Apple Muffin - Eggless butter/oil less almost fat free

I have recently bought a silicone muffin tray and so do you need any more reason to bake a muffin ??? Due to my baking adventures I added on like 3 -4 kgs and have been always feeling fat . But still I realised I cannot stop myself from baking. 

So suddenly thought why not I bake something which is of low fat. I initially thought of making carrot muffins since Carrot cake was already featured in my blog , carrot gently paved the way for apple to appear once in my blog. 

I felt the cake was too moisty the next day otherwise it was damn good and got a thumpsup from Hari. 

Dry Ingrdients :

1. Whole wheat flour - 1 cup( maida would have tasted much better)
2. Baking powder - 1 1/2 tspn.
3. Apple - 2 nos.
4. Sugar - 2 tbsp.( I like the muffins to be less sweet and since applesauce also sweet i just added 2 tbsp)
5. Salt - 1/2 tsp.
6. Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp.
7. Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp.

Wet Ingredients :

1. Apple sauce - 1/4 cup
2. Milk - 1/2 cup

Method :

1. Mix all the dry ingredients including apple and keep it aside.
2. Now mix the wet ingredients and stir in the dry mixture slowly until well blended.
3. Bake it in a muffin tray at 180 degree celsius and your fatless muffins are ready.

I am sending this to sharmi's Lets munch tea time snacks event and Akila's Dish Name Starts With : A Event.

Baked Soya Manchurian

Ever Since I saw this  Gita's soya manchurian, I wanted to try my hands on it . But everytime I ended up with deep frying as I always make it at Hari's demand. I dont know when he is going to stop demanding and letting me cook for my choice.
Thanks to the fight we had today that deprived his demanding rights :). So, I happily made this baked version finally .Yes, deep fried is the best but You can bake it if you suddenly feel you are fat and go on dieting spree without comprising this heavenly manchurian.
I find after baking that it was little dry and I felt flour was little raw even after baking.Probably, I should have added little more water to the batter.But whatever after mixing it with the sauce all raw smell is  gone.
I actually started taking step by step pictures but after each step I find only vapours clouding my pictures.So dropped that idea and got one final picture.Sorry I couldnt take many pictures to post the best as these are the only pictures I took and after that I couldnt resist myself from eating these good looking manchurian.
This is the best healthy manchurian I have ever had.

Ingredients :

For the Chilly soya :

1. Soya Nuggets - 15 nos.
2. Maida - 1 tsp.
3. Cornflour - 2 tbsn.
4. Chilly powder - 2 tsp.
5. Salt to taste.

For the Sauce :

1. Oil - 2 tsp.
2. Garlic - 7 pods
3. Ginger - 1/2 inch small piece
4. Onion - 1/2
5. Capsicum - 1/2
6. Soya Sauce - 2 tbsn
7. Tomato sauce - 2 tbsn.
8. Corn flour - 2 tsp.
9. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
10. Salt to taste.

Method :

For the chilly soya :

1. Soak the soya nuggets in hot water for about 15 mins until it is completely puffed up.Remove it from hot water and run it under cold water and squeeze gently.Put it in strainer and keep it aside.
2. Make very thick batter with rest of the ingredients using water .
3. Mix the soya with the batter and bake it in oven at 200 degree Celsius for about 20 mintues .

For the Sauce :

1. Heat oil in a pan and once you see the smoke , add garlic and ginger , fry it until it turns into brown colour.
2. Then add onion and capsicum and fry until onion turns slightly brown .
3. Mix the cornflour water and make a paste and add it to the pan.
4. Add soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilly powder and about 1 cup of water and bring it to boil.
5. Finally add the baked soya , spring onions ( i dint because it was out of stock but still it tasted goo , it will taste better with spring onions).

Broken Wheat Vadai

This is the best vadai I have ever had so far. Though I go back one foot away from anything that is deep fried , this one is sure one guilt free recipe. It doesn't drink so much oil and moreover it is made of wheat with full of fibre and versatile too.Versatile because you can have it like curd vadai as well :).
When Sharmi announced Tea Time Snack Event I cant think of anything better than this.This straight goes to her event.

Ingredients :

1. Broken wheat - 2 cups
2. Small onions - 10 nos.
3. Grated coconut - 6 tbspn
4. Red chillies - 6 nos.
5. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp.
6. Salt to Taste
7. Oil to deep fry.

