Desi Fiesta

Recipes

Recipes Tested and Tried from my Kitchen.The recipes will include appetizers, sweets, main dish, side dish,vegan recipes all around the world.

Black chickpea salad

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Black chickpea salad is an easy low calorie, oil free vegan salad. This is a super simple and easy salad with a tinge of spice. If you are on a diet this salad can be had with roti / Indian flat bread. You can also find this being sold in front of the famous Mysore Palace, railway stations etc. If you have cooked chickpeas, all it takes is to chop the vegetables and mix in.

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried black chickpeas.
1 onion, chopped.
1 tomato, chopped.
1 green chilly, finely chopped.
1/2 carrot, chopped or grated.
1 tsp lemon juice.
Salt to taste.
Coriander leaves to garnish (optional)

Method

  • Soak the dry chickpea overnight or about 5 to 6 hours.
  • Wash and drain the chickpea.
  • Put it in a pressure cooker with enough water.
  • Pressure cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the chickpeas are cooked.
  • Allow the chickpea to cool down.
  • In a large bowl add the chickpea and all the other ingredients and mix well.
  • Add more salt if needed.
Tips
  • If you have cooked chickpea, then all you have to do is chop the vegetables and mix it, ready in about 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Reduce green chilly by half if you cannot tolerate.
  • You can chill the salad and serve.
  • You can also make this recipe with white chickpea known as kabuli channa.

Sandwich chocolate pancakes

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Tall, fluffy pancakes are delicious  and scrumptious if served with butter and syrup or topped with strawberries and whipped cream for a real treat.. My daughter is not a dessert lover but was yumm  yumm having these pancakes only by seeing the strawberries which i used for garnish .. he he she is crazy about fruits and whenever she is hungry she either ask for grapes or apple or strawberry and nooo to other foods .. so i specially made these pancakes for my fruit baby / my angel .. she enjoyed these scrumptious pan cakes a lot..so lets  see the ingredients and method needed to prepare these “sandwich chocolate pancakes ”

 

Recipe Inspired from Tarla dalal
Ingredients
1/4 cup plain flour (maida)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp melted butter
a pinch of salt
1/2 tsp fruit salt
For the yoghurt 1/2 cup yoghurt (dahi)
1/4 cup cream
2 tbsp castor sugar
a few drops of vanilla essence
To be mixed into a soaking syrup 
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
Other ingredients
1 mango, chopped
melted butter for cooking
Method
 Pancakes:
  • Combine the plain flour, cornflour, cocoa powder, milk, salt, butter and ¼ cup of water. Mix very well until no lumps remain. Add the fruit salt and mix well.
  • Grease a 125 mm. (5″) diameter non-stick pan with a little butter.
  • Pour 1 tablespoon of the batter to make a pancake of 50 mm. (2″) in diameter.
  • Turn over gently and cook till both sides are lightly browned.
  • Repeat for the remaining batter to make 5 more pancakes, greasing the pan with butter when required.
 Yoghurt:
Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla essence and keep aside
Beat the yoghurt well ensuring there are no lumps.
Now Gently fold whipped cream into the yogurt.
Assembling :
  • Place the pancake on a serving plate and sprinkle with a little soaking syrup on top.
  • Spoon some of the yogurt mixture on top.
  • Place a few mango slices and top with one more pancake.
  • Sprinkle some more sugar syrup on top and serve immediately.
  • Repeat to make 2 more servings.
  • Serve immediately.
I gave the pan cake triangle shape by cutting them from the sides. and also made a Santa Claus hat using  strawberry and the yogurt which i prepared  for decorating these yummy sandwich chocolate pancakes..  Also made a fan out of strawberry for garnishing…

Ridge gourd peel chutney

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I Like to use the leftovers so tried this yummy chutney with ridge guard peel …

 

 

 

It tastes heavenly when mixed with rice along with a dash of til oil. It can also be had along with dosas, idlis, puris, and just about any dish. I had this chutney with  Carrot rava idli  .. yummmm i wanted more but nothing was left coz my hubby enjoyed it so much tat he finished all the chutney i made. I also made ridge gourd chutney which was equally yummy but i like the chutney which i made with the peel ..

