Avocado-Palak Roti

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Lunch Box Recipes

Dish: Bean Burrito with Potatoes
For the final day of this week's marathon, I have a healthy roti for the kids lunchbox. I was planning to make Nalini's Avocado roti but then had some baby spinach in the fridge that needed to be used up, so that's how these avocado-spinach rotis were born.

Avocados are very healthy and provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, vitamin E and folic acids. I like it quite a bit but my husband is allergic to it, so I usually eat it by myself but never make it for the family. But I wanted to at least see how the kids like it.

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Wheat flour Kuzhi Paniyaram

Blogging Marathon#65: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes 

Dish: Wheat flour Kuzhi Paniyaram from Sandhya

We are starting the last week of blogging marathon today and my theme is 'Bookmarked Recipes'. This happens to be one of my favorite themes because it gives me a chance to try some of the recipes that I bookmarked. First up are these delicious Wheat flour Kuzhi Paniyaram from Sandhya.

Sandhya made these instant paniyaram for the mega marathon and they looked too good to pass up. So I bookmarked them and tried them right away. Paniyarams are usually made with leftover idli batter, but this instant version uses atta (or whole wheat flour) and doesn't need any fermenting.

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Nimki or Namkeen (Rajasthani Namak Para)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 2: Rajasthani Cuisine 

Day 14: N for Nimki
We are already at the end of Week 2 in our Journey through the cuisines and the last Rajasthani dish I made are these crispy, crunchy and very addictive Nimki aka Namkeen or Namak Para. Letter N was one of the tough letters to find a dish for. After a lot of googling and not finding any Rajasthani dishes, I ended up picking this dish that is quite commonly made across all the states.

My mom used to make them quite frequently while we were little and we used to call them 'chips' or 'namkeen'. After I started blogging, I learnt their other name, Namak Para and now with this BM, I learnt yet another name, Nimki.

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Khoba Roti (Rajasthani Moti Roti)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 2: Rajasthani Cuisine 

Day 11: K for Khoba Roti
Today's Rajasthani dish showcases the artistic side of the desert state. Rajasthan is famous for all its handicrafts and colorful fabrics. This Khoba roti looks like a work of art and the good thing about it is that the technique is not too hard to do.

I saw this roti for the very first time on Valli's blog for one of the previous BMs. It looked so appealing and sounded so interesting that it went into my to-make list. It took all this time (actually 2 years) for me make these. Khoba means deep indentation in Rajasthani, hence the name for the roti.

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Khamiri Roti with Shahi Mixed Vegetable and Paneer Curry

Buffet on Table: Week 2 -- Indian States

Day 10: Uttar Pradesh -- Khamiri Roti

After yesterday's simple Karnataka meal, I've 2 delicious Mughalai dishes from Uttar Pradesh today. Uttar Pradesh cuisine is influenced greatly by Mughal cooking techniques. In the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire.
Mughlai cuisine is rich with the use of spices and different cooking techniques. I decided to make a simple flatbread and a creamy vegetable & paneer curry.

Khamiri roti is a Mughlai leavened bread. Khamir means 'yeast' and it is used in this roti to make it thick and spongy. I thought it is similar to naan, but these are made with wholewheat flour and are not made as thick as naans.

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Kashmiri Mini Thali - Roti, Dum Aloo, Apple Chutney and Saffron Rice

Buffet on Table: Week 2 -- Indian States

Day 8: Kashmir -- Kashmiri Roti with Dum Aloo, Doon Chetin & Kashmiri Yellow Rice

After seeing my marathon buddies make amazing thalis, I made a mini Kashmiri thali for today's mega marathon. Thanks to Valli's and Vaishali's Kashmiri posts for the inspiration. I picked the recipes from their thalis to make mine. Here's what I made:

• Kashmiri Roti (recipe follows)
• Kashmiri Dum Aloo
• Kashmiri Kesari Rice
• Doon Chetin (Apple Chutney)

Kashmiri roti is a very flavorful recipe with spices that are added right into the dough. It is kneaded with milk instead of water to make soft and delicious rotis. Served with Kashmiri Dum Aloo, these rotis tasted simply amazing.

