Lemon cake with sabja seeds

I read about this cake today in Hindustan Times Cafe in the Lifestyle section. I thought to myself that since I had sabja seeds, why not try this cake.Basil seeds are called sabja in Hindi or Urdu. I love faloodas & for a hot tempered person like me, sabja seeds are a good source to keep me cool.

So, I started making up my mind to replace the ingredients stated in the recipe. The recipe used yoghurt as an egg replacer & it  used maida.I used flaxseed powder soaked in lukewarm water & applesauce made by pressure baking the apples  in cooker as the egg replacers instead of yoghurt or dahi.I replaced maida with whole wheat flour or atta.I would have loved to add 1/4 cup maida in combination with whole wheat flour as such combination gives good texture  .I had run out of maida ..so used whole wheat flour.I used the little bit of Amul butter leftover in the refrigerator . I was sure, the omega 3 fatty acids in flaxseeds would more than make up for any  deficiency of  oil or butter

I converted the ingredients given in recipe  from gms to cups.

Ingredients : 1.5 cups whole wheat flour, 0.5 cups sugar, 1tbsp Amul butter, 1 cup Applesauce(  2 apples which were pressure baked to make applesauce by removing seeds & peeling off skin.), 1 tbsp flax seed powder mixed in 3 tbsp warm water & left for more than 15 minutes to get a gelatinous liquid, 1 tsp baking soda, 2tsp baking powder, lemon juice of 1.5 lemons , 1tsp lemon zest,1 tbsp sabja seeds or basil seeds.

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade for 10 minutes.

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix whole wheat flour, baking powder & baking soda many times with fork or spoon. Keep aside.

Mix all liquid ingredients with sugar.Mix flaxseed water gelatinous mix with applesauce, lemon juice, butter,lemon zest & sugar. I have observed that mixing sugar with liquid ingredients helps increase moisture content during baking.Keep aside.

Line a baking dish with butter paper & keep aside.

Mix the liquid mix into the dry whole wheat baking powder-soda mixture.Mix such that no lumps remain. This will be the cake batter. Pour the cake batter on to the butter paper lined in the baking dish. I sprinkled the sabja seeds on the top of the cake . And this led to uneven distribution. I should have mixed the sabja seeds in the batter.

Bake the cake in oven at 180 degrees centigrade or till a toothpik inserted into  the cake comes out clean.

To ensure that cake batter has been baked fully, I microwave ( in microwave mode ) the baked cake for 5-10 minutes in my convection cum microwave oven.

Let the cake cool in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove the cake from oven. Let it cool outside the oven  for 25-30 minutes.Take a plate & put the baking dish upside down on to the plate.  Turn the cake upwards now so that the sabja topping is on top. Cut the cake into desirable shapes & serve.

The cake was fluffy though lemon flavour was mild .It had a nice crunch of the sabja seeds topping.

Poha Dosa & roasted gram dal chutni with minimum coconut.

My mom told me about this poha dosa which her brother had made for my parents when they visited him. I googled & came across the poha dosa recipe. Yet ,the googled recipes had urad dal in the ingredients whereas my mom said that the dosa prepared by my maternal uncle was ,sans urad dal. I made the poha dosa sans urad dal.

Ingredients : 1 cup thick poha(  preferably) , 2 cups rice, 1/4 tsp methi seeds , buttermilk for soaking the poha rice mix, salt to taste , oil for greasing tawas for dosa.

Method : Wash poha & rice two three times .Keep aside. Add buttermilk to the washed poha rice mix to soak them.Add 1/4 tsp methi seeds to this mix so that fenugreek seeds are soaked as well.  I soaked them for nearly five hours .

After five hours of soaking , I ground them nicely in the mixer. Even wet grinder can be used for grinding. I thought that I had ground the batter fine .I was wrong as I had added water after 2 hours of soaking as poha had soaked up lots of buttermilk. And this water became excess .I did seperate this excess water from the soaked mix. And did the grinding with the retained buttermilk in the poha rice mix. Yet the poha had not ground properly...this I realised when I spread the batter on tawa .

