Popped Rice Balls

Popped Rice Balls (Khoi Moa/Murkhi )

Makes:300gms                                                                                     Time:10 mins

Popped Rice Balls or Khoi Moa/ Murkhi as it is known in Bengali. Yes, this dish is a Bengali specialty. It is a simple, sweet and tasty snack which you can make in minutes. A near-extinct recipe as mothers are moving on to unhealthy fast food such as chips, noodles, and burgers. 

Ingredients

Popped rice   200gm

Jaggery         100 gm

Water             2 tbsp

Ghee              2tsp

Preparation

Take a kadhai/ sauce pan put the jaggery and water and keep on stirring while letting it boil until it becomes bubbly and starts sticking to the stirring spoon. Then add the ghee. Switch off the flame.Keep on stirring for a little more time to cool it. Add the popped rice and mix well so all of it is uniformly coated with the jaggery. Make sure it is not sticky.Then take a handful of the mixture and press it between the palms to shape it into a ball. Your snack is ready

Chirer Pulao / Beaten Rice Pilaf

Chirer Pulao / Beaten Rice Pilaf

Chirer Pulao / Beaten Rice Pilaf is a traditional Bengali Dish prepared with a rice which is flattened into flat light dry flakes. These flakes of rice swell when added to liquid, whether hot or cold, as they absorb water, milk or any other liquids.

Ingredients:

• Beaten Rice/flatten rice:   1 cup

• Potatoes:                        1 medium thinly sliced

• Beans:                            1/2 cup cut into small pieces

• Cauliflower:                     Finely chopped a handful

• Green chilies:                  2 finely chopped

• Oil:                                1 tbsp

• Ghee:                             2 tbsp

• Groundnut:                     2 tbsp fried

• Sugar                             1 tbsp

• A pinch of turmeric powder

• Raisin:                            1 tbsp 

• Ginger:                           1 tsp Finely chopped 

{You can make it with only potato i.e (without the other vegetables) it tastes good too.}

Preparation:

1.First, soak the beaten rice in some warm water drain away the excess water.Keep aside.

2.In a skillet add some oil and cook the vegetables adding some salt and turmeric to it

3.Once cooked add the beaten rice as well the rest of the ingredients mix them evenly and switch off the flame.Serve hot.

Gluten Free Tandoori Roti

Gluten Free Tandoori Roti

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup rice flour
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour*
• 2tbsp Xanthium gum
• 1 tbsp fresh yeast
• 2tbsp milk
• little sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1tbsp curd
• ghee/butter for greasing

*(Soak the tapioca pearl balls/saboo dana which are easily available in any grocery store and makes the powder it's amazing how it holds the flour make it easy to bake make flatbread stuff flat bread and it makes it soft)

Method
1.Take the yeast in a mixing bowl add warm milk and sugar, 1 tsp rice flour and leave it aside for half hour.

2.Mix all the flours in a mixing bowl.

3.Now add the flours, gum, and salt to the yeast which has puffed up and make a nice dough by kneading adding water as required.The dough should not be too dry.Leave aside covering it properly.

4.After 2 hours the dough should have puffed up nicely gently divide the dough roughly into balls to make the flatbreads.

5.Take some dry flour roll the balls in it do not try to make it smooth and with the palms place it on a wooden floured surface.Press to make a flat bread.

6.Meanwhile, warm a tava/griddle where you are going to cook but not a non-sticky one.

7.Brush some water on the surface of the bread you just shaped and lift it up and flip the wet surface on the warm pan.

8.When bubbles appear on the surface hold the griddle and turn it over directly over the flame but make sure it's in a medium mode so you don't overdo the bread.Peep a little to make sure you get a brownish surface then straighten the pan let it rest on for a half minute and then remove.

9.Grease it with ghee serve it hot with some curry.