Ingredients

1 tbsp other refined oil
1/2 cup finely chopped ridge gourd (turai) peels

NOTE: Just take a peeler and peel thin peel as they will become crispier when sauteed. Keep peeling till you see the white portion,the green has to be used.

 

1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp chana dal (split Bengal gram)
2 tsp urad dal (split black lentils)
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1 whole red chilli, broken into pieces
1 sprig chopped coriander
1 1/2 tbsp tamarind
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tbsp freshly grated coconut
salt to taste

Method

  • Heat 2 tsp of oil in a kadhai, add the ridge gourd peels and sauté on a medium flame for 4 to 5 minutes, while stirring continuously. Remove and keep aside.
  • For the tempering, heat the remaining 1 tsp of oil in the same kadhai and add the mustard seeds.
  • When the seeds crackle, add the curry leaves,chana dal, urad dal, asafoetida and red chillies and sauté on a medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes, while stirring continuously.
  • Pour the tempering over the sautéed ridge gourd peels and mix well.
  • Add the coriander, tamarind, coconut, salt and 1/3 cup of water and blend in a mixer to a smooth paste.  if you want temper the chutney with some mustard seeds, urad dhal and whole chilli ‘s again on top ..Store in an air-tight container and use as required.

 

Spicy Corn Braided Puff

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Here i am with another interesting puff with spicy corn filling .. Whether savory or sweet, dishes made with puff pastry tend to elicit plenty of “yummms.” Here’s a technique that’s guaranteed to add “oohoos” and “ahhaas” to the chorus. And it’s ridiculously easy and tremendously tasty!!!!

Served at Christmas dinner/ lunch, it will definitely make the vegetarians at the table feel like we are getting something special! And yet the technique is simple enough to use for everyday snack, not just holidays.

Ingredients

Puff Pastry -1 sheet (For home made eggless puff pastry click here)
Boiled corn kernels 1 cup
Capsicum 1 cup (I used red capsicum)
Cheese (mozarella/proccessed)  2 tbsp
Oil-1tsp
Green chilli paste 1 tsp
green chilli sauce 1 tbsp
tomato sauce 1 tbsp
red chilli pd 1tsp
Salt to taste
Milk to brush on top the puff pastry

Method

Filling :

  • Heat oil in a pan ..
  • Add green chilli paste n capsicum saute for while, then add boiled half crushed corn kernel .
  • Add salt , green chilli sauce , tomato sauce , red chilli pd and saute till all ingredients are combined together.At last add cheese and mix well.
  • Filling is ready!!!

Assembling the puff pastry :

  • Place the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface.  
  • Cut slits 1-inch apart from the outer edge on each side of the pastry sheet.( Refer the pics)
  • Spoon the filling down the center of the pastry. Starting at one end, fold the pastry strips over the filling, alternating sides, to cover the corn filling. 
  • Heat the oven to 375°F.
  • Place the pastry onto a baking sheet.  Brush the pastry with the milk.
  • Bake for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.  Let the pastry cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Tips
  • You can give these puff pastries any shape you like.
  • Paneer can also be included in the filling.

Sending to Learning to cook

Sending to Nivedhanam and UK rasoi 

Quick ginger bread cookies ( with no molasses)

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Ginger Cookies are so my favorite, but I haven’t given it a try. Anything, unless tried, shouldn’t be ignored is my mantra . I tried these cookies the outcome was really good and  When you bite into one you will find the texture soft and chewy with a flavor that is crispy and spicy. The combination of  jaggery  with  ground ginger makes eating one just about impossible.  These cookies are perfect  for winter .. enjoy these cookies with a hot coffee or tea… Merry christmas to all !!! Disclaimer – If you are not fond of ginger flavor, these cookies are not for you. try adding some other flavor if you like.

