Beetroot Roti

I make this roti very regularly to feed my kids some veggies. So that they have some good dietary fiber and more important a good source of iron.   But I never thought of it as a recipe to write in my blog. 

But last week one of my colleague asked me for some form by which she could feed her kids some beetroot. And this recipe came out instantly.  So, that’s how I thought of putting this recipe in the blog.  

Hope you would try and enjoy it.

Ingredient

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups

Beetroot – 1 medium size
Ginger – ½ tsp
Green chilli – 1
Salt as per taste
Water to knead and grind – about 1cup
Ghee – to spread on the roti

Method

1.   Peel off the skin of the beetroot and cut into small pieces.

2.     In a mixer add the cut beetroot, ginger, green chilli and salt and grind it into a fine paste.  Add a 2tbsp of water if it is not becoming a paste.

3.     Mix the wheat flour and the beetroot paste and try to knead into dough.  if the water content of the paste is less add more water to knead into a dough.

4.    Make small balls of the dough. Dust it with the flour and roll it into thin round roti.

5.     Now put the roti on a hot griddle. First cook one side and then turn and cook the other side. Now press the side of the cooked roti with a ball of cloth, the roti’s will puff.

6.     Apply a ¼ tsp of ghee on both sides.

7.     The roti’s are ready to eat.

Indian Tri-Colored Cake

Greeting to all we Indians who celebrate the 65^th Republic Day.  Tried to make a tri- colored cake resembling our Indian flag.

Proud to be an Indian. Jai Hind.

Ingredient

Flour/maida  - 200gm

Granulated sugar – 200gm
White Butter – 200gm
Egg – 4 egg
Milk – ¼ cup
Baking powder - 1tsp
Vanilla essence - 1tsp
Edible color green and orange – few drops

Method
 

1.            Sever flour & baking powder together .

2.            Powder the granulated sugar .
3.            Preheat the oven to 180⁰c for 5 min.
4.            In a bowl mix the soft butter and sugar powder till it is soft.
5.            To this add egg and beat till it is fluffy.
6.            Add essence and mix .
7.            Now fold in the flour, till it completely blends with the mixture.
8.       If the mixture is very thick add the milk and mix well.
9.       Divide the mixture into 3 parts and transfer it into different bowls.
10.     To one portion of the mixture add the orange color and mix well.  Similarly, to the next portion add the green color and mix well. Don’t mix any color to the third portion.
11.         Grease and dust a 8” x 8” round container
12.          First pour the green color mixture and spread it evenly on the container. Then, pour the mixture without any color and spread it evenly, lastly pour the orange color mixture and spread evening.
13.     Tap the container lightly on a hard surface so that all the air bubble goes off.
14.        Bake at 180⁰c for 45 min.

Carrot Halwa / Gajar Halwa

Carrot comes in abandon during winters. One thing which everyone knows to make with carrot is gajar halwa. So in winters a standard sweet dish at many houses is garjar halwa. Everyone have their own methods of making this. You can make it the traditional way by cooking it in the milk for long hours, there are instant gajar halwas, some make it with jiggery/gur, some with condense milk, and the list goes on.

In this blog I am going to pen in the traditional way of gajar halwa which my mother taught me. It takes a long time but it is worth a try for the end result of mouthwatering hot halwa ( jeeb lap lpaye). She always told me that the milk should cover the carrot when you start and end with only carrots and the rest is all in your hand i.e you should be careful that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn.

The carrots which we use to gajar halwa are red, sweet long ones and not the orange colored ones as it does not have its own sweetness.

So, please try this and post in your comments.  I would like to hear from you.

 

Ingredient

Carrots – 1kg (grated)

Milk – 1 ltrs
Ghee – 2tbsp
Sugar – 1 cup
Cardamom powder – 1tsp
Raisin – 1 tbsp
Cashewnuts – 2tbsp (broken into pieces)
Khoya (dried whole milk) – about 100gm (optional)

Method

1.      Heat the heavy bottom pan, add milk and grated carrot. Initially cook on high flame till the milk boils.

2.      Now on medium heat let the carrot and milk cook, regularly stir this so that it does not stick to the bottom.

3.      When the milk is almost 3/4^th of the original quantity, add sugar and dry fruits. Sugar will melt, so the content will become a little watery.

4.      Keep on cooking till the milk thickens (be very careful that in the process of thickening it should not stick to the bottom of the pan and burn).

5.      Now add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well, cook for a minute.

6.      Add grated khoya, mix well and remove from heat.

7.      Now serve it hot.

Cauliflower Tikki

This is an experimental recipe which I tried with leftover grated cauliflower. The result was really yummy.  So, try making it and post your comments.  

 

Ingredient

Cauliflower – ½ kg (grated)

Spring onion – 2 (cut finely)
Coriander leaf – 1tbsp (finely chopped)
Mint leaf / pudina – 1tsp (finely chopped)
Gram flour / besan – 5 tbsp or as required
Red chilly powder – 1tsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Dry mango powder / amchur – ½ tsp
Salt as per taste
Oil for shallow frying

Method

 

1.       Mix all the ingredient except gram flour. Mix it nicely with hand and keep it for 10 min. the mixture will become moist.

2.      Now add the gram flour one tablespoon each at a time and mix till the batter become into a thick consistency.  The mixture should not be watery nor should it be thick like a dough. No extra water should be added.

3.      Take a table spoon on the mixture and make small round flat tikkies from this mixture. Prepare the tikkies with the rest of the mixture in a similar way.

4.      In a flat bottom pan add 2tbsp oil and heat.

5.      When the oil is hot add the tikkies, cover the pan and cook the tikkies in medium heat, till the lower side becomes light brown.

6.      Now turn the tikkies, press it with a spoon so that the tikkies become little flat. Cook it on medium heat till other side also become golden brown.

7.      When it is done remove it from the pan and serve it hot with sauce or chutney.

Gooseberry Pickle / Amla Achar

This is an instant gooseberry pickle.  As I am very bad with pickle but I love to make it. So this time I am made it with readymade pickle masala.  There are lots of pickle masalas available; I prefer the South Indian brands like Nirapara pickle masala or Melam pickle masala.

Ingredient

Gooseberry – 1 kg

Salt – 2 tsp.
Pickle masala – 3tbsp
Oil – 250gm
 

Method

1.   In a pan add the gooseberry and cover it with water. Put it into heat.  When the water starts boiling, put off the heat.  Keep it covered for half an hour.

2.   Remove the gooseberry and strain and let it dry for an hr.

3.   Now, cut into wedges and remove the seeds.

4.   Mix the salt and pickle masala to the gooseberry wedges and mix well.

5.   Heat the oil in a kadai ( to test if it is hot, put a few mustard seeds it should crackle). Put of the heat and let it cook for 10 min.

6.   Now add the gooseberry mixture to the oil, mix it well.

7.   Cook it on low flame for 2 min.

8.   It is ready to eat.