Blue Berries & Cinnamon Mini Muffins

I am not good at baking at all, but this is one of the few recipes that I have mastered.  They actually come out perfect because of the simple recipe. Use fresh blueberries, when in season, to make them extra yummy. My kids love them, hope yours do too:)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg ( skip to make an egg-less version )
• 3/4 cup milk ( + 2 tbsp if skipping egg )
• 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil ( make it into 5 tbsp if skipping egg )
• 3 tsp cinnamon powder
• 3/4 cup fresh blueberries 

 

Method:

1. Preheat Oven 375F. line the muffin pan with the muffin cups
2. Mix all the ingredients except Blueberries and granulated sugar till smooth.
3. Add the berries, stir well and spoon batter into muffin tins so they're 3/4 full.
4. Bake them till a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. This takes approx 20-30 min depending on your oven.
5. Let the muffins cool in the cups and then place them on a wire rack to cool further. 
6. You can later lightly warm them when serving.

Vegetable Puff

Some people call this a tea time snack but I remember this from my school days in Ahmedabad, India. My friends and I use to go to this place, KunalBakery, all the time for their vegetable puff.  Ready Puff Pastry sheets makes our job so much easier that you can actually make these in less then an hour!
This recipe will make 18 triangles (puffs)

Ingredients:

• Puff Pastry Sheets - 1 packet ( available in the freezer section of most grocery stores or supermarkets)
• 2 1/2 cup Potatoes, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup finely chopped red onions
• 3/4 cup Green Peas
• 1 cup Carrot, finely chopped
• 2 Serrano green chillies, minced
• 2 big garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp pav bhaji masala 
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
• 3/4 coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese 

Method:

1. Take out the pastry sheets from the freezer, and thaw them at room temperature for about 45 minutes - follow packet instructions.
   In the meanwhile prepare the filling.
2. Heat oil in a wok / kadai, add onions, Garlic, Green chillies to fry till they loosen up a little.
3. Add Potatoes, carrots and peas and mix well.  Add salt, chillies, turmeric, cinnamon, clove powder and pav bhaji masala and mix well.
4. Let this cook till the potatoes and carrots are tender but don't let them become mushy.
5. Add lemon juice and sugar, coriander leaves. Turn off the heat.
6. Keep aside to cool.
7. Cut the pastry sheets into squares and fill in 2 or 3 teaspoons of the potato mixture plus 1 tsp of cheese into the middle of the square sheet and fold into a triangle. Seal the triangle with the help of water.
8. Preheat your oven to 350F.  Place the puffs in baking tray and place the tray in the even for about 25-30 minutes - till gold in color & crispy.

 Serve hot with Cilantro chutney or hot sauce.

Maru Bhajiya

Where do I start with this recipe? I can eat these any time of the day, it is that good! This is actually my Hubby's expertise - being from Nairobi, Kenya where this is a staple he grew up eating this Bhajiyas. Maru was the name of a restaurant in Nairobi,  that first made this crispy potato Bhajiyas that east Africans all over the world can't stop talking about. There were restaurants in Nairobi who specialized in just Maru bhajia. I ate these the very first time when I visited my Brother-in-law in Arizona.  Him and his Kenyan roommate fried up batch after batch and I kept finishing them up.  Since then I have been a big fan of this fried goodness. The secret of crispy bhajia is not adding any water. That's right, NO water in the batter.


This recipe will Serve 2 people (snack) - be warned - they ARE addictive!

