But when I picked this recipe to experiment on Nikhil and his friend yesterday (let’s face it – it’s day two of Spring break, and bored kids are not only ravenous but also willing to help, as long as there is a reward at the end:), little did I know this was THE winning recipe that made Chloe famous and won her the Cupcake Wars prized title. I have to admit, this was the best eggless muffin/cupcake I’ve ever made – and what’s more, these are vegan! I almost called these “I can’t believe these are vegan” cupcakes:).

I did not try the frosting as she describes it in the book and made my own “healthier version” with greek yoghurt and agave nectar, which, turned out equally good, only a tad runnier than I would’ve liked. The other thing I’m bummed about – I couldn’t get better pictures of the finished product and none of the cupcakes with the frosting. Let’s just say the cupcakes were all gone before I knew it:)

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup pumpkin puree, canned or cooked fresh

1 cup canned coconut milk, mixed well

1/2 cup canola oil (I used Smart Balance oil – soy, canola and olive oil combo)

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Line 12 cupcake pans with liners.

3. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl – flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, spices, and salt.

4. In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients – pumpkin, oil, coconut milk, vinegar and vanilla essence.

5. Now pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined.

6. Fill the cupcake pans about 2/3 with the batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before you frost.

Frosting :

This is adapted from my friend Mona’s recipe. 2 tbsp greek yoghurt with 1 tbsp plain cream cheese, agave syrup, vanilla essence and some powdered sugar (to taste), whipped well with a beater until fluffy.

I’ve never been good at planning weekly menus or cooking by my fridge and pantry list for the week. That, like any organized planning, is an art. I’ve usually done the opposite – stocked up my pantry and fridge with the best intentions of cooking only to discover them eons later, expired and disheveled, and finally into the trash can:(

The last few months have been a whirlwind craze – home repairs, packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning – all in a span of three months and less. And this has forced me to begin to clean up my mess – literally! I’ve started to create pantry and fridge lists and also discovered a new iPhone app – Menu Planner – that allows you to create daily breakfast, lunch and dinner menus from the input, with links to suggestions and recipes:)…for an app junkie like me, this was a dream come true. Well, its week 2 of me using the app so it must be working.

In any case, one ingredient I had too much of in my freezer and pantry was “kala chana” or also known as black chickpeas or bengal gram. These are what I would call a type of Indian super food, known for their high protein content and also for lowering cholesterol in the bloodstream. I’d obviously bought a lot of this over the months, with the intention of making “chana masala” or “chana salad” etc, which, as you can tell from the recipe list, never really made the cut. But one tip that helped was to boil a few cups and freeze them in freezer bags. This way, I did use them in salads, quick curries etc.

I got this recipe from watching Sanjeev Kapoor’s “Khana Khazana”. This is also one of his recipes in his recent book “Marwari Cooking”. A quick and very healthy dish that can be enjoyed with wheat chapatis or rotis or with hot rice and some salad on the side.

Ingredients:

Black Bengal gram (kala chana) –  1 1/2 cups
Yogurt, beaten well with a fork – 1 1/2 cups
Gram flour (besan) –  4 teaspoons
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tablespoons
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons
Garam masala powder – 1 teaspoon
Green chillies,chopped – 3-4
Pure ghee – 3 tablespoons
Asafoetida – a pinch
Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
Fresh coriander leaves,chopped – 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Soak kala chana overnight in four cups of water.

2. When ready to cook, drain the liquid, add four cups of water and pressure cook till done. Make sure to reserve the water you cooked the chana in, as this has all the nutrients from the boiled chana.

3. Take the chanas in a bowl and mash them lightly.

4. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl mix yogurt, gram flour, turmeric powder, salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder and whisk well so that no lumps form. Add the chopped green chillies and mix. Add one cup of the reserved liquid and mix.

5. Take a heavy bottomed pan, and heat the ghee. Add asafoetida, cumin seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the yogurt mixture and stir.

