Banana- Wheat Germ Muffins

For the last day of our BM# 7, I made these Banana-Wheat germ muffins from Veganomicon. These muffins come together in less than 10 minutes and are high in fiber and are delicious too. But by the time I wanted to take pictures, weather got cloudy and started to pouring rain. So had to move my set up indoors and as you can see the pictures have suffered due to lack of good light. I'll try to take some better pictures tomorrow and update the post.

Update (7/30/2011): Post updated with new pics.

Sprouted Cowpeas Stew (Chawli Kokum Chi Dal)

When I started buying cookbooks (with my money), I didn't think too much about the content. It didn't even matter if the book had only 3 vegetarian recipes and once I was done making those, I was practically done using that book. But soon I realized that it's not just buying books, I should also use them to make them worth the buy. Since then almost all the books I bought are vegetarian oriented except for "660 Curries" by Raghavan Iyer.

I borrowed this book from the library and after seeing the vast selection of recipes, I bought my own copy from Amazon. I made a ton of recipes and except for one disastrous recipe with broccoli, everything turned out excellent. So for Day 6 of our BM#7, I made Sprouted cow peas (chawli) stewed in coconut milk and kokum. Recipe turned out to be another keeper, slightly sweet from the coconut milk and tangy from the kokum. 

Methi-Paneer Pulao (Fenugreek Leaves & Cottage Cheese Pilaf)

For Day 5 of our blogging marathon I made this quick and easy one pot rice dish. Recipe is adapted from Vidhu Mittal's Pure & Simple: Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine cookbook. I had borrowed this book from the library and I was really impressed with the way the recipes were laid out and the mouthwatering pictures. I had to return the book, but I jotted down the recipes that I really wanted to try and this Methi & Paneer Pulao is one of them.

Original recipe was made in a pan, but I used my pressure cooker to make it quicker. I added some carrots for added nutrition and some biryani masala for some spice. 

Tabbouleh with Guacamole in a Tortilla Wrap

This morning my son, who just woke up, asked me why doesn’t our town have “nowhere”. I was searching for words for a little bit and said there is nothing called “nowhere”. He retorted back, then how did Lightning Mcqueen (the race car in Cars movie) get lost in the middle of nowhere???? Every town should have a "middle of nowhere". I was thinking to myself, how the heck am I supposed to know that, ask the people at Disney who made the movie. Phew, these kids make you sweat sometimes.. 

Well since the day started with a LOT of thinking, I decided not to think too much about dinner and to keep it simple and easy. Keeping with the “Cooking from the cookbook” theme I made Bulgur tabbouleh with guacamole from The Ultimate Book of Vegan Cooking, wrapped them up in a tortilla and called it a day..

Almond Butter & Chocolate Chip Waffles

I make pancakes or waffles almost every week. It is really convenient to have some homemade goodies stacked in the freezer for quick weekday breakfasts. Every time I ask my 3-year old what pancakes he wants his very prompt reply would be “chocolate”. I try to reason with him and say too much chocolate is not good, but sometimes I have to give in and add some chocolate chips into the batter just to please him.

So for Day 3 of our blogging marathon, I made these Almond butter & chocolate chip waffles. The recipe is from Whole Grains Baking by King Arthur Flour, this cookbook is like a bible with over 600 pages and tons of recipes using whole grains. Original recipe was for Peanut Butter & Chocolate chip Waffles, but I prefer other nut butters over peanut butter, so I used almond butter instead. Also the recipe uses Spelt flour which is a much healthy alternate to all-purpose flour. The waffles turned out just perfect, fluffy and delicious.

Raw Mango Rice/ Mamidikaya Annam

"Cooking with Pedatha" is my go-to cookbook for Andhra style dishes. Even though I’m from Andhra and I cook my mom’s style (both my parents are from Vijayawada), I find that Pedatha’s recipes are slightly different in the spices added or the technique used. I’ve made a lot of recipes from the book and everything turned out delicious till now. 

