Tameta muthiya shaak~tomato dumplings curry

Tameta muthiya shaak is typical gujarati delicacy. Though it requires elaborate preparation, it is still worth to try. It is one of my favourite gujarati curry because it has typical sweet sour gujarati taste.

Ingredients:-

For muthiya(dumplings)

1 cup fenugreek leaves(methi)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup chickpea flour

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp oil

green chilli ginger paste (as per taste)

salt (as per taste)

For curry

4-5 tomatoes (chopped in cubes)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1-2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala

1-2 tsp coriander powder

1-2 tsp sugar (optional)

1 tsp amchur (optional)

1 tsp mustard seeds

2-3 tsp oil

4-5 curry leaves

salt

For muthiya

Wash and clean the fenugreek leaves and chopped finely. Mix all the ingredients for muthiya and knead the dough using water as required. Divide the dough into approximately 4-5 parts and roll by your hands in cylindrical shape. If dough is sticky, apply oil on your palms.

Put rolls in steaming plate. Steam muthiya for 15-20 min on medium high flame in steamer. Then slice each roll into small oval shape pieces and keep them aside.

For curry

Heat oil in one pan. When oil is heated add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add curry leaves and pinch of asafoetida. Add chopped tomatoes, all the spices, amchur powder,sugar and salt. Mix all of them well. Let tomatoes cook for 4-5 minutes. When tomatoes are almost done, add 1 to 2 cup water as per consistency needed. Let the water start boiling, then at last add muthiyas. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve hot with chapati or paratha.

Notes:-

This curry has normally gravy like consistency.

You can add any other green leaves for muthiya like spinach,cale etc.

Momos~nepali dumplings

Momos....I have never ever heard a word like this before couple of years. One of my friends is from Nepal and I had momos first time at their place. I really like these dumplings from very first time and they are healthy too. Momos are basically steamed dumplings which has vegetarian or non vegetarian filling. It is a lot easier to make momos here because the cover for filling is available ready made.

Ingredients

For cover

won ton wraps (1 pack)

For filling

3/4 cup cabbage (grated)

3/4 cup carrot (grated)

2 medium onions (finely chopped)

3-4 green chilli (finely chopped)

1 tbsp ginger (grated)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp garam masala or momo masala

1 tbsp ghee

salt as per taste

Take one big mixing bowl. Add all the vegetables, chilli and ginger. Then add all the spices and ghee. At last add salt and then mix well.

Take some water in one bowl. Dip your first finger in the water and apply water on the edges on won ton wrap. Place spoonful of filling in the centre and then fold to make triangular shape. Seal the edges properly with your fingers.Repeat these procedure with all the wraps.

Put around 2-3 glass of water in the steamer and arrange the momos in steaming plate. Steam momos for around 20-25 minutes on medium flame.

Serve hot with spicy chilli sauce or tomato chutney.

Notes:-

You can add any other vegetables of your choice also.

If you don't have steamer then you can steam momos in idli moulds also.

One of the sign that momos are steamed properly is the cover become transparent.

Bhat na Muthiya~Rice steamed dumplings

I invited some guests last week for dinner and we had everything from starter to dessert. Most of the rice was still there after dinner. I was not at all surprised because this happens with me most of the time. As every time, I decided to use this rice to make Muthiya(steamed dumplings). I like any kind of muthiya and especially these rice muthiya are really soft.

Normally they are made using besan(gram flour), but this I use ragi and wheat flour along with besan to give it a healthy twist. These muthiyas are perfect for weekend healthy and filling breakfast.

Ingredients:-

2 cups rice

5 tbsp besan(gram flour)

5 tbsp ragi flour (optional)

5 tbsp coarse wheat flour/wheat flour

2 tsp ginger chilly paste

1-2 tbsp olive oil/any oil

3-4 tbsp curd

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

red chili powder

coriander powder

turmeric powder

salt

For tempering

oil

sesame seeds

mustard seeds

curry leaves

chopped cilantro

If you are using leftover rice, then sprinkle some water and microwave for 30 secs. Then mesh the rice by your hand.

Take one big mixing bowl and add meshed rice. Then add all the flour and mix flours with rice very well. Add oil,curd, sugar and lemon juice. Add all the spice and salt as per taste. Make soft dough using water as needed.

Divide mixture into 5 to 6 equal size balls and roll them into cylindrical shapes using your hand. Place them in steamer and steam for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool and cut each roll into thin pieces.

For tempering

Heal oil in pan and add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering add sesame seeds and curry leaves. After half minutes, add cooked muthiya and saute for 5 minutes.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with tea or chutney.

Notes:-

Normally I use ghau no jado lot(coarse wheat flour) for muthiya, but you can also make it with normal wheat flour.

