Sweet and Soft Dinner Rolls, Spicy Rolls/Khara buns, Light Southern Banana Pudding

Hope you all had a wonderful Mom's day last Sunday. After months and months of relentless heat, we have been having a cooler weather since Sunday, perfect mild weather for mom's day here. We still need some rain though, helps a lot to keep down Pollen but no such luck so far except few sprinkles now and then.
Well..I baked some sweet rolls and using almost the same dough recipe with some variations, I improvised adding some spices, Onion flakes, garlic powder etc to bake some spicy buns too. They came out well. You can keep them for 2-3 days outside the fridge and for a week in the fridge in an airtight bag. For dessert, I made some banana Pudding using just the Graham Cracker crumbs with it to make it light. Here they are, Enjoy.

Sweet and Soft Dinner Rolls:
Who wouldn't love the sweet and soft dinner rolls? But stopping yourself with just eating one or two would be a huge problem! Haha. I found this recipe in one of the Jewish Bread-making book borrowed from the library. Recipe sounded great to me when I read it although I made some adjustments ie adding a bit less sugar than recommended in the recipe.
If you don't want 15-18 rolls, cut the recipe into half to bake less than a dozen rolls. You can also make full recipe dough, cut the dough into half and freeze half the dough for later use. All you have to do is thaw the dough completely, knead a little, divide into rolls and let it rise until it doubles and bake.

For sweet rolls, you need:
1 tbsp active dry Yeast,
4 tbsp Sugar,
1 cup + 2 tbsp Warm Milk between 90F to 110F(2% milk will do nicely),
1 tsp Salt,
1 Egg to add to the dough (optional, skip it if you like but gives a nice color if you add it)
2 tbsp Butter,
3 1/2 to 4 cups Plain flour or mix Wheat and White flour,
1 egg beaten for glazing/brushing the rolls (Optional, but gives rolls a gorgeous reddish color if you Egg glaze) or you can use melted Butter or milk to brush. on top.

To bake these:
1. Mix the Yeast, 1 tsp Sugar (out of 4 tbsp sugar), 2 tbsp warm milk (90F to 110F), let it froth for 5-10min.
2. Heat 1 cup of milk, rest for the sugar with butter until butter melts in the milk and keep aside until it cools down just "warm to touch" temperature. Add 1 egg (optional) and beat well.
3. Sift 3 1/2 cups Plain flour with Salt. Make a well in the center, add Yeast mix, mix. Add the milk mixture, mix, knead it well until you get a soft dough, not sticky. Add more flour if you want if you find the dough sticky or use the mixer with kneader and adjust the flour.
4. Cover the dough and let it rise until double. Then transfer it to fridge. (This is optional if you have time. If short of time, just punch down the dough, add any dry fruit you like at this point, knead and proceeds to make balls, cover and keep them for second rising)
5. Keep the dough wrapped in the fridge to let it rest and relax for 1 hour. Take it out and divide the dough into 15 balls. Place them on a lightly oil or butter sprayed cookie sheet as shown, cover with a clean towel, let it double in size for 1-2hrs.
6. Preheat the oven at 425F. Uncover the rolls, brush it with beaten Egg glaze for the best dark reddish color or with melted butter if you want and then place the cookie sheet in the middle rack.
7. Bake for 12-16mins or until they are puffed up and baked, depending on your oven efficiency. Do not overbake, they are soft when they are a bit undercooked. Take them out quickly, cool them on a rack. Once cooled, you can store them in a huge Zip lock bag and enjoy them any time.

Ready for Jam or Jelly!!

Khara or spicy Buns:
I love these Buns, remind me of Indian Bakery goodies. They are not as good as Bangalore Bakery ones but not bad to bake them at home and enjoy. I don't have the choice of going to the bakery and pick them up anyway! :D
Only difference in the recipe from above are the amount of Sugar and salt (more salt and less sugar for spicy buns) and addition of spices and herbs.

Ingredients are the same as above for these spicy buns except add 2 tsp salt and just 1/2 tbsp of sugar and add 1/2 tbsp mixed spices, 1/4 cup grated Carrots and 1 tbsp herbs of your choice to the dough and knead before you refrigerate the dough.
Brush the Buns with butter or beaten Egg after they are plumped/raised, sprinkle some chilli powder/paprika on top to make them attractive.
Bake as above and cool them.

Serve these as they are or with cream cheese.

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My style "light" Southern Banana Pudding:
Well...my Banana pudding, (pudding also called custard in UK), is not exactly a traditional Banana Pudding as they make in Southern US. Look at the video and the site I have linked to see how the traditional banana pudding made. I love to eat Banana Pudding but I don't like too much sugar in it or all the egg whites whipping and baking etc, which absolutely tastes great of course, but I made a quick dessert my way. Only hard work here is making Vanilla Pudding on stove top. It has all the flavors, no baking but chilled in the fridge for few hrs or overnight but very easy to make and also you can adjust the sugar as per your taste. Hope you like my style "light" Banana pudding! :)

You need: (to make 4 servings)

4 Bananas, 2 cups sweet Graham cracker crumbs (available in stores which I used here) in a box or you can use (Nilla brand is the best, very traditional to use in this pudding) Vanilla Wafers or any sweet Biscuits like Marie in India or Oreo cookies too if you like Chocolate flavored dessert like my kids do and grind them to a very coarse textured crumbs. You need Four dessert serving bowls for individual servings or make in a big bowl and scoop to bowls.

For making Vanilla Pudding:
1. Mix 1/4 cup sugar (more or less, as you like), 3 tbsp plain flour and 1/8 tsp salt well, keep aside.
2. Whisk 2 cups of 2% milk, 1 tsp Vanilla essence, 2 Eggs very well. Add to flour mix above 1/2 cup at a time and beat everything very well until there are no lumps.
3. Now put a non-stick pan on medium low heat (very imp, do not let the pudding boil!), add 2tsp butter, melt. Add all the mixture to the pan, keep whisking or stir with a wooden spoon.

4. Let it come to simmer slowly and keep stirring. Takes time, have patience, do not keep the heat high. It will be a scrambled egg mess instead of smooth pudding if you do!
5. When it starts to thicken and coats the back of the spoon, take off the heat and let it cool.
If it's too thick, you can add some more milk and gently heat again.
To make Banana Pudding:
1. Divide Cracker crumbs into 8 portions (1/4 cup each), add 1 portion each into the bottom of the bowl, top with 1/2 of sliced Banana (cut into 1/8" rounds) on top of each bowl.
2. Add cooled pudding into all bowls equally divided. Add the rest of the Banana slices and rest of the Graham cracker crumbs.
3. Chill in the fridge for 4hrs or overnight and serve.

Here is the "back of the Nilla wafer's box recipe" original Banana Pudding.
Here is a video of how to make a traditional Southern Banana breading.

