Dark Chocolate Biscotti

I cannot believe that I haven't posted the recipe for these super decadent, ultra chocolaty biscotti recipe until now. I had made these on valentine's day as part of a death by chocolate goodie box I made for my valentine. And let me tell he wasn't disappointed at all!!!! There is something so romantic about cooking or baking something for your valentine rather than buying a gift. Its almost therapeutic for me and not to mention super satisfying to see the expression when he indulges into it. Anyways back to the biscotti's

So this was my first experiment with baking eggless biscotti's and let me tell you I wasn't disappointed at all. They came out exactly how a biscotti is suppose to be- super crunchy and perfect dunking consistency for coffee or milk.

 They are mildly sweet and the dark chocolate provided a depth of flavor along with richness which was divine.

So get into the kitchen and bake these delicious eggless chocolate biscotti for that someone special someone in your life and make him/her fall in love with you all over again!

Dark Chocolate Biscotti
(recipe adapted from cookingandme)
Ingredients:

• 1 cup maida (All purpose flour)
• 1/4 cup of melted chocolate
• 1.5 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/3 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 flax meal egg (1 tbsp of ground flaxseed or alsi mixed in 3 tbsp of water)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Melt the chocolate using a double boiler or in the microwave and let it cool
• Sift flour, coffee powder, baking soda, baking powder together. Mix well until combined
• Beat the butter and sugar until creamy for 3 mins using a hand mixer.
• Add the flax meal egg, melted chocolate and vanilla extract and beat again, scraping down the sides as you go. The mixture may look curdled and thats absolutely fine.
• add the dry mixture in three additions and mix until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Make sure not to over mix it. The dough will be semi-sticky.
• Dust a little flour on the counter and shape the dough into a 1" thick log and transfer it to a greased baking tray.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 mins. The top will crack a little bit. Touch the top and it should still be soft and form a dent. Remove from the oven
• Let it cool down a bit but when still warm, cut into 1" pieces using a serrated knife. If the pieces crumble don't panic.
• Bake the pieces again by placing them one side down for 10 mins to crisp up.
• Once cool, remove from the oven and let it cool completely
• Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Sparkling Watermelon Jaljeera

Mother's Day Special- Post 2

Nothing represents summer more better than a bowl of super sweet, bright red watermelon! You know summer is here when you see guys with watermelon thelas (or cart) everywhere on the road side selling fresh watermelons. Its almost impossible to resist and no matter how much you eat you never feel satisfied.

When traveling in India, especially in Mumbai, during summer time you will also notice roadside thelas of guys selling jaljeera. Jaljeera is classic summer drink which helps locals traveling beat the heat. It consists mint, black salt, cumin, ginger and black pepper which aids not only in cooling but also helps in digestion.

So for Mother's Day special drink, I decided to pair the classic summer road side drink of jaljeera with another classic summer fruit watermelon! The sweetness from the watermelon complimented well with the tanginess of the lemon and a little kick in the back of the throat provided by the jaljeera powder was  
like cherry on top!

This would pair perfectly with the Fiesta Canapes or anything which you choose to make this Mother's Day for your mum.

Sparkling Watermelon Jaljeera

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chilled watermelon roughly chopped
• 1 tsp jaljeera powder*
• 1 tsp of lemon juice
• few sprigs of mint
• Ice
• Club soda or sparkling water to top of the drink
• Sugar (optional)

Method:

• Puree the chopped watermelon into a blender. If the watermelon is not sweet, than you can add a little bit of sugar to get the desired sweetness
• Put some ice-cubes into a tall glass. Add some mint leaves roughly tearing it with your fingers to release some of its juices.
• Add the lemon juice and jaljeera powder
• Pour the pureed watermelon juice into the glass until almost filled
• Stir to combine everything
• When ready to serve, top it with a little bit of club soda or sparkling water
• garnish with a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint

*If you don't have jaljeera powder, than you can add a little bit of cumin powder, black salt, black pepper and a pinch of ginger powder. 

Fiesta Canapes

Mothers Day Special- Post 1


Mother's Day is coming up and what better way to show your mom how much you love her than cooking her simple yet delicious meal!

