Baked multigrain Mathri / cracker recipe

Hello HST readers, many of you may be wondering why there has not been a post here on the blog for some time now, and many know that the original writer of this blog passed away on 10th July 2018. As her daughter I have thought a lot about how to advance this blog and continue her dream on . . .of sharing recipes. 

It was also difficult to come to this space and read her posts and not just be heart broken again. . . the heartbreak I felt when we lost her. Now all I have left is her words, her tips and advises and her recipe diary... which I go back to so many times. And so I must carry her vision forward, and that is what this attempt is.

So I will try to bring here some of her recipes from her diary, some that I learnt from her and some of my own and try to take her dream forward...one recipe at a time... today I want to share her classic mathri, which I have tweaked a little to make it more healthy. 

I have replaced some of the maida (all purpose fluor) with other healthier flour alternatives, used olive oil, and baked it in the oven (instead of frying it)...I call this baked multigrain mathri....my kids love it as an evening snack, and sometimes they have it with a hummus/yogurt dip. 

- these can be enjoyed as a snack on their own!!

- enjoy them like crackers with some hummus, they taste great!!

- use them as papdi in a papdi chaat!!

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

2 cups maida (all purpose flour)

1/4 cup whole wheat lour

1/4 cup corn meal

1/4 cup Bajra (pearl millet)/Ragi (finger millet)

** if you don't have any of the millet flours, just add corn meal (I used pearl millet in this recipe)

2/3 cup olive oil

1.5 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tbsp kasuri methi (used for flavor - can be omitted)

1 to 2 cups water (use as needed - the lesser the water the better)

METHOD

- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper)/ If you want these can deep fried, but I baked them and they came out great.

- Add all the flours, salt, pepper, and kasuri methi in a large mixing bowl.

- Add the olive oil and rub it into the flour to resemble breadcrumbs

- slowly add the water to combine into a "tight"/firm dough

- Roll out into a large surface and cut out squares (like I did in the picture (to about 1/4 cm thickness)

OR

- divide into individual size balls and roll them into round shapes if you wish (to about 1/4 cm thickness)

- Bake them in the oven until golden brown.

- Cool and store in an air tight container for a month.

This recipes makes a large batch (and depends on how small the mathris are cut out)

WATERMELON RIND HALWA

WATERMELON RIND HALWA

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MOTHERS

Thankfully spring is finally here, for which we Calgarians have waited for a very long time. It was supposed to be here beginning of March, but we waited till about the end of April. Even in past winter months, temperatures were much lower than average and the amount of snowfall was much higher than average. Even some people, like my neighbour, who loves snowfall and winter were tired of this year’s winter and said enough is enough. I have a habit of watching the evening news on the television, but this winter I was tired of watching the evening local news because after every five minutes they show the weather report, and it was depressing to watch the temperature in minus double digits (Celsius) for months.

This spring will also bring new leaves and flowers in the trees, birds have already started their conferences on the trees, snow is already melted. Soon we will be sitting in the gardens and enjoying the evening tea and dinner outside. This spring is also bringing some new fruits in the market like watermelon. Now I am already thinking about summer when we will get lots of more fruit, particularly my favourite one like cherries, mangoes and many more.

Last year, in the summer, when we were getting a lot of watermelons, as I was chopping it for everyone to enjoy, my daughter and I were chatting about how we don’t consume the rind of the watermelon and is actually so versatile to use. She informed me that she had once made a curry with watermelon rind, which was very tasty and everybody enjoyed it. I was surprised and couldn’t believe that I had not thought of that before. Soon after that talk, I decided to make something very nice with watermelon rind that is when I made this recipe the very first time, and it turned out fantastic.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams watermelon rind
• 200 grams red portion (fruit) of watermelon
• 200 grams sugar
• 200 grams khoya/mava ( solidified milk)
• 3 tbs ghee/unsalted butter
• pinch cardamom powder
• 2 tbs green pumpkin seeds/any other nuts