Salsa and Click entry

For me Summer is the season of fresh vegetables and fruits. I try to enjoy all these fresh produce as much as possible. During my last visit to farmer's market, I bought tomatoes in a large quantity. The moment I saw those fresh, ripe tomatoes, I decided to make fresh salsa at home.

Before you read on, let me clear one thing. It is not authentic recipe of salsa. But I think for each classic dish, everyone has their own recipe version. I want to share my version with you and hope you like it!!

Ingredients:

6-7 ripe tomatoes

1 jalapeno

4-5 green onion

3/4 cup chopped cilantro

4-5 garlic cloves minced

salt as per taste

lemon juice as per taste

Wash the tomatoes and very finely chop half of tomatoes by hand or in food processor. Make smooth puree of rest of the tomatoes. Chop green onion and jalapeno in fine pieces

In a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients and put it in a refrigerator at least before one hour of serving.

Notes:-

I like my salsa chunky, so normally I cut half of tomatoes.

You can decide jalapeno quantity as per your liking of hotness.

Normally I make my salsa in one day advance, so all the flavors are well mixed.

Also the above picture is my first entry for the CLICK event STACKS started by Jugalbandi.

Cream Cheese Rolls

Summer is the season of outing, picnic, BBQ and so on. All of these are incomplete without food. Cream cheese rolls are perfect for summer outings. They can be made very quickly and easily. It is also a great way to feed vegetables to kids.

Ingredients

8-10 tortillas (8 or 10 inch)

8 oz fat free/reduced fat cream cheese

1/2 red or yellow belle pepper

4-5 green onions

1 shredded carrot

1 jalapeno

1/4 cup celery grated

1 tsp garlic powder

Keep the cream cheese out of freeze for few hours and soften it. Finely chop belle pepper, green onion and jalapeno. take one mixing bowl and mix all the vegetables and garlic powder. Then add soften cream cheese and mix well.

Put one tortillas on flat surface. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly on tortilla. Then carefully fold the tortilla into tight roll.

Repeat the procedure with all the tortillas. Put all the rolls in one tray and put it in the refrigerator for one hour.

Cut half inch slices of the rolls and serve with salsa or any other dip of your choice.

Notes:-

You can add any other vegetables of your choice like parsley, chiles etc.

You can also increase or decrease the quantity of vegetables as per your liking.

It is necessary to keep rolls in refrigerator, otherwise it will be difficult to cut.

Fig and Date rolls

I have been away from blogging for a long time.  First I was busy with trip planning and then trip. Once I was back....it's my sheer laziness. This is kind of new beginning, so I want to start it with sweet. 

Date rolls are very common in our home during winter time. It's very healthy and easy to make.  I had some dates and figs both in the fridge.  Figs and dates, both together tasted really good. 

Ingredients

2 cups figs

2 cups dates

3-4 tbsp roughly chopped almonds

3-4 tbsp roughly chopped cashews

4 tbsp ghee

2 tbsp shredded coconut.

Soak the figs in water overnight, if you have dried figs. Otherwise soak them in water for one hour. Drain the water and make smooth puree with a very little water or without water.

Soak the dates in the water for one hour. Drain the water and make smooth puree of dates in similar way. 

Take one pan and heat ghee in it. When ghee is heated, add both purees. Cook the mixture stirring continuously on medium flame till excess moisture dries up. Then add all the nuts and mix well.  Let it cook for fifteen-twenty minutes, stirring continuously. Cook it till the mixture leaves the sides of pan.

Let the mixture cool for some time. Take some ghee between your palms and make bit size rolls. Coat with coconut and enjoy!!!

Notes:-

You can add other nuts as per your taste. You can also increase or decrease the quantity of nuts as per your liking.

If you have to add more water to make puree, then mixture will take more time to dry the moisture. So water will just increase the cooking time.

Beetroot kofta curry

I don't like beet much. I just use it in salad sometimes, otherwise I don't have any idea of where to use this so nutritious vegetable in my diet. I saw this recipe online somewhere a while ago. I wanted to try that recipe as soon as possible, but I was hesitant. At last after gathering courage to try, I bought beetroot before few days. But believe me, the result was awesome. So, here you go.......

Ingredients

For Kofta

1-1/2 beet (parboiled)

2 carrots

1 tbspn gram flour/besan

1 medium/2 small potatoes (boiled and mashed)

1 tsp garam masala

3-4 green chilly (chopped finely)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

oil 

salt

For gravy

3-4 tomatoes

2 onion

1 tbsp ginger-green chilly paste

2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp coriander cumin seed powder

2 tsp oil

2 tbsp fresh cream

chopped cilantro for garnishing

salt

For Kofta

Grate the parboiled beetroot and carrot. Mix all the ingredients of kofta well except oil and salt. Heat the flat griddle or tava. When you are ready to cook the kofta, then only add the salt. Take spoonful of kofta mixture in your palm and make rounds. Then slightly flatten them by your palm. Apply some oil on the tava and put all the koftas one by one on it. When one side is golden brown, then flip them and again use some oil.

