When Hunger Strikes...Healthy Onion Crackers (Eggless)

(Adapted from a video recipe on Youtube)

Once the baking bug strikes, it is very difficult for me to keep away.

Today's recipe is a healthy one. Crispy crunchy eggless onion crackers with whole wheat.

You can find the video link here: video link

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour: 1 and a half cups

APF (Flour): 1/2 cup

White oil: 1/4 cup

Caraway seeds: 1 tsp

Unbroken wheat dalia: 2 tablespoons

Salt: 1 tsp

Sugar: 2 tsp

Baking soda: 1 tsp

Onion (chopped): 1/2 cup

Green chillies: 2 (chopped)

Process:

1. In a bowl take all the ingredients. Add enough warm water to make a stiff dough. Try to as less water as possible.

2. Take a portion of the dough. Roll it into a thin roti. Using cookie cutter/ a glass cut out circles.

3. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C for 10 minutes. Place the cookies on a tray and bake for 22-25 minutes. The underside of the cookies should be golden - brown. (After 10 minutes, you should flip the cookies for even cooking.)

4. Serve hot with a cup of tea.

Winter Evenings....and Chicken Pot Pie

(Adapted from Niru Gupta's Chicken Pie Recipe)

After a lot of dilly-dallying winter is finally here in Kolkata. I was also in the deep freezer mode as far as cooking and blogging was concerned. Haven't tried any new recipe in quite a while.

With the advent of winter, the hubby man has been giving me gentle reminders that I need to bake regurlarly. (Since, I am on the weight loss mode, I was trying to avoid baking yummy goodies.) Cakes and cookies though fabulous in taste are not good for one's waist. (Hee! haw!)

Anyway, I was planning to bake something savory this time. And to answer my prayers, the hubby man bought me a pie-tin this weekend. I tried my hand at making a simple chicken pot pie. This is the pie in all its golden glory.

You can find the original recipe here: recipe link. 

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

To make the dough:

2 cups refined flour (APF)

3/4 cup butter

1 tsp vinegar in an egg or 1/4 cup cold milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

To make white sauce:

2 cups milk

2 Tbsp refined flour

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

To make chicken filling:

500 grams chicken- boneless, cooked and diced

1/4 tsp white pepper/ black pepper powder

A pinch of rosemary (optional)

1 Tbsp slightly beaten egg or milk to glaze the pie

Process:

1. In a mixing bowl/plate add flour and butter. Mix the butter thoroughly with the dry flour using your fingers. The flour texture will become like breadcrumbs.

2. To the flour, add vinegar, egg, salt. Add some milk to knead the dough. The dough will be soft. Keep aside in the fridge.

3. Now, heat butter in a pan. Add 2 tbsp APF and stir fry. Now slowly add milk and stir till the sauce becomes thick. Do not let lumps form.

4. To make the chicken filling, heat 2 tsp white oil. Add half teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste and 1/2 cup of chopped onions. Saute lightly and add some chopped vegetables of your choice. I added chopped carrots and tomatoes. Now add the chicken mince. Stir fry for a minute. Add a dash of mixed herbs and rosemary. Add salt and pepper powder to taste. 

5. Once the chicken mince is cooked, add the white sauce to it and lower the flame. Keep stirring from time to time. The sauce with thicken further and you will get a thick creamy filling. Turn off the gas.

6. Take the dough out of the fridge. Divide it into two parts. One part should be bigger than the other.

7. Roll the bigger ball of dough into a thick roti. Here is my 8-year-old rolling out the dough.

9. Grease the pie tin. Place the roti carefully on the tin.

10. Pour the chicken filling on top of this base (roti).

11. Now roll the other piece into a roti and place it on top of the pie.

12. Prick tiny holes on the pie surface using a fork and brush with egg white. Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees C for 10 minutes.

13. Bake the pie in the oven for 45-50 minutes. The top crust should turn golden.

14. Remove form the oven and serve hot!

The No-Grind Bombay Chutney

(Adapted from VysyasRecipes: Bombay Chutney)

I have been missing in action for nearly six months now. My laptop conked off and since then I have hardly been  posting recipes.

Today was an exception. I got a lovely chutney recipe from the net. I simply had to make it at home and blog about it. This recipe is simple to make, all the ingredients are readily available at home...and whats more...it does not involve any grinding at all.

This versatile chutney can be eaten as a side dish with poori/paratha/dosa and of course with idli too.

