.....From My Palate

Snacks

Dry Fruit Biscuit/Cookies

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I don’t like baking cookies, not that I don’t like cookies in fact I am the official (“Me want cookie!”, “Me eat cookie!”), cookie monster of our home. And the reason for my aversion for baking cookies is, that most of them goes straight in to my much needed workouts tummy. Yeah! its strange that even the youngest one in our family does not go around the cookie jar as much as “ME”. My Love affair with cookies are not new, I still remember going to the bakery with my parents, and the first thing that grabbed my attention was nicely lined up round and square pieces of these buttery delights with different toppings and making them more desirable. Though its really hard for me to say any of them my favorite, as I love all of them equally but still i used to like flower shaped biscuit (yeah! back home we call them biscuit) with red jelly topping in the middle and coconut biscuit that looks like macaroons (or may be they were macaroons who knew then..:-)).

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I always like the idea of serving different types of cookies lined up in the tray for guests, but irony is even now, when ever they are needed my cookie jars are always empty. So I really request my friends and family to visit us either on the day I bake cookies or on the day I get my groceries from store, so that I can serve few of them to our guests and feel better while eating rest of them in privacy. :-))
Today we are talking about Nuts Cookies, these are kind of icebox cookies without eggs and with lots of nuts. We can add cardamom powder and saffron to enhance the Indian ethnic taste to our palate.

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Dry Fruit Biscuit/Cookies
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
  • 2 tbsp. Custard Powder
  • 3/4 cup chopped Dry fruits
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 2 sticks of Butter, softened
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • Sliced Nuts for garnishing
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and sugar. Add dry fruits and vanilla essence. Mix it well.
  2. Sift all purpose flour and custard powder.
  3. Mix flour into butter mixture slowly without over-mixing it.
  4. Make a soft dough out of it.
  5. Use little milk or extra flour if needed for the soft dough.
  6. Shape the dough in to logs and tightly wrap it in a wax paper.
  7. Refrigerate the logs for an hour until firm.
  8. Preheat oven at 350 °F.
  9. Cut logs in to 1/4-inch thick slices. Garnish them with sliced nuts.
  10. Bake for 12-15 mins until cookies are little brown from the edges.
  11. Cool them for 10 mins.
  12. Enjoy freshly baked biscuit/cookies with tea or coffee.

Puran Poli

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Maharashtrian cuisine!! What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you read it? May be, spicy Vada Paav, steaming hot Paav Bhaji, Misal Paav, Ragda Patties or chatpati Bhel Puri. But the real food of this filmy state is much more than these easily available street food. Today we are talking about the most popular Puran Poli. Puran Poli is a sweet, soft and flaky flat bread that melts in the mouth with burst of sweet nutty flavors and makes every occasion sweet and auspicious with its presence.

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Puran Poli
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • For Puran-
  • 1 cup Chana Dal
  • 1 cup Jaggery (Gudh)
  • Pinch of Nutmeg powder
  • 1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
  • Few strands of Saffron
  • 1 cup Water
  • For Dough-
  • 1 cup Whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup All Purpose Flour (Maida)
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • Salt to taste
  • (I used only whole wheat flour but adding all purpose flour makes it softer and tastier)
Instructions
Puran
  1. Wash and soak chana dal for overnite.
  2. Boil chana dal with one cup of water and saffron for 3-4 whistles.
  3. Drain and coarsely grind it.
  4. Mix chana dal, jaggery, nutmeg and cardamom powder.
  5. Cook the mixture in a nonstick pan until it thickens (spatula can stand upright in the mixture just to check it.)
  6. Keep it aside and make small balls of the mixture.
Puran Poli Dough
  1. Take maida, whole wheat flour, salt and oil. Mix it well.
  2. Add water as needed and knead it in to a soft sticky dough.
  3. Cover and leave it to rest for an hour.
Puran Poli
  1. Make a soft dough with tsp of oil.
  2. Take small ball from dough and roll like a puri.
  3. Stuff puran in to rolled puri and seal the edges nicely.
  4. Roll it evenly like stuffed paratha.
  5. Heat non stick tawa and cook puranpoli from both the sides with little ghee or oil till it gets nice golden color.
  6. Serve hot with a dollop of ghee over it.

Kutchi Dabeli

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Kutch is the largest district of India in Gujarat famous for its magical wet and dry lands. Apart from wetlands and white desert Kutch is famous for its wonderful culinary delights. One of the jewel from its treasure box is Dabeli. Dabeli is a famous street food in Gujarat. Its original roots are from Mandvi Kutch. Dabeli is a spicy potatoes mixture cooked with dabeli masala served sandwiched in paavs (buns) with chutneys and accompaniments. Dabeli is a delectable answer from India to all the burger served in west.