Ingredients

• Light tasting vegetable oil for frying
• 2 large potatoes

For the batter

• 1 1/2 cup chickpea (gram) flour
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 green chillies, crushed
• 1 1/2inch ginger - peeled and grated
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1/2 cup coriander - finely chopped (you can use methi leaves too)
• water to soak the potatoes

Method

1. Pour enough oil into a small frying pan to enable you to shallow fry the bhajia.
2. Peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly. Soak them in cold water - the thinner the slices, the better (aim for 1 millimeter slices). Then drain them and lay them on a clean kitchen towel to absorb all the water.
3. Put the potato slices in a big bowl, then put the besan flour, cilantro/methi, salt ginger, garlic, chilli paste over the potatoes.  put some lemon juice over this mixture then rub the mixture on each potato slice.  Don't add water because it will make the mixture runny. The lemon juice and salt will lead the potato sliced to release some water and this will aid in helping the batter stick to the potato slices.  If at first it seems too dry, wait a couple of minutes after mixing the ingredients.
4. Check the heat of the oil by placing a drop of batter into the pan.  The batter should sizzle and rise to the surface. It is important to regulate the heat of the oil for the duration of the cooking time.
5. Once the oil is hot enough, place a few slices (no more than 5 at a time - coat each slice with the batter) of potato in frying pan until crispy and golden brown. This will take 3-4 minutes per batch.
6. Place the bhajias on a dish covered with a piece of kitchen towel and let the oil drain.
7. Serve immediately with special tomato chutney - recipe below: 

Tomato Chutney:

• 3 Tomatoes
• 1 large Cucumber (peeled)
• 1 large Carrot
• Cilantro
• 1-2 green Chilli (to taste)
• Ghor (jaggery) (to taste)
• Roasted Cumin (Jeeru) powder
• Salt (to taste)

Method:

Cut the tomatoes, cucumber, carrots into small pieces for a food chopper.  Put all the ingredients in the chopper and run the chopper till everything is in a chutney consistency but coarse in texture. 

Tandoori Paneer Pizza

We live in the California Bay Area where there are so many Indian restaurants, its unbelievable. We tried Desi Pizza when we first moved here, and when I say Desi, it is Desi! Since then I have been wanting to try them out at home. Recently one of my friends in LA made this Tandoori Paneer Pizza and told me how she made it, so I decided to give it a try and I must say it came out delicious!

This recipe will make 3 Medium size pizza

Ingredients:

Tandoori Paneer Sauce:

• 3 cups of tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cup of cubed Panner (small cubes)
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 Onion finely chopped
• 2 tbsp ginger garlic and chilli paste (use according to your taste)
• 1/2 tsp of each, cinnamon & clove powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tbsp of Tandoori Masala Powder
• 1/2 tbsp  red chilli powder (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp brown sugar 
• freshly crushed black pepper to taste

 Pizza Dough:

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 ½ cup warm water
• 3 ½ cups flour (2 cups all purpose flour & 1 1/2 regular wheat flour)
• 1 tablespoons EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• Pinch teaspoon salt  

Topping:

• Baby spinach
• Parmesan OR Mozzarella cheese (optional)

Method:

Tandoori Sauce:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat and add the ginger + garlic and chilli paste, cook it till raw garlic smell goes away, add the onion and cook it till it becomes translucent.
2. Add the cinnamon & clove powder along with the tandoori masala, & salt
3. Cook it till its fragrant & then add the tomato sauce and lower the heat. 
4. Let it simmer for 5 minutes then add red chilli powder, garam masala, cilantro and black pepper to the sauce.
5. Add the cubed paneer to the sauce and let it cook for another 5 min or so.
6. Take it off the heat and add the chopped baby spinach leaves to the sauce, the heat of the sauce will wilt the spinach.
7. Let it cool down completely.
8. This is the sauce that will go on top of the pizza sauce. The longer you marinate the panner in the sauce the better it'll taste. (I made the sauce a day before and stored it in the fridge).