6. Add the boiled chana, and add some more of the reserved liquid. Bring it to a boil and cook for five minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

This is a recipe handed down to me by my dear friends – the Patels – yes, the same amazing cooks that brought us the gujarati khichdi and kadhi recipe. Not sure why we call it “half” fry but I suppose you can choose to completely cook the egg or leave it half cooked. It’s somewhat of a hybrid between fried egg and omelette. Either ways, this is a weekend staple breakfast dish and Nikhil’s and Girish’s favorite.

Ingredients – (for one egg)

Egg -1

Finely chopped onions – 1 tbsp

Finely chopped green chilies – 1/4 tsp

Finely chopped cilantro – 1/4 tsp

Garam masala powder – a pinch

Red chili powder – a pinch (optional)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat 1/2 tsp of olive oil in a fry pan. I use the small egg fry pan but you can use any sized fry pan, preferably the non stick kind.

2. When the oil is hot, break the egg and spread the yolk slightly so it breaks.

3. Sprinkle the chopped onion, green chili, cilantro mixture.

4. Add red chili powder, gram masala and salt to taste.

5. Once the egg mixture starts to lightly brown on the sides, use a small, flat spatula and flip it over so the yolk, white and the onion chili mixture are now facing the bottom of the pan. This step is important to cook the yolk well.

6. Press the flipped egg lightly so the yolk gets completely cooked.

7. Serve hot with whole wheat toast.

I was introduced to muesli or at least the correct way to eat it, during our last vacation to Europe. I’ve bought store brand “Muesli” packages in the past and the Ikea variety but never really knew the right way to enjoy it. I used to just add milk and eat it like cereal. Our recent trip to Bali got us eating muesli everyday for breakfast at the hotel and it was a welcome change from the usual. I realized this was not only easy to make but could be a huge time saver during those busy mornings. You can actually soak the oats in juice and/or milk overnight and have it ready for the next day. I tried it this morning and my food critic, Nikhil loved it.

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
Any granola (I prefer the granola since it has nuts and dry fruits already mixed in but you can also try rolled oats) – 1 cup
Milk – 1 1/2 – 2 cups
Yoghurt – 1-2 tbsp (I used greek yoghurt for added protein but you can use either plain or vanilla yoghurt)
Orange juice – 1/4 cup – optional
red apple, chopped into fine pieces – 1/2
Banana, chopped into small pieces – 1/2
Chopped raisins and pecans (optional) – 1 tsp each
Honey or agave syrup – 1 tsp

Method:
1. Soak the granola in the milk. You may also soak it in orange juice as a first step. This is entirely optional.
2. Add the yoghurt to this. (I used greek yoghurt with honey)
3. Add the chopped fruits, raisins and nuts.
4. Soak this mixture for about an hour to 8 hours. You can store this overnight in the fridge and enjoy cold the next morning.

Growing up, Pongal was one of my favorite festivals. As with the many festivals we celebrate in India, I loved the fact that we got to stay home and eat amazing food, and binge on Sakkarai Pongal:).

Pongal, as explained in my earlier post, is akin to Thanksgiving, marking the Harvest festival and obeisance to the Sun God. It is celebrated in South India as Sankranthi and in the North as Lohri. Sakkarai pongal is one of my all time favorite sweet dishes and I’ve been known to indulge in spoonfuls, um cupfuls of this dish laden with rice, sugar and ghee (clarified butter). I’ve tried to make a healthier version of Sakarai pongal with less ghee but the taste isn’t the same. I’ve given in and this is the version I’ve grown up with – it’s Amma’s version, which also happens to be my favorite recipe for Sakkarai Pongal.

We made the traditional venn pongal, Sakkarai pongal, vadai and Poli today to mark the Pongal and the Sun God must have been happy…it was such a bright and sunny day in Texas:).

Ingredients:

Rice – 1 cup

Moong dal – 1/3 cup

Jaggery – 3 cups

Milk – 1 cup

Water – 3 1/2 cups

Cashews, raisins, for garnish

Cardamom, crushed – 1 tsp

Ghee – 1/4 cup (you can use about 2 tbsp if you need less, but remember that the more ghee the better this tastes:)

Method:

1. Dry roast the moong dal till it is fragrant and turns light brown.

2. Add the rice and mix well.

3. Wash the moong dal and rice with water and drain.

4. Mix the water and milk in a large container and heat on a medium flame. When the mixture begins to boil, add the rice and dal and stir well.

