Truth Personified

Amma has been asking me to try this recipe since forever now. I finally did and it definitely was worth a blog write up. I will also share a chutney’s recipe here because I promised a friend :)

I could never find a dosa making pan for the longest time. I wanted one which had no edges like the one in this pic. Now it’s here and it’s here to stay! This recipe is health itself - well im probably exaggerating but it really is the healthiest uttappam i’ve had.

Ingredients:

·         1 Cup oats

·         ½ Cup home made yogurt

·         ½ Cup warm Water (Substitute with ½ cup Buttermilk if you like it to taste a little more sour)

·         3 small green chilies finely chopped

·         1 Tomato finely chopped (You can strain the juices and de-seed if you like, we didn’t)

·         Spinach – ¼ cup finely chopped

·         Carrots – ¼ cup finely shredded

·         You can go on and add other vegetables…

Take a glass bowl, and mix in oats and the yogurt and water or buttermilk and let soak for about 15 to 30 minutes. We did this because this was the traditional oats and needed time to get soft. If you have the quick oats then 5-10 minutes would be sufficient. Now add the green chilies, spinach and add salt to taste.

Now heat the dosa pan and tap a drop of oil to it, spread the oats carefully to form any fun shape you like. The batter is going to be slightly gooey and not as easy to spread as dosa/uttapam  batter usually is. Sprinkle the toppings evenly and let cook for about a minute or two. The batter changes color as it starts cooking. Carefully turn over and cook for another minute or two. Do not cook on high heat because that might just end up burning your toppings and not cook the batter through and through.

Serve with some coconut, onion or peanut chutney.

Peanut Chutney:

Ingredients

·         1 Cup peanuts (I use the Indian variety because I like their taste better)

·         Red chilies – 5-10 based on your spice buds

·         Tamarind paste – 2 tbps

·         ¼ Cup onion chopped

·         Coriander -

·         Curry leaves – 10 leaves

·         Salt to taste

Roast peanuts, red chilies, curry leaves and onion for about 5 minutes and let cool. Grind together all the ingredients and add a little water to aid the grinding to a consistency you prefer. Transfer to a serving bowl. Temper using the below ingredients if you like the chutney with tempering. You can skip this step entirely.

·         1 Tsp oil (Use Canola or coconut oil)

·         ¼ tsp mustard

·         ¼ tsp jeera

·         ¼ tsp urad dal and chana dal

·         Curry leaves – about 10 leaves

Heat oil and add the ingredients in the above mentioned order. Pour over the chutney and mix before serving. Serve with warm uttapams for a healthy and happy stomach!

It feels like a century since I last visited and I’m back to make up for all the lost time. Of late, I’ve been crushing on Boba… The chewy little sweet balls soaking at the bottom of a refreshing cold milk tea really bring add a twist to the concept of tea. For someone like me, who is a recovering chai addict, when I say chai I mean the heavy Indian adrak and elaichi chai. Boba was almost like adding a whole new dimension to the concept of tea. Drinking cold tea without actually dipping biscuits in it was so completely alien. So after having a ton of that from the local truck I decided it was time to make some at home.I’ve had Boba at 3 different places and the best yet was at the LA County fair.

I looked up on Amazon for some good Boba but then found out that there is a store really close by where I could get some really good quality Boba for a lot cheaper! Here, I’m sharing the recipe I made while really trying to match the taste from memory. I also learned some valuable lessons about storing these cute little chewy honey soaked balls.

This is great for a hot summer day or these even hotter fall days. Make all the ingredients in advance and welcome guests with a glass and you are sure to be remembered!

So let’s get right into it:

You will need:

1) Time to make the Boba - About 60 minutes in total

2) Jumbo Tapioca pearls - 1/2 cup

3) Filtered water to boil the Boba - 4 Cups

4) Black tea(Skip the black tea if you are using Almond milk)

5) 1 Cup water for the tea

6) Milk - Whole/fatfree milk (Whatever you like). You can even substitute it with Soy/Almond milk to make it Vegan

7) Honey - 1 Tbsp (Use sugar syrup to make it Vegan. You can also use a mix of the two for a slightly different taste.)

