Vegetable Khichadi

 

Khichadi is a very Indian recipe that has slightly different approaches in different states.  Generally, a combination of rice, lentils and spices plus optional vegetables are basic to khichadi recipe as suggested by khichadi.com.

Ingredients

• ½ cup rice short grain or long grain or basmati
• ½ cup moong dal (having the husk on the dal improves the fibre content of the dish)
• 1 medium sized potato cut into small cubes
• ½ cup of frozen peas
• 1 table spoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• Whole spices (3 cloves, inch stick cinnamon, 3 small red chillies) optional
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon of asafoetida 
• 1 medium green chilli finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped ginger 
• 1 table spoon of finely chopped garlic
• Salt to taste

Method

• Mix the rice and dal add water and wash the grains. Wash it twice to get rid of as much starch as possible. Drain and set aside.
• In a large pan heat the olive oil and cumin seeds.
• Once the cumin starts to sizzle and darken add the asafoetida, and the whole spices.
• Continue adding green chillies, ginger and garlic and sauté for a minute.
• Add the chopped potatoes and peas. Stir and add turmeric and salt.
• Sauté for minute and add the rice and the dal in the pan. Mix well to coat the grains with the oil.
• Add 3 and half cups of water and bring to boil. Put a lid on the pan and turn down the heat to low and leave to simmer. 
• Cook until all water has been absorbed. 
• Serve it hot with a spoon full of ghee or butter.

Tips

• The ratio of rice to lentils to water is – 1.1.3 ½ 
• I often turn of the heat when just a drop or two of water still remains as in the residual heat of the pan and cooling electric hob will finish off the cooking time. If you are cooking on gas flame then wait till the water is absorbed before turning off the heat.
• Vegetable added can vary according what is available. You can add finely chopped runner beans, shredded cabbage, small cubes of capsicum, cauliflower florets. All vegetable should be cut similar size so that it gets cooked in the 20 or so minutes it takes for the water to be absorbed.
• You can add turmeric according to taste if you want to add a little more.
• You can eat it as it is or with some plain yogurt or some cucumber raita.

Blueberry Cupcake

 

I love a blueberry cake and have not been able to make it just like shop bought ones. I guess we try not to use that much butter and sugar which is probably the reason. Then we found an easy to make blueberry muffin recipe and thought to give this cake a try. Also, from previous baking of cakes we found it cuts the cooking time down if instead of a cake tin, we bake in the muffin tray. It also helps in equal sharing of the cake as generally it is either 6 or 12 cupcakes made. 

While mixing the cake dough we realised that the recipe actually was not accurate as the liquid was not adequate and so we adapted to get the right consistency and the result was excellent cake.

Ingredients

 2½ cups (375g) of sifted self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (220g) raw sugar

½ cup (125ml) olive oil

1 egg

½ cup (125ml) milk

½ cup (125 ml) of butter milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

300g fresh or frozen blueberries

1 table spoon of self-raising flour

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).

Place the flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl.

Place the oil, egg, milk, butter milk and vanilla in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

Add the table spoon of flour to the blueberries and stir to cover each berry with the flour. 

Add the blueberries to the dough and mix to combine.

Oil the cups of the 2 silicon muffin trays.

Spoon mixture equally into the 12 cups.

Bake the cupcakes for 15 mins. Check at 10 mins to make sure the cupcakes are cooking evenly. If need be, rotate the tray to ensure even cooking.

Leave the tray to cool on the rack. 

Once the tray is cooled enough to handle remove the cupcakes and cool on a wire rack. 

Tips

If you do not have buttermilk handy, you can take a heaped tablespoon of plain yogurt and add some milk or water to make it to 125 ml of buttermilk.

Depending on the quality of the flour you might need a little more milk to get the right consistency.

Coating the berries with flour stops the fruit from breaking open and bleeding the colour into the cake.

While the silicon trays do not need oiling it helps to do so, as the cupcakes pop out cleanly by pushing the base. The cupcake has a raised top so pushing the cake up by the base ensures that it maintains its shape.

