Meenal Jhala

April 21, 2019April 27, 2019Breakfast dishes Snacks

Saboodana Khichdi or Spiced Tapioca Pearls

Just like Julie Andrews sings These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things in the 1965 musical Sound of Music and goes on to tell us some of her favorite things in the song, if I sang this song, which I love, I would mention Saboodana Khichdi made by mom.

The recipe for this savory tapioca pearls snack, usually eaten for breakfast, at tea time, or during periods of fasting, because it doesn’t contain garlic, onions or even asafoetida, is an heirloom family recipe. And you must try it to believe how tasty the dish turns out.

I’d rate it as a slightly difficult dish to make because the saboodana or tapioca pearls must be bought fresh, not powdery in the packing, but whole rounds. They must be soaked in just the right quantity of water- just enough to soak them overnight, but not completely drowned in water. When you soak them in water like this they will swell up by the next morning. And you can move ahead with the recipe.

The swollen saboodana after soaking in water overnight

Potatoes chopped into small cubes, chillies, coriander, curry leaves, and lemon for garnish.

Saboodana mixed with sugar, green chillies, coriander, peanuts and salt.

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Saboodana Khichdi

Eat this tasty snack for breakfast or teatime, hot and fresh.

Course Snack

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Vegetarian

Servings 4 persons

Author Meenal Jhala

Ingredients

200 gms saboodana or tapioca pearls
6 tbsps ghee or clarified butter
1 tspn cumin seeds
10-12 curry leaves
2 medium sized potatoes, chopped into small cubes
1 cup roasted, peeled and roughly ground peanuts
Some finely chopped coriander
2 to 3 finely chopped green chillies
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 lemon cut into 4 slices

Instructions

Take a medium sized, flat, broad based vessel. Put in the saboodana and soak in water about 1/4 inch above the level of the saboodana. Don’t let the saboodana drown in too much water. Let soak overnight. In the morning, the saboodana should have soaked in all the water, swollen up and if you press one, it should not have a hard centre.
Put the ghee in a thick bottomed pan and heat on medium flame. When hot put in the cumin seeds and curry leaves and fry till a nice aroma emanates, about one minute. Ensure that the cumin seeds do not burn and turn black.
Now put in the chopped potatoes into the ghee and add just enough salt for only the potatoes. Cover the pan with a thali, put some water on top of the thali and let the potatoes cook on a slow flame.
Meanwhile, lightly toss the soaked saboodana in its vessel. Add the green chillies, finely chopped coriander, sugar, roughly ground peanuts and just enough salt for the saboodana. Remember, you’ve already added some salt to the potatoes.
Now, bring down the cooked potato pan from the flame and put the saboodana into the pan, quickly and gently tossing and mixing.
Put back the pan on the flame and cook on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Your saboodana khichdi is ready. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve hot.

Notes

The soaked saboodana should not be soggy and should not have a hard centre when pressed. It should have swollen when soaked overnight and the water should have been absorbed.

When tossing the saboodana before adding the peanuts, green chillies, chopped coriander leaves and salt, toss gently to separate the pearls so that they don’t stick to each other, so that when you add this saboodana mix to the pan of cooked potatoes, they do not stick and form lumps but are beautiful, separate, pearls.

April 4, 2019Breakfast dishes

Aloo Parathas With A Difference

You’ve eaten aloo parathas or Indian breads made with whole wheat flour and a stuffing of spiced mashed potatoes. I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like them. They’re so yum, you can have a hearty breakfast of them or even have them as part of a meal.

This recipe is a twist on the regular aloo paratha. Instead of filling the spiced potato mix in the dough after binding it, in my version, I mix the mashed potatoes and spices with the dough and bind them all together. Believe it or not, this way, when you cook the parathas, they’re so soft and melt in the mouth that you won’t be able to stop at just one.

Children and especially older people love them because as I said they’re so soft. Not just that, they taste awesome too. So next time you plan to make aloo parathas try them my way. Infact, my granny made these for mom for her tiffin box and all mom’s classmates would pounce on them and polish them off in the wink of an eye.

So here’s the recipe.

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Aloo Parathas With A Difference

The epitome of homemade, eat them freshly made, hot from the tawa(skillet).