8) Ice cubes

That’s about it.

How to go about it:

• Bring the water to boil and add the tapioca pearls
• Boil for about 2-3 minutes till the pearls rise to the surface
• Reduce the heat to a low and let cook for about 25-30 minutes. makse sure to stir every few minutes.
• After cooking for about 30 minutes, turn off heat and cover and let rest for about another 30 minutes.
• Strain and wash under cold running water. Transfer to another bowl.
• Add the honey to the boba and let soak for about 15 minutes.
• Boil 1 cup water and add the black tea to it and let soak for about 10 minutes. Strain and let cool.
• In a glass add the tea decoction and the milk to it.
• Add the soaked boba and the ice and enjoy.

Tips:

> Start the Boba and the tea making at the same time so it gives the tea to cool down a bit.

> The boba is going to harden even if you leave it out so I cant stress enough on the making ‘just enough’ part.

> Make just enough so you don’t have to end up storing it in the fridge. But if you must, you can reheat and use at a later point in time. I did not however enjoy the texture as much as I did the fresh boba.

> Add more sugar/honey if you need to.

> The boba are delicate little beings before you cook them so be gentle, stir gently during the prep process.

> Add a bit of vanilla to the boba to for a twist to the taste

> Last but not least, please have it in moderation.

The sugar syrup soaked boba are actually nice to eat as a dessert.

I didn’t get the jumbo straws but you can get them online.

Places I took help from:

• thekitchn
• foodyear
• econerdfood

About 2 years back, a friend of mine shared this link on facebook. I bookmarked it for later waiting to get my hands on some saffron. I finally did, very recently and have been using it since. I love the saffron flavor, aroma and the color it gives to the dishes it favors.

I used my favorite skillet as you can see and I just can’t seem to have enough of it! The bread came out sweet and flavorful just as I hoped it would so I have no complaints. I also made it a little rich(read fattening) by using some homemade ghee.

Source: The fresh loaf

Ingredients:

Maida - 1 Cup + a lil extra 

Sugar - 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp for the yeast

Yeast - 1 Tsp

Warm water - 1/4 Cup

Milk - 1 Cup + a lil extra for the glaze

Saffron - 1 pinch

Raisins - a handful

Ghee - 1/2 Tbsp

In a glass bowl mix the all purpose flour and sugar. In a cup add the warm water, sugar and instant yeast and keep aside for about 5-10 minutes and let the yeast do its work.

In another bowl heat some milk and add the saffron strands and mix well. Let rest for a bit so that the saffron flavor and color come to life! If you wish to add the raisins, just add it to the warm milk.

Now add the yeast and the milk to the dry ingredients and mix well to form a dough consistency. At this point the dough will be pretty sticky and you might need that lil extra flour. Use as needed. Add the ghee at this point and knead well. Cover with a well cloth and keep in a warm place for about an hour.

After about an hour visit the dough and punch it down. Make it into the shape you like and place it in your baking dish and make sure you give enough space for expansion. Cover up and place in the warm place for about another hour.

Preheat your oven to 400 F. When the dough has risen(when you push at its surface the dough should bounce back - kinda :)) brush some milk on the surface and bake for about 11-12 minutes or till the top has browned.

Serve warm with some jelly or just bite right into it.

I cannot begin this post without telling you how much in awe I am of this beautiful and talented person!!! I’m ecstatic as you can tell. Technically I have known her since school which would mean I know her for more than 2 decades now? We actually got in touch when we were in college and then again when I found her blog 2 years later!!! I visited her blog every single day in 2008(I hope that doesn’t count as stalking) and drooled over the food, photographs and writing! Two years later I started this place - a tiny place to document my cooking experiments… I look up to her as a mentor and friend and always ping, message, DM, email her to clear doubts and ask for recipes and tips. So well I do hound her quite a bit… I finally gathered up the guts to ask Priya if she would guest blog right here on Truth Personified and she said Yes! So heres to some beautiful captures, a beautiful recipe and a beautiful person!