 

 

 

 

Recipe Inspired – Joyofbaking

Ingredients

150 ml olive oil
150 gms jaggery
4 tbsp hot boiling water
6 tbsp hot milk
300 gms all purpose flour ( 150g maida + 150g  whole wheat flour)
2 tbsp cornflour
2 t/s baking powder
1 inch fresh ginger juice
3 tbsp ground ginger powder
1 t/s salt
4 tbsp cranberry juice / 2 tbsp yogurt

Method

  • Preheat oven at 160°C ten mins before baking. Grease the tray Or pan with oil.
  • Firstly grate ginger and squeeze the pulp. Extract the juice and keep aside.
  • Sift all dry ingredients (flour, cornflour, ground ginger, salt and baking powder).
  • Take a microwave safe bowl and combine milk, olive oil, water and grated jaggery. Microwave for 2 mins on high power. Mix all well until all blend well.
  • Make a small well into dry ingredients. Slowly add warm jaggery mixture. Also add cranberry juice. Mix all nicely kneading into a dough. Finally add ginger juice. If the dough is too sticky add little water and oil.
  • Keep this dough into freezer for 15 mins. Remove the dough from the fridge. Form the dough into balls.
  • Flatten these balls with your hand. You can even create various patterns on the cookies eg . you can prick the cookies with fork or make some lines using fork .  Roll them and cut them using a cookie cutter.
  • Place these balls into greased pan. Bake at 160°C for 10-12 mins. Kindly don’t over bake them. When you remove the cookies. Initially it would be soft but later it will firm up once cools down. Keep them in airtight container.
  • Your Ginger Cookies is ready..
  • You can even frost these cookies using some royal icing or cake frosting.. I frosted the cookies using cake frosting .

Apple Strudel

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This apple strudel  is a classic, from the scrumptious filling to the flaky pastry crust. It is the  homemade goodness at its very best. Well, If you want to make this in authentic way of German/Austrian style,It is quite of work, I learned.You need to roll out the dough into a very thin layer.It has to be translucent enough to read newspaper behind it.You can not do this on the counter top you have to use your dinning table. I decided to do the easier way using a puff pastry..

Ingredients

1 pastry sheet (It can be store bought else you can make  home made pastry sheets  )

For making HOME MADE PASTRY CLICK HERE

Filling (Apple pie filling )

1/4 cup sugar
 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a pinch of salt
4 cups chopped peeled tart apples (8 medium)
1 tablespoons butter or margarine

Method

  • In a large bowl, mix sugar, 1 tbsp  flour,  cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Stir in apples until well mixed.  Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling.
  • Take a rectangular strip of rolled out puff pasty sheet and spoon in some filling on one end, leaving enough space on all sides to ‘seal’ the puff.You can also fill the whole pastry sheet and fold the corners like a log shaped or give them any shape as you want. I even made them in Christmas tree shape using a cookie cutter.. 
  • Bring in the other end and seal off the sides. The puff pastry is usually sticky so you wouldn’t need anything else to seal it up.But  if you feel its not sticking then you can spread water in the  corners of the sheet and try to seal them..
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 350 Centigrade for 40-45 mins until the top is golden brown. 
  •  Serve warm if desired with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream .

 Tips

For a pretty glazed top crust, brush this with milk or cream and sprinkle with sugar before baking.

Avocado Chocolate Mug Brownie

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I was really desperate to try a mug cake and here i am with an innovative mug cake recipe.. but its a brownie 😛 – Avocado chocolate mug brownie!!!Because it has creamy avocado in it, I got rid of the oil in this mug cake .. The lack of oil makes it super fudgy ,  dense and a little bit chewy, like a brownie. You can’t taste the avocado at all because of the cocoa powder, which is what I was aiming for. I do like the taste of avocados, but in this recipe, I wanted it as a substitute for egg and oil and not as a flavor for the cake.