This entire week would feature recipes for mother's day. So lets start with a quick and absolutely impossible to mess-up with appetizer- Fiesta Canapes!

Canapes are defined as small bite size appetizers. They are usually made with a small piece of bread or cracker topped with savory or sweet spread. In India, canapes are referred to small bite size cups made out of corn. I remember as a kid this use to be my mom's go to appetizer to serve. She would fill it with some chopped onions, cucumbers, tomatoes and top it with a coriander chutney and date chutney along with sev and freshly chopped coriander as a garnish. YUMMMMM!!!!

As much as I love my mom's recipe, I decided to give her filling recipe a mexican twist! Traditionally, these corn cups are fried to make them crispy before filling them with toppings. However, I decided to bake them to keep it light and healthy. If you don't have these particular canape cups available, you can very well use tortilla cups. The filling consists of a black bean spread topped with fresh chopped salad and drizzled with creamy cilantro dressing. I had black beans on hands, hence I used that. However, the spread would taste equally delicious if made with rajma also known as kidney beans.

The  crunchiness from the baked cups along with the crisp salad and the black bean spread was divine! And to add to the freshness was the creamy dressing. It was a perfect and delicious combination!

So impress you mamma and make her proud by preparing this easy and delicious Fiesta canapes this mothers day! I promise it will be hard for her to resist and eat only one.

Fiesta Canapes

Ingredients:

• 12 canape cups or corn tortilla cups
• Chopped salad: Lettuce, tomato, green onion, corn and chopped cilantro ( you can use vegetable of your preference)
• Cilantro dressing (Recipe below)
• Black bean Spread (Recipe below)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 100C
2. Line the canape cups in a baking tray and bake for 10-15 mins. Keep an eye on it so they don't turn dark.
3. Once ready to serve, add a tsp full of the black bean spread, top it with the chopped salad and drizzle with the dressing. Make sure to eat it as soon as possible to prevent the cups from turn soft.

Cilantro dressing:

• 1 cup of fresh coriander/cilantro
• 1/4 cup hung curd or greek yogurt 
• juice of 1/2 lemon (depending on the size of the lemon)
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Black bean spread:

• 1 cup of cooked black beans/ or rajma (kidney beans)
• 1/2 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste
• water to adjust the consistency
• 2 tsp of taco seasoning if available

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add more or less water to get the desired consistency. Alternatively, you can also add garlic, lemon juice, jalepeno peppers if you want. This is a very versatile recipe. 

Banana Almond Muffins

Morning blues are the worst! I don't know about you guys, but for me trying to get myself out of my bed every morning seems like the most toughest job of the day. The action of physically lifting my lazy bum of my super comfy and warm bed requires a lot of energy! And I know most of you guys will agree with me on this. So to replenish the lost energy, I present to you a super nutritious, energy packed breakfast option- Banana Almond Muffins!

These muffins are packed with all the goodness of bananas and the 'super nut' almond. Almonds are high in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals along with being the complete source of energy.
They say that one should have at least a handful almonds a day. So why not include it in your diet  in the form of a delicious muffin.

If you are like me who needs something sweet in the morning than these are perfect for you!. These muffins have the right amount of sweetness from the bananas and a little bit of added sugar. They are an excellent pair with coffee or tea and even just plain cold milk for the kids.

So while I go and snack on these, I encourage you all to step out of your routine breakfast and try these muffins.

Banana Almonds Muffins
Makes 24 small muffins or 12 big muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 Ripe Bananas (Mashed)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 flaxmeal egg (1 Tbsp of Ground flax seeds mixed with 3 Tbsp of water)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp strong coffee
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup All purpose flour/ Maida
• 1 cup chopped almonds ( or any of your favorite nuts)

Directions:

• Preheat oven at 180C
• Mix the melted butter into mashed bananas.
• MIx in sugar, flaxmeal egg, coffee and vanilla.
• Sprinkle the baking soda along with flour and almonds
• Gently fold with a spoon or a spatula until all the flour has been incorporated. Do not overmix.
• Spoon the mixture into cupcake molds lined with wrapper and bake for 20-22 mins.

