Chickpeas Masala /Garbanzo Masala for Chapati, Rice, Pulao or Poori

Chickpeas Masala /Garbanzo Masala for Chapati, Rice, Pulao or Poori

INGREDIENTS: 

Dry Chickpeas/ Dry Garbanzo - 1 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Chili powder - 1 1/2 teaspoon (adjust the heat accordingly)

Medium sized onion - 1

Ripe tomato - 1

Salt - to taste

Chopped coriander leaves - handful (optional)

TO TEMPER :

Fennel seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 1 tablespoon

FOR PASTE :

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Medium sized onion - 1

Ginger - 2 inches size

Fennel - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Soak the chickpeas for 8 hours or overnight. 

2. The next morning, rinse off the chickpeas in clean water and drain them. 

3. Boil the chickpeas with enough water submerged in a stewpot with some salt to flavor the chickpeas. 

4. After the chickpeas has boiled thoroughly, drain them in a colander. Reserve the chickpeas stock for making soup later.

5. Now, in a frying pan or wok, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil, after it has heat up, now you may add all the ingredients under the 'TO TEMPER' section.

2. Then, followed by the chopped onion. Sauté the onion until translucent. Then add in chopped tomato and salt. Cook until tomato is slightly soften.

3. Make a smooth paste by adding enough water with all the ingredients under the 'FOR PASTE' section. Add the masala paste after the tomatoes have become mushy. At this stage, you can add turmeric powder and chili powder. Mix well.

4. Now, add the boiled and drained chickpeas into the masala paste mixture. 

5. You need to add some 1/ 2 cup of water to further cook the raw smell of the paste. You will notice the gravy has thicken slightly. 

5. I simmered this under the low flame reducing into thick dry masala gravy. That should be the sign to switch off the flame. Sprinkle a lavish amount of coriander leaves. I didn't use coriander leaves as I didn't have some at home.

6. Thus chickpeas masala can be served as a side-dish for rice, pulao, biryanis, chapati, rotis. 

Thank you

Abby 

Badam Burfi/ Almond Burfi

 Don't get alarmed by the uninteresting photo that I have captured. It was wee last minute that I thought of sharing the recipe with my readers. I was only left with some so I didn't bother to present it in a nicer way. Sorry.. I guarantee you the taste of this sweet is fantabulous. It is an addictive kind of an Indian sweet. If you like almonds, you will love this...This is a simple recipe which does not require you to check for sugar string consistency. It is sweet, fudgy, soft and melts in your mouth..

Badam Burfi/ Almond Burfi

INGREDIENTS: 

Raw almonds -  1 cup

Fresh milk - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1 1/4 cup

Clarified butter - 7 to 8 tablespoons

Saffron - a pinch

METHOD:

1. First, soak the raw almond in one cup of hot water for few minutes. This way it will be easier to peel the skins.

2. Then, wash the peeled almond in water and put them in a blender with 1/2 cup milk. Grind it to smooth paste. 

3. In a heavy bottom pan, add the almond paste, brown sugar and a pinch of saffron.

4. Keep the flame as low as possible as you don't want the mixture to turn brown easily. The mixture will start becoming a bit watery as the sugar starts to dissolve.

5. Keep stirring continuously until the mixture is semi- thick, at this point you can keep adding the ghee little by little. The almond mixture will tend to absorb clarified butter easily. 

6. Keep stirring until the mixture has turn to a thick consistency that you can it coming together as a dough. if you take some and roll in your hand, that is the right stage to switch off the flame. 

7. Grease a tray with some clarified butter and pour the mixture into the tray.

8. Smoothen the surface with a spatula or any flat bottom of a stainless steel container. This will give an even, non-cracking surface.

9. Let the sweet cool slightly, start cutting into any desirable sizes using a pizza cutter.

7. Separate the pieces and keep them in a stainless steel container in the fridge.

 

Thank you

Abby 

Kalyana Pulikaichal (Indian Style Spiced Tamarind Paste for Rice)

 

Kalyana Pulikaichal

INGREDIENTS: 

Tamarind - one small lime size ball

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Water - 2 cups

Jaggery/ brown sugar - 1 teaspoon

TO MAKE SPICE POWDER:

Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoon

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

TO TEMPER:

Gingerly oil - 1/4 cup

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 tablespoon

Channa dal - 2 tablespoons

Dry red chilies - 18 to 20 (broken to small pieces) (reduce it if you don't like spicy food)

Asafoetida/ Hing powder - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

METHOD:

1. First, take tamarind into the size of lime. Adding 2 cups of water to the tamarind and let it soak for 5 minutes. After that, squeeze tamarind in the water, and strain the tamarind water and discard the pulp.

2. In a pan, dry roast 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds and 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds. Roast the ingredients until golden brown. Grind them to fine powder. 

3. Heat a pan with 1/4 cup gingerly oil, add mustard and allow it to sputter. Then, add urad dal and channa dal, allow them to become light brown colour. After that, add broken pieces of dry chilies, asafoetida and curry leaves. 

