Strawberry Cake! (low fat)

So we got tons of strawberries this weekend. Time for some strawberry cakes, breads, shakes, tarts!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of white cake mix Or 1.5 cups all purpose flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 cup sugar
• 1.5 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 cups fresh strawberries pureed.( frozen can also be used)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 package (1.5 ounce) strawberry flavored gelatin
• Sliced strawberries for decoration

Directions:

1. Chop strawberries and add 2 teaspoons sugar. Keep them for an  hour before pureeing.
2. Sift the white cake mix, flour and baking powder together.  Sift 2-3 times for good results.
3. In a large bowl, blend the butter, sugar and eggs. ( In another variation, i creamed 1/2 cup butter with the sugar and then added eggs)
4. Add in the pureed strawberries and gelatin.
5. Blend in the flour mix to form thick consistency using 1/2 cup milk at a time.
6. Pour batter in a 9 inch cake pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes or till inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool on rack before slicing.
8. Serve with fresh sliced strawberries and a strawberry shake!

Cajun spiced Bread!

After a sweet bread, time for a salty one. This bread can be made into small rolls and used with soups! It is spicy and salty and amazingly simple and tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 teaspoons yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons butter softened
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon cajun spice blend. ( i got mine from World Spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons oil

Directions:

1. Warm the water and add yeast and sugar to it. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Add all purpose flour, salt and spices and mix well.
3. Lightly beat the egg and keep 1 teaspoon for egg wash. Add the remaining egg to the flour mix.
4. Add in whole wheat flour one cup at a time and knead into a soft dough. Use more water if necessary.
5. Keep dough in a well oiled container, covered in a warm oven for about an hour.
6. Knead the dough and make into a loaf or 4 balls of equal size.
7. Place loaf in a warm oven with a pan of boiling water for half an hour.
8. Remove pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
9. Cool on rack before slicing!
10. Enjoy with soups and salads! Or make a sandwich with some southwestern style grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and chipotle sauce!

Grape and Raisin Bread with a touch of Kahlua!

So I saw a bunch of grapes sitting on the kitchen counter the other day and wondered how a bread with grapes would work. I did not find any recipes on my usual sites so i just decided to try out my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 teaspoons active yeast
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 6 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup grapes cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/3 cup kahlua
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Warm the milk and add the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar to it. Mix well and keep for 10 minutes till it starts to get frothy.
2. Add in the rest of the sugar and softened butter and mix well.
3. Add 1 cup all purpose flour,kahlua, coffee and salt and mix well.
4. Add in the whole wheat flour 1 cup at a time and knead into a soft dough. Use more water if necessary.
5. Keep the dough in a well oiled container covered in a warm oven for about an hour.
6. knead the dough again using flour is necessary so that it is not too sticky.
7. Add in the raisins and grapes and knead again to distribute them out into the dough.
8. Make the dough into a loaf and keep it on a floured baking sheet, in a warm oven, covered for half an hour or till it doubles.
9. Cover the loaf with the disposable lasagna pan and bake at 350 degrees F.
10. Remove pan after 10 minutes and continue baking. Total baking time around 20 minutes.
11. Cool on rack before slicing!
12. Enjoy as a tea bread or buttered toast!

Palak Paneer with Cashews and peas!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups spinach chopped
• 1 cup mustard greens or collard greens chopped
• 2 tomatoes chopped
• 5 cloves garlic
• 2 inch ginger
• 2 green chillies
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon kashmiri garam masala or regular garam massala ( i got this really great kashmiri garam masala from world spice)
• 1 cup paneer cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1/2 teaspoon asofetida (hing)
• 1 cup water or more for desired consistency
• 2 teaspoons oil

Directions:

1. Puree the spinach, mustard greens, garlic, ginger, chillies and tomatoes together and keep aside.
2. In a large pan, add oil and let it get hot at medium heat.
3. Add the bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon stick and garam masala and hing.
4. Roast the spices for 5 minutes.
5. Add the puree in the pan and cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
6. Add chopped paneer pieces, cashews and peas and water and cook for antoher 10 minutes.
7. Serve hot with a dollop of butter on top with rotis or naans.

Mathri!

The classic snack

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour (will try whole whest flour next time!)
• 1/2 cup semolina(suji)
• 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 6-8 teaspoons ghee
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon ajwain(carom seeds)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Directions:

1. In a large pan, add the flour and salt and 6 teaspoons ghee. 
2. Rub the ghee into the flour using the palms so that breadcrumbs are formed.
3. Add the semolina, ajwain and carom seeds and knead again.
4. Add water little at a time and knead into a stiff dough. Knead for atleast 5 minutes.
5. Let the dough sit for 10-15 minutes.
6. Make small balls of the dough.
7. Roll the small balls into thick rounds.
8. Make holes in the rolled rounds using a fork.
9. Deep fry on medium heat till golden brown on both sides.
10. Serve as snack with hot tea!

