Spinach GramFlour Cake / Palak Dhokla

Ingredients:

For Dhokla:
Gram Flour                                                   - 1 cup
Spinach                                                         - 1 cup finely chopped and blanched
Yogurt                                                           - 1/4 cup
Ginger                                                           - 1 tspoon grated
Green Chilies                                                - 2 finely chopped
Lemon Juice                                                 - 1 tblspoon
Eno Fruit Salt                                               - 1 tspoon
Salt                                                               - to taste
Oil                                                                - 1 tblspoon

For Tempering:
Oil                                                                - 1 tblspoon
Mustard Seeds                                             - 1 tspoon
Green Chili                                                  - 4-5 slit into 4
Curry Leaves                                               - 5-6 chopped
Asafetida                                                     - 1 pinch
water                                                           - 3 tblspoon

Method:

Blanch or steam the spinach leaves along with stalk. Allow it to cool.
Once cooled finely chop them .
In a wide bowl add in the gram flour, chopped spinach, yogurt and oil. Mix well.
Add a little water at a time to make the thick dropping batter. The batter should be of dropping consistency, not very runny.
Now add in salt, sugar (if using) and lemon juice and mix well avoiding any lumps in the batter.
Now leave the batter rest for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile grease a steamer plates and keep ready. Prepare the steamer with water and keep aside.
Once the batter has rested, mix in the fruit salt and mix well with the whisk. Do not beat it very much.
Just mix until the fruit salt is combined well into the batter, and its starts to get fluffy.
Immediately pour the batter in the greased plates and place it into the steamer for steaming.
Steam on high in the steamer for around 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted inside comes out clean.
Remove the steamed spinach/palak Dhokla's from the steamer and allow it cool for 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a Tadka/Small pan; add asafetida, mustard seeds,  curry leaves and allow them to crackle.
Add in the slit green chilies as well. Let them get brown.
Turn off the heat and gradually add the 3 tablespoons of water to the tempering.
Take care as the  oil will start spluttering. Adding water is necessary as it helps in keeping the Dhokla soft and moist.
Drizzle this seasoning on top of the Palak Dhokla.  Cut the Dhokla into desired pieces.
Serve Dhokla warm with choice of dips. I serve them with green mint and coriander chutney.

Lemon, Nutmeg & Poppy Muffins

Ingredients:

Plain Flour/APF                        - 1 cup
Corn Flour                                 - 2 tblspoon
Ground Nuts                              - 2 tblspoon
Poppy Seeds                              - 1 tblspoon
Nutmeg Powder                         - 1 tspoon
Baking powder                          - 1/2 tspoon
Baking soda                               - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                                             - 1/4 tspoon
Flora Healthy Oil                       - 1/3 cup
Demerara sugar                          - 3/4 cup
Yogurt                                        - 1/4 cup
Milk                                           - 1/3 cup
Lemon juice                               - 1/4 cup
Pure Lemon extract                    - 1 tspoon

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Line a muffin tray with muffin cups and spray it light cooking spray.
Take all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.Whisk it till mix well.

Take oil and sugar in another bowl.

Whisk and It will be sand like texture. Because we have less fat compared to sugar quantity.
Then add in yogurt, milk, nutmeg, juice and lemon extract.

Beat it well.
Add dry ingredients to wet.

Whisk till all comes together.

Add in the Ground Nuts and Poppy Seeds and mix it in gently. Do not overbeat your batter.

Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups.
Bake into preheated oven for 20-22 minutes or till toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove it from the oven. Let them cool into the pan for 5 minutes.

After 5-6 minutes remove cupcakes from tray and put on to cooling rack and let them cool completely.

Pakoda Platter

Ingredients:

Gram Flour/Besan                               - 2 cup
Bread Slice                                          - 6 slices
Onions                                                 - 1 thinly sliced
Brinjal                                                 - 1 cut in thin roundels
Carom seeds                                        - 1 tspoon
Turmeric Powder                                - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                                                      - to taste
Red Chili Powder                                - 1/2 tspoon
Coriander Powder                               - 1 tspoon
Green Chili                                         - 2 finely chopped
Fresh Coriander                                  - 1 tblspoon finely chopped
Oil                                                       - to deep fry + 1 tblspoon
Water                                                  - to adjust the batter

Method:

Wash the Brinjal and cut thin roundels, soak in water until ready to coat & fry.
Cut the onion into thin slices.
Sieve the gram-flour in a deep mixing bowl.
Add in carom seeds, turmeric powder,salt,red chili powder,coriendar powder,green chili and fresh coriander and 1 tblspoon of oil into it.
Divide this flour mix in to bowls.

