Mint Blueberry Poppy Muffins!

I followed the blueberry muffin recipe from before. I added some 10-12 Mint leaves chopped and 2 teaspoons poppy seeds. The Mint gave a nice cool zing to the muffin taste. My hubby loved it!

Corn Spinach Onion Garlic Cheese Bread!

I was planning to bake a Spinach and Corn Quiche yesterday, but I did not have the pie crust, and was not in a the mood to make one:). So I thought of trying a savory bread with all the quiche ingredients and see how it turns out. I usually end up making a lot of sweet or slightly sweet breads. But I prefer salty things for an evening snack. So here's an amazingly tasty snack break. It has a good amount of butter which I will reduce in the next try! I cant help it, I am a health nut! I cant digest much of anything with too much butter or fat!

The bread turned out to be awesome and it can be sliced and carried around as a snack for any time of day.. hmm maybe I will take it to the beach picnic next time!

Ingredients:

• 2.5-3 cups bread flour
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons active yeast
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste for bread
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt for spinach mixture
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 3/4 cup cheddar and jack cheese shredded

Directions:

1. In a large pan, heat 1 teaspoon butter.
2. Add in chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat or until soft
3. Add in spinach, corn, salt, chili flakes and garlic flakes and cook for 7-8 minutes. Keep this mixture aside to cool a bit.
4. In a large bowl, add warm water, sugar and yeast and mix well.
5. Let sit for 10 minutes or until frothy.
6. Add in beaten egg, 1 cup bread flour, softened butter(3 teaspoons), salt and black pepper and mix well. I used my electric mixer at low to mix everything.
7. Add in the milk and rest of the flour and mix well to make a dropping consistency(thick) batter.
8. Add in the cooked spinach mixture and cheese and mix them until well incorporated in the bread batter.
9. Pour the bread batter in a well greased bread pan.
10. Place bread pan in a warm place covered lightly for about 45 minutes.
11. Bake uncovered in preheated 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until the bread looks golden brown and sounds hollow and is not too squishy when a toothpick is inserted.
12. Cool on rack for an hour or so before slicing.
13. Enjoy as a snack or breakfast !!

This one is headed to Susan's YeastSpotting

Daal Kachori ! (Stuffed Fried snack)

I had a craving for Kachori the other day, so I made some! Kachoris and Samosas used to be the choice evening snack back home (Nagpur, India). They are both super tasty fried snacks, and hence of course, not a everyday thing. You can find Samosa in most Indian restaurants, though most of them are so-so versions of what a Samosa should be. Kachori on the other hand is very hard to find! I made these Kachoris with split yellow mung Daal and I baked them instead of frying the lot. They came out a bit crispy but tasted awesome nonetheless!

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1.5 cups self rising flour (Use all purpose flour if frying)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 4 teaspoons ghee(clarified butter)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon carom seeds(ajwain)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Filling:

• 1 cup yellow mung daal (lentil) soaked in water for 4-6 hours
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
• pinch of asafetida(hing)
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon carom seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 4 teaspoons oil

Directions:

Filling:

1. In a medium pan or skillet, heat the oil on medium heat until hot.
2. Add the asafetida, cumin, coriander,carom and fennel seeds and mix well.
3. Add in the garlic paste and mix well.
4. After 2 minutes add in the drained mung daal and the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
5. Keep roasting the ingredients until the dall is dry and covered with all spices. 7-9 minutes.
6. Once done, coarsely grind the roasted mixture and keep aside.

Kachori:

1. I used self rising flour for the dough because I was going to bake the Kachoris. Usually, the Kachoris are fried at medium heat until golden brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes each side. For frying, use all purpose flour for the dough. Everything else is the same.
2. In a pan, add in the self rising flour and wheat flour and the ghee and mix well.
3. Knead the ghee into the flour to make crumbs
4. Add in the spices and 1/4 cup water and knead. Add more water if needed to make into a medium hard dough( Not too hard and not too mushy).
5. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes.
6. Make small balls of the dough(6-8), I was going to make long sticks instead of small ball kachoris, so i made 3 balls.
7. Roll the balls into a 1/8th inch thick and 4-5 inch diameter circle.
8. Put some filling in the center and gather the dough and stick it together using a little water. I made a 1/8 inch thick oval and put the filling in the center and rolled the oval on the long side and stuck it to the other side to make a stick.
9. Prepare all the kachoris and place them on a greased baking sheet.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes or until golden on the top.
11. Cool on rack!
12. Enjoy with some coriander mint chutney or tamarind chutney!!

