One Day At A Time!

  Weekends call for something special. How about an effortless Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake with Peanut Butter Cups? A sweet treat ready in less than a minute. Today's pastry chef is my 7 year old. My kiddo enthusiastically prepped and microwaved this tiny double chocolate cake. I played the sous chef, providing all the ingredients.... clicking pictures. We both had fun baking together. Hope you all love my mini chef's baking venture.  Ingredients: All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 2 tbsp Light Brown Sugar or Sugar - 2 tbsp Whole Milk - 4 tbsp Oil or melted butter - 1 tbsp Green Cardamom Pods/Elaichi - 2 (seeds only) Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/8 tsp Peanut Butter Cups or any other chocolate topping How to make a Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake with Peanut Butter Cups? Crush the cardamom seeds in a mortar pestle. Instead of cardamom, use any flavor of your choice - cinnamon powder, vanilla extract, almond extract and so on. In a dry microwave saf...

I am a person who likes to wander in a supermarket. That gives me a chance to try out new ingredients. This week, I picked buttermilk in the dairy isle for making Rava Dhokla . Up until now, I used to make Dhokla with yogurt. But, dhokla with buttermilk turned out even better. Buttermilk is comparatively sour than yogurt, which makes instant dhokla soft and fluffy. The best part is the health benefit, buttermilk has far less fat content than yogurt. 

For me, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As you all know, we love South Indian Idli and Dosa. But, these days I am a Mommy, who has less time for cooking. So, for all busy people, here are some quick Indian breakfast ideas and recipes from a busy Mom. Feel free to share your tips through the comment section. Let me start with Instant Idli. Instant Oats Vegetables Idli Instant Rava (Sooji) Idli with Veggies Two more Konkani recipes of Idlis with vegetables. Tavshe (Cucumber) Idli Dudhe (Pumpkin) Idli Well, some delicacies for Gujarati food lovers. Instant Khaman Dhokla Instant Rava/Sooji Dhokla Khandvi/Suralichya Vadya Now is the time for everyone's favorite South Indian dosa. Instant Masala Dosa Instant Oats Rava Dosa Instant Rava Maida Dosa Instant Ragi / Nachni Dosa Some Marathi style Thaalipeeth. Instant Cabbage Dosa Jwari (Jowar) Thaalipeeth A Vegan Besan Vegetable Omlette Vegan Egg Free Omlette How about some Poha ...

Preparing a traditional dosa  batter is a time consuming and elaborate process of soaking, grinding and fermenting. Some foodies don't like fermenting the batter. I prefer Instant recipes too at times.  Let me tell you my quick way of making everyone's favorite  Masala Dosa . Ingredients: Rice Flour - 1 cup Urad Dal Flour/Split Black Gram Flour - 1/3 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour - 1/4 cup Thin Poha/Flattened Rice - 1/3 cup Water - 2 1/2 cups Oil or Unsalted Butter Salt How to make Instant Masala Dosa: In a blender/grinder add rice flour, urad dal flour, besan, thin poha, little salt and 2 cups water. Blend/grind until all the ingredients are mixed well. Stir with a spoon or spatula and pulse the batter again for about a minute. This will aerate the batter a little. Set the batter aside for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you'll notice the batter has thickened. Now add the remaining 1/2 cup water and beat the batter well. The batter consisten...

A new week, a new day!  How are you guys?  Its been a long time since my last post.  Turns out I am cooking for myself. My solitary lunches are generally salads. I know, it sounds kind of boring for some of you. Some days I find it boring too. A simple stir fry with lots of veggies is interesting enough, I guess.  Choose your favorite seasoning and add your own touch.

When it comes to South Indian crepes, most of us like the crisp Masala Dosa . My folks like the healthy variations too - Oats Masala Dosa and  Ragi Masala Dosa . But, its such a lengthy process. Instant dosa with no baking soda and no overnight fermentation is the most nutritious breakfast I can think of. Try these quick, gluten free finger millet savory crepes to kick start your day. Ingredients: Ragi/Nachni/Finger Millet Flour - 1/2 cup Rice Flour - 1/4 cup Urad Dal Flour - 1/4 cup Water - about 1 1/2 cups Oil or Butter or Ghee Salt How to make Instant Ragi Dosa: In a mixing bowl, add ragi flour, rice flour, urad dal flour and salt. Mix well. Now add water, little at a time and make a thin batter. I added about 1.5 cups water. Batter must not be too thick nor too runny. Heat a flat cast iron or non stick pan. Lightly grease the pan with cooking spray or ghee or butter. Do not add too much oil. Too much oil makes it difficult to spread the batter evenly...

