Showing posts with label Baked. Show all posts

Baked Flat Puri

With masala puri on the menu for a Saturday night dinner, I could either go out and buy puris, or make my own. I could have deep fried them, but my ever supporting hubby said lets bake them (I'm trying to give up deep fried food). So bake them it was. If you want the authentic road side puri taste, I suggest you deep fry them or take the healthy route like me and bake them :)

Baked flat puris

The stiff dough

Cut the puris using a cookie cutter

Place the puris on a baking sheet to bake

Baked Flat Puri

Baked flat puris or savoury tea time biscuits

Recipe Type: Snacks

Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 60 minutes (Includes dough resting time)
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 40

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour / Atta
1/2 cup Chiroti Rava / Fine Semolina
1 Tbsp Corn Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
4 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Water

Method:

Mix the atta, rava, corn flour, salt and baking soda

Rub in the oil

Add water by the tbsp. and mix to form a stiff dough

Cover it and allow it to rest for 30 mins

Roll into small puris or roll out a large roti and cut into small puris using a cookie cutter

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius

Bake for 7-10 mins. Mine were done in about 8 mins.

This recipe made around 40 small puris.

Baked Tofu Lettuce Wrap

This dish is inspired from a similar dish I had long back. Although, personally I did not enjoy the original so much due to its extreme saltiness, I did enjoy the idea. Very much in need of a healthy snack for Sunday evening, this dish proved a winner. Hubby dearest kept hovering around in the kitchen guessing what was cooking. The end results satisfied him, I must say. You can either bake the tofu or deep fry it. Deep fry as usual definitely tastes better, I, however, prefer baking. You can either use store bought tofu or make your own (the recipe exists on this blog)…

Baked Tofu Lettuce Wrap

Ginger garlic baked tofu, served in lettuce cups

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8-10 wraps

Ingredients:

100 gms Firm Tofu
1 Onion
1 Carrot
½ Capsicum
2 Tbsp Coriander(chopped)
3-4 cloves Garlic
½” piece Ginger
8-10 leaves Iceberg Lettuce
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
2 Tbsp Chilli sauce
1 Tbsp Tomato ketchup
½ tsp Sugar(Optional)
1 Tbsp Corn flour
½ cup Water
3 tsp Oil
Salt

Method:

Cut the tofu into bite sized cubes and toss them in 1 tsp of oil until evenly covered

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius and bake the tofu for 15 mins turning them halfway

Heat the remaining oil in a pan and fry finely chopped onions, finely chopped garlic and crushed ginger until onions are done

Add finely chopped carrot and capsicum and fry for 2 mins

Add all the sauces and 2 tbsp of water and cook for 2 more mins or until the carrots are slightly soft

Mix the corn flour in 2 tbsp of water and add to the pan

Add salt and sugar (if needed). I added a little sugar since all the sauces made the gravy too sour.

Stir in the baked tofu and cook until all the gravy is like a paste. We do not want a very watery gravy.

Wash and dry the lettuce leaves

Spoon the tofu filling in the lettuce leaves and enjoy…

Carrot Fries

Again, the GoodFood magazine carried this recipe and tempted me into making them. I generally make sweet potato fries. So I decided lets give this different fries a try.

Cut the carrot into finger sized pieces

Coat with cornflour, oil and all spices

Baked carrot fries

Carrot Fries

Baked carrot fries

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

2 large Carrots
1/2 Tbsp Cornflour
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp Pepper
Celery Salt or Regular Salt
1/2 tsp Oregano

Method:

Peel and chop the carrot into finger sized pieces
Toss it with the cornflour
Add the olive oil, pepper, oregano and salt
Mix well and spread out on a baking sheet
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
Bake for 20-25 mins

Zucchini, Spinach and Onion Pizza

The GoodFood magazine put me in a zucchini pizza mood. The photo looked so delicious that I just had to eat it. Sadly, no pizza joint close to home serves you such a pizza. So it fell upon me to create one :) The magazine was courteous enough to provide a recipe for the base as well. I added the pesto and the remaining veggies to give it more volume. The recipe for the pizza base and the pesto used can be found on the blog as well.

