Quick & Simple Milk Fudge ( Microwave Doodh pedha )

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Pedha in Indian cuisine refers to a fudge made basically out of  milk and sugar with some types of additional flavors added like saffron, cardamom, pistachio or a combination of these.In India this is made out of Mawa which is a type of condensed milk that is almost dry and is used in a variety of milk based sweets.  Any sweet shop in India worth its name, would have at least three to four varieties of this pedha, in various shapes made fresh each day. This sweet has always been a family favorite and every special occasion has warranted a trip to the sweet shop or Mithai as they are known in India to buy these pedhas to celebrate the occasion or event. 

The idea of making this fudge at home never even crossed my mind in all these years. I simply assumed that it would entail a very difficult and time consuming process and somehow I never had the inclination to try such a  process to make a sweet of all things, knowing I would feel guilty when I indulge in it too. But with the festive season here it seemed like a good time to try something sweet and the idea of making this pedha/ fudge got stuck in my mind. I have seen quite a few recipes for making pedha in a lot of different sites but this one that I saw on Uma's blog  remained with me.

 I modified her recipe slightly, I have seen some recipes that are similar but also add some butter but I skipped that part and just went with the condensed milk and milk powder version for my first try. I also added saffron and pitachio's in some and cardamom and almond slivers in some to give them more flavors. I loved the simplicity of this recipe and the speed with which this sweet got done is a definite plus and makes this sweet my new favorite when I am short on time and need to make something yum. If you are done having cookies and cakes this season and are looking for a different type of sweet you could probably try this for a quick and simple treat.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make Microwave Doodh Pedha (Simple Milk Fudge)

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk ( approximately 1 1/4 cups of sweetened condensed milk)

1 3/4 cups of milk powder 

1/8 tsp of cardamom powder 

slivers of almonds( unsalted)to use as decoration

OR

a small pinch of saffron (Read notes for some variations in flavor)

few slivers of pistachio (unsalted) to use as decoration

In a large and deep microwave safe dish, add the condensed milk and the milk powder and mix well. Add either the cardamom powder or the saffron to this and mix well.

Place in the microwave and heat on high for a minute.

Remove mix well and repeat this step for another minute. 

Place this back in the microwave if required and cook in 30 seconds increments until done.

(It took me about 2 1/2 minutes to get this quantity to the required consistency )

To check if done, cool the mixture slightly and if you are able to roll between your fingers you know it is done. Try not to overcook this mixture as it will result in hard pedhas that are difficult to shape and not as tasty too.

Place the almond/ pistachio sliver on top of the pedha and press lightly while the pedha is still warm.

Cool thoroughly and place in an airtight container and can be kept without refrigeration for about 4-6 days. Tastes best within a couple of days of making it.

This yielded about 22 pieces of pedha.

Notes:

I found keeping my hands very very slightly moist helped me in shaping the pedhas well.

Roll the pedhas initially as a small gooseberry sized ball and flatten with your palm simultaneously shaping the sides with your thumb so that it does not crack on the sides when flattening.

If you have masala milk powders at home such as Kesar pista milk powder you can use about 1 to 2 tsp according to taste to flavor this quantity of pedhas instead of saffron or cardamom powder.

Time taken to cook the pedhas will vary based on the output of the microwave used and the depth and size of the dish used.

I made a couple of batches of these and the picture above is of one in which I used Kesar Pista Milk powder as flavoring. 

This sweet is off to the bookmarked recipes event  being hosted by Ruth

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Coco Cashew Fudge (Kaju barfi)

Eggless Savory Oat Muffins

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Now that I have overcome my fear of yeast (at least a little) baking bread is something that features a lot, at least in my thoughts and dinner plans for the week. But the breads that I sometimes bake in my mind do not always translate into reality and most likely culprit for that is time. That is because most types of bread with yeast require some amount of prep time and time is a costly commodity on most days.

Having said that though, the lack of bread especially when soup is on the menu, somehow makes it seem like an incomplete meal.I found myself with just these circumstances recently when I was making minestrone with pesto soup  and found that I did not have bread to go with it. This is what happens when I plan to bake, so I do not buy bread on my grocery run and then find no time to bake and then I have to do without bread to go with soup. 