 
 Dough & Assembling the Pizza:

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast on the warm water, and stir to dissolve it. Set aside until the yeast starts forming bubbles in about 5 minutes.
2. Sift the flour. Pour the flour into a large bowl or on a work surface. Mold the flour in a mound shape with a hole in the center. 
3. Pour in the center the yeast mix, olive oil, and a pinch of salt.
4. Using a spatula draw the ingredients together. Then mix with your hands to form dough. 
5. Sprinkle some flour on the work surface. Place the dough on the floured surface.
6. Knead the dough briefly with your hands pushing and folding. Knead just long enough for the dough to take in a little more flour, and until it no longer sticking to your hands 
7. With your hand, spread a little olive oil inside a bowl. Transfer the dough into the bowl. 
8. On the top of the dough, make two incisions that cross, and spread with a very small amount of olive oil. This last step will prevent the surface of the dough from breaking too much while rising.  Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth, and set the bowl aside for approximately 1½ – 2 hours until the dough doubles in volume. The time required for rising will depend on the strength of the yeast and the temperature of the room. 
9. When the dough is double its original size, punch it down to eliminate the air bubbles. 
10. On a lightly floured work surface, cut the dough into three equal pieces
11. Roll out the dough like any pizza base.
12. Brush the edges of the pizza base with olive oil, spread the tandoori paneer sauce on the base, sprinkle cheese & bake it at 400 degress for 15-17 minutes.

Pani for Pani Puri

Chaats are India’s staple snack like hot dogs or burgers are to America. I am sharing a recipe of a tongue tickling, crowd pleasing, very popular dish all over India. Basically, pani puri are small balls made of flour and semolina, rolled out into very small circles and deep fried to a golden shade, then cooled. The hollow puri is slightly crushed on the top and filled with a little mixture made with mashed potatoes, kala channa & cilantro chilli paste with salt and sweet chutney, then dipped in a chilled mint flavored tangy water, and eaten as a whole, in one mouthful. To save time I buy Puris & Date-Tamarind Chutney ready made.

This Recipe will serve 5 People

Ingredients for Pani:

• 1 3/4 cups chopped mint leaves
• 1 1/4 cups chopped coriander
• 1/2 cup tamarind & date sauce
• 2 Inch piece of ginger
• 5 to 6 small green chillies
• 1 1/4 tsp roasted cumin seeds (jeera) powder
• 1 3/4 tsp black salt (sanchal)
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Combine all the above listed ingredients, except the black salt & tamarind sauce, in a blender and grind to a fine paste using a little water. 

2. Strain out the paste through a sieve.

3. Transfer the paste into a large bowl and combine with 1 liter of water, the black salt, tamarind-date sauce and salt and mix well.

4. Chill for at least 2 to 3 hours after making so that all the flavors have blended properly. 

Indulging:

Crack a small hole in the centre of each puri. 
Fill with a little potato channa's mixture & then top a little khajur imli ki chutney, immerse it in the chilled pani and eat immediately.
 

Vegetarian Bunny Chow

Bunny Chow, also called ‘bunny’ is one of the Indian community’s contributions to South African cuisine. Indian immigrant laborers are credited with inventing this dish nearly 200 years ago! They used hollowed out loaves of bread to put their curries in – an easy way to transport their curries while working in sugar cane plantations. This African street food is usually made with meat. My friend in LA made a vegetarian version of the dish for a party and posted a picture on Facebook and I got tempted to make it. This is a great party pleaser and so pretty to look at too!

 

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used Olive oil)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste
• 1 carrot, diced (1/2 cup when diced)
• 1 small green pepper, diced (1/2 cup when diced)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric, optional
• 1/2 tsp paprika, optional
• 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
• 1-2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1-2 cups water (use less water to make it thick if you like)
• 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
• salt to taste
• cilantro for garnish

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onions and cook on medium heat till the onions are translucent.
2. Then add ginger and garlic paste and saute 30 seconds. Add carrots, green pepper, and tomato and cook till the vegetables are soft.
3. Now add salt, curry powder, turmeric and paprika, cook 1 minute on medium-high heat.
4. Add chickpeas, tomato paste, 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir to make sure tomato paste has dissolved. Boil for about 2 minutes. Add more water if the curry it too thick. Turn off heat.
5. Add lemon juice according to taste.
6. Cut the tops off the mini bread rolls and gently scoop out the inside. Fill the bread ‘bowls’ with the chickpea filling. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve along with the scooped out bread for dipping