Beetroot Red Velvet Cake

Who doesn't love some cake! Even more if it's healthy. Red Velvet Cake is traditionally known as a fancy dessert cake with the red colour derived from natural cocoa. Some quick recipes often use food colour but I found that using Beetroot not only gives a beautiful natural red crimson colour but adds moisture especially for an eggless cake.

Here it is, my eggless Beetroot Red Velvet Cake:

Ingredients: 2 cups self raising flour (or if using plain flour, add 1 tsp baking soda), 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 3 tbsp light olive oil or similar, 1 tbsp melted butter, 1 tspn vanilla essence, 1 Beetroot boiled and pureed smooth, milk only if needed.

Make:

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients so it is combined well. 

2. Combine the dry and wet ingredients together and using a spatula mix into a smooth cake batter. Add milk as needed to adjust the consistency. 

3. Pour batter into a greased and lined baking tray and bake in a pre-heated oven at 170deg for about 30 to 40 minutes. 

4. Once baked, cool completely and decorate with cream cheese frosting or buttercream icing. 

Enjoy the delicious, soft and moist Red Velvet cake which surprisingly has little or no flavours of Beetroot at all, but all the health benefits! 

2 Ingredient GARLIC NAAN

Every now and then, it's great to indulge in something delicious which might not be super healthy, but the fun of it is worth it! 

Typically, Indian flat bread "Naan" is made of plain flour so while changing to whole wheat flour makes it much healthier, the use of plain flour still gives the authentic flavour and texture. So talking about being indulgent, I tried to make one of our favourites, Garlic Naan in a most easy way using just 2 ingredients.

Here it is, my 2 Ingredients GARLIC NAAN:

Ingredients: 1 cup self raising flour (or if using plain flour/maida, add a pinch of baking soda), 1/2 cup thick yogurt/curd. A bit of salt and oil is optional just to mix the dough. For brushing on top of the Naan, some melted butter, garlic paste & chopped coriander.

Make: 

1. In a bowl mix the flour and yogurt together with your hands, add salt if using. The dough should come together nicely but if not, use a bit of milk or oil to help form a soft dough. Cover and leave to rest for about 20 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, make the mixture for brushing on top by mixing melted butter, garlic paste, coriander in a bowl.

3. Dust some flour and using a rolling pin, roll out small balls of dough into a flatbread shape. Try to roll out as thin as possible. Roast on a hot pan on both sides until golden brown spots appear. Immediately brush the garlic butter mixture.

Enjoy the soft delicious Naans with your favourite sides/curries! 

BAKED Wheat Chakli/Muruku

Indian festive season means loads of yummy snacks, which also means calories overload! Decided to try out making traditional Chakli with healthier twist this time, by using whole wheat flour and by skipping the deep frying! 

Turned out fabulous and a hit with my taste testers at home! Here it is, my BAKED WHEAT CHAKLI:

Ingredients (about 30 Chaklis): 1.5 cups wheat flour, 3/4 cup fine rice flour, 1 tbsp chilli powder, 1 tbsp white sesame seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp asetofida/hing, 1 tsp turmeric powder, salt to taste, warm water for mixing dough, a bit of oil for dough.

Make:

1. Put wheat flour in a muslin cloth tied up and steam in a steamer for about 10 minutes.

2. In a bowl mix in all of the dry other ingredients as above, ensuring the steamed & cooled wheat flour is crumbled well by hand (as it will be lumpy after steaming). Use warm water and some oil to mix a soft dough without cracks.

3. Using a Chakli maker, make spirals of the dough and arrange on a lined baking tray. Spray with a little oil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 170deg for about 30 minutes. Turn all Chaklis after 20 mins to get a nice colour on both sides.

Cool completely and store in an airtight container to enjoy with tea/coffee! 

7 Cups Barfi

7 Cups Barfi as its name says, is made of 7 cups! The combination of besan/chickpea flour, ghee(butter), sugar and milk to create a melt in your mouth delicious sweet treat is simply yummy.

Here it is, my 7 CUPS BARFI:

Ingredients: Choose any size cup and use it to measure all ingredients. 1 cup besan flour, 1 cup descicated coconut, 1 cup milk, 1 cup ghee, 3 cups sugar, 1 tbsp cardamon powder.

Make: 

1. In a heavy bottom (non stick is good) pan, dry roast the besan flour on low flame for about 10 minutes until the raw smell disappears. 

2. Add in cup of ghee, mix well. Add in cup of milk, cup of coconut. Stir continuously to combine well, all on low flame.

3. Add in 3 cups of sugar (or bit less if preferred) and cardamon powder. Mix by stirring continuously to smoothen the mixture. Keep stirring and the ghee will start to release. Continue stirring until the whole mixture leaves the sides of the pan easily.