The idea of baking a savory muffin has been percolating in my head for a while now but there never seemed to be a right time for it. It hit me when I was making the soup and lamenting in my thoughts that I did not have at least one type of bread at hand, that this may very well be the time when I could experiment with making these savory oat muffins. So I decided to give it a try and  made these muffins using a combination of oat flour and whole wheat pastry flour and added some of the veggies I had on hand that I thought would work well in this muffin. I also spiced it up with some unusual spices (for a muffin at least) like cumin and coriander powder. The verdict....I thought this muffin turned out very tasty and this complemented the minestrone soup well and had the fringe benefits of having oats and flax in it, making it healthy too. This muffin is definitely going to make regular appearances in my kitchen from now onwards :-)

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and method to make eggless savory oat muffins

1 1/4 cup oat flour (see notes)

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp coriander powder

salt to taste (about 1 1/2 tsp)

1 large carrot (grated fine)

1/2 red bell pepper (cut fine)

1/2 tbsp ginger grated fine (optional)

1 green chilli (small one) cut fine

4 tbsp cilantro cut fine

2 tbsp flax meal (ground flax seed)+ 1/4 cup water

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 deg F

In a large bowl mix items 1 through 7 thoroughly.

Add items 8 through 12 to it and mix well.

Add the ground flax seed (flax meal) to water and whisk it until it blends a little (alternatively you can just process this in a blender)

Add this flax meal+ water and buttermilk to the oat flour with veggie mixture and mix well.

Line a muffin pan with muffin liners.

Spoon a little mixture into each muffin pan until they are 3/4 full.

Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 mins until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Serve hot with soup of choice I served this with minestrone soup with pesto

Yielded 10 normal sized muffins

Notes

For oat flour I processed one minute quaker oats in my spice grinder until it turned into fine powder

In case you do not find whole wheat pastry flour, you can substitute with equal quantity of all purpose flour.

Since this recipe got created entirely in my kitchen I would like to send this over to Culinarty's Original recipe event  being hosted by Lore

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Oat Barley and Bell Pepper cutlets

Minestrone with Pesto

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Minestrone is the name for a thick variety of Italian soup that contains seasonal vegetables and also sometimes contains pasta or rice.Common ingredients to this soup include onions, tomatoes, celery, carrot and beans. This soup has always been a favorite of mine, both while eating out at Italian restaurants and also when I am in the mood for hearty Italian soups at home.

In all the time that I have had this soup I have never had a variation of this soup with pesto in it. So I was intrigued when I saw this variation mentioned in a cookbook. I did not waste any time in trying this variation and adapted the recipe to work with the ingredients I had on hand and to suit our taste. I thought the addition of pesto took this soup to another level and I thoroughly enjoyed this soup along with savory oat muffins. Try this minestrone when you are looking for something simple and hearty yet with an unusual touch to it.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make Minestrone soup with pesto

1 cup white beans (cannelini or northern beans) to be soaked for 8 hours

1 large onion cut fine

1/2 cup carrots cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 cup frozen peas

4 stalks of celery cut into small pieces (yielded about 1 heaped cup of cut celery)

2 large tomatoes cut into small pieces (yielded about 2 cups of cut tomatoes)

2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into half inch pieces (yielded about 2 cups of cut potatoes)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 bay leaf

salt to taste

1/4 tsp celery seeds

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

3 tbsp pesto sauce

1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional)

Soak white beans in sufficient water for 8 hours with a pinch of baking soda (adding soda is optional)

When the beans have soaked for 8 hours, rinse them thoroughly and place them in a large heavy bottomed pan with sufficient water and let it cook until soft.

(when the water initially boils, there may be some heavy froth on top,you can skim and remove this froth and let the beans boil in clear water)

When the beans are cooked remove and keep aside.

In the same pan, heat olive oil and add cut onions to it and saute until transparent.

Add tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes become soft and mushy

Add all the vegetables and saute for a minute.

Add water (about 4 cups) and all the herbs and spices (except the pesto sauce) and let it simmer until the vegetables are cooked.

When the vegetables are cooked, add cooked white beans and pesto sauce and adjust water to get required consistency and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot with any rustic bread  or savory muffins to make a complete meal

Serves about 3 to 4

Both Ramya  and VG   have given the Yum blog award to this site. Thanks to both of you for thinking of this site for this award. 