Samosa with Puff Pastry

 

Samosas are one of my favourite snacks or indeed even a meal if channa / chole, plain yogurt, plus sweet and green chutneys are added to a couple of nice hot samosas. The use of spices makes the taste different and from particular parts of the country. The pastry is made from whole wheat flour and filling I believe was originally vegetarian with potatoes, peas, onion and spices and then the triangular shaped samosa was deep fried. Now its good to have fried snack once in a while and I buy ready made from the shop a couple of times in the year. With the advent of frozen food, I found that samosas were made and frozen. These could be defrosted and deep fried. Then came partly fried and frozen samosas which could be baked in the oven. I have tried these baked versions and found them to be fairly good. The filling can now contain of whatever you wish to put in it. So, recipes for non-vegetarian ones are also plenty. 

Having made some Eccles cake with the puff pastry, I had a couple of sheets left and also had some cooked potatoes in the fridge. I decided to try making the samosas with this and it turned out well. So here is the recipe for the vegetarian samosa I make with puff pastry.

Ingredients

2 sheets of puff pastry 

4 medium sized potatoes

¾ cup of frozen peas

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon of dried mango powder (amchur)

1 table spoon of crushed kasturi methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

¼ teaspoon of ajwain (carom seeds)

Salt to taste 

Some milk to brush the samosa

Method

Prepare stuffing first –

Boil potatoes, cool and remove the skins of the potatoes.

Crush potatoes and place in a bowl (roughly crush so there is texture to it)

Defrost and blanche the peas.

Crush the peas and add to the bowl of potatoes.

Add the spices and mix well.

Assemble the samosa –

Defrost pastry sheets and cut each into 4 squares.

Brush the edge of a square with milk to dampen it.

Put 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the square.

Bring together the edges of the square to form a square samosa.

Press the edges together and pinch it to make a seal.

Place the assembled samosas, smooth side up, on a baking tray.

Brush the top with milk and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

Preheat oven to 375F or 190C.

Place the tray of pastry in the oven and cook for 10 to 15 mins. Please check at 10 mins to turn the tray around if the pastry is cooking faster on one side than the other. It should be evenly golden when cooked.

Remove from oven and leave on a rack to cool.

Serve with green chutney or sweet tamarind chutney or ketchup.

Suggestions 

For the heat, instead of red chilli powder, you can use garam masala, or finely chopped green chillies.

You can add fresh shredded ginger or ginger paste, about 1 teaspoon.

Sautéed chopped onions or raw finely chopped onions 1 heaped tablespoon can be added.

For the sour flavour you can add lemon or lime juice, or anar dana (pomegranate seeds) instead of the amchur. You can be adventurous and add lemon myrtle if you wish.

Ajwain and kasturi methi are optional.

You can temper the potatoes and peas with cumin seeds and oil if you wish.

If you want you can add other vegetables like shredded or finely chopped carrot, peppers to make mixed veg samosa. These can be stir fired in the tempering or par boiled separately. Remember the amount of total stuffing should be a heaped tablespoon per samosa.

The shape can be triangular instead of a square. Do not overfill the samosa or the pastry can split open.

Eccles Cake – square ones

I love Eccles cakes and have not had any in years as of course I have not seen them sold anywhere here. Then I saw a food programme with Ainsley Harriet who made it in the oven using ready made puff pastry. I quickly ran through the ingredients and realised that we had everything in the cupboard. So next weekend I tried the recipe and it turned out just delicious.

Ingredients

Two sheets of puff pastry

8 tablespoons of raisins, currents and mixed peel (1 spoonful for each Eccles cake)

25gm butter 

50 grams brown sugar 

1 ½ teaspoon of mixed spices: cinnamon: cloves and nutmeg or allspice

1 egg beaten

Method

Defrost puff pastry sheets but do not let them dry out.

In a bowl mix the raisins, currents and mixed peel with butter, spices and sugar. Keep 1 table spoon of sugar aside for later.

Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 4 squares. 

Lightly egg wash the edges of each square.

