Marinara Sauce

My husband is not a pasta lover and he hates the bottled pasta sauces that we get at supermarkets, all the  more. Even I don't like it, but very rarely it works as a quick fix for us. I make my own marinara sauce whenever we want to relish our pasta. It is not very quick but it is definitely delicious. The taste of all the fresh ingredients gives it a refreshing taste. My husband too enjoys his pasta when the sauce is homemade.

The fresh tomatoes, carrots, celery and herbs, topped with bell peppers will make you feel like you have a garden on your plate. It is delicious and I would like to share it's recipe with you.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 large onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped
• 2 celery stalk chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• ¼ cup parsley chopped
• 3 large tomatoes chopped
• ¼ cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp heavy cream

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, take olive oil. Let it heat up and then add garlic and onions. Saute it for a minute.
• Add celery, carrots and parsley. Add salt. Saute for another minute or two.
• Add tomatoes and let it get all cooked and mushy. Keep stirring in between.
• Add tomato sauce and water.
• Mix and let it cook well. 
• When the veggies are cooked, remove saucepan from heat and let it cool.
• When cool, put it in a blender and make a sauce out of it.
• Put this sauce in a saucepan and put it on stovetop.
• Add and adjust all seasonings like salt, pepper, chilli powder and italian seasoning.
• Add heavy cream and let the sauce simmer. You can add more water if you think the sauce is getting too thick. Just keep adjusting the seasonings as per your taste and simmer for sometime.
• The sauce is ready and you can pour it over your favorite pasta (cooked as per package directions) or you can cool it and put it in a jar, and refrigerate it for future use.

Mini meduvada muffins

I get nostalgic, when I think of medu vadas. I come from a traditional mangalorean family, so obviously my dad worked in the food business. I grew up watching my mom and dad, both cook in the kitchen. Whenever my dad was off from work, we had delicacies made by him. I distinctly remember when I used to wake up in the morning as a kid and the aroma of medu vadas were wafting through the house. I knew dad was home that day and we had piping hot, crisp medu vadas for breakfast, with coconut chutney, yum!

Medu vadas always beckon me, but these days I limit fried stuff a lot. So got this idea of baking them instead of frying. I baked the prepared medu vada batter in a muffin pan. I had to do without the traditional holes of the vada. Although I was skeptical, I was surprised at the end result, it came out pretty close to it's original fried version. The fried ones would definitely taste better any day, but this recipe will satisfy your craving without any guilts later.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups urad dal split
• 3-4 green chillies chopped fine
• 1-1/2 tsp crushed pepper corn
• 1 tsp ginger chopped fine
• 8-10 curry leaves chopped
• 1-1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 1 tsp baking powder
• salt as per taste
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp cooking oil

Directions:

• Wash urad dal well and soak it in enough water, so that it is well covered even when it enlarges, for 5-6 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Drain the water and grind the urad dal to a fine paste. Add water to it as needed, for grinding. 
  The paste will resemble thick cake batter.
• Add green chillies, crushed peppercorn, ginger, curry leaves, cumin powder, asafoetida, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
• Take 1 tsp lime juice and add 1/2 tsp baking soda to it. It will fizz and then add this to the batter. 
• Finally add 2 tbsp cooking oil and mix everything well.

• Spray cooking oil into each cup of the muffin pan. Pour this batter into the cups equally, so that they bake evenly.

• Place the pan in oven for around 15 minutes. Then spray the top of each medu muffin with cooking oil and at this point increase the temperature of the oven to the highest point. Bake at this temperature for around 5-10 minutes. Keep a check on the muffins at this high temperature.
• Finally do a skewer test and remove the pan from oven.
• Cool for 10 minutes and remove muffins from pan.
• Enjoy it with sambhar/ rasam and chutney.

Eggless Christmas Cake

I am an ardent lover of egg and chicken dishes. However being married to a Gujarati guy (although he has no problem eating eggs), I have to entertain lot of vegetarian guests. I do respect their beliefs and so have to incorporate it in the food I make for them as well. My daughter's second birthday cake (shown in my cake art page) was also an eggless cake. Making an eggless cake is not an easy task and I have realized it after 4 eggless cakes that went into the trash can. Eggs are chief ingredients that help in rising the cake, and when you miss that there should be something in the recipe which will give you the perfect cake which won't crumble, and is moist to taste as well.