Gluten Free Sattu paratha/Roasted Gram Flour Flat Bread

Gluten free Sattu Paratha /

Roasted Gram Flour Flat Bread

For stuffing:

·         1 cups - roasted Chana dal powder (sattu) india  US

·         5 - Cloves garlic, chopped fine or grated

·         3 - green chilies, chopped

·         2 tsp - coriander leaves, chopped

·         2 tsp - Lime juice

·         1/2 tsp – ajwain

·         ¼ tsp- Kala jeera/black cumin

·         salt to taste

·         4 tsp - Mustard oilhttp://amzn.to/2r0q2s9

For dough:

·         1 cups -Rice flour

·         1 cup- Tapioca flour *

·         ¼ cup- buckwheat flour

·         4 tsp- oil

·         1/4 tsp – salt                                                                                                                             *(Soak the tapiaco pearl balls/saboo dana which are easily available in any grocery store and make the powder it's amazing how it holds the flour make it easy to bake make flat bread stuff flat bread and it makes it soft)

*

1.    For stuffing:

2.    Mix all the stuffing ingredients with sattu/,

For  dough:

3.    Add 1 tbsp of rice flour to some boiling water  and stir it until to a sticky consistency

4.    Let it cool down a little add the rest flour and salt

5.    Knead the flours, adding the required amount of water to make a soft dough.

For making  paratha:

6.    Divide the dough into small portions.

7.Take a portion of the dough curve out a bowl shape with the help of the thumb

8.    Place a portion of the mixture (approx 2 tsp) in the middle, enfold the filling

9.    Then with the pressure of the fingers and palm shape it to a flatbread don't try to make it too thin otherwise the contents will burst out.

10.    Cook on a flat pan, applying oil/ghee till both sides are cooked and golden brown in color.

11.  Serve with pickles.

Baked Veg chops/Cutlets

                               Baked Veg chops/Cutlets

INGREDIENTS(MAKES 15-20 MEDIUM CUTLETS):

• ½ tsp of cumin seeds,
• ½ tsp of fennel seeds,
• 6 cloves,
• 3 green cardamoms,
• Small ½ inch cinnamon stick,
• 5 peppercorns,
• 2-3 green chili,
• 1-2 dry bay leaf
• 2 medium sized beetroot, cut into small pieces,
• 2 medium sized carrots, cut into small pieces,
• 2 small potatoes, boiled and mashed,
• 1 tsp of grated ginger,
• 2 green chilies, finely chopped,
• 2 tsp of peanuts,
• Salt to taste,
• Sugar to taste,
• Green coriander, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp oil

FOR THE COATING:

• 2 tsp of rice flour
• 5-6 tbsp of gram flour
• 3 eggs

PREPARATION:

1. First, grind the roasted whole spices and keep it aside.
2. In a skillet, take 1 tsp of oil and lightly fry the peanuts. Keep them aside and in the same oil, fry ginger and green chilies till you get a light aroma.
3. Into this add the grated beetroot and carrot and saute well. Cook until they are soft and can be smashed. Now add the mashed potatoes, salt, sugar, ground roasted spice powder and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well.
4. Cool the mixture and make 15-20 medium cutlet balls.Take medium sized balls and pressing it softly on the palm give it an oval shape as shown in the picture.
5. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, in another take 2 tsp of the rice flour and in a third container keep the gram flour. Roll each ball into the egg batter and then roll them in gram flour and then rice flour.
6. Now warm the oven and place them in a greased baking pan and bake them at 200.Try to turn them over after 10 mins to give nice even coloring.Now, bake it for 10-15 minutes till it turns a little brown.To get nice crispiness like the fried ones grease them with oil ones you turn them.
7. Serve them piping hot with onion rings, ketchup.

Gluten-free Meat Lasagna

Gluten-free Meat Lasagna

Ingredients:

For the Pasta Sheets:

1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup rice flour

2 cup tapioca flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1¼ cups water

1 teaspoon olive oil, plus more for brushing

• For the Sauce:
  • 8 cloves fresh garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 5-6 whole tomatoes 
  • 1 jar of tomato paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves (or 1/4 cup fresh, finely chopped)
  • 2 bay leaves (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

For the Lasagna:

• 200 gm ground meat
• 250 gm cheese grated
• 200gm sauteed capsicum
• Instructions:

• For the sauce:

Step 1

Heat the olive oil in a medium-size pot over medium heat. 