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Dabeli is also known as double roti. This dish is deliciously spicy, easy to prepare and undoubtedly a star dish to impress people. With all the assorted accompaniments served with it gives a sweet, tangy, spicy, crunchy taste that will lead to overeating and no way to stop its craving. Just a word of caution to my dear friends. 🙂 🙂

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Kutchi Dabeli
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • Round Buns (Pavs)
  • 3 tbsp. Dabeli Masala
  • 5 Potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
  • 3 tbsp. Oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tsp. Lemon Juice
  • Butter
  • 1 cup Tamarind Chutney
  • 1/2 cup Masala Moongphalli (Spicy Peanuts)
  • 2 tbsp. Coconut, scraped
  • 1/4 cup Pomegranate Pearls
  • 1/4 cup Black Grapes, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Nylon Sev
  • 2 tbsp. Fresh Coriander Leaves, chopped
  • 1 Onion, finely chopped
  • Garlic Chilli Chutney
  • 6-7 Garlic Cloves
  • 1 tsp. Lal Mirch Powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 tbsp. Water
  • Lemon juice to taste
Instructions
  1. Take dabeli masala in a bowl, add 2 tbsp. of tamarind chutney and little water.
  2. Mix it well and keep aside.
  3. Heat oil in a pan, add dabeli masala mixture in it.
  4. Cook for 2 minutes, now add potatoes, salt and a little water.
  5. Mix it well, add lemon juice and cook until moisture is absorbed.
  6. Take it out in a platter. Sprinkle coconut all over.
Garlic Chilli Chutney
  1. In a grinder add all the ingredients
  2. Grind it in to a smooth paste.
  3. Add little water if needed while grinding.
Assembling Dabeli
  1. Slit buns in to two.
  2. Apply garlic chutney on one side of bun and tamarind chutney on other bun.
  3. Now add potato mixture, peanuts, onion, grapes, coriander leaves, pomegranate and sev.
  4. Cover with the other slice of bun.
  5. Place the stuffed pavs on a hot tawa.
  6. Press slightly and toast on both sides, with a little butter, till done.
  7. Serve hot.

Paneer Stuffed Kacche Kele Ki Tikki

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Kaccha Kela/Raw Banana/Plantain is visibly related to banana family but is more firmer and require cooking before being used. Plantains are sometimes referred to as “potatoes of the Caribbean” since they taste like potatoes. It’s a good source of potassium. It is high in carbs, is a energy boaster and thus makes it a popular choice for any fasting (vrat/upvas). It is a good starter for any party and serve usually with green chutney or any dip with yogurt.

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Serve hot with green chutney or plain yogurt.

Thank you Anu’s Healthy Kitchen and Prachi’s Veg Kitchen

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Paneer Stuffed Kacche Kele Ki Tikki
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • For Tikkis
  • 4 Raw Bananas
  • 1 tbsp Ginger, finely grated
  • 2 Green chilli, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Coriander leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp Dhaniya Powder (Coriander Powder)
  • 3/4 tsp Jeera Powder (Roasted Cumin Seeds Powder)
  • 1/2 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Anardana Powder (Pomegranate seeds Powder)
  • Salt To Taste (Sendha Namak For Fasting)
  • Oil to shallow fry
  • For the Stuffing
  • 3/4 cup Paneer, grated
  • salt to taste
  • 1/4 tsp ajwain (Carom Seeds)
  • 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 pinches of Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped
  • Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Boil bananas. Peel them when cool down.
  2. Mash them with hand or a fork.
  3. Add rest of the ingredients, except the oil to the mashed banana and mix it well to make a smooth mixture.
  4. Divide it into equal portions, and make circles of them and keep them aside in a plate.
  5. Mix all the ingredients for the filling and make small balls out of it.
  6. Fill the paneer mixture into the banana balls, and seal the edges neatly.
  7. Flatten it gently to form a tikki.
  8. Refrigerate tikkis for half an hour and they are ready to fry.
  9. Shallow fry, for 2-3 minutes on each side till they are golden brown in color.

Spicy Corn Salsa – Chipotle Style

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No friends, I am not after Chipotle’s business. In fact Chipotle Mexican Grill is my all time favorite eating place. I like their food, it’s fresh, combination of flavors (zesty, tangy, crunchy) and suitable for my both palate and pocket. Most of the time my pick is Veg Burrito Bowl. Rice, beans, onion peppers, tomato salsa and “spicy corn salsa”  that gives the whole thing a spicy crunch. Its fresh and yellow kernels gives extra flavor and a crunch in a mouth.

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Spicy Corn Salsa – Chipotle Style
Author: Bhawana
Ingredients
  • 4 fresh corn ears or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
  • 2 medium Poblano Chile pepper
  • 4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 cup. Cilantro, chopped
  • 4 tbsp. Red Onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. Fresh Lime Juice
  • Salt/Pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven at 450 degree F.
  2. Place corn and poblano peppers on the baking sheet.
  3. Combine olive oil with salt and ground black pepper.
  4. Drizzle the seasoned oil over the corn and poblano peppers.
  5. Roast corn and poblano peppers in oven for 15-20 minutes.
  6. Remove and discard charred skin from poblano peppers.
  7. Dice poblano pepper flesh and place in a mixing bowl.
  8. If you are using fresh corn, cut the corn off the cob.
  9. Mix the corn, cilantro, jelopeno, onion, lime juice in the mixing bowl with the poblano pepper.
  10. Stir and season with salt and pepper.
  11. Serve fresh.