5. After about 10 minutes, transfer this to a pressure cooker and cook for about 5 whistles. (If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can keep cooking it on the stove, while stirring. Make sure you keep the stove flame really low so as not to burn the mixture.)

6. Meanwhile, melt the jaggery in 3 1/2 cups of water on low heat. When the jaggery dissolves completely, strain the mixture to remove any impurities in the jaggery.

7. Continue to cook the strained mixture on a low heat until it caramelizes and becomes “stringy”.

8. Take the rice out of the cooker now, mash it well. Add this to the jaggery mixture and mix very well until its blended.

9. Now add some ghee and the crushed cardamom.

10. Lightly fry the cashews and raisins in ghee and add this to the pongal as garnish.

Vadai (fried lentil doughnuts)

Ingredients:

Urad dal, soaked in water for about 1/2 hour – 1 cup

Grated ginger – 2 tbsp

Green chilies – 5

Cilantro, chopped – 1/2 cup

Method:

1. Wash the grad dal well and soak it in water for about half hour.

2. Drain the water and keep it in a separate bowl.

3. Grind the soaked dal with the ginger and green chilies to a fine paste.

4. Make sure to grind the dal little by little with very little water until it resembles a smooth paste.

5. Add chopped cilantro and curry leaves if needed.

6. Heat some oil in a round bottomed vessel, kadai.

7. Take the ground dal paste on your palm, flatten a bit and make a hole in the middle (like a donut hole)

8. Add this to the hot oil and deep fry till golden brown.

9. Enjoy hot with some sambar and chutney!

Yes I’m a week late to realize it but I’m looking forward to many promising things this year so better late than never:) 2011 has been an eventful year, somewhat too eventful for my liking, so in my heart I’m secretly glad to leave it behind me.

I think it’s random that wordpress sends you a recap of your blogging year which surprisingly revealed to me that I had blogged a lot more often than years before. That may not be much to many given my bouts of absence but I’m quite proud of that little fact, even if I say so myself:) Hey, I’m making progress.

On another tangent,the annual 21 day Yoga Journal challenge starts today, and as I make a mental promise of being more focused in general, and being more positive and living healthy, I hope this trend that WordPress discovered continues every year.
We decided to round out the year with an extended trip to Singapore and Bali over the winter break, which I didn’t realize until after we returned how much we needed it. What you see in the picture is a snapshot of Singapore, the Lion city welcoming the new year. Here’s to a 2012 thats as colorful, breathtaking, filled with peace and joy and everything positive.

I just love, LOVE my Vitamix. It’s one of those complete kitchen machines – it juices, crushes, minces, chops, powders, grinds and did I mention, blends?:) And cleanup is a cinch. I know I sound like I’m a Vitamix infomercial and if they’re listening, they may just as well pay me for this:)
I’ve been making this smoothie for those crazy mornings and as a post workout pick me up so wanted to share my all time favorite smoothie recipe. I got this from their website so most of this is the original Vitamix recipe with a few tweaks.

Apple Pie In A Glass

6 ounces of 100% Apple Juice concentrate (thawed) or 10 oz regular apple juice
6 ounces of vanilla Soy Milk
1 fresh Fuji apple (quartered)
2 full sheets (4 crackers connected) of lowfat graham crackers
4 to 5 baby carrots
1/4” of cabbage (CAREFUL – small slice – more than an ounce but less than 2 ounces)
1/2 cup of non fat dried milk
3 or 4 shakes of ground cinnamon
1 cap of pure vanilla extract
Squirt of honey or agave nectar
3 cups of ice

Place all contents in the container. Put the lid on firmly and turn the machine on high speed for 1 minute or until you see the contents circulating downward toward the blades consistently. Enjoy!