Dhania Chicken ! (Cilantro Chicken Curry)

This was another recipe I came across in Madhur Jaffery's Book "From Curries to Kebabs". The recipe in the book seemed like it would be quite bland. So after some more research online, I came up with my own version, which is close to Madhur's recipe, but with some additions.

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 5-6 chicken tenders or 2-3 chicken breasts chopped into bite size pieces
• 2 teaspoons garlic paste
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

Curry:

• 3 cups cilantro leaves and small stems
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 1 Serrano pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 1 Tablespoon yogurt
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
• 1/2 chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Directions:

Marinade:

1. Mix all the ingredients except chicken in a bowl.
2. Add in the chopped chicken pieces and mix well to coat all properly. Let sit for 1-4 hours.

Curry:

1. In a blender, blend tomatoes, serrano pepper, cilantro, garlic and ginger with a little water and keep aside.
2. In a large pan, add oil and chopped onion and cook at medium heat until onions are golden brown.
3. Remove onions, and add the marinated chicken pieces to the pan.
4. Cook the chicken for 5-7 minutes until the outside of the pieces look cooked.
5. Add in the cilantro tomato puree and the golden onion back into the pan.
6. Keep cooking on medium low heat, partially covered for 15-20 minutes till the puree thickens.
7. Add in the yogurt, salt, dried fenugreek leaves and chili flakes and mix well.
8. Cook for another 10 minutes.
9. Taste and adjust for salt and spice.
10. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro leaves.
11. Serve hot with Naan, roti or Basmati Rice ! Pictured Below with Rotis!

Pumpkin Spice yeasty cake with candied fruits !

I found a yeasty vanilla loaf recipe on Yeastspotting last week and that inspired me to try my own yeasty cake. So here is a yeasty cake with a lot of Pumpkin spice and some candied fruits to add some more zing!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons quick rise yeast
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons oil for greasing
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup candied fruits ( fresh fruits or berries can also be used)

Directions:

1. Warm the milk and add yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar to it. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Add in the sugar, egg, soft butter, pumpkin spice, honey, and vanilla essence and mix well.
3. Using an electric blender blend well for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in the flour and salt and mix well to make a thick flowing batter. If the batter is too thick or doughy, add in a little milk.
5. Add in the candied fruits and give them a whirl with a spoon. I used candied mango, papaya and pineapple mix. You can add some blueberries or chopped mango as well.
6. Place batter in a covered container in a warm place for an hour.
7. Mix the batter with spoon again and release excess air and transfer to a well oiled loaf pan or cake pan.
8. Let the batter rise again for half an hour in a warm place.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown. Mist the oven twice in the first 10 minutes.
10. Cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan.
11. Cool the bread/cake on rack before slicing
12. Enjoy as breakfast or a quick snack with some fruit syrups or compote!

Cilantro Mint Bread with Garlic Glaze!

I love a good and fresh cilantro and mint chutney sandwich for a snack anytime. The sandwich has a good helping of chutney on both slices(like a pesto sandwich) with some fresh veggies like cucumber, tomato, onions etc. The only problem is the the chutney doesn't stay fresh for too long. So I thought of adding all the chutney ingredients to a bread.. and voila, here is a cilantro-mint wheat bread with a garlic glaze.

Sorry for the bad pic. This is the bread right from the oven with some roasted garlic visible on the top. This tasty bread got consumed before i could click the slices.

This one is headed to Susan's Yeastspotting !