For Gravy

Grind onion and tomato to smooth paste. Take one saucepan and heat oil in it. When oil is heated, add ginger chilly paste. Then add onion-tomato paste. Cook till oil separates from the gravy. Add all the dry powders, salt and cream. Add water as per the needed consistency. Simmer for 5-8 minutes. 

For serving, put koftas in a bowl and pour the gravy on it. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy!!!

Notes:-

To get more crunchy and crispy taste, you can deep fry the koftas also.

If there is too much water in the kofta mixture, then you can add more gram flour/besan.

Make sure that you add kofta in the gravy before serving only, because these koftas are really fragile.

And last but not the least, First time I got some awards....ta da da!!! Thank you very much Chandani for passing me these awards. They are posted on the sidebar.

This Friends award states that-These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement(? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I would like to pass this beautiful award to mansi, purva,  sunshinemom, poornima, deesha, madhavi, nags and DK.

Prune Walnut Bread

Whenever I have 4-5 days break between my exams, I think that I have still plenty of time to cover the whole course for couple of days. Then on the third or fourth day, I realize then it's too late now. Once I feel the pressure, only then I utilize my time efficiently for last couple of days.

Now you will think what all these have to do with Prune bread??!! Well, same thing happens with me regarding event submission on blogosphere. I saw the BBD (aka Bread Baking Day) event hosted by Mansi and decided to bake something. I got time at last to bake this bread before couple of days and post the recipe today only!!

Coming to the recipe, I saw several prune bread recipes online and did some modifications as per my taste. Prune has a really good amount of vitamin A, dietary fiber and potassium. Go here and get some more information about prunes. 

Ingredients

1 cup roughly chopped pitted prunes

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup prune juice

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup apple sauce

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 degree F

Take one saucepan with water and put on the stove with medium heat. When water starts boiling, add prune juice. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Then add prune and butter. Stir couple of times and let it cool till luke warm.

Take one bowl and combine apple sauce with sugar in it. beat till light fluffy mixture forms. Then add both flours, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla extract. Add prune mixture and walnuts. Stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Transfer the mixture into 9x5 inch loaf pan and level the mixture with spatula.

Bake for around 50 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Let it cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes and then remove.

Notes:-

I used half WW pastry flour and APF. You can use only APF also.

Similarly instead of apple sauce, you can use 1 egg also.

I hope Mansi would like this quick prune walnut bread. Sending this off to her for BBD event.

Gnocchi with marinara and alfredo sauce

Gnocchi is the Italian small dumpling or noodle, normally made of potato, flour or semolina. I tasted combination of marinara and alfredo sauce with gnocchi at one local Italian restaurant. It became my favourite dish from that place from very first bite. For me, alfredo is too heavy and marinara is sometimes just tomato sauce. But combination of both makes wonderful taste along with gnocchi. 

Another reason of trying same recipe at home, because I found tri color gnocchi in grocery store before few days. Tri color gnocchi has goodness of tomato and spinach both.

Ingredients:-

1 lb tri color gnocchi

For marinara

4 tomatoes

1 onion chopped

2-3 garlic cloves minced

2 tsp olive oil

For alfredo

4 tablespoon parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoon whole milk

1 tablespoon butter

dry or fresh basil flaks

dry oregano

2 tsp black/white pepper powder

salt as per taste

Boil the gnocchi in salted water as per instruction on packet. Drain the gnocchi and add some olive oil.

Boil the tomatoes for 4-5 minutes in water. Drain the tomatoes and keep them aside. Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in one pan. When oil is heated, add chopped onion and minced garlic. Cook till onion become translucent. Let onion and garlic mixture cool. Then make smooth puree of tomato and onion garlic mixture.

In the same pan heat butter. When butter is melted, add tomato puree. Add oregano, pepper and salt. Let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Take cheese, heavy whipping cream and whole milk in one bowl and whisk well. Lower the flame and then add cheese mixture. Simmer for 2 minutes.

At last add cooked gnocchi and again simmer for couple of minutes.

Garnish with basil and serve hot!!!

Notes:-

Normally alfredo sauce is made with butter, ricotta cheese and heavy whipping cream. I used just 1 tablespoon of whipping cream and add some whole milk. If you don't worry about all those calories, go ahead use only heavy whipping cream. 

Normally white pepper is used in alfredo but I had only black pepper. So I just used whatever was available.

You can make this dish with regular gnocchi also. It  will not alter the taste at all.

Eggless orange almond cake

I am still not confident about my baking skills. But still I did experiments few times. This egg less orange almond cake is from one of such successful experiments. I use recipe from tarla dalal as basic recipe and made some changes as per my taste buds. 

