Baked Pakodas

Want every flavor of hot onion pakodas without the hassle of frying or the fat an guilt that go with it? Here is an admirable way of literally having your pakodas and eating them too. A few months ago, Uma had blogged something which caught my eye. It however had egg and made them muffins.
Taking off on that concept, I decided to make my baked pakodas without eggs and it was a big hit with all who tasted them.

Ingredients
3/4 cup each of all purpose and whole wheat flour sifted
1 large green onion finely chopped
1 cup of chopped spinach or 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro
2 hot green chilies finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup of milk (I used 1 percent)
1/2 cup of cheese of choice (optional)
2tbsp of olive oil
A pinch of asafetida

Preheat oven to 400 F
Prepare your muffin pan by greasing with olive oil

Preparation
In a pan, heat oil and lightly fry the onions to remove the raw smells
In your mixer bowl or regular bowl, sift the flours
Add the baking powder and the salt to the dry flours and mix
Now add the spinach, onions, chilies and cheese
Mix these for a minute before add the the milk
Mix with milk for a minute or two
If you are kneading with hands, make it pakoda consistency
Scoop with table spoon or ice cream scoop into muffin pans. I used the mini muffin pan to yield more as an appetizer.
Bake for 25-30 minutes ( Check after the 25th minute) or until you see the slight browning on the top.
Enjoy hot with some sauce or just by itself.

NOTE: my next attempt will be with besan the original pakoda flour.. will post pictures if they turn out well.
Until Blog Hop Wednesday, Adios & Alvida

Multigrain, veggie dosai

Another night of insomnia - Don't ask. If I were to make up for all the lost sleep, I'd be Lady Rip Van Winkle and not wake up for 2 if not 20 years!

But now that the blog is up, there is a certain benefit to the wakefulness. My mind is crowding with recipes that are old and established and more and more new ideas and creations to be experimented with. I find nothing more exhausting that having to lay in bed when I'm itching to get up and execute all the ideas right away! Get a grip, I say to myself as I peer into the darkness  - Only 3:40 am and the rest of the household is fast asleep.

Just when I lull my mind to rest, the music to the Bhoomanjali that I'm learning starts to play in my head and I am flaying my arms silently in the air, recalling the steps for the music. Again, I want to spring out of bed and try out the movements, but when i try to get up, my head and legs feel like jelly. I pop right back into bed to continue my restless tirade. By 6 am, i am ready to sleep again when I hear the flush followed by the shower from the rooms upstairs. The kids are awake and ready to start the day - bullocks!

Finally it is the right time to try out the new recipe...

Ingredients:

1 cup of buckwheat flour
3/4 cup of red rice flour samba rice)
1/2 cup of bajra millet flour
1 carrot finely pureed with..
..2 tomatoes

1/2 green bell pepper finely chopped
1/2 red onion finely chopped
2 green chillies
1 tsp of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp of whole black peppers
1/4 tsp of ginger powder
1/4 tsp of asafoetida
salt

Preparation
In 1/2 cup of water, grind the tomatoes and carrots in a blender
Use the water as the base for the mixture
Stir in the flours one by one into the puree
Add desired amount of water to make it a thinner consistency - The mix should NOT be sluggish
in a teaspoon of oil, slightly fry the onions and add to the mix along with the bell pepper and the other condiments.

Keep you dosa pan ready - and pour on the batter much like you would for rava dosa/ or a crepe - thin... Wait for it to brown before flipping - serve hot with molagai podi -

Barley Bonanza

It is hard to keep a south Indian away from rice for too long - And yet, study after study claims that white rice is simple sugars and the carb of all carbs! With a strong diabetic gene in my family, and being luck enough to learn , I am exercising extreme caution with rice - This is not to say it is out of our lives - Hardly! But it only makes its appearance once or twice at the most in a week. That's been pretty good control for us - Heck who wouldn't trade a good rasam shaadam or sambar shaadam with a scrumptious curry on the side for a plate of raw veggies? H'uh?

By the way, the usage of Curry is rather loose - All it means in certain homes, like the one I come from, is a sauteed veggie on the side to be had with rice and lentil soups for want of a better word. 

I was going to call this dish Barley Baath until I googled the meaning of Baath, a Kannada word for rice - Ironic, given this is a substitute for that incredible white soft fluffy thing .... oh well..

I must tell you something about my barley experience. A good doctor who has been helping me overcome some joint pains suggested a change in dietary habits in which figured "puhl baali" - This is, I swear, how I'd made a notation - I thought that if I went to the store and showed it or asked for it, someone would recognize what it was - For the life of me I did not connect it to PEARL BARLEY - I kept going back to my list to check on other foods that were good for me and bang! Like a shot, it came to me - could it be pearl barley that he spake of in such affable terms? So, last night, I came home armed with 2 bags of it - caught a good sale - and  following instructions on the bag, soaked a couple of cups in water overnight. 

Ingredients: 

4-5 veggies of your choice: I picked onion, yellow squash, green bell pepper, red bell pepper and zucchini.

1 tsp of grated ginger - also amounts are as per desire (sample in picture below)

3 green chillies (optional for the faint hearted)

curry leaves

2 cups of barley soaked in water over night and pressure cooked for 10 minutes - if cooking in a covered pan, it will take longer; Microwave, my guess is about 8 minutes (not recommended)

2 teaspoons of olive oil or sesame oil

Salt to taste

Preparation:

Including chopping of veggies, but excluding the time it takes to cook the barley, this dish should not take more than 10-15 minutes. 

In a large pan, heat the oil and add some rosemary to it. Quickly add all the veggies and stir them around the pan in high heat. They will soften in a couple of minutes. Then add the barley on top and gently stir it into the veggie medley. Turn the mixture a few times until the barley is mixed in well with the veggies. Turn off stove.

Garnish: There are several garnishes that can be used for this - But cilantro is always a good choice, which is what I used today. Optional garnishes I've suggested are raisins, pine nuts and fresh squeezed lime for a tangy zest.  You can substitute pine nuts with peanuts, cashews or roasted almond slivers or walnuts even. 

This dish can be served hot or cold per personal choice. 

Secret tip: If you have a finicky child who is not into trying anything new, just grate a cheese of his/her choice and melt it over the dish. Although my older children have blind faith in my cooking skills - nothing mom makes can be bad - (praying that lasts forever) they are both cheese heads, born in Madison WI - Hence anything topped with cheese tastes better!

Hope the pictures below are appetizing enough to set the gastric juices flowing :-)