I would in turn like to pass this on to Pearls of East, Indhu, Varsha  , Sumathi , Navita   and Pavani  

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Split pea soup with Barley

South Indian mixture with a healthy twist.

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Mixture is a term commonly used in south Indian cuisine with reference to a mixture made out of a variety of deep fried fritters made of chick pea flour in various shapes. These deep fried fritters are mixed together with fried peanuts, raisins and flavored with salt and spices to make the most delicious and crunchy snack. In the past I had adapted chivda  (a snack from Maharashtra) and given it my own spin with the use of rice krispies. Similarly I have been trying to duplicate the taste of the south Indian mixture using more healthy ingredients and without the frying of course :-) 

I tried it with a variety of ingredients and this has been the closest I have come to the taste of the original mixture. The major difference between my past attempts and this one was that this time both the cereals I used were not very sweet making it easier to blend with this taste, additionally I crushed the cereal slightly which helped a great deal too.The other thing I have noticed is that dry roasting the red chillies and curry leaves and grinding it makes a huge difference to the taste, using red chilli powder does not have the same impact. So if you plan to try this, do try not to skip this one step, trust me it makes a lot of difference to the final taste.So what are you waiting for, go ahead and give this one a try and enjoy it with a nice hot cuppa tea :-)

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make the Healthy south Indian mixture

1 cup golden flax cereal (uncrushed) loosely packed ( I got this at Trader Joe)

3 cups organic corn flakes (uncrushed) loosely packed( I got this at Trader Joe)

3/4 cup dry roasted peanuts

1/2 cup roasted chick peas (pottu kadalai/dalia)

1/2 cup raisin

2 tbsp corn oil (or any other oil)

3 red chillies

6 curry leaves

1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing)

salt to taste

Dry roast red chillies and curry leaves for a few minutes until the chillies start turning darker and the curry leaves look a little dried out. Keep aside to cool.

In a large bowl add the flax cereal and roughly crush it up into smaller pieces. I used the bottom part of a small bowl and used that to press the flax cereal until it broke into little bits.

Keep the flax cereal aside and in the same bowl repeat the process with the corn flakes. Mix together the corn flakes and flax cereal.

Grind the red chillies and the curry leaves in a spice grinder. Add to this, salt and asafoetida and give it a another spin in the spice grinder. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add peanuts, roasted chick peas and raisins to this and saute for a few seconds.

Add the cereal mixture and the ground spice mixture and mix well.

Cool thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

Notes

In case you want you can use any other plain unflavored cereal which is not sweet in place of the cereal I have used.

Additionally you can add some dry roasted cashew nuts too along with peanuts

Sev Tomato Nu Shaak (Onion Tomato Curry)

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This curry made with tomatoes and onions is from Gujarat, a region in the western part of India. I am not sure though, of its origin in my kitchen :-) I believe I read this recipe a long while ago in some book or magazine and have been making it since then. I love the tangy spicy taste of this curry and find the speed and simplicity of this a real plus, especially when I am in a hurry or when I am running out of veggies.

Before I get to it though, let me share something completely off topic. Recently while working on my glossary I was researching the health benefits of mustard seeds.If you are familiar with Indian cooking then you know that mustard seeds play a prominent role in most dishes especially curries. I never really gave any thought to mustard seeds and if I would have had to say why they were used in cooking I would have concluded that they were there for taste and for decorative purposes :-) I am sure that my fellow bloggers will agree that mustard seeds, split gram lentil, cilantro and other garnishes have gained special importance as decoration, now that we have to take pictures for our blogs :-)

Anyway I was amazed when I learned that mustard seeds actually are rich in selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. They are also a good source of phosphorous, magnesium iron, zinc and calcium. Really, who knew? I, for one did not, so the next time you feel like skipping the tempering in Indian cooking you may want to rethink that.....  

Just wanted to update,my friend Chandani tells me the right word here is shaak not saag, as shaak means subji /curry in Gujarati.Thanks for letting me know that Chandani, I corrected the title of the post too. My apologies for inadvertently getting the name of this dish wrong the first time....

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make Sev Tomato Nu shaak

2 large onions cut fine (I used yellow)

7 large tomatoes cut into 1/2 inch pieces ( I used Roma)

1/4 tsp turmeric

salt to taste

1/2 tsp chilli powder ( or according to taste)

1 tbsp oil 

3/4 tsp cumin seeds

sev according to taste

2 tbsp cilantro cut fine (optional)

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add cumin seeds to this oil.