After making the batter, I kept it over nite to ferment with sourness of buttermilk. Next morning, I made dosas after adding salt to the batter.

The first dosa refused to spread & when I tried, it would tear off. Next dosa onwards , it was good going as tawa had got heated up & I was able to spread dosa batter nicely.

Spread batter on heated tawa. And let it cook .After the edges of the dosa rise up a little indicating that the downside has cooked, spread a tsp of oilon the dosa. Then, flip it over & cook on the other side. Cook more dosas this way. These dosas cannot be made thinner, I believe. You can try & even I will ask my mom on her return & update this blog post.The dosas are tasty & filling.

Serve poha dosas with chutni of your choice.

I made this chutni which I read about on Chitra's food book.

Chutni Ingredients : 1/2 cup roasted gram dal, 2 tbsp fresh coconut, 2-3 green chillies, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1/2 tsp sugar ( optional ), 1 tsp lemon juice, salt taste, 1/2 tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp hing powder, few curry leaves, 1 byadgi mirchi broken into pieces, 1 /2 tsp urad dal, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds.

Method : Add coconut, roasted gram dal, roughly chopped green chillies , grated ginger, lemon juice, salt, sugar & water to the chutni jar attachment of mixer & grind to a fine paste. Keep aside.

 In a kadahi , heat oil. Add mustard seeds.After they pop up, add urad dal .After urad dal turn golden brown, add curry leaves & byadgi mirchi pieces. Put off gas. Fry the mirchi & curry leaves. Add hing powder to kadahi & mix nicely.Pour this seasoning over the chutni made & kept aside. Mix the seasoning into the chutni nicely & serve with dosas.

I did not add extra water to the chutni as suggested in Chitra's food book. I made it thick. I added lemon juice instead of tamarind & ginger in place of garlic. And this dosa chutni combo was relished by my family as also my maid to whom I served 1 dosa as a sample.

Oats dhokla.

There were some left over Quaker brand of oats. I needed to use them as  I hate wasting anything. I had tried oats dosas & they were not so great .So , I decided to try oats dhokla.

I googled & came across this oats dhokla recipe .I liked this version. I wanted to add some leftover besan or chana dal atta which was lying since a month in the referegerator.I googled again & got this quaker oats dhokla recipe which uses besan.

My version of oats dhokla uses besan, sooji or rava  & oats.

Ingredients : 1/2 cup curd, 1 cup oats powder, 1/2 cup rava, 1/4 cup besan, 1 green chilli finely chopped, 1 tsp grated ginger, a few curry leaves, 1 packet Eno fruit salt, 2tbsp + 1 tsp oil, 1 tsp mustard,1/4 tsp turmeric,  1/4 tsp  hing powder, 1/2 tsp unpolished white til or sesame,salt to taste.

Method : Dry roast the oats for 1-2 minutes. After they cool down, powder them.

In a bowl, add rava, besan & powdered oats, salt, 1 tbsp oil, 1 finely chopped green chilli, grated ginger & dahi. Mix all nicely. Add water to get a thick batter. It must have drop down consistency like idli batter.Keep aside for at least 1 hour. I kept it for nearly two hours as in the quaker oats dhokla , the soaking time for batter is written as 1 hour. In the other oats dhokla recipe , soaking time is less than half an hour. I wanted to be sure that the rava , besan & oats have soaked up really well & so soaked for a longer time.

After two hours, put on the steamer or cooker with water to steam. Grease a plate with oil. Keep aside. Mix Eno salt of a packet with 1-2  tbsp water . It will start bubbling up. Mix this bubbling Eno water mixture to the dhokla batter & pour it immediately into the greased plate. Keep the greased plate on atsnd in the midst of steaming water in cooker. Close the cooker lid ( without whistle ) & steam for 10-15 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the tadka, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds. When they pop up, add sesame seeds,  curry leaves. Put off gas. Add hing powder & haldi to the tadka. Mix tadka nicely. Pour it over the dhokla cake & spread the tadka all over the dhokla  cake.

Cut the dhokla cake into desired shapes & serve with chutni or as it is.

I was too hasty in cutting the dhokla & so the edges cut out roughly as can be seen from the snap. Yet, it was fluffy & tasty !!!!

