GREEN PEAS PARATHA (INDIAN FLAT BREAD STUFFED WITH PEAS)

GREEN PEAS PARATHA (INDIAN FLAT BREAD STUFFED WITH PEAS)

In 2016, when I went to Delhi, India, I stayed longer than usual, for about 9 months due to many reasons, and also because now I am retired and I can stay longer when travelling. During my working career, while I was in Africa. I used to go to India only for 4-5 weeks in December holidays, which is the winter season in Delhi. I had no experience of staying in the hot summer of Delhi for many years. So in 2016, I found it very difficult to cope with the hot days and humid nights. But there was no choice, I had stayed on and experienced a very hot summer for six months, short rainy season and mild winter which was also short for two months only.

Here I would like to share a funny incidence – while I was in India, One day I was talking to my grandson on the phone; who lives in Canada. At that time he was in grade four, he told me that he read in his social studies course about seasons in India, and told me that there are four seasons in north India. He wanted to check my knowledge and asked me to name them. That time I was too frustrated with that long hot and humid weather that I replied, “Yes my dear, they are four – hot, humid, very hot and extremely hot.” He laughed a lot and asked, “Grandma, what's wrong with you”? Then I told him that I am really tired of this long hot and humid weather here in Delhi and I want to leave this place as early as possible.

In Delhi, winters are short, and mild which mainly last for 2-3 months. After that long summer, I really enjoyed winter season in Delhi. Apart from the nice weather, the other best thing about this winter was the colourful fresh organic vegetables which were available in that season: dark red carrots, cauliflowers, turnips, sweet potatoes, beets. And green peas were the main attraction for me. I really enjoyed the fresh green peas, which I got in plenty in that season and at a very reasonable price. I used them in many recipes and enjoyed them fully. In my long stay in three countries of Africa, i.e. Kenya, Botswana and South Africa, getting fresh green peas was a dream, which never came true. Fresh green peas were not at all available in Africa, and that is why I really missed them and was forced to use the frozen peas only. Even in Calgary, it is a luxury because it is available for a very short time, in Indian vegetable shops only and they are very expensive.

Being a foodie and a food blogger, I experimented a lot with this tiny, cute and green vegetable during my stay in Delhi and tried and tested some new recipes with it. Green peas recipes are not only tasty but healthy as well because peas are considered as the powerhouse of nutrients and have a lot of health benefits of eating green peas. Whenever I cook something with green peas my grandchildren will say, “Hey, today we are eating a powerhouse”, because I always force them to eat their vegetables and particularly the green ones like peas.

This is my favourite recipe, which I am sharing with you today. I really like the taste of these parathas and I am glad that even my grandsons like them too. Last night when I made them, both my grandsons told me that they would love to take these parathas in their lunch boxes for their lunch in school. Both fresh and frozen peas can be used in this recipe.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams brown bread flour/whole-wheat flour/aata
• 1 tbs oil
• salt to taste
• ! cup or more water to make the dough
• oil for roasting the parathas

FOR STUFFING

• 200 grams fresh or frozen peas
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste

METHOD

• In a bowl, take brown bread flour, add salt and mix water slowly to make a medium-firm dough, neither very hard nor soft, glaze the top of the dough with oil and leave it aside.
• In a frying pan heat 1 tbs oil, add cumin seeds, when they turn to brown colour add peas with salt and pepper, mix well and cover the lid, leave it on a medium heat for 8-10 minutes till the peas are tender and done well and there should be no water left, peas should dry completely.
• Let it cool, with a potato masher mash the peas.
• Divide the dough in 8-10 pieces, make small balls and roll each ball as the size of a cookie,( 4-5 inch in diameter) stuff one tbs peas in it, pick all round area and close the mouth of the parathas and roll into 6-7 inch big in diameter, dust the flour when needed.
• Heat the heavy-bottomed frying pan or cast iron flat pan. When the pan is hot,  roast parathas on both the sides, add drops of oil in all the surrounding of the paratha.
• Cook until brown and crispy from both the sides, serve hot with any pickle or chutney of your taste.