When the cumin seeds splutter add onions and saute until the onions become transparent.

Add turmeric and saute for a few seconds.

Add tomatoes, salt and chilli powder and saute until the tomatoes are cooked and become soft

Garnish with cilantro and sev just before serving and serve hot with bread, roti or plain rice.

Serves approximately 2

Notes:

If you plan to serve this a while after you make it, add sev just before serving. 

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Creamy Mushroom Curry 

Pav Bhaji

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Pav Bhaji which literally means bread and vegetables is a famous street food of India.This is a popular fast food and is found in most of restaurants and stalls in all major metros of India. Bhaji here means curry but this simple term and my picture below, both seem inadequate and don't do justice to this unique and delicious curry served with a garnish of cilantro and finely cut onions and a dollop of butter on top.

It is to be had along with with pav (bread) that is cut in half and toasted with some butter too.In fact the generous use of butter in this dish is one of the main reasons that gives one pause while ordering this dish at restaurants.This of course is not a problem when this is made at home and substitutes such as smart balance can be used instead of butter, making this more health friendly.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and method to make Pav Bhaji

Click here for the recipe of Pav

For the Bhaji

1 1/2 cups green bell pepper/capsicum (cut into little half inch squares)

3 large tomatoes cut fine (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 inch ginger grated fine

4 cups cauliflower florets

1 cup green peas (fresh or frozen)

3 cups cooked, skinned and mashed potatoes (about 2 russet potatoes)

1 heaped tsp pav bhaji masala (or according to taste)( I used MTR brand)

1/2 tsp chilli powder (or according to taste)

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

For garnish

1 onion cut fine ( or according to taste)

2-3 small wedges of lemon

handful of cilantro cut fine

1-2 tbsp smart balance (or butter)

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan.

Add tomatoes and grated ginger to this and saute until the tomatoes get soft and mushy.

Add cauliflower florets, green peas and green bell pepper, chilli powder, pav bhaji masala and salt to taste and saute for a minute.

Add water as required and cook the vegetables until soft.

Add the cooked mashed potatoes to the cooked vegetables,lower heat and using a potato masher mash the vegetables together.

Adjust spices according to taste and add water to achieve required consistency.

Let this simmer for a few minutes on a low flame, so that the flavors blend well.

Remove and serve with a ingredients mentioned for garnish and toasted pav on the side.

Notes:

With these proportions the bhaji is moderately spicy so for those of you who like greater or milder levels of spice do adjust these spices according to taste

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Pav (Bread)

Pav (Bread) for a good cause

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For a while now I have been wanting to make pav ( an Indian version of bread).Pav refers to a simple and humble version of bread that is made in India and is sold at bakeries all over, in addition you have "Pav wallahs " as they are known in Bombay, go from street to street on the bicycle selling this bread in addition to other goodies from their bakeries like nankhatai (an Indian cookie). This bread is used for a lot of fast food/ street food goodies  like Vada pav (Vada is spiced potatoes dipped in batter and fried and placed between (Pav) bread with some spices/chutney to further spice it up) and Pav bhaji ( a  yum combination of bread and mixed vegetables served with a dollop of butter) Pav is different from the regular dinner roll as it is not very sweet and tends to have a more chewy quality to it, I often feel it resembles the ciabatta bread but has a softer feel to it.

Ning  from Heart and Hearth tagged me to participate in a very worthwhile event by  Breadline Africa.This tag served as a motivation for me to get around to making this pav. This tag is also a challenge, and the challenge is to do something that you do not do normally, and baking this pav definitely qualifies on two levels, one I have never baked pav before, so it is definitely  different from my usual baking. Additionally I never bake with all purpose flour , but this time I decided to make an exception, I thought this tag provided the perfect excuse to bake with all purpose flour :-)   For pav recipes I used refered to Cham's recipe of pav here  and to Jugalbandi's recipe of pav here  and came up with a slightly modified version of my own which I give below.