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Mother's day Sunday:
My son wrote me 3 Poems for me in a handmade Heart Origami and kept it on the oven top so I can find it first thing in the morning which reduced me to tears. So sweet of him! Daughter bought me a Nikon "point and shoot" camera which I really could use since my old one was all scratched up. We went out to lunch and then to "Iron man 2" movie. Movie was okay, not much story to remember forever but much more fun for kids than adults (or rather, not much fun for adults like me with different taste in movies!:D) and cool effects of all those Ironman's suits was remarkable. Liked Gwyneth Paltrow's character of "Pepper Potts" better than anybody else in the movie.
Book I am listening to:
I am currently listening to a CD book called "The Bluest Eyes" by Toni Morrison. Listening to Audio books are much easier than reading for me right now, saves me from lot of eye strain. I get some of the audio books from the library since CD books can be very expensive to buy and download to my iTunes to listen to whenever I have some free, quiet time, specially after 8pm.
Free Audio books to download and listen at your leisure:
If you are interested in MP3 or iTunes downloading the Audio books for free, here are few sites called "Librivox" and "Booksshouldbefree". You will have download a program called "winRAR.zip" and then add to iTunes or directly to iTunes to listen in iPod Itouch. My son (I am not Tech savvy at all!) installed Zip program which is also free on the web and showed me how to download the stories to iTunes and then to my iTouch. I love to listen to classic stories by Leo Tolstoy instead of reading the big books. Most readers at these sites are good, as these are Public domain books and different volunteers read the different books. Some are terrible readers, so listen to samples first to see if you like the reader's voice at "booksshouldbefree" site and then download the books. My faves are Thomas Hardy books, studied one of his books "Far from the Madding crowd" for PUC English long time ago, been a fan of his books since then! Ah....sweet memories! :)

Free books to read on the web!
If you want to read the short stories or classics on your PC or Laptop screen for free, here is a site called "Short Stories@Classic reader". Just login to become a member or click on the link to start reading the stories. Most of them are unabridged classic books ie full uncut stories for adult, kids and young adults. You are free to print them out to read them on the beach or lazy Summer evenings on the deck or porch as well. What a great service by these people! Have fun.

Have a wonderful week and weekend my friends! :)

Hurulikalu (Horsegram) Kurma, Laccha Parathas, Pickle Masala Dal, Adai with Peanut chutney and ghee

After that unusual relentless snow fall for 12 hrs here last weekend, I wanted to make something spicy to eat like South Indian style Kurma, dal and Parathas! Blame the bitter cold weather these days, it's making me crazy to cook with more spices than usual but I have successfully avoided the deep fried snacks like Pakoras so far the past few months, don't know how long it will last. Very hard to resist fried snacks on cold and cloudy days, believe me, since I LOVE to munch on crunchy snacks! :D

Note to event hosts: If any dish I post here suits your event, let me know. I will gladly send it to you as I don't have the current info of all the events going on. Unfortunately, I can't post any of the event logos as I am reaching my limit of photos I can post at blogger, I will have to pay for more space once I go over that limit, probably very soon. As you can see I post too many photos of my own in every post already!

Hurulikalu/Horsegram Kurma:
Here is some information about Horsegram. This is my favorite legume, also called Kollu, Kulthi, Muthira, Kulith, Uluvalu and also Hurulikalu in Kannada, rich in iron and fiber. It's not available in any regular grocery store but usually packs are available in Indian stores. For this Kurma, you can use any kind of beans, canned or dry and soaked like Blackeyed beans, Crowder beans, whole Moong, dry green peas etc. with the same masala paste. You can increase the nutritious value by sprouting the beans as well.
For sprouting, you soak the dry beans overnight, drain the water, tie it up in a cheese cloth, put it in a pan and cover it overnight. Beans will sprout in 12 to 24hrs and then cook the beans with water.
Sending Horsegram Kurma to Susan and Rachel's "MLLA #20" event. Thank you to both of you for organizing and hosting.

For Kurma:
Take 1 cup dry Hurulikalu/Horsegram, soak in water overnight, drain the water and cook with 1 1/2 cups of water in a pressure cooker along with 1 tsp ghee, 1/2 tsp Turmeric and 1/4 tsp salt. Do not overcook the beans until it's a mush.

Saute all these separately until light color and grind to a smooth paste adding 1/2 tsp thick Tamarind paste:
3 tbsp dry or fresh Coconut,
1" ginger, chopped,
1 tbsp Poppy seeds,
1 tsp Fennel seeds,
1/2-1 tsp Methi seeds,
1 small onion, chopped,
1 1/2 tbsp Coriander seeds,
2 tsp cumin seeds,
2-3 dry red chillies,
2-3 cloves,
1" Cinnamon stick.

To make Kurma:
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil, add ground masala to the pan, stir for a minute. Add cooked Horsegram with it's water and simmer for 10-15mins.
2. Adjust the salt and spices, cook until sauce thickens a bit. Garnish with 2 tbsp chopped Cilantro and serve with a slice of Lemon.

Another look of Hurulikalu Kurma:
Here are more side dishes recipes I have posted before. I know it's hard to find dishes in both of my blogs because I post multiple recipes in one post, so I will make it a bit easier to find them for you in every post from now on! :)
If you have a big pack of dry Kulith, you can soak the Beans overnight, sprout if you want, cook with little salt, divide into desired portions just enough for your family and freeze the cooked beans in zip-lock bags to use next time. All you have to do is take out the frozen bag, keep it in the fridge overnight and use it with any masala next day. Easy!

Sending this Kurma to Indira's and Siri's "JFI-Fennel" event, my thanks to both you.
Also sending Kurma to Priya's and Denufood's event "Cooking with seeds-Fenugreek", thanks girls.

Laccha Parathas:
Laccha or layered Parathas are soft and layered because of how we fold and roll the Paratha dough, there are so many ways you can fold them as well. Once cooked, push the sides of the Paratha to release the layers and serve them right after cooking for the best taste. Or cool them before you store them in an airtight box until needed. You can reheat again on the griddle or in the microwave.

How to fold and make layers for Laccha Parathas:
Mix 2 cups Whole wheat flour, 1 tsp salt and tbsp oil with enough hot water, knead well to firm dough, brush oil on top, cover and rest it for 20mins. Divide into equal size portions, roll out to circle, brush some oil and sprinkle some flour on the surface. Following the photos below, make pleats, stretch and wind around itself and roll out again gently. Cook both sides until golden and brush with some butter if you like on one side.
Here is a list of different Rotis, Parathas, Bhaturas and Naan recipes list I have posted in my blogs so far.

Pickle/Achar Masala Dal:
After I made Parathas stuffed with Flax seed chutney powder, I was curious as to what other kind of powder I can add to make more dishes. I had planned to make the usual dal , didn't have the time to make masala powder. Then I saw SWAD brand Pickle masala in the fridge, looked bright red and smelled good. So I added 1-2tsp to the cooked dal. It tasted so good, I thought of taking a photo of dal to post here. If you don't have pickle masala, you can also add 1 tbsp of Lemon pickle or Mango pickle from the jar (I like Raji brand lemon pickle best) too. I have plans to make Parathas layered with Pickle masala too, would be wonderful. Typical Pickle masala powder is usually has chilli powder, Mustard seeds, Fenugreek seeds, turmeric, salt.
Here and here are more dals, Kadhis, Pickles etc from my previous posts.

To make Pickle masala dal:

1. Cook 1/2 cup Chana dal and 1/2 cup Tuar dal with 2 cups of water, 1/2 tsp Turmeric and 1 tsp oil or ghee in a pressure cooker until soft.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil, add 1 tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, few curry leaves, 1-2 dry red chilles, 1 tsp grated ginger, pinch of hing, saute for a minute. Add 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, saute until soft.
3. Add cooked dal, enough salt, 1-2 tsp pickle masala pd (adding more makes it bitter because of the Fenugreek seeds) or 1 tbsp lemon pickle from the jar (chopped if lemon pieces are too big), simmer for 5 mins. Adjust the spices and garnish with Coriander leaves.
Note: If adding pickle masala powder, add a bit of tamarind paste to dal to simmer. Tamarind is not necessary if you are adding chopped lemon pickle with Lemon or mango pieces, these provide the necessary tanginess to the dal.
Sending this quick dish to Rahin for her "Semi homemade" event. Thanks Rahin.

