Butterscotch Mini Loafs

The beautiful aroma that fills my house when I bake these beauties revs up my appetite for them. These beautiful mini loafs are perfect for breakfast along with a cup of warm coffee or tea, or you could also enjoy them as a snack. Children will especially love these butterscotch mini loafs, as well as adults.

Butterscotch Mini Loafs

Just put all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix them well using a rubber spatula until everything is well blended together, and pour the batter into the moulds to get perfect results. There is no need for an electric mixer or a food processor for the mixing.

Butterscotch chips

Stock up your pantry with chocolate, white chocolate and butterscotch chips. They come extremely handy when baking to flavor up the goodies.

Butterscotch Mini Loafs

Makes – 8 mini loafs (I have used a mini-loaf tin, instead you could use use around 20 muffin cups)
Source: Cakes – 1,001 recipes from around the world

Ingredients:

All-Purpose flour – 2 cups
Baking powder – 2 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/4 tsp
Granulated sugar – 1/4 cup
Butterscotch chips – 1 1/2 cups
Milk – 1 cup
Butter – 4 tbsp (1/2 stick), melted
Egg – 1, large, lightly beaten
Honey – 2 tbsp
Vanilla extract – 2 tsp

Method:

-Preheat the oven to 400°F.
-Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and butterscotch chips. Make a well in the center and pour in milk, butter, egg, honey and vanilla. Mix well with a rubber spatula until you get a smooth batter. Spoon the batter into the mini loaf pan, filling each 3/4 full.
-Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the muffins on racks.

Luv,
Mona

Puran ke Laoz

Chana dal, or split bengal gram are an essential item among Pulses in Indian cooking. The other dals most commonly used by indians in their everyday cooking are Toor dal or Split pigeon pea, Masoor dal or Red lentils. These three pulses or dals are the basic source of protein intake in an Indian, chiefly vegetarian diet. Mostly savory dishes are prepared out of dals, but a few of the sweet dishes like the one I am writing today are my favorites.

Chana dal and a block of Jaggery/Gud

My Ammi prepares the following halwa a lot. It brings back many sweet memories from my childhood. It is a simple meetha, which everyone will enjoy, and it is healthy too. It has got chana dal which are rich in proteins, ghee which has got many health benefits and lots of nuts to add flavor and richness.

This meetha is quite subtly sweetish in taste. Once this meetha is done, it is spread out evenly on a flat greased dish and left to set until cool. It is then cut into diagonal pieces, hence called laoz. You can always add more sugar or khoa for flavor according to your preferences. The prepared chana dal or split bengal gram paste is called as ‘Puran’. It is also used as a stuffing for Parathas, just like Aloo Parathas, to prepare ‘Mitthi Roti’, and also as a filling in the ‘Halwa/Puran Puri’ which are the halwa stuffed deep fried pastries/puri which I will write about soon. Khoa and nuts are added to the Puran for that purpose.

An Indian Kadai

It is better to prepare this meetha in a non-stick heavy bottomed kadai or saucepan, so that it wont stick to the bottom and burn. A kadai is a deep Indian kitchen utensil. It is wok shaped, has thick walls, usually used to for deep frying purpose. Mine is a new addition to my kitchen utensils, recently gifted to me by my MIL.

Puran ke Laoz – Bengal gram Halva

Ingredients:

Chana Dal – 1 cup
Sugar – 75 grams
Jaggery – 40 grams
Powdered cardamom pods – 1/4 tsp
Khoa – 3 tbsp
Ghee – 2 tbsp
Finely chopped nuts (walnuts, pistachio, almond, pine nut) – 1/8 cup
Slivered nuts – for garnish

Puran ke Laoz – Bengal gram Halva

Method:

-Soak the dal for about 3-6 hours in surplus cool water. Later, drain and wash the dal. Pressure cook the dal in fresh cool water, until it is soft. Let cook until there is little or no water left. Once cool, puree it to a fine paste in a blender.
-Grease a stainless steel thali or any swiss roll tin with a little oil/ghee. Keep aside.
-Put the paste into a non-stick Kadai at medium heat. Add the powdered cardamom powder, ghee, jaggery, sugar and khoa. Mix well and keep stirring continously and let it cook until it thickens, no longer sticks and leaves sides of the pan. It will take around 20 minutes (time depends on the amount of water in the paste). Once done, stir in the chopped nuts. This is the Puran. Put the puran on the greased thali or swiss roll tin and spread it evenly to a thickness of 1 cm or half inch. Flatten the surface using a flat spatula. Once a little bit cool, put it in the refrigerator for an hour to serve later.       