From the Vitamix recipes site – When making thick drinks in the Vita-mix®, a good rule of thumb is to have a 50/50 ratio – 50% of the ingredients are frozen, and 50% of the ingredients are not frozen. Also, a trick of the trade is to use the tamper to help reduce air-pockets or frozen pockets, and better the flow of the contents in to the blades. When your drink is extremely thick, take the tamper and insert it through the lid and move it in an up and down and left and right motion. What you are trying to do is help the thicker (lower section of the container) portion of the drink rotate out of the way, therefore allowing all the remaining contents that you are blending to vortex (go up the sides, across the top, and then funnel back down through the center toward the blades)

These are just some Diwali goodies from this morning, some home made, some made by dear friends and some store bought.
Top left – Kaara Sev, Bottom left – Oma Podi, top right – Lavang Latika ( made by my dear friend Uma – will request a recipe soon;
Middle – my favorite south indian sweet- Manoharam from the famous Grand Sweets in Chennai
Bottom right- Rava Laadoo made by my mom (Amma)

To be honest, I was expecting this Diwali to be boring, almost a tad depressing with just Nikhil and I in a crazy schedule and Girish in another part of the world. But it’s so awesome to have Amma and Appa at home and make an effort to keep Diwali as resplendent as it used to be, sans crackers and sparkles but nonetheless steeped in tradition. We woke up bright and early for the traditional “Ganga Snaanam” (or the holy bath with the water from the river Ganga) and Amma applied sesame oil to our hair. Lamps in the puja room with the new clothes, the sweets, fruits and flowers. The traditional Snaanam with shikakai or the Ayurvedic conditioners for hair to wash off the oil. Then the customary phone calls and wishes with “Ganga Snaanam Aacha?” or have you had your traditional bath followed by a sampling of all the goodies, never mind that it’s about 6am when you are eating some of that fried stuff:)

This is what makes Diwali special to me, keeping those customary actions alive that are only made special when you are with family. I do long for the crackers and lights with friends and family and the noises in India. So thankful that Girish is able to experience that Diwali for us in India this year. It’s no fun being in different parts of the world for Diwali but its still special this year – we are both with our respective parents and siblings this Diwali which is a lot to be thankful for and cherished.
May this Diwali be for each one of you an occasion to cherish with your family and enjoy every moment with them. Happy Diwali!

The ambiance was quite contemporary and modern, with a full bar and an atypical decor for Indian restaurants which also didn’t really go with the name . Interestingly, the greeters and the waiters were all non-Indian as well, and from what we heard from the owner later, most hailed from London. We started off with some “Nimbu Paani” or fresh lime juice, and ordered samosa for appetizer. Samosa arrived before the Nimbu Paani which was good as we were famished. I have to say it was a pretty good start. The samosas were not re-heated in the microwave, seemed to have been fresh out of the frying pan, and were quite crisp and spiced right. The waiter came by to let us know that the Nimbu Paani was taking some time as it was being “freshly made”. We joked that they had probably gone to buy the fresh limes, but when the Nimbu Paani arrived, we had to eat our words, it was truly fresh and refreshing. So a good start to our dinner.

The menu was a pretty typical, traditional Indian restaurant menu, the usual vegetarian dishes, Dal Makhni, Bhindi fry, and non vegetarian dishes with chicken, lamb and goat. I have to say that when I saw that they had a lunch buffet, I had a biased opinion about what was to come. When a specialty restaurant introduces lunch buffets, I’ve noticed that it somewhat “cheapens” the menu. It’s probably the idea of “big batch” cooking that makes it lose it’s specialty charm. But most Indian restaurants tend to thrive on the concept of lunch buffets which is probably what sustains them.