Making Bread Pakoda:
Start adding water little by little in one bowl to make the batter. Mix it for few minutes to full it up.
This should not be very runny but not very thick as well.
Now cut or shape the bread slices as per your choice, square, triangle or rectangle.
Heat oil into a deep Pan/Karahi.
Now coat each piece of bread into the batter.
Fry until golden brown from both sides.

Making Baguni:
Coat the Brinjal roundels into the same bowl, we coat the bread slices.
Fry until golden brown from both sides.

Making Onion Bhaji:
In the second bowl, make thick batter.
Mix in the onion slices, Mix well.
now pinch the batter with your fingers and drop in the karahi.
drop 4-5 at a time, do not overcrowd.
Flip them and Fry until golden brown from both sides.


Serve these Pakoda on breakfast, brunch or as a starter for small get together . I serve variety of Chutnies with this platter.

Mix Lentil & Rice Flour Chilla

Ingredients : 

Lentil Paste                       - 5 tblspoon (5 lentil mixed soaked and grinded to smooth paste)
Rice Flour                         - 3 tblspoon (fine flour, soaked in 2 tblspoon water)
Coriander                          - 2 tblspoon chopped
Green Chili                       - 2 grinded with lentils
Salt                                    - to taste
Amchoor                           - 1 tspoon
Oil                                     - 2 tblspoon


Method:

Wash and soak Toor, Moong, Masoor, Chana and Urad daal over night.
Soak the rice flour 15 minutes before making chillas in 2 tblspoon.
Wash again and grind to smooth paste , add the green chilies while grinding the lentils.
In a mixing bowl, add lentil paste and soaked rice flour together with salt, amchoor and freshly chopped coriander.
Mix this paste well. Add water to make it in pouring consistency, not too runny like Dosa batter, make it like uttapam batter.
Heat a griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat.
With a drop of oil grease the griddle/pan. spread a ladle full of batter gently on the griddle.
Let it cook, few drops of oil around the edges of the chilla. Flip it over once sides starts to get golden.
Cook it from both sides.
Keep the flame to medium if the key for non-sticky chillas. If the heat

will be high they will burn and stick to griddle.
Enjoy the chillas with choice of chutney.

Olive, Jalapeno & Cheese Granary Bread

Ingredients :

Granary Bread Flour      - 3 cups + 1/2 cup for dusting and kneading
Active dry yeast             - 2 tsp
Warm water                   - 1-1/4 cup
Sugar                              - 1 tblspoon
Salt                                 - 2 tsp
Olive oil                         - 2 tbsp
Cheese                            - 1 cups + for sprinkle(I used grated mozzarella)
Jalapeno                         - 1/2 cup finely chopped
Black Olives                  -1/2 cup

Method:

Making of the dough: 
Warm the water to proof the yeast. Add the sugar and the yeast to the warm water and mix well.
Keep it aside for 10 minutes for yeast to get active, bubbly and frothy.
In another bowl combine the flour and the salt.
I made the dough in the stand mixer.
Add the proofed yeast mixture to the bowl of the mixer.
Add the oil to this mixture and then slowly add the flour while running the mixer at the slowest speed with the dough hook.

Once the flour has incorporated, start kneading the dough on medium speed for about 10 minutes.
The dough should be soft and sticky.

Add more flour if it appears too wet or a little more warm water if it is too dry.
At the end of the kneading, the dough should appear smooth and very soft.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

Let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. Mine too 1 hour , as it was a hot day.

The bread:
Grease the square/round cake tin /Bundt cake pan and keep it ready. I used my square cake tin as my bundt and round pan was busy.
Once the dough has doubled in volume, gently tip it onto a lightly floured surface.
Using a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle.

Now spread the chopped jalapenos/canned jalapenos, olives and cheese evenly on the rolled rectangle, leaving about an inch space on all the sides.

Tightly roll the dough in the long side to make it log.

Now place the rolled dough on the parchment.
Keeping one end intact, cut rest of the dough vertically.

Now the filling will be open and it will get a little messy.
Now braid the two cut pieces together. Try to keep the cut-open part on the top.
Braid till the end and pinch the end underneath.

Carefully lift it up and place it in the square/round cake tin /Bundt cake pan. Make sure that the ends meet together and pinch them together.

Sprinkle some cheese on top.

Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rise again until double the size.

Baking the bread:
Preheat the oven to 190c.
When the dough gets its second rise, bake it in the preheated oven for about 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let it cool down for about 10 minutes in the pan and then carefully remove it on a cooling rack and let it cool.

Cut the slices and serve on breakfast or as an evening snack with coffee or hot chocolate.