Baked chapati chip | Baked wholewheat nachos

Chips are irresistible, and of those, I love Nachos. Loaded with beans and cheese or with simple guacamole, they are simply my favorite kind of chips. I made these cause I really wanted to eat nachos. I searched far and wide for masa harina, the flour from which tortillas are made in Mexico. But nobody carries it here. In fact, I cannot even find makki ka atta in Bangalore to make makki roti :( So I stuck to what I had. I always have chapatti atta at home. Chapati is essentially Indian flatbread that resemble tortillas. You can deep fry the chips or bake them. I baked them and they turned out crisp and equally tasty. And incidentally I had a nice ripe butterfruit / avocado in the fridge to make some yummy guacamole. 1 chapati makes around 25-30 chips.

Baked chapati chip | Baked wholewheat nachos

Baked whole wheat chips/nachos

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:          Mexican
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:              75-100

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole wheat flour/ atta (This may make 3-4 chapatis)
Whole wheat flour for dusting
1 tsp Olive oil per chapati
A pinch Salt
Water

Method:

• Take the whole wheat flour in a large bowl. Add water by the tbsp. and start kneading. Knead until you get a soft smooth dough. The dough should not be shaggy and stick to your hands.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
• Take a small lemon sized dough ball.
• Dust the counter surface with whole wheat flour and roll out the chapati as thin as you can. I suggest making a fresh chapati instead of using a leftover one. You can use leftover dough though.
• Heat a tava/griddle on the gas stove, reduce the flame once the tava is hot. Put the chapati on the tava and cook until small bubbles appear on one side.
• Flip the chapati and cook on the other side.
• Remove from heat. Allow it to cool for 5 mins.
• Cut into triangles.
• Place on a baking sheet. Do not let them overlap each other. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle the salt.
• Bake for 6-8 mins until browned and crisp.
• Enjoy with guacamole or salsa.

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Almond Chocolate Brownie (Eggless)

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE and more LOVE these Eggless Almond Chocolate Brownies. They are chocolate-y (Oh ya!) to the core and they have crunchy Almonds, what's not to love?

I'm definitely a chocoholic at heart, soul, fingers and toes. I've never been able to resist a good piece of chocolate. Dark, Milk, White, I'm game for any type of chocolate. All that talk of chocolate is enough to make me wanna crave one this instant. I wonder how people save their chocolate for later. As for me, if I know there is a chocolate around the house, I can think of at least 10 reasons why it should be in my mouth and not on the shelf.

I'm also totally NUTS about nuts. I'm always stocked with Almonds, Cashew nuts, Pistachios, and sometimes Walnuts. They are the best in-between-meals snacks I can think of. I carry a handful in my bag all the time to munch on in the bus.

They say chocolate is good for you, they say nuts are good for you, I say these Almond Chocolate Brownies are really good for you. May not be calorie wise but spirit wise, big Thumbs up!! Nothing like an awesome brownie to raise your spirits and make you feel like you are flying high up in the sky.

Everyone has their favorite brownie recipe. This recipe is mine. These Eggless Almond Chocolate Brownies have become a birthday regular for me. I've made it twice in a row now and I'm still amazed how something so easy to make can be so wonderful in taste. 

One would think Brownies are for kids, but I feel the older I get, the more I want them. 

This recipe makes cakey brownies that are not sickly sweet. The semi sweet dark chocolate (my favorite kind of chocolate) gives this Brownie that slight bitter darkness and not making it sickly sweet. I'm not really a fudgy sweet brownie kinda girl. 

This recipe is eggless aka vegetarian, however, it is not vegan. The condensed milk replaces the eggs as the wet ingredient. If you can find vegan sweetened condensed milk, then you can make these brownies vegan. To make these brownies, I recommend buying good quality cooking chocolate. If you cannot find it, you can use any dark chocolate bar that has more than 50% chocolate (70% is better). 

I've used wholewheat flour in the brownie, you may replace it with all purpose flour or maida.

Remember not to aerate the batter too much, else, you will end up with a chocolate cake and not a brownie. Also, do not over mix the batter, you will get a tough brownie. 

If you liked this, you may also like:

• 40 minute Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes - Super quick eggless cupcakes.
• Almond Cookies - Almond cookies made with 75% wholewheat flour.