I cannot wait to meet her and be lucky to taste some of her goodies and maybe even get some tips on photography! Who knows? I just might get that lucky!

Please join me in extending a warm welcome to Priya from Akshayapaatram…

Dear Foodies,

 I’ve known Anu way before either of us blogged, we went to the same high school and later the same undergrad college as well. We were in different batches though and never really got to spend time together. It was again through her comments on my blog that we got in touch again. Her genuineness and curiosity is what makes her blog a pleasure to read. I always wanted to have a friend who also food blogged. Most of my friends love food and we do talk about it lot, but to also blog about it makes you connect in a different way. You don’t have to be apologetic about being borderline obsessive about ingredients and recipes :) You can have conversations that revolve only about food with no other niceties involved and still feel good about it. So I was thrilled when Anu asked me to do a guest post on her blog! This is a first for me and I’m happy its here. I’m sure those of you who have read the stories & recipes she shares, keep coming back for more. So as a first step, I’m sending over a recipe to her space and hope that eventually we’ll get to meet in person too.

The last few weeks have been overcast and the temperatures have been lower than usual. Cloudy skies and rain conjure up the need to wrap your hands around a warm cup of tea and crispy, crunchy snack to go with it. I’ve been on a quinoa cooking spree lately and trying to use it in as many recipes as possible. This recipe is a result of one such attempt that turned out to be most delightful of them all.

Quinoa (keen-wah) though often grouped into the ‘whole-grain’ club, is really a seed of plant closely related to beets and spinach. The ancient Incan’s considered it scared and gave it the name Quinoa which meant ‘mother grain’. I guess the confusion of seed vs grain started early :) In recent times, this South American crop has gained popularity due to its nutritional value. Its a rich source of protein, essential amino acids and contains more fiber, calcium, phosphorous, iron and magnesium compared to wheat, corn or barley. Being naturally gluten-free makes it easy to digest and in general a better choice compared to other cereal grains.

Having been around for such a long time proves that these seeds have learnt to survive. They have a bitter outer coating which keeps birds away from them in the fields but when it comes to cooking with it, that coating needs to come off. Most quinoa that we get in the stores now is processed to take away this bitterness but it still needs a good wash under multiple changes of water (as you would with rice).

 The cooking process is very similar to rice as well, but I like to toast the seeds first to enhance their nutty flavor. So before rinsing, toast them in a dry pan for a few minutes until you hear them ‘pop’, and then wash under multiple changes of water. While cooking them I use less water that I would with rice, I’ve had success with 1:1.25 of quinoa to water and that keeps the seeds separate & fluffy.

prepping the veggies - onions, fennel, carrots, ginger & garlic

Quinoa is pretty versatile but it takes some getting used too in terms of flavor, specially if you are a rice lover like me. It has a nutty, slightly bitter and mildly crunchy texture, which now is what I like about it. I try to treat it like rice and substitute it in recipes for tomato rice, mixed veg pulao, chinese/thai fried rice, sambar rice and even pulihora/tamarind ricerice. I was cooking some quinoa for lunch one cloudy, rainy day and decided to make mini cakes with them instead. Chopped fresh fennel bulbs, onions, ginger, garlic and carrots went into it along with some spices. To prevent the mixture from getting too moist I used lemon zest instead of juice.

For a binding agent, I did not have bread or breadcrumbs at home and remembered that I loved the nutty toasted besan/chickpeas flour in these corn cakes. Finally, along with some freshly grated parmesan cheese and roasted peanuts the cutlet came together beautifully!

