The Nutzaurus!

These bars are wonderful for breakfast or as a tea time snack. Full of nuts and seeds, which are flavor bombs, the bars also have some chocolate flavored malt and dark choco chips to add just the slightest bit of richness. Sweetened with dates syrup, the bars additionally have dried fruits and protein. They are simply jam packed with flavor and nutrition. The almond butter which ties everything together isn't really butter at all. You basically blitz the almonds until they give up and become creamy!

 This recipe is vegan and gluten free. Doesn't get any better than this!

Ingredients:
Almond Butter:
 Almonds- 330 grams

Roasted ingredients:
 Cashews - 65 grams
 Walnuts- 60 grams
 Pumpkin seeds - 45 grams
 Pistachio nuts- 50 grams
 Flax seeds - 35 grams
 Oats- 150 grams

Other ingredients:
 Dried apricots- 5, chopped
 Dried figs- 4, chopped
 Black raisins- 32 grams
 Dark choc chips- 50 grams
 Chia seeds- 35 grams
 Bournvita (malt powder)- 3 tbsp
 Soy protein isolate- 32 grams
 Homemade Herbal roots powder for bone strength- 1 tbsp, heaped

Sweetener:
 Dates syrup: 250 grams, approx.
 (Optionally: Use honey, maple syrup, caramel etc.)

Preparation:

To make the almond butter, place the almonds on a baking tray and heat them up in the over at 180 C for 10 minutes. Then place them in a blender with a S blade and blitz. Stop from time to time scrape down the sides. The almonds will become powdery, then more granular and finally creamy. It will take about 25 minutes. Do not add water or oil.












Roast the ingredients listed at 180 C for 8 to 10 minutes.

Place the roasted ingredients and other ingredients in a bowl and mix well. To this, add all the almond butter and with a big spatula, mix by pressing down. As you do so, add the dates syrup until the mixture stops being crumbly and can be shaped.

Place the mixture in a baking tray and press down on top and the sides so that it forms a firm block. Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes at 170 C.

Cool and cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.









Priced at :
Rs. 849 / 600 grams
Rs. 1699 /1200 grams
Free delivery within South India
Courier charges as applicable to the rest of India

Bread Jamun

There's this new trend- cooking out in the open, usually in an Indian village and posting the video to Youtube. The cook is often an older gentleman or lady and the recipe a modern one or a modern spin on a classic.

I must say - I like it! It's cute, seeing a villager make pizza or a sponge cake on an open fire, sitting on the ground and sharing a story or two.

My favorite is Mastanamma. The name is fun, and she's got the kind of aged, wrinkled face that the cameras love. The kind of face you'd look at it and imagine to be a repository of wisdom. I decided to try one of her easiest recipes- Gulab Jamun made with bread. Its ridiculously simple, takes 20 minutes tops. The only recommendations I have is to add a pinch of baking soda to the mix, fry the bread balls in ghee instead of oil, keep the sugar syrup bubbling when you add the fried balls to it and allow it to soak for at least 6 hours. It vastly improves the texture and taste. I won't type out the recipe because Mastanamma is here to demonstrate :)

Croissants

Back in 2007, I was churning croissants out at an astonishing rate. My family had come together, a rare event, and croissants were my way of saying,"Here, enjoy and be fat." After almost a decade, I'm at it again and this time, for no reason at all.

Soft, buttery, delicious...and nerve racking. Placing the croissants in a warm space to proof before baking sounds easy enough, but it isn't fun to be constantly checking them every ten seconds to see how much they've risen, wondering why one batch rises more than another and generally worrying. On the other hand, watching them plump up like soft, light pillows is nothing short of miraculous. I bow my head to these creatures we call yeast.

Add caption

The recipe is right here :

https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/classic-french-croissant-recipe/

I followed it as is except for the measuring out of the croissant triangles, which I thought too finicky. It's a great recipe, provided you keep in mind the pressure points
1. Get a kitchen scale if you don't have one. It's a great help.
2. Get great quality baker's yeast.
3. Test a batch in your oven to get the baking times right.
4. When you roll out the triangles on day 3 to stretch them out, be gentle. Too much pressure destroys the layers. Also be quick, the butter melts as you handle the dough. This is something you need to be kind to yourself about because it may take a batch or three to get the hang of.

