Deep Fried Modak's - Deep Fried Sweet Dumplings

September was the busiest month with all the travelling, a troublesome laptop and almost no blogging.

There were so many things I had planned for this Festival but could do justice to half of what I had planned; I am sure I will catch during the next Ganesha Festival. My laptop woes still continue, but I am trying to work around it and focusing on the positives.

As promised sharing my modak recipe with you all and gearing up for October – the heat, the festivities’ and my younger sister’s visit!

Ingredients	Quantity
Wheat Flour	1 cup
APF – Maida	1/4th cup
Grated coconut	1 cup (loosely packed)
Ghee	3 tbsp
Lightly toasted poppy seeds	1 tbsp
Grated jaggery	4 tbsp
Broken cashew pieces	2-3 tbsp
Salt	A pinch
Water to knead the dough	2-3 tbsp
Oil	For deep frying

Makes: 7 medium sized modak's

Preparation time – 30 minutes

Cooking time – 2 minutes for frying each batch of modak’s

Method:

For the filling:

• Grate the coconut, I needed half of a large coconut to get I cup of grated coconut.

• Slightly toast the poppy seeds and set aside, next grate the jaggery.
• Now mix grated coconut, grated jaggery, poppy seeds and cashews together and set aside. I like medium sweet filling, if you want it sweeter add another tablespoon of jaggery.

For the Modak cover:

• Take one cup of whole wheat flour, 1/4^th cup of maida and a pinch of salt and mix together.

• To this mixture add hot, scalding ghee and quickly mix together the flours.

• Add water to knead the dough, set aside for 15-20 minutes and then roll out to form small disks for modak’s.

• Roll out small round rotis, take a spoon full of the filling , pinch the sides of the roti like in the pic below. Gather all the pinched folds and get them together to make a modak!

• Deep fry the modak's in refined oil.

• They are ready!

My first 21.1 kms in the hot blazing sun and 'Ganapati Bappa Morya' with deep fried Modak's!

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that."

-Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

Yes!! I finished my first Half Marathon yesterday at the Kaveri Trail Marathon 2012 in 3h 6 mins in the hot blazing sun of Runganthittu Bird Santuary!

I am still enjoying the 'Runner's High' dont have words to express my feeling, all I can say is that I am very very happy with myself and this is just the begining!

Its been a great experience training for this event over the last 3 months, the long runs, speed workout's, team realys helped me to complete this run successfully. Would love to share some more stories and learnings, but have to cut short this post as I am travelling today for an entire week.

With Ganesh Chathurthi and first Marathon a few days apart I made some deep fried Modak's to celebrate my first Halt Marathon. Will share the recipe next week.

To all my blogger friends, have a fun filled Ganesh Chathurti, going to miss blogging and all the virtual drooling, see you soon!

Deep fried with fresh coconut and poppy seed filling

Could go on eating them

With the onset of Ganesh Chathurti the Festive Season starts!!

Masala Bread - Bread with Indian Spices - Step By Step Recipe

I am getting more n more confident working with yeast and totally loving it, the thought of making my own bread is so exciting and satisfying that I am continuously looking for newer ways to make it healthier and tastier.

Personally it’s best to start with ‘all maida’ bread because it is easier to handle and the results are fabulous.

On a daily basis I would opt for healthy bread – a mix of different flours, some nuts or seeds. Somehow the idea of repeating what I have done earlier was not so appealing; I wanted to make a ‘chat-pata’ bread which had a bit of spice yet was good enough to dip in my tea and slurp J

So here goes my recipe for Masala Bread – it go over in no time, also made another loaf for my neighbour who devoured it.

Ingredients	Quantity
Maida (All purpose flour)	21/2 cups (cup holds 200ml)
Finely chopped onion	1 medium
Garlic pods chopped	3 medium
Cumin (Jeera)	2 tsp
Active dry yeast ( I used golirpan)	2 ½ tsp
Refined oil / Olive oil	4-5 tsp
Salt	1 tsp
Sugar	1 tbsp
Luke warm water	3/4th cup
Additional water for kneading	1/4th  -1/2 cup
Coriander	A few leaves to garnish
Red chili powder	1 ½ tsp to garnish

Makes one loaf

Time: 1 ½ hour for rising

Baking – 40 minutes at 180 degree celsius in microwave convection mode

Method:

• Get the preparations done - chop the onions, the garlic pods, gather large bowls, warm water, yeast, salt, sugar and the remaining ingredients required to made the bread!

• Take a large bowl - add 2 1/2 cups of maida  and a 1 tsp of salt, mix and set aside.

• Take 3/4th cup water, add to it 1 tbsp of sugar and dissolve it completely. Warm the water on the stove top/ gas top or in a microwave. The water has to be luke warm (110 degree farenheit= 43 degrees celsius - temperature should be comfortable enough to dip your finger without burning)

• To the luke warm water add 2 1/2 tsp of yeast and let it rest for 15 minutes. Do not try to dissolve the yeast in water just leave it on its own :)

• After 15 minutes the yeast will get frothy and you will see tiny bubbles on top.

• Coming back to the maida + salt bowl add chopped onions

• Add cumin

• Add chopped garlic

• Mix every thing together with a spoon or hands, make a well in the center and add the yeast to it.

• Gently start to get everything together part by part add water, I required a little less than 1/2 cup. 

• The dough is a bit sticky - its supposed to be like that :) We need to now gently knead the dough;  to do this first dust the kitchen platform with some flour (maida). As its a sticky dough, coat your palms with 1 tsp of oil, then remove the dough on the platform and gently knead it (not like you knead dough / atta for rotis). Add another tsp of oil to the bread dough and continue kneading gently.