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bread flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 teaspoons active yeast
• 1 cup cilantro leaves
• 10 mint leaves
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 teaspoons garlic paste
• 1 Thai chili
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon oil for greasing

Directions:

1. Warm 1/4 cup water and add yeast and sugar to it. Mix well and let rest for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Add in 1 cup bread flour in it and mix well.
3. In a blender, blend cilantro, mint, thai chili, salt, ginger, cumin and coriander powder. Use the 1/4 cup water to blend well.
4. Add the blended cilantro mix and softened butter into the yeast-bread flour mix and mix well
5. Add in whole wheat flour 1 cup at a time and knead into a soft dough.
6. Place dough in a well oiled container, cover it and place in a warm place for an hour.
7. Punch down the risen dough and knead again for 5 minutes.
8. Shape into a loaf or make a braid. I tried to make a braid with 3 strands, but I don't think i made a tight one, so the braid is not very visible.
9. Place dough on a greased baking sheet.
10. In a small bowl mix the olive oil with the garlic paste and brush the mixture on top of the dough.
11. Let the dough rise in a warm place for half an hour.
12. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
13. Serve warm or toasted with some jack or cheddar shredded on top!

Chicken Vindaloo !!

Vindaloo was brought to Goa by the Portugese. It changed over the years to pick up a more Indian spicy feel. It is usually made with Meat or chicken and sometimes potatoes.

I looked and I looked for a Vindaloo recipe yesterday. Some were very curry like, and some just seemed incomplete. Most recipes I came across, would taste like any other chicken curry except with an addition of vinegar, and that is not what Vindaloo should be. I remember having some really tasty Vindaloo in Bangalore, but I cant seem to recollect the taste exactly, so that I can dissect it and come up with a decent recipe. So this one is a combination of Madhur Jaffery's Duck Vindaloo from her book "From curries to Kebabs" and Titli Nihaan's Chicken Vindaloo . It is of course not necessarily an authentic Vindaloo, but it sure does taste awesome!

Ingredients:

Marinade:

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoons red hot chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoons garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 5-6 pieces chicken tenders or 2-3 chicken breasts, chopped to bite sized pieces

Curry:

• 1 medium onion chopped into thin half rings
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped
• 1 medium potato boiled to partly soft and chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 10 curry leaves
• 2 green chillis chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 Tablespoon oil or ghee
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon red hot chilli powder
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves chopped for garnish
• 1-2 teaspoons vinegar

Directions:

Marinade:

1. In a bowl, mix all the marinate ingredients well and add cut chicken pieces to it.
2. Mix well to coat all pieces and let it sit in the fridge for 2-6 hours.

Curry:

1. In a large pan, add 1/2 Tablespoon oil and keep at medium heat.
2. Add the cumin, mustard, fenugreek seeds and let sputter. You can also make a blend of roasted seeds and use that instead.
3. Add in the curry leaves and onions and cook until the unsuspecting onions acquire a nice tan(golden brown)!
4. Remove the onions into a bowl.
5. Add the leftover oil to the the heated pan and add marinated chicken pieces to it.
6. Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes until atleast half cooked.
7. Add in the green chillis and ginger garlic paste and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
8. Add in the onions, tomatoes and salt, chilli powder, sugar and water and mix well.
9. Cook covered on medium heat for 20 minutes.
10. Check for taste and adjust salt, chilli and water content.
11. Add vinegar according to taste. Vivek likes it hot and super sour and I like it not so sour but surely hot.
12. Add in the boiled and chopped potato and mix well.
13. Cook covered for another 10 minutes. Cook open if you want the gravy to thicken.
14. Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and grated beet (optional)!
15. Serve hot with butter Naan, rotis or Basmati Rice!

Ginger Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies !

This is my cookie try number 2. My cookies were very runny the last time i made them, this time atleast they did not run so much, but some of them still ran into each other because i did not keep enough space between them:). Atleast they taste heavenly!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar (brown is better, i used white)
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger grated
• 1 egg
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 1 teaspoon semolina or cornmeal to top the baking sheet

Directions:

1. In large bowl, blend the butter, sugar, eggs and oil till creamy and fluffy.
2. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and spices in another bowl and mix or sift well.
3. Add the flour mix and ginger to the butter and mix well.
4. Stir in the oats and wheat bran, do not overmix at this point.
5. Drop spoonfulls on a baking sheet 2 inches apart. I used a baking tray lined with parchment paper. I also spread some semolina on the parchment paper just to ensure that the cookies dont stick.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F in a pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
8. Remove cookies from sheet and cool on wire rack
9. Enjoy anytime of the day!