I am sharing this recipe with Cook once and eat Twice and Sweet Inspiration link party and with Eat your greens and with Hearth and Soul link party and with Full plate Thursday and My legume love affair with Lisa's kitchen and Susan of well seasoned cook and with what's for dinner, and with Meatless Monday and with Cook blog share and with Fiesta Friday

RASPBERRY JAM FILLED BREAKFAST SQUARES

RASPBERRY JAM FILLED BREAKFAST SQUARE

Happy Valentine ’s Day

Suitable for vegans

In 2016, I got a surprise gift of two cookbooks, by my daughter's friend, Mamta, who is a big admirer of my blog and always appreciates and enjoys my cooking. I was overwhelmed that day with those two books, it was not even my birthday, and she was just visiting us. What a kind thought it was of bringing cookery books for me? Isn’t it? After thanking her for such a nice gift and gesture, I told her that I will definitely try some recipes from those books and share them soon on my blog. She herself is a great cook, last time when I visited her, she surprised me with so many nice dishes, which I have to get the recipe for and try soon. Here I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart and wishing her all the best in her life, by selecting a recipe from the book and recreating it.

This is called real love, love does not mean romantic love between a girl and a boy, but showing gratitude, care and affection towards someone is also considered as love. In my opinion, love has many meanings and types, if someone is holding a door for you when you are entering a shop, is also called love for someone. If you choose to be a snow angel for someone and cleaning the yard of an elderly couple, that can also be called love. Love is when you smile at the strangers and get the smile back. A mother's love towards her children can be called as unconditional love because she cares only about the happiness of her children. I have written all this about love because I am posting this recipe on Valentine’s Day in the month of February when people normally say that in this month. love is in the air. If you ask me, love is always there in the air, you just have to notice it, give it and receive it.

The first time I had browsed through the cookbook, that is when I had seen this recipe and decided then and there that that will one of the recipes I will make and post it on Valentine's day. The author used apricot jam but I used raspberry jam. I thought if I use raspberry jam the pink colour of the raspberries will suit the theme of Valentine's Day. So here I am with the recipe, the name of the book is Food made fast-Desserts, and the author is Williams-Sonoma.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1, 1/2 cups brown bread flour (235 grams)/whole wheat flour
• 1, 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (140 grams)
• 1/4 cup Icing sugar (30 grams)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar (185 grams) OR coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (185 grams) OR coconut oil for vegans
• 1 cup Raspberry jam (315 grams)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 325 degree F (165 degrees C). Grease a square oven tray or parchment paper inside the tray.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, oats, powdered sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture forms fine crumbs.
• Remove 2 cups of the flour mixture and set aside. Transfer the remaining mixture to the prepared pan and press it evenly over the bottom.
• Drop spoonfuls of jam evenly spread the jam up to the edges. Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture evenly over the jam.
• Bake until the top crust and edges are light brown - about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in a pan on a wire rack. Using a sharp knife, cut into squares.

INGREDIENTS FOR JAM

• 200 grams raspberries
• 100 grams sugar

METHOD

• Make a puree in the blender with raspberries with little water.
• Mix raspberry puree and sugar together.
• In a frying pan or heavy bottomed wok cook the puree with sugar on a low flame.
• Keep on stirring; it will take 15-20 minutes to get the consistency of thick jam. Leave it to cool. If you are using a cooking thermometer, check the temperature when it is showing 90 degrees C, it means jam is ready.

I am sharing this recipe as a blog post entry for Meatless Monday, Cook once and eat Twice, Cook blog share, Fiesta Friday, Sweet Inspiration and Hearth and Soul food party. and with Baking Crumbs and whats  for dinner and with Ful plate Thursday

MADDUR VADA , A SNACK FROM THE STATE OF KARNATAKA,INDIA

MADDUR VADA

A SNACK FROM THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, INDIA

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU

The New Year, 2018, has already started. I am glad to write this new post in this New Year, in a new season and in a new month of 2018. This year I am planning to bring lots of new recipes on the blog, which my readers are really going to enjoy. Normally people ask what your resolution is for the New Year, so my resolution for the New Year is to learn many new recipes from different cuisines. Some of my readers might think, yes, of course, what can be the resolution of a food blogger. But yes, I mean it, and I am serious about it because life never stops teaching us new things and we should never stop learning new things. What is your resolution for the New Year?

In this New Year, I am bringing in the first recipe of a starter. I have seen in many parties, whether they were organized by my friends or relatives that sometimes there is a lot of variety of appetizers or starters served in those parties, sometimes too much and some of the snacks were quite heavy because they were either fried or has a lot of cheese in them. In those cases, there was a problem for both guests and host, for guests, even though they can enjoy the starters but then there will be no room left for them to enjoy the main course meal. Even for the host, a lot of food will be left at the end of the party, which people will not be able to finish. I had also experienced that if the starters are too heavy, some people, serve the main course too late but again that is not solving the problem because if you serve the main course too late, then there is no appetite or mood left for the food.