Multi dal Adai, Peanut Chutney with ghee, a wholesome breakfast:
One of the best dosas I have ever made and tasted is Adai which is full of protein with mixed dal and brown rice with little hint of spices. Even better thing I like most about these Adais is that there is no need to ferment it like traditional dosa batter and can make them quickly if you have about 2 hrs for soaking the dals and rice. My kids like them too which is great, they don't like dosas and idlis usually! Makes a very nutritious, filling breakfast with healthier Peanut chutney topped with little ghee for kids and gives them a great start for the day in school too. Best served right off the griddle/Tava crisp and hot. Enjoy. More variety of Dosas are here.

To make mixed Dal Adai:

1. Soak 1/4 cup each of Brown rice, Tuar dal, Channa dal, Urad dal and Moong dal for 2 hrs, drain and add to a mixer.
2. Add 1 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp paprika for color, 1/4 tsp Turmeric, enough salt, grind all these into a smooth paste. No need to ferment.
3. Add more water to thin it if needed to make into a pourable batter. Heat a non-stick griddle and make dosas until golden. Serve hot with Peanut chutney and ghee.

Peanut chutney recipe is here.
Homemade ghee recipe is here.
I am sending this Adai, Peanut chutney and ghee to Srivalli's "Kids delight-Wholesome Breakfast" event. Thanks for hosting Sri! :)

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Movies:
"Enter the Dragon", a 1973 Bruce Lee last movie!! Yes, I watched that movie at last! I always heard this cult like following of martial art king Bruce Lee, never had the chance to watch it until last week. He supposed to have died 6 days before this movie released. It came on cable TV and I recorded it quickly to DVR. It's really good, HD quality makes it better to watch with clear picture and sound quality. It's a classic, loved it. WIKIPEDIA says "In 2004, Enter the Dragon was deemed "culturally significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

New York, I love you:
A surprisingly good movie, funny, sad, romantic, sexy. I have never even heard of this movie before, apparently didn't run well in theaters and didn't make much money. I just rented it on a whim as nothing else good was available to watch on a cold and rainy day but I loved it. So happy to see Natalie Portman (who shaved her head completely to play a Jewish bride in this movie!) and Irfan Khan (plays a Gujarati shopkeeper) paired up together for few mins (story by Mira Nair), odd but so sweet. It's about 11 short stories of people who live in New York city and their daily lives, like reading a book with short stories. Definitely worth renting ($1+tax/night @ Redbox) to watch.

I bought a complete set of that hilarious British comedy series called "Fawlty Towers" with John Cleese and Prunella Scales. I used to watch every episode when we used to live in England. When we had cold snowy weekend here, we watched about 5 episodes with a cocktail in hand. These episodes are "laugh out loud" and enjoyed them. They never get old no matter how many times you watch the same old episodes.

Books:
I am still reading David Sedaris's "Naked", which I mentioned in my last post, didn't get much time to read last week. My son was home, so more work for me in the kitchen! ;D

Dante's "Divine Comedy":
When I was in Barnes and Noble book store on Sunday I found a big and beautiful edition of Dante's "Divine comedy; Hell..Purgatory...Paradise", translated by Henry W.Longfellow. My son read it last month in Kindle edition and loved this book, so I bought it for him for keepsake. Book is not in prose but in Canto. It's a bit intimidating to look at this book and even dare to start reading but I must try! When a 14year old can read and love the stories in Canto, I better shape up and read it myself!
On her show Oprah once said "I am scurrred! (scared!)" when she challenged her audience and herself to read a long book like Leo Tolstoy's "war and Peace" which she hadn't read before because of the volume of that book. I can say I am "scurred" too to read a book like Divine Comedy in Canto!! But what the heck....if sra can write her recipes poetically then I can read it poetically at least, right?! :D

Snow in NC! We had about 8" of snow fall overnight last weekend and freezing rain to top it all yesterday. It is absolutely beautiful to look outside, like Winter wonderland but can be very dangerous for drivers on the road. They have even canceled the schools since Friday afternoon!!

Have a peaceful, safe rest of the week and Superbowl weekend! GO SAINTS!!:)

Steakhouse style Bushman bread, Easy Cinnamon-Sugar Rolls, Spicy Onion-Chilli Crackers

Hello friends....It's Wednesday, that time for my long "just-once-a-week-but-with-multiple-dishes-Books-Movies" post again! I do feel your pain..I do....I do! Please bear with me!! ;D

Here is a bread as I had planned to bake last week. I hadn't baked in few weeks, so I thought it's high time I used my oven. This particular Bread is called Bushman Bread. I am assuming here that it's a Australian country style bread as you can guess by it's name. Whenever we go to Australian style (Americanized?) Outback Steakhouse restaurant, they serve these freshly baked dark chocolate colored (almost like Ragi flour bread! :D), elongated bread speckled with yellow coarse cornmeal for a starter along with whipped soft butter and a big serrated knife. It's slightly sweet and very tasty bread, my kids fight over it. I desperately wanted to try to bake this bread at home but where do you I get the recipe?

Well...Todd Wilbur comes to the rescue of course!! He has written many "Top Secret Restaurant recipes" books, your favorite chain restaurant dishes which he experiments in his kitchen to replicate/clone the restaurant tastes. I have bought 3 of his books. I found this Bushman bread recipe is in his second book which also lists hundreds of recipes cloning different chain restaurant dishes. I have tried few of his KFC recipes like Coleslaw and Potato salad, turned out very well, some don't taste like the original but very close.

Honey-Wheat Bushman bread has a unique dark color which is hard to get just by adding Cocoa powder but this author has mastered that dark chocolate color by adding 3 different food colors. As you can see, bread is delicious by adding very less sugar, dark Molasses and some honey. This recipe I have used is almost as it is in his book except I added less honey and some Walnuts for texture. I made the shape of the bread to 4 round loaves instead of elongated shapes, less work for me and they freeze very well in air tight Zip-Lock bags for later use. I also made extra Virgin Olive oil dip with herbs for this bread (since I made my bread lot less sweeter than his recipe). I like it better than having it with Butter. Original Bushman bread as they serve in the Outback steakhouse looks like this. Enjoy.

Slice of Honey-Walnut Bushman Bread with soft whipped Butter:
I made this with less honey than required, so it will taste good with Herby Olive oil as a dip. If you want to make it sweet, add more honey and skip milk as I have given you in (....). Brush the whipped sweet Butter thinly on the slice and enjoy. Here are more breads, cakes etc. I have posted before in both of my blogs.

Make Yeast mix first:
1. Heat 1 1/4 cup water until luke warm.
2. Add 2 tsp Sugar and 1 Pack or 2 1/4 tsp of dry active Yeast and let it foam for 5 mins. Make sure dry Yeast is fresh, not sitting there in your pantry and expired as it happens to me sometimes.
3. Once foamed, add 1 1/4 tsps red food color, 1 tsp Yellow food color, 1 tsp blue food color to yeaat mix and mix. (Believe me, you get that amazing dark color with this mix of colorings!)
Keep few tbsps of coarse yellow Cornmeal for topping the dough.

Next:
1. Mix 2 cups Bread flour (or plain flour if you don't have the Bread flour), 1 3/4 cup whole Wheat flour, 1 tbsp Cocoa powder and 1 tsp salt, mix well.
2. Add 2 tbsp softened Butter at room temperature and mix with dry flour mixture, rub in the butter.
3. Add 3 tbsp finely chopped Walnuts, 2 tbsp Molasses, 2 tbsp Honey ( or 4tbsp honey if you want sweeter, skip milk), 2 tbsp Milk.
4. Add Yeast mixture to flour mixture, mix and knead for 10mins. Make a dough, cover and let it rise for 2 hours or double in size.