4. Pour the mixture into a prepared greased pan to set. Flatten using the back of a spoon and let it set.

5. Once cooled to room temperature, cut into slices. Ensure slices are cut at this stage as if it hardens furthe, it will be difficult to cut nicely.

Serve and store to enjoy! 

Vegan Thai Panang Curry

When you love Thai flavours and are a vegetarian, the biggest problem is finding vegetarian/vegan dishes that are made without hidden ingredients like shrimp paste! It's these issues that motivate me to create the same yummy flavours right at home with all pure veg ingredients!

Thai Panang Curry is a most delicious curry with flavours of peanut, coconut, spices and usually loaded with veggies. With some Jasmine rice, it's simply a treat for the tastebuds.

Here it is, my VEGAN THAI PANANG CURRY:

Ingredients: 1 onion sliced finely, 1 tbsp grated ginger, 1 tbsp garlic, chilli as per taste, 200 light grms coconut cream, 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter, 1 tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 carrot sliced, 1 capsicum sliced, handful of brocolli, any other vegetable such as potato or zucchini, bok choy(if desired), zest of half a lemon, few basil leaves, chopped spring onions for garnish, 1 spoon coconut oil, salt. Tofu can be added if desired.

Make: In a heavy bottom pan, saute in coconut oil, onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Add tumeric powder and saute till aromatic. Add carrots and cook for a few minutes. Next add in all other vegetables except for bok choy if using. Also add a few basil leaves. Toss well together, add salt and curry powder. Now put in the coconut cream and stir in, add water as required to get a smooth consistency. At this stage add in the peanut butter and stir in completely. Grate lemon zest on top, cover and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or less to ensure veggies are not overcooked. If using Tofu, cook it separately and add it to the curry when serving.

It looks as amazing as it tastes! Serve hot with Jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Masala Puri - Bengaluru style

Anyone from the Indian subcontinent will agree to one thing about food - there is nothing more tantilising and taste-buds satisfying than a spicy, tangy, fresh CHAAT!! Wheather it is a pani puri from the carts or gobi manchurian from a fancy restaurant or good old sev puri made at home, a good Chaat can bring a smile on anyone's face :) 

Every time we visit Bengaluru we make sure we indulge in one of our favourites, MASALA PURI. Being back home sweet home though, it was too tempting not to re-create that Masala Puri magic..so here it is, my version of the very famous Masala Puri, made in a quick and easy way!

Ingredients (for two servings): 1.5 cups of green peas, 1 potato, 1 red onion, 1 tomato, 2 carrots, corriander, few cinnamon sticks, few cloves, salt, chilli powder, chaat powder, 1 spoon tamarind paste, 1 spoon garlic paste, crisp wheat crackers or papdis (Indian wheat biscuits), sev.

Make: In a pan, lightly fry in a spoon of oil, chopped onion and garlic until golden brown. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves and fry lightly. Add the peas and chopped potatoes and 1 carrot chopped with half a glass of water. Add salt and cover. Simmer in low heat for 15 to 20 minutes and you should see the peas and potatoes have cooked well and become very soft. This can also be pressure cooked. Once cooked let it cool a little and transfer all of it except some cooked peas (which is needed later) to a grinder. Grind to a paste then add salt, chilli powder, tamarind paste, chaat masala, the cooked peas from before and mix well.

To assemble Masala Puri, in a plate, make a layer of crispy crackers broken roughly, then pour the masala all over generously. Make a another layer of grated carrot, chopped tomato, chopped onion and few more crackers. Top with corriander and sev. Not only will it look mouth-watering, it will taste amazing with the mix of spicy and tangy flavours!

Pani Puri - Sweet Potato filled!

Any foodlover of the Indian sub continent is bound to share a love for this famed street snack Pani Puri or Golgappa or Pucchka! Crispy light fried semolina balls filled with mouth watering spicy sweet tangy ingredients..there's nothing not to love about these.

It's a super fun treat at our place and it got a little healthier when I tried it with a Sweet Potato filling instead of the traditional Potato. 

Here it is, PANI PURI with Sweet Potato filling:

Ingredients: Fryable Puris (can buy at Indian grocery stores), 1 sweet potato cooked soft, 1 spoon chaat masala, 1 carrot grated, 1 onion chopped finely, handful chopped coriander, some nylon sev. 

For the pani (juice), 1 tbsp coriander mint chutney, chaat masala, 1 tbsp tamarind juice, chillinpowder as desired, water.

Make: Fry the fryable Puris so they are puffed round. Keep aside to cool. Prepare the pani by mixing all of the ingredients well with the water. Adjust the flavour depending on how strong you like the flavour.  Prepare the Sweet Potato filling by mashing it well with chaat masala 

To assemble Pani Puri, take each Puri and gently poke a hole in the middle. Put inside, a spoon of mashed sweet potato, grated carrot, onion, coriander and sev on top. Assemble all Puris and serve with a bowl of Pani so the lucky people can enjoy these packages of happiness!