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Thalipeeth (Maharashtrian flat bread)

Buffet on Table: Week 2 -- Indian States

Day 1: Maharashtra -- Thalipeeth

After a week of combo meals from around the world, our theme for the second week of our mega marathon, Buffet on Table, is Indian States. So each day of this week, I will be sharing a dish from different states in India.

With the amount of time we had to plan for this marathon, I should have made elaborate dishes and meals for this week. Though I had plans to make it 'mega', when reality really hit me it was a little too late in the game. I stuck to very simple dishes, but I have to say I enjoyed them all very much and I will be making them often in the future.

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Poori with Besan Aloo Curry

Blogging Marathon# 52: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: Weekend Special Dinners

Dish: Poori with Aloo Curry
Poori with aloo curry is a classic combination that I crave once in a while but rarely make at home. First thing I'm reluctant to deep fry anything and second I'm scared that my pooris won't puff up and will turn hard. So I decided to give pooris another try one weekend.

I watched Vah Chef making pooris and gained some confidence. My pooris turned pretty good -- they were puffy, soft and didn't absorb too much oil. I made smallish pooris because I only have a small poori press :-) (The green contraption in the pic below).

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Mangalore Banana Buns

For this month's 'Indian Cooking Challenge', we are trying out a sweet & savory banana buns from Mangalore (in Karnataka). But these are not the typical yeast based banana buns or rolls, instead they are deep fried pooris made with a banana base dough.

The dough is quite sticky compared to regular poori dough and then dough is set aside to rest for at least 3~4 hours or even overnight. I was initially skeptical how these pooris would taste with the banana in it. I thought they would have a very sweet banana flavor, but I was wrong. The banana flavor is very mild and with the addition of cumin seeds, they taste more savory than sweet. Banana makes the pooris soft and fluffy.

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Zucchini Paratha

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: One Vegetable - 3 Dishes

Dish: Bread - Zucchini Paratha

For the third day of this week's blogging marathon, I wanted to make a bread with Zucchini. I have tried quite a few bread recipes with zucchini, like this sweet carrot-zucchini bread, this everyday sourdough bread and this double chocolate bread. I wasn't in a mood to bake anything or make any sweet dish, so tried making parathas with zucchini.

I kept the paratha recipe simple with just grated zucchini and few spices because I was serving them with a spicy side dish. But you can add more spices and serve it with some yogurt and pickle.

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Uttarakhand -- Mandua ki Roti with Aloo-Tamatar ki Jhol

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 29
State: Uttarakhand
Dish: Mandua ki Roti with Aloo-Tamatar ki Jhol

Today we are going to Uttarakhand, formerly known as Uttaranchal, that was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in November 2000. It is often referred to as the 'Land of the Gods (Dev-bhumi)' due to the many holy Hindu temples and prigrim centers throughout the state. Uttarakand is also known for its natural beauty.
The natives of the state are generally called either Garhwali or Kumaoni depending on their place of origin. A large portion of the population of Rajputs and Brahmins. Uttarakand is the only state in India that has Sanskrit as one of its official languages.
Cuisine: People in Uttarakand prefer vegetarian food with lots of vegetables and wheat & rice being the staples, but non-vegetarian food is also served. Coarse grain with high fiber content is very common in Uttarakand due to the harsh terrain. Cuisine from Kumouni region is interesting because they rarely use milk or milk related ingredients in cooking owing to the fact that the topological features of the area do not permit cows to produce fine quality milk.
Specialties: Gahath Soup (horsegram soup), Gahath ki dal, Jhangore ki kheer, Jholi, Phaanu, Chainsoo, Rus, Gulgula etc.

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Haryana -- Bajre ki Roti & Paneer Do Pyaza

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 9
State: Haryana
Dish: Bajre ki Roti & Paneer Do Pyaza

Haryana is a state in North India. It came into existence on 1 November 1966 as a newly created state carved out of Punjab state on the basis of language. Haryana is a leading contributor to the country's production of foodgrain and milk. Agriculture is the leading occupation for the residents of the state.