Then:
1. Divide this dough into 4 or 6 equal portions. I made into 4 round loaves. Traditionally, make into 6 portions, roll to a 6" by 2" elongated logs.
2. Rub some water on the loaves with your hand, then sprinkle Cornmeal on top of each, press gently to make then stick. Book says roll the whole log in Cornmeal but I thought sprinkling is on top is better. Your choice.
3. Place these on a cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap ot towel. Let it rise again for an hour or double in size again.
To bake:

Heat the oven to 350F.
Uncover the loaves and bake them for 30-40mins. Cool them on a rack and serve.

Honey-Wheat Bushman bread loaf with Olive oil and herb dip:
If you make the Bushman bread with less honey, not so sweet, Olive oil with herbs and lemon juice makes a wonderful dip for these slices. If you make it sweeter, just serve the slices with whipped Butter or Cream cheese.
Olive oil dip with herbs for not so sweet Bushman bread:

Whisk 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil, 2 tsp fresh Lemon juice, 1 tsp dry Italian mixed herbs, 1/4 tsp Garlic powder (Optional), pinch of salt and pinch of sugar well until well mixed and creamy.
Sending this to PJ's "No Cook" dishes event, enjoy the dip and thanks for hosting PJ.

Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Crescent rolls:
When the kids come home from school in the evening tired and hungry, these are perfect for those times. I don't like desserts/sweets personally (give me few savory snacks anytime instead!:P) but I often make these little quick Cinnamon and sugar/brown sugar rolls using Pillsbury Crescent crust (comes in tubes) for my son. You can use any short crust pastry or bread dough and follow the same procedure. Dust with some sugar powder or drizzle with icing on top. If you want to try authentic Cinnarolls, click here for my recipe.
Here is how:
Open the can, spread the 8 triangles you get in the can on a non-stick cookie sheet. Pinch the dough gently and close all the gaps you see in the triangles to make one big rectangle sheet. Do not stretch or press the dough hard. Butter is not needed. Sprinkle 2 tbsps good quality sweet Cinnamon powder (not the spicy Cassia bark powder like Indian one) evenly on top, then sprinkle as much sugar as you like, white or brown sugar (ran out of Brown sugar which I prefer usually), press very lightly for them to stick. Take a plastic knife so you don't damage the non-stick surface of the cookie sheet with steel knife, cut lengthwise in the middle, roll from the side tightly to a long rope, seal the sides by pressing the ends. Repeat the other side.
Then cut about 2-3" portions out of long rope, separate the portions and put the upright with the swirls showing on top. Bake at 350F (or as the instruction says on the tube) for 15-17mins. Do not bake until very crispy. They cook as they cool but make sure sugar starts melt. Use your judgment how long to bake depending on your oven, ovens varie in temp. Take the sheet out, drizzle icing on top while they are hot or if you want to use Sugar powder on top, let the rolls cool before you dust then with confectioner's sugar . Cool thoroughly on a rack, store in a container with tight lid and serve.
Icing: Mix 1/2 cup Sugar powder and 2-3 tsps of milk or cream, mix to a creamy consistency. You can add food color of your choice of younger kids to make it attractive.
Sending this to Rahin's "Semi-Homemade" event. Thank you Rahin, enjoy the event! :)

Here ( http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2009/03/two-kerala-delicacies.html) is another Savory Spinach and Feta rolls I made last year with the Pillsbury Crescent triangles.

Onion-Chilli Flakes baked Crackers:
Shammi of "Food in the Main" blog started this trend (Thank you Shammi!) of baking these great tasting "Crunchy baked Methi Biscuits" few years ago. She posted it in 2006 to be exact and this wonderful biscuit/crackers recipe caught on like wildfire making rounds in many blogs, just like the "No knead bread". We are all baking away these very tasty crunchy crackers with slight variations of our own ever since then.
I based the recipe for my Onion-chilli flakes crackers/biscuits on Shammi's original recipe with my own variation ie adding some Rice flour for crispness and few tbsps of Besan for taste and color (with not so healthy plain white flour too! :D). Didn't add Methi mainly because of unavailability of good quality Methi leaves here. Nevertheless, they taste fabulous. Here is my way with slight variation, enjoy.

For onion crackers, you need:
1 1/2 cups Plain all purpose flour, (you can use Whole Wheat flour)
6 tbsp rice flour,
2 tbsp Besan/Chickpea flour,
3 tbsp butter, melted,
2 tbsp oil,
1 tsp Baking soda,
1 tsp or more salt,
1 small Onion, very finely chopped,
2 tsp dry red chilli flakes or 2-3 fresh red or green chillies finely chopped,
1/2 tsp crushed Peppercorns and 1 tsp Garlic pd, (optional),
1 tbsp Sesame seeds,
2 tsp crushed or powdered cumin seeds,
2 tsp Coriander seeds, coarsely crushed or powdered,
1 tbsp each Coriander leaves and curry leaves,very finely chopped.
1/4 cup water or more as I needed.

To bake these crackers:
1. Mix all the above ingredients including herbs, soda, salt, butter and oil until crumbly first, then add water by the tbsps and knead gently to a slightly firm dough, adjusting the salt, spices and water as needed. Don't make it too soft like Chapati dough!
2. Roll out the dough to 1/8" or 1/4" thick circle, take a 2" or 3" round cookie cutter or in shapes like Shammi's biscuits and cut them out. (or you can take small portions of dough balls and press them to small circles by your palm or using your fingers as well)
3. Place them on a parchment paper on a cookie sheet/tray 1" apart from each other. Gather the remaining dough after you cut the rounds, knead to a mass again, roll out and cut more circles.

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Bake them for about 30-40mins depending on your oven or until they are slightly golden on the edges. Don't bake too long. They keep baking even after they are taken out of the oven.

Tip: Don't let them get too brown in the oven. If you think these crackers are slightly unbaked in the middle after you take them out and cooled, you can always put them in the microwave and heat up for few seconds/mins. Once they are cooled, they will get crisp again. Can't fix them if you let them bake too much, can you?!
I am sending these crackers to Priya's "Cooking with seeds-Sesame seeds" event, thanks for hosting Priya!
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Movies I rented to watch from the Red box:

"Surrogates" ,
one of those Science fiction movies. It's alright, a entertaining thriller, watchable once. One man trying to save the humanity again, this time against the future Technology.
Bruce Willis is my son's most favorite actor. My son watches all his movies, specially "Die Hard" movies multiple times and even gets VERY upset if Bruce Willis dies in one of the movies! I think if Bruce Willis is ready to adopt him, my son will say "yes, please" and just move out of here in a second!! ;D
"SAW VI" released on DVD, latest one of my favorite scary movie "SAW" series. Mr.Jigsaw says "once you see death up close, then you know the value of life". So he tortures the bad people who don't care about others, lets them punish themselves and learn from this experience if they survive. This time, it's that Heath Insurance management guy's turn to pay for his sins who approves or disapproves your health insurance application, thereby deciding whether you and your family members live or die! A must watch but don't watch this movie if you don't have the stomach for blood and gore. Of course I loved it! GRUESOMEly awesome!!! Hahaha!
"This is it", Micheal Jackson's most beautiful last movie or rehearsal video recorded just before he died. He was truly a genius, looked reasonably healthy, a bit thin and nervous but very happy to be there on that stage. You can feel it in your bones how much love he had for music and perfection when you watch him act, dance, sing so naturally and as an artist, his unnecessary death is a humongous loss to us all. RIP, MJ.
"Bright Star", a love story between British poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. He dies at the young age of 25 of a disease, believing himself as failure as a poet! Very interesting and very tragic.

