It's the Year of the Dog

Happy Lunar New Year, from our family to yours! 

Will be celebrating this holiday with my husband's family.

Spinach Raita with Naan Dippers

Looking for game day appetizer ideas? Expecting company? 

Look no further! 

I love making vegetable raitas or yogurt dips for guests. There are so many varieties you can make. 

The picture above is spinach raita with naan dippers by StoneFire Naan. I LOVE StoneFire's naans. They have different sizes; these bite size naans are great for dipping into your favorite dip or sauce. I also the texture; they crunchy and the flavor is on point. 

My husband and I hosted our first game night at our place a couple of weeks ago. I was trying to figure what snacks I can make using the ingredients I had at home and ones that are healthy; not too fattening. 

I searched my fridge and found yogurt. I always have yogurt on hand because I love yogurt and it's healthy (good probiotic).  I decided to make spinach raita and serve it with the naan dippers. 

Below is an easy recipe to make Spinach raita (in the microwave/stove top):

Ingredients

1 box of frozen chopped spinach (10oz)

6 oz sour cream (regular or fat free)*

1 cup plain yogurt (any type as desired: fat free, regular or whole milk)

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder (optional)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp whole cumin

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

5 to 6 curry leaves, fresh or dry (optional)

1/4 tsp salt or as per your taste

Procedure:

1) Break the spinach into pieces and transfer it into a microwavable container. Then add salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and microwave for 5 to 6 minutes or until the spinach is fully cooked.

2) Allow the vegetable mixture to cool for 10 to 15 minutes and then stir in the sour cream and yogurt.

3) In a small saute pan (or mini nonstick egg fry pan) heat one tablespoon of oil and add mustard and cumin seeds. When they start to splatter, add curry leaves, and mix well. Remove from heat and transfer the contents into the raita (spinach and yogurt mixture) and mix well. 

Finally transfer into your favorite serving dish. Raitas can be served with pulao, parathas, naan, or plain rice. They can also be used as a dipping sauce for some appetizers like nachos, tortilla or pita chips.

Quick Tips

- *If you want a thicker dip, add more sour cream and yogurt. (Keep in mind, if you use regular sour cream, that the raita will be thick and creamy. Use fat free if you want it to be less fattening.) 

- You can adjust the spice level as per your taste. 

Click on each vegetable to be routed to the recipe page for other raitas you can try:

beetroot, green bell pepper, tomato and onion, eggplant or cucumber. We have other yummy snacks that would be great for game day. Check out our recipes page for ideas. 

New Beginnings: Cooking in a new Home

Nothing reminds me of home like the aroma of freshly chopped coriander and spices sizzling in the saute pan.

Carrots and Moong Curry and Beetroot Raita served with chapati

Moving to a new city can be unnerving. As I mentioned in my first post of the year, I got married recently and moved to New York.

I unpacked and organized the kitchen in my new home to my liking with my kitchen essentials: utensils, pans, and my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. I also brought the other essentials such as ready-to-use sauces, spices, spice mixtures, and herb plants etc, so I can enjoy my favorite dishes in my new home. 

I whipped out my newly filled spice box with garam masala, turmeric, chilli powder, curry leaves, etc and GOT COOKING. I love making raitas because they are so easy to make. And my husband loves moong, so I made Carrots and Moong curry and Beetroot Raita as the vegetable dishes and we ate them with chapati and rice.

Here's to trying new dishes and sharing my experience with you all!  

Time for Reflection and Renewal

Happy New Year everyone!!

Date and Almond Laddu

I always take time to reflect on the past year and look to the new year for renewal. This past year so much has happened that I am truly grateful for. My toastmasters club (Open Door Toastmasters) elected me club President for the 2017-2018 year, I became Area Director (for 5 Toastmasters clubs in District 83), and got married to my longtime friend and college classmate, Michael. I'm also thankful for my parents and good friends who always supported me.

We wanted to start off the new year with a healthy, sweet treat: Date and Almond Laddu (balls). Below are the ingredients and instructions on how to make this yummy treat; enjoy anytime of the year.


Ingredients
- 10 oz / 285g Pitted dates
- 2/3 cup Almonds
- 2/3 cup Milk Mava powder
- 2 Tbsp ghee or melted butter
- 3 to 4 drops of Pure Vanilla extract

Procedure
In a food processor, add dates, almonds and blend them coarsely (approx. 6 to 8 pulses). Next add mava powder, ghee and vanilla extract. Pulse again 3 to 4 times until all ingredients are blended well. Remove the mixture from the jar and make 1" round balls or laddu. Mixture makes about 15 to 18 laddus.