Cuisine: Haryana's cuisine is very similar to that of Punjab, since it was a part of Punjab. With the availability of milk in abundance, milk products like paneer and ghee are used extensively in cooking. Wheat, jowar (millet) are also widely used.
Staple Food: Wheat, Jowar, Barley, Gram etc.
Specialties: Kadhi, Besan masala roti, Bathua raita, Methi gajar, lassi.

Today's Dish(es): I made rotis with bajra flour. I have seen roti recipes using just bajra flour and some times potato, but I have limited skill making rotis without gluten, so I picked this recipe on Sanjeev Kapoor's site with wheat flour. To serve with the rotis, I made a paneer curry with 2 onions -- paneer do pyaza. Onions are added at 2 different times during the cooking, which makes the curry so delicious and also gives a nice texture to the curry.

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Bihar -- Litti Chokha

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 4
State:Bihar
Dish: Litti Chokha

Bihar is a state in northern state. The name 'Bihar' means 'abode' in Sanskrit. Bihar plain is divided into two by the river Ganges that flows through the middle from west to east. This endowed Bihar with fertile Gangetic alluvial soil with abundant water resources. This makes Bihar's agriculture rich and diverse. Rice, wheat and maize are the major crops of Bihar, while toor, urad, moong are some of the pulses cultivated in Bihar. Bihar is the largest producer of vegetables, especially potatoes, onions, brinjal and cauliflower.

Cuisine: Bihari cuisine is predominantly vegetarian because traditional Bihar society, influenced by Buddhist & Hindu values of non -violence, did not eat animal products. But there is also a tradition of meat-eating, especially fish because of the number of rivers in Bihar. Bihari cuisine has many similarities to other North Indian cuisines but is also influenced by the other East Indian states like West Bengal.
Staple Food: Roti, dal, Rice, Vegetables etc.,
Specialties: Kadhi Bari (soft dumplings made of besan cooked in a spicy yogurt based gravy), Ghughni (boiled black chickpeas cooked in mustard oil with spices), Sattu (powdered roasted gram -- a high energy food), Litti etc.

Today's Dish: I decided to make a very traditional Bihari dish today, Litti-Chokha. These can be served for breakfast or snack. Littis are baked balls of wheat and are stuffed with spiced sattu flour (called pitthi) and served with lots of ghee. They are served with Chokha or spiced mashed eggplant or potatoes.

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Homemade Bread Bowls for Soups

King Arthur site is my favorite place to look for baking recipes. They have fool proof recipes and almost everything I have baked from there have been a success. So if you are a beginning baker, then start your search in the King Arthur site and I'm sure you will slowly gain confidence in your baking skills.

I made these homemade bread bowls to serve the broccoli-cheese soup.This recipe makes buns that are perfect to serve soup for 1 -- not too big and not too small. They are also soft and great to eat just as is. Make the buns smaller -- may be 8~10 instead of 6, skip the dried thyme and you have great dinner rolls or even breakfast rolls. They taste awesome with a smear of soft butter and if you are like my son, then spread some Nutella.

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Bread Sticks

Blogging Marathon# 37: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Kid's Delight -- Oven Baked Snacks
Dish: Bread Sticks

We begin our 2nd week of Blogging Marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Kid's Delight -- Baked Treats'. This month's Kid's delight host PJ @ Seduce your tastebuds wants us to send in kid approved baked dishes. So I have 3 recipes for this week that are approved by my little ones.
First up are Oven baked Bread Sticks. We love the soft bread sticks served at Olive Garden and I was looking for a recipe to make them for a while. When I saw this recipe in King Arthur's catalog, I baked them right away. Even though they are not as soft as the Olive Garden version, they taste great when served warm with some marinara sauce.

The original recipe makes 3 dozen bread sticks but I halved the recipe. I also added some wholewheat flour (atta) to make them a little healthy. Recipe is super simple to make and I'm sure they will be devoured by both by kids and adults alike.