So for day 2 of our BM# 7, I made this raw mango rice which is tangy, spicy and delicious. Adding the spice paste of coconut, mustard seeds and green chilies makes the dish extra special. Make it for a simple dinner or as a dish for an elaborate meal, this mango rice is sure to wow the crowds. 

Ethiopian Wat

I am back running Blogging Marathon #7 with Srivalli and 18 fellow bloggers. My theme for this week will be "Cooking from Cookbook". I like reading and collecting cookbooks like many foodies. If not for my husband who keeps reminding me the number of cookbooks I have, I would have probably bought a whole book shelf full of cookbooks. As of now, the real estate the books take is quite small, I still have a small rack in the basement with a few more books.

I really have to thank our county library system as we can borrow books online from other libraries in the county and I think I might be one of the library patrons who uses this feature the most. Most of the times I decide not to buy the book after borrowing it and making the dishes I like from it, in rare occasions I do end up buying the book from Amazon.

So for the next 7 days I will be posting recipes that I have made from 7 different cookbooks. For the first day of the marathon, I made this delicious Ethiopian Wat. This is a delicious one-pot dish that is great on its own, but is wonderful when paired with some freshly made Injera (recipe for this coming really soon).

Recipe is from 500 Vegan Recipes. Even though the dish is one-pot, it needs quite a few components prepared before everything goes into the pot. We need to make berbere spice powder and the baked berbere-spiced seitan before hand. 

For the spice mixture: 

Ingredients:

Cumin Seeds – 2tsp 

Cloves – 4 

Black Peppercorns – ½ tsp 

Ground All-spice – ¼ tsp 

Ancho-chili powder – 2tbsp

Paprika – 3tbsp 

Ground ginger – 1tsp 

Turmeric – ¼ tsp 

Cinnamon – ¼ tsp 

Salt – 1tsp

Method: 

• Dry roast cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorn for 1 – 2 minutes or until they smell fragrant and aromatic. Grind the whole spices into a powder. 
• Add the chile powder, paprika, ground ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and salt. Mix well. Store in a air-tight container in a cool, dry place and use as needed. 

Baked Berbere-spiced Seitan

Ingredients: 

Vital wheat gluten – 2 cups Chickpea flour (besan) – 1 cup 

Berbere spice – ¼ cup (1 recipe of berber spice mixture from above) 

Water – 1 cup

Steak sauce – 2tbsp (I used tamari instead)

Tomato paste – 2tbsp

Extra virgin olive oil – ½ cup 

Method: 

• In a large bowl, combine spice mixture with gluten and flour.
• In a measuring cup, add water, oil, tomato paste, steak sauce and whisk until well combined. 
• Add the wet ingredients to dry ingredients and knead for 5 minutes or until everything is incorporated. 
• Set aside for 20 minutes to rest. 
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Divide the dough in half. Shape the dough into logs of approximately 6” long and 3” diameter. Wrap the logs tightly with aluminum foil. Bake seam side down for 1 hour. 
• Let cool before unwrapping. Store in a air-tight container in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for even longer shelf life. 

Ethiopian Wat:

Ingredients: 

Red onions – 2 medium, roughly chopped 

Baked berber seitan – 1 log (½ of the recipe from above), chopped into bite size pieces 

Potatoes – 4 medium, chopped into bite size pieces 

Vegetable Broth – 8 cups 

Carrots – 1 cup 

Dry red or green lentils – 1 cup (I used Masoor dal) 

Salt & Pepper – to taste 

Long grain rice – 1 cup 

Method: 

• Heat 2tbsp EVOO in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and pinch of salt and let them sweat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Add another 2tbsp of EVOO to the onions and deglaze the pan. 
• Next add the broth and bring the mixture to a boil. 
• Add the seitan, potatoes, carrots, lentils and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the flame to medium and simmer covered for about 30 minutes. 
• Stir in the rice, cover and simmer for an additional 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through. Serve on its own or as a side to Injera.