I have added haldi to tadka. Haldi is optional. If you like more chillies or more ginger, that can be adjusted as per taste or choice. It goes without saying that any brand of oats can be used.

Eggless carrot dates cake

This year, for the sarvajanik ( Public )  Ganpati installed at the building where I reside, I decided on a carrot dates cake. I googled & came across many recipes. I decided to copy this recipe though I tweaked it a little & scaled it up.

The  original recipe uses atta or whole wheat flour. I used atta & added 1/4 cup of  maida ,as I believe that even a small amount of maida gives a good texture to cakes.

I used flax seed powder for the good fat & fibre  content that it provides. It also gives a nutty flavour to the cake.

I take out malai  which forms on low fat milk ( which we consume ) & freeze it on a daily basis. I used that frozen malai .It was nearly a cup of malai.

Ingredients : 13/4 cup atta, 1/4 cup maida, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 cup grated carrots, 1/2 cup dates, 1 tbsp flax seed powder mixed with 3 tbsps water.2 tsp baking soda, a pinch of salt & extra water if needed.

Method : 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade .

Keep aside the flax seed powder mixed with water aside.

Mix all dry ingredients ...atta, miada, baking soda,salt.Mix them all nicely many times over so that all dry ingredients are nicely mixed.Many times over, since I am too lazy to sieve the atta, maida, baking soda , salt, mix.Keep aside.

I have date paste brought from Gulf visits. Puree the date paste ( dates can be used as well ) with malai in a mixer.Keep aside.

Mix grated carrots & sugar & flax seed water mix. Add the dates malai puree to this mix. Mix nicely.

Make a well in the dry ingredient mix of atta maida soda salt. Pour the wet ingredient mix of carrot dates flaxseed malai sugar mix. Mix nicely. If the wet mix is insufficient , add water little by little to the mix, till an idli like batter consistency is obtained .Keep aside this cake batter.

Take a baking vessel.Line the bottom of the baking vessel with butter paper. Pour the cake batter into the baking vessel on to the butter paper lining.

Bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes or till a toothpik poked inside the cake comes out dry.
Let the cake cool for half an hour.Take a plate & put the baking vessel upside down on to the plate. Carefully remove the butter paper lining the cake bottom. Turn the cake upside down on to the plate. The cake is ready for prasad.....

I forgot to add sugar while I mixed the batter. Then ,found that batter had not enough wet mix. So I was saved.I added water to the sugar & poured it into the batter. Mixed it nicely.The Lord himself saved my cake ! I added nearly 1/2 cup water to get idli like batter consistency .If I had added sugar to wet mix as needed , it would have needed less water.

OPOS recipe : Cabbage beans pulao

I tried this pilaf recipe , the OPOS way.Amember had shared this recipe in the OPOS support group on facebook. I changed it a little as I did not have peas & replaced peas with beans. I added cumin or jeera instead of fennel or saunf .Used green chillies & ginger instead of red chillies.

Ingredients : 2 cups shredded cabbage ( in original recipe, this  was 1.5 cups ), 1/3 cup chopped & stringed beans ( in original recipe , this was 0.5 cup peas ) , 1-2 green chillies roughly chopped, 1/2 tsp garam masala powder, 1/4 inch cinnamon, 1 bay leaf, 1 badi elaichi, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp oil, 1.5 tsp salt ( in original recipe , Himalayan salt used ), 1/4 cup fresh dhania or mint ( optional ) .

Method : Wash & soak raice for 30-45 minutes. Drain after 30-45 minutes.Keep aside.

Mix cabbage, beans, green chillies  & the garam  masala powder , turmeric & salt together .Keep aside.

In a 2 litre pressure cooker, add 1 tbsp oil.This is the first layer.

 Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, badi elaichi & jeera. This is the second layer.

Add soaked & drained rice on top of the spices. This rice forms the third layer.

On the top of rice , add the cabbage- beans green chillies masala salt mix kept aside. This is the fourth layer. .