Almond Chocolate Brownie (Eggless)

Eggless chocolate and almond brownies

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          International
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:              9

Ingredients:

1.25 cups Whole Wheat Flour(appx. 160gms)
2 Tbsp Corn Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
0.5 tsp Baking Soda
150 gms semi sweet Dark Chocolate
2 Tbsp Powdered Sugar / Icing Sugar
0.5 tin Milk Maid
50gms Unsalted Butter
0.5 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
10-12 Almonds

Method:

Sift together the whole wheat flour, corn flour, baking powder and baking soda at least twice
In a pan, put in the dark chocolate, broken into pieces and until the chocolate melts.
Add 0.25 cups of  milk to improve the consistency. Stir well to get a smooth sauce and keep aside to cool.
Cream together the butter and the sugar in a bowl. Whisk it for around 3-4 mins.
Add the milkmaid, vanilla essence and the dark chocolate and mix well until combined.
Add the flour in parts and mix well.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Grease a shallow square pan and dust it with flour.
Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle chopped almonds over it.
Bake for 45-50 mins.
Serve with chocolate sauce, ice cream or with Love.

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Wholewheat Tomato & Basil bread

I often miss having the Mediterranean veggie sandwich at Panera bread for lunch. Since we don't have any Panera Bread's out here, I cannot enjoy their tomato and basil bread. Which is what set me on a path to create my own. I found several recipes on the net, but I modified them to suit me. I am not so keen on cooking with maida(flour) so I use atta (whole wheat flour) more often. I also had no parmesan cheese as the recipes asked for. Also, I added the oats and the fennel just as an experiment which worked successfully. This was a yummy breakfast today morning with oodles of butter....



Tomato & Basil bread



Before first rise

After first rise

After baking

Crust & crumb

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour / Atta – 1.5 cups

Oats – ½ cup

Tomato – 1

Basil leaves – 10-12

Fennel seeds / Saunf – 1 tbsp

Olive oil – 1 tsp

Active dry yeast – 1 tsp

Red chilli flakes – 1 tbsp

Tomato ketchup – 1-2 tbsp

Water – ¼ cup

Salt – ½ tsp

Method:

Puree the tomato and mince the basil

Warm the water and dissolve the yeast in it

Add the tomato puree, basil, crushed fennel seeds, red chilli flakes, tomato ketchup, oats and salt and mix well

Add the flour and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. I kneaded for around 15 mins.

Grease a vessel with olive oil and place the dough in it. Turn the dough so that it is covered in oil. Cover the vessel and allow it to proof for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Knead again for 1 min and place in the loaf tin or the baking sheet and allow it to rise for another 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 240 degree Celsius.

Bake for around 20-25 mins.

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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.

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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

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Instant Wheat Dosa | Savory Whole Wheat Pancake

Have you had hunger pangs at say about 4.30 - 5 pm? I believe I'm hungriest at that time in the evening. And the worst part is, I'm sitting in a bus on my way back from office at that time. All I can think about is food and I cannot reach out to any food. I tell you that is the WORST situation to be in. 

Then what do I do? I obsess about food. I start browsing Pinterest. Isn't it like the most AWESOME app for all us food lovers? So much beautiful food out there. Click here to follow me on Pinterest. Then I realise I'm getting hungrier, and I really really cannot sleep when I am hungry, so on days I have a good book with me, I read, or on other days I look out those large bus windows and keep spotting street food vendor.. 

And as soon as I get down from the bus, I run to the nearest bakery or street stall for may some crisp Puff or the spicy Samosa. Later on at night, I obsess about having eaten all that fried food or fatty food. Guilt definitely weighs heavy on my heart and my tummy. 

To avoid all that I wrote about, I keep a few quick to make yet absolutely HEALTHY recipes up my sleeve. And this Wheat Dosa fits it to a T. Everyone I know knows that Whole wheat is healthy. Protein, good Carbs, Filling, need I go on? No sugar, no frying, no butter - This is perfect for evenings as much as for mornings. Effort required - chop tomatoes, onions (and these are optional) and add to some whole wheat flour. Add water, salt and spices if you love them as much as me. And then just spread on a pan and cook with barely 1 tsp of oil. That's IT!!!

Mix all the ingredients to get a dosa consistency batter

Spread the batter on the tava and spoon oil

Flip when one side browns

Instant Wheat Dosa | Savory Whole Wheat Pancake

Instant savory dosa or pancake made with whole wheat flour.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast / Snacks
Cuisine:         Indian
Prep Time:    10 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:             6 small pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup Whole wheat flour or Atta
1 small Onion
1 Tomato
8-10 Curry leaves
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
2 cups Water
A handful Coriander Leaves
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

Method:

Chop the onion, tomato and coriander finely
Mix all the ingredients except oil and make a dosa / pancake consistency batter
Heat a tava or a griddle and grease it
Spoon the batter on the tava and spread it
Spoon oil onto it
Flip it when one side browns
Cook it until both sides brown
Enjoy it hot with chutney

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