Vegetable & Quinoa Cakes/Patties

Prep time - 30 - 40mins

Cook time - 30mins

Servings - 12-14 cakes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup - Quinoa, uncooked
• 1 cup -Water
• 1/2 cup - Carrot, grated  
• 1/2 cup - Fennel bulb, finely diced
• 1/3 cup - Onions, finely diced 
• 2 - Green chillies, finely minced
• 1/2 tsp - Ginger, finely minced
• 1/4 tsp - Garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 tsp - Cumin & Coriander seeds
• A pinch of turmeric
• 2 Tbsp - Gram flour/Besan and coarse Semolina/Sooji/Rava
• 2 Tbsp - Peanuts, dry roasted and coarsely crushed
• 1/2 tsp - Lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp -Cilantro & Fennel fronds, chopped
• 1/4 cup - Grated Parmesan (optional)
• 4-5 Tbsp - Oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cooking Quinoa: Toast Quinoa in a saucepan for 5-6 mins on medium heat until it being to slightly color and begins to pop. Immediately run cold water over it and rinse well in multiple changes of water, gently rubbing the seeds between your fingers to remove the bitter outer coating. Put it back on the stove top with a little over 1 cup of water. Once water comes to a boil, season it with some salt, cover with a lid and cook on the lowest setting for about 12-15mins until all the water is absorbed. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and allow it to cool.
2. Other Prep work: In the meantime prep all your veggie. In a shallow pan, toast cumin and coriander seeds until they are fragrant, transfer to a mortar and pestle and coarsely powder them. Next dry roast peanuts in the pan and coarsely pound them in the pestle & mortar. In the same pan, toast besan and semolina until they begin to get a light brown color and give off a nutty, toasted aroma. Transfer to a cool plate and reserve for later. Next add a Tbsp of oil to the pan, and saute onions, green chillies, fennel, ginger, garlic with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Once they’ve softened add crushed cumin- coriander and allow to cool.
3. Making the Cakes/Patties: Once the quinoa has cooled to room temperature, add in the rest of ingredients, except besan/semolina mix. Gradually add the besan/semolina mix as needed in order to form cakes that hold their shape, its better to use your hands here. Depending on the moisture content of the quinoa you may or may not have to use the whole flour mixture. Taste test for seasonings and adjust to taste.
4. Form round cakes about 4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Place the formed patties on a parchment lined sheet as you go. Once all the cakes are formed you can either cook them immediately or store them in an airtight container, separating each with a piece of parchment, for a day or two in the refrigerator.
5. Heat an iron skillet with 2 Tbsp of oil on medium heat. Gently place the quinoa cakes and cook for 2-3 on one side. Don’t move them at this point, giving them a chance to brown evenly. Once the underside develops a brown crust, carefully flip it and cook again for 2-3 mins adding a few more drops of oil as needed.
6. Serve them warm with some a cool yogurt mint sauce/ fresh tomato sauce or just plain ketchup! 

Yogurt Mint sauce - Stir in a spoonful of Pudina chutney into thick yogurt. I made a jar full of this and stored it in the refrigerator with a thin film of oil over the surface. Perfect for instant dips, sandwich spreads and bhel puri!

Tomato Sauce - A small batch, quick version of this recipe by Deb, using just 3 medium tomatoes. I did not blanch or de-seed them. The fresh flavor of basil and garlic in this is just fabulous.
Note: If you find the quinoa is getting too soggy though, immediately spread it on a cool plate and set it in the freezer for a few minutes to stop further cooking. Change up the combination of veggies based on what you have at home. You can use crushed fennel seeds, chaat masala, garam masala or any other spice of your choice to flavor these cakes. If you have breadcrumbs available, encrust them in it before pan frying, but be aware that it will need a bit more oil to crisp up.

This is probably the best quinoa dish I’ve made.  It’s raining outside as I type this draft and it makes me want to make another batch of these right now! The cakes were crispy, crunchy and absolutely scrumptious, exactly what you would want from the rainy day snack. It was hard believe that it these were actually good for us. I made the quick tomato sauce with garlic and basil to serve along with the quinoa cakes and it gave a fresh, tangy contrast to the cakes. I saved half of the shaped patties in the fridge and pan fried them a couple of days later. This time I served them with my quick mint yogurt and loved the cool yogurt against the warm, crunchy cakes. Any way you serve them, I’m sure you’ll enjoy these.