Method :

1. Soak Broken wheat for 15 mins and then grind it along with all other ingredients without any water.Batter should be really thick.
2. Then pat the batter little thicker than masal vada on a plastic sheet and slid it into hot oil to deep fry.
3. Slip vada one after the other otherwise they will stick to each other .
4. Once the vada puffs up , just turn it to the other side and will be done .

How to Eat :

1. It tastes good by itself .
2. You can have it along with chutney also.
3. You can soak it in curd and make it like curd vadai. 
4. Cut the vadai and drizzle few drops of ghee into it and can be had.
5. You can have it by stuffing chopped onions,chopped green chillies, grated carrot,coriander leaves mixed with lime juice also.

Oven Roasted Elephant Yam

I havent tasted elephant Yam for a long time after I got itching all over my hand while cutting it . Now suddenly got to taste in a wedding lunch and I am so fallen in love with it.
I just got introduced to this veggie and trust me you will fall in love too .My pictures wouldnt have done justice to this but it tasted so well , that crispy outer layer with meaty texture inside will no longer make me crave for non veg.
This has alreadt started making its way to my kitchen every sunday.:)...

Ingrdients :
Elephant Yam - 1 cup
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp.
Lime juice - 1 tsp.
Corn flour - 1 tsp.
Chilli powder - 1 tbsn.
Coriander powder - 1 tbsn.
Garam masala - 1 tsp.
Salt to taste .

Method :

• Cut elephant yam into meidum thick slices like a brittania biscuit.( sorry cant think of anything else).Please wear hand gloves while cutting to avoid the juice of the yam coming in contact with your skin . This is damn itchy.
• Put in water and bring it to couple of boils.Make sure it doesnt get mushy . If you poke with fork , it should poke easily but still firm.
• Then drain it in a strainer and sprinkle all the ingredients and mix it thoroughly so as to coat the pieces well.
• Now grease a baking tray and arrange these slices and brush the pieces with oil. 
• Bake it a 180 degrees for 15 mins and then turn to grill mode and grill it for 8 mins or until it gets crispy.

Notes :

• Adding lime juice and turmeric is essential to prevent your throat from itching.
• Add generous amount of salt and chilli powder , you can also add your choice of spices.
• Serve immediately out of the oven or it get soggy. You can bake it a while ago and grill it before you serve is also a good opiton.

Khaman Dhokla

I am so beaming with joy today which I have almost forgotten in last 2 days after having some terrible attempts at baking. Yes, I have got the perfect dhokla that I wanted .
I am always little apprehensive to eat food even if it is tastier if loaded with calories.Yes, I am a lazy bum to burn out all those calories.Instead I prefer not to eat it. This is one such food where you dont have to worry about the calories and feel filled too .
I have been trying this recipe for quite sometime now in microwave but I have never got it right until I pressure cook them. A bunch of thanks to srivall and DK for bringing out the recipe.
Here is my the recipe :

Ingredients :

For Batter:

1. Besan Flour - 1 1/2 cups
2. Curd - 1/2 cup
3. Water - 1/2 cup
4. Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp.
5. Ginger - 1 small piece
6. Green chilly - 2 nos.
7. Oil - 2 tsp.
8. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.
9. Salt to taste.
10. Sugar - 1 tbsn.
11. Citric crystals - 1/4 tsp
12. Eno Salt - 1 1/4 tsp

For Tempering :

1. Oil - 2 tsp.
2. Mustard seeds - 2 tsp.
3. Green chillies - 3 nos.
4. Curry leaves - few

Garnishing :

1. coconut grated - 2 tbsn.
2. Coriander Leaves - 2 tsp.

Method :

1. Mix flour,salt, curd,water and baking soda and keep it aside for an hour.
2. Now the bater would have risen a bit , add to it ginger and green chilly paste,oil,turmeric powder,salt,sugar,citric crystals and mix thoroughly.
3. Grease a thali , I have used 8 inch baking pan and dust eno salt all over the pan.
4. Now add Eno salt immediately to the batter, stir it gently with a ladle around 2- 3 times and pout into the greased pan.
5. Place it in a pressure cooker and steam it for exactly 9 mins and test check with a tooth pick.If it comes out clean its done. 
6. Now remove the pan off the stove and pour 3 tbsn water over the pan . let it cool for 2 - 3 mins and invert the pan. dhokla would slid off easily.
7. Now tamper the seasonings and put it all over the dhokla.
8. Cut it into desired shapes and serve it with Green chutney and tamatind chutney.

Notes :

1. Mix 2 tbsn of oil to the batter will make it more froathy.
2. Add Eno salt just before pouring it into the pan.
3. Sprinking water on dhokla after it is done will make it very moist. 