Now, it is the Christmas week, the perfect time to make Christmas fruit cake! We will be having a Christmas get together with some friends (who are vegetarians). Because of my love for baking and as nothing screams more Christmas than a Fruit Cake, I wanted to make one for the occasion. However making an eggless cake still gives me the chills (after all my failed attempts). I looked for lot of recipes and settled down for one. I made some modifications, for the portion size, and things easily available in my pantry. Kept my fingers crossed, but voila it baked perfect and tastes amazing. Surprisingly I don't miss the eggs in it. I would make this cake over rich christmas cakes anytime. Also no hassle of making caramel. It's a keeper!


I have added flax seed powder to the original recipe because I felt that the cake is very delicious but very difficult to cut as it crumbles. 

Ingredients 

1. 1/2 cup light/ dark brown sugar, packed
2. 1/4 cup dried raisins
3. 1/4 cup dried cranberries
4. 1 cup dried mixed fruit, peel preserved
5. 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
6. 2 tbsp orange marmalade/ 1 tsp orange extract/ zest from one orange
7. 2/3 cup boiling water
8. 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, soft, in chunks
9. 1 tsp baking soda
10. 1 tsp vanilla
11. 2-1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
12. 1/4 cup dark rum or 1/4 cup orange juice 
13. 1 tsp cinnamon powder
14. 1 tsp nutmeg powder
15. 1 tsp clove powder
16. 2-1/2 tsp baking powder
17. 1 tbsp very dark cocoa powder (if you want that dark color to your cake)
18. 1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
19. 3/4 cup roughly chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans)
20. 2 tbsp flax seed powder (soaked in 6 tbsp warm water till it is gooey)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a saucepan, take ingredients from 1-7, including boiling water.
• Simmer the mixture for five minutes on stove top.

• Let it cool a little, then add butter to the mixture. Add the baking soda and the mixture will fizz. 

• Add vanilla, cooking oil and rum to the fizzed mixture. Pour this mixture in a large mixing bowl.
• In another bowl, add ingredients from 13-18. Slowly using a hand mixer, or you can use the standing mixer if you have one, add this dry mixture to the wet mixture.Scrape the sides and mix it well. Add the flax seed mix to the batter and mix well.

• Fold in the chopped nuts. 
• Pour the mixture in a well greased 8 or 9 inch pan.
• Put it in oven and let it bake for 40-50 minutes.
• Do a skewer test to check whether it is done
• Enjoy your cake

SOURCE:  Zurie's Christmas Fruit cake

Baked Vanilla Custard

I love custards... it has a mild sweetness and creamy texture. I enjoy the baked ones more than the instant powder custards. The old fashioned baked custard is also nutritious because of the presence of eggs and milk. It can also be a perfect baby food as it is easy to eat and a good source of calcium and proteins for the little ones. My daughter enjoys it too. You can enjoy it as a dessert or it can be a perfect, quick breakfast too. Take a side of your favorite fruit with it and you add vitamins too. So without further ado here goes my recipe for baked vanilla custard.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm milk
• 3 eggs 
• 1/3 cup sugar 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
• Grease oven proof bowls in which you would like to serve the custard with cooking spray. This recipe will make 4-6 bowls of custard depending upon the size of bowls you use.
• In a medium bowl, break-in the eggs. Add sugar, salt and vanilla and beat lightly till everything blends well
• Add warm milk to the bowl and using a hand mixer beat for sometime till just everything mixes well
• Pour the mixture into prepared bowls equally.
• Take a large casserole or any baking pan, and place the custard bowls in the pan.
• Pour water in the large pan till the level of the custard in the bowls.

• Place this pan in the center of the oven.
• Bake for around 50-60 minutes. When the custard is done a knife inserted will come out clean.
• Remove from oven and let it cool on the counter or wire- rack. When the custard comes to room temperature, cover the bowls with cling wrap and put it in refrigerator and enjoy after an hour. It can be stored in fridge and enjoyed for 2-3 days.

Baked Vanilla Custard with nilla wafers

Baked Sabudana Vada

When I was growing up I was the only one at my home to enjoy the fried delicacies that my mom used to make. My dad used to hate most of the fried stuff, he was more into simple food. My sister is more of a sweet lover. As I grew and became more aware about health I got into eating healthy (also because I started putting on and was no longer the skinny girl). 

