ingredients

For the sauce

1tbsp oil

1 tomato puréed

2 tbsp readymade pizza sauce

1 tbsp ketchup 

Salt to taste

3/4 tbsp pepper

1 tbsp oregano

For the sandwich filling

Cheese slices as per liking

1/2 a capsicum chopped 

75gm of cottage cheese (diced)

2 beans (chopped and steamed) 

For the sandwich 

2 tbsp butter (optional)

4 slices of bread

Sauce (mentioned above)

Filling (mentioned above)

Recipe 

Put oil in a pan. Add grated tomato and a pinch of salt.

When the tomato has reduced almost by half add pizza sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper and oregano. Give it all a good stir.

Add capsicum, beans and cottage cheese.

Mix well, cook for another minute or two and then take it off the flame and let it cool for a few minutes. 

Put a pan on the flame. While it gets hot, place a cheese slice on one slice of bread, top it with the sauce and veggie filling and then cover it with another slice of bread. 

Put a little butter on the pan (optional),and place the sandwich on it. Flip it over to grill the other side. 

Once both sides are brown, put in a on a plate, slice it in halves or quarters and serve hot.

Repeat the same for the other two slices of bread.

These sandwiches make a wonderful snack. Try them and leave a comment! 

Happy cooking! 

Father-in-law style Fish Curry

Keeping this post short, and coming directly to the topic, the other day my father-in-law cooked us a fish curry.

Before I go any further I must mention that my father-in-law is QUITE awesome at cooking mutton and fish. 

Coming from a household with a vegetarian kitchen I was quite ecstatic about the fact that I would be getting married into a household where cooking meat in the kitchen was not forbidden. 

Talking about today's post this fish curry which is basically my father-in-law's recipe is fairly simple to cook and is light on the stomach. Not to forget it is absolutely delicious!

Easy home-made Fried Rice-Manchurian Combo

This is the story of an Accidental Indian Chinese Menu for dinner at our place. Just the other day my mother-in-law was planning to make Kofta curry (dumplings made from gram flour and cabbage served with tomato gravy). Now my sis-in-law and I are not the biggest fans of this curry. While we were still exploring other options for dinner my sis-in-law suggested that we make Chinese since the kofta dumpling was more or less like Manchurian belonging to the Chinese cuisine both in terms of appearance and taste.

Masala Khichdi

There are certain days in a month when we are simply too lazy to cook something lavish. And then there are days when we want plain comfort food. Just the other day, these two types of days coincided at our place.

My dear husband’s stomach had been acting funny (thanks to the momos he had the other day). So I decided to cook him masala khichdi. Khichdi is a dish cooked with lentils and rice. Unlike plain khichdi which is cooked with a heeng-jeera (asafoetida-cumin) tempering, masala khichdi is slightly more interesting (though I love the plain tempered khichdi too).

The Grilled Chicken Platter

It is kind of ironical for me to write a food post about meat on a Tuesday but anyway. So, some chicken was lying in our deep freezer. I have cooked chicken the Indian way a lot of times. This time I thought of cooking it and presenting it a little differently.

I decided to present my husband with a platter just the way you get at fancy restaurants. The platter consisted of some grilled chicken with sautéed vegetables, mushroom rice and mashed potatoes on the sides, drizzled with some white sauce.

AAM Dessert

Summer is the perfect excuse to indulge in icecream after every possible meal. While there are various flavours available in the market it is always good to try something different using icecream especially when you have some people coming over.

On Saturday night we had some guests over and I decided to give the final touch to the meal with some AAM sweetness. 

Most of us have vanilla icecream with mango cubes for dessert in summers. I decided to prepare an extremely simple dessert involving these two ingredients. Believe me the effort put in this dessert is minimal and the compliments that will follow will be many!

Fruitilicious Summer Bonanza

Hello people! I will not be asking you how the day is treating you since I know that the heat wave is nicely grilling us all. Anyway, my dear laptop is in a state of injury and will take some time to recuperate which is why I am writing this post from my phone today. 

I am sure you all are taking the best measures to beat the summer heat (read: drinking lots of liquids, applying sunscreen, carrying an umbrella and the list goes on). In this post I will share with you a smoothie recipe that will be a perfect drink to kickstart a hot morning. I prepared it the other day and I am not lying when I say that it was amazingly refreshing, yummy and best of all filling. 

It is super nutritious. The kids will have it happily without making any faces. 

All you need to do is gather some fruit, yoghurt and milk. 

I called this smoothie “ SUMMER BONANZA”. It gave just the perfect fruity taste.