Onion Pakoda

Onion Pakoda fondly called as "Bakkoda" is a south-indian savory fritters - makes a great evening snack and a wonderful combo with hot cup of filter coffee especially during rainy days.

My mom makes great pakodas - they are something that I grew up with. For me, pakoda is a comfort food - reminds me of my home, my mom and the inviting smell of frying onions that fills up the entire house. I remember, how patiently I used to stand next to my mom chit-chatting with her - eagerly waiting for the first batch of pakoda to come out of the oil. Not only for its taste, I also adore how these little munchies look - for its imperfect shapes & rusticness.

Ingredients

Rice flour - 2 cups
Besan - 1 cup
Onion - 2 medium sized (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 3 nos (finely chopped)
Ghee - 1-2 tbsp
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (adjust according to your spice level)
Salt - to taste
Oil - for deep frying

Method

Heat oil in a deep frying pan (on medium heat). Make sure that you fill atleast 1/4th of the pan with oil.

In a large bowl, mix together rice flour, besan, onion, green chillies, hing, salt, red chilli powder, salt and ghee. 

To this mixture, sprinkle very little water (as needed) mixing with your hands. It is enough if the mixture just holds together - should be really stiff & dry (you should be able to make balls out of the dough). Adding just enough water will give crispier pakodas.

Make sure that oil is at the right temperature (to check, drop a small piece of the dough into the oil and the dough should immediately come up the surface). Take about a medium sized ball of dough, use your fingers to press & drop the dough into the oil to form small, bite-sized fritters (don't bother about the shape). Do not overcrowd the oil & deep fry until golden brown.

Drain excess oil in a paper towel and serve hot.

Eggless Date Cake

Here I am .. dusting my blog after a long break..

When life gets dull & uninspired, there comes along a few moments - few refreshing moments - that gets you going. For me, "eggless date cake" is definitely a breakthrough - an inspiring recipe - sure it brought back my writing spirits to life..

When it comes to cake recipes, I always have a feeling that adding eggs gives an edge to cake's flavor & texture. Whenever I bake cakes at home, I replace eggs (as I do not use eggs) with flax seeds or something similar and keep my fingers crossed until the cake is done - unsure about how the cake will turn out. But with this recipe, I do not have to be so doubtful - wanna know why? - this cake doesn't need eggs. Oh, whatta relief!!! This cake is such a delicious treat for all non-egg eaters out there!

Ingredients

Seedless Dates - 20 nos

Milk - 1 cup

Honey - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 2 tbsp

All purpose flour - 1 cup

Oil - 1/4 cup

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Cashews - 1 tbsp (coarsely chopped)
Salt - a pinch

Method

Preheat the oven at 350F. Grease the baking pan with some butter and keep it ready.

Soak dates in a cup of warm milk for about 4-5 hrs so that dates gets soft for grinding. Grind it into a smooth paste along with the milk in which it is soaked in. Add oil, honey, sugar and mix.

Sieve together flour and baking soda. Add flour to the wet mixture in 3 batches and mix gently. Finally add cashews to the batter and mix gently. 

Pour the batter into greased baking pan and bake the cake at 350F for about 30 - 35 mins. Insert a toothpick in the centre of the cake to check if its baked (toothpick should come out clean) and let it cool for couple of hours and ENJOY!

This cake is a sure delight and it tastes unbelievable when rested overnight.

Notes:

• This recipe is loosely adapted from aayisrecipes.
• You can replace honey (& 2 tbsp of sugar) with 3/4 cups of sugar.
• Color of the cake can get darker (or) lighter depending on the color of the dates. So do not rely on color of the cake to check its doneness.

100th post - Vanilla & Gulab Icecream

So, here I am … at my 100th post. It all started with just a spark, but I love the way it is shaping up now. Most importantly, a big thanks to all my family, friends and fellow bloggers who travelled with me through this enjoyable blogging journey of mine and encouraged me to try different recipes.

Do you see the number 100?

