I am a coffee aficionado and have been experimenting with using coffee in my recipes. And one of the best results has been these Eggless Coffee Beans Cookies. When I made them for the first time, I wasn’t sure whether both my daughters would like them, but these beautiful delights were a superhit! Both my angels loved them so much that now I make them regularly on their demand!
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Dahi vada is a popular street food of India. It is a tangy, savoury snack that consists of dahi (yogurt), vada (lentil fritter) and accompaniments- Imli (tamarind) chutney with little salt, red chilli powder and roasted cumin powder! This truly makes a lip-smacking snack, which anybody can have any time of the day!
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Bread Pizza is perhaps the all time favourite and super hit snack/lunch/dinner for kids and adults (who just love pizza, like me 😉 ). Bread pizzas satiate your craving for pizza when you don’t have enough time to make your own pizza dough. You can make this Bread Pizza with your choice of toppings. You just need a loaf of white bread, pizza/pasta sauce, butter, cheese and your choice of vegetables. It is a really easy recipe and tastes awesome! Both my angels (daughters) love bread pizza preferring it over the regular one from the pizza shop. In fact they request (more like demand) this bread pizza every fortnight 😀 .
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Medu Vada is a South Indian fritter made from urad dal (split skinned black gram). It is a doughnut shaped fritter with a crispy exterior and a fluffy-soft interior. Medu means soft and vada means round fritter. People mostly enjoy Medu vada with Sambhar and Coconut Chutney; and some enjoy with Idli or Masala Dosa as well. But I love these delicious Medu vadas on their own, or sometimes with coconut chutney and coffee!
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My baking journey started in this year’s lockdown (March 2020). And the full credit for my baking goes to my darling daughters – I took up baking just because of them. My first cake was for my elder angel’s birthday (end of March), as she just wanted a homemade cake for her birthday. Though I was a bit nervous, I took the plunge and baked the birthday cake and by God’s grace it turned out to be yummy and beautiful!
And that’s how I started, and got the courage to continue my baking journey. From then on I have tried many different cakes using multiple ingredients, dabbling in variety, taste, size etc.,
This Eggless Whole Wheat Eggless Banana Chocolate Cake is my hubby’s favourite. I made my first loaf and he loved it so much that he requested me to make it again on his birthday! The birthday cake was also a super hit and vanished in 5 minutes; everyone (adults and children) just loved it!
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Tapioca pearls (commonly called ‘sabudana/sago‘ in India) are a very good source of carbohydrates. Most people in India eat sabudana on fasting days (as a vrat staple). But nowadays people enjoy various sabudana dishes in breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner.
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The festive spirit is upon us, and this post of mine is my attempt to spread enjoyment this season. Every year I make both sweets and savouries around Diwali, just the way it used to happen when I was a kid. Of course sweets are a must but I favour savouries as they can be stored for a longer time (and thus enjoyed more 🙂 ) I usually make namkeens (different shapes), and mathri (plain, rose) each year on Diwali (and Holi) but this year I wanted to make something special, something from my childhood time, something new!
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I do not think Puri/Poori needs any introduction from my side 🙂 ; nonetheless, for all my global friends, Puri is a deep fried Indian bread made up of whole wheat flour. Puri is almost an essential part of every special Indian occasion. We Indians irrespective of our states, regions, religion, shape and size love to devour these Indian breads in many combinations – Chhole-Puri, Chana-Puri, Halwa-Puri, Puri-Aloo ki Subzi, and the list can simply go on 🙂 However I am not covering any of these today but sharing something unique – Moong Dal Puri, which as the name suggests is Puri made from Moong daal (yellow split lentil). I recently prepared it for the first time on Shitla Astami (a day marked in respect to goddess Shitla Mata), and it was an instant superhit. The credit for the recipe goes to my darling Mumma as she introduced it to me recently. Moong Dal Puri is a crispy and spicy puri which can be enjoyed equally as a main bread item or as a standalone snack.
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Before I start talking about today’s recipe, I would like to take this moment to say a heartfelt thanks to each and everyone who have inspired me for this blog till date – today’s recipe marks my 100th blog post, a significant milestone for me which would not have been possible in this short time frame (just shy of 5 months) without the love and support of all you guys. Let’s celebrate this occasion with the Indian street food gem, the very famous scrumptious Pav Bhaji. The highlight of this recipe is that, I have made this pav bhaji without using the pav bhaji masala…Yes 🙂 …and the taste is just awesome !!