Course Breakfast

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Vegetarian

Servings 12 parathas

Author Meenal Jhala

Ingredients

500 gms boiled, peeled and grated potatoes
3 cups whole-wheat flour
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilly-ginger paste
salt to taste
A handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1/2 cup oil
Some flour to sprinkle on the discs while rolling

Instructions

Put the boiled and grated potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Add the three cups of whole-wheat flour to the potatoes.
Add the onions, spices, chilly ginger paste, salt and the fresh, finely chopped coriander to the potato flour mix.
Now put in the oil, a little at a time, gently binding the dough as you go along. The dough should be firm, not too soft.
Divide the dough into 12 equal sized balls.
Put a skillet on the stove on medium flame.
Take a ball of dough and with a rolling pin, roll out a circle of approximately 5 1/2 to 6 inches. You may want to sprinkle flour to help roll out the circle of dough.
Now, lay the disc on the skillet and cook on each side till brown spots appear. Reduce or increase the flame, adjusting it to control the heat while cooking the paratha. Spread a teaspoon of butter or ghee on the cooked paratha. Similarly make the remaining parathas.

Notes

Sprinkle a little dry flour on the discs while rolling them out. This will make it easier to roll them out.

To keep the parathas hot while you finish making them, keep them wrapped in a clean, cotton cloth napkin.

April 1, 2019April 4, 2019Basics

British vs American Terms Used In Baking

How often does the name of an ingredient or a piece of baking equipment leave us totally bewildered? What does the term mean? Some people call cookies biscuits, the American version is cookies and the British version, biscuits. There are so many words like these and depending on which book you’re referring to, a British publication or an American one, or more confounding still, an Australian one, baking ingredients and equipment can confuse. And then of course there is the Indian version too, and it gets even more confusing. But mostly, Indians used British English because of our historical past. Now however, with the internet and so much of American influence, many people use the American equivalents here in India too.

I took these ingredient and equipment terms from a wonderful book called The Best of Baking.

So here are some British baking terms with their American equivalents. I’d love it if you’d add to these in the comment section of this post.

Ingredients

apple, cooking (British) / apple, baking (American)

apple purée (British) / apple sauce (American)

bicarbonate or soda (British) / baking soda (American)

biscuits (British) / crackers or cookies (American)

biscuit mixture (British) / cookie dough (American)

black treacle (British) / molasses (American)

cake mixture (British) / cake batter (American)

chocolate caraque (British) chocolate curls (American)

chocolate, plain (British) / chocolate, semisweet (American)

chocolate vermicelli (British) / chocolate sprinkles (American)

cocoa powder (British) / unsweetened cocoa (American)

coconut, dessicated (British) / coconut, shredded (American)

cornflour (British) / cornstarch (American)

cream, single (British) / cream, light (American)

cream, double (British) / cream, heavy (American)

digestive biscuits (British) / graham crackers (American)

flour, plain (British) / flour, all purpose (American)

gelatine (British) / gelatin (American)

glacé cherries (British) / candied cherries (American)

icing (British) / frosting (American)

raisins, seedless (British) / raisins, seeded (American)

scones (British) / biscuits (American)

semolina (British) / semolina flour (American)

shortcrust pastry (British) / basic pie dough (American)

soured cream (British) / sour cream (American)

sugar, icing (British) / sugar, confectioners’ (American)

sultanas (British) / seedless white raisins (American)

vanilla pod (British) / vanilla bean (American)

yeast, fresh [25 gms, 1 oz] (British) / yeast, compressed [1cake] (American)

Equipment

baking tray (British) / baking sheet (American)

base ( British) / bottom (American)

cake board (British) / cake plate (American)

cling film (British) / plastic wrap (American)

cocktail stick (British) / toothpick (American)

deep cake tin (British) / spring form pan (American)

double saucepan (British) / double boiler (American)

dough or mixture (British) / batter (American)

flan tin (British) / pie pan (American)

grease proof paper (British) / wax paper (American)

knock back dough (British) / punch down dough (American)

liquidiser (British) / blender (American)

loaf tin (British) / loaf pan (American)

muslin (British) / cheesecloth (American)

palette knife (British) / spatula (American)

pastry or biscuit cutter (British) / cookie cutter (American)

pastry case (British) / pie shell (American)

piping pag (British) / pastry bag (American)

polythene (British) / plastic (American)

prove dough (British) / rise dough (American)

pudding basin (British) / oven proof bowl or pudding mold (American)

sandwich tin (British) / layer cake pan (American)

stoned (British) / pitted (American)

sugar thermometer (British) / candy thermometer (American)