Thank you for having me over Anu, I really loved doing this and I hope you enjoy these quinoa cakes!

(R)oomie and I have been having ice-cream cravings on and off. The Magnum ice-cream ads don’t help either. I called up Amma and asked her for her ice-cream recipes and it’s been like 15 years since she made some at home and so she had to get her recipe book out. She has made tons of egg-less ice-cream for me especially when we were living in Kuwait and she had all the time to experiment with food - elaichi, pistachios, mango, plain vanilla, chocolate, you name it!

Btw just FYI I love Chocolate ice-cream with chocolate chips(belgium chocolate helps) and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

Her recipes are like her - simple and straightforward, plus point is that the ingredients are readily/easily available. I did a bit of googling for the ice-cream recipes and it seemed way too complex for me and the ice-cream maker(i didn’t want to be ‘buying’ that) was a huge turn-off. Since she had to dig out her recipe book, I decided to work on it based on my taste-buds. I remember how she used to beat up the mixture in the blender and freeze it and beat it up again, freeze and repeat till the ice-cream was smooth and creamy.

My ice-cream recipe has just 3 ingredients

*)     Whipping cream - 1 Pint/473ml (Ultra pasteurized Grade A)

**)   Condensed milk - 1 Can/14 Oz/396gms (@room temperature)

***) Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 Tsp

****) White food colouring - completely optional, if you like the ice-cream to have a snow-white colour add a drop or two.

Using a hand mixer, I whipped the whipping cream on high for 5-6 minutes or till whipping consistency is reached in a large glass mixing bowl. Add the condensed milk and vanilla extract (and food colouring if using) and combine. scrap the sides with a rubber spatula and combine again. DO NOT over-beat after you add the condensed milk because the cream kinda breaks up and the creamy texture is lost(trust me I tried!). Cover the mixing bowl with a plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour.

Take out the semi-frozen mixture and beat again on medium high for 2 minutes. Make sure you scrap the sides because the sides freeze up first. Cover again with the plastic wrap and freeze for atleast 4 hours or over night.

Serve a scoop topped with some homemade cherry preserve or a topping of your choice.

As I was making the ice-cream on one side I kinda got temped to make some kulfi too. And since I was going the simple way I decided to try and use just 3 ingredients here too.

Kulfi:

Whole Milk - 2 Cups

Sugar - 2 Tbps

Cardamom - 2 whole

Boil the milk till it reduces to less than 1/2 its quantity. You can replace this with evaporated milk too which you can find in the baking section of your grocery store. The boiling takes time and patience and needs you right by its side. Once the milk has reduced, add the sugar and mix well. Add the cardamom and let it boil for some a few more minutes to absorb the flavour. Take off heat and let it cool completely. Pour into popsicle moulds and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

To take out the kulfi from the mould, simply dip the mould in warm water for a few second and gently pull. You can experiment with almond extract or any other flavour of your choice.

I was inspired to make cherry preserve after I saw this post at the Cilantropist. I followed the recipe to the dot. Don’t you just wish you had that cherry pitter-it took me ages & ages to get the cherries ready. 

I’ve previously tried Plum Preserve, Nectarine preserve & Golden Raspberry preserve… and even some strawberry preserve!

I’ve been taking it easy the past few weeks - pracastinating actually. So I’m actually making an effort to sit down and write this post. Can you imagine life for a month without cable/tv? 6 months? 1 year? We completed a year without one successfully. And I’m pushing to make it two! It’s not that I dont watch any show - I do! But it’s mostly whatever comes on hulu or youtube. I used to be addicted to netflix and had to literally use nicotine patches to get rid of that addiction and finally have been clean for 6 months now. *YAY*

Also my laptop is more like a desktop these days - can’t move it around too much which means my bathroom and bedroom are free from its clutches. I’m diverting my energy into other avenues - knitting, stitching, reading to name a few.