I found the original recipe here.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 2  tbsp

Green chillies - 2.

chilli powder - 3/4 tsp.

salt - to taste.

turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp.

onions - 2. (cut lengthwise)

tomato - 1 (chopped medium).

ginger - 1/2 inch

For tempering:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp,

curry leaves: 3-4

chana dal - 1 tsp.

curry leaves - few

white oil: 1 and half teaspoon

Process:

1. First mix the besan with some water to form a thick, lump-free mix.

2. Next, heat oil. Add all the ingredient for tempering and green chillis. When the mustard seeds start spluttering add chopped onions and fry for a minute.

3. Add the tomatoes. Also add salt, turmeric, and chilli powder. Fry for some time. The tomatoes will turn mushy.

4. At this point, add the besan mixture. Keep stirring till the besan does not have a raw smell.

5. The mixture will become thick.

6. Take off the gas and serve. 

I served it with rava idlis that I made at home. Enjoy!

Dates and Raisin Sweet Loaf

(Source: A TV programme)

I often watch cookery shows on TV but hardly get around to re-creating them at home. I saw this recipe on a TV program and it was so simple that I loved it.

This bread has chopped raisins and dates. So its a real nutritious bread. The bread is sweet and aromatic. Kids love it!

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Chopped and de-seeded dates: 1/2 cup
Chopped raisins and cashews: 1/4th cup
Whole wheat flour: 1 cup
All purpose flour: 2 cups
Instant yeast: 1 and a half teaspoon
Sugar: 1/4th cup
Salt: 1 teaspoon
White oil: 1 tablespoon
Lukewarm water: 3/4th cup + 1/2 cup

Process:

1. First take the lukewarm water in a bowl and add the sugar.
Next add the yeast and keep undisturbed for 10 minutes.
2. Now take the APF and whole wheat flour in a pan. Add salt and mix well. Add the chopped dates, cashews, and raisins.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour mix. Add oil.
4. Now knead a dough for about ten minutes. Use more lukewarm water if required.
5. The dough should be smooth and firm to touch. It should spring back if pressed. Dunk the dough in a greased deep bottom pan.
6. Cover with a kitchen towel and keep in a warm, dry place for one and a half hours. The dough will double up in size.
7. Take the dough out. Press lightly to release all the trapped air.
8. Shape into a log shape. To learn how to shape the bread dough, view this video here. Place inside a greased loaf tin.
9. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the loaf inside the oven. You can cover the loaf with foil to prevent hardening of crust. Bake for about 40 minutes.
10. Take the loaf out of the oven. Brush with butter.

11. Let the loaf cool completely till room temperature. Slice and have direct or slathered with butter/jam.

Chicken Pizza from the Scratch

(Star shaped pizza adapted from: Pizza Recipe from the Scratch: Sumod Tomz blog)

Kids love pizza. Small kids and....... big kids like me and my hubby.

I have made chicken pizza from the scratch several times but got down to posting it today.
Also, when I saw the star shape pizza on Sumod Tom's blog, I was dying to make it. I also made a regular pizza.

Please pardon my photography. It was not the best today.

You can check his recipe from this link.

Here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

Pizza dough: 1 ball

For pizza sauce:

Tomatoes: 2 roughly chopped
Onion: 1 chopped
Tomato sauce: 3 tablespoons
Tomato puree: 2 tablespoons
Mixed herbs: 1 teaspoon
Salt and sugar to taste
Garlic: 5-6 pods, finely chopped
Butter: 1 teaspoon
White oil: 2 teaspoon

For assemble the pizza/toppings:
Chicken sausages: chopped, 1 cup
Red capsicum: 1 chopped
Yellow capsicum: 1 chopped
Black olives: 2 tablespoons
Mozarella cheese: grated
Oregano

Procedure:

1. First you need a ball of pizza dough. Pizza dough is same as bread dough. To know how to make bread dough, click here.


To make pizza sauce:
2. Heat some butter and white oil. Add the chopped garlic and onion.
3. Fry for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes.
4. Fry for a minute and add the tomato sauce along with tomato puree.
5. Add salt and sugar to taste. Mix well. Add the mixed herbs and take off the flame. Keep aside to cool.

To assemble the pizza:
6. Roll the dough into a big roti/crepe about 8 inches in diameter.

9. Place a layer of pizza sauce along the edges. Place the chopped veggies and add some oregano. I added chopped chicken sausages. Finally add shredded mozarella cheese on top.