Swiss roll tin (British) / jelly roll pan (American)

whisk eggs (British) / beat eggs (American)

March 26, 2019March 28, 2019Snacks

Black Pepper, Dark Chocolate, And Cranberry Bread

This fantastic bread inspired by and adapted from Samantha Seneviratne’s recipe is worth dying for! It’s healthy, not so much sugar or butter in it and tasty too, the freshly ground pepper gives it a luxurious, smoky flavor. Seneviratne has Sri Lankan roots and her baking recipes contain delicious spices grown in her homeland.

Make it for guests, they will love it, and eat it warm from the oven. Of course you can store it in the fridge, Ahmedabad summers don’t allow you to keep anything outside for too long, and eat it cold, it still tastes awesome.

The pepper flavor in it intensifies over a period of a day or two. And I put in a real pepper punch, 2 teaspoons instead of 1 1/2 like she said. Then I also used cranberries instead of tart cherries because I didn’t have them and used salted butter instead of unsalted. The bread came out fabulous.

So go ahead and enjoy the recipe.

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Black Pepper, Dark Chocolate And Cranberry Bread

Delicious, with chocolate chunks, cranberries and a pepper punch so good this bread is a bite of heaven.

Course Snack

Cuisine Sri Lankan

Keyword Eggetarian

Servings 10 persons

Author Meenal Jhala

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
255 gms (2 cups) plain flour, plus more for dusting the pan
2 tspns freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tspns baking powder
1/2 tspn soda bicarbonate or baking soda
1/2 tspn salt, if you’re using unsalted butter.
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup dried cranberries
65 gms (1/2 cup) semisweet chocolate (50-60% cacao), chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/ 175 degrees C. Grease and flour a 4 1/2 inch by 8 1/2 inch loaf pan.
In a medium bowl, mix the plain flour, pepper, baking powder, soda bicarbonate, and salt if using.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla.
Add half the flour mix, and beat gently until just combined. Add the sour cream and milk and mix briefly. Add the remaining flour and beat until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and cranberries.
Put the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until golden brown in color, approximately 50 minutes, or when a skewer inserted into the bread comes out with some moist crumbs sticking to it.
Let the bread cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan, turn it right side up, and let it cool completely.

Notes

Go by your nose when it comes to checking to see if the cake is baked, not just the time given in the recipe. Every oven is different and if the cake smells baked it’s time to take it out of the oven even if it’s sooner than the given time in the recipe.

March 23, 2019March 23, 2019Vegetables

Sprouted Fenugreek And Potato Vegetable

Sprouted fenugreek or methi dana as it is called in Hindi is excellent for health. Fenugreek sprouts aid in digestion and help lower blood sugar levels and so are great for diabetics. They also help reduce acidity. These tiny wonder shoots also prevent dandruff and give you radiant skin. Fascinating?!

So today, I’m posting a delicious recipe for fenugreek sprouts and potato vegetable. I’ve made this recipe with sprouted fenugreek seeds (seeds soaked for 24 to 36 hours) and they look like the picture above when they sprout, with little shoots on them. Of course you can make them with soaked fenugreek seeds too. Then you must soak them not until they sprout but until they just swell up and turn a little sticky.

The vegetable is a little bitter because of the fenugreek in it but it is very tasty. Try it and I promise you will love it.

Get healthy! in the most delicious way possible.

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Fenugreek Sprouts And Potato Vegetable

Made my granny and mom style, this recipe is delicious.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword Vegetarian

Servings 4 persons

Author Meenal Jhala

Ingredients

1/2 cup cleaned fenugreek seeds soaked in 1 cup water for 24 to 36 hours
500 gms boiled and peeled potatoes cut into small pieces
2 medium sized tomatoes, finely chopped
4 tbsp oil
3/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp chilly-ginger paste
Chilly powder to taste
Salt to taste

Instructions

Measure I cup of sprouted fenugreek seeds and keep the rest in the fridge to eat a teaspoon at a time every day.
In a small bowl mix the spices-turmeric powder, coriander powder, asafoetida and chilly ginger paste- with two tablespoons of water. Keep aside.
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Put in the cumin and mustard seeds and when they begin to pop put in the spice mix. Staying away from the fire, stir and cook for a minute or two.
Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till the oil separates from the tomatoes and spices.
Add the fenugreek sprouts and 3/4 cup water and cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on a slow flame.
Uncover, add the potatoes. Add chilly powder and salt to taste. Cook for 3-4 minutes more. Adjust the spices to taste.
Serve hot with Indian breads: chapatis or parathas.