Aloo Bonda or Aloo Chop/Aloo Chaap is a deep fried, crispy, savoury appetiser made with spicy potato mix and coated with chickpea flour (“Besan” in Hindi) batter. For all my friends, Aloo is the Hindi name for Potato, and Bonda in colloquial Hindi could be designated as Fritter. This potato fritter is also packaged as the famous “Vada Pav” in Mumbai/Western India, with the pav (bun/bread). Last but not the least, this potato fritter is known as “Aloo Chaap/Aloo Chop” in Kolkata/Eastern India.
Continuing the Makar Sankranti theme, the next in line after the Til Papdi is another lovely and nutritious snack – Peanut Chikki (could be termed as Peanut Brittles). Peanut Chikki is a healthy, and delicious candy made from peanuts and jaggery. Apparently my husband and his friends ate/enjoyed them in Pune/Lonavla during their MBA days 🙂
First things first – this post is dedicated to Tilkuta Chauth / Sakat Chauth, a revered day for fasting, which comes on the fourth day of Krishna Paksha, in the month of Magh (January) according to the Hindu calendar. This vrat (fast) is mainly observed in North/West India and it is believed that fasting on this day removes all the obstacles from life and Lord Ganesha blesses his devotees with health, fortune and good children. For the benefit of all, Til is the Hindi word for Sesame seeds. On this Sakat Chauth day, sweets made up with sesame seeds and jaggery like Til Papdi, Til Laddu or Tilkut (meaning grounded sesame seeds) are offered to God – hence the day is also termed as Tilkuta Chauth.
Continuing our mutual enjoyment of this wonderful winter 😉 , I am now presenting my next set of Pakoras – Palak Pakora (Spinach Fritters). Palak Pakora is also a very easy, quick recipe which can be prepared in just 15-20 minutes – just perfect as the tea time snack in this weather.
Here I come with another of childhood favourite straight from the lovely land of Rajasthan – Mirchi Bada. In fact to be precise, this is Jodhpur speciality (Jodhpur is a much known city in the state of Rajasthan); it is known popularly that you can’t get that delicious Mirchi Bada/Vada any were else – hence it is also famous as Jodhpuri Mirchi Bada. In a nutshell, Mirchi Bada is a real lip-smacking snack which is made up of big green chillies/jalapeños (Mirchi is the Hindi word for Chilli). A spicy flavoursome potato filling is stuffed in the chillies and covering the chillies as well ; and finally covering with a smooth batter made from chickpea flour (Besan).
Back to my love for street food/ similar savoury snacks – I would like to admit that this is pure experiment borne out of the love for taste :), and something which I have named as Baked Pinwheel Snack / Baked Samosa Bites / Samosa Bhakarwadi. The best point of such snacks is that they could be enjoyed in most of the seasons, and without much of a guilt. Now if the season is of winter, then nothing could beat them with a hot cuppa tea/coffee.
Getting back to my love for Indian street food, I present to all another spicy and delicious snack – Dabeli. Dabeli comes from the Western region (Kutch to be exact) of India, precisely from the Kutch region in the state of Gujarat. I however tasted this delicacy in Maharashtra for the 1st time. My husband also recalls that he and his friends did use to enjoy Dabeli during his college days in Pune. The key ingredient in Dabeli is the specific masala, which I have prepared myself at home. Though it is readily available in Indian grocery stores, I tried it at home so that I could experiment with the taste. I can easily and confidently say that once you make it at home, you would not want to buy the readymade one ever again 😉
This is in continuation of my previous post on Pistachio Crackers. The same experiment also resulted in herbs based whole wheat crackers, in alignment of my requirement for healthy winter snacks. Do note that these whole wheat herb crackers are my regular item as I make them often. These herbs crackers are quite easy peasy, healthy and quick to prepare. I prefer to make crackers with whole wheat flour, so that I could afford to snack in an healthy, guilt-free way 🙂
The sudden drop in temperature this week here in London looks like the end of autumn / arrival of the cool winter. Winter, as all of you know, is the season for eating more (as compared to summer), eating rich foods, and keeping warm. With the same intentions every year, I do prepare a lot of items with the so-called warm ingredients e.g., ghee, sesame seeds, pistachios, almonds, and figs.