Lets see what my fellow marathoners have cooked up for Day 1 of BM# 7.

Mango-Cashew Upside Down Cake

Summer is HERE in our neck of woods. We have heat wave advisory for the next 3 days with temperatures reaching upto100°F (38°C). It’s nothing when compared to Indian temperature standards but we got so used to the weather here that anything above 35°F is scorching and makes us run for cover.

But summer brings the yummy tropical fruits and veggies, so instead of complaining I just try to enjoy the warm weather and the bounty of treats it brings. We picked up a case of mangoes from our local Indian grocery and after enjoying them as is; I still had some left that needed to used up. Google brought me to this upside down cake and the picture was too tempting, so I had to try it right away.

It was a perfect tea cake, fresh, nutty, not too sweet and quick and easy to make. I had to change the amount/ quantity of ingredients since the recipe used a 6” cake pan and I only have a 8” cake pan. I also substituted macadamia nuts with cashews since I didn’t them.

Ingredients: 

Mangoes – 2 medium, peeled and thinly sliced (I diced my mangoes, but thinly slicing would make for a prettier cake) 

Lemon juice – 1½tbsp

Light Brown Sugar – ¼ cup 

Butter – 1½tbsp, melted 

Cashews – 3tbsp, chopped 

For the Cake batter:

Butter – 3tbsp, softened 

Sugar – 1/3 cup 

Egg – 1, lightly beaten 

All-purpose flour – 1 cup 

Baking powder – ¾ tsp 

Ground cardamom (elaichi) – ½tsp

Salt – ¼tsp 

Milk – 1/3 cup 

Method: 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 8” round cake pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine mango and lemon juice. 
• Combine brown sugar and butter and sprinkle evenly in the cake pan. Arrange the mango slices and sprinkle the nuts. Set aside. 
• Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and elaichi in a bowl. 
• In a medium bowl, whisk butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until incorporated. 
• Add half of the flour mixture and whisk until incorporated, next add half of the milk and mix well. Repeat with remaining flour & milk. 
• Pour the batter evenly over the prepared mangoes. 
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
• Cool for 5 minutes, before inverting onto a plate.

Sending this over to Harini's "Only Baked" event which is a brain child of Pari @ Foodelicious.

Panchadara Avakaya (Green Mango Pickle with Sugar)

I was never a big fan of mixing sweet and savory things. I wouldn’t eat a dish if I saw my mom adding sugar or jaggery to any dish. Sweet pickles, as you can imagine, were a big no-no. But now my palate appreciates the nuances of sweet and savory in a dish.

When my dear cousin served us panchadara avakaya that her MIL made couple of years ago, I fell in love with it instantly. She gave me a bottle of pachadi last year that her MIL made while in the US and this year she decided to make it herself. So I followed suit and made this sweet, spicy and tangy avakaya. My cousin, the perfectionist that she is, sent me the detailed recipe with instructions on how to cut the mangoes and when to taste and adjust the seasonings.

Choosing the right mangoes for the pickle is the biggest challenge. Pick ones that look fresh and are bright green, medium sized, and should NOT be soft when touched. The first time I bought them, they looked green and all from outside, but when I cut into them they were yellow and squishy.

So I had to wait 2 more weeks to get the right mangoes. Big thanks to you, dear P and your MIL for this fool proof avakaya recipe.