These muffins store well at room temperature for about 3 days or in the fridge for about a week. 

Eggless Nutella Dark Chocolate Cake

This past week has been a birthday week in my house. The week beginning with my mom's birthday, followed by two of the most dearest friends on Tuesday, one of cousin's b-day on wednesday and finally ending the week with a pre-bday dinner party for my sis-in-law. So a cake was definitely in order! And not just any cake. A too die for, super chocolatey, super moist, ooey gooey cake which sends you in chocolate heaven as soon as you take one bite of it.

This Nutella Dark Chocolate Cake defines that! A moist and soft cake iced with Dark chocolate truffle icing and topped with Nutella Ganache and rocher ferrero. Yummmm!

In my family, we like are cakes to be thin and light on icing. Hence, this cake was no different. But don't let that fool you! This cake was just as decadent as any piece of chocolate cake you would eat at a restaurant or from a bakery.

I served this cake at the pre-birthday dinner party and all her friends loved it! And the happiness I derived from seeing everybody devouring into it was as big as eating a big slice of cake.

So for your next celebration serve this gorgeous cake to your guests as its a guaranteed hit!


Eggless Nutella Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 

Chocolate Sponge

• 200gm or 1/2 can of Condensed Milk
• 50gms of Butter
• 1 cups All purpose Flour/ Maida
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 2 Tbsp of Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 can (same as the condensed milk can) of water or milk

Dark Chocolate Truffle Icing

• 250gms of dark chocolate chopped
• 1/4 cup Amul Cream/ Heavy whipping cream

Nutella Ganache

• 2 tbsp of Nutella
• 2 tbsp of cream
• 2 tbsp dark chocolate

Directions:

Chocolate Sponge

Pre-heat the oven at 180C

• Empty the condensed milk and butter in a bowl and beat well till light and creamy
• Sieve the flour, baking powder and soda
• Add the vanilla essence to the water
• Now alternately sprinkle the flour and water folding gently with a wooden spoon. Note: Do not beat it with the beater, as this will result in a tough cake.
• Pour the batter into a greased 6" cake tin
• Bake for 20- 30 mins

Dark Chocolate Truffle icing

• Heat the cream in a pan until it almost bubbles.
• Pour the hot cream on top of the chopped dark chocolate pieces and set aside for 10 mins until all the chocolate has melted.
• Leave at room temperature

Nutella Ganache

• Heat the cream and Nutella until nutella has been incorporated.
• Remove from the heat and add the chocolate pieces.

Assembly of the cake:

• Once the cake has completely cooled, frost the cake with the Dark chocolate icing.
• Put in the fridge for a while to let the icing set. Meanwhile make the Nutella Ganache. 
• Remove after 10 mins, and pour the Nutella ganache on top of the cake and let it drip from the sides of the cake.
• Top it with few Rocher Ferrero.
• 
  

Roasted Vegetables with Basil Hummus Tart

Today's post features something light and refreshing. Filled with lots of summer vegetables and freshness of spring. Something which not only tastes good but is also good for you. Its a vegetable tart- an all out Mediterranean Tart- Super light and flaky olive oil crust paired with fresh basil hummus and tons of grilled veggies. Its like spring in your mouth!

The basil hummus lends a perfect touch of spring. The creaminess from the chickpeas pairs excellently with the freshness and the lightness of the basil. But any combination of flavor can be used.

I prefer a lighter crust compared to the heavy flavor of butter when it comes to a recipe like this. So I found this perfect recipe for an olive oil based crust which not only gives you that flavor and flakiness but is also guilt free! And who wouldn't mind using less butter when possible.

With a tart like this, the combination of veggies to be used is endless. Any and every vegetable would taste great.  And every time you use different vegetables, you create a tart with new flavors and taste. 

As summer heat increases with passing days, the craving of eating something light and refreshing increases also. And this holds true especially for lunch!. In a typical Indian household, the menu for lunch generally consists of an elaborate meal consisting of a vegetable, lentil, rice, roti/chappati and salad. Ours is no different.  Everyday eating in this same pattern gets really boring. So I encourage you all to step out of the routine and try this light, colorful and super flavorful vegetable tart.

