Tag: snack

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Featured

Yogurt, Greens, Oil

Cherie was working late on her fine arts practicals portfolio, and while making a mug of hot chocolate for her, I thought I’d fix myself a little something too. We don’t usually have very many vegetables, snacks or leftovers in the house, buying and cooking fresh for most part. The only exceptions are meats in the freezer and perhaps a roast in the fridge from time to time. That, combined with my almost-obsession with lowering my carb intake, leaves very few snack options. And while there were three whole birds in the freezer, there was no cooked meat to munch on.

This was just a very late night / early morning (3am) snack that I put together and shared and had no intention of writing about it here. When I saw the post had garnered nearly 400 likes, I thought it might just be something that should be recorded. So, here’s probably the simplest recipe on this blog.

The result is a wonderfully aromatic bowl, both oils having their own distinct aromas, with the pepper oil being surprisingly floral. Each spoon is soothing due to the sesame oil and the salt, and there’s a bit of crunch and mustard sharpness from the greens.

Ingredients

Method

  • Pour yogurt into bowl
  • Top with the rest of the ingredients
  • Serve; mix well and eat.

Notes

  • If raw garlic is too strong for you, consider garlic powder or toasting the garlic prior.
  • Some may find this bland. Add a dash of Sriracha sauce if you like.
  • I found the Sechuan pepper oil at Majnu ka Tila in Delhi and couldn’t find any equivalent on Amazon.

Categories
Featured Recipes

Dhokla Bruschetta

When the hubby is travelling on a Sunday, sonny boy has a mixed bag of sadness and the grumps together. How about serving him a dish that’s a combination of Gujarati and Italian cuisine? You heard that right! Here, I present Dhokla Bruschetta.

Ingredients:

  1. Besan / chickpea flour, 2 cups, sifted using a sieve
  2. Citric acid, 1 tsp
  3. Water, 1.5 cups, to be used in three batches
  4. Ginger and green chilli paste, 1 tsp
  5. Asafoetida / heeng, 2 pinches
  6. Turmeric powder / haldi, 1/2 teaspoon
  7. Baking soda, 1 tsp
  8. Powdered sugar, 4 tbsp
  9. Oil, 2 tbsp
  10. Salt, to taste

 Method:

  1. To the sifted besan add the citric acid, ginger green chili paste, heeng, haldi, salt and the powdered sugar
  2. Now add half cup of water to the besan mixture and whisk well making sure that there are no lumps remaining
  3. Add another half cup of water and once again whisk until the texture is smooth
  4. Finally, add another half cup of water and whisk vigorously in one direction for at least  3-4 minutes until the batter is light, pale and fluffy
  5. Add oil to the batter and mix well and then keep it aside for 10 minutes
  6. In the meanwhile, heat water in the pan in which you will place the dish containing the dhokla batter, and grease that dish too.
  7. Add baking soda to the batter; mix well
  8. Transfer the batter to the tin/dis, place it in the pan with boiling water, cover and steam for 20-25 minutes.
  9. Check using a toothpick; if a toothpick inserted comes out clean, your dhokla is ready.

Ingredients for the topping:

  1. Chopped bell peppers, all 3 colours, ½ cup
  2. Onion, ¼ cup, chopped
  3. Tomatoes, ¼ cup, chopped
  4. Olive oil, ½ tsp, chopped
  5. Garlic, 3 -4 pods, chopped
  6. Salt, to taste
  7. Mixed herbs, ½ tsp
  8. Oregano, ½ tsp

Method:

  1. In a pan add olive oil
  2. Immediately add the garlic, then add the onions, bell peppers and tomatoes, stirring for a minute before adding each ingredient
  3. Add all the seasonings and cook on high flame for a minute

Final Assembly:

  1. Slice the dhoklas and spread the toppings on them.
  2. Bake at 1600 Celsius for 8-10 minutes in a pre-heated oven using top heating rods only
  3. Serve hot.

Notes:

  • You’ll need a dish in which to steam the dhokla and a pan big enough to hold that dish and some water for the steam. Choose both carefully.
  • Optionally, mozzarella or other cheese can be added as a topping too.