Ingredients:

Green mangoes – 2, medium sized

Sugar (panchadara) – 1 cup

Red chili powder for pickles – 1 cup (this chili powder is bright, vibrant red, but it is not very spicy hot and is available in most Indian grocery store)

Sesame seeds (nuvvulu)– 1¼ cups

Mustard seeds (aavalu) – ¼ cup

Fenugreek seeds (menthulu) – ¼ cup

Salt (uppu) – 1 cup

Peanut oil – 1 cup

Method:

• Wash the mangoes well and dry them thoroughly. I left the washed mangoes covered with a dish towel on the counter for couple of hours to completely dry them.
• Prep all the spices: Dry roast (without oil) sesame seeds until lightly browned on medium low heat. Set aside.
• Dry roast fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds separately.
• When all the spices are completely cool, grind each one separately; sesame seeds can be made into a coarse powder – too much grinding can make sesame paste, so keep checking. Mustard seeds tend to get bitter if ground too much, so be mindful of that.
• Heat oil in a small saucepan until very hot, turn off the heat and let it cool completely.
• While the oil is cooling, start chopping the mangoes. Cut the mango into half lengthwise, this gets a little tricky if the seed is tough, so try to find the exact spot where the seed ends. Scoop out the seed and discard. Cube the mango into small bite size pieces. Try to make sure that each piece has the peel. Pat dry the pieces with a clean kitchen towel to make sure that there is no moisture on the pieces.
• Take all the pieces into a large non-reactive container. Add sugar, salt, pickle chili powder, all of the roasted fenugreek and mustard powders, 1 cup of sesame powder (reserve the rest for later) and the cooled oil. Mix everything together.
• At this point the pickle is a little thick, but as it sits the mangoes will ooze out their juices and will thin out over time. Cover tightly and let the pickle rest for 24 hours.
• Taste the pickle and add more salt/ sugar/ chili powder or the reserved sesame powder if needed and let it sit for another 24 hours. If it tastes perfect after the 1st 24 hours then simply put the pickle into clean glass/ porcelain jars.

I put the pickle in the fridge so it stays fresh longer, but if you are going to use it up in couple of weeks, leave it out on the shelf. Tastes amazing with steamed rice and ghee or with idlis/ dosas/ upma etc.

Pictorial of Avakaya Making:

Sending this over to Aipi & Priya's "Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday" event.

Chukkakura Pappu

For the very first time this year, I planted couple of leafy greens, spinach (palakura) and sorrel spinach (chukkakura), in my container garden.

My mom sent the seeds from India and I was pleasantly surprised that the greens started to grow within a week and were ready for harvesting in less than 3 weeks.

It has been ages that I had chukkakura pappu (dal), so one call to Amma and in 10 minutes I was I making this healthy & delicious with my first harvest. Chukkakura has a slight tangy taste and tastes great in dals and chutneys.

Ingredients:
Toor dal – 1 cup
Chukkakura (Sorrel spinach) – 2 cups, finely chopped (fine stems can be chopped up too)
Onion – 1 medium, chopped
Tomato – 2, finely chopped
Green chilies – 2, slit
Red chili powder – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Salt – to taste

For tempering:
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Dry red chilies – 1, broken into half
Hing (asafetida) – a pinch
Curry leaves – 8

Method:

• Cook toor dal in a pressure cooker until very soft and mushy. Keep aside.
• In a medium sauce pan, heat 2tsp oil, add the tempering ingredients in the order listed and once the seeds start to splutter, add onions and green chilies. Sauté until onions are translucent.
• Next add chopped tomatoes, cover and cook till they turn mushy.
• Next add the chopped sorrel spinach and cook till the leaves wilt.
• Add red chili powder and salt.
• Finally add the cooked dal, mix well and simmer for 3-4 minutes for the flavors to mingle. Add water if dal seems too thick while cooking.

Serve with hot steamed rice and a dry curry of choice. I served with some vankaya kura (eggplant curry). Comforting meal any time of the day.

Sending this over to Aipi's "Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday" event.

Cinnamon Sticks

This is a recipe that my sister, who lives in India, wanted me to make since her hubby really likes Cinnamon sticks. I looked for recipes online and found this recipe on King Arthur’s website. Recipe seemed simple to make with very few ingredients that are easily available in India. But she wanted the recipe to be eggless, so I substituted the egg with egg-replacer.