This post is the continuation of the use of leftover Khichdi. In the previous post I have shared the recipe for Leftover Khichdi Muffins and, in this post I am sharing the recipe for making savoury pancakes using the leftover Khichdi.
These pancakes are very soft, delicious and I have really enjoyed them with cucumber chutney (so all in all a total healthy combination 🙂 )
Khichdi is a very simple, light, healthy and easy dish prepared in almost all Indian households albeit in different names. Khichdi is the food of choice for Indian people who are ill and/or who want to have something light but nutritious. Khichdi is also prepared during Navrata (Durga Puja) celebrations.However people do not generally have Khichdi as part of their regular meals and I am definitely one of them.
Being from Rajasthan (a state in Western India), I simply cannot afford not to post / talk about Khasta Kachori 🙂 I will be honest and straightforward in saying that Khasta Kachori is the top snack for most people from Rajasthan (in particular those from Bikaner, like me). The concept of Khasta Kachori as a snack definitely goes for a toss in my city/state as this is even favoured for breakfast ! My husband, though not born in Rajasthan, definitely like his Kachoris for breakfast, with his cup of tea.
A grand welcome to the street food of India – this is my first post on the gem of Indian street food generically known as “Chaat” (in Hindi).
I am starting with the Aloo Tikki Chole Chaat which is in itself is a combination of 2 dishes – Aloo Tikki (Potato Patties) and Chole (spicy chickpea curry). Note that Chaat is of many different types but is essentially a simple, flavourful starter/snack that is easily available on Indian streets/restaurants across all regions in India.
This post is the last one covering my Diwali sweets/snacks preparation. I am covering 3 snacks in one go – Mathri, Namkeen, and Shakarpare. All these are traditional classic North Indian tea time snacks. These are made with all-purpose flour, carom seeds (for the flavour) and, some oil/clarified butter (to make it crispy/flaky). Note that these snacks are not limited to Diwali only; they are prepared at Holi and perhaps throughout the year.
Continuing my Diwali celebrations, this post covers another sweet/dessert that I prepared this week. However this is more of a regular one in my house than limited only for Diwali (courtesy my husband 🙂 ); not to forget that this is a much loved sweet/snack in parts of North/East India during the festival of Holi.
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Samosa can safely be termed as an ubiquitous , sort of favourite Indian snack – and I am no different than my fellow Indians 🙂 We Indians can have a samosa any time during the day – morning breakfast, mid-morning/evening snack, or for that matter in lunch/dinner in extreme cases of having no other options.
Bhakarwadi is a fried savory snack that has a spicy and tangy stuffing, rolled into a dough and, sliced into small pieces that look like pinwheel cookies. Bhakarwadi is a quite known in Western India, particularly in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The best part of this snack is that it has a very good shelf life – it can be stored at room temperatures for around a month.
Everyone loves cookies and that definitely includes me, my darling hubby and my little angel. I had previously never tried baking and was little hesitant when my hubby asked to get some home-made cookies. Under pressure :), I had to take the plunge but it turned out great (Thank God!).
Being from Bikaner (in the state of Rajasthan, India), I am a normal “Bikaneri” – in simple words, a complete foodie. I love both sweets and savouries. Some of the usual Bikaneri savouries are Kachori, samosa, paneer kofta, bhujia….the list can go on and on. However living in London doesn’t always help me get the original taste.
For the benefit of all, Nankhatai is a tea time snack that originated in the city of Surat, Gujarat. Essentially, it is an Indian short bread / cookie / biscuit.
The name Nankhatai is a combination of the Persian word ‘Nan’ (meaning bread) with ‘Khatai’ (meaning 6). A bread which made up of 6 main ingredients – semolina, chickpea flour, all-purpose flour (maida), sugar, butter/ghee and, nuts (almonds/pistachios). But nowadays there are many different versions of Nankhatai.
I have always fallen back on typical Indian snacks like samosa, kachori, chat, fritters etc., when I wanted the taste and had the time to prepare. Around a month back on one evening when the London weather suddenly turned rainy, it made me crave for some new snack. I wanted a snack which was spicy, tangy but not the regular Indian snacks. The curiosity in me arose and, then came to my mind –Â McDonald’s Veg Pizza McPuff.
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