Step 2
Add garlic and saute for one minute.
Step 3

Then, add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, bay leaves, thyme and salt/pepper.
Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer.Simmer for 10-15 minutes to let flavors meld. (Can simmer longer if desired for a thicker sauce with a deeper flavor).
Step 4

Sauce is ready

For the Pasta Sheets:

Step 1
Add the rice flour, tapioca, starch, eggs (or cornstarch), salt and water to a mixing bowl. Mix and dissolve everything together well. You can also do it rice soaked in water for two hours grind it and then add the rest ingredients to make a uniform fine batter and make sure no lumps are there.
Step 2
Add 1 teaspoon of oil. Cover the liquid and let rest for 30 minutes.
Step 3

Warm a skillet add some oil pour 1 ladle of the liquid and spread the batter/liquid out evenly with no lumps.Cook it on low flame for two minutes until the upper portion is just done with no stickiness.
Step 4
Remove it and one can cut it into fine sheets or let it be as it is.Your lasagna sheets are done.Don't forget to brush some oil on them.

Alternative method:

Step 1
In a mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients mix well and then add all the other knead it into a nice firm dough.Leave it aside for half hour.
Step 2
Now make small balls of equal quantity. Don't try to make too small balls then on flat surface flatten them into rectangular shapes and either you cut them into thin strips or you can use it as it is since rice ones tend to break up easily I suggest let them be big sheets only.

For the Lasagna:

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Step 2
Place the ground meat into a skillet over medium heat, add the garlic, oregano, salt, and black pepper to the skillet. Cook the meat, chopping it into small chunks as it cooks, until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. 

Step 3
Place 2 noodles(if cut into strips) otherwise put two strips across each other side by side into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan; top with a layer of the tomato-basil (pizza-pasta) sauce, a layer of ground meat and veg mixture, and a layer of the cheese. Repeat layers twice more, ending with a layer of sauce.

Step 4
Cover the dish with aluminum foil.In case, the sheets which are cooked(first method) cooking time 20 mins is sufficient and need not cover with aluminium foil.

Step 5
Bake in the preheated oven until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese has melted about 40 minutes. Remove foil sprinkle top with the mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese has begun to brown, about 10 more minutes. Allow it to stand at least 10 minutes before serving.

How to make Pizza - Pasta Sauce

How to make Pizza - Pasta Sauce

Learn how to make this simple easy - to - make homemade pizza pasta sauce that is commonly used in Italian dishes like Pizza, Pasta, and Lasagna. But it also it can be used to make any ordinary dish like a gravy, tasty.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 8 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5-6whole tomatoes 
• 1 jar of tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves (or 1/4 cup fresh, finely chopped)
• 2 bay leaves (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-size pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes
2. Add garlic and saute another minute.
3. Then, add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, bay leaves, thyme and salt/pepper.
4. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to a simmer.
5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to let flavors meld. (Can simmer longer if desired for a thicker sauce with a deeper flavor).
6. Your sauce is ready

Cheesy flat bread from Rice flour and buckwheat

   Cheesy flatbread (roti) 

  from Rice flour and buckwheat.This simple recipe can be carried along when going for a trip.

   Ingredients

•          1 cup chopped spinach leaves
•          1/2 cup grated cheese (75g)
•          2 eggs
•          3 tablespoon rice flour
•          2 tablespoon buckwheat flour
•          2 tsp tapioca flour
•          2 tbsp oil
•          Salt 
•          Pepper

Preparation

      Step 1

     Wash, peel and chop spinach leaves.

      Step 2

      Place into a bowl and add the grated cheese, eggs, flours, salt, pepper leaves and oil.Combine and make a nice smooth dough and divide them equally into balls.

      Step 3

     Now press them with your palms to make some flatbreads(rotis). Heat up the cast iron frying pan on medium heat.

      Step 4

     Cook the bread and flip them when one side is slightly brown. After cooking both sides put some oil and make sure to flip it to get the pieces of bread evenly greased. Serve hot with some pickles.  