Notes

Go ahead and make this recipe with soaked or sprouted fenugreek seeds. Either way, the dish will taste yummy.

To sprout the fenugreek seeds, soak them in a bowl of 1 cup water. Initially they will swell up. Now remove the excess water from the bowl, allow to sit in a covered bowl or in a wet, squeezed muslin cloth, and depending on the temperature in your area, the shoots will sprout in about 24 to 36 hours.

March 18, 2019Sweets and desserts

Peanut Butter Cookies

Have a fascination for peanuts, peanut butter and cookies too? This may be just the combination for you. Peanut butter cookies. Eat them warm or cool, but they won’t stay long in those airtight containers. Because they’re so damn delicious. With pieces of chunky peanuts, besides the peanut butter itself in the batter, these are irresistible.

Peanuts grow in Saurashtra, close to where I live in Ahmedabad, and every year in January when we go to the village we get back peanuts with us, peanuts in their covers, and peanuts the covers of which have been removed. So with so many peanuts, we make all kinds of dishes. We put them in poha( spiced flattened rice), we add them to dals, we fry them and eat them mixed with onions and spices and we make chutnies with them. And of course, peanut butter cookies! Life doesn’t get better than this.

I’ve chosen this recipe of peanut butter cookies from The Cookie And Biscuit Bible. The book is full of goodies you can make, from cookies and biscuits, to brownies and chocolates.

So here is the recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 20-24

Ingredients

115 gms/ 1/2 cup butter at room temperature, diced

125 gms/ 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 egg

5 ml/ 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

225 gms/ 1 cup crunchy peanut butter

50 gms peanuts

115 gms/ 1 cup plain ( all purpose) flour

2.5 ml/ 1/2 teaspoon soda bicarbonate ( baking soda)

pinch of salt

Method

1 In a medium or large mixing bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer till light and fluffy.

2 In a small bowl mix the egg and vanilla essence, then mix into the butter mixture.

3 Stir in the peanut butter and peanuts and blend thoroughly.

4 Sift the flour, soda bicarbonate and salt into the mixture and stir gently to form a soft dough. Donot overmix.

5 Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes until firm.

6 Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ gas 4. Grease two baking sheets.

7 Take teaspoons full of the dough, make into balls, press flat into rounds and make a criss cross pattern with the tines of a fork. They should each be 6 cms in diameter. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until lightly colored.

8 Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Once cooled you can store them in an airtight container.

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019Vegetables

Kacha Pakka Carrot Vegetable

Ours is a polarized country, a polarized world even. Still, we all want to be happy. This post includes a recipe, yes, but I am also writing this post because peace and love and unity are important for humankind. I want peace and unity between India and Pakistan and Hindus and Muslims within India.

Below is a poem I wrote some years ago that sadly is still relevant today.

The scourge of barbed wire fences,

The scourge of urban ghettos,

The scourge of my brother under subjection.

When did we turn against each other?

Spew venom and hatred at each other?

Divide ourselves across borders,

Hindus, Muslims? Indians, Pakistanis?

There is no worse vice than this,

When we behave this way,

Mazhab nahi sikhaata, aapas mein bair rakhnaa,

But we trample upon human goodness,

Hide behind past lives and reincarnation.

The scourge of barbed wire fences,

The scourge of urban ghettos,

The scourge of my brother under subjection.

I’m moving on to the recipe I mentioned to you about earlier. I’m happy when I cook and blog, and we all strive for joy.

This recipe is called Kacha Pakka Carrot Vegetable or semi cooked carrot vegetable.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

750 gms peeled and grated winter carrots

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

10-12 curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida

Chilly powder to taste

Salt to taste

Method

1 Heat the oil in a deep bottomed pan on medium heat.

2 Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to pop, add the curry leaves. They will begin to sputter.