It may sound complicated, but this is actually a relaxed, easy process. And the rewards are well worth it!

Mushroom Potstickers with Mint Sauce

I am constantly reminded that I am Indian when I cook. It's tough for us to show restraint- we have too many masalas. When a traditional gravy is made, I usually go for the entire line up of spice powders on the shelf. Pick, open, shovel, dump, repeat. You don't even have to think about it. That's why I like cooking non-Indian dishes. It's challenging. Like some food pervert, I have to stop my hands from grabbing those bottles.

Potstickers. What can I say. They're always a hit. But this is the first time I made a simple western herb sauce and I tell you- you could pour that thing on stale bread and I'd wolf it down. Beautiful. I'll be making this again.



Mint Sauce

6 sprigs of mint (1 tbsp blitzed mint leaves)
1.5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tbsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.




Mushroom filling

1 cup of button mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying.
1 large onion, finely chopped

Slice the mushrooms and place them on a frying pan with a dash of oil. Season, fry both sides on high flame till golden brown and set aside. (Traditionally chopping up mushrooms and cooking them all together results in a soggy mess- which isn't bad, but I prefer this drier version albeit its complex cooking process) In the same pan, add a dash of oil, add the onions, season and fry lightly. Mix it in with the mushrooms.

Potsticker dough

1 cup plain white flour
1/4 cup of boiling water
1 pinch salt

Mix all the ingredients together and knead thoroughly for 10 minutes. The dough would be stiff and firm. Cover with a wet cloth in a bowl and set aside for 2 to 4 hours.

Assembly





Roll out the dough into a log, portion it into 7 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rough circle. Use a cookie cutter or small lid to make a perfect circle. Gently use the rolling pin to make the edges thinner than the middle. Place filling in the center, run a wet finger along the edge and seal the edge. Pleat it gently.

In a pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and place the potstickers in it. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes till the bottom is nicely golden brown. Then add about 3 tbsp of water, cover with a lid and cook for 5 to 8 minutes. Serve potstickers with mint sauce.

Jackfruit Jam

This is one of the most delicious fruits- aromatic and sweet.  Unripe, the flesh is great for chips with a dash of salt and turmeric powder. The seeds make a great spicy fried dish.  But I've never tried jam before. Leaving a whole fruit in the car and forgetting about it for a day and a half is enough to push a person towards salvaging the flesh and making a jam out of it. Simple recipe, really. I'm not a great jam eater, but I liked this on buttered toast. Making a bottle of this when the fruit is in season might be a good idea for those who like the flavor. 

Ingredients

6 cups jackfruit, deseeded, cut into strips

2 cups water

1.5 cups sugar (depends on the sweetness of the fruit)

i pinch salt

juice of one lemon

Method

Place the water to boil in a large non stick vessel. Put the jackfruit slices in and cook till the water is half gone. Add the sugar, lower the heat and cook till the mass thickens. Add the lemon juice, salt and keep it on low till it's thick. Take off the heat and leave it to cool overnight in the same vessel. It'll thicken to a jam consistency. Transfer it to a glass bottle and refrigerate.

Vegan Cauliflower Crust Pizza

It's summer. You can try to deny it, but when the sweat pours from your scalp and into your defiant eyes, you have to give up, give in and accept the fact that it is summer.

It feels like being at the focal point of a magnifying glass, being in Salem, India. The newspaper says so too.
"40 C heat bakes Salem!" ->
The people of Salem read it and feel vindicated. Yes, yes, we are being baked. My dogs and I nod along as we lie spread-eagled on the floor of my room. Then, inevitably, I unglue myself from the floor and switch on the air-conditioning, pushing aside the voice that worries about 'the role of the individual in energy conservation'. It sounds like the title of a middle school essay. But if my conscience was a book, this would be in the index. Thankfully, consciences can be conveniently ignored. And pizzas can be made.

I joined the bandwagon. I made the much celebrated 'cauliflower crust pizza'. It's vegan too! This totally balances the aircon usage. Doesn't it? It does. Anyway, this does not taste like a normal pizza for sure. The crust isn't chewy, its mealy. There's no cheese involved. However, it is delicious. The garlic powder in the crust and the herby flavors of the amazing sauce make it lip-smacking in it's own right.