Instant Rava Idli with Veggies Mornings are the busiest in every household. Our home is no different. A bowl of whole grain cereal is the easiest option for me. But on weekends, I don't mind cooking something traditional. This Karnataka style Rava Idli with carrots and peas is one of them. Unlike other South Indian breakfasts which require an elaborate process of soaking, grinding, fermenting, this Sooji Idli is a quick one. Plus, healthy! Ingredients: Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1 cup Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - 1 cup Grated Carrots/Gajar - 1/2 cup Green Peas (frozen) - 1/2 cup Grated Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1/4 cup Cashews/Kaju - 3 tbsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - 6 Oil or Ghee - 3 tsp Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp Salt How to make Instant Rava Idli with veggies: Heat a pan and dry roast semolina at low heat for 3 - 4 minutes. Roast until semolina color changes slightly and turns aromatic. Do not let...

Hey everyone!  Thanks for all the emails and the sweet messages. I missed you guys too.  Hope you all had a great start in 2014. We are in the middle of severe winter weather and as the news readers say "Winter Wonderland". As far as new year resolutions, mine are still the same as last year... eat healthy, eat high calorie food in moderation and stay fit. Talking of healthy, let me tell you about a quick 20 minutes Oats dosa I made this weekend.

Since I brought a mini pancake pan, Appe has joined our list of breakfast menu. So far, I have posted savory recipes. You guys might have read about Udid Methi Appe   and also an instant version of Gluten free Appe .  Today I made God Appe for breakfast. Sweet appe or paddu or paniyaram are made either with rice or wheat. Wheat flour is the instant one as compared to the rice paddu. Hope you all like these sweet pancakes with bananas. Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup Flattened Rice/Thin Poha - 1/2 cup Grated Jaggery/Gud/Gul - 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1/4 cup Ripe Bananas - 2 big Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Oil or Ghee/Clarified Butter How to make Instant God Appo: Blend flattened rice, grated jaggery, coconut and bananas to a slightly coarse paste in a food processor or a blender. If jaggery is not available, brown sugar is a good substitute. Based on the sweetness you like, add more or less jaggery. Crush cardamom seeds...

Everything about a weekend is so laid back. Relax and enjoy! Its the same with my cooking. Most weekends we eat out, try some exotic food. Tea is the only reason I enter the kitchen. But today happens to be one of those Sundays when I cooked an Instant brunch for us - steamed savory chickpea flour cakes, popular as Khaman Dhokla or Dhokla  in Gujarati. Ingredients: Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour - 1 cup Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1/2 cup Yogurt/Curd/Dahi - 1 cup Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp Grated Ginger - 1/2 tsp Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Sugar - 1 tsp Salt Tempering/Tadka: Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - 5 leaves Green Chillies - 2 Asafoetida/Hing - 1/2 tsp Oil - 2 tsp How to cook Instant Khaman Dhokla: Grease a steel vessel with cooking spray or oil. In a mixing bowl, add besan, turmeric, chilli paste, ginger, salt and sugar. Add yogurt (preferably slightly sour), and mix all the ingredients well. Whisk it well.  Now a...

February is here and hope everyone had a great first month. My resolution for 2013 was to blog more about whole grain recipes, include more vegetables in our diet. One day at a time and everything in moderation. That takes me to our today's breakfast - healthy Oats twist to a South Indian Idli, with colorful carrots and bell peppers. Ingredients: Quick Oats - 1 cup Semolina/Rava/Sooji - 1/2 cup Yogurt/Curd/Dahi - 1 cup Carrots (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup Capsicum/Bell Pepper (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp Salt How to cook Instant Oats Idli with vegetables: Heat a pan and roast oats at low heat for 4 - 5 minutes. Set it aside on a plate to cool. After cooling, grind the roasted oats to a fine powder. Now roast semolina at low heat for 4 - 5 minutes or until it slightly changes color and turns aromatic. Let it cool. In a big mixing bowl, add finely chopped carrots, capsicum, ci...