10. Now pull and join the edges from both ends as shown.

11. Once finished, this is what you will get:

11. Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees C for 10 minutes.
12. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy the steaming hot pizza.
Yummy!

Healthy Carrot and Pumpkin Soup

(Adapted from Creamy Carrot and Pumpkin Soup: Antypasti)

This spring in the air has led to lot of cough, cold, and fever in most households. Are you suffering from cold too? I am. And so is my little one.

Coughing, sneezing, and sore throat made sure that I spent Valentines Day in bed with a muffler around my throat and Vicks vaporub as my date. Highly unromantic to say the least!

The little one has also become jittery and whiny and refuses to eat most things. "Give me something soft and warm Maa", she said.

And I started hunting for some easy soup recipes. I found a very simple, nutritious soup on Antara's blog.


This soup combines the goodness of carrots and pumpkin, two vegetables rich in Vitamin A.
Since Antara was the Star Blogger of the Week for this week so I hit the proverbial "two birds with one stone" by making this recipe. Antara's blog has an interesting collection of food and travel related posts. Her writing style is easy and each blog post has a relaxed pace. It is truly refreshing to read her posts.

This soup recipe can be called soul food. I was able to rustle it up after getting home from work.

You can check Antara's original recipe from here.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

Pumpkin: 150 grams, diced

Carrot: one, chopped roughly

Butter: 1 tablespoon

Dried mixed herbs: 1 and a 1/4 teaspoon

Garlic: 2 to 3 pods, crushed 

Fresh cream: a teaspoon for garnishing

Process:

1. Steam the vegetables in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles.

2. Remove the steamed veggies from the pressure cooker and do not throw away the vegetable stock. Puree the vegetables in a mixer and keep aside.

3. In a pan, heat butter along with a teaspoon of white oil.

4. Add garlic and dried herbs.
5. Fry for a few seconds. Next, add the pureed vegetables.
6. Mix well. Add some of the vegetable stock if the soup is too thick.
7. Add salt to taste. Finally, add fresh cream and take off the gas.
8. Serve the steaming soup with toasted bread.

I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event in KFB called "Know Your Blogger".

Sunflower Shape Stuffed Bread for the Valentine Week

(Adapted from the recipe posted on Home Baker's guild on Facebook)

Its February! February is synonymous with mild chilly mornings, the Kolkata Book Fair, and of course Valentine's Day.

Though the hubby man and I do not celebrate V day formally, but I love to surprise him with some new bakes. Needless to say, even my little Valentine loves it!

This time I had decided not to post anything sweet. So it had to be a savoury recipe. I got this fabulous recipe for Sunflower bread from the Home Baker's Guild on Facebook. I have forgotten the name of the member who posted it, but she had done a wonderful job of posting the recipe in pictures. Thanks you so much for this lovely recipe.

The sunflower bread can be made with any kind of bread dough and the filling can be altered as per requirement. This bread is not made of sunflowers or sunflower seeds! The name is due to the sunflower shape.

I used a filling of veggies with chopped chicken sausages but you can use paneer bhurji, soya kheema, chicken keema, or mixed veggies. The possibilities are endless. 

This stuffed bread looks beautiful and tastes yummy. 

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

A ball of bread dough (To check the recipe of bread dough, click here.)

Any kind of dry filling (I used a filling of veggies and chicken sausages): 1 and a half cup

Butter: 2 tablespoon (for brushing)

Process:

1. Knead the bread dough with the ingredients given in this recipe. Grease a deep bottom bowl and dunk the ball of dough in it. Keep in a warm dry place for one and a half hours.

2. The dough will rise to double it's size. Sprinkle some dry flour on the working surface and place the ball of dough on it.

3. Press the ball of dough to release the air trapped inside.

4. Divide the ball of dough into two parts using a knife. 

5. Now follow the step-by-step process as shown in the pictures below:

(You can also refer to the following video to view the steps for shaping this bread.)

6. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C for ten minutes. Place the tray containing the sunflower bread inside the pre-heated oven.

7. Bake for 20 minutes at the same temperature. After 20 minutes, you can grill the bread using Grill mode (for about 2-3 minutes) for a evenly browned top.

8. Remove the bread from the oven and brush the top with butter.

9. Let it cool till it is warm.

Slice and enjoy with your Valentine!