A word to the wise- Make the pizza sauce, garlic powder, almond meal and any other ingredients you wish to make yourself a day or two ahead of time, leaving only the cauliflower crust to the final day.

Pizza Sauce:

2 onions, chopped
6 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 small carrot, chopped
6 mint leaves
5 basil leaves
1 bay leaf
6 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried parsley
2 tbsp olive oil

Throw everything into the pan together, cover and cook till it all softens. Cool, grind to a paste, place back in the pan and cook till reduced.

Pizza Base:

2 small cauliflowers
2 tbsp flax seed powder  stirred in 3 tbsp hot water left for 5 mins
4 tbsp ground almond meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp chilli flakes

Remove the florets, wash, drain and place them in a blender in batches. Put the pulp in a frying pan and spread it around for a few minutes. Place the pulp in a cloth and squeeze it multiple times until it's as dry as you can make it (The liquid retained along with chopped stalks make for a good soup)


Place the pulp in a bowl, add all the other ingredients and mix it all together.



Place on a baking sheet and flatten it into a 1/4 inch disc. Bake at 200 C for 30 minutes. Some of the recipes call for flipping it and baking it a while longer, but my crust was brown on both sides. I always use both the upper and lower coils of the oven.


Assemble pizza with sauce and toppings and bake for 5 to 8 mins at 200 C, upper coil only.

Home-made garlic powder and almond meal...

Way-too-healthy Cookies!

The problem with maintaining a healthy diet is that when evening comes around, you want something to bite into, and a carrot just doesn't cut it. I've tried that. I eat the carrot and then I pounce on a bag of potato chips in fury- because I made myself eat a carrot.

So I googled high and low for some guilt free yet enjoyable options that I could stock up on, and this cookie recipe caught my eye. After days of trying to get to it, I finally churned out a few batches.

No white sugar
No white flour
No eggs
No butter

I mean, come on!

Oat Flour, coconut oil, flax seeds? This is gonna be brittle sawdust, my inner pessimist told me gloomily.

As soon as they came out of the oven, I tasted a bit of one. I could smell and taste the coconut oil- probably because it came straight from our farm and was really potent. I was a bit disappointed, to be honest, and simply left the tray on the kitchen counter, writing it off as a mistake. However, my mom had one the next day and she told me they were really good. And they were! Apparently, the oil needed time to dissipate or whatever. The ones with the filling which I placed in the fridge were just awesome. So thankfully, my list is off to a good start.

Recipe (slightly modified) from - http://beamingbaker.com/healthier-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies/

INGREDIENTS
Dry Ingredients
1.5 cups homemade oat flour
¾ cup white whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 tbsp Hershey's cocoa powder
½ teaspoon coffee powder

Wet Ingredients
⅔ cup frozen coconut oil (10 tbsp)
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 flax eggs (2 tablespoons ground flax + 6 tablespoons warm water, whisk together, let set for 5 mins)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or greased foil.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: oat flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, coffee and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add coconut oil and brown sugar. Cut solid coconut oil into sugar. (Cutting tip: you can use a pastry blender or a very sturdy whisk. Using the whisk method, grind the coconut oil into the sugar using a downward, smashing motion. Keep going until you get a slightly grainy, dough-like texture).
Add flax eggs and vanilla to sugar mixture. Whisk until well incorporated.
In thirds, add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. You’ll need to flex some arm muscles for this part: whisk until it gets tough to stir and is a cohesive, well-mixed dough.
Scoop 1.5 tablespoons of cookie dough into your hand and roll into a ball. Make sure the ball is smooth and round (like a globe), otherwise the cookie will spread.
Place these balls evenly spaced apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten slightly.
Bake for 8-10 mins. After removing from the oven, place on a rack and allow it to cool.


The Filling: This is my baby. I experimented and fell in love with it when I first made tarts. It's got just two ingredients- white chocolate and cottage cheese/paneer.

So melt a bit of white chocolate using the double boiler method and to this, add paneer that you've mashed up nicely- either with a spatula or a blender. Mix them up nicely and once it's at room temperature, use it for sandwiching two of the cookies together. It's great in tarts as well!