4. Immediately, add the tamarind water into the tempered ingredients. Let the tamarind water boil and reduce to half.

5. When it has reduce to half, add salt (I added 2 teaspoons), jaggery or brown sugar and turmeric powder. Let the concoction boil and thicken further. At this stage, add another 2 tablespoons of gingerly oil. Boil for 5 minutes after adding oil. When oil starts floating on the surface and it has become semi- thick paste, switch off the flame. 

6. Last but not least, after switching off the stove, add the ground spice powder and give a quick mix. 

7. Cool this paste and store it in an air-tight container. Keep in the refrigerator.

 

Thank you

Abby 

Eggless Buttermilk Fruitcake

 

Eggless Buttermilk Fruitcake

INGREDIENTS: 

Good quality unsalted butter, melted - 1/2 cup or 113g

Premium molasses powder/ Muscovado dark sugar - 3/4 cup or 150g

Plain flour - 1 1/2 cups or 200g

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Buttermilk - 1 cup or 240ml

Black Raisins - 1 cup

Chopped cranberries - 1/2 cup

Chopped dates - 1/2 cup           

Chopped toasted almond - 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground cloves - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon

Orange zest of 1 orange (You can add 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice)

**DRY FRUITS AND NUTS CAN BE FROM 300 GRAM TO 350 GRAM**

METHOD:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degree F (180 degree C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour or spray with a non- stick vegetable spray, a 9x5x3 inch (23x13x8 cm) loaf pan.

2. First, sift plain flour, baking soda, salt and spice powder. To the flour mixture, add all your chopped dry fruits and nuts, and give a good mix to coat well.

3. In another bowl, whisk melted butter at room temperature, molasses/ muscovado brown sugar and buttermilk.

4. Now, combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Give a gentle fold. Immediately pour into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula or with the back of a spoon. Give a tap.

5. Bake the cake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes or the cake is golden brown and just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan.

6. You know this when you insert a skewer to top of the cake. If it comes clean, then your cake has baked properly. 

7. Remove the baking tin from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

8. Finally, gently remove the cake from the pan and let it sit in a wire rack until it is completely cool.

9. I have transferred the cooled fruitcake into the fridge by storing it in a stainless steel container. The next day, in the morning, when the cake is still firm, I cut them into desirable pieces(It was an easy cutting process when the cake is chilled).

Thank you

Abby 

Eggless Fruit Cake Without Alcohol

Merry Christmas to all my family, friends and viewers. In conjunction to the most awaited long holiday season of the year, and well-cherished Christmas goodies, gifts and Santa Claus stories among kids and grown-ups, this year is never been whole without the making of fruit cake. Our family loves eggless bakes, and this cake recipe is adapted from Bincy Chris of Merry Boosters website  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K53PwJo_U5s&t=99s...I tweaked the recipe a bit. My cake is very dark as I have used molasses sugar or muscovado brown sugar and I used lots of dark raisins. This is a keeper recipe and the fruit cake was so lovely and tasty. We couldn't believe it was made without eggs. I hope you guys would give a try for this Christmas. 

Eggless Fruit Cake Without Alcohol

INGREDIENTS: 

Good quality salted butter - 150g

Premium molasses powder/ Muscovado dark sugar - 150g

Plain flour - 225g

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Thick yoghurt (strain it to discard the excess water) - 240ml

Raisins - 1/2 cup and 1/3 cup

Chopped cranberries - 1/2 cup

Chopped dates - 1/2 cup           

Chopped almond - 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground cloves - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground nutmeg - 1/2 teaspoon

Orange zest of 1 orange (You can add 2 tablespoons of fresh orange juice)

**DRY FRUITS AND NUTS CAN BE FROM 350 GRAM TO 375 GRAM**

METHOD:

1. First, add  a good quality salted butter and molasses/ muscovado brown sugar  in a baking bowl. Cream until fluffy and pale. Then, stir in the thick yoghurt that has been strained to remove the excess water.

2. On the other hand, sift plain flour, baking soda and spice powder. To the flour mixture, add all your chopped dry fruits and nuts, and give a good mix to coat well.

3. Now, combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Give a gentle fold and mix until the fruits and nuts are well coated.

4. Pre-heat your oven for 5 minutes at 170 degree Celsius.

5. Line your round baking tin with parchment paper. There is a link to teach you precise way to line your tin

6. Pour the cake batter into the tin and give a tap. 

7. Bake the cake in the oven for 1 hour or until it is baked well. You know this when you insert a skewer to top of the cake. If it comes clean, then your cake has baked properly. 

8. Remove the baking tin from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes.

9. Finally, gently remove the cake from the pan and let it sit in a cooling rack until it is completely cool.

10. I have transferred the fruitcake into the fridge by storing it in a stainless steel container. The next day, in the morning, when the cake is still firm, I cut them into desirable pieces(It was an easy cutting process when the cake is chilled).