I made two versions of this pav one completely with all purpose flour and the other partially with whole wheat flour and partially with all purpose flour. The breads turned out soft and perfect.The only thing I thought I would change was to make smaller pav the next time and keep them closer on the baking tray to get the squarish shape that pav is normally associated with. I thought both versions were very tasty but mostly I was relieved as I normally am after making bread, that the yeast did not fail to work and that the bread actually rose as it should :-) 

Breadline Africa is a registered charity in South Africa that is seeking to put an end to poverty in South Africa and further afield in Africa. Their aim is to break the cycle of poverty and help communities to achieve long term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by social workers and communities in South Africa with minded colleagues in Europe, (who were well placed to source out donations). They are geared to help fund small ground level projects in Africa which are most likely to succeed with financial help.

On Blog Action Day Breadline Africa launched their Worldwide Blogger Bake-Off campaign. The aim is to raise $1 million in funds for a project to convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution in Africa. It is hoped that these sustainable community kitchens will not only provide food such as bread and soup to those in need, but also opportunities for skills development within poor communities.

This bake-off gives us baking bloggers the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."

The following is quoted from the Breadline Africa Bake-Off site:

On 15 October, we launched The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off.

The Blogger Bake Off is an online campaign that challenges bloggers to get involved by baking bread, and then acting by donating to end poverty. And then, challenge their readers and five other bloggers to do the same.

With the money raised, we will be supporting grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. We’ll be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, sending emergency food relief where needed and helping these poor communities to help themselves.

The rules for bloggers are outlined below:

1. If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
2. Bake bread, do something you wouldn’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
   
3. Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
   
4. Tag five bloggers, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.
   

The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers. There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories: Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.

I would in turn like to pass on this tag to Divya  , Curry Leaf  , Navita , Karuna and Sukanya 

A collection of pictures of both white pav and wheat pav....

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make Pav/ Bread

All purpose flour pav

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm milk

3 tsp sugar

3 tsp active dry yeast

2 tbsp butter ( I used smart balance)

a little additional butter (smart balance) to apply on top of the bread

For the whole wheat flour pav I substituted all purpose flour with 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour + 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour and proceeded in the same manner as below

Mix sugar and yeast in warm water and keep aside for a few minutes until it froths up

In a large mixing bowl, mix the all purpose flour and salt and keep aside.

Add the yeast  and warm milk to the all purpose flour and knead to make a soft and smooth dough.

Add melted butter (or smart balance) to this and knead some more until the dough is soft and non sticky and smooth. Knead totally for about 10 minutes

Place this dough in a greased container and keep covered with plastic wrap or tea towel and keep aside for the dough to rise (approximately one hour)

Grease a baking tray and keep aside.

When the dough has risen (should be double) punch it down gently and make equal sized balls with the dough and place it on the baking tray about 1/2 an inch apart.

Cover with a plastic wrap and let rise for another hour. 

Preheat oven to 375 deg F.

After the dough has risen the second time (notice that the bread is joined at the ends), place the baking tray in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the bread is baked to a nice brown color on top.

Remove from oven, when you tap the top of the bread it will be a little hard and sound a bit hollow, apply a little butter/smart balance on top and bake for another couple of minutes.

Remove, pull apart and serve with vegetables as pav bhaji or with soup or just enjoy one warm from the oven with a little butter or jam

Updated Notes

For a more authentic pav feel to the bread use only water and skip the milk.So for this quantity that would mean 1 cup warm water.

Instant Oats Idli

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Generally speaking the word idli evokes images of steamed savory rice and lentil cakes that are a staple to south Indian homes. These idlis have universal appeal and are favored by most mothers since it tends to be non spicy and a great source of protein especially for vegetarians. The traditional method of making this includes soaking the lentils and rice for several hours, then to stone grind (or machine grind ) this into a smooth batter and then fermenting this batter for about 8 to 10 hours before it is ready to be steamed.

This labor intensive process used to be even more arduous in the days before food processors and machines. I remember seeing my mother grind this on a stone "grinder". I use the term grinder loosely here since all the efforts would be of the person grinding. It was a solid stone container with a large rim and a deep hole in the center to contain the batter that looked like an inverted hat and another large pear shaped stone which would be used to grind the rice and lentils into batter. The soaked lentils/ rice needed to be placed in the center of the stone in the deep hole and place the pear shaped stone over that lentils / rice and crush it and keep rotating the pear shaped stone to make batter.The stone container was so heavy that it could not even be lifted and had to be rolled from its usual resting position to the center of the room to use and rolled back to its usual rest later on. As I watched my mother make batter in this way I used to marvel at how she managed to make this difficult process look really simple . Of course after all that trouble the end product used to be so soft, tender and fluffy. Nowadays though, the stone grinder of the past has almost become extinct and has been replaced by a lot of machine versions that do the same job at a touch of a button.