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Methi Thepla

Blogging Marathon# 36: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Travel Food
Dish: Main Course -- Methi Thepla

When I think of the good old days summer travel to Vijayawada is something that I always remember and cherish. Right after our annual exams, my mom would take us sisters for almost 2 months to my grandparents house to spend the summer vacation. We used to take the train and my mom had either pulihora or roti with potato curry packed for our meal. We were never allowed to buy anything on the train. I especially liked the cutlets that were sold on trains but never got a chance to try them. But my mom made sure we were not hungry and we had more than enough munchies to munch on.

As I was thinking of what main course dish to make for Day 2 of BM# 36 under travel food theme, I remembered one of my friend bringing Methi Theplas on a road trip we had together few years back. I think we ate them on day 2 of the trip and they were still soft and tasted delicious with some pickle she had packed.

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Faluche du Nord (North France Flat Bread)

For this month's Home Baker's Challenge Priya Suresh @ Priya's Versatile Recipes chose some yummy French baked goodies. I picked this simple flat bread from Northern France called Faluche du Nord from Priya's list. The recipe seemed very simple to make almost, yeasted dough then rolled out and baked into bread, almost like our own naans. But I thought these were much simpler to make because the rolled out dough is cut using a cutter instead of rolling each bread separately.

I thoroughly enjoyed making these bread. I added some atta (whole wheat flour) to add some fiber and nutrition. The dough is very easy to work with, very smooth and pliable. House smelt amazing when the breads were baking. I baked them a few minutes before I brought my son back from school and the first thing he said when he walked in was 'what are you baking? It smells good in here.' He loved how soft the bread was.

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Kerala Parotta & Mixed Vegetable Curry

Blogging Marathon# 35: Day 2/ Week 2
Theme: Regional Dishes - Course Specific
Dish: Dinner --- Kerala Parotta & Mixed Vegetable Curry

For Day 2 of BM# 35, I decided to explore the dinner recipes of Kerala. I have seen Kerala Parotta on a number of blogs and wanted to give them a try. I never ate a properly made Kerala Parotta, I might have eaten a frozen version of it, even that I'm not very sure.

After looking through the recipe the techniquee of making it is similar to lachcha paratha. Only difference being Kerala Parotta is made with all-purpose flour or maida whereas lachcha paratha is made with atta or whole wheat flour. Also parotta has significant amount of oil used.

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Atte Ka Halwa (Wheat flour Halwa)

The second dish I made for this month's International Food Challenge is Atte Ka Halwa. Big Thanks to our host Manjula for introducing us to these delicious Marwadi dishes. I really enjoyed making this quick and easy halwa. It has a chewy texture and melts in the mouth. 

We are all sweet lovers in the family, so the quantity of jaggery added to the halwa was less and it was not quite sweet for our taste buds. Next time when I make this halwa I will probably add 2~3tbsp more jaggery. But all in all this is a yummy halwa that I have been snacking on straight out of the fridge.

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Wheat Rava Dosa (Godhuma pindi-rava Dosa)

Blogging Marathon# 34: Week 2/ Day 3
Theme: Instant Idlis/ Dosas
Dish: Wheat Rava Dosa (Godhuma pindi-rava Dosa)

For Day 3 of BM# 34, as promised yesterday I have the healthier version of Rawa dosa . I saw this recipe on one of the Telugu cooking channels and really loved the idea of using whole-wheat flour (atta) and wheat rawa to make dosas. These dosas have been on our meal rotation for a while now and get made at least once every 2 weeks.

Keeping with the Instant idlis/ dosas theme, these dosas need a soaking time of 30 minutes. Soaking is important when working with whole grain flours and rawas because soaking gives them a chance to absorb the water and cook evenly. Grated carrots or finely chopped onions can also be added to make colorful and nutritious dosas. 

Potato curry can be used as a filling similar to masala dosas. But to make it a little more interesting and colorful, I made a quick carrot and green beans curry for the filling. This is a super filling and delicious meal when served with chutney on the side.

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