Pita Bread

Pita bread

Cuisine: Lebanese
Preparation Time: 4 hrs
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 3 cups
Active dry yeast - 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Mix half cup warm water and 1/2 tbsp yeast. Add sugar and stir till sugar is dissolved properly
2. Let it rest for 15 mins or till it becomes frothy
3. Sieve together flour  and salt
4. Make a hole in the center and pour yeast solution over it
5. Mix it gently. Slowly add more warm water to knead the dough
6. Keep kneading the dough until it becomes elastic. knead for another 10 mins
7. Coat the dough with olive oil. Put this dough  in big vessel and keep it aside for 3-4 hrs
8. It will double  in size so vessel should be large enough
9. Now punch down the dough and  knead for another 1 min. You can refrigerate the dough at this stage to use it later
10. Make  12- 14 equal sized balls and roll them like chapati
11. Place it on non stick tawa. Cover the lid for 20 secs. Turn it over and again cover
12. Now cook from both sides like chapati 

For baking:

1. You can also bake pita bread in preheated oven at 220deg for 15 min by fliping in between once

Notes:

1. Water should neither be hot nor cold as that can kill yeast. It should be lukewarm
2. It  can be stored in refrigerator for upto a week
3. I have tried both methods(non stick and baking) and like tawa one more. You can also try baking method

Oats Poha

Oats Poha 

Ingredients:

Rice Poha(chiwda) - 2 cup
Oats- 1 cup
Onion Chopped -1
Peanuts roasted - 15-20
Potato - 1
Almonds finely chopped - 2
Raisins - 10-12
Fresh coriander finely chopped- 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds (rai)- 1/2 tsp
Slit green chillies - 1
Lemon juice - 1 lemon
Curry leaves- 10-12
Turmeric- as required
Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Wash poha. Add oats over it and keep aside in a strainer
2. Finely chop onions. You can also add carrots or peas to  make it vegetable rich poha
3. Chop potato lengthwise (french fries shaped)
4. In a non stick pan, add 1 tbsp oil and shallow fry potatoes stirring occasionally
5. When potatoes are half done, add peanuts to roast them in same oil
6. Sprinkle salt and turmeric over the poha and oats mixture
7. Add potatoes, peanuts and chopped fresh coriander to it and mix well. If mixture looks too dry then sprinkle some water and mix
8. Remove any extra  oil from pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, slit green chillies, onions, almonds, raisins and cook till onions turns transparent. If you are adding vegetables, add at this stage
9. Add poha mixture to pan and cook on low flame  for 2-3 mins. Stir it to mix all the ingredients. Do not over stir 
10. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice and enjoy!

Notes

1. Variations can be done by adding veggies of your choice. Carrots and peas go well with this

Nutrition packed pancakes

Vegetables blended pancakes

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30-45 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Grated carrots- 1/2 cup
Grated beetroot - 1/2 cup
Grated potato- 1 medium size
Gram flour(Besan)- 11/2 cup
Oats - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Green chillies - to taste

Method:

1. Microwave carrot and beetroot for 30 sec
2. Mix all the ingredients and grind to fine paste
3. pour 4 tbsp of batter on non stick tawa and spread evenly with spoon. Make chapati size pancakes
4. Cook from both sides on medium to low flame
5. Serve with tomato chutney  and dry Jeera aalu 

Notes:

1. Tomato ketchup or raw tomato can also be  added while grinding to make it tangy
2. Variations can be done by adding other vegetables like gourd(gheeya), pumpkin, raw papaya, beans etc can also be added

Tri- colour Veggie Sandwich

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 1 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
Whole wheat bread\White bread- 4
Carrot grated- 1 cup
Spinach (blanched)- 1 cup
Beetroot (grated)- 1 cup
Amul butter -  As per requirement
Hung Curd - 1/4 cup
Mayonnaise - 1/2 cup
Fresh cream -  1 tbsp

Method:

1. Remove the corners of bread slices and cut the slice diagonally. Keep aside
2. Microwave grated carrot and grated beetroot separately for 30 sec. Keep aside and let it cool
3. Finely chop spinach. Bring water to boil. Add spinach to boiling water and stir for 30 secs.
4. Now drain spinach and immediately pour into ice cold water. Again drain and keep aside
5. Mix hung curd and mayonnaise and divide into two portions
6. Mix 1 portion with grated carrot and another with grated beetroot
7. Now spread butter on all slices
8. Spread 1 tsp of carrot mixture over slice. Put the other slice over it with butter side facing up
9. Spread spinach over it with little salt. You can also add grated cheese to make it more yummy.
10. Place another slice over it with butter side facing up
11. Spread beetroot mixture over it evenly and close the sandwich with another slice with butter side facing down
12. Cut from the center and serve 

Notes:

1. Keep them covered with cellophane/plastic sheet to retain its freshness
2. Can be made ahead of time 
3. Cheese can be added to make it more yummy