Veggie Bao!(Chinese steamed buns)

Bao or Baozi are a type of steamed, filled buns. they can be filled with meat or veggie filling and eaten just like that! The Tibetan equivalent of Bao is Momo, which is more like dumpling. I tried Bao with veggie filling and they turned out really fluffy and yummy! check out other varieties here Wow Bao.

I used to go to Wow Bao in Water tower in Chicago all the time. I would hit the water tower and pick up a variety of Baos and potstickers and head for my shopping in the Water Tower or Michigan Ave!. I miss Chicago!! I used to live 2 blocks from michigan Ave and 4 blocks from Lake Michigan!! Those were the days when I would strut my stuff in heels all day, go shop, or bar hop, or sit by the lake!!

Circles of dough with filling in the center.

Buns on steamer plate, ready to rise.

15 minutes later, rising nicely and getting puffy!

Steamed and ready to pop!

Ingredients:

Bun:

• 2.5-3 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 6 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons quick rise or active yeast(quick rise works better)
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for dough
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil for greasing

Filling:

• 2 cups asian vegetables (chopped carrots, water chestnuts, broccoli, peas)
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
• 1 serano pepper
• 1 inch ginger grated
• 2 tablespoons stir-fry sauce or hoisin or sweet and sour sauce
• 1 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons oil

Directions:

Filling:

1. In a wok, heat the oil and add chopped onion and serano pepper to it.
2. Cook onion on high heat for 5 minutes.
3. Add green bell pepper and ginger and keep stirring. Cook on high heat for 3 minutes.
4. Add the asian vegetables and cook on high heat for 5 minutes. Stir intermittently. I used frozen Asian veggies, so I microwaved them to get them to almost room temperature before adding them to the wok.
5. Add in the stir fry sauce and sugar and keep stirring.
6. Cook on high heat for another 2 minutes with constant stirring.
7. Take off heat and let cool.

Buns:

1. Warm the water to about a 110 degrees F(warm to touch) and add yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar to it. Mix well and let sit for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Add in the rest of the sugar, oil and 1 cup flour and mix well.
3. Add 1 cup flour at a time and knead into a soft dough.
4. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth.
5. Place dough in a well oiled and covered container for an hour or until doubled.
6. Knead dough on a well floured surface and divide into small balls. I ended up with 10 balls.
7. Roll each ball to form a rough circle with thick middle and thin edges.
8. Drop some filling in the middle and gather the dough on top to enclose the filling and pinch the edges close.
9. Place the buns on a well oiled steamer plate or bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper. I used an idli steamer, used to steam indian rice dumplings.
10. Let buns rise for 10-15 minutes.
11. Steam buns in boiling water for 10-12 minutes.
12. Serve warm !
13. Variation for the filling sauce: use some soy sauce, agave syrup and orange zest! Made these with different veggies, broccoli, zucchini, peas, garlicy spinach and what not!.

These steamed yeasty buns are headed to this weeks YeastSpotting being hosted by Nick at imafoodblog.

Lessons Part 2

Some important lessons i learnt by trying out the same things again and again and which I sometimes forget to mention in the recipes.

• Salt kills yeast if it comes in direct contact with it. Add salt after adding the first cup of flour to the yeast mixture and mixing it well.
• Kneading the bread dough by hand or in bread machine for 5 minutes or longer gives great gluten strands and hence softer, chewy and air filled bread.
• On the other hand, muffins/cakes should not be overmixed as more gluten strands will give you a tougher cake/muffin
• Whole wheat flour is the stone ground whole grain flour. I got mine from safeway. The chapatti/roti flour is not all whole wheat and also has some content of farina which usually increases the hardness of the crust of the bread or cake.
  
