Cinnamon chocolate cookies!!

So my sweet tooth out again and I wanted something with a hint of spice and hence decided on cinnamon and these turned out to be really nice and with the smell of cinnamon it was heaven!!

So here's the recipe:

(This makes about 5 cookies

1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon oats

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

a pinch of vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

2 tablespoon milk( Only because I wanted a little chewy and not crispy- if you want crispy do not add the milk)

Step 1: Melt butter and mix the sugar and whisk it till the sugar is completely melted

Step 2: Add the egg and whisk it further

Step 3: Sift the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and the cinnamon powder. Add oats to the mixture.

Step 4: Now add the dry and wet ingredients together and add the vanilla extract

Step 5: Add milk if you want it a little chewy 

Step 6: Scoop out using a spoon and place it on parchment paper or butter paper and bake at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes. Cool them and they are ready to eat it!

Cinnamon chocolate cookies!

Baked Tikka vegetables!

So its a sunday morning with overcast weather conditions in Bangalore. After a lazy morning, It was time to decide what to cook, and I wanted something spicy which is easy to make and hence I decided to tweak the paneer tikka recipe to make baked tikka. I hope you enjoy it too!!

I used all the vegetables that were available at that point of time, you can try it out with even new vegetables. They taste extremely good with pudina chutney and lemon juice on top with chaat masala.

Ingredients:

3-5 baby corn chopped into small round pieces
1 Red bell pepper chopped into small pieces
Half a cube of Paneer or cottage cheese cut into small pieces

For the stuffing:
1 half cup of curd
1 tablespoon corn flour or besan
1 teaspoon Dried mango powder or amchoor
1 teaspoon Cumin powder or Zeera powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder or haldi
1 teaspoon salt or according to taste
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder or dhania powder

Step 1: Mix all the stuffing ingredients together and then add the vegetables

Step 2: Keep it covered for about half an hour

Step 3: Post that bake them in oven for 20 minutes at 180 degree Celsius

Step 4: Add lemon juice and sprinkle chaat masala and garnish with mint leaves

Baked Tikka Vegetables!

Enjoy it with tomato ketchup or Pudina chutney!

Chocolate Banana cake with whole wheat flour!!

I love desserts, a little something after meal or in evening with a glass of milk. So here is one of my favorite go to dessert recipes.

To make it a little more healthy I use whole wheat flour instead of Maida or all purpose flour. Also I use raw sugar or brown sugar instead of the white sugar. And the best part is you can use all those over ripe bananas of which you don't know what to do!

Chocolate Banana Cake!

So here it goes:

Ingredients:

3 Over ripe bananas- Mashed use a blender to avoid hard lumps

(you can use a little milk as well to blend)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

A pinch of salt

1 tablespoon hung curd

1 egg

1/2 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

Step 1: Mix the butter and sugar well till the sugar is completely dissolved, add the egg and beat well.

Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients together and mix them well

Step 3: Add the curd to the butter, sugar and egg mixture

Step 4: Mix the mashed bananas with the dry mixture and then add the wet ingredients

Step 5: Then whisk all the ingredients together, mix them well

Step 6: Pour the mixture into a greased container 

Step 7: Bake the mixture at 180 degree Celsius for 30 minutes 

Step 8: Let it cool for sometime and then cut it into pieces and add cashew nuts on the top.

And your cake is ready! Enjoy it with a glass of milk

Chocolate Banana cake- whole wheat flour!

Hara Bhara Kababs..protein powerhouse!!

Spinach is a super vegetable, a powerhouse of nutrients but it's just so difficult to make it tasty to eat!! So I came across this recipe on net about the hara bhara kababs and just loved it!! Have modified it a little..but the core ingredients of peas, spinach and potato is there!!

And the bets part, its super quick to make and really tasty!!

Ingredients:

(This makes aout 3-4 tikkis)

1 bunch of spinach or about 20-30 leaves

1 cup peas at room temperature

1 potato boiled and mashed

1 tablespoon cornflour or Besan

1 teaspoon dried mango powder or Amchoor powder

1 teaspoon corainder powder or dhania powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder or jeera powder

I teaspoon turmeric powder or haldi

Salt as per taste

1 tablespoon oil 

Step 1: Boil the peas and spinach in hot water for about 2 minutes. and then blend them together in a blender to form a paste.

Step 2: Add the mashed potatoes and the cornflour along with the spices and mix them all well

Step 3: Now make small round shapes with your hand in the form of tikkis

Step 4: Heat the oil on a non stick pan and add a little oil, let it get warm and then add the tikkis

Step 5: Brown them slightly and then turn over and brown the other side as well

Step 4: Hara bhara kabab tikkis are ready serve them with green pudina chutney!

Hara Bhara Kababs- Peas, spinach and potato tikkis

Party Snack! Mini Pizzas with whole wheat flour!

We all crave for mini bites, after office on holidays which is tasty and easy to make. This recipe is super easy and once you try it, you will be making it a lot many times.

Also on the health ratio, it scores well enough, its baked, with vegetables, home made tomato sauce and whole wheat base so not only taste but super healthy too!! and it looks beautiful so its a perfect party snack!!

Lets get started:

For Making the base:
( this measurement makes about 10-12 pizza bases, you can increase the ratio accordingly)

1 cup whole wheat flour (atta)
2 tablespoon oil (I used olive oil)
1 egg
1 teaspoon carom seeds (Aijwain)

Mix all of them along with little water to form a tough dough. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes in the refrigerator to let the gluten in the wheat work.
Then just take it out, roll out in rounds like we do our rotis and then cut small circles in the same.
Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius and then bake these small circular pizzas for 20-25 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Your Pizza base is ready to go!!