Sabudana Khichadi

Sabudana  Khichadi

Preparation time: 3 hrs
Cooking time: 10 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Sabudana - 1 cup
Boiled potato - 1
Cumin(Jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 4-5
Peanuts(roasted and powdered) - 2 tsp
Slit green chillies- 1
Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh Coriander- 2 tsp
Lemon juice- 1  lemon
Oil- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash  and soak sabudana in water. Water should be sufficient enough to soak sabudana well and not more than that
2. Let it rest for 3-4 hrs. You will see that sabudana has soaked all the water
3. Now mix salt, grounded peanut and black pepper powder to sabudana and mix well
4. Now in a pan, add cumin and curry leaves.  Add to it, potatoes and slit green chilies
5. Add sabudana mixture and cook on low flame covered for 1/2 a minute. Give it a mix
6. Sabudana will turn transparent. Switch off the flame. Add lemon juice
7. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve

Notes:

1. Sabudana should be dipped in right portion of water. It should look dry after soaking all the water
2. Sabudana may turn sticky if wet
3. Do not overcook sabudana, it will turn hard

Sooji Sandwich Dhokla/ Rawa Sandwich Dhokla

Sandwich dhokla

Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 5 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For Dhokla-

Sooji/Rawa/Semolina - 1 cup
Curd (dahi)- 1/2 cup
Turmeric (Haldi)- 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 pinch + 1 tsp
Eno- 1 sachet
Mint-coriander chutney - 1 tbsp

For  Syrup-

Water  - 2 cups
Mustard seeds(rai)- 1 tsp
Curry  leaves - 7-8
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Lemon juice-1 lemon
Slit green chilli -  1-2
Oil- 1 tsp

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix sooji and curd. Add water if required. consistency should be little thicker than  cake batter 
2. Add turmeric and salt. Give it a mix and set aside for an hour
3. Now grease a square shape bowl with oil. Add eno to the batter and mix gently
4. Pour half of the batter immediately into the bowl. 
5. Spread a layer of mint- coriander chutney. pour the remaining  batter over it.
6. Spread it evenly and microwave for 4 mins
7. Let it stand for 1 minute inside the microwave
8. Let it cool and cut into square shapes but a bit smaller size than desired as it will rise after going into syrup
9. For syrup, add oil to the pan . Splutter mustard seeds and curry  leaves.  Add water, sugar, salt and lemon to it. Let it boil. Switch off the flame and let it cool  a bit
10. Now, put sliced pieces of dhokla into some bigger pan. Pour syrup over it and let it rest for atleast 2 hrs or  till all the water gets soaked
11. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve

Note:

1. These can be made in any shape
2. Tamarind chutney can  also be filled in place  of mint-coriander chutney
3. Quantity of sugar and salt  in syrup can be adjusted as per taste 

Oats- Choco Blocks

These chocolaty granola bars is the best after snack to satisfy your sweet tooth. Flavors of honey, cinnamon and chocolate combined together to make it a perfect granola bar for everyone. It is also healthy as it has health king Oats as an ingredient. While I was eagerly looking for some healthy and nutritious recipe,which I can make and gift to my friend on our Christmas party cum play date at her place, I finally found this recipe. So I decided to give it a try! It came out so perfectly well that everyone in her family liked it so much that she couldn't resist to call and tell me the reviews. Sincerely, I would like to thank my friend divya for making me feel so proud of my efforts. I hope you will also like this simple and healthy recipe.

Nutritional benefits:

Oats are generally considered "healthy", or a health food, being touted as nutritious. The established property of their cholesterol-lowering effects  has led to acceptance of oats as a health food. Oats contain more soluble fiber than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion, a feeling of satiety and suppression of appetite. Oat protein is nearly equivalent in quality to soy protein, which World Health Organization research has shown to be equal to meat, milk and egg protein.

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 40 mins

Serves- 2 heart shape size

Ingredients:

Oats - 1/2 cup
Refined flour (maida) - 1 cup
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
Nuts and raisins- 1/4 cup
Honey - 1/2 cup
Cooking Oil - 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence- 1tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
White Chocolate - 1/2 cup
Dark Chocolate - 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Mix refined flour,Oats, cinnamon powder, baking soda, brown sugar and salt. Keep aside
2. Chop some dark chocolate and add to the dry ingredients. Chocolate chips can also be added
3. Now add raisins, nuts, honey, cooking oil and essence. Mix all the ingredients well
4. Pour this mixture into desired moulds. I used silicon moulds for baking these bars
5. Preheat the convection at 180 deg. Bake it at 180 deg for first 20 mins and then at 160 deg for next 10 mins or till it turns brown
6. Remove from oven and let it cool
7. Melt the dark and white chocolate separately by double boiler method
8. Now keep the grains bar inverted with smooth surface facing up
9. Now first pour melted white chocolate over the bar sparingly. Now pour dark chocolate all over the bar. Refrigerate for 1 - 2 hr and let it set
10. Cut into slices and serve

Notes:

1. These granola bars can be stored at room temperature in winters and in refrigerator in summers for a week or two
2. This can be made ahead of time when guests are coming
3. If you are using Museli instead of oats then adjust the nuts accordingly as museli contains nuts