Thank you

Abby 

Pepparkakor 'SWEDISH GINGER SNAPS' - VERSION 1

Pepparkakor is the Swedish name for ginger snap that they usually bake during Christmas, and these cookies are so traditional and full of aromatic spices that give warmth in the cold winter time. These are not your conventional gingerbread cookies or English ginger snaps as they are made thin and crunchy. I have never heard of the cookies before, and when I stumbled across some sites, I found this unique cookies. The dough is slightly wet and sticky, and that's how it should be, and that's why it is kept in the fridge to rest overnight. The rolling of the dough has to be thin so that the cookies are crisp and crunchy. I made a mistake by rolling my second batch to normal sugar cookie thickness that took me more baking time. I recommend you to roll it thin so that it becomes like eating crackers. Give a try for this Christmas.

Pepparkakor 'SWEDISH GINGER SNAPS' - VERSION 1

INGREDIENTS: 

Good quality salted butter - 150g

Premium molasses powder - 250g

Plain flour - 450g

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Plain room temperature water - 100ml

Ground ginger - 1 tablespoon

Ground ground cinnamon - 1/2 tablespoon

Ground cloves - 1 teaspoon

Ground cardamom - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. First, add  a good quality salted butter and molasses powder(not syrup) in a heavy bottom saucepan, and keep the flame very low. Allow everything to melt and well combine. Then, set it aside to cool. 

2. In a big bowl, sift all purpose or plain flour and baking soda. Now add in all of the spice mix powder into the flour and give it a good stir. 

3. Pour in the cooled butter-molasses concoction into the dry ingredients in the big bowl and 100 ml of water. By using a wooden spoon, give it a good mix. If you find your dough dry, add little bit more water. The cookie dough will be fairly wet and sticky at this stage. Don't worry. 

4. Wrap the wet and sticky dough with a cling films plastic and keep it refrigerated for overnight.

5. The next day, knead the dough lightly and cut the dough to 4 parts. Roll out first part of the dough on a floured surface of a wooden board. Roll it thin to about 1/8 inch or 3mm. Cut desired shapes using cookie cutter.

6. Bake in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, watching closely, until the cookies are baked crisp and have started to darken slightly.

7. Cool in a rack, and store in an air tight container. 

Thank you

Abby 

Indian Style Tamarind Rice Paste or Puli Kaichal

At home, mother often makes Tamarind rice paste that can be stored and kept in the refrigerator for weeks. It is like a pickled spice paste with all the wonderful spicy tangy ingredients that can be prep up when you are in a hurry. When this paste is made a head, it can often be mixed with piping hot rice. It is a must to use gingerly oil or 'Nallanai' which we call in Tamil. This type of oil is available in any Indian store. The amount of oil, red chilies and salt used may seem to be quite a lot, but they work as a preservative and flavor enhancer that keeps well in the fridge without getting spoilt. Here I have given ingredients and method to make the paste. Some other day, I will post how to mix the paste with the rice with other extra ingredients. You may also like to visit my YouTube video on how to make this paste https://youtu.be/1vbXTq23UPs. I hope you will try this at home. 

Indian Style Tamarind Rice Paste or Puli Kaichal

INGREDIENTS: 

Tamarind - lime size

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Water - 3 cups

Jaggery/ brown sugar - 1 teaspoon

TO MAKE SPICE POWDER:

Channa dal - 1 tablespoon

Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Dry red chili - 1

TO TEMPER:

Gingerly oil - 1/4 cup

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Channa dal - 2 tablespoons

Dry red chilies - 15 (broken to small pieces) (reduce it if you don't like spicy food)

Asafoetida - 1/2 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 2 sprigs

METHOD:

1. First, take tamarind into the size of lime. Adding 3 cups of water to the tamarind and let it soak for 5 minutes. After that, squeeze tamarind in the water, and strain the tamarind water and discard the pulp.

2. In a pan, add a drop of gingerly oil, 1 tablespoon of channa dal, 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds. Roast the ingredients until golden brown. Lastly, add 1 dry red chili and fry for 1 minute only as you don't want to burn the chili. Grind it to fine powder. 

3. Heat a pan with gingerly oil, add mustard and allow it to sputter. Then, add urad dal and channa dal, allow them to become light brown colour. After that, add broken pieces of dry chilies, asafoetida and curry leaves. 

4. Immediately, add the tamarind water into the tempered ingredients. Let the tamarind water boil and reduce to half.

5. When it has reduce to half, add salt (I added 1 tablespoon), jaggery or brown sugar, turmeric powder and all the grind spice powder. Let the concoction boil and thicken further. At this stage, add another 2 tablespoons of gingerly oil. Boil for 5 minutes after adding oil. When oil starts floating on the surface and it has become semi- thick paste, switch off the flame. 

semi- thick paste

6. Cool this paste and store it in an air-tight container. Keep in the refrigerator. 

Thank you

Abby