Book:
After sra commented about the book she was reading in my last week's post written by David Sedaris (who is from North Carolina which made me more curious about his books and found out that he is also on NPR's "This American Life."!), I quickly downloaded one of his books "Naked" to my Kindle 2. It's really hilarious to read, he has a wicked sense of humor. I just started reading the first few chapters, made me laugh already. Thanks sra.
I also ordered his book Me Talk Pretty One Day too but should have bought his Audio Cd book. Listen to a sample here, sounds so funny with NC accent, doesn't it? Can't wait to read the book. Nice change for me to read these lighthearted books with a smile after reading pretty serious books like "Push" and "Say you are on of them" last month!

Have a enjoyable weekend.

Masala Rava Idlis, Potato-Carrot Kurma, Peanut Chutney and Flax seed Chutney powder Paratha

I trust that you are all enjoying relatively better weather for the past few days. We had almost 60F after a month of bitter cold temperature, great to feel the warm Sun on your face. Of course I have already forgotten all about those dog days of last Summer with 98F! :D

Martin Luther King, Jr.:
This is the house where he was born on Jan 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, GA. We were in Atlanta, GA for New Year's weekend, visited the Zoo, GA Aquarium and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Museum, his home, his church etc,. Thought I would post this photo of his pretty house for you.

Last weekend was fun too. We went to Monster Truck Jam at last after missing that event many times before. It was so much fun. There were about 6-7 Monster trucks and was only one lady driver in this Dalmatian Monster Truck with a tail and a pink tongue too, very cute! We screamed the loudest for the lady. She was very good!! But a truck called Grave Digger won in the end. With a name like that, you better believe he would win too! :D

Well..looks like my brain is thawed too just like the weather. Last week, I couldn't think of anything new to post for this week. I guess with my 166+ posts and thousands of dishes here, I have anything left to post every Wednesday! That was what I was thinking but then I realized that I have never posted Rave/Rava idlis as my mother makes them back home. So I made Rava Idlis with some herbs and spices along with a Kurma and Peanut chutney. Makes great combo for dinner and I also used Porcelain or ceramic cereal bowls to steam the Rava idlis instead of using regular Idli stand, so one single idli would be very filling. Give it try if you like, Idlis are my mother's version, Kurma is something I usually cook with different combination of vegetables with the same spice paste, this time with just Carrots and Potatoes and I love the taste of roasted Peanuts in chutney with these Idlis! :)

Masala Rava/Semolina/Cream of Wheat Idlis, Potato-Carrot Kurma with spicy Peanut Chutney:
I steamed these idlis in a wide mouthed ceramic/Porcelain cereal bowls, two at a time in the pressure cooker, stacking the bowls on top of each other. I keep one bowl filled halfway with batter at the bottom of the pressure cooker, use Chinese (flat wooden) chop sticks across the bowl and keep another bowl on top to steam without the use of pressure cooker weight. You can just use the regular Idli stand with this batter. Also adjust the Buttermilk in this recipe to add less or more depending on the quality of Semolina you have at hand, should be like Idli batter somewhat.

Masala Rava Idli:
1 1/2 cups of coarse Semolina/Rava (don't use very fine textured Rava, roast this in a non-stick pan without oil until golden, cool it),
2 cups Buttermilk (mix 1 cup Yogurt and 1 cup water, beat well), add enough salt to taste and 1/4 tsp Baking soda. (You can add chopped cooked or canned Peas, sliced Green beans and grated Carrots to the batter)
For seasoning:
Heat 1 tbsp ghee, add 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 2 tsp Urad dal and 2 tsp Chana dal, 3 tbsp broken Cashewnuts, let the dals turn little golden. Add 1 tsp finely chopped Green Chillies or 1/4 tsp red chilli flakes, 11/2" finely chopped ginger, few curry leaves, finely chopped and 2 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped. Stir for a minute until the Cilantro wilts. Take off the heat and cool it.
Mix cooled seasoning into beaten Yogurt, salt and baking soda, mix well. Add the cooled Semolina to Yogurt and mix well until you get a smooth batter. Cover and rest the batter for 10-15mins.
To Steam:

1. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of batter to two cereal bowls, keep them aside. Add 3" of water inside the pressure cooker, place the stand (which comes with pressure cooker) on the bottom, let it boil.
2. Place in a bowl carefully on the stand or grill, place few wooden chopsticks across the bowl and place another bowl on top of first one.
3. Cover with the lid and steam for 15mins on high heat without weight. Turn off the heat, take the bowls out carefully and invert them after few seconds of cooling. Serve hot.

Potato-Carrot Kurma:
You need to:
Cook 1 cup whole Baby Carrots, salt and 2 cups of 2" peeled and cubed Potatoes with some water in the microwave until almost done and keep it aside.(can add more vegs if you like)
Dry roast until reddish and grind these spices with few tbsp of water:
1 tbsp Poppy seeds, 1 tbsp Coriander seeds, 2 tsp Chana dal, 2 tbsp dry coconut, few dry red chillies, 2 cloves and 1" Cinnamon (Indian Cassia Bark/chakke).
For seasoning:
1 tsbp oil, 1 tsp Mustard seeds, pinch of Hing and few curry leaves (optional), 1tbsp ground or grated ginger. 1/4 cup Tomato sauce.
Garnish: with finely chopped Cilantro.

To make Kurma:
1. Heat oil and add mustard seeds, hing, curry leaves, let it splutter. Add ground ginger, stir for a while and then add tomato sauce, fry until oil shows up on top. Add ground wet masala/spices, stir fry for a minute.
2. Add cooked Carrots and Potatoes with it's water, boil, and simmer until they are cooked but not very soft and most water is gone and sauce is thicker.
3. Adjust the salt and chilli pd if needed. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with Rava idlis.

Peanut Chutney:
For chutney:
1. Heat a pan, roast 1/2 cup Peanuts until crisp. Take them out and cool them. Add 1/4 cup grated coconut, roast them until slightly golden. Take it out.
2. Add few dry red chillies, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds, stir fry for few mins. Cool.
3. Add all the above to a mixie bowl along with 1" chopped ginger, 1/2 tsp tamarind paste, few tender Cilantro stems and enough salt.
4. Grind to a smooth paste with minimum of water added. Take out in a bowl.
5. Heat 2 tsp oil, add 1 tsp mustard seeds. When they splutter, take off the heat and cool. Add to chutney and mix.
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Flax seeds Chutney Powder:
I have heard that Flax seeds are one of the super foods and I have seen some Indian bloggers making the chutney powder with Flax seeds. I read that eating whole Flax seeds do not help you because they are hard to digest. You have to powder the Flax seeds to aid digestion and advised not to use more than 1-2 tbsps a day since too much of intake of these seeds in a day causes stomach upset. Like everything in life moderation helps!
I found a big pack of Flax seeds in our usual grocery store last week, so I thought of making some chutney powder in a similar (but not the same, no coconut added to this) way my mother makes Chana dal and Urad dal chutney pudi but added roasted Flax seeds. Turned very well and I use chutney pudi with Chapatis or rice topped with some ghee. Tastes wonderful.

To make flax seed chutney powder:

1. Dry roast 1 cup of Flax seeds until they splutter slightly. Don't roast too much, it will taste bitter. Take them out on a paper, cool.
2. To the same pan, add 2 tbsp Chana dal, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds, few (or as many you like) dry red chillies, few black pepper corns, dry until reddish. Cool.
3. Add all this to a mixie with salt, pinch of Hing, 1 tsp dry Garlic powder, 1 tsp Tamarind powder (if you have it) or roast a piece of lumpy Tamarind until crisp, cool, add it and powder.
4. Spread on a paper towel, cool the chutney powder completely before storing it in a bottle with tight lid. I keep it in the fridge, lasts longer as Seeds get rancid quickly at room temperature.
Make it spicy, tastes wonderful and good for you too.