I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event on KFB called "Valentine's Day Special Week".

Milk Bread from Manjari's Blog

(Adapted from Milk Bread: For the Love of Food)

This week on the "Know Your Blogger" week, the spotlight is on Manjari. Manjari is the first KFBian I have met in person. We met at one of the restaurant inauguration events. The first time I saw her, I was bowled over by her beauty and her long flowing tresses. In my mind, she is forever "Rapunzel" because I am yet to see such long, beautiful hair being maintained by a person as young as she. Once, I started reading her blog, I was equally smitten by the range of her expertise. She excels in all kinds of international cuisines and her cakes, pies, and desserts are simply...to die for!

While scanning her blog, I was flummoxed to say the least. I had no clue which recipe I should re-create. Finally, I decided to make the delicate Milk Bread that she has posted.

This Milk Bread is so soft....so soft that you want to have it right away without toasting. Its a super hit with small and BIG kids alike! Just check the beautiful bread I made using her recipe.

You can find Manjari's recipe here. I also referred to Dan Lepard's recipe of Milk Bread.


Here is how I made it:

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/ Maida: 3 cups
Sugar/ Honey: 2 tablespoons
Butter: 3 and a half tablespoons
Instant yeast: 2 teaspoon
Salt: 2 teaspoon
Milk: 1 cup
Water: 1/2 cup

Process:

1. Boil the milk and let it come to warm temperature. Add lukewarm water to the milk. Add honey and instant yeast. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes in a warm place.
2. In a separate vessel, add APF, salt and butter. Rub in the butter using your hands.

3. Now add the milk mixture to the flour and knead using hand/ mixer till the dough comes together as a ball.
4. Sprinkle some dry flour on a work table and place the dough ball on it. Knead using hands for 10 minutes till the dough is smooth and springs back on touch.

5. Keep covered in a deep-dish in a warm place for one hour. The dough will rise to double its size.

6. Now softly press the dough to release the air trapped inside. Divide the dough into two sections.

7. I made one dough ball into a regular log shape and the other one into a brioche shape stuffed with some chicken mince. To learn how to make the brioche shape refer here.

8. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes.
9. Make some cuts over the surface of the regular loaf with a knife. Brush both the loafs with milk. Place the two loafs into the pre-heated oven.
10. Take the brioche out after 20 minutes and brush with milk/butter.
11. Take the loaf out of the oven after 45 minutes. Brush with milk/butter. Wait for the loaves to cool to room temperature before slicing.

You will get a pillowy soft bread that is simply yum! I cannot thank Manjari enough for this wonderful recipe. I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event on KFB called "Know Your Blogger".

Eggless Chocolate Cookies for the Christmassy Spirit

(Adapted from Chocolate Chip Cookies: Tarla Dalal)

As Christmas draws nearer, I feel like abandoning all care to the winds..and bake, bake, bake away to glory. Alas! work does not always permit me to do all my dream baking.

But when the Kolkata Food Bloggers put up an event for Christmas, I just jumped right in and baked something on a tiring week night.

Since, there were not too many ingredients at hand, I wanted something simple. And the best I could come up with was chocolate cookies. I did not have any eggs at hand so of course they had to be eggless. I got a very good recipe from Tarla Dalal's website for chocolate chip cookies. I tweaked it some more and came up with this versatile and easy recipe.

This recipe yields around 15 cookies. They are crunchy, munchy and super-yummy. My little S ate 9 of them!!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

APF/Maida: 1 cup
Powdered sugar: 3/4th cup
Cocoa powder (unsweetened): 2 tablespoons
Butter: 1/3rd cup or 60 grams (softened at room temperature)
Vanilla essence: 1/2 teaspoon
Baking power: 1/2 teaspoon
Milk: 2-3 tablespoon

Process:

1. Beat the butter and sugar till they are creamy. You can use the hand mixer to do this.

2. In a separate bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder.

3. Add the butter sugar mix to the flour. Add milk and knead into a dough.
4. Roll the dough into lemon sized balls.
5. Press into flat cookie shape with your hands. Don't apply too much pressure or else the cookie will crack.

6. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C for 1 minutes. Spread butter paper on a baking tray and grease with oil. Place the cookies on this greased tray.
7. Bake the cookies for 25 minutes.
8. The cookies will turn brownish on the under-side. Cool to room temperature.
9. Munch away with your evening cuppa.

