Red Velvet Cookies

I’ve been super busy with work of late. Right now there are several emails I should ideally respond to, and several lawyer-y things I should do. Sigh. I choose to write about these cookies I baked this weekend.

This recipe is part of my ongoing eating healthy regime too. (I have a whole lot of buckwheat flour and I don’t know what to do with it. That I guess is another story. I must not deviate.)

Okay, this one is not so healthy, but at least it’s whole wheat! These cookies are soft yet crumbly and deeply satisfying!

• Butter (softened): 1/2 cup
• Caster sugar :1 cup
• Whole wheat flour: 2 cup
• Yoghurt: 6 tablespoons
• Cocoa powder 6 tablespoons
• Baking powder: 1 teaspoon
• Red food colouring gel: 1/2 teaspoon

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together and keep aside.

In a food processor, cream the butter and the sugar until pale and creamy (for about 5 minutes).

Add the rest of the ingredients and process for about 5 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl, until well incorporated.

(If you wish the cookies to be deeper red, add more food colouring and use only 5 tablespoons of cocoa powder).

Cut two feet length of clingwrap and put the dough in one corner, leaving a margin of at least 3 inches.

Shape into a cylinder (about 3 inches in diameter) and roll tightly.

Chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

Remove the clingwrap from the dough, and with a knife carefully slice the cookies of ½ inch thickness. (Alternately, you can roll out the dough and cut with a cookie cutter.)

Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and leave at least 1 inch space between two cookies.

Bake for 15 minutes.

Makes about 24 – depends on how much cookie dough you have eaten.

Surmai Koliwada

Although I grew up in Calcutta and now live in Delhi, Bombay is my favourite city. It is difficult to explain what it is about Bombay that makes it so special. Although congested and somewhat dirty, that city has so much to offer in terms of culture, food and great people that the negatives seem totally irrelevant.

Bombay (second only to Goa) has some of the best seafood on offer. Fresh catch and some of the best Indian coastal delicacies are cooked and served up almost at every corner ‘lunch home’. My favourite of course is the fried fish, Koliwada style, a recipe of Bombay’s Koli people. This recipe has many variations although the basics remain the same. It is delicious and fresh and tastes of Bombay, if you know what I mean!

• Jeera (cumin seeds): ½ teaspoon
• Saunf (fennel seeds): 1 teaspoon
• Ajwain (carom seeds): 1 teaspoon
• Coriander (cilantro): ½ cup
• Garlic: 12 cloves
• Green chilli: 2
• Water: 2 tablespoons
• Surmai (king mackerel)*: 500 gms. (cut into  2 inch cubes)
• Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon
• Mustard oil: 3 tablespoons
• Salt to taste
• Lemon wedges to serve

*You can use salmon or tuna or any other white fish.

Grind the cumin, fennel, carom, coriander, garlic, green chilli and water, to a smooth paste.

Marinate the fish for about 2 hours with the spice paste, turmeric and salt.

Heat the mustard oil in the skillet.

Pan fry the marinated fish for 4 minutes on either side (adjust time depending on the size of the cubes).

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Orange Cake

 

So I woke up yesterday, went to kitchen, made breakfast and got baking! I think I may have dreamt of orange cake, or at least cake in some form. All the healthy breakfast eating was killing me. Don’t get me wrong, I love eating healthy, but everyone needs some heavy calories once in a while right? Also, oranges are healthy, right?!!

This is a super easy and super moist cake, and smells heavenly! A good tea cake, midnight snack cake…errmmm.., well, frankly, anytime cake!

• Flour: 2 cups
• Caster sugar: 1 and ½ cups
• Oranges: 2
• Yoghurt (unsweetened): 1 cup
• Oil: 1 cup (I used rice bran)
• Orange essence: few drops (optional)
• Baking powder: 1 tablespoon
• Salt: ½ teaspoon

For the glaze:

• Orange juice: 1/3 cup
• Icing sugar: 1/3 cup
• Pouring cream: 1/3 cup (I used 20% fat cream)

• Candied orange peel to decorate (optional)

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

Line a 9 inch round cake tin with parchment paper.

Using a zester, remove the zest from one orange and keep aside.

Peel and pit the oranges.

In a food processor, process the oranges and the yoghurt together for about 1 minute and keep aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar and sifted flour, baking powder and salt, and make a well in the middle.

Add the oil, blitzed, yoghurt and orange, orange essence and orange zest to the dry ingredients and whisk for about two minutes.

Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Invert carefully on a wire rack and cool.

To make the glaze, add the orange juice, icing sugar and cream to a bowl and whisk for about two minutes.

If any lumps of sugar remain, pass it through a sieve.

Pour over cooled cake.

Decorate with candied peel if you like.

Eat!

Whole Wheat Savoury Porridge

Healthy breakfast part deux!!!!

This is all part of an attempt to eat healthy! This recipe is by far my most favourite. An Asian take on porridge, made with non-traditional wheat grains! No, not broken/crushed wheat, just plain old whole wheat!

You will need:

•       Wheat grains (soaked overnight):  1 and ½ cups
•       Spinach: 1 and ½ cups
•       Mushrooms: 150 gms.
•       Ginger: ½ inch
•       Garlic: 5-6 cloves
•       Chilli oil: 1 teaspoon (optional)
•       Light soy sauce: 1 teaspoon (optional)
•       Oil (rice bran/canola or any other): 1 tablespoon
•       Pepper: to taste
•       Salt: to taste
•       Water: 1 litre

In a pressure cooker, add the soaked wheat and water and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat. (Alternately, you can boil the wheat in a pan with enough water, although this may take a little more than an hour.) Drain and reserve the water.

Chop the garlic and ginger and slice the mushrooms.

In a wok, add oil and fry the ginger and garlic on medium heat for about 30 seconds.

Add the mushrooms and stir fry for about 2 minutes or until the mushrooms start to brown.

Add the spinach leaves and cook for a minute.

Add the wheat and about 1 cup of the reserved water (more if you prefer it soupy: adjust salt accordingly), chilli oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.

Serve hot. Gobble.

Note: Makes enough for two people or one super hungry person.