I sent my sister detailed pictures on how to make the cinnamon sticks along with KAF recipe. She tried them and reported back saying that the taste was great. Personally I thought the cinnamon sticks were a little too buttery, but my husband and my BIL seemed to like them. I halved the recipe from the original.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour – 1cup

Sugar – 1½ tsp

Salt – ½ tsp

Butter – ½ cup or 1 stick (4 oz.), softened to room temperature

Milk – 1tbsp

Egg-replacer powder – 1½ tbsp (original recipe used 1 egg, since I halved the recipe, I used half of the required egg-replacer)

Cinnamon – 2tbsp

Granulated Sugar – ¼ cup

Milk or cream – to brush the pastry

Method:

• Whisk flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Work in the butter into the flour mixture until it forms crumbles and holds shape when squeezed.
• Whisk egg-replacer powder and milk in a small bowl and add to the flour mixture and mix just until everything is cohesive.
• Roll the dough and pat into a 3”x5” rectangle; wrap in plastic and refrigerate it for an hour or for up to 2 days.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a 10” x 15” rectangle about 1/8” thick.
• Brush half of the lengthwise surface (i.e. the 5” x 15” strip) with milk/ cream and sprinkle cinnamon sugar** evenly all over. Fold the unfilled side of the pastry over the filled side and press the edges lightly.
• Brush the resulting 5”x15” pastry with milk/ cream and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut the pastry crosswise into ½” strips that are 5” long.
• Hold the strip on each end and twist them to give them the characteristic “cinnamon stick” shape.
• Place them on a prepared baking sheet and bake the cinnamon sticks for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and after couple of minutes, place them on a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy with your evening cup of tea or coffee.

**Note: To make cinnamon sugar sugar, simply mix the 2tbsp cinnamon with 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.

Cinnamon Sticks making pictorial:

Sending these Cinnamon sticks over to Harini for her "Only Baked" event. Only baked is the brain child of Pari @ Foodelicious.

Sourdough 101 & a Sourdough Bread

As a foodie I think of food a LOT. I think of recipes when I see an ingredient, I think of ingredients when I see a recipe and I think of menus when somebody says meal. So basically like everyone in the food blogging community I’m thinking of food ALL THE TIME. But I couldn't imagine myself thinking about just ONE ingredient this much; it is almost like an obsession.

The ingredient I’ve been obsessed, worried and excited about is Sourdough starter. Now I understand why bakers obsess so much over it. Never have I thought that I’ll be one of them and will have nightmares over a starter!!!!

I was excited when I signed up for a bread baking class and was overjoyed to learn that I’ll be learning to make challah bread, multigrain bread and sourdough bread among others. Little did I know that I would come back with a baby to take care of, yes I came home with the dough mixture to make the sourdough starter and the instructions on how to feed and take care of it. After I started feeding 1 cup of flour every 12-24 hours, it didn’t occur to me that the starter is growing exponentially and by 3rd day the starter tripled in quantity and my worries to use it up also tripled. So I turned to our friend "google" and found a number recipes to use up the starter that is fed and unfed.

Here are some terms to know and understand when dealing with sourdough starter.

Sourdough: Is a leaven consisting of dough in which fermentation is active. So basically sourdough is

like yeast that is used for leavening bread.

100% Hydration: Water amount is 100% of the flour amount. That means for every 8oz. of water in the sourdough starter, there is 8oz. of flour. So every time you feed the starter you add equal amounts of flour and water to the old dough to keep it 100% hydrated.

Fed Starter: Starter that is rejuvenated by adding flour and water up to 12 hours before making the bread.

Unfed Starter: Starter straight from the fridge.

There is a ton of information on the internet for sourdough starter making, feeding, taking care etc. My suggestion would be to use a good source that you can rely on; my go-to source is the material I got from the baking class and King Arthur website. Champa at Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen has excellent information on sourdough starter and yummy recipes to use both fed and unfed starters.

From what I’ve learnt there are a number of ways of making sourdough starter: we used flour & grated potato in the class, but just flour and regular yeast can also be used (recipe at the very end of th

e post).

