Instant Rava Dhokla

Rava Dhokla used to be a regular in my home.  It's easy to make and comes out perfectly everything.  Not to forget yummy go taste too!!  I had learnt this recipe early on when I started cooking. 

Today after many years I revisited this recipe, tried it and wasn't let down as you can see from the beautiful pictures I clicked below.

Ingredients:

1 cup rava or sooji or semolina
1 cup curd
1/4 cup water if needed
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
Finely Chopped coriander
Finely Chopped green chillies
A pinch of turmeric

For seasoning :
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
Chopped green chillies

Method:

Mix the curd and rava together along with lemon juice, salt,  turmeric,  chillies and coriander.  It should be of pouring consistency.  Add some water if required.  Set aside for 20 mins aside.  Meantime grease a pan for steaming.  In a large pan pour some water.  When it starts boiling adjust your gas to medium. Pour the rava mix in the greased pan and put in the steamer.  Steam for 10 mins.  Check with a fork or knife by inserting it.  If it comes out clean it means the dhokla is ready.

Now prepare the seasoning by heating the oil and adding the mustard seeds.  Once they crackle add the chillies and switch off the flame.  Pour it over the dhokla and cut it into square pieces.

Enjoy your hot steaming dhoklas with green coriander chutney

Sweet French Toast

We had been to Mysore sometime back, mostly for the sake of my little daughter Amruta, as Mysore has a wonderful zoo. While we did see various places of tourist interest like the Mysore Palace, Brindavan Gardens and the Chamundeswari Temple, it was the city itself that captivated us. Clean, pollution free, surrounded by scenic sites, free from the hustle bustle of a big city, but modern enough to keep one interested. It is a city that I would like to go back to again and again. That time will tell.....

Another memory that I brought back from Mysore was of the Sweet French Toast that I had for breakfast at the hotel where we were staying. This was the first time that I had a "sweet" French Toast. Till then I had only masala french toast which never made any great impression on me. The second thing that made the sweet french toast special was its heavenly taste. Every bite was so soft and delicious; simply heavenly!!

Without wasting any more time here is the recipe that I have tried and that will yield the perfect Sweet French Toast for your breakfast. Do try!

Ingredients:

5 slices of bread
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
a pinch salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp butter

Method:

Whisk two eggs with milk, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Whisk really well and ensure everything is mixed properly. Now cut the brown edges of the bread slices and cut them in two halves either into triangles or rectangles.

Now heat a non-stick frying pan and grease with butter. Dip a slice of bread in the mixture covering both the sides properly. Let the excess egg mix drip and then place it in the frying pan. Turn the bread slice over to cook the other side. Take it out once done and serve it hot with some jam.

Note: Do not let the bread slice remain dipped in the egg mix for long because it will absorb a lot of it and would also take time to cook. Plus it will give an eggy taste too.

This is a very easy recipe and does not take much time. I am sure kids would love it too for breakfast. Do not forget to leave your comments on how you and your family liked it.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes

A few months back, some family friends of ours had gifted us a box of cupcakes. Each one was different in color and decoration and each one of us picked our own favourite little cake. Yes, that is exactly what a cup cake is - your own little favourite cake to enjoy and relish! And that is where I got the inspiration to bake cupcakes :)

Now, I had been looking for a recipe for cupcakes that used buttermilk as an ingredient. Reason being that I get leftover with lot of buttermilk whenever I make ghee at home. So this time when I made some ghee, I began to look for a recipe that used buttermilk as an ingredient. Remembering the different colors and looks of the last cupcakes that I had, I used my imagination to add my own creativity. You can see that there are the choco cupcakes, the red ones, plain vanilla and one with the choco chips too.

The cupcakes as per this recipe turn out moist, soft and crumbly. They are not dry like the ones you generally get in the market.

Those of you who do not want to use buttermilk, please wait for my cupcakes recipe without it, will be posting soon!

So here is the recipe for cupcakes with buttermilk and Happy Baking....

Ingredients:

6 tbsp cooking butter/ unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (powdered in mixie)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour/ maida
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp chocochips
1 tsp red color
2 tsp cocoa powder

*Important - All ingredients should be at room temperature

Method

Mix butter and sugar till soft. Add vanilla and whisk in the eggs. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter and egg mixture in 3 batches.  Add the buttermilk in 3 batches alternating with the flour.

Now for the colored ones, take a portion of the cake mix in a separate bowl, depending how many of this kind you wish to make. I had baked four, so almost 4-5 tbsp of the mix was enough. Add the red color and mix well. Similarly, add cocoa powder to another portion.

Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 5 mins and line your muffin tray with cupcake liners. Pour the batter in each mould, filling each up to only half. You can add chocochips in a few vanilla cupcakes as well for some more variety.

Bake the cupcakes for 20 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The time may vary depending upon your oven. So check before the stated time.

This will make around 16 medium size cupcakes.

Do try out this recipe and don't forget to leave your comments.

Dhokla

Hi, This is my first post and since I had made Dhoklas today, I thought it would be an excellent recipe to start with!.

Dhoklas have always been my favourite and something I wanted to learn for a long time. I wanted to make dhoklas just like the ones you get in the market and my search ended with the below recipe. I have learnt this recently and have tried it three times and each time it has been absolutely yummy! So here it is....

What you need...

For Dhokla:

2 cups Besan (Gram Flour)

1 tsp Salt (or as per taste)

I tsp Green chilli paste

1 tsp Ginger paste
2 tbsp finely cut coriander leaves

1 tbsp lemon juice (approx 2 medium size lemons)

A pinch of Haldi (turmeric)

3/4 tsp Eno Fruit Salt

For seasoning:

2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds

2 green chillies chopped

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)

Bunch of coriander chopped

Grated fresh coconut for garnishing

How to make Dhokla....

Sieve the besan and add haldi. Add some water to besan to make a batter which should not be very thick or very thin. Set aside for 30 minutes. Add the ginger & green chilli paste along with rest of the ingredients except Eno salt.

Heat some water in a vessel. Grease a pan or idli moulds with oil. Once the water starts to boil, add eno salt to the besan batter. The batter will double in size and become softer. Do not mix too much with the spoon otherwise the air bubbles will escape and dhokla will not be soft and spongy. Pour the batter in the pan/ idli moulds and put in the steaming water. Cover with a lid but keep some space for steam to escape slowly. Keep the gas on medium flame.

After 10-15 mins check whether the dhoklas are ready with the help of a toothpick. Prick with the toothpick and if it comes out clean, dhoklas or ready or else wait for a few more minutes. Once ready, scoop out the dhokla on a plate. If you make the dhoklas in a pan, you can cut rectangular pieces.

Prepare the seasoning by heating oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Once they begin to splutter add chopped green chillies. Add 3-4 tbsp water along with salt and sugar. To make this syrup more spicy I also add half tsp of green chilli paste. Pour this seasoning all over the dhokla pieces. Garnish with coriander grated coconut. Serve with mint chutney or green chilli sauce.

Have fun while cooking.....