Grilled Vegetable Tart

Recipe adapted from ecurry.com

Ingredients:

For the Olive oil Crust

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 40ml of olive oil
• 30ml of very cold club soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly ground pepper
• Herbs (optional)

For the Basil Hummus

• 3/4 cup of cooked chickpeas/ garbanzo beans (kabuli channa)
• Handful of Basil leaves (according to the taste)
• 1 big clove of garlic
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp tahini
• Extra virgin olive oil (according to the taste and consistency)
• Salt

For Roasted Vegetables

• 1/2 eggplant
• 1 onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 medium zucchini
• Olive oil
• 1 crushed garlic
• Salt
• Crushed Red peppers

Method:

For the Crust:

• In a bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and herbs. 
• Whisk together club soda and oil until creamy for 2 mins
• Pour the oil and soda mixture into the flour and mix together with a fork until everything has been incorporated.
• Knead the dough gently on a floured surface until soft (Add more soda if needed to make the dough soft but not sticky)
• Avoid working with the dough too much.
• Roll in a single direction and shape the dough according to the preferred shape and size.
• Prick the rolled dough with a fork 
• Bake it at 200C for 8-10 mins or until the crust is golden brown.

For the Hummus:

• Soak the chickpeas overnight and cook it the next morning in water. If you have a pressure cooker than cook the beans until 2-3 whistle. You can also use ready canned beans if available.
• Add the cooked beans along with the rest of the ingredients and mix it in food processor or mixer until it gets thick and creamy. 
• You can adjust the consistency of the hummus by adding more or less olive oil.

For the Roasted veggies:

• Cut the veggies into a 1/4 inch pieces.
• Coat it with salt, crushed red pepper, olive oil and crushed garlic.
• Roast it in the oven at 200C until the veggies are tender.

Assembly of the tart:

Cool the crust. Spread the desired amount of hummus on the crust. Arrange the vegetables and sprinkle with some salt, crushed red pepper and olive oil. Bake it in the oven till warm.

Cranberry and Orange Biscotti

Last week, as I was wondering when to try this amazing biscotti recipe I had found, I decided holi would be the perfect time to bake them and share it with my friends. After all this was my first holi in India after 11 years, so something sweet was definitely in order!

Holi is the festival of colors. According to the Hindu calendar, it celebrates the beginning of spring and end of winter. Friends and Family gather on this day as they color each other and forget about any resentment or rivalries there might have been in the past.

Any festival in India is incomplete without delicious food and holi is no different. Different communities in India prepare their special food. The most famous and traditional being Thandai (Milk based drink with different nuts such as almonds, cashews, cardamoms and saffron) mixed with a little bhaang.

This year I decided to give an Italian twist to the festival of colors by making these classic twice-baked cookie. The tartness from the cranberry pairs excellently with the freshness from the orange. Biscotti's had a lovely crispy edge and a porous texture which makes it a great for dipping in coffee or tea. All my friends loved it till the last crumb. It was love at first bite for them!

Loads of laughs, tons of pictures, great friends and these biscotti's! A perfect combination to celebrate any festival!


Cranberry and Orange Biscotti
Adapted from www.bettycrocker.com 

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp grated orange peel
• 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
• 2 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 6 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 cup Maida (All purpose flour)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries ( you can also substitute it with Slivered Almonds)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2-3 tbsp of fresh orange juice

Directions:

• Heat oven to 150C. Mix 2 tbsp of flaxseed with 6 tbsp of water and set it aside for 10mins
• In a large bowl, stir together sugar, oil, orange peel, orange juice,vanilla and the flaxseed mixture. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
• Place dough on lightly floured surface. knead until smooth. On ungreased cookie sheet, shape half of dough at a time into 10x3-inch rectangle.
• Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 15 mins. Cut rectangle crosswise into 1/2-inch slices.
• Bake for another 15 mins, turning once, until crisp and light brown. Cool completely on a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.