Flax seed chutney powder in layered Parathas:
I also experimented by adding 1 tbsp of Flax seed chutney pd to make layered Parathas. See the link to see how to roll out triangular Parathas. You sprinkle the chutney pudi in between layer as you fold the layered Parathas and cook them as usual.

Here is how to make layered triangular Parathas.
Roll out the dough to a circle, brush some oil or ghee on top and sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of chutney pudi, fold the Paratha into half. Brush with ghee or oil again, sprinkle 1 1/2 tsp of Chutney pudi and fold again to a triangle and roll out again. Heat a griddle and cook Parathas on both sides and serve hot.
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Movies I watched last week:

"The Hurt Locker":
A very realistic movie about US Army Bomb sqaud who are detonating or disarming the bombs on the streets of Iraq on a daily basis. It scares you and makes you understand (although it's a fictional movie) what and how these soldiers go thru' everyday there. The fear, insecurity, bravery and heartaches of those soldiers are so palpable, always looking over their shoulders for some enemy attack is unfathomable for most of us. For some of them, even when they go home after they serve their term just can't deal with family life because they are so used to the adrenaline rush of being in the middle of a war. Even I was thinking "Hey, go back to war, you are better off there!". In the end , the main character of this movie walks off of a Army Helicopter smiling to serve another term of war!
War is always a sad thing but it also makes you grateful for these soldiers who put themselves between us and the enemy so that we can stay home safe while they take care of this harsh and dangerous, sometimes necessary business called war.

"The Book of Eli":
Visually stunning movie, a bit religious for me but I liked the movie. It's a story of what happens 30 years after the Apocalypse or "The last war" and few who survived the war were fighting to survive in chaos. One man called Eli has "The book" and walks across the country (USA) to the West trying to protect the sacred book which is supposed to save the humanity. Yes, it's a British guy who welcomes him at the Alcatraz, prints out the book which was retold by Eli's memory and stores it in a shelf along with other holy books but I didn't see the "Gita" among the books, where is it?! And does it always have to be a British guy who saves us all from every situation? ;D
Moreover the reason why I went to see this movie is because I LOVE Denzel Washington, a very handsome (still!) old guy and a great actor. I had to drag my family members to watch this movie but I did it! :P

"Paranormal activity" and "The Final Destination" are the other two movies I watched last week but I wouldn't recommend them particularly unless you are a fan of such genre of movies. I do like horror/scary/thriller movies!

I didn't have much time to read books for the past few days. I am yet to read the Kindle edition of Reader's Digest, will try and do it today.

Have a great rest of the week, see you all next Wednesday. I am planning to bake a bread for next week but don't know it will happen, will see! :)

Welcoming 2010 with a Cypriot Olive, onion and herb bread and Sweet Potato baked "Fries" with spicy Mayonnaise dip

Hello everyone!!
Hope you all had a wonderful Shivaratri, Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Eid and New Year celebrations. Yes I know, can't believe myself that I have been gone that long!!
Well... I am back to blogging in good spirits, new positivity and hope. I appreciate all your support during my long absence and thanks for all your emails, comments enquiring about my safety, well being, for missing me and asking me to return to blogging. Better late than never, so here I am.

Here is my belated new year toast to all of you. Have a very happy, prosperous and healthy 2010. Be positive, surround yourself with good things in life, keep all the toxic people out and smile more. Cherish your families and friends. Cheers!! :)

Here is a healthy tasty savory bread I baked to start the New Year after many many months of not baking anything at all and also for Thanksgiving, I had bought some Sweet Potatoes. I thought I would try baking some fries instead of deep frying to serve with a spicy hot sauce Mayo dip. They came very good, tasty sweetish fries with spicy dip for appetizer or just to snack on.

Cypriot Olive,onion and herb bread:
Source for this bread recipe is "100 Great Breads" by Paul Hollywood, with my own modifications since some ingredients are in grams in this book and he used 30gms of fresh yeast instead of dry Yeast. I had to make some adjustments in the recipe to suit me.

You need: (Makes 1 big loaf or two smaller loaves)
1 1/2 packages of dry active Yeast (or about 1 1/4 tbsp),
1 1/4 cup water, (you may or may not need all the water)
1 tsp sugar,

3 1/2 to 4 cups white bread flour,
(you can mix white and whole wheat bread flour),
1 tsp salt,
2 tbsp Olive oil,

1/2 to 3/4 cup drained well and pitted, roughly chopped black Greek Olives,
(Kalamata or any kind of Olives you like),
4 tbsp chopped white sweet onion,
2-3 tbsp fresh mixed herbs or 1 tsp crushed dry mixed herbs,
(Author used 4 tbsp chopped Cilantro but I used fresh Basil and Parsley from my herb pots).
Mix the Olives, onion and herbs and divide into two portions. Keep aside.

To bake this bread:
1. Add yeast to 1/4 cup of warm water with sugar and let it foam for 10mins in a stand mixer bowl or any big bowl you are using to knead the bread.
2. Sift 3 1/2 cups of flour, salt and add oil. Mix well. Add Yeast mixture to it and remaining 1 cup water gradually as needed and use the kneader hook for 4 mins to knead or knead the dough well by hand until soft and pliable.
3. Add 1/2 cup of remaining flour only if needed to make a soft dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces, cover the bowl and leave it to rest for an hour in a warm place.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

4. Mix the herbs, Olives and onions, divide into 2 portions. Add each portion to each piece of dough and knead to mix well. Shape into rounds. I made one big oval shaped loaf instead of two. Place both pieces of round dough on the Parchment paper on the baking sheet.
5. Sprinkle the top lightly with some flour (optional) and cut a "X" on loaves to release the steam when baking or slash the bread across 1/4" deep as you see in the picture. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to rise again for 45 mins.

Preheat the Oven to 400F.

6. Bake the loaves for 30 to 40 mins or until baked golden and sounds hollow when tapped the bottom of the bread. Don't bake too long.
7. Let it cool completely on a rack before you store in a plastic bag like Gallon size Zip-lock bag.

Serve the toasted slices with soup or with cream cheese or with hummus. You can also serve the slices with grilled meats, Greek style Yogurt salad like Tzatziki. Enjoy.

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Baked sweet Potato fries with spicy Mayo dip:
I baked these for Thanksgiving day. Deep frying the sweet Potatoes probably make them tastier, crispier and yummy I am sure. But I baked this time. Sweetish salty fries with spicy and tangy Mayonnaise dip go very well together. Enjoy.

You need:
2 Sweet potatoes, narrow and oval shaped would be good to make finger chips,
Enough salt to sprinkle. Coarse black pepper powder (optional).

To bake:

Preheat the oven to 400F

1. Wash the sweet Potatoes and dry them. No need to peel the skin unless you want to. Cut into 3 to 4" finger chips, about 1/2 " to 1" thick. Better to make them same length and thickness to bake them uniformly.
2. Layer them on a thick non-stick baking sheet, spray little Canola oil on top or mix the finger chips or fries with oil in a bowl and then layer on the sheet.
3. Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 mins or until fries are golden, cooked thoroughly and crispy. Oven time differs, so use your judgment to cook them.
4. When they are done, spread them on a cooling rack to cool them a little and sprinkle with salt and pepper to your taste.
5. Serve with spicy Mayo dip while they are still warm.

Spicy and Tangy Mayo:
1. Take 3/4 cup Hellman's Mayonnaise (light Mayo is okay too but I prefer the regular Mayo) in a bowl, add 2 tsp Sour cream, 1 tsp or more of Sri Racha hot sauce or any hot sauce you like.
2. Sprinkle 1-2 tsp of any fresh herbs you like or 1/2 tsp of Italian dry herbs, salt and pepper as need it. Some minced white sweet onion can be added too for crunch but optional. Mix well and serve as a dip with baked fries.