Add 1 cup water from sides...meaning pour one cup water from the sides of the cooker inside. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. Put off gas. Allow pressure to settle. Remove lid of cooker. Add mint or dhania .Mix dhania or mint with pulao. Put on lid again. Let it settle for 10 minutes more. Serve with raita or papad.

This rice tasted superb ! My husband kept on having it again & again !!!! Each grain was separate. 

OPOS recipe : Puffed rice upma

I have made hashi mandakki many times &  the recipe is same .Yet ,the process or method is different. It is OPOS recipe .OPOS stands for one pot one shot .

All recipes in this OPOS method are made in a two litre cooker, preferably steel.I have joined this OPOS Support grp on facebook.I was drooling over pictures of items prepared the OPOS way .Finally, my parents gifted me a 2 litre steel cooker & I tried gavar ki sabzi yesterday. I messed up.

Today, I thought , why not make this vagarne murmura , the OPOS way,.....I googled & came across this poha recipe to be made the OPOS way.Substituted poha with  murmura & made this !

Ingredients : 3 cups murmura washed & drained ( 3 cups dry murmura when washed & drained will shrink to two cups murmura )    , 1 tsp grated ginger,1/2 peeled , washed & grated carrot,1 small capsicum washed & roughly chopped, 1-2 green chillies roughly chopped, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp hing, 1 tsp jeera, 1-2 tsp  lemon juice, a few curry leaves,salt to taste, 1 tbsp daaliya powder or puttani chutni pudi ( optional ).

Method : In a 2 litre pressure cooker, add 1 tbsp oil.& 1 tbsp water .Add 1 tsp jeera & chopped green chillies as a layer. Spread the vegetable mix of grated carrot & chopped capsicum on this green chilli -jeeera layer. Sprinkle haldi, hing, salt, grated ginger , curry leaves.

Close the pressure cooker lid. Put the whistle on. Cook for two whsitles. Put off gas. Release pressure. Open lid. Mix the washed murmura into the cooker & give all ingredients a good stir. Put back the lid on the cooker with the whisrtle. Keep it like this with lid & whistle for ten minutes. Open the lid, add the puttani chutni pudi ( optional ) . Mix all the ingredients so that puttani chutni powder gets coated on each murmura. Sprinkle lemon juice on murmura & mix .

Breakfast is ready in jiffy !!!!

I noticed that I had added very little haldi & salt was not mixed properly. And remember, murmura has its own salt as also puttani chutni pudi or powder has salt...so go easy on salt.

Carrot palya

I had the good fortune of tasting carrot sabzi ( sabzi is palya in Kannada) at my in laws place.I loved it,. This sabzi  has a sweet flavour because carrots are sweet. In fact the summer carrots are good as they are firm, in comparison, to the red  carrots of winter.

Carrots have innumerable health benefits .I use them in making upma, sambhar, soup, pulao. etc.

I made it last week & my husband loved it too. The firm orange carrots are somewhat hard to chop finely & yet the efforts pay off when one tastes the sabzi !

Ingredients : 250-300 gm carrots- peeled & chopped into fine cubes, , 1-2 green chillies finely chopped, 1 byadgi or any other dry red chilli broken into pieces, 1 tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp urad dal, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp haldi , 1/4 tsp powdered hing, 1 tbsp fresh grated coconut,  a few curry leaves, salt to taste.

Method : Take a kadahi & put it on gas stove. Put on the gas on slow flame. Add oil to kadahi. Add mustard seeds.After they opo up, add urad dal. The urad dal will turn golden brown.Add powdered hing followed by curry leaves ( kadi patta ) & dry red  chilli  pieces.Mix all nicely with big spoon. Add chopped carrots & green chillies. Mix all ingredients nicely. Add haldi. Mix once gain so that haldi gets coated on all carrot pieces. Cover with lid & cook for two-three minutes. Add 1/4 to 1/3 cup water to kadahi by uncovering lid .Mix all again. Cover with lid & cook for 8-10 minutes on slow flame. In between , keep removing lid to see if water has dried up.

After water has nearly dried up, add salt .Mix again. Add fresh grated coconut. Mix all ingredients in kadahi again. Cover with lid & cook for 2-3 minutes. Put off gas.

Serve carrot palya with rotis or rice rasam combo.