As with any other type of dish idli's also have instant versions that are quick and flavorful and that do not need grinding and fermenting. One such version is the rava idli that refers to steamed cake made with semolina and yogurt and spices for flavor. This really quick method to make idlis is a life saver on days when time is short.

Using the basic idea of rava idli, I have been substituting it with oats to make for a healthier idli. This was something I tried as yet another way to include the all important oats in our diet. But I loved the soft idlis made with oats so much that I now only make these type of oat idlis whenever I make instant idlis. The oats is so well blended in this dish that you do not miss the semolina, in addition when flavored correctly the addition of oats is not obvious making this an excellent way to sneak oats in with picky eaters :-) So give this a try when you are in the mood for some quick and healthy dish and all you need is some chutney or sambar to make this a complete meal.

Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Instant Oats Idli

3 cups oats (1 minute quick cooking oats)

1 1/2 cups fine semolina (rava)

5-6 green chillies cut very fine (the small thai variety) ( or according to taste)

2 tsp split chick pea lentil (chana dhal)

6 tsp broken cashew nuts

2 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp salt ( or according to taste)

1 tsp baking soda

handful cilantro cut fine

2 tbsp olive oil (or any other oil)

plain yogurt (about 4 1/2 cups for the entire quantity of oats idli powder)

Dry roast the one minute oats in a heavy bottomed pan on medium to medium high heat stirring continuously until it turns creamy/light brown. Keep aside to cool for a few minutes.

In the meanwhile dry roast the semolina on medium to medium high heat for 3-4 minutes stirring continuously, then remove from heat and keep aside to cool.

When the oats is cooler, grind coarsely in a spice grinder in batches. Take care to process these in short bursts as they grind very quickly and they only need to be ground to a coarse consistency.

Mix the cooled semolina and coarsely ground oats together.

Add to this mixture salt to taste and baking soda and mix well.

Heat oil, add mustard seeds to it, when mustard seeds begin to splutter add split chick pea lentil (chana dhal) and cashews to it and saute for a few seconds.

When the lentil and cashews begin to turn brownish, add cut green chillies to it and saute for about a minute until the green chillies start to change color.

Pour this oil + lentil + green chillies mixture on the dry mixture of oats and semolina. Mix very well.

Take out the required amount of this mixture and mix with equal parts of plain yogurt. Add cut cilantro and mix well.

Grease idli moulds and place spoonfuls of this mixture into each mould and steam for about 6 to 7 minutes.

Remove from heat, cool for about a minute, remove each idli and serve with sambar or chutney of choice.

For about 1 1/2 cups of this mixture the yield was approximately 12 medium sized idli's

Notes:

The unused portion of the oats idli powder can be refrigerated and will stay fine for about a week to 10 days.

Do remember that once the idli powder is mixed with yogurt it needs to be steamed immediately otherwise it will not rise well so only mix required quantities of mixture with yogurt.

The fine semolina can be substituted with coarse semolina ( I used fine because I like the softness and texture from the fine semolina )

You can very easily double or half this recipe to make quantities that you require. Just maintain the proportion of 2: 1 for oats to semolina

This turned out to be very mild with the number of green chillies I used so if you like your idli's really spicy then you may want to increase the number of green chillies in this recipe

If you do not have an idli mould you could very easily place the mixture in a greased curved stainless steel plate, steam until done and cut into squares before serving.

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Oats dosai ( Savory Oat Crepes)

Butternut Squash curry

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Butternut squash like most other winter squash is an excellent source of Vitamin A (in the form of beta carotene) Vitamin C, potassium , dietary fiber and manganese.It is a also a good source of folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B1, copper and omega 3 fatty acids.One of the most abundant nutrients in squash which is beta carotene is a very powerful anti oxidant and also has anti inflammatory properties. The best way to select squash is to choose ones that are firm and heavy for their size. The rind should be hard all over and there should be no softness in any part of the rind.

