One Day At A Time!

I love desserts, maybe more than the entrees. After coming to US, two desserts turned to be our new favorites - Warm Apple Crumble and Cheesecake. Apple Crumble seemed something I could try in my kitchen and take my word, it is absolutely scrumptious too. A baked dessert made of soft caramelized apples topped with a crisp crust, also known as Apple Crisp or Apple Crostata . I make this more often now, whenever I want to finish off the apples. Also, an effortless dessert perfect for entertaining guests. Ingredients: Apples - 2 Lemon Juice - about 1 tbsp All Purpose Flour - 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour - 1/4 cup Almonds or Walnuts or Pecans - 1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup Ground Cinnamon/Dalchini Powder - 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg/Jaiphal Powder - 1/8 tsp Butter - 1/4 cup/4 tbsp  Vanilla or Dulce de Leche Ice cream How to prepare Crispy Apple Crumble: In a big bowl of water, add lemon juice and mix. Peel the apple skin. Add thin sliced apples to the...

Paan Pole or Paan Polo are soft, thin crepes of rice and coconut.  These crepes also known as Neer Dosa or Tandalache Ghavan , can be made with rice flour minus coconut.   Ingredients: Idli Rice or Medium Grain Rice - 1 cup Grated or Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1/4 cup Salt Oil How to make soft Paan Pole: Soak rice for 6 - 8 hours. Wash soaked rice well. Grind rice and coconut to a very fine paste. Add 1 - 2 cups water and salt to the batter. The batter consistency is too thin. Heat a pan and grease the pan with cooking spray or oil. Pour a ladle full of batter and swirl the pan to spread the runny batter evenly. Flip the dosa when the edges start leaving the pan. Cook for about a minute or so.   Repeat the same for the batter. Serve Paan Pole with Coconut chutney or a curry.

Savory cilantro or coriander cakes made of chickpea flour.  A healthy Maharashtrian recipe, perfect as an appetizer or as a side dish.

Soft and moist Banana Muffins topped with crunchy low calorie pistachios. Egg free and Butter free delicious muffins. Ingredients: Ripe Bananas - 3 large Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 cup Light Brown Sugar - 1 cup Sour Cream - 1/2 cup Whole Milk - 1/2 cup Olive Oil - 1/4 cup Baking Soda - 3/4 tsp Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon/Dalchini Powder - 1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg/Jaiphal Powder - 1/8 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Pistachios (roughly chopped) - about 2 tbsp How to bake Egg free and Butter free Banana Muffins: In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients - whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Mix well with a spoon. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray the muffin pan with cooking spray.  I used a 12 muffin pan. In a big mixing bowl, add peeled bananas. Mash them well. Now add sour cream, milk and olive oil...

A semi home cooked version of Ragda Patties with store bought Hash Brown Patties and Black Chickpea Sprouts. A nutritious combo of starchy potato patties with protein packed sprouts. Ingredients: Hash Brown Patties Dry Black Chickpeas/Chana or any other Beans - 1 cup Carrots - 2 Onion - 1 big Tomatoes - 2 medium Garlic - 4 big cloves Coriander/Dhania Powder - 1 tsp Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Chilli Powder - 1 tsp Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala or any other spice mix - 1/4 tsp Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Kala Namak/Indian Rock Salt Oil How to prepare Easy Ragda Patties: Soak chickpeas in water for about 8 hours. Drain the water completely and keep it covered overnight in a warm place so that the chickpeas start sprouting. You can use any other canned beans as well. Medium chop onions and carrots. Finely chop garlic and cilantro. Puree roughly diced tomatoes to a fine paste, adding little water if require...

Mexican Chicken Quesadillas made of spinach roti and flavored with Indian spices. A tasty fusion of Latin and Indian Cuisines. Ingredients: Wheat Flour - about 4 cups Spinach/Palak - about 3 cups Chicken Breasts - 2 Lime/Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp Tandoori Masala or Kabab Masala - 1 tbsp Garam Masala or any other spice mix - 1 tsp Chat Masala - 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper - 1 tsp Coriander/Dhania Powder - 1 tsp Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 tsp Garlic (finely chopped) - 1 tsp Tomatoes - 2 medium Red Onion - 1 small Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Jalapeno - 1 Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper Jack Cheese or any other Cheese Salt Oil How to prepare Spinach and Chicken Quesadillas: Palak/Spinach Dough: Puree spinach leaves with little salt in a mixer/blender. Add little water if required. In a mixing bowl, add the spinach puree. Add wheat flour in small amounts till a soft dough is formed. Add about 1 tsp oil and knead well. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes. Ma...

Mula Ambat is a radish coconut curry flavored with a Konkani spice Teppal and a dry fruit Kokum. Quite an easy recipe with very few ingredients. Ingredients: Radish/Moola/Mulangi - about 2 cups Grated Coconut (fresh or frozen) - about 1 cup Dry Red Chilies - 5 Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Teppal/Triphal/Schezuan Pepper - 8 Kokam/Amsol/Birinda Sol - 4 pieces Salt How to prepare Mula Ambat: Peel the radish skin and dice it into bite size pieces.  Heat 2 - 3 cups water in a pot. Add diced radish and cook it covered till radish turns soft. Save the water for grinding the coconut paste. Grind coconut, turmeric and red chilies to a fine paste. Add teppal and grind the coconut paste for few seconds, just enough to get the aroma of teppal. This coconut sauce/gravy is called as Teppala Masalo and any other veggies can be cooked in a similar way.  Now add the coconut paste to the cooked radish and bring it to a boil. Lastly, add kokam and cook it for an...