Anyway back to the food. We ordered pindi chana, bhindi fry, and balti dal along with Laccha Paratha and Alu Kulcha. They asked for spice level of mild, medium, spicy and “Indian hot”. Of course we picked Indian hot and the servers were quite knowledgeable to gauge what we would have liked anyway. The owner soon came by to greet all his guests which also added a nice touch. We learned from him that this was their first restaurant in Dallas though they had been open in New York and New Jersey for a couple of years with the namesake (Mughal in New York and in Edison, NJ). He left us with the comment that he wanted feedback on what he could do to improve on the food . I liked that he was being genuine and open to feedback and criticism – something you don’t find often with restaurant owners and chefs, who are rightfully opinionated. So I was all ready with my food critic hat before the food arrived:). And of course, Girish, who has been to quite a few Indian restaurants in the US, thanks to all his travelling, was all set too to chime in. So we thought he was in for some pretty serious feedback all right:)

To our surprise – and I say that probably because of our low expectations to begin with – our experience was quite good. At the end of it, we would give the food 3 1/2 stars out of 5, 4 for the service and ambiance.
Now on to each of the dishes. I thought the pindi chana and the laccha paratha were the best items of what we ordered. The Balti dal needed some more “kick” to it but was tasty and the Bhindi could have been sauted a little longer.  The best part was when we actually provided this feedback to the owner at the end of our meal. He ordered the kitchen to re-do those dishes and sent us a “to go bag” with the bhindi, dal and a made to order kulcha for us to try at home. And he did take our feedback seriously which we gathered from our lunch the next day.

So overall, I’d say Mughlai was a good experience and we will go back again to try it. Hopefully the restaurant will survive unlike some others in the area. If they continue to strive for improvement like the owner’s mantra seems to be, I think they are here to stay.

Growing up in Dehradun, Punjabi Samosa used to be a treat during the monsoon and winter weekends. One person who remains in my memory is Sitap Singh, our house help, who also dished out scrumptious North Indian dishes. As my mom mostly cooked traditional South Indian, Sitap Singh’s Punjabi dishes were always a welcome change. From soft phulkas (thin wheat tortillas) with aloo gobhi (potato cauliflower dry curry) to his famous Punjabi Samosas, his dishes were delectable. Looking back, they were sadly taken for granted. As a 9 year old boy, I used to hang around Sitap Singh while he cooked and it amazes me that these are still etched in my memory.  I still remember his tips for making samosas, and the tip about rolling the dough to a thin,  transluscent disc (almost wonton like) which adds to the crispy flaky texture. We tried this for the first time ever last weekend and were quite proud of the results. Let’s just say this one was for Sitap Singh:)

Ingredients for Samosa Crust:

Olive oil – 3 tbsps
All purpose flour or maida – 1 cup
Carom seeds or ajwain – 1/2 tsp
Water – 1/4-1/2 cup as needed for dough consistency

Method for crust:

1. Mix the flour, carom seeds, salt and oil in a mixing bowl.
2. Add water little by little and knead to a stiff dough.
3. Cover with a damp paper towl and set aside for about 10 minutes

Ingredients for filling:

Potato, 1 inch cubes 4-5 medium
Green peas, boiled 1/2 cup
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1 tsp
Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece
Green chillies, chopped 3-4
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Dry mango powder (amchur) 1 tsp
Garam masala 1 tsp
Coriander seeds 2 tsp
Fennel seeds 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Take the coriander seeds, fennel, cumin seeds and crush in a mortar pestle into a coarse powder

2. Boil the potatoes and roughly chop or mash them into cubes; do not over mash the potatoes into a mushy paste.
3. Add the thawed frozen or boiled peas.
4. Add the ginger, green chilies , ground coarse powder of coriander, fennel and cumin, and the garam masala, chili powder and salt to taste.

5.Add some oil to a heavy bottomed vessel and when the oil is hot, add the potatoes peas mixture.
6. Saute for a few more minutes, then add the dry mango powder or amchur. Mix well.
7. Cool before making the samosas.
8. Divide the filling into sixteen equal portions.
9. Divide the dough into eight equal portions and roll them into balls.
10. Apply a little flour and roll them into round chapathi or small tortillas.
11. Cut into half, apply water on the edges. Shape each half into a cone and stuff it with the potato and peas filling. Seal the edges well.

12. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai (wok) and deep-fry the samosas in medium hot oil till crisp and golden brown. Drain and place on an absorbent paper.
13. Serve hot with sweet date and tamarind chutney.

Contributed by Girish Ratnam