Baked Wada Pav- Stuffed Baked Buns- Low Fat Version

Hello Sweeties!!! How did your TG holiday go? I am surely thankful for all my friends and family with whom I could spend each and every day of this holiday. 

Minus the crazy shopping, the holiday spirit was big in Ashland. We  put the tree and did the decorations. Also took the kids to Crayola Crayon factory and came home with bunch of crazy crayons and crafts we did there.

My kids love Wada Pav, the most famous snack of Mumbai. If America runs on Dunkin, Mumbai runs on  wada pav. But the whole mess of frying in closed house where you cannot open the windows and the smell of the frying remains in the house puts me off from making this snack which is loved by all. 

This is a short cut to making wada pav and if not entirely, it does satisfy the craving anytime of the year.

Prep Time; 10 mins to mix the dough
1 hours for the dough to rise
Makes around 30 small Buns

You will need; 

For the dough, 

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups All Purpose flour
1 Tbspn dry High active Yeast
1 Tbspn Sugar and 1/2 cup warm water to bloom the yeast
1 Tsp Dried Rosemary
1/2 tsp Dried Basil
1 Tsp Garlic powder
2-3 Tbspn Olive Oil and
Salt for taste
water as needed to make the dough 

For stuffing;
2 medium size plantains
2 small potato

pinch of Haldi/Turmeric 1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder

1 tbspn chopped cilantro
2-3 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 inch ginger grated
1 Finely Diced Jalapeno Pepper

Red Dry Garlic- Chili chutney-Optional
salt to taste

Boil the plantains and the potato for 2-3 whistles and then 5 mins on low flame in a pressure cooker. In a bowl, mash the plantain and potato and mix  all the spices, jalapeno, cilantro, ginger and garlic and mix well.

In a bowl, take the dry active yeast, sugar and warm water and mix well. Keep it aside to bloom for 10 minutes. The mixture will be frothy, if the yeast is active. If the yeast is old discard the mixture and get fresh yeast. I always prefer to check the yeast then move on to the dough.

In a mixing bowl, take the flour, add the seasonings, garlic powder, rosemary, basil,  and little oil to start the mixing, as you move along making the dough, add the oil and knead into a soft dough. Cover with the plastic wrap and let it sit in  a warm place.

I preheat the oven to 200 Degree F and then shut it off. Then place the bowl with the dough to rest and rise for a good hour. I have never experienced problems with dough rising.

When the dough doubles in size, it is ready to be baked into some yummy rolls. Punch out the air from the dough and divide the dough into 30 equal balls.

Take one ball and roll a circle of about 2 inches in diameter. This is also called roti or poori; and spread  the dry garlic chutney on it( if you like.) This chutney is easily available in most Indian grocery stores. This is optional, but does give the authentic taste like back home.

Make balls of the potato mixture sand stuff the bread roti that you made and close the ends, Do as many buns as you can, I could make about 30 rolls and even bake a small loaf of bread in the dough.

 Arrange leaving space in a tray and let it rise again for another 30-45 minutes. Brush with some butter.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for about 15-20 minutes. enjoy warm with some Broccoli soup. I served it with some Bean soup/Bean Chili (Recipe will be posted soon).

Home made Goatmilk Lavender Soap

 

Hello Dearies!!! I am like most crafty girls. Anything new I see my friends doing, I Need to know how and what they did. Creating with my hands de-stresses me like no spa can. I mean I like pampering and all that comes along with it, a sap day out, with friends and then chit chat with snacks is my dream day. But with busy jobs and hectic life, such things are a dream for few of us. I saw my friend N do these soaps. I simply awed at her skills, the bar of soap never looked so pure and unique. A weekend trip to Amish Village in PA, USA also added insult to injury when I saw the homemade soaps they were selling for $3 each. The stuff used for flavoring and scent were our daily spices and oils. There were clove oil soaps along with some peppermint soaps. I have few of these oils in my pantry for various reasons like some old medicinal uses. Indian homes believe strongly in home remedies. Clove oil is recommended for toothache and eucalyptus oil for cold and sinus.
The wonderful world of soap looked too good to miss out. So I visited my local arts and crafts supply store. With my 40% weekly store coupon, I came back with the goat milk base and the mold. I had few essential oils and olive oil at home. My SIL had gifted me the aromatherapy oil set with the guide book, and the bottles.

I am all set. The wonder never ceases as I can mix and change according to my mood and fancy. Its as easy as 1-2 -3. Video link for melt and pour.
1- Melt
2- Add and stir
3. Pour and set in molds.

This batch I made is of lavender oil and cedarwood oil. Next batch is likely to be with lavender oil and Shea butter along with some sesame oil. Wish me luck and join me in this wonderful world of home made soap. The options and combinations are endless. If I get good feedback from the free samples I am giving away;  I can even do a small giveaway around Diwali time. So stick around to enjoy a piece of my craft.

Crafts by Ash.

This is a non food post today. Sorry for that, but I felt that I should be sharing with you some part of Ash that is not always thinking and talking about flour and sugar. These are some very old pictures of the paintings and craft stuff I had done to decorate my home and my kids room. I did not want to spend a lott on decorating the walls for something which I would be using only for a few days/months or in all cases years, but that certainly was not on my agenda. They are still so good, that it has been more than seven years that I made few of these. I am sharing them with you all, if any of you are intretsed in making them, drop me a line and we  will see how we can do it!!

This is on card paper and I used acrylic colours. The motifs and peacocks are traditionally used in the Rajasthani and Gujrati handicrafts in India, basically embroidered by women on cotton cloth with silk threads. I wanted to have some touch of India, but I don't have any stitching experience and my work resembles the work of a elementary school child.

I made these diya's on one diwali, with the model clay that we get in any craft store. I placed tea lights inside. I think they simply look  nice and do have a calming effect. I even shared it with my friends as diwali gifts.

I made these by glueing felt pieces on the cereal boxes and cutting the Pooh Bear and 100 Yard characters. They are still on my sons room wall, I made them when he was only 1 yr old and he still loves them at 7 years.

This is a empty Jute rice bag, I removed the stitching that joint the two sides. I painted a simple Ganpati Bappa and its a piece of art now hanging proudly in my kitchen and blessing my home each moment.

Love Ash.