3 Add the turmeric powder and asafoetida. Cook for a few seconds.

4 Put in the grated carrots, chilly powder and salt and cook on high heat for 3 to 4 minutes.

5 Remove from flame and serve hot.

February 21, 2019February 24, 2019Basics Sweets and desserts

Fruit Mincemeat

I got this recipe from a lovely cookbook in the British Library many years ago. The book was so good that I photocopied it from end to end but unfortunately didn’t copy the cover page. Strangely enough nowhere inside was the name of the book written. So I’m at a complete loss as to who the author of this wonderful fruit mincemeat recipe is.

The recipe is not very boozy and although the original recipe had brandy in it I put rum instead. I’ve also changed the quantities of some of the fresh and tinned fruits in it.

This makes an excellent gift for someone who likes to bake. You can make mince pies, marzipan mince tarts, mince muffins: the delicious list is endless. Fruit mincemeat is usually made at Christmas time but since here in Ahmedabad all the fresh fruits are still in season, I decided to give it a go.

So here is the recipe.

Fruit Mincemeat

Makes 1 kg

Ingredients

450 gms mixed dried fruit such as raisins, candied peel, candied ginger, cranberries, currants

25 gms glacé cherries, chopped

25 gms blanched almonds, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, ground cloves and mixed spice

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon and half orange

55 gms soft brown sugar

55 gms butter

55 gms tinned pineapple, chopped

1 banana, chopped

1 dessert apple, grated

100 gms grapes, halved

2 tablespoons rum

Method

1 Put the dried fruit, cherries, almonds, spices and zest and juice into a mixing bowl and leave to soak for 2 to 3 hours.

2 Stir in the sugar.

3 Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and on high heat toss the fresh and tinned fruit for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool completely.

4 Mix the the cooled fresh and tinned fruit with the dried fruit. Add the rum and give it a good stir.

5 Cover and store in the refrigerator for no more than a week or in the freezer for 3 months.

February 3, 2019Basics

Preparing To Bake A Cake

Baking a cake is scientific. It involves clear measurements and proper temperatures. If you don’t get these right your cake won’t turn out well. So here are a few things to keep in mind when you’re baking a cake.

1. Keep all the ingredients ready before hand- Go through the list of ingredients written in the recipe. Take out each one, measure it as per the recipe and lay it on the cooking platform or kitchen table. Make sure you’ve not forgotten any ingredient. Flour should preferably be measured by weighing it on a kitchen weighing scale rather than in cups.

2. Bring ingredients to room temperature unless otherwise specified-Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature. Soften the butter. If the eggs are cold and need to be brought to room temperature quickly you can put them in a pan of hot water for 10 minutes.

3. Have all your baking tools and equipment ready-Imagine missing your oven mitts when you need to remove the cake from the oven. A few minutes longer searching for them and the cake may burn.

4. Preheat the oven- You must preheat your oven for at least 10 minutes before putting the cake batter into the oven to bake. A cake usually bakes at 175 degrees C in the center of the oven.

5. Prepare the pan- You must grease and flour the cake pan before putting the batter into it so that the cake comes out easily once baked.

January 24, 2019Sweets and desserts

Walnut Marzipan Chocolate

I was delighted that Rachana and Adi were coming home for the first time. I had only met Rachana at my aunt’s place, which was like her second home. My aunt, who is no more and she were dear friends. My aunt and I were very close too. She is the inspiration behind my love of baking. So when Rachana said she wanted to come home with her hubby I was happy. She got some prasad, homemade sheera for mom and dad and me, it was so tasty. And we had Bhel puri for dinner and then coffee and chocolates afterwards.

Here’s the recipe of the chocolates I made as an after dinner treat. They’re yum, if I may say so myself. You’ve got to make them at home.

Makes 10

Ingredients

150 gms marzipan ( you can take the marzipan recipe from my blog)

1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts + 10 halves for decoration

150 gms melted dark chocolate

Method

1 Mix the chopped walnuts into the marzipan.

2 Shape the marzipan into a 9 inch log.

3 With a sharp oiled knife chop the log into 10 even pieces.

4 Dip each piece into the melted chocolate covering the marzipan completely.

5 Before the chocolate covering dries stick a walnut half onto the marzipan. Leave to dry

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week but they will be gone long before that!