Also there’s a small get-together 3 weeks from now and I wanted to get something for the people I wanna meet. I’m just not sure what to get them - nothing too fancy and definitely handmade and not buttery either. Pinterest has some great DIY ideas but I’m still looking for something more feasible.

I’ve also not been cooking much of late - nothing blog worthy atleast. This weekend as a therapy I decided to make something healthy, tasty and involving hard labour(read more prep time). (R)oomie loves BK Veggie Burgers(no cheese) - it’s been his quickfix for many years now. Since I decided to go healthy for a bit - I decided on veggie patties. They are what I like to call “Veggie Energy Bars”…

Combine with with some more fresh veggies and whole grain bread and you have a complete meal. We had this for brunch and kept snacking on the patties whenever hunger struck. I tried to click a decent picture of the assembled product and royally failed.

Breakfast as they say is a very important meal of the day which is supposed to keep you on your feet most of the day. We end up eating heavy lunches and dinners(pretty late too) which again causes us to skip our breakfast (catch22? vicious circle?) and we are trying to change all of that.

I’m done with the niceties and will now get into the recipe details. For a change I put up text on my photos with the ingredient details. But being the nice person I am, I will repeat it here for you :D

What you will need:

For the Pattie:

Black beans - I soaked 1/2 cup overnight and pressure cooked it. You may want to use canned ones instead to make the job easier. I like doing the overnight thingie.

Olive oil - 1/2 Tbsp and some more for frying the patties(you can alsobake them but I didn’t this time)

Onion - Medium sized finely sliced

Green pepper - Medium sized finely chopped (as much as the onion)

Ginger - 1/2” minced/chopped finely

Garlic - 3 pods (Same as above)

Baby carrots - 5(boiled and drained and cut to 1” pieces)

Cauliflower - 1/2 cup(same as above)

Breadcrumbs - 1/2 Cup and some extra for coating

Cumin - 1/2 Tsp

Turmeric - 1/2 Tsp

Chili powder - 1/2 Tsp

Pepper - 1/4 Tsp (avoid if you prefer less spicy)

*Teriyaki Sauce - 1 Tbsp

*Soy sauce - 1/2 Tbsp

*Ketchup - 1 Tbsp

*Pesto - 1 Tbsp (I used the kirkland brand pesto that I got from Costco)

*Mix the above 4 ingredients and keep aside.

Mash the black-beans in a large mixing bowl.

Heat olive oil in a heavy bottom vessel and add the cumin. Add onion, ginger, garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes on high. Once the onion turns translucent add the green pepper, turmeric and chili powder and saute for 3-4 min. Add the *sauce to the mixture and mix for about a minute and turn off the heat. Add this mixture to the mashed black-beans and mix well. Now add the carrots and cauliflower and mash slightly and mix well. Lastly add in the breadcrumbs. Drain off as much liquid as possible while using the black-beans to avoid a runny mixture.

Prepare the patties by making them into 3/4” sized balls and flatten gently to make a disc shape. Have some of the breadcrumbs ready on a plate and gently place the flattened pattie to coat one side and then the other. Use your hands to dust a bit on the sides too. Once all the patties are ready, heat some oil on a non stick pan and slide the patties giving enough space to maneuver. Each side takes about 3-4 minutes on medium high. The breadcrumbs give the patties a crumbly exterior while being super soft as you bite into it. Serve hot or as desired.

We had some really healthy whole grain bread from Costco that was crying to be used and so I toasted it and layered some readymade coriander chutney, fresh cucumber and tomatoes with the pattie and served it for brunch.

**Surprisingly I didn’t feel the need to add any salt but if you think you need some, please make sure you add it to the pattie mix.

Do you feel the need for something sweet after all of that? Drop in at my neighbour’s for some yummy strawberry(picked fresh off the farms) cake and preserve!

Sending this off to MLLA 36, hosted by Served with Love, originally Susan’s brainchild.