• Now gather the dough and put it back into the bowl for rising, add 1/2 tsp of oil to the top portion of the dough and cover it with a cling film or a damp cloth. The oil on top prevent the dough from sticking to the cling film or damp cloth. Leave to rise in a place away from sunlight (in a cupboard ) for 1 hour

• The dough will get double in size after an hour (see pic below)

• Remove the cling film, dust some flour on the kitchen platform, remove the dough from the bowl onto the platform and knead it just enough to remove the air from it. You don't really need to punch the dough:). Get a loaf tin, generously grease it, form dough into loaf and put it in the greased tin. Add another tsp oil on top of the bread dough, cover and leave to rise for another half an hour.

• After half an hour, uncover the dough, garnish with a few coriander leave and sprinkle red chili powder, bake it at 180 degree celsius for 40 minutes. (Pre - heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius before baking)

• You know the bread is done when you tap the crust and get a hollow sound:)
• Let it rest for 10 - 15 minutes after removing it from the oven.
• Slice and enjoy with tea or a generous layer of butter.

Note:

• I did not use a bread loaf tin, I used a regular 7 inch cake tin, just to give it a different shape. So go ahead and try different shapes n sizes for your breads!
• You can add or subtract spices as per your taste, if you want to make a sweet bread, instead of spice you can add tutti fruity or dry fruits.

I am linking this to Vardhini's Bake Fest hosted by Archana throughout September 2012

Soya Granules Stir Fry - Step by Step Recipe

Until a few years ago I never liked soya chunks or granules; I used to find the strong smell of soya quite repulsive, till I tried out the cutlets. Deep frying eliminated the soya smell and those cutlets were delicious.

Today I wanted to give all that frying a miss and try something simple, but was not sure if I could make it taste good. Hubby too in not very fond of these granules; I knew I had a big challenge with soya; I had to make a tasty and non-soya smell dish.

A quick look into the fridge, the fresh veggies caught my attention I had also picked up some sauces for my indo-chinese dishes at home, I instantly knew then what I was going to make!!

Ingredients	Quantity
Soya granules	1 cup (cup holds 200ml)Method:
Warm water	3 cups
Ginger-garlic paste	1 tbsp
Broccoli finely chopped	7-8 florets
Carrots julienned	2 small
Chopped capsicum	1 small or half large capsicum
Sliced onions	1 medium
Soya sauce	1 ½ tsp
Chili sauce	1 tsp
Hot n Sweet sauce	1 ½ tsp
Salt	As per taste
Shredded Cabbage	A handful for garnishing

Serves – 2-3 persons

Preparation time – 15 minutes

Cooking time – 10 minutes

Method:

• Chop all the vegetables, make the ginger garlic paste keep aside.

• Take one cup soya granules add 3 cups warm water, keep it for 10-12 minutes soya granules will soak up most of the water.

• Squeeze out the excess water.

• Now comes out m iron wok / kadhai, you can even use a heavy bottom pan. Add ginger-garlic paste , saute for 1 minute then add the sliced onion and saute for 1 minute.

• Add all the chopped vegetable and saute 3-4 minutes, till the veggies start to cook.

• Then add the soya granules and saute vegetable and soya for a minute

• Add the soya sauce, chili sauce and sweet n sour sauce and mix everything together.

• Add salt as per taste, I avoided ajinomoto but you can add if you wish.
• Garnish with shredded cabbage and serve hot
• I had this whole wheat toast, tastes good with roti's too!
• And yes better half gave me a thumbs up!

• Linking this to Pari's - 'Only Cooking with Soya' hosted by Preeti's Kitchen Life

Microwave Kukurit Bhendi - Crunchy Okra in Microwave Step By Step Recipe

During our school years my mom would always be in a dilemma when it came to giving us dabba. I was never the fussy one it was my 5 and more year’s younger sister who always wanted potato, sakherechi poli (chapati made with sugar) or mom’s kurkurit (crunchy) bhendi. So our dabba’s featured this delicacy quite often, and like I said since I was a good girl (didn't I mention that!!) I never had an issue with what mamma gave, because she always made and still makes absolutely delicious food.

Today I thought of adding a twist and making this in the microwave not only to save time but to increase my confidence with microwave cooking.

The bhendi turned out to be really crunchy, and tasted very close to what mom used to make, all in all I am very happy with this quicker, faster version.

Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients	Quantity
Bhindi (Okra)	200 grams
Oil	4 tsp
Dry mango powder (Amchoor)	1 tsp
Red Chili Powder	1 tsp
Coriander Powder	1 tsp
Salt	As per taste
For the tadka
Asafoetida (Hing)	A pinch
Nigella seeds (Kalongi)	½ tsp
Fennel Powder or coarsely ground	½ tsp
Mustard seeds (Rai)	½ tsp

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Method:

• Wash bhindi and pat dry, chop both the ends and slit lengthwise from the middle. You can separate the pieces if you want or leave them just as like I did.

• Take the non stick microwave pan, put the bhindi in, and add 2 tsp of oil mix well.

Add oil

Coat all the bhendi's with oil

• Spread the bhindi evenly, place the pan on the high rack, use the microwave + grill option and cook for 7 minutes @ 540 watts (highest temperature of my microwave + grill option)

• Stir once in between to ensure the bhindi is cooked from all sides, once cooked remove from the microwave, add amchoor powder and set aside.
• Take another microwave safe bowl; add to it - 2 tsp of oil, red chili powder, coriander powder and all the ingredients of the tadka and mix well. Microwave this mixture for 1 minute @ 900 watts which ‘high’ in my microwave mode.

Tadka

• Remove and pour over the crunchy bhindi.

• Mix well, garnish with freshly chopped coriander and sliced onions
• Eat with rotis or serve it as a side dish.

Linking this to Kirthi's Kitchen's - Serve it Microwaved and Oh Taste n See