That's it! Beautiful to look at and very tasty appetizer or snack to serve.

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My thanks to my dearest friends!!
Sometimes life kicks you from your peaceful, happy slumber to wake you up to smell the "coffee" as they say. After you deal with the reality, in most situations, these experiences will help you change your life hopefully for the better, to make you appreciate more of what you have, realize who your true friends and well wishers really are and to find yourself again in the process even though I do not wish to repeat the last six months of 2009 ever again. Life will never be the same as before for me but I am sure it will be different in a good way. I hope, pray and wish that 2010 will be fabulous for all of us!

Here is a quote I like the most:

"A woman is like a tea bag- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water" by Eleanor Roosevelt. Here are more of them from this lady.

I had few rough months last year since July (personal, nothing to do with blogging or any blogger), took me a while to deal with all that and recover in one piece. Some of my blogger friends (you know who you all are, I am not listing your names here for privacy reasons), my dearest friends from India, my family helped me a lot during this tough time with their advice and absolute support without judgment. I really do appreciate everything you did for me and a HUGE thank you from me to all of you. I feel privileged to have you as friends in my life.

Blogging/Blog surfing:
Since I am cooking just for two most of the time these days, I won't be cooking specially for any blog events except for very few ie only if I already have any dish to post for my blogs suitable your events. Event hosts, don't take it personally please. I don't feel like cooking just for events or even blogging that much anymore, trying to cut down cooking a lot these days too.
I am also not going to blog surf a lot everyday and will not publish any negative, rude comments either, will try to keep blogs clean and positive. I will come and say hello to you whenever I see your names/blog profiles here in my blogs. I don't think I can handle surfing 200+ blogs I have listed in my reader on a daily basis, best to avoid myself getting a "carpal tunnel syndrome", seriously!! :D

I recommend these movies I loved:
"Julie and Julia", Walt Disney's "Up", "Avatar", "Sherlock Holmes" and "Nine". I liked "Nine" specially.

Have a great day, see you all next week. I still have to post my 2009 Summer garden pics!

Rumali Roti, Bell Pepper Korma, Kalonji Naan, Kalamata Olives, Artichoke hearts,Walnuts Spread/dip

Happy Easter!

We had almost 80F almost Summer like temperature last weekend, hot, humid and very windy after going thru' a long cold Winter and chilly early Spring weather. We had BBQ on the deck in the evening for dinner on Sunday, had to hold down the Lettuce and napkins on the plate from flying off of the deck though! :D
Although temp went down drastically on Tuesday, still very sunny here. To add to the joy, Tar Heels (UNC Chapel Hill athletes, Trisha's college) won their 5th NCAA championship!! YAY!! Feels great, our little white and Blue Tar Heels flag is still flying in our front yard as you can see and you can listen to the UNC fight songs here. Curious to know why North Carolinians are called "Tar Heels? Read here and here. Go Tar Heels, you made us very proud! :)

Spring Tulips:
Most beautiful of all the Spring flowers are Tulips in my opinion. Who can forget Tulip fields in Amsterdam, Holland every Spring and Fall once you visit when they are in full bloom? We visited there once about 12 yrs ago, still remember the beauty, Heaven on Earth.

Spring Tulip showcase at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC:
In Asheville, a beautiful city nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains of NC, there is a palace like largest home in America and also a luxury hotel called Biltmore Estate, built by George W. Vanderbilt, which showcases colorful flowers in "Festival of Spring" from April 4th to May 17th, 2009. They say;

"The gardens will be bursting with color and fragrance—thousands of tulips, flowering shrubs and trees, and spring bulbs dazzle your senses. Enjoy music in the gardens and in Biltmore House along with bright floral displays, springtime dining specials, and unique shopping opportunities."

Colorful Spring Tulips from my neck of the woods:

One of the weekend projects, prepped up our veggie patch:
For a starter, we topped up 3 huge bags of soil to the veggie patch, fertilized and then planted Husky red Cherry Tomato, Bush Goliath Tomato, Mint and Cayenne Pepper plants in the ground. My 4th Herb pot is ready to go with Pineapple Sage, Sweet Basil, Lemon Thyme. Right now, Herb pots are still in the garage just to be safe until temp goes up and stays up there at 70F. One single morning frost will destroy them all if they are kept outside now, may be we will get them on the deck next month. Last month, lawn was yellow and brittle and after many rainy days and fertilizing, look at that green color of that lawn now! :)

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Let's get cooking!

Rumali Roti, Bell Pepper Korma and Bharwa Baingan:
I made some Rumali rotis this week. "Rumaal" which literally means "Handkerchief" in Hindi, these rotis are made to look like Rumal because of their very thin and wide square or round shape. These are rolled out very thin and as wide as you can and baked quickly on a hot inverted Wok/Kadai to serve with gravy dishes or Kababs. I made Bell pepper Korma and stuffed masala Eggplants to go with Rumali rotis. Enjoy the recipes!

Recipe for Bharwa Baingan masala/stuffed Eggplants I have already posted last year is here.
Usually I don't get small round Eggplants here, so the recipe I posted before is made with chopped Eggplants with the same ingredients. This time, I bought some round Brinjals from the Indian store last week. I slit these round Eggplants halfway still attached to the stem and stuffed with the same ground masala and pressure cooked them on low heat to cook them just until soft but not mushy. This is my favorite masala Baingan to have with rice rottis or Rotis.

My favorite "Royal Doulton" stainless steel and non-stick Wok I used to make Rumali rotis, didin't dare to invert it! :D
Although I have a beautiful huge Wok, I didn't dare to invert it to expose the non-stick interior to direct heat which will destroy the non-stick coating. So, I heated the Wok as usual and cooked the wide thin rotis inside the Wok instead. They came out fine, not as good as you see in these videos but not bad at all. You can see how to make traditional Rumali roti here and here and here.

To make Rumali rotis:
1. Mix 1 1/2 cups of Wheat flour, 1/2 cup of plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp oil, add enough water and knead well to get a firm plaible dough. Cover and rest the dough for 30mins.
2. Divide into equal portions, roll out the dough as thin as and as wide as possible to fit into the Wok you are using.
3. Take a Wok/Kadai, invert on the medium to high heat, let it get hot or heat the wide Tava or Wok until hot. Iron Woks without handles on a gas burner do very well to invert and bake these.
4. Add the thin rotis, let it cook and bubble, quickly flip and cook the other side, fold the sides into a square like handkerchief and serve immediately if you can with veg and non-veg gravies or wrapped around the Kababs.

Bell Pepper Korma:
A south Indian "Kurma" usually has ground coconut, poppy seeds etc., slightly different ground spice masala than a North Indian "Korma" or Mughlai style "Qorma". Korma has aromatic spices mainly spices like Fennel, nut paste, little cream added with vegetables or various meats. Since I had bought green, red and orange Bell Peppers, I made a Korma masala and served with Rumali rotis.