Place the topping on the pizza base

Grate cheese and spoon olive oil

Pizza after baking

Pizza

Pizza with carrot fries and blueberry muffins

Zuccini, Spinach and Onion Pizza

Pizza with pesto sauce topped with spinach, onions and zucchini

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium sized Pizza base
3/4 cup Pesto sauce
3 Cheese cubes
1 medium Zucchini
1 small Onion
A handful of Spinach leaves
1 tsp Oregano
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Rosemary (dried)

Method:

Spread the pesto on the base and grate one cheese cube and spread on it
Roughly chop the onion into large slices.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and toss the onions in it until soft
Cut the zucchini into fine ribbons. I used a peeler to make the fine ribbons
Toss the zucchini with 1 tbsp. oil. Add a little salt and the pepper.
Add the oregano, rosemary and the onions
Place the spinach on the base.
Spread the zucchini and the onion mix
Grate the remaining cheese on the pizza
Spoon the remaining olive oil on the pizza
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Pizza Base (50% Whole Wheat)

I recently got a GoodFood magazine from the library, the masterclass in the book was about pizza, this inspired me to make Pizza for lunch today. The recipe called for all purpose flour, I used a mix of plain flour and whole wheat flour. The below recipe made one medium sized thick crust pizza. Split the dough to make 2 thin crust pizzas

Dough before proofing

Dough doubled in size

Spread out the dough using your hands

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida/ All Purpose Flour
1 cup Atta / Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup Warm water
1.5 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp Olive Oil

Method:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow it to rest for 5 mins
Add the olive oil and the two flours and mix well
Add the salt and knead for 15-20 mins
Cover and rest for 1 hour or until doubled
Sprinkle some dough into the working surface and place the dough on it
Using your hands spread the dough into a circle
For think crust, the thickness should be as much as a pancake
For thick crust, the thickness is around 1cm
Place the dough in the baking tray
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
Use a fork and poke the dough to prevent it from puffing up and allow even cooking
Bake for 10-15 mins until a toothpick comes clean

Pita bread

My husband likes pita bread a lot. It is not so easily found unless we go to gourmet food stores in Bangalore. I always wanted to try making it at home. So I finally thought, this Friday evening I shall give it a try. Try was successful and hubby munched down on the whole lot :)

Pita bread with hummus

Knead into a smooth dough

After 2 hours, the dough has doubled it size

Divide dough into balls

Flatten out the dough

Roll out the dough to 5 mm thickness

Puffing in the oven

Puffed up pita bread

Pita bread

Enjoy pita bread with hummus

Ingredients:

Maida / Flour - 1.5 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 0.5 cups
Sugar - 1 tsp (Powdered) (Optional)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Salt

Method:

Mix the active dry yeast in the water and let it proof for 5-10 mins.
Add 1 cup flour to it. Add salt, sugar and olive oil.
Mix well and knead.
Add the remaining flour while kneading to get a smooth dough.
Clean the vessel used to make the dough and grease it with olive oil.
Place the dough in the vessel and move around the dough so it is coated with olive oil.
Cover the vessel with a clean towel or a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1-2 hours until the dough doubles in size.
Gently flatten the dough and move the dough to the working surface.
Divide the dough into balls. I made 4 for this quantity.
Preheat the oven to 240 degree Celsius. Keep the baking tray/ baking stone in the oven during preheat.
Using some more dry flour, gently roll out the dough ball to a thickness of about 5mm
Place the rolled out pita bread on the baking sheet and bake for 3 minutes.
It will puff up after 1-2 mins.
If it does not puff, it means the baking sheet is not hot enough. Whether it puffs or not does not matter if you are eating it with a dip.
This can be made using a tava/ griddle also, so instead of preheating the oven, heat the tava and place the pita bread on it when the tava is hot.
Remove from tava after it puffs or after 2 mins appx.
Enjoy it hot with hummus.

Vegetarian Quiche

I simply love the mushroom quiche from Sweet Chariot in Bangalore, but unfortunately, it is not always available. I have once spent almost an hour and half and lots of fuel searching for it in 3 different SC across Bangalore. Isn't it easier that I learn to make it at home. But do I really have the time to slog over mastering the pasty? Not really. So I had to Google my way through this recipe. Since my husband does not eat mushrooms and I'm so selfless (seriously, I am),and anyway I did not want him salivating while I enjoyed my quiche. I decided to forgo the mushroom quiche idea and make a vegetable quiche instead. This is just as yummy with or without the mushrooms

Before keeping in the oven

Nice an hot, ready to eat

Ingredients:

Pastry:
Flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Olive oil - 1/8th cup
Cold water - 1/8th cup

Béchamel sauce:

Butter - 1 tbsp
Flour - 1.5 tbsp
Milk - 3/4 cup
Salt
Nutmeg - 1/2 tsp

Filling:

Onion - 1/2
Garlic - 1-2 cloves
Green peas - 2 tbsp
Carrot - 1 small
Cauliflower - 2 tbsp (cut into small florets)
Dill leaves - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1 tsp
Salt
Red Chili powder or Black pepper - 1 tsp
Cheese - 1 cube

Method:

Pastry:

1) Mix the oil and water and whisk together with a fork until it forms an emulsion
2) Add the flour and salt to the emulsion and mix with a fork or hand until completely mixed. Do not knead.
3) Roll it out and layer the greased pie dish
4) Bake for 10-15 mins at 200 deg Celsius

Béchamel Sauce:

1) Heat butter in a pan and add the flour to it and sauté for a while until the raw smell disappears
2) Add milk, salt and nutmeg. Keep stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.

Filling:

1) Heat oil in a pan and add all vegetables and cook until vegetables are done
2) Add salt and chilli powder/pepper powder
3) Pour in the bechemel sauce and mix well

Quiche method:

1) Pour the filling into the pastry
2) Grate the cheese on top of the filling
3) Cook for 25-30 minutes at 200 deg celsius or until the top browns

Baked thick sev

My husband is almost a professional junk food aka kuruklu eater. All he needs is a packet or bowl of his crunchy munchies and a TV remote in his hand to forget all about my existence. I'm sure he has some special abilities to be able to faze out my constant chatter, but he does manage to do it somehow. If he has to eat his munchies, I decided, it was time to make it as healthy as I can. Store bought ones are generally fried, hence, I decided to bake. I'm not sure about the calories saved in this one, but I can guarantee, it definitely is healthier.

Makes - 1 cup

Ingredients:

Besan (gram flour) - 1 cup
Lime juice - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Water
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1) Mix all the ingredients and make a stiff dough with water.
2) Use a chakli press with a fine hole plate. I did not have this so I used a plastic bag with a small hole at one end (like a piping bag) and piped out the sev. It is a very tiring process to pipe the dough out, better to invest in a chakli press.
3) Use a non stick baking tray and place the sev on it and bake at 180 deg Celsius for appx 10 minutes. Remove if they start browning before 10 minutes.

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

I wanted to try this for very long... I've made eggless chocolate cakes but never vanilla. Generally, eggless cakes use condensed milk like Milkmaid to replace the egg, but i did not have Milkmaid at home but I did have curd :)... Below is a very easy recipe for eggless sponge cake using curd. Don't worry about the curd, it does not show up in the taste at all....

Ingredients:

Maida /All purpose flour - 1 cup
Thick curd / Yogurt - 3/4 cup (I used home made curd, but I'm sure Nestle and Britannia will do)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup (You can use vegetable oil in case you don't have butter)
Baking powder 1 tsp
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Method:

Sift the flour 2-3 times and keep aside.
Add the sugar to the curd and mix until the sugar dissolves.
Add baking soda and baking powder to the curd and keep aside for 5 minutes until the mixture foams.
Baking soda reacts with the curd to produce the bubbles.
Add vanilla essence and melted butter to the curd and mix well.
Add the flour little by little to the curd and keep mixing.
I use an electric hand mixer, so this reduces all my work :)
Preheat the Oven to 220 degree celcius.
Once all the flour is mixed with the curd and enough air is incorporated into the mixture, grease a cake tin and dust it with flour.
Pour the cake mixture into the greased tin.
Bake for 10 minutes at 220 deg. Lower the temperature to 180 deg and bake for another 20-30 mins.
Prick the cake with a toothpick to check if it is cooked after about 20 mins at 180 degrees, if the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
Be sure to prick the pick in the centre of the cake and make sure the toothpick goes all the way to the bottom to ensure the cake is cooked all the way through.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Baked Sweetpotato Chips

Healthy baked crispy chips made from Sweet Potatoes.

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

1 medium sized Sweetpotato
1 tsp Olive oil(or any other oil of your preference)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Red chilli powder to taste

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius
Wash and slice the sweet potato into thin slices. If you have a food processor or a grater with this facility, you can use it to make your work easier.
Put the slices in a bowl, add the oil and mix slightly so that the chips are at least partially covered with oil.
Lay out the slices on the non stick pan/cookie sheet. Ensure that the chips don't overlap each other.
Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
Let them cool (I leave them inside the oven only until the oven has finished cooling itself)
Add salt/pepper/seasoning as you desire. Personally I preferred adding nothing since the sweet potato itself had an inherent sweet taste that made it really yummy.