Orange Raisin whole wheat bread!

Ahh how i missed my bread last week. I was a bit tired and busy so did not make any bread. I missed snacking on them in the evening. Most breads i make these days are moist, dense, Healthy, filling and great for the stomach!

Also shamelessly displaying my pottery!:)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons active yeast
• juice of one orange
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons orange zest( i added 1 teaspoon this time, and that wasnt enough)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 teaspoon melted butter

Directions:

1. Warm the milk and add yeast to it. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes.
2. In a large pan ,add sugar, honey, salt, nutmeg and all purpose flour and mix well.
3. Add in the milk and mix well.
4. Add in the orange juice, raisins, zest and 1 cup whole wheat flour. Mix well.
5. Add in 1 cup flour at a time and knead into a soft dough. Use some water if necessary.
6. Place dough in a well oiled container, covered in a warm oven for about an hour.
7. Knead the dough again and make into a bread pan loaf.
8. Place dough in the bread pan. 
9. Place bread pan in warm oven with a container of boiling water for about 30 minutes.
10. Remove the pan of water.
11. Cover the bread pan with a disposable lasagna pan deep enough to have a couple of inches above the pan. (I found this tip on another baking blog, to trap the steam and get a great crust)
12. Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for about 25 minutes. Remove lasagna pan after the first 10 mins.
13. Brush melted butter on top.
14. Cool on rack before slicing. 
15. Enjoy toasted as breakfast or evening snack!.

Kadhai Chole/Chana! (wok garbanzo beans:):))

There are a lot of ways chole can be made. This is my version of Kadhai Chole.The picture doesnt do justice to the yummyness of this dish!

I have also stopped using the packaged masalas like chole or garam etc because they dont work very well with my digestive system:). I either get freshly ground masala from world spice near Pike place or Market spice, Or I use the fresh ingredients individually and add them to the dish!.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 cans garbanzo beans
• 4 medium tomatoes chopped
• 2 cups fresh coriander leaves chopped
• 2 inch ginger chopped
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 green chillies
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder or 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamoms or 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 2 cloves (laung)
• 2 dried red chilles
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pomegranate seed powder or rock salt
• 2 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon chole masala (optional, I did not use it. Chole fanatics probably cant live without it!)

Directions:

1. In a blender, add 3 tomatoes, 4 cloves garlic, 3/4 of the chopped ginger, 2 green chillies and 1/2 can garbanzo beans.
2. Puree the contents and keep aside.
3. In a large pan, heat the oil and add all the spices ( red chillies, bay leaves, powders etc).
4. Let them roast on medium heat for 3 minutes.
5. Add the puree to the pan and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the puree thickens and starts to leave the sides of the pan.
6. Pressure cook the garbanzo beans for at least 2 whistles.
7. In the large pan with the puree, add the coriander leaves, the remaining ginger, cooked garbanzo beans, 1 chopped tomato, salt and sugar and water. you can add chopped red, green bell pepper too!
8. Let this simmer for 10 minutes covered on medium heat.
9. Garnish with some lemon juice and chopped white onion.
10. Serve hot with rotis, puris!!

Nepali Aloo!

Another one of my Masi's recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium potatoes chopped( this dish is usually made with baby potatoes)
• 3 serano peppers (chillies) sliced into thin long slices
• 2 inch ginger sliced into thin long slices
• 5 cloves garlic sliced into thin long slices
• 2 teaspoons vinegar ( or more for a more sour taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 cup oil to fry
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Directions:

1. Chop the potatoes and shallow or deep fry them.
2. Fry the sliced chillies, ginger and garlic
3. In a large pan with a little oil on medium heat, add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
4. Add the potatoes, chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric and salt and mix well.
5. add in the vinegar and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
6. Serve hot!!! with rotis or  naan !!

Sandesh !

This is my Masi's (Aunt's) recipe. She was here for a couple of days and taught me some amazing stuff!.

Yield: 12 sandesh balls.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 cardamom pods
• Pista slices for decoration

Directions:

1. In a large pan, boil the milk
2. Add vinegar to the milk and let it curdle to form chenna/paneer.
3. Use a muslin or a fine cloth to strain the paneer/chenna.
4. Hang the paneer in the cloth so that all the water gets drained.
5. Grind the cardamoms using a mortar and pestle.
6. In a pan, add the paneer, cardamom and sugar and knead for 10-15 minutes until a smooth dough can be formed.
7. Make small balls of the dough.
8. Decorate with pista slices and serve cold!!
9. Saffron can be added for kesar sandesh, Rose water/essence or vanilla essence also give the sandesh a different flavor. I am going to try vanilla, khus, and baileys irish cream sandesh next!