Exotic Tomato Chutney

This chutney is very tangy and will most definitely tingle your taste buds. It is a perfect blend of hot and sweet and goes very well with plain or stuffed paranthas, khichadi, pulav or simply as an accompaniment. If you like hot and sweet combo, trust me, you are gonna fall in love with this chutney. 

Ingredients:

4 Tomatoes

2 dry red chillies

1 tsp Panchfod*

1 small cinnamon Stick

2 cloves

2-3 green cardamom

1 Bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/3 cup chopped dates

1/3 cup golden raisins

1/3 cup chopped aam papad/mango leather (optional)

1 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp Salt

Directions :

1. Blanch tomatoes, remove their skin and cut them into cubes.

2.  Heat oil in a pan, temper with panchfod and red chillies. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom. Fry until you get the nice aroma.

3. Add red chilli powder to the oil, fry for 5-6 seconds.

4. Add tomatoes and fry for a few minutes. Add sugar and salt, leave on low heat.

5. Next add raisins, dates and aam-papad. Mix well. Add 3/4 cup of water. Let it cook for 10 minutes or so on low heat until it thickens.

6. Serve hot or cold. Can be refrigerated for a week. 

Notes :

• To blanch tomatoes, slit them halfway and put them in a microwave proof bowl with a little water. Zap it for 1 minute on high. Let it cool. The skin will easily peel off. 

• Panchfod can be easily made at home. It has equal proportions of kalonji, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds.

Oven Baked Sago Kebabs

Ingredients

½ cup soaked sago (sabudana)

1 big boiled potato

1/3 cup tightly packed chopped cilantro

1/3 cup crushed peanuts

½ tsp dry mango powder (amchoor)

½ tsp red chili powder

1-2 green chilies / serrano pepper, as per taste

½ tsp ginger paste or grated ginger

Salt to taste

Cooking oil spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.

2. In a big bowl mash potatoes. Mix in all ingredients together till well blended.

3. Make small lemon size balls of the mixture and shape them into round kebabs. You’ll get approximately 16 kebabs.

4. Spread an aluminum foil on a baking tray. Spray some oil generously on the foil. Place the sago kebabs on the foil. Spray some oil on the top, covering the sides of the kebab as well.

5. Put the tray in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the kebabs look slightly toasted. They should have a light brown color. Then broil for 6-8 minutes tops, keep checking in every 2-3 minutes; you don’t want to burn them. Broiling makes the kebabs crisp from the outside, just the way they would be had you deep-fried them. So you don't compromise on the taste or texture but you totally avoid all that oil ! :D

6. Pull out the tray and flip the kebabs. Be careful and don’t burn your hand. Since the kebabs have already been cooked, you only have to broil this side for 6-8 minutes.

7. Serve them hot with cilantro chutney, ketchup or any dip of your choice.

Tips

  - soak ½ cup sabudana in ½ cup of water overnight for best results.

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Barley Bean Bowl with Kale

What to make for dinner? Try this 20-minute Barley Bean bowl with kale, full of good-for-you veggies and grains.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup uncooked pearl barley

1 cup packed kale leaves , roughly chopped

1 cup medium sized cubes of red bell pepper

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can no-salt-added white beans, rinsed and drained

6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon cajun seasoning

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

Dried red chillies (optional)

Directions :

1. Cook barley according to the package directions, omitting salt.

2. Heat oil in a skillet. Saute garlic until light brown (add dried red chilies along with garlic if you like it hot). Add bell peppers, cook for 3-4 minutes on high flame. Add kale, cook for another minute or so until the leaves welt. 

3. Add seasoning, lemon juice, beans and barley. Mix well. 

4. Serve hot or cold. 

Easy Peasy Mishti Doi

Mishti Doi brings back fond childhood memories of my holidays in Kolkatta. I have had a big sweet tooth ever since I was a kid, but my fondness for Bengali sweets has more to do with the sweet memories I share with my doting Naani (maternal grandmother).  I was the only kid in the house back then, so she pampered me to bits and pieces. She’d be my friend and play board games  with me like Ludo and snakes and ladders (do these names ring a bell?) and then playing cards, she’d intentionally loose many times just to make me happy. She’d take me shopping, be my “tik tik ghoda” and give me luxurious at-home-spa treatments! And then she would make sure I had some dessert for all four meals of the day, mind it there would be at least five varieties of sweets in the house so I had an option to choose from! Yes, when you are on a summer vacation at you grandparents’, you eat a lot, the chubbier you are by the end of the vacation would somehow be directly proportional to their love ;), that is just a tradition at our house! Naanijee, I love you with all my heart! Happy mothers day.

Getting back to mishit doi, it is an all time favorite Bengali sweet of mine. I used to have it with lunch every day without fail whenever I was in Kolkatta. Mishti doi screams decadence, it is rich, creamy and full of velvety goodness.  I finally got my fix at it, and this recipe is so simple. I never thought I could prepare mishti doi in such a jiffy with bare minimum efforts !

Ingredients:

2 cups plain greek yogurt
1 (14-ounce) can Dulce de leche (condensed milk)

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

2 tblsp brown sugar (optional)

2 tbsp Rose water

Saffron, thinly sliced pistachios and almonds - optional

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven 425 degree F.

2. Whisk the Greek yoghurt and brown sugar until smooth.

3.  Add condensedmilk and mix well.

4. Stir in evaporated milk. Blend it in with the mixture but do not beat.

5. Pour the mixture in any baking dish of your choice. Sprinkle some saffron strands and sliced nuts on top (optional). Cover it with aluminum foil.

6. Turn off the oven. Put the baking dish/ bowls/ yoghurt cups inside the oven.

7. Do not touch the baking dish; let it sit in the oven for 6-7 hours.

8. Remove the set yoghurt from oven and refrigerate it for 3-4 hours before serving.

Serve cold.  

Notes :

• Greek yogurt can be replaced by strained yogurt.
• If canned evaporated milk is not available you can easily make it at home. As the name suggests evaporated milk is just fresh milk with some water removed (evaporated). All you have to do is boil milk to half its volume. 
• Dulce de leche can easily be made using condensed milk. Just simmer condensed milk can on the stove for 2-3 hours, make sure that the can s submerged in water throughout the process. Open the can only after it has cooled completely. I like the flavor of dulce de leche better than condensed milk, imparts a very rich taste and creamier texture. 

Low calorie Banana Bread

This banana bread is not only incredibly simple to make, but very healthy as well. Besides, you need just a big mixing bowl to prepare the batter, so not much cleaning to do post baking.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ cup self raising flour

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs beaten

¼ cup plain Greek yogurt*

½ cup tightly packed brown sugar*

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce*

1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract*

½ cup chopped almond, raisins or nuts of your choice

*see notes for alternatives.

Directions:

1. Preheat you oven at 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, combine mashed banana, sugar and all the wet ingredients. Stir until well combined.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently.

4. Pour the batter into a greased and lined loaf pan.

5. Bake for 45-60 minutes, till the toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

6. Cool on rack, then remove from pan. Slice and enjoy!

This banana bread tastes really good by itself. A friend insists that I must have it with vanilla ice cream (you know who you are :P), so I am going to try that. Also, if you are fond of maple syrup and have some handy at home, pour a little maple syrup on top of warm banana bread, it tastes absolutely blissful !

NOTES:

• Instead of vanilla extract you could use cinnamon powder, whichever you like better.
• If you have sweetened applesauce, reduce brown sugar by half.
• f you do not have applesauce, you can just use ¼ cup of oil.
• Greek yogurt can be replaced by strained yogurt.