QUICK EGGLESS CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE ( NON ALCOHOLIC)

HO! HO! HO! It's Christmas time and Christmas celebrations are not complete without a nice cake loaded with yummy dry fruits and nuts. This is a quick version of the Christmas cake which does not require them to be soaked in alcohol.
I've soaked the dry fruits in orange juice, you can also soak them in grape juice. Soak them for 5-6 hours or overnight.
I've used half all purpose flour (maida) and half whole wheat flour (aata), you can also use only maida to bake this cake. I haven't tried with full whole wheat flour so can't tell about the outcome.
I got two cakes from these ingredients one heart shaped and one round. If you want a smaller cake you can half the recipe.
So get your dry fruits and nuts out and get ready to welcome Christmas.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole wheat flour (aata)

1 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1 cup brown sugar/demerara sugar (regular powdered sugar can also be used, but the colour may differ a bit)

1 cup water
2/3 cup oil

1 tea spoon baking powder

1/2 tea spoon baking soda

1 cup orange juice to soak the dry fruits ( Grape juice can also be used)

Mixed Spice Powder

1/2 tea spoon cardamom (elaichi ) powder

1/2 tea spoon cinnamon (dalchini) powder

1/4 tea spoon nutmeg (jaiphal) powder

2 cups of mixed dry fruits and nuts (chopped)

I have used brown raisins, black raisins, tutti frutti, glazed cherries, almonds, cashews, walnuts.

You can even add dates, candies orange or lemon peels, cranberries, prunes the more the merrier.

METHOD

1. Soak all the dry fruits in one cup orange juice and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. If you want some extra crunch keep the nuts aside and only soak the dry fruits.
2. Sieve maida, aata, baking powder, baking soda and all spice powder together and keep aside.
3. Take brown sugar in a bowl and add 1 cup warm water to it and mix till it dissolves.
4. Add oil to it and mix again.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix till everything is mixed nicely.
6. Add the soaked dry fruits and nuts. If you've kept the nuts separately then dust them with flour and then add them to the batter.
7. Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees.
8. Pour the batter in greased baking tin and bake for 40 - 45 minutes or till the skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

PICTORIAL GUIDE

1. Soak all the dry fruits in one cup orange juice and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. If you want some extra crunch keep the nuts aside and only soak the dry fruits.

2. Sieve maida, aata, baking powder, baking soda and all spice powder together and keep aside.

3. Take brown sugar in a bowl and add 1 cup warm water to it and mix till it dissolves.

4. Add oil to it and mix again.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix till everything is mixed nicely.

6. Add the soaked dry fruits and nuts. If you've kept the nuts separately then dust them with flour and then add them to the batter.

7. Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees.
8. Pour the batter in greased baking tin and bake for 40 - 45 minutes or till the skewer or toothpick comes out clean.

ENJOY YOUR FRESHLY BAKED CHRISTMAS CAKE!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

HAPPY BAKING!! :))

MOOLI PARATHA / RADISH FLATBREAD

Come winters and I want to make parathas of everything I can lay my hands on, be it methi, mooli, gobhi, pyaz, bathua basically anything. Again winters and mooli or radish are synonymous. I don't waste the green leaves too because they can be used to make mooli ki bhurji which again I love.
As we use raw and grated mooli/radish we have to squeeze out the water from it or else filling the parathas will turn out to be difficult. Here I'm not adding the filling inside as for aloo parathas or gobhi parathas but rolling two equal circles, then I add the filling on one and cover it with another rolled circle and seal the sides. i find this method more convenient to make mooli parathas.

INGREDIENTS

Radish / Mooli   1-2 medium sized ( if they are too big use one)

Remove the leaves and grate the white part of the mooli
Ginger / Adrak  1/2 inch piece (grated)
Green Chillies / Hari mirch 1-2 (according to how spicy you want)
Green coriander / Hara dhaniya
Whole wheat flour / aata  1-2 cups
Water to knead the dough
Salt to taste
Ghee or oil

METHOD

1. Take the radish and grate it finely. Keep aside.

2. Chop the hara dhaniya and hari mirch very finely. I use grated adrak, you can also chop it very finely.

3. Take the whole wheat flour, add a little bit of salt to it and start kneading, adding water little by little. Once your dough is set keep it covered.

4. Now take the grated radish and squeeze out all the water.

5. Add adrak, hara dhaniya, hari mirch and salt to it. Mix.

6. Make small balls from the dough and start rolling them.

7. Roll out one circle of about 4-5 inches and keep aside.

8. Roll out another circle of about 4-5 inches, add the filling on it.

9. Then place the other rolled circle on the one with the filling and seal the edges.

10. Roll it to little bigger size with a very light hand, taking care that the filling does not come out. If a little bit of it comes out it is perfectly fine.

11. Apply a little bit of ghee or oil on the hot tawa/ griddle and place the paratha on it.

12. Once you see light brown spots appearing on it turn it over and let it cook from the other side.

13. Apply ghee or oil on the lightly cooked side, then flip over and apply it on the other side too.

14. Once you see that it is cooked evenly from both sides remove it from the tawa.

15. Serve hot with dhaniya and amla chutney or with white butter or curd or pickle.

PICTORIAL GUIDE

1. Take the radish and grate it finely. Keep aside.

2. Chop the hara dhaniya and hari mirch very finely. I use grated adrak, you can also chop it very finely.

3. Take the whole wheat flour, add a little bit of salt to it and start kneading, adding water little by little. Once your dough is set keep it covered.