METHOD

• Slice watermelon rind and watermelon in small pieces and grate the khoya.
• Heat heavy bottomed pan and add ghee/butter in it, when hot add watermelon rind pieces and let it boil and cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes till they are soft.
• Add watermelon pieces and sugar, let all the water evaporates, it can take 15-20 minutes then add grated khoya in it.
• Add pumpkin seed for garnishing and serve hot or cold as desired.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry with Hearth and soul blog hop and with full plate Thursday and with Meatless Monday and cook once eat Twice and with Fiesta Friday and Sweet Inspiration link party

BABY EGGPLANT WITH SWEET AND SOUR GRAVY

BABY EGGPLANT WITH SWEET AND SOUR GRAVY

HYDERABAD STYLE BAGHARE BAIGAN

Hyderabad is the capital of an Indian state of Telangana and the fourth most populous city in India. Hyderabad is famous for its tourist attractions and historical monuments like Charminar etc. Hyderabad is also famous for its cuisine, particularly for chicken and mutton biryani, and lots of other sweet and sour Mughlai dishes, baghare baigan is one of its popular dishes. In many restaurants in India and abroad, anyone can find these famous Hyderabad dishes in their original names because of its awesome taste, these dishes are very popular.

 

A few months back when I was talking to my brother on the phone, who lives in Delhi, India, we talked about his tour to Hyderabad, he told me that apart from so many other things, he really enjoyed the food there. During his visit to Hyderabad and while eating in restaurants, he saw the famous biryani being packed in nice takeaway packaging, which people were taking even on long distances. He told me that he also decided to take a packet of the famous biryani to Delhi which is very far, around 1500 km, at that time he was travelling back to Delhi by air. So he called the restaurant, one hour before and gave the order of two packets of biryani of his choice, when he boarded in the taxi to the airport, on his way he collected the packets of biryani for his kids, and his kids in Delhi, really enjoyed this tasty and unique gift from their father.

A few years ago in Botswana, during my holidays, I travelled around 600 km and visited my friend and stayed with her for a week. At that time, she was living in a beautiful town called Maun and my family and I enjoyed visiting the beautiful surroundings of the town and of course the world-famous Okavango Delta. During the stay, my friend's neighbour who was originally from Hyderabad invited us for dinner; we enjoyed the dinner and talked a lot about Hyderabad cuisine. The next day we invited her over to come and demonstrate the cooking of a few dishes from Hyderabad. That is when I learned this recipe of baby eggplant in sweet and sour gravy. I have made this recipe in many gatherings and parties at our house after that, and every time, people have really enjoyed it and appreciated the recipe.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams baby eggplant/brinjal
• One big onion (200 grams)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• A small piece of ginger
• 3 tbs raw peanuts
• 2 tbs sesame seeds
• 3 tbs lemon juice/tamarind juice
• 2 tbs desiccated coconut
• 1-2 tbs sugar or to taste
• salt and chili powder/flakes to taste
• 1 tbs coriander powder
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• few fresh green curry leaves OR Coriander/Cilantro
• 3 tbs oil

METHOD

• Finely chop or grate onion, garlic and ginger. Slit the eggplants lengthwise.
• Dry roast peanuts, coconut and sesame seeds and let it cool.
• Heat 1tbs oil in a frying pan on a medium flame. Add the mustard seeds and let it splutter, then add eggplants with salt, turmeric, chili and coriander powder and cook till they are soft and cooked properly by covering the lid.
• Till eggplants are cooking make a paste of the roasted peanuts, coconut and sesame seeds by adding 1/2 to 1 cup of water in a blender.
• Take out the cooked eggplants in a plate and in the same frying pan heat the 2 tbs oil and roast curry leaves, ginger, garlic and onion till brown in colour on a medium heat, then add the paste of peanuts etc. in it. Now add the lemon juice and sugar in it; mix well and fold the cooked eggplants in it.
• Serve hot with rice, naan or any other flat bread.

I am sharing this recipe with the following link parties-Cook once eat Twice and Fiesta Friday
and Full plate Thursday and Hearth and soul blog hop and Sweet Inspiration link part, with Meatless Monday