White Chocolate Maple cookies

Hello Sweeties!!! I whipped some home made butter last week, so thought of putting it to some good use. With the holidays coming up, we all need some foolproof cookie recipe up our sleeves. These are one of the most tasty and melt in your mouth cookies!!!! So ready to bake some white goodness!!!

You will need;

1.5 cups-gluten free baking Flour - 

3 tbspn cup Custard Powder -  I used the one I had from the Indian store.

1 stick Butter  

1/2 cup Organic Maple Syrup

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 c mix of white chocolate chips.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. 

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the custard powder mix. Scrape the bowl again and add the egg and maple syrup. Add half of the pre-mixed dry ingredients to the batter and mix just to combine. Scrape down the bowl and add the remaining half, mixing until fully incorporated. Stir in the white chocolate chips. 

Using a tablespoon-size scoop, portion the cookies into balls. Place 2 1/2" apart on prepared baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes, until slightly golden and set. Let cookies cool on sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool fully.

Homemade butter--Almost homemade

Hello Dearies!!!! I am in the phase with trying old classics which were a part of my growing up back home. Homemade White Butter pr loni was a everyday thing. Store brought butter was a thing of the new fads, the homemaker was actually looked down in her skills if she brought butter from the store.

Flash forward to new age where everything was OK as who has the time in the world, and I am so busy took over age old traditions and cultures changed.

Making butter and whipping cream gave me some peace as there was more joy than effort in the process. I cranked my stand mixer and made it work for me, enjoying the end results. I emptied a quart of Heavy whipping cream in the mixer bowl and let it whip on high for 7-9 mins, till the butter solids started leaving water. 

At this point I added 5 tbspn Ice water and let the whipper go for anr 2 mins. I emptied the solid in my trusted paneer maker as in the collage, squeezed out the milk(which is like buttermilk and can be used in your cooking/kneading or baking).

And just like that my almost homemade butter was done!!!!!

Upasache Bhajani Thalipeeth

 Hello Dearies!!! Happy navratri festival to you all. Navratri days are specially fasting days, where you eat only fasting foods for 9 days and break the fast on the 10th day which is Dasserra. 

This year my health is not permitting me any fasts, but I am aiming to complete fasts on important days like the fifth day and the eight and nine day, so I made these bhajani thalipeeth today for the fifth day for my lunch. Although , I don't allow my kids to fast, they are allowed to indulge in the special foods.

You will need;
1 big boiled  and mashed potato 
Approx 1 cup  Upasachi Bhajani/ alternatively use shindaga atta/kuttu aata
2 tbspn roasted peanut powder
1 tbspn Cayenne powder 
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn Cumin seeds
1 tsp sugar
Chopped Cilantro
Salt to taste.
Water if needed to knead into  a pliable dough 
Oil for greasing the pan.

In a bowl combine all the ingredients and mix well. Use little water if needed to bind it into a ball. Heat the pan and spray it with a non stick spray or use oil whichever you prefer. Alternatively pat the dough ball on a ziplock bag and then cook on the heated pan. 

Press the dough ball into a flat roti and cover with a lid and cook it for about 2-3 minutes. Flip the thalipeeth and repeat the process of covering and cooking.  Enjoy as is or with any sauce/ketchup, yogurt, lime pickle or green chutney.

Minty Palak Panner Aloo Puri-- School Lunch/Leftover magic

Hello Sweeties!! What do you do with leftovers??? Do you keep eating them till they are done with or transform them into something the whole family will love. I try and transform things around my menu so as to reuse them keeping the interest factor alive.

Indian food and recipes are  full of such leftover magic mingles, we use leftover rice and bread in number of ways, curries get transformed into poori's or parathas and rice into different types of tadkas or pulav's.

I make aloo parathas and palak paneer roughly once in 10 days. These dishes are my kids favorites and they have no complaints and eat these with no grins or groans. There is no nagging required to eat faster or finish whats on the plate. Happy kids equals Happy moms. 

But these dishes are not so favorite with me and Mr. Ash anymore with our dietary restrictions, I end up with few leftovers. So I combined these two dishes and added some mint to freshen up the taste and made puri's for kids lunch boxes. 

My kids are like chalk and cheese, one likes slightly less fired puri's while other likes slightly burnt and browned puris. so the picture has both in respective choices.

Aloo Paratha.

Palak Paneer Recipe.

You will need;
1 to 1.5 cups leftover palak paneer
** Mash and break the paneer cubes as fine as possible
3 cups Wheat Flour 

3/4th cup potato stuffing leftover from Aloo Parathas. 

2 tbspn Dry mint powder

1 tspn red chili powder

1 tspn turmeric powder

1 tspn cumin and coriander powder

1 tsp salt or as per taste

1/2 tspn sugar-optional

2 cups Oil for deep frying--Approx

water to knead the dough

**this dough is slightly hard and not like chapati so use less water to knead the dough, only if needed as the palak paneer will also be wet enough.

In a bowl, take the flour and add the dry powders, salt and sugar, add the palak paneer paste, aloo stuffing, mint powder and knead into a hard dough . Keep aside for 10 mins.

In a wok, take oil for frying, take only as much as the pooris will immerse, I would say about 2 cups of oil, and heat it till it smokes once and then reduce the heat to medium.

Make small round balls of the dough and roll each one out (try rolling like thin cookies). 

If making for school lunches I like rolling and saving the rolled puri's in a ziplock bag in a fridge, so my mornings are better managed. Store these packs in a fridge not the freezer.

Fry each one of them in the hot oil, one at a time. Do not rush and be extremely careful when frying. The ideal way to fry poori's is to slide the poori from one side of the wok. Do Not throw the poori's in the hot oil, the oil will splutter and splash and burn your hands.

Once you slide in the poori in the hot oil, let it puff up from one side, once it puffs up, turn it and let the other side puff up.. once both sides are puffed , drain them on some paper towels to remove excess oil and enjoyy them hot or cold, either ways they are delish.

 

These make for a quick kids lunch box or picnic food item along the way.

Eggless Mawa Cake

 Hello Sweeties!!!  I had made mawa/Dry Milk Khoya a few days back, Since then I am hooked on to making Indian sweets and Mithais at home.

I make date cake often using Aayis Recipes Recipe. This time I tried using my homemade mawa and it worked great. Thanks Shilpa for this great recipe. I have added many different fruits and ingredients and made this eggless cake. I keep the liquid and dry ratios constant and change the wet ingredients and it has worked every single time. So Thanks again.

You will need;

1 Cup Mawa/Khoya mixed in  3/4 cup  almond milk

1 Cup Sugar

1/2  Cup Oil

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 Tspn Cardamom Powder

1 tspn ENO-(Fruit Salt)

 

In a bowl , mix the khoya mixed in almond milk, sugar, cardamom powder and oil, and whisk well till sugar melts.Then add the flour  one big spoon at a time.. keep whisking it till all the flour and the wet mix gets incorporated, and lastly ENO...

In a well greased pan, pour the mix and bake in a pre-heated oven @ 350.. for about 35-40 mins or till the knife comes out clean.