Ingredients

1-1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup powdered almond

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter softened

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/3 cup orange juice

2 tablespoon grated orange zest

1/3 cup curd

Preheat oven to 350 degree F

 

Mix softened butter and orange zest in one bowl. Add sugar and mix till the mixture is light and fluffy. Then add apple sauce and again beat well. Then add all dry ingredients like whole wheat pastry flour,baking powder, baking soda and powdered almond. Again mix everything well.

Then add beaten fresh curd. At last add orange juice in batches. Increase or decrease the amount of juice as per the consistency needed.

Pour the mixture in greased cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes or till done.

Notes:-

You can use all purpose flour also. The use of whole wheat pastry flour makes the cake more dense.

Instead of apple sauce, you can use 1 egg also.

You can increase or decrease the amount of sugar as per your sweet tooth. I also recommend to taste the orange juice and decide the amount of sugar as per juice's sourness.

I use freshly squeezed orange juice, and I think it real makes the difference in the taste.

I love the taste of orange zest, so I added 2 tablespoon, because I think that it adds nice little punch in the cake. You can reduce it to 1 tablespoon, without altering the taste.

Event Submissions

This cake is on its way to tasty treat's lets go nuts with almond event, Recipe Center's Recipes for rest of us - Picnic Eats event originally started by Ramki of one page cookbook and JFI - wheat hosted by Roma's space.

Ghughara/Gujiya with a Twist

Happy Holi to all!!! Finally I am out of my so called vacation mood after coming back from India trip. I wanted to make traditional holi sweet gujiya. I gave the twist to traditional recipe, because of the two reasons. The first one was to make gujiya healthy. The second reason was that I don't get ready made mavo/khoya here. I had some coconut in my freezer, so I make the filling which is normally use in modak. So here you go with the modak filling baked gujiya/ghughara...

For cover

3/4 cup maida/all purpose flour

1 to 2 tsp ghee or melted butter

luke warm water or milk

flour for dusting

For filling

3/4 cup jaggery/gud

1 cup fresh shredded coconut

1 tsp ghee

1 tsp cardamom powder

For cover

Take all the ingredients except milk, in one bowl. Knead the soft pliable dough using luke warm water or milk. Cover it and keep aside for some time.

For filling

Put the pan with ghee on medium flame. First add jaggery and when it is melted, add coconut. Cook till the mixture comes together. Add cardamom powder in the end and keep aside.

Divide the dough into 9 to 10 equal parts. Then roll them into round shape of around 3 to 4 inch diameter. Put the filling mixture on one side and then seal it using your wet fingers. Repeat the procedure with all the parts of the dough.

Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Arrange all the gujiyas in baking tray. Bake them until both the sides are light brown.

Alternatively, you can fry them also.

Notes

There was change in taste because of baking.  If you want authenticate taste, fry them.

Event Submission

This baked  gujiyas are on their way for Purva's Holi event.

Fusion Pizza

This is my first post for 2009. I think that pizza would be great dish to start because it is famous all over the world. I always love to experiment with different type of toppings on pizza. CPK's chipotle pizza is my favourite. I wanted to try something similar at home from very long time. I call it fusion pizza because it is pizza with Mexican-Indian mix toppings. So here you go...

Ingredients

2 whole wheat or any kind or pizza crust

For pizza sauce

3 tomatoes

3-4 garlic cloves

1 tsp red chili powder

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp oil

salt as per taste

For toppings

1 onion finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup roughly crushed black beans

2 tbsp chunky salsa

1/2 orange or yellow belle pepper finely chopped

3-4 tsp oil

mexican cheese

For green sauce

1/2 cup cilantro

1 tbsp parsley

4-5 green chillies

3 tsp lite sour cream

For pizza sauce

Blanch the tomatoes and then puree them along with garlic. Put one medium saucepan on gas stove. Heat 2 tsp oil in it. When oil is heated add tomato puree. Add salt,oregano,red chilli powder. Let it cook for 10 minutes. I like to make this simple and fresh pizza sauce at home. You can use any kind of ready made pizza sauce without altering taste much.

For pizza toppings

Take one pan with 3-4 tsp oil and put it on high flame on gas stove. When oil is heated, add onion,tomato,belle pepper and corn. Saute them on high flame for 2-3 minutes. Add crushed black beans and salt. Then add salsa and mix well. Take off from the stove.

Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. First apply pizza sauce on the crust. Then generously spread corn topping on the pizza. At last sprinkle mexican cheese or any kind of cheese on pizza. Bake the pizza in oven for 15 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes.

For green sauce

Grind cilantro,parsley and green chillies without water or with very little water. Then add sour cream in the paste and mix well.

Spread green sauce on the pizza as per your taste before serving.

Notes:-

You can eat this pizza without green sauce, it is optional.