Without a doubt, blogging helped in pushing my envelope in archiving traditional recipes, to attempt at different cuisines, to experiment with baking and above all, to share all the cooking fun & experiences that I had. Blogging also helped me in bringing out my hidden interests in writing & photography to light. I am sure my writing & photography skills will get even better with time :-)

I had a few recipes in my mind that I wanted to try for my 100th post and my daughter helped me in narrowing down to one (no prizes for guessing though !!!!). Yes, ice cream it is and this time, I made vanilla ice cream and gulab (rose-flavored) ice cream. They came out perfect. I have to say, ice cream is one of the easiest desserts to make at home :-) Moreover, it feels really good eating homemade food without any of those artificial preservatives & chemicals.

Couple of months ago, I tried to make strawberry icecream but it tasted like frozen strawberry milkshake rather than icecream. What actually happened was, I got so curious about tasting and more so, blogging that I did not give enough time for it to freeze. But this time, I froze it overnight and result ?!?!?! - smooth, creamy, melting, yummy, sinful, delicious icecream.

My daughter simply loved it and her favorite among the two was gulab ice cream (for the color, without a doubt :-)). She thinks that her amma can do all wonders when it comes to cooking and so, I happily decided to keep this magic going and stretch it out as far as it'll go ;-) This time, my hubby didn't have anything to comment as he got really busy into enjoying this sweet delight with a cup of fruits.

Ingredients
Heavy whipping cream - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 2 cups (I used 2%. You could also use whole milk)
Vanilla extract - 2 teaspoons
Rose extract - 2 teaspoons

Method
Whip cream until it doubles in size using an electric hand mixer / stand alone mixer (I used my hand mixer at speed 2 for about 10 mins). Add milk, sugar and whisk until sugar dissolves completely.

Now, divide the mixture into two equal parts. To one, add vanilla extract and mix well. To the other, add rose extract and mix well to combine.

Leave both the mixture in freezer for about 45 mins - 1 hr. Then, using a spatula / electric mixer break all the ice particles and mix until creamy. Repeat this process for every 30 mins for 2-3 hrs (about 4-6 times).

Then, freeze the ice cream mixture overnight (or 5-6 hrs). Serve & enjoy!!!

Events
Linking this to "Lets cook #12 - Sweet Somethings" hosted by Radhika

Rajma masala

Rajma a.k.a Red kidney beans masala is a popular & healthy north-Indian recipe. Rajma is known for its high protein content and soluble dietary fiber that helps in lowering blood cholesterol levels.

Tomatillo kootu

Have you tried tomatillos before?! If not, you should definitely try. This is my first time cooking/tasting tomatillos and I loved the tanginess it added to the regular moong dal kootu. Needless to say, tomatillo kootu paired up great with parathas.

Tomatillos (cousin of tomatoes) has a vibrant green color and looks like a small, under-ripe tomato hidden inside a paper-like husk. Discard this delicate husk, and what you have inside is a slightly sticky  vegetable with a sweet-tart flavor. When saute 'ed tomatillos becomes very soft and gives a citrusy flavor.

Tomatillos works beautifully well with moong dal to make this luscious, comforting kootu.

Ingredients
Tomatillos - 4 nos (chopped into cubes of 1 inch)
Tomatoes - 2 nos (chopped into cubes of 1 inch)
Cooked moong dal - 1.5 cups
Onion (Medium sized) - 1 no (finely chopped) - optional
Grated Ginger - 2 tsp - optional
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 1 no
Green chillies - 2 nos
Hing - 1-2 pinches
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp - optional
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil & Salt - to taste
Chopped cilantro - 1/4 cup
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp - optional

Method
Pressure cook moong dal with turmeric powder & green chillies for upto 2 whistles. Keep it aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat a tbsp of oil. Splutter mustard seeds, add cumin seeds and let it crackle. Add onion, red chillies and saute until onion turns translucent.

Add tomatoes, red chilli powder, hing, salt and let it cook until raw smell of tomatoes & chilli powder is gone. Now add tomatillos, cilantro and let it cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Finally, add cooked moong dal, mix well and allow it to cook for one more minute. If required, taste & adjust salt.

Remove from heat and serve it with rice / roti.

While cooking, remember that tomatillos tends to lose its shape & color when cooked in heat for long time (just like tomatoes).