Simple Gluten free Cupcakes

How to make simple Gluten free Cupcakes

Ingredients
3/4

• 3/4 cups rice flour
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour (reasons to have)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons baking powder
• 1⁄4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar (if you like your cupcakes very sweet, add a little more)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)

Preparation

1. Set the oven to 190C. 
2. Take the butter into a bowl and beat it until softened. Add the sugar, flour, salt, eggs and milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Leave it aside for an hour for better-puffed cupcakes since we are not using traditional wheat flour.
3. Use a traditional-style ice-cream scoop, or spoon, to divide the mixture between all the paper cases.
4. Place muffin tins in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then swap over the position of the tins over and bake for a further 3-7 minutes, cupcakes are a light golden colour. 
5. Remove the tins from the oven. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tins for a few minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.

Why Buckwheat is the best gluten free flour?

Why Buckwheat is the best gluten free flour?

This article is here to review Buckwheat, my personal favourite gluten - free flour. It is the best gluten - free flour out there.I feel this is 100% gluten free as nothing has happened to my family when we have This superfood is much healthier and tastier than wheat. So it’s no wonder I use it in all of my recipes and I prefer buckwheat over other flours.

Buckwheat is so good that nearly any recipe with wheat can be replaced with Buck (wheat). And don’t worry just because wheat is in Buckwheat it doesn’t mean it contains gluten :-)

Now for some geek talk

Recent studies have proven that Buckwheat cures and prevents Cancer because Buckwheat plenty of B17 and cancer is caused by its deficiency. Buckwheat is a very good source of manganese, copper, magnesium, dietary fibers and phosphorous. The protein in Buckwheat is high quality and contains all eight essential amino acids including lysine. It is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. It prevents gallstones from forming. Buckwheat is good for your cardiovascular system, blood sugar control and highly beneficial to diabetics.

So much that buckwheat has been touted as “The world’s healthiest food”. So what are you waiting for buy it here. Just another tip the whole grain is healthier and can be easily ground as it is soft enough to crumble in hands if you want whole grain instead of flour buy it here (USA) or here (India).

Sweet crepe (patishapta)

Sweet crepe (patishapta)

Ingredients

Rice : 1cup
Buckwheat : 1/4cup
Dry dates : 3-5pieces finely chopped
Salt : 1 pinch
Milk : 1/2 cup
Grated coconut : 1/4 cup
Jaggery : 100 gm
Ghee/oil : 1 tbsp

Preparation

Soak the rice and dates in water for 2 hrs .Grind it into a coarse paste try not to add more water but substitute with milk while grinding.Make a pourable batter by adding milk.In a separate bowl mix the grated coconut and jaggery evenly .To make it tastier you can add Khowa or solidified milk to the mixture.

Now take a skillet add a little oil and warm it pour some of the batter on the skillat and spread it out. Cook it for 2 mins until golden brown flip it cook the other side add some of the coconut mixture on one edge so that you can roll it. Spread some ghee on it. Best when consumed warm.

Stuffed Moong dal pancake / roll

Stuffed Moong dal pancake / roll

Ingredients

Moong dal/split green gram - 2 cup
Hing/aesofoetida - 1 pinch
Ginger finely chopped
Finely chopped green chillies
Finely chopped coriander leaves
Salt
Oil - 2/3 tbsp
Cottage cheese finely grated
Radish finely grated
Cheese
Some finely chopped vegetables (veggies) like capscicum carrot

Preparation

Soak the dal / pulse in for 2 hrs in water and make a paste of it add the chillies and ginger and radish while grinding.Add the coriander salt and aesofoetida to the paste and mix.The batter should be as free flowing as you would for any pancake recipe.

Brush a large griddle with oil and heat over medium-low heat. Pour some of the batter and spread it out and cook until bubbly on top and golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden on the bottom, about 2 more minutes. Now take some grated cottage cheese and mix together with the freshly chopped vegies or some leftover cooked veggies make a fine layer on one side of the pancake and roll it.

Suggestion(oil-free cooking)

If you do not desire to use too much oil heat your iron skillet add oil when it smokes rub it off with kitchen towel sprinkle water and again spread out some oil and rub it off it would become non stick and definitely adds more flavor to the food then the nonstick ionized ones.And you can keep on cooking and just keep on rubbing the oil soaked towel on the skillet and get a oil free pancakes.