Dal Rice , Kadhi Chawal/Rice are some of the lazy day meals at our place.  Hot Kadhi, which we call as Phanna Tak or Taaka Kadhi in Konkani, with rice and some Aloo Pakoras is quite comforting in this cold weather. Nowadays, I cook this yogurt based sauce with a healthier addition, palak. These greens make me feel less guilty of eating fried goodies. Ingredients: Spinach/Palak Leaves - 3 cups Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - 1 1/2 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour/Gram Flour - 2 tbsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig Dry Red Chilies - 2 Green Chilies - 1 or 2 Ginger/Adrak - an inch piece Garlic/Lahsun - 2 big cloves Kasuri Methi/Dry Fenugreek Leaves - 2 tsp Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Salt Oil How to cook Indian Palak Kadhi: Wash the spinach leaves and place them in a colander to drain excess water. Or use a salad spinner to dry the leaves. Medium chop the leaves. I used Organic Baby Spinach lea...

One of the new sweets I tried this festive season. The natural sweetness of dates and crunchy nuts make this treat a healthy one. And this Homemade Nutrition Bar cooked in a microwave does not require any sugar or sweetener. A guilt free, sugar free Barfi for this Diwali. Ingredients: Dates/Khajur (Pitted) - 1 cup Almonds/Badam or any other nuts  - 1/4 cup White Sesame Seeds/Til - 1 tsp Poppy Seeds/Khuskhus - 1 tsp Unsalted Butter - 1 tbsp How to prepare Khajur and Nuts Roll: Wipe a microwave safe bowl dry. Add almonds or walnuts or any other nuts of your choice to the bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. I used raw almonds with skin. Almond skin is rich in nutrients, but discard them if you don't like. Keep the roasted almonds aside. Check for seeds in the dates. Add dates to the bowl and microwave dates for a minute. You will notice that dates soften a little after heating. Microwave for one more minute. Add the dates to a dry blender/food processor jar and blend i...

Jackfruit or Phanas (as said in Konkani), both raw and ripe, is commonly used in Konkani coconut curries, steamed idlis etc. Even jackfruit seeds are relished. These sweet Jackfruit fritters, called as Phonsa Mulik  are similar to French Beignets or doughnuts, but are perfect for vegans and vegetarians. Ingredients: Jackfruit/Phanas - 8 pieces Grated Coconut (fresh or frozen) - about 1/2 cup Semolina/Rava - 3 tbsp Jaggery/Gud/Gul - 2 tbsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 1 pod (seeds only) Oil How to prepare Konkani Phonsa Moolik/Mulka: Crush cardamom seeds in a mortar pestle to a fine powder. Fresh jackfruit is the best any day. But I used a 565 gm tin of canned jackfruit, which had about 8 pieces. Drain all the liquid. Place the jackfruit pieces in a strainer for 15 - 20 minutes, so that most moisture is lost. Grind grated coconut to a coarse dry paste. I used frozen shredded coconut and a mini food processor. Water was not needed. Add very little water, if req...

Potatoes and eggs are two of my favorite ingredients which can be cooked in numerous ways. Both blend well with a variety of seasonings, be it with Indian spices, Chinese style or some dry herbs. Ingredients: Eggs - 5 Onion - 1 medium Mini Bell Peppers/Capsicum - 2 Garlic - 2 big cloves Ginger (grated) - 1/2 tsp Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp Vinegar - 1 tbsp Salt Oil How to cook Stir fried Boiled eggs: Boil the eggs in about 6 cups water for about 20 minutes. After cooling, peel the shells and dice each egg into two parts. Finely chop onions, bell peppers (I used yellow and red), garlic and cilantro. Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add onions, garlic and little salt. Sauté until onions soften. Add bell peppers and sauté for about 2 minutes. Now add soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper powder, cumin and cayenne pepper. For an additiona...