I am sending this recipe to the event on Kolkata Food Bloggers,

Cheesy Chicken Burger @ Home

(Adapted from Chicken Burger: Guilt Free)

This week on the Know Your Blogger on KFB, the star of the week is Pritha Chakrabarty. I know Pritha only on blogosphere and I am yet to interact with her personally. When I browsed through  her blog, I was hit by a blast! The blog really has a vast variety of national and international recipes. Being such a young person and a journalist by profession, I was truly impressed with the variety of her culinary knowledge. There is everything on her blog....from cakes to pies....to chicken dishes, Thai food ....what not!!!!

I tried to attempt one of the cakes but dared not try the frosting... I'm really pathetic at making cake icing. Anyway, I finally found the recipe of Chicken Burger....and voila! This was the one for me.

Chicken Burger is a family favourite...thanks to Mc Donalds and KFC. While I was a teenager, I have tried making aloo-patty burger at home.

But this Chicken Burger recipe was superb. It was simple, and flavourful. Thank you Pritha for such a wonderful recipe. You have penned down so comprehensively that all I had to do was follow your recipe to the tee. Thumbs up!

You can find Pritha's original recipe here.

I have made the burger buns at home but you can use store-bought ones as well. I have used the burger buns recipe from the Fabulous Baker Brothers website.


This is a detailed post, so gear up. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the burger buns:

All purpose flour: 3 cups

Instant yeast: 1 and a half teaspoon.

Milk: 3/4th cup

Water: 1/2 cup

Oil: 1/4th cup

Sugar: 3 tablespoons

Salt: 1 teaspoon
One egg yolk: for egg wash (optional)
White sesame seeds: 1 teaspoon

For the meat patty:

Chicken keema: 200 Grams

Tomato (cut into rings): 2

Onion (cut into rings): 2

Cheese: 4 Slices

Hot and sweet sauce: 4 Tablespoons

Mustard/Kasundi: 2 Tablespoons

Ginger-garlic paste: 2 teaspoons

Lemon juice: 1 tablespoon

Salt to Taste

Pepper: 1 Teaspoon

Egg white: 1

Bread Crumbs: 1 Cup

Vegetable Oil: 3 Tablespoon

Process:

For the burger buns:

1. Take lukewarm milk and water add sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on this mixture and keep undisturbed for 10 minutes.

2. Take flour, salt, and oil in a vessel. Add the yeast mixture and start kneading the dough. Add more lukewarm water if the dough is too dry and some loose flour if it is too sticky.

3. Knead for 10 minutes till you get a soft, pliable dough that springs back on being pressed.

4. Cover with an kitchen towel and keep in a warm place for 1 hour. After one hour the dough will double in size.

5. Roll into medium-sized balls, nearly the size of an orange. Grease a baking tray and place the balls on this tray. Let these balls rest for 20 minutes in a warm place.
6. Now mix egg yolk with 1.4 cup water to make egg wash. Brush the buns lightly with this egg mixture. Sprinkle some white sesame seeds on top.

7. Pre-heat oven for 10 minutes at 200 degrees C. Place the baking tray in the medium rack of the oven. Bake for ten minutes. If you want the top with a golden-brown crust grill for 5 minutes at same temperature. Take the buns out of the oven.

8. Brush with some butter and let cool to room temperature.


For the meat patties:

1. Marinate the chicken keema (mince) with salt, lemon juice, pepper, and ginger-garlic paste. Mix well and keep in airtight container in the fridge.
2. Next morning, take the chicken keema out of the fridge. Heat some oil in a pan. Shape the chicken keema to patty/tikki shape with your hands. I also added a fistful of rice flour to the chicken mince mix.
3. Dip each patty in egg white, roll in a bed of bread crumbs and shallow fry.

4. Fry till both sides are golden brown.
5. Vegetarian friends can use the same recipe using soya keema/mince. 

Assembling the burger:

1. Gather all the ingredients of the burger together,

2. Slice the burger buns in half and toast lightly on a tava.
3. Spread butter on both sides of the bun.
4. To assemble the bun, smear inner part of the bun with some hot and sweet sauce. Place a ring of onion and tomato on top of it. Now place the meat patty on top of this and place a slice of cheese. I also smeared some Kasundi (mustard) on top. Now cover with the top piece of the bun.
5. Serve with some tomato ketchup. Enjoy a lovely brunch with your family.

I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event on Kolkata Food Bloggers, "Know Your Blogger".