Raagi Roti

Raagi roti has become Hari's recent obsession, I dont know why. It is his normal practice to ask for his favourite food immediately after returning from the US. He mostly asks only for Lemon sevai or dosa .But this time he was like almost pestered me to make this Raagi roti specially when I had a guest at home. I tried explaining him so much that Ragi roti is not a rich food and will not look good if I serve her this. He got irritated with my explanation and stopped talking to me. Then Finally I had to make it for him . Nothing like seeing him enjoing his food.
I hope you guys enjoy this roti as well . Its pretty simple to make ofcourse this blog is all about simple recipes.
Even if you are not on dieting spree , I am sure you would relish this roti.

Ingredients :

1. Ragi Flour - 2 cups
2. Water - 2 cups
3. Gingelly oil - 2 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Onion - 1 big
6. Green chillies - 5 nos.
7. Coriander leaves - 1 small bunch

Method :

1. Heat water in a wide pan and bring it to boil along with oil and salt.
2. Once water starts boiling immediately add flour and mix well.Flour will absorb all the water and comes into a dough consistency in a minute.Remove the pan off the stove and let it cool.
3. Now chop onions,green chillies, coriander leaves and add it to the above pan and knead it slightly like a dough. This should not take you more than 2 minutes.
4. Then pinch a big roundel from the dough , place it on a greased plastic sheet or aluminium foil and place one more polythene sheet over the roundel.Now take a plate and press the roundel , it will spread like a chappathi.Now you take a rolling pin and roll it like a chappathi with the plastic sheet on.
5. Take off the polythene sheet , gently remove the rolled roti from the foil and place it on dosa tawa, cook it on medium flame on both sides.

Notes :

1. You can replace any leafy veggie like drumstick leaves,dill leaves for coriander.That would make this roti even more healthier.
2. You can also add grated coconut to make it much tastier.
3. Need not smear oil when cooking as you have already greased the plastic sheet.
4. Roll it out as thin as possible to get it cooked fast.This should be easy as I dont find any difficulty in rolling it out thin.
5. This 2 cups made about 10 Rotis.
6. I used approximately 1 tsp. of salt for 2 cups of flour.
7. Peanut chutney is my choice for this roti.

Coconut Poha

I dont know why poha is not so popular as oats given its nutritional facts. Poha is usually had when fasting as it doesnt hurt your stomach when you are starving.It is easily digestable .

This has only half amount of calories that is in broken wheat, less calories than oats .. This is surely one of the comforting foods for me.

More importantly this is so easy to cook . It hardly takes ten minutes to finish off everything without compromising on the taste. 

This is one of the healthier versions . Yes, I only recently came to know that coconut if not fried is very good for health. hee hee ... 

Ingredients :

1. Poha - 2 cups
2. Oil - 2 tsp.
3. Mustard - 1/8th tsp.
4. Broken urad dhal - 1/2 tsp.
5. Channa dhal - 1/2 tsp.
6. Cashews - 1/2 tsp ( optional if you are not weight consicious , enjoy it )
7. Onion - 1 small size 
8. Green chillies - 4 nos.
9. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp.
10. Curry leaves - few
11. Salt to Taste
12. Coconut - 4 tbspn.

Method :

1. I used medium thick poha , so i just washed and drained the water completely and left it in strainer for about 5 minutes.
2. Heat a pan , add oil , once hot is enough, splash mustard and wait for the seeds to pop out.
3. Immediately add urad dhal, channa dhal and fry till they turn slightly brown.
4. Add onion and saute onion for few minutes.
5. Add green chillies,cumin seeds and curry leaves fry for a minute.
6. Now add washed poha to it and salt,fry until all seasonings mix well .
7. Turn off the stove but when the pan still on the stove , mix grated coconut into the pan.

Notes :

1. Serve it by drizzling little ghee only if you are not very weight consicious.It tastes good even without that.
2. One cup of poha will suffice one person.
3. Approximately 1/2 tsp. salt should be ok for one cup of poha. 
4. Add cumin seeds only after adding onion , this gives a completely different flavour.
5. I would say cumin and coconut are the hero and heroine of this recipe.