I give all credit for putting up this post to (R)oomie. The moment this idea started building up in my head I jumped out of the couch and started working on all the vegetables and worked my way through it. It took a LOT of time and by the time I was done I lost all my appetite for it. But (R)oomie got in on the action from there on and ate it - He ate it through the night and just watching him devour it somehow made up for my lack of appetite. I decided I would blog about it.

Just make this on a weekend or someday you have a lot of time and you need to unwind(if cooking is your way of unwinding that is).

Have I mentioned how much I love pasta? In any form appetisers, main courses maybe even desserts(who knows right?)! Don’t puke just now, since you’re here anyways why don’t you read the post and decide if its fun experimenting with food(pasta in particular)

I boiled and drained 3 sheets of lasanga and kept it aside. If you have some leftover stored in your fridge I’d suggest you use that. The lasanga is for the bottom most layer of this heavenly savoury cake, so you could actually layer it with any shaped pasta you like. How’s that for fun?

I’m really sorry that I didn’t take any pictures while I was doing all the prep because that’s really the time consuming part. Also maybe I should ask you to run 2 extra miles because of all the calories this dish is guilty of. We’ll try to make it work :)

What you will need:

Boiled and drained pasta/lasanga - About a cup, just about enough to layer the bottom 1 inch of your 9” cake baking pan.

Olive oil - 1 Cup and enough to oil the cake pan.

1. All purpose flour - 1 Cup (To go the healthier route you can replace this with whole wheat flour or other whole grain mixes)
2. Baking powder - 1/2 Tsp
3. Baking Soda - 1/4 Tsp
4. Salt - to taste(Because of the cheese you have to be careful on how much you add)
5. Sugar - 1 pinch or 1/8 Tsp(Similar to how we add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavour in sweet dishes)
6. Parmesan cheese - grated 1/4 Cup. You can be bold enough and go to 1/2 Cup but I have a feeling it would be too much.
7. Paprika powder (optional)

Blanched Veggies of your choice - I blanched carrots, peas and spinach

Roasted Veggies of your choice - I roasted onions and zucchini.(Both were sliced thin and long)

Whisk the above 6/7 dry ingredients in a bowl and keep aside. We are just making sure that the dry ingredients combine well before adding the wet ingredients to it.

The only wet ingredient is the olive oil. Add that to the dry ingredients and mix well and keep aside. If you like you can add some water or some more olive oil to make it a thick semi solid dough like consistency.

The other thing you can do is prepare the veggies on the side. I had blanched carrots, peas, spinach along with roasted/pan fried zucchini, onion.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil your baking dish with olive oil.

Start by layering the boiled and drained pasta (I think using the lasanga layers would give it a kind of a base)

Layer the spinach and veggies over the pasta. Now pour the batter over and spread evenly. Make sure you leave enough space for the cake to rise. This mix rises easily. Bake in the middle rack for 35-40 minutes or till the toothpick comes on clean. I would suggest that you turn the pan around after about 20 min(midway) for even baking. You might find the cake a tad bit oily(duh!) The cake rose quite well but fell soon after but I wouldn’t worry about it, unless anyone could tell me what I did wrong?

I added some heart shaped pasta pieces as a topping/garnish to please the (R)oomie but it wasn’t necessary.

After a really long break Im glad that I can participate in PPN212 hosted by Ruth this week.

As a kid I loved pretending that I was part of a party and raising to toast to someone or something. Clinking those pretty long stemmed delicate glasses was something that seemed out of my reach(because as a kid I’m known to have butter fingers around glassware) In this case I’d like to raise a toast to Easter, to Sachin’s Bday and Godzilla’s Bday.

Amma always makes wine at home without the yeast and we never really manage to wait long enough for the juice to ferment to wine. I usually worry her silly till she pours me some in a thimble and we go clink clinking after a sip of her absolutely delicious wine.

Read More

Remember the Baked Apple crisps that I royally screwed up? I tried again! And this time I succeeded! Please follow Ria’s recipe to the T and you’ll do fine.

The only differences are that I used Golden apples and I sliced using the sharpest, thinnest knife in the kitchen. :D

And before I forget, Happy World Cup peeeepal!!!