During my last visit to our nearby Indian store, I picked up this Chana Jor Garam packet. Most Mumbaikars might know this as a chatpata snack. For some, Chana Jor Garam might sound new. These are flattened black chickpeas or chana flavored with a tangy blend of spices. You can enjoy these chanas like popcorn or savor it like Bhel  with raw mango, onions. Ingredients: Chana Jor Garam - 2 cups Onion - 1 small Tomato - 1 medium Lemon Juice - 1 1/2 tbsp Aamchur (Dry Mango Powder) - 1/2 tsp Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Shev/Sev - about 1/2 cup How to prepare Chana Jor Garam Chaat: Discard the seeds and the soft pulp of the tomato. Finely chop tomato and onion.  Finely chop coriander leaves. In a mixing bowl, add onions, tomatoes, lemon juice, aamchur, coriander leaves and little salt. Mix well. Add chanar jor garam and shev. Toss all the ingredients.  Add more lemon juice and/or salt if required. You can add roasted or fried peanuts, cashe...

A quick and easy North Indian side dish made of store bought Boondi and yogurt. Boondi is a fried snack made of chickpea or gram flour which is also used to stuff Pani Puri . Ingredients: Boondi - 1 cup Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - 1 cup Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Red Chili Powder/Cayenne Pepper - 1/4 tsp Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Oil - 1 tsp Kala Namak/Indian Rock Salt How to prepare Boondi Raita: Whisk yogurt, red chili powder, salt and jeera powder well in a mixing bowl.  Add salt keeping in mind that Boondi has salt too. If Kala Namak is not available, regular salt would work just fine. You can add 1/4 tsp sugar or jaggery too if you like. Heat oil in a small pan for tempering/tadka. Add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When mustard seeds pop, turn off the heat and pour this tempering in yogurt. Now add Boondi and finely chopped cilantro leaves to the yogurt. Let the boondi soak in yogurt for 20 - 30 mi...

Along with rice and wheat, Jowar or Sorghum is also a staple in some regions of India. Jwari Bhakri or Jolada Roti is a popular flatbread in Maharashtra and Karnataka. Thalipeeth is similar to a pancake and is made of a variety of flours. Ingredients: Jowar/Sorghum/Jwari/Jola Flour - 1 cup Rice Flour - 1/4 cup Green Onions/Scallions/Kandyachi Path - about 1 cup Green Chili Paste - 1 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Sugar - 1/2 tsp Salt  Oil How to cook Marathi Jwari Thaalipeeth: Finely chop green onions, both white and green parts. Finely chop green chilies or use green chili paste. You can use red onions instead of green onions. In a mixing bowl, add all the ingredients except oil. Add water, little at a time and mix to form a soft dough. Divide the dough into 5 round balls. Grease a plastic wrap with oil or cooking spray. Place a dough ball in the center  of the plastic sheet. Using your fingers, spread the dough ball into a round pancake. Heat a...

Friday calls for something special. And a special menu comes with a dessert. Today's mithai is a microwave recipe of Milk Fudge made of condensed milk and milk powder. This Doodh Pedha is instant with a cooking time of just 5 minutes. Ingredients: Sweetened Condensed Milk - 396 gm/14 oz Milk Powder - 1 1/2 cups Unsalted Butter - 4 tbsp Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Saffron/Kesar - few strands (optional) Charoli/Chironji or any nuts How to cook Dudh Peda in a microwave: Add butter to a dry microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute so that the butter melts. To the melted butter, add milk powder and condensed milk. Mix well with a spoon. Microwave for 3 minutes and mix after every minute. Now add ground cardamom and/or saffron and mix again. Microwave again for 1 minute and let the peda mix cool. The cooking time in a microwave may vary. So keep checking and do not let the pedha mix turn too dry. When it turns cold enough to handle, grease your hands with butter ...

Chickpeas are an excellent source of proteins for vegans and vegetarians. Today's protein rich bean salad with the natural sweetness of carrots and a tangy lemon dressing is quite refreshing. You need not worry about calories here as this salad is oil free and cheese free. This salad is popular as Chana Chaat all over India. Ingredients: Dry Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans/Kabuli Chana - 1/2 cup Grated Carrots - about 1/2 cup Tomato - 1 medium Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp Chat Masala - 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp Coriander/Cilantro/Dhania Leaves - few sprigs Red Onions (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp Salt How to prepare Chickpea Carrot Salad: Soak chickpeas overnight. After soaking, 1/2 cup chickpeas will turn to 1 cup. Cook them in about 2 cups water until soft. Add more water if required. Add salt and bring it to a boil. You can use canned chickpeas or any other beans of your choice. Discard the seeds and the soft pulp of the tomat...