You can store these meetha stacked in an air tight food storage box for upto a month.

Luv,

Mona

Chocolate Muffins

Breakfasts are the *most* important meals of the day and I am one among those people who can just not live without a proper breakfast every morning. Nevertheless, breakfast is most neglacted and disregarded by people.

Chocolate Cupcakes/Muffins

These Chocolate cupcakes/muffins are another of my favorite breakfasts. Bake them on the weekends and store in air tight plastic boxes in a single layer, so that your breakfast for atleast a week is ready for you to just pick and go, and what more, these are butter free! They keep well for around a week or so. 

Recipe adapted from:Cakes – 1,001 recipes from around the world

Chocolate Cupcakes/Muffins

Ingredients:

• All-Purpose flour – 2 cups
• Unsweetened Cocoa powder – 1/2 cup
• Baking powder – 2 tsp
• Salt – 1/4 tsp
• Milk – 3/4 cup
• Canola Oil – 1/2 cup
• Granulated Sugar – 1 1/4 cup
• Honey – 1 tbsp
• Eggs – 2 large
• Semi sweet chocolate chips – 1/4 cup

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Spray a 16 muffin-pan or individual muffin cups with cooking oil, or line with foil or paper cups.
• Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
• Beat the oil, sugar and honey in a large bowl in a food processor or using an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 mins.
• Add eggs, one at a time, until just blended after each addition. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat in the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared cups.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Cool the muffins on racks.

Enkoy, and remember, Never skip breakfasts! Start having a delicious healthy breakfast from today and make your kids always have their breakfast too right from their childhood.

Luv,
Mona

Baghare Baingan

‘Baghare Baingan’ (in Urdu) when translated into english language means ‘Tempered Eggplants’. Baghaar or tempering is an Indian process of flavoring the oil with spices which is used in the preperation of a curry to impart added taste and aroma.

Aubergines, Peanuts and a large sized Onion (One of the Aubergines has an ‘X’ shaped incision at its base)

This is a lovely and delicious side dish, a hallmark and peculiar to the state of Hyderabad, usually seen being served at Daawat – weddings, parties and large gatherings. It is generally had as a side dish along with Biryanis or some people even enjoy it along with a Roti/Paratha.

Baghare Baingan - Tempered Aubergines in a rich Sauce

The eggplants are cooked twice, once they are shallow fried and then later simmered in a fragrant sweet and spicy sauce of sauteed onions and roasted spices. The green chillies and tamarind impart a tangy kick to the sauce consisting of roasted nutty and buttery peanuts, a range of aromatic spices, jaggery and caramelized onions.

Only Indian Eggplants that are small, shiny deep purple and fresh are used for this curry. These are easily available at many Indian stores. Brinjal/Eggplant/Aubergines or Baingan are not a favorite of many people, but I suggest you all try this dish once and you will definitely love it. It is one of the best aubergine dishes I have ever had.

Baghare Baingan - Tempered Aubergines in a rich Sauce

Cooking time: around 45 minutes; Serves: 6

Ingredients:

Eggplants/Baingan – 6, indian variety~small sized, fresh, and deep purple in colour
Yellow Onion – 2, large, sliced thick
Sesame seeds - 1 1/2 tbsp
Poppy seeds/Khus-Khus – 1 tbsp
Peanuts/Moomphalli – 1/2 cup
Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Coconut cream – 2 tbsp
Cashewnuts – 1/2 cup, soaked in 2 tbsp water (optional)
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Jaggery/Gud – 30 gms
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Small green chillies – 6-8
Salt – to taste
Cumin seeds – 1 tbsp
Nigella seeds/Kalonji – 1 tsp
Black Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds – 1/4 tsp
Tamarind concentrate – 2 to 3 tbsp
Canola oil

Method:

1. Wash the eggplants and make four incisions, perpendicular cuts (an X) from the base of each eggplant, taking care the stem end is intact. Soak them in a bowl of cold water with 1tbsp salt to prevent discoloration. Keep aside.
2. Put a small frying pan on medium-high heat. As soon as it warms up, pour 1 tbsp oil and the roughly chopped onion. Saute them for about 10-12 minutes or until slightly browned stirring continuously . Remove the onions in a plate to cool.
3. In the same pan, add the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coriander seeds and peanuts. Roast them evenly until they turn a shade darker and release aroma. Keep aside to cool. Grind them in a spice grinder to a very fine powder.
4. Put the roasted onions, ground spices, turmeric, coconut cream, ginger-garlic paste, jaggery, red chilli powder, green chillies, cashewnuts- if using, and salt in a food processor or a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Keep aside.
5. Drain the eggplants. In a wide non-stick saucepan, pour about 2 tbsp oil and shallow fry, stirring frequently, covering with a lid in between, for about 10-15 minutes until they are tender.  Gently remove them in a platter and keep aside.
6. In the same saucepan at medium heat, pour about 1/4 cup oil and as soon as it warms up, add cumin seeds, dried red chillies, fenugreek, nigella and mustard seeds and curry leaves. As they start to splutter, lower the heat and immediately pour the earlier prepared blended smooth paste of onions and spices and cover the lid for a minute (This step is to infuse the paste with the flavor of the baghaar/tempering, an essential step for good flavor of the dish)
7. Open the lid and mix it all. Let it cook uncovered for around 8-10 minutes adding a few drops of water if needed, until oil separates from the mixture. Keep stirring it occasionally.
8. Later add the shallow fried eggplants and half cup hot water (or more if needed to stew the vegetable)
9. When the eggplants appear tender, after about 15 minutes (check by gently piercing a fork into the flesh of the vegetable), add the tamarind concentrate and gently fold it into the curry. Let it cook covered further for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a warm platter and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve hot or cold but do not reheat this dish.

Suggested Accompaniments: Biryani, Roti, Paratha

This goes to the Monthy Mingle event currently being hosted by Ruth. The theme this time is Sensational Sides, and Baghare Baingan fits perfectly for the title of the event.

Inshallah my next post is going to be the round up for RCI:Authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine which I will publish in just a few days from now. So keep checking on it. Take care of yourselves everyone and Have a good weekend!

Luv,
Mona

Minty Strawberry Banana Smoothie

I am so delighted and glad! The good news is that both zaaiqa(dot)net website has been closed down and the my recipe pictures has been removed by the blogger as they both had violated the copyright policy of my blog. I thank all those who helped me out in this cause. Cheers!

A few days back I had brought home some ripe bananas and fresh strawberries, and they were lying in the refrigerator waiting to be turned into something delicious. I thought of preparing a smoothie immediately as I am a huge fan of strawberry smoothies.

Enjoy this smoothie on a hot summer afternoon. Your kids will also love this drink. Its healthy and nutritious.

Minty Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Makes – 5 small glasses

Ingredients:

• Ripe Banana – 1
• Whole Strawberries – 4 cups
• Mint Leaves – 8, large
• Yogurt – 1/2 cup
• Honey – 8 tbsp
• Lemon Juice – 1/2 tbsp
• Ice cubes – 1 cup

Method:

• Halve the banana and strawberries, roughly tear the mint leaves with you hands and add with all the remaining ingredients into a food processor or a blender container. Blend till pureed. Add the few ice cubes and blend again till they are lightly crushed.
• Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately. Do not store to serve at a later day.

For this smoothie, I used the mint from my Mint plant which I planted indoors in container. This goes as an entry to Grow Your Own Event hosted by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi.

Some of my bloggers friends were kind enough to pass me some awards during the last few weeks. I am honored and feel delighted to recieve them. Now I have two more awards on my shelf to show off

Silvana of UvAromatica has forwarded me the “Brilliant Weblog Prize”.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogsphere. Here are the rules to follow:

1. When you recieve the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.
2. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’.
3. Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional).

I furthur pass this award to Indira of Mahanandi, Asha of Aroma, Meeta of Whats For Lunch Honey, Elise’s Simply Recipes, Cinnamon of Cinnamon Trial, Shilpa of Aaayi’s Recipes and Nupur of One Hot Stove.

I also recieved the Inspiration Award from Zainab and Hameeda of Arabic Bites.