Quick Tips:
1) If desired, roll the laddus in dry coconut. Food coloring can be added to the coconut powder for festive appeal.
2) If milk mava powder is not readily available, you can also use coconut milk powder.

Wishing all a very happy and prosperous new year. How did you celebrate the new year? Please share your stories with us. 

Martha Stewart Inspired Dark Chocolate Bundt Cake

What do you do when you're craving something sweet? 

I bake. I was home by myself for a few hours last week and was feeling restless and stressed out. So, I went online and looked for baking ideas. I came across this recipe for Chocolate Bundt Cake by Martha Stewart. I printed the recipe and starting putting the ingredients together before I changed my mind. 

Ingredients for the cake

- 8 oz (or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for pan

- 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour

- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

- tsp salt

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1/2 cup sour cream (or 4 oz)

- 1-1/2 cups sugar

- 4 large eggs

- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

We didn't have regular milk, unsalted butter, unsweetened cocoa powder or regular sour cream! I Google searched substitutions for butter and found 10 substitutions for butter including olive oil, avocado, Greek yogurt, coconut oil, etc. I settled on coconut oil because it was 1:1 ratio. I also substituted unsweetened cocoa powder with Special Dark Hershey'c cocoa powder and used lactaid milk and fat free sour cream. 

Below are the directions with the substitutions I made:

Directions

1) Make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 14-cup Bundt pan with coconut oil. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Mix milk and sour cream in a glass measuring cup. 

2) With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat coconut oil, and sugar until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in 2 batch, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. 

3) Transfer the batter to prepared pan; smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. 

I crossed my fingers, mixed all these ingredients together and hoped for the best.

Result? The cake was heavenly. You can't even tell that I made those substitutions. It was moist and sweet enough for me. I opted out of making the glaze as per Martha's recipe.

A Slice of Heaven

Instead of making the glaze, I poured Prager Port Chocolate Drizzle over slices of cake to make it more decadent. Mama mia, it was delizioso. 

Can't wait to make this cake again with all the substitutions and less calories...definitely worth it. What do you think? 

Indian Trail Mix

HUNGRY?  NEED A YUMMY SNACK? 

Indian Trail Mix or poha mixture is just the snack for you. This snack has everything: nuts, dry fruit, spices, potato wafers, and flattened rice. And, it's easy to make. Check out the recipe below:

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 lbs Thin Poha (Flattened Rice)
• 1 cup Peanuts
• 1/2 cup Roasted Chana dal
• 1/2 cup Craisins or raisins
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder
• 1-1/2 Tbsp Dhan-Jeera powder (Coriander/cumin powder)
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Citric Acid Powder
• 2 Tbsp Confectioner’s sugar
• 1 cup Potato wafers (fried or microwaved), optional
• 2 Tbsp Salt
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil

Procedure:
Heat oil in a big wok or skillet on medium heat. Add peanuts and fry them for 5 minutes. Then add dhan-jeera powder, chili powder, turmeric, citric acid and salt. Stir for 30 seconds and then add poha or flattened rice. Mix well and continue to roast the mixture on Low/ Medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until the spices and turmeric are mixed uniformly.

Transfer the mixture into a big microwavable glass container, add Chana and microwave for 5 minutes at 70% power level (for 1100 Volts unit, adjust time based on your microwave voltage). Remove and mix well and microwave for another 3 minutes.

Remove the container and sprinkle the confectioner’s sugar using a tea strainer for uniform distribution. Mix in the sugar and finally add craisins and potato wafers. When the mixture cools down, store in an airtight container and use within 3 weeks.


LOVE SNACKS? Check out our Corn Flakes mixture as well.

Tofu Bhurji with Coriander Naan

I'm reminded of our trip to Jaipur whenever my mom makes this dish. We ate at this local dhaba popular with tourists (and recommended by lonelyplanet) called Ganesh Restaurant. The best dishes were paneer bhurji (pictured below) and garlic & coriander naan. 

We loved eating this dish with freshly made naan 😀. As heavenly as this dish was, it's not the healthiest, considering all the butter that went into making it and floating on top. 