To make Korma:
1. Chop 3 large red, Orange and Green bell Peppers/Capsicums in to large pieces. Idea is not to cook them too many but just until soft and still holding their shapes.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil, add 2 onions chopped and fry it until they are slightly golden. Then add 2" chopped Ginger and 2 large chopped garlic to onion mix and stir fry for a minute. Add these to a blender and let it cool for 2 mins.
3. In the same pan, add 1 tsp Fennel seeds, 1 tbsp Coriander seeds, 2 tsp Cumin seeds, few seeds of Cardamoms, 14-16 whole Almonds, saute slightly for 1 minute or so, add to the blender. Add 2 tbsp Yogurt and blend all these to a smooth paste. Add enough water if you need it to grind but not too much.
4. Now, heat 2 tbsp oil+butter mix in a non-stick deep pan, add the Bell pepper pieces, little salt and fry just until they get soften a bit, take them out on a plate.
5. Add ground onion masala to the same pan, fry until it smells good making sure you don't scorch the masala. Once the masala leaves the sides of the pan, add 1/4 cup Tomato sauce, 1 tsp sugar, fry again for 2 mins. Add salt, chilli pd, sauteed peppers and 1/2 cup water to the pan, simmer.
6. Lastly, mix 3 tbsp warm heavy cream and 1/4 tsp Saffron strands, add to the Korma gravy along with 1 tsp of good quality Garam Masala, simmer gently on low heat.
Garnish with Cilantro and serve with Raita and Naan or Rumali rotis.

Kalonji/Nigella seeds Naan:
Kalonjis are Nigella seeds (also known as black onion seeds although not related) in English. It has a pungent taste when eaten and is widely used in Bengali "Panch Phoran" (click on the link, Bong mom Sandeepa has a wonderful post on PP with recipes) as one of the five seeds. Kalonjis are usually added on top of Naans before baking in Tandoor. I had plans to cut and toast one of these Naans to serve with Olive spread I made below but they didn't last long enough since we had chicken masala for dinner to go with these! :D

To bake eggless Naan bread with black onion seeds:
This recipe for Naan is adapted from a cookbook by Tahera Rawji. I didn't add the Egg which was mentioned in the recipe but replaced the sesame seeds with Kalonji and followed everything else just as it is in the book. Milk pd gives it a nice texture and makes it rich, don't think it needed an egg but will add next time I make these just to see whether eggy Naan tastes any different.

1. Mix 1 pack of dry Yeast (2 1/4tsp), 1 tsp Sugar, and 1/2 cup warm water, set aside for fermenting for 5 mins.
2. Add 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp Kalonji/Nigella seeds, 5 tbsp dry milk powder to a mixer, mix for a second and add 1/4 cup vegetable to it, 5 tbsp yogurt and yeast mix to it, beat well for 3 mins until you get a firm and pliable dough. (You can add 1 egg to this dough too but it's optional, I didn't add it.)
3. Brush some oil on top of the dough,cover and let it rise in warm place for an hour or so or until double.
4. Divide this into 6-8 equal portions, knead well. Take a ball, roll out or press out with your hand to about 5" circle, pull one end to make a tear shape. Brush the top with melted butter, sprinkle some Kalonjis and press them down gently. Repeat with other balls, place them on a foil 2 at a time, cover with a kitchen towel and let them rise again for about 10mins.
5. Heat your oven to the maximum up to 500F or more with the Pizza stone or cookie sheet in, slide the naans with the foil on hot cookie sheet or Pizza stone. Bake for 7-8 mins or until they are golden on top. Do not over bake.
6. Serve as soon as possible to get the best out of these Naans.

Kalamata Olives, Artichoke Hearts and Walnut Spread/Dip:
I love Olives, will snack on them them just like candies if you give me a bowlful. Of all the Olives, Kalamata Olives are my favorite kind. Since they are relatively expensive to buy, I add some Artichoke Hearts, Walnuts etc to make a spread and enjoy it with Bagel chips, crisp Veg Crackers, any homemade toasted bread or even with sliced and toasted Naan.

To make the Spread:

1. First take about 10-15 Kalamata Olives (bottled is okay too, don't add salt and Vinegar too much since Olives are already soaked in it), slice them roughly and take the seeds out, put these in a bowl.
2. Open a can of Artichoke Hearts, drain well and chop them roughly, discard the rough and stringy parts of Artichoke. Add to the bowl with Olives.
3. Now add 2 tbsp crushed Walnuts, 1/4 tsp Garlic powder or 2 chopped Garlic, 3 tbsp or more Mayonnaise, 2 tsp Sour cream, salt (careful not to add too much if Olives are out of a bottle), plenty of freshly crushed peppercorns, 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese and 1/4 tsp Italian herb seasoning or 1 tbsp fresh Chives. Mix well.
4. Adjust the seasoning, chill in the fridge for 30 mins. Serve chilled or at room temperature with Toasted hard crusted bread, crackers or toasted Naan.

Logos and links of all the events, thanks to all of you for hosting ladies! :)

Bell Pepper Korma, goes to EC's "WYF-Side Dishes" event.
Kalonji Naan bread, goes to Dee's "Think Spice..think-Kalonji". This event is started by Sunita.
Olive-Artichoke Hearts-Walnuts Spread, goes to Priya's "AFAM-Olives", an event started by Maheswari.
Green and Red Bell Peppers Korma, also goes to Neha's "FIC-Red and Green", this event is started by Harini.
Stuffed Masala Baingan with Cashews, goes to Poornima who is guest hosting "Let's Go Nuts-Cashews", an event started by Aquadaze.

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My tried and tasted dishes from other blogs in the last 2 weeks, thanks to all of you for posting these delicious dishes ladies! :)

Porial, from Nags. (Didn't have Eggplants, used Beets instead)
Vankaya Bagara, from Vijaya.
Capsicum and Tomato Pappu, from Priya.
Beet Root-Corn Upma, from Ashwini.

Movies I watched and liked last week:

"Seven Pounds":
I didn't hear much about this movie before when it's released but picked up to watch last week. I loved it. Film is about a well educated guy who gets into a car accident which kills seven people including his fiancée. He gets depressed and decides to donate his seven organs/body parts (seven pounds flesh) to seven people who deserve them so they can live. He tests 7 people to make sure they deserve his eyes, Liver, Kidneys, Bone marrow etc. When he finds 7 people, he kills himself so others can have his body parts. It is a very emotional movie to watch, takes some courage to do something like that in real life and I think this is Will Smith's best movie so far, loved his "The pursuit of happyness" movie as well.

"Marley and Me":
This movie is based on a book of the same name. A young couple adopt a yellow Labrador puppy and he writes a column in his newspaper about it as their 12 yrs of marriage and their dog Marley go through various stages of joys and sorrows of their lives until the end of Marley's life. My both kids cried watching this movie when Marley dies of old age. Dog lovers shouldn't miss this movie!

Book I am currently reading:

"The Girl From Foreign" by Sadia Shepard.
This book is somewhat similar to "Burnt Bread and Chutney" by Carmit Delman I have reviewed before in my older post. It's a biographical story of an American girl Sadia Shepard whose mom is a Pakistani Muslim amd dad is an Christian American from Colorado. Sadia's grandmother who lives her family one day tells her that she was born in Bombay to a Bene Israli Jewish family and her real name was "Rachel Jacobs".
When her grandmother had married to a Pakistani Muslim later, she had converted to Islam and moved to live in Pakistan and had her children there as well. Sadia becomes curious about her grandmother's Jewish roots, gets a schalorship to go to India and do a reserch film on Bene Isrreli community and to learn about her own roots in the process. When she goes to meet people in India on the first day, they refer to her as "that girl from foreign with a muslim name!" :D
Intesting book, keeps you glued to the book and also we can see her confusion because of her multi cultural and multi religious upbringing when visiting Bombay for the first time to film about Bene Israel Jewish community, meet her surviving family and her grandmother's childhood home. It's heartening to see the old photos of her family in Bombay in this book and read about India and Indians thru' Sadia's eyes.

Enjoy the better weather and have a fun week and the weekend too. Spring break is on for all the kids here from Saturday, I will be taking little easy on blogging next week since kids want to go out more if they are at home! :)