I have personally experienced that problem once when I served four-five starters and learned a lesson for the future. Now in my house, whenever there is any party or gathering, I prepare only two starters, so that people can enjoy the starters and the main meal. And if one starter is a fried one, I make them bite-size portions so that people can still enjoy the starters and later the main course meal.

This recipe of a snack is from the state of Karnataka, India. This is a very tasty snack which can be served as a starter or can be enjoyed with evening tea or coffee. This famous snack is named after the town of Maddur. Maddur is a town from Mandya district in the state of Karnataka, in South India. This is an instant snack which can be made in 15-20 minutes with very simple ingredients; normally we have the stock of these ingredients in our kitchen/pantry. This snack is too tasty, I am very sure, if you make it once, you will love to make it again and again.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup semolina
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (white bread flour)
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1 big onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• a small piece of ginger
• 3-4 green chili (optional)
• few leaves of curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

METHOD

• Finely chop onion, garlic, ginger, green chili and curry leaves
• Mix well all the flours and add salt to it.
• Now add all chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chili and curry leaves and mix well.
• If the mixture is too dry sprinkle little water over it and mix well, make small balls and flatten them on your palm as shown in the picture.
• Heat oil in a frying pan; fry them in batches of 6-7 in hot oil till the colour is brown.
• Serve hot with any chutney of your taste.

I am sending this recipe as my blog post entry with Fiesta Friday and Sweet Inspiration link party and  with Hearth and Soul link party and cook once eat Twice and Meatless Monday
and Cook blog share

EGG LESS FRUIT CAKE

EGG LESS FRUIT CAKE

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE

EDITED: This recipe was featured on Cook Blogg share link party on 2nd January 2018, check here.

Christmas is a time of joy and fun for everybody, the same is for me and my family. A lot of fun activities take place inside and outside our house during the Christmas season or I should say for the whole month of December.

The first one is the decorating of the Christmas tree, which my grandkids really like and surprisingly, every year they bring in some new ideas for the decoration of the tree. Some of the ornaments are made by them in their schools every year, under the supervision of their teachers and some ornaments we buy from the shops. This year we got a white Christmas tree.

The other fun activity inside the house is the elf on the shelf, every morning the kids are so excited when they look for the elf and really enjoy all the places they find elf sitting. The next activity which they really like is the opening of the gifts on Christmas day, which they get from Santa.

Apart from these indoor activities, we go shopping, which is a lot of fun during this festive season because shops and malls are decorated with Christmas decorations and lighting. Another fun activity which we do as a family is a tour/ride of the neighbourhood area to see the decorations and lights of all the different houses. Some houses look really beautiful with a lot of decorations and colorful lighting. There is so much effort and money that goes into these decorations, it is commendable that people put in so much effort during these dark nights!

The other attraction in our town is the Airdrie festival of lights, which is one of Canada's largest light displays. This festival attracts visitors from the past 21 years and is open to the public from 6-9 pm every day in the month of December. If you are nearby and interested in this event, here is the link.

There is another family-friendly fun activity that takes place in Calgary is the Calgary Zoo lights. These lights are the center of attraction in Calgary, and a highlight during the December holidays for many Calgary families. So these zoo lights are a package of fun and learning activities for the kids. A lot of activities are taking place at the Calgary Zoo, even in the winter months, they are teaching children about the migration, hibernation, conservation and behavior of all types of animal. Here is the link

Coming to the recipe, this Christmas instead of baking any cookies I made this - a dried fruit cake. This is a very simple, tried and tested recipe in which I have used buttermilk. I am very sure; if you try this recipe you will enjoy this cake as I did. To make instant buttermilk, take one cup of milk and add one tbs of lemon juice/vinegar and let it stand for 10 minutes at room temperature and the buttermilk is ready.

Recipe link- Joy of baking.com

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 and a half cup (200 grams) all-purpose flour/white bread flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 3/4 cup sugar (150 grams sugar)
• 2 cups dried fruits (300 grams)
• 1/2 cup melted butter (115 grams)
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup buttermilk

METHOD

• Grease a cake pan with some butter and sprinkle flour on top of it.
• Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
• Sieve the all-purpose flour with baking soda and add sugar and cardamom powder in it, now mix the dried fruits in it.
• Mix all wet ingredients-butter, essence and buttermilk.
• Now mix all the wet and dry ingredients together, mix well and pour the batter into the greased tray and bake for 50 minutes, till the toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool on a cooling rack, slice and serve.

I am sharing this recipe with Cook once and eat Twice and with Full Plate Thursday and with Heart and Soul link party and with Cook blog share and with Sweet Inspiration link party and Fiesta Friday and with meatless Monday.