BUTTER MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER, RIGHT? 

It does but you shouldn't eat it everyday. And it's not like we can just swing by this dhaba on our way home. So we decided to make this dish at home.  

Our local Indian grocer, started stocking spice mixes for various dishes. While browsing through the aisle, we found the spice mix for paneer bhurji by Rasoi Magic. My mouth started watering just thinking about it. Since we're cautious of what eat now, we decided to buy firm tofu instead of paneer (Indian cottage cheese).  

I know you're dying to know how we made it...so let's get to it. Here's what you need:

Servings: 4 to 5 

Ingredients

- 1 packet of Rasoi Magic Paneer Bhurji spice mix

- 250g firm tofu, chopped 

- 1 medium onion, finely chopped 

- 1 medium plum tomato, finely chopped

- 1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped

- 1 to 2 green chilies, diced

- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

- 1/2 cup of milk

- a small bunch of fresh coriander or cilantro, finely chopped

Procedure (on the back of the Rasoi Magic packet)

Mix the entire pack of spice mix with the milk to make a paste and put aside. Heat the oil in a pan on low to medium flame. Then add green chili, onion and fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Next add green bell pepper (also known as capsicum), tomato, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Then add the spice mix paste, and fry till the oil separates. Add two tablespoons of water and cook for one minute. Then add the tofu and mix well. Finally add coriander and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Serve hot with roti or naan. 

The tofu bhurji tastes just as yummy as paneer bhurji with less calories.  

Rasoi Magic Paneer Bhurji Spice Mix Review: This dish came out really well and it was quite tasty even with the tofu substitute. We found this spice mix very convenient and easy to use and would definitely recommend everyone to give it a try. 

Deep Foods Frozen Chili Coriander Naan: We wrapped the naan in foil and toasted them in the toaster oven. They tasted like they were fresh out of the "clay oven". The naan were fluffy and flavorful. We would definitely recommend all to try. 

I am looking forward to trying more recipes with Rasoi Magic's spice mix now. Have you used this spice mix before? How do you like it? Please share your thoughts. 

Karapappalu - Crispy Ragi and Kale Patties

It's surely been a healthy ride these past couple of months...and still going! We're ending National Nutrition Month with a "Krispy" twist; scroll down for more details...

Every year my mom and I try various ways to eat better and stay healthy. Rice is our staple and we ate a lot of it. Alas, that has come to an end. Instead of eating rice heavy meals, we switched to salads for dinner. Don't get me wrong, I still eat rice but not as much as before. 

Does judge me when I say this but I love shopping for food items more than clothing. I love the aromas of different spices, herbs, fruits and vegetables. Our local farmers market has a good stock of vegetables and that's where we got the KALE. 

Didn't realize it at the time but I think we bought too much. So we started using it in everything. Even kale in Karapappalu! 

Karapappalu are crispy rice and moong dal patties that are a popular Telangana snack.  We got soo bored of eating salads few weeks back that we got creative and made Karapappalu with kale and other healthy ingredients. Check out the recipe below and tell us what you think:

Ingredients

- 1 cup Ragi flour

- 2 cups Rice flour

- 1 long squash

- 1 cup kale, finely chopped

- 1/3 cup moong dal, soaked in water for 30 minutes

- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder

- 3 Tbsp sesame seeds

- 2 Heaved Tbsp cornmeal

- 1/2 Tbsp Salt (or as needed)

- 2 to 3 cups Vegetable Oil (for frying)

Procedure

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium to large bowl and mix well. Then add all the vegetables and soaked moong dal to the dry mixture and mix well. 

Slowly add water to the mixture and knead until it is of dough consistency. (Note: raw vegetables release water after few minutes of taking in salt, so keep the dough somewhat dry).

Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Shape (lime size) dough balls into round flat ½ cm thick patties.

Quick tip: To avoid dough from sticking to your fingers, slightly wet your hands.  You can also use wax paper or plastic bag to press the dough into patties as shown below.

Transfer each shaped patty into hot oil and fry to golden brown/reddish color. 

For best results:  Use a steel skimmer to turn each patty in-between for even frying. Then use it to transfer the fried patty into a metal sieve resting in a bowl so that excess oil can be drained. After that, you can transfer the patty to a serving bowl (see video for for clarification). 

After the patties were ready, we served them with a dipping sauce we made with sour cream and crushed dried mint. You can use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream too.