Chettinadu Mushroom

If there is one cuisine that I can die for is this chettinadu cooking.Chettinad is famous for two things.One is the beautiful house and their cuisine.I have lived in chennai for a couple of years and the only good thing that had happened to me in chennai was staying next to karaikudi restaurant.
The aroma from the kitchen only make my kneels go week.I have known chettinadu cuisine only from the restaurants and have never tasted any at home kitchen. So my version of chettiandu mushroom will closely resemble the restaurant style .
Of late I have become addicted to photography though dont know anything about it.Thats funny right? I am hoping to improve on this :)
Lets go to the recipe straight

Ingredients :

1. Ginegelly Oil - 2 tbsp.
2. Cinnamon stick - 1 inch
3. Clove - 2 nos.
4. Bay leaf - 1 no.
5. Fennel Seeds - 1 tspn.
6. Small onion - 20 nos.
7. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp.
8. Turmericpowder - 1/2 tsp.
9. Tomato - 1 no.
10. Mushroom - 200 gms.
11. Coriander Powder - 2 tbsn.
12. Chilli powder - 1 tbsn.
13. Salt to taste.

To be ground :

1. Grated Coconut - 3 tbsn.
2. Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp.
3. Kus Kus (poppy seeds) - 2tsp.
4. Cashenut -2 
5. Cardamom - 1 no.
6. Clove - 1 no.

Method :

1. Heat oil in a pan and once it is hot enough , add cinnamon,bayleaf,clove,fennel seeds and fry until you see a slight change in color of the spices.
2. Now add chopped onions and fry unti onion turns light brown color.
3. Immediately ginger garlic paste and saute for about 30 seconds.
4. Add tomotoes, chilli powder,coriander powder and salt , cook until oil leaves the sides.
5. Now add mushrooms , stir it once and close with lid.Mushroom leaves lots of water, so cook until all the water is evaporated.
6. Add the ground paste with a glass of water and simmer it for 7 minutes.If the gravy is too thick after 7 minutes , add some more water and cook for another 2 minutes.If the gravy is watery add corinader powder and make it thick.

Note :

1. I used poppy seeds to the ground mixture, but it was not smooth.I was okay with it as it is not fatty yet thickens the gravy with nice aroma.If you dont like grainy mixture, substitue 4 cashews for 2 tsp of poppy seeds.:)
2. This will be perfect for idly or Kal dosa.

Thengai Maavu alias Rice Puttu

Ok this is no new recipe to any one but the name .

If you are an ardent  lover of puttu but you dont have puttu maker at home , try it with idli tawa and your puttu is ready.

You can either have it with kadala curry or just drizzle a few drops of ghee and mix it with sugar , you will be in heaven. Sweet is my preference .
My interpretation as to how puttu has reached a village :
My grandma is from a small village  That is such a remote area. Those days they used to make something similar to puttu not with a puttu maker , probably fetching a puttu maker for them was not possible , so they used make it in idli tawa. They call it thengai maavu simple because it consists of coconut( thengai) and Flour(maavu).I am still wondering how puttu recipe has reached that village at that era.Perhaps,somebody from keralite has lost his way and got settled in that place and taught them this brilliant recipe.

Ingredients :

1. Rice Flour - 1 cup
2. Coconut - 1/2 cup
3. Sugar - 2 tbsn.
4. Ghee - 1 tsp.
5. Salt to taste
6. Warm Water - 3 - 4 tbspn.

Method :

1. Mix salt with water .
2. Sprinkle water on the flour and mix it nicely until you get crumbles .When you take a fistful of flour in hand , you should be able to make a ball and when you drop it , it should crumble back. This is the right consistency. 
3. Arrange this flour and coconut in alternate layers in idli tawa on a thali and steam it for about 12 mins. 
4. Once it is cooked , serve it with ghee and sugar.

Beetroot Rice

Beetroot Rice :

Ingredients

• Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
• Water - 2 cups
• Beetroot - 1 big 
• Onion - 1 no
• Garlic - 4 pods
• Ginger - small piece
• Coriander and Mint leaves - 1 small bunch
• Green chillies - 4 nos.
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp.
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
• Cardamom - 2 nos
• Clove - 2 
• Bay leaf - 1 
• Ghee - 3 tbsn.
• Salt to taste

Method :

• Boil Rice in water upto 3/4th done along with salt, green chillies and cardamom.Keep it aside.
• Take a kadai , add ghee and once it is hot ,add cinnamon.clove,bay leaf,onion and fry  till onion becomes golden colour.
• Add grated ginger, garlic, corainder , mint leaves, garam masala and saute for 2 mins. 
• Add grated beetroot and salt and cook until beetroot is cooked well.
• Now layer rice and beetroot mixture and bake it in oven at 180 degrees for 18 mins. 

Serve it with papad and Raita .