An excellent method to include butternut squash in your diet other than in soups  is in the form of this curry. I loved the contrasting and interesting combination of flavors in this curry which varied between sweet, spicy and slightly bitter.It was simple and quick to make and tasted great when paired with a simple plain roti. This is one of those curries that does not even need pairing with anything, if you are in the mood for just veggies this could be had just by itself too :-)

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and method to make butternut squash curry

4 1/2 cups butternut squash cut into 1 inch squares

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)

2-3 green chillies cut very fine (small thai variety) (or according to taste)

salt to taste

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp jaggery powder (or brown sugar) (optional)

2 tbsp cilantro cut fine for garnish

Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan, add mustard seeds to it.

When the mustard seeds start to splutter add fenugreek seeds, when they start turning a little browner, add finely cut green chillies to it.

As the chillies start to change color add the turmeric powder, saute for a quick second until the powder mixes in the oil.

Add the cut squash and salt to taste and mix well.

Let it cook on a low to medium low heat without adding water, until the squash is cooked and soft but not mushy.

Add jaggery/ sugar ( if you plan to use it ) and mix well and garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Variations:

For those of you who do not have access to or cannot find butternut squash you can make this curry with pumpkin (or kadoo/ lal bhopla as it is known in India)

If you do not like the slight bitterness imparted by fenugreek seeds you can substitute it with equal quantity of split black gram lentil (udad dhal)

This can be made as a side dish and paired with rice and rasam or sambar to make a complete traditional Indian fare.

Related Recipes

Potato Curry

 

Oat Barley and Bell pepper cutlets.

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For some time now I have been receiving requests to add recipe printing options for this blog so that readers will be able to print out recipes and keep it for future reference. I am happy to say that I have just managed to add printing option for all of the recipes on this blog. The link for printable recipe is given below the picture of each recipe and clicking on it will take you to a text only version of the recipe,when on the page of the text only version you can use the browsers print button and print out the recipe. I tested this with internet explorer, Firefox and Google chrome and it is fine in all of these browsers.

Since barley and oats are such fantastic grains I am always on a mission to try and sneak these grains into my diet. These cutlets are a result of my imagination and my determined attempt to sneak these grains in a kind of a fun food. This turned out to be such a simple and tasty way to have both these grains and the cool thing about these cutlets are that unless you tell those who are having it that it contains oats and barley they would not be able to tell, so for those who think grains like oats are boring, this is really a nice way to have it.

 

Click here for a printable view of this recipe 

Ingredients and Method to make Oat Barley and Bell Pepper Cutlets

1 small onion cut fine ( I used yellow onion) 

2 cups mixed bell peppers cut into long strips either fresh or frozen ( I used frozen)

1 cup green peas 

1/2 cup quick 10 minute quick cooking barley ( I used quaker)

1/2 cup quick 1 minute quick cooking oats (I used quaker)

1/4 cup cooked moong (optional)

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 green chillies (or according to taste)

1 inch ginger (grated fine)

3 tbsp wheat flour (atta)

3 tbsp chick pea flour (besan)

1/2 tsp chilli powder (optional or according to taste)

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp coriander powder

handful of  cilantro cut fine

salt to taste

1 1/2 cups water ( or as required)

1 tbsp olive oil ( or any other oil)

a little more olive oil to shallow fry the cutlets

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pan. Add cumin seeds to it, when the  cumin seeds splutter add green chillies and grated ginger.

Saute for a minute or so until the skin of the green chillies kind of get whiter. Add the onions and saute until it turns transparent.

Add bell peppers, green peas,chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cups of water, barley and salt to taste and cook on a medium to medium high flame until the barley is cooked. 

Add the quick cooking oats to this and the cooked moong (if you are using any) and water only if required and cook an additional couple of minutes or so.

Let all the water evaporate from the vegetables and finally add the wheat flour and chick pea flour and mix well.

Add cilantro to this and mix well and keep aside until cooler.

Make small lemon sized balls of this mixture and flatten it.

In a flat pan/ griddle/ tawa  place the flattened mixture to it and add a few drops of olive oil to it. Let it brown on one side before flipping it over and browning the other side.

Proceed with the rest of the mixture.

Serve hot with cilantro chutney, or use as a filling in a wrap or a sandwich.

Related Recipes

Chickpea and Oat Cutlets