This is given to bloggers whose stories and recipes inspire us.Whether it’s to eat healthier, dive back into our past to conjure up something we ate as children, or just make the light bulbs in our brains go on with a new idea for a recipe. The rules of the award are: As recipients of this award, please share with us what inspires you and then pass on the Inspiration Award to 4 other deserving bloggers. Please let them know what the award means and what to do with it

My Mother’s simple and quick cooking, my readers and their comments is what inspires me.

I pass on this award to Kay of One Bite at a time, Priya of 365 Days of Pure Vegetarian, Sunita of Sunita’s World and JZ of Tasty Treats.

And last but not the least, I thank Foodbuzz for sending me the goodies which include Moo cards, an organic Tote bag and a personalised ‘Zaiqa’ site badge. I loved them all a lot.

Luv,
Mona

Dried Fig Jam

The other day while sorting out the pantry, I found some dried figs which I had bought long time back from the store. They were gorgeous and smelled delectable. Dried figs are easy to store and keep well for very long time at room temperatures.

I love to munch on a few dried uncooked figs at breakfasts usually. They are sweet, cooling, nourishing, heavy fruit low in saturated fat and help fight Cancer as they contain many antioxidants. Dried figs are a good laxative, helpful for those with constipation and also helps lower blood cholesterol. It is a good source of minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, fibre, copper and vitamin B6 and K. It has some anti-bacterial properties too. However figs should not be had in larger amounts at a time as they increase blood sugar levels quickly and can also cause diarrhoea.

 

This time I wanted to prepare a jam with these and went on with it. The jam was delicious and got prepared in less than an hour.  I love the slight crunchy texture due to the seeds in the jam.

Dried Fig Jam

Ingredients:

• Dried Figs/Anjeer - 250 gms, stems removed and finely chpped
• Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Citric Acid – 1/4 tp
• Lemon juice – 1 tsp
• Water - 500 ml

Method:

• Add the chopped figs and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, simmer and let it cook covered for 25 minutes until the figs are soft. Remove from heat and keep aside until cool.
• In a blender container, pour the contents of the saucepan and blend it till pureed.
• Pour this back into the saucepan and add the sugar, lemon juice, citric acid and let it cook for about 15 more minutes on medium heat or until it reaches a jammy consistency.
• Pour this into a sterlised dried glass jar with a tight lid and let it cool completely. Refrigerate to store. 

Luv,
Mona

Jal Jeera

Its being very hot nowadays, and I am waiting for the good winter season to come. Yes, I like the winter season. I love snow all around, and the most important thing, no sweat!! On this hot afternoon after the days meal, I thought of trying out the Jaljeera or the Cumin seed cooler from the cookbook ‘India’s Vegetarian Cooking’. Its one of my most favorite cookbooks.

Cumin is a flowering plant that has been grown as a spice, it has digestive properties and a very distinctive aroma. Its a spice used very commonly in Indian cuisines. Its can be store in airtight containers for upto 6 months.

This post is my contribution to Sunita’s monthly event on Spices – Think Spice.. , and she has selected Cumin for this month.Thanks for hosting the event on such a wonderful spice Sunita. Here’s my entry:

Recipe Source: India’s Vegetarian Cooking, by Monisha Bharadwaj

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

• Cumin Seeds – 2 tsp
• Tamarind Concentrate – 1 tbsp
• Hot water – 600 ml
• Brown Sugar – 6 tbsp
• Red Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
• Black Salt/Kala Namak - 1 tsp
• Cilantro - few, finely chopped
• Mint Leaves – few, finely chopped

Method:

Dry roast the cumin seeds in a small pan. When they turn dark, grind them into a fine powder and reserve.

Dilute the tamarind concentrate in water and add to it the rock/sea salt, sugar, chilli powder and reserved cumin powder and mix it well.

Let it cool and stir in the coriander leaves.