The other day, my husband and I were craving for something sort of fried i.e. savory and on the salty side. It really takes efforts to stay on the healthy side. So to create a perfect balance between health and tastebuds, I decided to make baked sabudana vadas. I love fried sabudana vadas and this recipe for baked one comes quite close. Plus they can be enjoyed guilt free. The recipe for it goes as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sabudana (tapioca pearls)
• 2 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup peanuts
• 3-4 green chillies chopped
• 2 tsp ginger chopped fine
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• few sprigs cilantro chopped
• 2 tsp salt (or as per taste)
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

• Wash and soak sabudana for 6 hours at least. The sabudana pearls will become large and translucent. Drain the water off using a colander.
• Pressure cook potatoes till they are cooked, it would take around 3-4 whistles. When the potatoes are done, let it cool. Then remove the peel and mash it.
• Roast peanuts in a pan on slow flame for around 10 minutes. Then let it cool and course grind it in a blender.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl mix together sabudana, mashed potatoes, ground peanuts, green chillies, ginger, cilantro, lime juice, salt and olive oil.
• Place aluminium foil on a baking sheet and spray it with cooking oil
• Make small lemon sized balls and flatten it using your palms. Place the patties on the prepared baking sheet. Spray the top with cooking oil.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven. Put the oven in broil mode and bake for another 2-5 minutes, let the top get a nice golden color. Be careful when you put the oven in broil mode because it gets really hot and take care that your patties don't get burnt. Just keep a watch on it.*
• Remove from oven, let it stand for a minute and enjoy your sabudana vadas

Baked sabudana vadas

* I used to flip my patties after 20 minutes in the oven but I like this broil method. It was suggested by Anudivya on her blog mixtomatch and it works great.

Baked Edamame Fritters

Baked edamame fritters

While I am posting my recipe for Baked Sabudana vada let me share with you Anudivya's link for baked edamame fritters. I tried it out and it was amazing, comes very close to fried dal vadas. It is a very healthy recipe made nutritious with the addition of edamame. I followed the recipe to the tee without making any changes and I think it doesn't need any. Please click on:

http://mixtomatch.blogspot.com/2010/08/baked-edamame-fritters-secret-to.html

Enjoy these snacks guiltfree!!!

Whole Wheat Savory Cake

The other day I saw this on Giada's cooking show, she had made a savory cheesecake and served it with crackers. The cheesecake was laced with basil and other herbs. I missed the recipe though, just caught her enjoying it with her friends. This got me thinking hmmm.. she made a savory cheesecake... maybe I can try out a savory cake. Why not? I thought I had come up with something novel and just started googling about it. To my disappointment such a cake did exist and these savory cakes were very popular in France. So my EUREKA moment was not a historical thing.. damn.

I planned to make a savory cake for dinner... sort of a risk..but if it would have been a disaster...yay pizzatime! But it did turn out pretty well and my husband gorged on it. Considering that I had made the cake on a healthier side, it was pretty good. I used whole wheat flour as the base and that was another risk because I have tried a lot of healthy whole wheat things that taste bad. My savory cake had a good texture and was flavorful.

As far as the flour is concerned one can get experimental and substitute rice flour or all purpose flour. The other ingredients will have to be adjusted accordingly, as you will get stronger flavors with refined flours. You can also get experimental with the additions to the flour, can add bell peppers, parsley or olives for different flavors. You can also add Chinese sauces like teriyaki, soy sauce and make it on the chinese side. You can also add any cooked, chopped meat like chicken , lamb, etc.

I would like to share my savory cake recipe as I made it. 

Whole Wheat Savory Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp vinegar/ lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil (set aside 2 tbsp of it in a saucepan)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic minced
• 2 -3 tsp green chillies and ginger paste
• few sprigs cilantro chopped
• 3 carrots grated
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grease a loaf pan or any 8" cake pan you have.
• Mix together all the dry ingredients i. e. the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk, in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, beat eggs and milk together until just well blended.
• In a sauce pan, heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil and sautee onion, garlic and red bell pepper, till soft.
• Now mix the dry ingredients, egg and milk mixture and the olive oil with sauteed onion, garlic and red bell peppers in the large bowl. Do not over mix, just blend together the dry and wet ingredients without any lumps.
• Fold in the grated carrots, green chillies and ginger paste, and cilantro.
• Add the vinegar/ lemon juice and give the batter a quick whisk for few seconds.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Put the pan into the oven, in the center of the center rack.
• Bake for about an hour, keep checking after 55 minutes and remove when you feel the center is done.
• Mine took an hour to bake and I just topped some cheese on the baked cake and let it bake for an additional 5 minutes.
• After removing from the oven let it cool on a counter for 10 minutes.
• Remove the cake from pan after ten minutes and let it cool completely before you cut and serve it.
• You can saran wrap the remaining cake and pop it in the fridge and can enjoy it throughout week,  before it's gone.

We had our cake with tomato soup. You can serve it with a soup, chutney or raita of your choice.

Enjoy!!!