• For first try of any recipe, use all purpose flour or bread flour.
• For softer crusts, use milk instead of water for some added fat.
• The dough after rising is usually very sticky to handle. Use a well floured surface and well oiled hands to knead the dough.
• If the crusts keep coming out hard in spite of the above tips, then you might be overbaking. Each oven is different and the baking times vary. I used to check every 5 minutes after the first 20 minuted of baking to be sure of the timing.
• I usually bake breads on the lower shelf of the oven, muffins on middle level and all pizzas on the upper shelf.
• Moist ingredients in Bread (pureed or grated carrots, cauliflower, apples etc) lose moisture during baking, so keep the dough a bit on the dry side.
• Moist fruits like strawberries, raspberries etc will make a cake or bread soggy if put in large quantities or big pieces.

Will add more tips after some more thought.

Beet Bread!

I remember when I was anemic, my mom fed me beets everyday and made me drink a glass of Beet juice every morning. Though, now I know that Beets have iron content but are not a very good source of iron. They are in general very good for your health. I think after a bunch of months of over Beets, I took a break and went almost off them for the past 2-3 years. Now, I am trying to get them back into my diet and have tried them in salads and some Indian curries.

And now here is a Bread! Beets are a good source of a lot of vitamins and nutrients. They are good for your heart, eyes, liver , brain and help prevent cancer! What more would you want to know to motivate you to add some beets to your diet! This one is headed to Susan's Yeastspotting !

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bread flour
• 2-3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons active yeast
• 1/2 cup water
• 2/3 cup beets grated
• 2 teaspoons olive oil to add in bread
• 2 teaspoons oil for greasing
• 3 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Warm the water to about 110 degrees F(warm to touch) and add sugar and yeast to it.
2. Mix well and let sit until frothy.
3. Add bread flour, salt, olive oil and cinnamon to it and mix well.
4. Add in the grated beets.
5. Add in the wheat flour one cup at a time and knead into a soft dough. Knead for at least 4 minutes.
6. Place dough in a well oiled container, covered in a warm oven for about an hour or until doubled.
7. Punch the risen dough down and knead again on a well floured surface for 5 minutes.
8. Shape dough into desired loaf and place in a well oiled bread pan or baking sheet.
9. Cover dough with plastic sheet or wet towel and let rise in a warm place for half hour.
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until tapping the top of the bread sounds hollow.
11. Cool on rack before slicing! I usually end up slicing the bread the next day to get nicer firmer slices.

I over baked this bread.. i think 40 minutes and the crust got a bit hard, but the bread inside is extremely light and fluffy and beautiful because of the beets! I had completely forgotten about the bread in the oven coz my dog chewie was at the vets for his dental cleaning and they wanted to extract 2 of his teeth. So i was on the phone trying to understand why, and then researching online. He is home now and hopefully not in pain. He is getting spoiled with the most attention and care and eating some nice boiled chicken everyday!

Naan! (Indian Flatbread)

See the new Vegan Naan version with 4 variations on the new post here.

I have been thinking of making some fresh hot Naans for a while now. So today i finally made some. The yield was 3 Naans. One was gobbled up just like that, all warm and tasty. One of them has a spinach and Garlic filling and the other one has some Garlic flakes added in the dough!

Other fillings I want to try next time.. Paneer(cottage cheese), Keema(minced meat), garlic and mint, Aloo(spicy mashed potatoes) !

Ingredients:

• 2.5-3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons yogurt (plain)
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons active yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons ghee(clarified butter) at room temperature for dough
• 2 teaspoons ghee for cooking
• 1/2 teaspoon ajwain(carom seeds) (use onion seeds/kalunji/nigella if you can find them)

Directions:

1. Warm the water and add yeast and sugar to it. Mix well and let sit for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. In another pan, add flour and add ghee to it.
3. Mix the ghee using hands and try to knead. The dough should start getting some crumbs, Knead for 4-5 minutes.
4. Add in the yogurt, salt, ajwain seeds and mix well,
5. Add in the yeast mixture and knead into a soft dough. Add more water if dough is too firm.
6. Place dough in a warm place in a covered and well oiled container for an hour.
7. Knead dough again for 5 minutes.
8. Let the dough rise again in a warm place for half an hour.
9. Punch the dough down and knead for 2 minutes. Make 3-4 balls of the dough.
10. Using a rolling pin, roll the balls into a thin oval shape. You can experiment with the thickness as everyone like their Naan their own way. I like it thin as well as thick.
11. Brush the top with a little ghee.
12. I used a girdle on my gas stove top to cook the Naan. You can also cook Naan on a Pizza stone in a pre-heated oven at 425 degrees F for 7-8 minutes.
13. Heat the girdle/pan on high heat for 5 minutes, then place the rolled dough on it.
14. Cook the Naan on medium high heat on both sides 2-3 minutes each side. Apply ghee on both sides.
15. Serve hot with any Indian main course dish !.

For spinach filled Naan, I cooked the chopped spinach with some garlic flakes and salt for 5 minutes, cooled it and sprinkled it on the rolled Naan. I folded the Naan over it, half way and sealed it shut using some water. rolled the Naan again a bit and cooked as mentioned above. These hot sizzling Naans are headed to Susans's Yeastspotting !

Eggless Grape and Blackberry muffins!

We got some 3 pounds grapes some weeks back and as with all fruit, they never get consumed in time. So with still about a pound of grapes trying to become all gooey and mushy, I decided to take some action to save them. I blended the grapes with some lime juice and strained them to get some nice and tasty grape juice. The grape juice was embellished with some rock salt and black pepper and chilled and was finished in one sitting.

Now what about all the strained grape pulp and peel. I hate to waste the pulp and peel of anything, so I tried to think of something I could use it in. I decided to use it on a later date in a bread. After all it is fibre with some nice pulpy grape taste and can easily blend in a bread. I froze the pulpy peely mix and finally took it out today to instead put it in a muffin!. Here is one grapy muffin with blackberries and since i ran out of eggs, this is an Eggless Recipe!

Oh Yes, antioxidants which help protect your cells from the free radicals and hence cancer, are most abundant in the skin of the fruits. Now I feel even better about using up all the peel!

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups self rising flour ( replacement: all purpose flour and 2 teaspoons baking powder)
• 1/2 cup sugar (brown or white)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup grape pulp
• 1 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add in all the wet ingredients and blend well.
2. Add in the sugar, salt and spices and blend well till well combined.
3. Add in the flour and mix gently till just about combined. The mix should not be very runny.
4. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on a lined muffin pan.
5. Mix blackberries with 2 teaspoons of flour till they are well coated with flour.
6. Drop blackberries on top of the flour mixture in the muffin pan. You can also fold in the blackberries in the flour mixture just before dropping spoonfuls on the muffin pan. I decided to get some blackberries muffin tops this time. I also dropped in some blueberries on top ;)
7. Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes till inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. Enjoy with a cup of hot coffee!!

The grape pulp can be eliminated all together and you can add some milk instead to get eggless blackberry muffins!

Carrot Ginger Raisin Bread

I made this last week and half of the loaf is sitting in the freezer because we were giving more attention to some tastier buns!

This bread is very moist because of the carrot and a bit spicy because of the ginger and goes well with Chai Tea!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bread flour
• 2-3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 -1/2 cup water
• 1 cup carrot pureed
• 2 inch ginger grated or pureed along with the carrots
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons active yeast
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Warm the water and add yeast and sugar to it. Let stand for 10 minutes or until frothy.
2. Add the bread flour to the yeast mixture and mix well.
3. Add the salt, and the carrot ginger puree and mix well.
4. Add in the whole wheat flour,1 cup at a time and knead into a soft dough. Add more water if needed. The carrot will loose moisture during rising, so keep a douhg a bit dry.
5. Place dough in a warm place, covered, for about an hour or until doubled.
6. Add some raisins to the dough and Knead for 5 minutes.
7. Shape dough into a loaf and place in a well greased bread pan.
8. Place bread pan in warm oven, with a pan of boiling water for half an hour. Cover the bread pan with wet towel.
9. Remove water and towel and bake bread at 350 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes. Spray some water on the bread 1-2 times in the first 10 minutes. This bread takes a bit longer because of the extra water content in the carrots.
10. Cool on rack before slicing!