For Making the tomato sauce

3 small tomatoes puréed
1 onion finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic and ginger crushed into a paste
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon oregano
Salt as per choice
1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
1 teaspoon olive oil

Heat oil in the pan and sauté the onion along with the ginger garlic paste. add salt and oregano and then add the tomatoes. Add the vinegar and ketchup and continue heating for about 10 minutes till the sauce thickens. Let it cool.

For the topping

10 Zucchini round slices( use either yellow or green ones)
bell peppers finely cut
Grated cheese

Now all you need to do is combine all of them. Have your base and put the sauce that we prepared add the zucchini slice and then add bell peppers on the top with grated cheese. Bake for a few minutes in the oven so that the cheese melts, add some oregano and little bit of paprika on the top and you are ready to go!!

Mini Whole wheat vegetable pizzas!!

Spicy Cumin flavored Bharwan Baingan!!

Brinjal is one of my favorite, favorite vegetables!! I remember the comic series where Brinjal used to be the king of vegetables!! It is known by many names - Brinjal/Eggplant/Aubergine.

They are really low in calories and are a great source of soluble fiber content.

Round Brinjal/Aubergine/Eggplant

So, here's my take on numerous recipes you would have heard, read about the stuffed Brinjal or bharwan Baingan. This is a recipe with a tasty slight gravy and the slight taste of cumin or jeera and the combination works really well!!

The recipe is for round brinjals!! Hope you enjoy reading and making it!!

Stuffed Brinjal or bharwan baingan!!

So here goes the recipe:

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Source: Numerous internet recipes/my mom/some innovation ;) !!

- Four round brinjals- cut from the other end( then the stem) horizontally and vertically- so that stuffing can go inside

- One small sized onion finely diced

- Few mint and coriander leaves finely cut for garnishing
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste

- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

- 1 teaspoon olive/mustard oil

- 1 cup water with tamarind (Imli) soaked

- 1 teaspoon jaggery powder

 For Spice stuffing:

- 1 teaspoon salt 

- 1 teaspoon Cumin powder(Jeera powder)

- 1 teaspoon Dry Mango powder (Amchoor powder)

- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhania powder)

- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi)

- 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder

- 1/2 teaspoon Dry ginger powder

Preparation:  Mix all the spices well, and stuff them inside the cut brinjals. 

                    Keep 1 teaspoon aside.

Cooking:

-Add the oil to a non stick cooking pan, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter.

-Now add the diced onion, 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste and saute the onions. 

Once the colour changes to slight brown add 1 teaspoon spice mixture.

-Now add stuffed brinjals and cook for about 2 minutes. 

-Take the 1 cup tamarind water, mash the pulp well and then sieve. Put the tamarind water without pulp inside the pan. Add 1 teaspoon jaggery powder.

-Cover the pan and let it cook. Turn the brinjals once or twice so that all sides are cooking well.

-Let it cook for 15 minutes and then your stuffed spicy round brinjals are ready!!

-Garnish with finely chopped mint and coriander leaves and sprinkle a little lemon juice!!

Stuffed spicy cumin flavored round brinjals!!

The slight curry really adds to the taste!! Do try it!!

Sweet and Spicy Green Beans!

So next in the line of healthy vegetables is another of miracle vegetable: GREEN BEANS, full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Its a great source of folate, fiber and vitamin K. Green beans are low in calories and great source of phyto-nutrients which is essentially plant nutrients which are essential for our well being.

Green Beans or hari phali!

One of the common sounds that is heard when these words are uttered, "Today in dinner its Green Beans vegetable" is "AAArghhhh, what else" or "Nooooo, I don't want to eat it". 

So here is a different version of making Green Beans, which is really tasty so that this simple looking miracle vegetable, easily available can become a regular feature on your dining table.

Time taken - Less than 15 minutes (quick and easy!)

Ingredients:

Green Beans- 2 cups finely chopped 

1 medium sized onion- Finely chopped

1-2 Green chilly- Finely chopped

1 teaspoon mustard seeds (Rai)

A pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)

A pinch of turmeric (Haldi)

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon Dry Mango powder (Amchoor)

Half teaspoon Dhania powder (Dhania powder)

Half teaspoon Jaggery (Gud)

Half a cup of tamarind pulp water (Soak tamarind in one cup water, after 10 minutes, mash it and separate the pulp and water) (Imli ka paani)

2 teaspoon oil

Recipe:

Step 1: Heat the oil in a non-stick pan, and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Once the mustard seeds start cracking, add the chopped onion and green chilly. Also add the dry mango powder and the coriander powder.

Step 2: Once the onion is sauteed, or turns slightly golden, add the chopped green beans and cook for about 3 minutes, turning it constantly.

Green Beans or Hari Phali

Step 3: Now add the tamarind water, salt and the jaggery. Mix well and let it cook for about 5-6 minutes covering the pan. 

Step 4: Check that the water should have evaporated. The tasty spicy and sweet Green Beans vegetable is ready!! You can also add potatoes to it or enjoy it just like that!! 

Enjoy it with hot rice or phulkas!! It tastes good, is really simple and there will be no "AArghhhh" heard when you mention it!

Spicy and Sweet Green Beans or hari phali recipe

Hope you enjoy it, do let me know your experience.