4. Now take the grated radish and squeeze out all the water.

5. Add adrak, hara dhaniya, hari mirch and salt to it. Mix.

6. Make small balls from the dough and start rolling them.

7. Roll out one circle of about 4-5 inches and keep aside.

8. Roll out another circle of about 4-5 inches, add the filling on it.

9. Then place the other rolled circle on the one with the filling and seal the edges.

10. Roll it to little bigger size with a very light hand, taking care that the filling does not come out. If a little bit of it comes out it is perfectly fine.

11. Apply a little bit of ghee or oil on the hot tawa/ griddle and place the paratha on it.

12. Once you see light brown spots appearing on it turn it over and let it cook from the other side.

13. Apply ghee or oil on the lightly cooked side, then flip over and apply it on the other side too.

14. Once you see that it is cooked evenly from both sides remove it from the tawa.

15. Serve hot with dhaniya and amla chutney or with white butter or curd or pickle.

HAPPY COOKING!! :))

CORIANDER AND GOOSEBERRY DIP/ DHANIYA AUR AMLA CHUTNEY

This one again I've learnt from my mother, it is the easiest chutney and I love the tanginess that Amla/Gooseberry adds to this chutney.

This is a universal chutney which can be served with basically anything, be it parathas, pakoras, tandoori snacks or even in sandwiches. So enjoy the season of fresh amlas with this fresh and green dhaniya aur amla chutney. 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup fresh coriander leaves  (hara dhaniya)

2-3 amla (indian gooseberry)

1 inch piece of ginger (adrak)

6-7 garlic cloves

2-3 green chillies

salt to taste

METHOD

1. Take all the ingredients mentioned above and blend them together.

2. Add a little water to blend them easily.

3. Serve with parathas, pakoras or any snacks. 

GOBI PARATHA / CAULIFLOWER FLAT BREAD

So come winters and who doesn't like to have garma garam parathas with fresh dhaniya(coriander) chutney. It is like comfort food in the northern part of India and if it is accompanied by fresh home made white butter, well then it is almost equivalent to bliss :)

My mom makes awesome gobi parathas, this is her recipe. My husband who's a Malayali and actually not too fond of parathas especially as breakfast, loves them too, so whenever we visit my parents, one breakfast is always fixed as Gobi ka Parathas. So here I'm sharing with you all the recipe of Gobi Parathas my mom's way.

INGREDIENTS

for the filling

1 medium sized cauliflower /phool gobhi (grated)

1 inch piece of ginger/adrak (grated or chopped very finely)

1 green chilli / hari mirch ( chopped finely)

salt to taste

1/2 - 1 tea spoon red chilli powder

1/2 - 1 tea spoon garam masala

1/4 tea spoon ajwain / carom seeds (optional)

1 table spoon ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil

1-2 table spoons of chopped coriander (hara dhaniya)

for the parathas

2 cups whole wheat flour (gehun ka aata)

1 table spoon ghee (clarified butter)

salt to taste

water to knead the whole wheat flour

METHOD

1. Take the whole wheat flour in a big bowl, add salt, add ghee and slowly add water to knead into a soft dough. Cover it and keep aside.

2. Take a kadai(deep cooking pot), add ghee or oil to it, add ajwain (carom seeds) if using. 

3. Add the grated cauliflower, chopped ginger and chopped green chillies to it. Saute it for a few minutes.

4. Add salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder to it.

5. Saute it for a few minutes till it becomes dry and appears cooked. Add chopped coriander. Mix and keep aside to cool down a bit.

6. Take a medium sized ball from the dough.

7. Roll a small disc out of it.

8. Add one heaped spoon of the cauliflower filling in the center.

Do not fill too much or else it will be difficult to roll it and if filled too less you will not be able to get the taste of the filling.

9. Bring the sides together towards the center and join them. Flatten it a bit add some dry aata (dry whole wheat flour).

10. Roll it like a chapati or roti with a light hand, don't press too hard while rolling or else the filling will ooze out.

11. Place a tawa or a griddle or a flat pan on the gas. Once it is hot, apply a little bit of ghee or oil on it and place the rolled out paratha on it.

12. Once light brown spots start appearing on one side turn it and apply ghee on the slightly cooked side.

13. Turn it and apply ghee on the other side too.

14. Take a flat spoon and press the paratha all over so that it gets cooked evenly.

15. Once done, serve hot with chutney, curd, pickle or butter.

PICTORIAL GUIDE

1. Take the whole wheat flour in a big bowl, add salt, add ghee and slowly add water to knead into a soft dough. Cover it and keep aside.

I forgot to take the picture of the dough, so this is the pic of the balls rolled out of the dough.

2. Take a kadai(deep cooking pot), add ghee or oil to it, add ajwain (carom seeds) if using. 

3. Add the grated cauliflower, chopped ginger and chopped green chillies to it. Saute it for a few minutes.

4. Add salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder to it.

5. Saute it for a few minutes till it becomes dry and appears cooked. Add chopped coriander. Mix and keep aside to cool down a bit.

6. Take a medium sized ball from the dough.

7. Roll a small disc out of it, about three inches.

8. Add one heaped spoon of the cauliflower filling in the center.

Do not fill too much or else it will be difficult to roll it and if filled too less you will not be able to get the taste of the filling.

9. Bring the sides together towards the center and join them. Flatten it a bit add some dry aata (dry whole wheat flour).

10. Roll it like a chapati or roti with a light hand, don't press too hard while rolling or else the filling will ooze out.

11. Place a tawa or a griddle or a fat pan on the gas. Once it is hot, apply a little bit of ghee or oil on it and place the rolled out paratha on it.

12. Once light brown spots start appearing on one side turn it and apply ghee on the slightly cooked side.

13. Turn it and apply ghee on the other side too.

14. Take a flat spoon and press the paratha all over so that it gets cooked evenly.

15. Once done, serve hot with chutney, curd, pickle or butter.

HAPPY COOKING!! :))