This post has been in my drafts forever. I couldn't take the pictures of the finished bread the 2 times I made it and have been waiting to make it again to take pictures and post, but that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon, so I thought I'll post this and update with finished bread pictures later. :-)


Update (7/29/2011): Updating the post with the recent sourdough bread that I made. Recipe is from here, but the resulting bread looks very similar.

How to make Sourdough starter from Organic grated potato:
Ingredients:
Bread flour – 1 cup
Organic Potato – ½ cup, grated
Water – 1 c

up (plus more for feeding)

All purpose flour - for feeding

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl; cover and let rise at room temperature for 24 hours. After 24 hours, add 1 cup All purpose flour & 1 cup water.
• Stir and let stand at room temperature for 12 hours.
• Repeat this process two more times, adding the flour and water at 12 hour internals, mixing, covering and letting rise at room temperature.
• The starter is complete at this point.

So at this point you have a starter that has 4 cups of flour and 4 cups of water and grated potato. Most of the recipes call for 1 cup of starter, so make sure that you have at least 1 cup of starter at any given point. If you think you are running out of starter, add equal quantities of flour and water, mix well and refrigerate until you are ready to make a bread.

Once you have the ripe or fed starter, you are good to go on your baking spree. The method I used as you can see doubles and triples in volume while making the starter, so it is beneficial if a group of friends make this, but for a solo-baker, it is a TON of starter. I tried to give it away to friends and colleagues, but couldn't find anybody who was interested. But the good thing about the starter is you can leave it in the fridge for couple of weeks without feeding and it is still good to use in some recipes that call for unfed starter. So for the first 2-3 weeks after I made the starter, all I did was bake with the starter. I kept about 1 cup aside for future feeding and baking and used up the rest in making pancakes, waffles, cakes etc.

Sourdough Bread:

So the first recipe I made with the fresh starter is basic Sourdough bread, recipe courtesy source material from Chef Central.

Ingredients:

Sourdough starter – 1 cup, fed

Bread flour – 3½ cups

Salt – 1tsp

Yeast – ½ tsp

Water – 1½ cups at room temperature

Method:

• Combine the starter, yeast and water and mix well in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.
• Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed. Increase the speed to medium and knead for 10-12 minutes.
• Add flour as needed to form smooth, pliable dough.
• Place in a greased bowl and let rise for 1 hour.
• Punch down and form into 2 round pieces. Place each piece in a greased bowl, seam side up. Let rise for 20-30 minutes.
  
• Place each round on a baking sheet lined with parchment and score the top with a knife.
• Bake at 375°F for 20-30 minutes or until the top is crisp and brown and the loaves sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. Cool before slicing.

Shortcut Sourdough starter from Yeast (recipe courtesy from Vegetarian times magazine):

Ingredients:

All purpose Flour - 1 cup (plus more for feeding)

Quick rising yeast - ¼ tsp (such as Fleischmann's Rapidrise)

Method:

• Combine flour and yeast in a non-reactive bowl; stir in 1 cup of warm (110°F) water. Loosely cover the bowl and set aside at room temperature for 12 hours. Starter should get bubbly and smell yeasty.
  
• Stir starter, then discard half. Add ½ cup flour and ½cup of lukewarm water; mix well, cover and set aside for another 12 hours.
• Repeat the process of discarding half cup of starter and adding ½ cup each of flour and lukewarm water every 12 hours for 72 hours. (that is feeding twice every day for 3 days).
• Starter should be bubbly with pleasant sourdough aroma. Feed for an extra day (that 2 extra feedings) if you want a more pronounced sourdough flavor.

Note: Use only non-reactive containers to store the starter like porcelain, glass or plastic.

Filtered water is preferred instead of tap water while making the starter.

Sending this Sourdough bread over to Only Baked event which is Pari's brainchild and being hosted this month by Harini @ Tamalapaku.