Pour this mixture into a small jug and let it chill in a refrigerato

 

 

Grilled Sweet Chilli Chicken

It’s Sunday, and my family wishes for something different, to celebrate our weekend and treat our stomach to its cravings. So after the breakfast, I was searching for inspiration. At moments like these, I usually get stuck to my fav cook books or get hooked to my ibook and sit browsing and searching for recipes, sites that help me out, now for my lunch, a weekend lunch. It took some time, but eventually I found this recipe online, i usually do not prepare these kind of recipes, infact I never did. My chicken is almost always with some or the other spices, or masalas. But this didnt have any. I thought to give it a try and went ot my kitchen. I modified it in my own way, adding what I love and felt would go well, marinated my chicken for three hours and sat watching ‘Finding Nemo‘ with my Hubby. Yes, I hadnt seen it and was asking him to get the DVD, and today I was able to. The movie was lovely, love animation a lot, and after that it was time for the chicken to go into our systems. It was already Lunch time. It took around an hour for the chicken to cook perfectly, and when I served my grilled chicken with rice and a side dish, it was a hit with my family. Everyone loved the sweet taste and the light chilli touch to it. Here’s the recipe, try it out and enjoy guys.

Ingredients:

• Chicken drumsticks/Chicken wings – 8 pieces
• Butter – 6 tbsp
• Soy sauce – 3 tbsp
• Honey – 2 tbsp
• Maggi Chilli Sauce – 2 tbsp
• Turmeric – 1 tsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tsp
• Vinegar – 1 tbsp
• Ginger-Garlic Paste – 3 tsp
• Crushed chili flakes – 1 tbsp
• Black pepper – 1/2 tsp
• BBQ Sauce- for basting

Method:

• If you are planning to grill your chicken indoors in your oven, take a roasting pan with higher walls and line it on the base with aluminium foil folded twice. And if you have an outdoor gas or charcoal grill its all the more better.
• Make small slit marks on the chicken drumsticks or chicken wings, whatever you plan to prepare for the day.
• Mix all the ingredients well and coat the chicken the chicken with it. Let it refrigerate for 3 hours preferably. Let the chicken come back to room temperature again just before when you begin to grill it.
• Pour all the contents of the marinate with the chicken in the roasting pan if using an indoor grill oven, or place the individual marinated chicken on the charcoal or gas grill and begin grilling it. Remember to keep the grill temperature on low heat so that the chicken cooks properly.
• Let it grill for an hour time, until it is thoroughly cooked. Keep turning and basting the drumsticks with any of your favourite BBQ sauce.
• Griil it until it is perfectly cooked, and make sure you do not burn it. You can test if it is nicely cooked by piercing it with a fork at the thickest portion of the drumstick. Once done, Serve it hot.

 

Raisin and Red Apple Chicken Pasta Salad

This is one of my favourite salads I had got hold of many years ago. I thought of sharing this out with you guys. There are a lot of proteins in a contrast of textures in this recipe. The raisins are a sweet, chewy accent to crisp apples, and almonds add crunch to the whole grain pasta. A hearty, all in one salad perfect for a summer lunch or dinner. Enjoy the Salad

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat pasta – (any of your choice) 2 1/2 cups
• Chicken breast – 2 cups, cooked and cubed
• Raisins – 1 cup
• Red Apple – 1, cored, cubed
• Green Onions – 2, sliced
• Mayonnaise – 1/3 cup
• Honey – 2 tbsp
• Dijon Mustard – 1 tbsp
• Almonds – silvered and toasted, 1/4 cup

Method:

• Cook pasta as directed on box, drain and rince with cold water.
• Combine cooked pasta, chicken, raisins, apple and onions in a large bowl.
• Combine mayonnaise, honey, and mustard in a small bowl.
• Add to pasta and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate 1 hour or unto overnight to bleand flavours.
• Top with almonds just before serving.

 

Imli Ki Chutney – Tamarind Sauce

Tangy Chutneys and sauces go very well with fried bhajiya’s and crisp pakodas in cold weather when its raining outside. Yummy. You can have this dipping sauce with anything you want to add a tangy taste to. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

• Tamarind – 250 gms
• Sugar/Jaggery – 300 gms
• Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
• Cumin seed/Zeera powder – 1 tsp
• Black salt/Kala Namak - a pinch

Method:

• Soak the tamarind in a small bowl with warm/hot water just enoughg to cover ir for 1 hour.
• Then extract a thick pulp from the tamarind by pressing it down a sieve to remove all the fibres.
• Take a heavy bottom pan and cook the pulp.
• Add sugar and keep stirring till it becomes thick.
• Add spices and salt and cook it 3 mins more
• Remove from heat.
• Pour into sterlised bottle and store upto 1 month in a refrigerator.