Recipe source : kirbie’s carving


Ingredients


  • 4 1/2 tbsp All purpose flour
  • 5 tbsp sugar (  If you want less or mor sweeter then you can adjust to you taste)
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 tbsp mashed avocado (a little less than half a medium avocado)
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • vanilla essence few drops


Method

  • Sieve All purpose flour, baking pd and cocoa pd in a bowl..
  • Mix all ingredients into an over sized mug with a small whisk until smooth. Cook for about 4-5 minutes in microwave until cake is cooked. Let cake cool in mug before eating.

Chocolate meetha Paan (mouthfreshner)

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Sweet paan or mitha paan is my favorite and i look for paan when i go to any marriage feast especially when it is Rajasthani style marriage you will surely have paan in our menu ‘s… I made this chocolate paan bcoz am great chocolate lover i wanted to include some chocolaty touch to my mouth freshener.

Today we will make my fav version “chocolate Meetha or Sweet Paan”. we would also use many interesting & commonly available ingredients to prepare our chocolate Paan.

Its so much fun when we prepare paan at home i enjoyed preparing these yummilicious chocolate paan and enjoyed the refreshing taste of this chocolaty meetha paan!!! ….

 

 

Ingredients

Stuffing

1 tsp  Raisins or  tutti frutti
1 tsp  cashews

1-2 chopped dates
1 cup Melted dairy milk
2 tbsp meethi supari/ betal nuts
1 tbsp Gulkand (rose petals preserves)
1 tsp sweet sounf/ Balli Mithai
Note : Mix in all the above ingredients in  a bowl )
4 betel leaves/paan leafs
1 tsp choona/lime scale

For garnish

chocolate vermicelli
chocolate syrup
cherries

Method

  • Wash the betel leaves.
  • Apply a little choona/lime scale.
  • Make a cone of the betel leaf.
  • Fill in the mixture pressing it down with  your finger .
  • Fold the two sides and top part.
  •  Insert a toothpick to seal.
  • Dip this into melted dairy milk.(To melt the dairy milk bar just break the bar and  in a microwave container keep in microwave for 30 seconds )
  • Drizzle some chocolate syrup.
  • Sprinkle some chocolate vermicelli.
  • Also prick a cheery on the toothpick..
  • Chill (till the chocolate outer layer is set) and serve.
I used dairy milk bcoz it’s easily available all time in my pantry. You can even fill some dark chocolates with the other fillings ..

Vegetable Puffs

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I made all time favorite snack of mine .. yumm  it was really delicious..Vegetable Puffs are a wonderful snack option for the days that you want something substantial and you can’t wait very long for it to be made!!They will take you back to the nostalgic ‘college days’. Relive the memories, at least the good parts with this easy recipe! I made the puff pastry sheets ahead and used them as needed..

 

 

Lets look for ingredients and method to fill in our puff Pastry’s

Ingredients

Home made puff pastry( Eggless ) click here for the recipe
You can even use store bought frozen pastry sheets .. just thaw it for 30 mins and then use  ..
Mixed vegetables – 1 cup (I used carrots, French beans, potato and green peas)
Onions – 2, sliced long
Tomatoes – 2, chopped
Capsicum / green bell pepper – 1/2 cup, chopped
Coriander powder /malli podi – 1 tbsp
Jeera /cumin seeds / jeerakam – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp or to taste
Pav bhaji masala – 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Oil – 1 tbsp
Sugar – a pinch
Salt – to taste

Method

  • Boil the vegetables until soft and keep aside.
  •  Heat oil and saute the onions until golden brown. Add the curry leaves, coriander powder, chilli powder and jeera. Fry for 30 seconds.
  •  Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for another minute.
  • Now add the tomatoes and capsicum and fry well till its blended well.
  •  Finally add the vegetables and salt and sugar and mix well. Cook on open fire for about 5 mins. Don’t add water at any stage. The filling should be moist yet thick

 

To Assemble Puffs Before Baking:

– Take a rectangular strip of rolled out puff pasty sheet and spoon in some filling on one end, leaving enough space on all sides to ‘seal’ the puff.