Put a tablespoon of the mixed fruit and spices filling in the middle of the square. Then bring adjacent edges together and press them to seal the filled pocket. This gives the Eccles cake a square shape. 

Place each square, with the smooth side up, on the baking tray. Apply the egg wash on the surface and sprinkle some of the brown sugar on it.

Preheat oven to 375F or 190C.

Place the tray of pastry in the oven and cook for 10 to 15 mins. Please check at 10 mins to turn the tray around if the pastry is cooking faster on one side than the other. It should be evenly golden when cooked.

Remove from oven and leave on a rack to cool.

Tips

You do not have to be strict about the shape. I have even made it in triangles.

Try not to over fill as then the pastry can split.

If you do not want to use an egg wash, you can use milk instead. I have used both and they work equally well.

 It is coming to this now with rising costs... is it not?

New Low Cost Airline Rules

Attendant: Welcome aboard A la Carte Air, sir. May I see your ticket?

Passenger: Sure.

Attendant: You're in seat 12B. That will be $5, please!

Passenger: What for?

Attendant: For telling you where to sit.

Passenger: But I already knew where to sit.

Attendant: Nevertheless, we are now charging a seat locator fee of $5. It's the airline's new policy.

Passenger: That's the craziest thing I ever heard. I won't pay it.

Attendant: Sir, do you want a seat on this flight, or not?

Passenger: Yes, yes. All right, I'll pay. But the airline is going to hear about this.

Attendant: Thank you. My goodness, your carry-on bag looks heavy. Would you like me to stow it in the overhead compartment for you?

Passenger: That would be swell, thanks.

Attendant: No problem. Up we go, and done! That will be $10, please.

Passenger: What?

Attendant: The airline now charges a $10 carry-on assistance fee.

Passenger: This is extortion. I won't stand for it.

Attendant: Actually, you're right, you can't stand. You need to sit, and fasten your seat belt. We're about to push back from the gate. But, first I need that $10.

Passenger: No way!

Attendant: Sir, if you don't comply, I will be forced to call the air marshal. And you really don't want me to do that.

Passenger: Why not? Is he going to shoot me?

Attendant: No, but there's a $50 air-marshal hailing fee.

Passenger: Oh, all right, here, take the $10. I can't believe this.

Attendant: Thank you for your cooperation, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Passenger: Yes. It's stuffy in here, and my overhead fan doesn't seem to work. Can you fix it?

Attendant: Your overhead fan is not broken, sir. Just insert two quarters into the overhead coin slot for the first five minutes.

Passenger: The airline is charging me for cabin air?

Attendant: Of course not, sir. Stagnant cabin air is provided free of charge. It's the circulating air that costs 50 cents.

Passenger: I don't have any quarters. Can you make change for a dollar?

Attendant: Certainly, sir! Here you go!

Passenger: But you've given me only three quarters for my dollar.

Attendant: Yes, there's a change making fee of 25 cents.

Passenger: Crying out loud.... All I have left is a lousy quarter? What the heck can I do with this?

Attendant: Hang onto it. You'll need it later for the lavatory.

 Return to the blogging with some laughter....

Back to School Science

The following are actual submissions on a series of quizzes, tests, and essays.

"Nitrogen is not found in Ireland because it is not found in a free state."

"H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water."

"To collect fumes of sulphur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube."

"When you smell an oderless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide."

"Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water."

"Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars."

"Blood flows down one leg and up the other."

"Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration."

"The moon is a planet just like the earth, only it is even deader."

"Artifical insemination is when the farmer does it to the cow instead of the bull."

"Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire."

"A super saturated solution is one that holds more than it can hold."

"The body consists of three parts - the branium, the borax, and the abominable cavity. The branium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowels, of which there are five - a, e, i, o, and u."

"Mushrooms always grow in damp places and so they look like umbrellas."

"The pistol of a flower is its only protections agenst insects."

"The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have been taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to."

 It has been a long time since I made any posts. But so many things distracted me. Have got some new recipes that I have tried so will write them up soon.