– Fold them and seal the corners. The puff pastry can be sealed by pressing the corners using your fingers.

Baking

Bake in a preheated oven at 220 Centigrade for 30 mins until the top is golden brown. You can brush on some milk while still warm out of the oven to make it look prettier and glossier.

 

Home made puff pastry (Eggless)

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Puffs are one of the scrumptious snack i crave for .. I remember in school days we friends used have veggie puff aft we left school in the evening at least once in a week .. I used to love those flaky wafer’s stuffed with a spicy vegetable curry .. yummmm … I wanted to try home made veggie puff , so  I was looking  for puff pastry sheets while grocery shopping but i found tat all the pastry sheet contained egg in them..So i prepared tried the eggless version of puff pastry @home .. they where very very tasty and flaky too.. I have learned this recipe in my home science studies. There’s no reason to fear puff pastry. It only contains 5 ingredients (including the water) and the major effort is waiting for it to chill several times before you can make it into flaky croissants, crisp palmier stuffed veggies puff or delicious fruit turnovers, to name a few.

 

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups maida
2 sticks  unsalted butter
25 gm unsalted butter ( to be added in the dough)
1 cup maida (for dusting)
1 tsp salt
Water as needed
1 lemon

Method
Place the two cold sticks of butter, straight out of the fridge, on a chopping board or the kitchen platform. Sprinkle some flour over it and, using a rolling pin or something heavy, beat the butter until it flattens out quite a bit but is still quite solid.
Pat the edges of the butter to form a square. Place in a container and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
In a bowl, place the 2 1/2 cups of flour, butter,salt, squeeze lemon  and, using enough water, knead into a smooth and pliable dough.(lemon is added for the gluten formation)

 

 

Allow the dough to rest for a 15 mins, then roll it out into a square large enough so you can wrap the square of butter in it.

Once you have wrapped the butter, making sure it is well-sealed, then roll out the dough into a rectangle about 7 inches wide and 10 inches long. Do this preferably on a metal baking sheet so you have a cool surface and also so you can easily transfer the dough to the fridge. The rolling might take a little work because the dough can be resistant, but be patient.


Now lift the edges of the rectangle along the long side and fold over one another so you have three layers. Place the sheet with the puff pastry in the fridge (cover it with a cling wrap ) and let it stand for at least 20 minutes. Then remove and roll out again and fold again to make three more layers. Repeat four more times.

 


After you’ve let the dough stand in the fridge for the last time, divide the puff pastry  and roll them to rectangular sheets and Use them as  required..Freeze the leftover pastry sheets and use them when needed ..

 

Puff Pastry Tips:
  • When preparing the dough for baking, make sure all edges you want to puff up are cut cleanly with a sharp knife or the layers may stick together and have a tough time rising.
  • Using unsalted butter is preferred because it is the moisture in the butter, turned to steam, which helps the dough to puff. Apparently salt inhibits this somewhat by making the water take longer to convert to steam. Don’t substitute margarine or whipped butter spread.
  • It is best to make puff pastry in a cool room. Heat and humidity will make the dough more difficult to roll out because the butter will try to melt on you and make a mess, fast.
This is one basic and classic recipe, but there are a variety of puff pastry versions. For example, you can substitute cake flour or cornstarch for a portion of the all-purpose flour for extra tenderness. There is also a variation for croissants which includes a yeast dough. One method incorporates part of the flour into the butter pat to help stabilize the dough while rolling out. Experiment and find the one that works best for you.

Vegetable puff and plain puffs for tea time .. They where yumm and you can see the flaky texture they where scumptious .. Do try this n  drop me your valuable comments 🙂 ..