Masala Peanuts (no frying)

It’s been pouring in Mumbai. I do not enjoy getting wet, but sure like to look out of the window from the comfort and warmth of my house. Add a steaming hot cup of tea with a dash of ginger or lemongrass along with these guilt free peanuts and . . . . the picture almost perfect.

Also, I want to share a secret . . . . I am scared of deep frying. I don’t know if it’s normal but, that’s just me. Last time I deep fried something . . . was almost three years back. But, that does not mean that I do not crave fried food and thankfully I am blessed with two loving mommies who do it for me. Do you too have any such crazy fear?

Masala peanuts are an all-time favourite with my husband, so this one is for him :). They are super easy to make and I like these as it keeps a check on my diet without compromising on the taste buds. Happy rains.

 

1 cup Raw Peanuts

1/2 cup minus 2 tbsp Besan (Chickpea flour)

1 tbsp rice flour

Water as required.

 

Spice mix

Kashmiri red chilli powder as per taste

Salt as per taste

Hint of turmeric powder

3/4 tsp crushed kasuri methi

 

In a bowl add both the flours; besan and rice flour. To this add the spice mix and mix well.

Add water, a tbsp at a time to form a lump free thick batter (almost like a brownie batter).  Be careful as not to make the batter very runny like we normally do it for bhajiyas. Add a tbsp of besan if you feel that the batter is less or is too runny.

Into this batter add the peanuts and coat them well.

Drop the coated peanuts on a parchment lined baking tray, few at a time. Make sure that the peanuts are not dropped as a blob but scattered around in pairs or trios and are in single layer only. Do not overcrowd the tray.

Bake these in a preheated oven at 200 degree Celcius for approximately 15 mins. You may require a couple of minutes extra as each oven temperature varies. Move the peanuts around after 10 mins and keep a close watch.

The peanuts will be slightly soft when removed from the oven, but will firm up once cooled. Let it cool in the tray itself and store in an airtight container.

 

 

Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake

It’s been really long since I posted. Although, there were interesting things that kept me occupied (read vacation), I took a bit too long to get back from my slumber. Blogging is a lot of hard work and I kept finding excuses for myself. Surprisingly during all these times, when I did not post what kept me motivated to get back was steady increase of likes on my Facebook page. Yeah, I have crossed 300 likes on Facebook. This calls for something sweet and here I have a simple vanilla cake decorated with colourful tutti frutti. Use of lemon zest adds freshness to this cake though it can be optional.

I made this cake sometime back, and it was appreciated by everyone. Hope you all enjoy it too.

    

Ingredients

2 cups Maida or All purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon zest

1 cup milk
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 cup White granulated sugar
1/2 cup Flavourless Oil
1 tsp Vanilla extract

3/4 cup Tutti frutti

Take milk in a bowl and add vinegar to it. Let it sit for 10 to 15 mins till it curdles.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.

Sift together maida, salt and baking powder and then add lemon zest. Mix well.

Now add sugar, vanilla and oil to the milk and vinegar mixture and beat well till all the sugar dissolves.

Mix dry ingredients into the wet and mix well but gently by hand to form a lump free batter. Lastly coat the tutti frutti in 1 tbsp of maida and mix it with the batter.

Pour the batter in a greased and floured or a parchment lined loaf pan. I used a 9 inch x 5 inch loaf pan.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for 50 to 55 mins till a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let it cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Misti Doi Cheesecake (eggless)

I have been baking a lot these days and enjoy experimenting with yeast, but do not blog about it as frequently as I would like  . . . . .  it’s just lazy me. So, I made this last month and was loved by everyone. It’s prefect for a party as it please all age groups and can be should be made in advance. But, the best part is how incredibly easy it is to make . . . . With just 3 ingredients, it is a rather exotic sounding dessert.

I colleague of mine introduced me to Mother Dairy’s Misti Doi and I liked the creamy texture with subtle flavour it offered. Prior to this I have had misti dahi in earthen ware (‘kulhad’ as we call it here) during Durga Puja festivities. It is otherwise hard to find in Mumbai and was really happy to see it. Purist may not be impressed but it worked for me. Soon I was searching recipes to use it in some other form as my husband will not have it as ‘just dahi’. So, google to rescue and I was hooked onto the pictures on this amazing website ‘Passionate about Baking’ and realised that the recipe is eggless too. So, let’s go straight to the recipe.

400 gms Mishti Doi (I used Mother’s Dairy  brand)

400 gms (1 tin) sweetened condensed milk

200ml cream (I used 25% Amul)

Take a muslin cloth and put in all the dahi. Hang it for about an hour to remove whey. Keep the dahi in refrigerator during this time.

Remove the hung curd from the cloth and mix it together with condensed milk and cream till it becomes a homogenous mixture.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degree centigrade.

Take a 7” diameter loose bottom cake tin and cover it on with aluminium foil on the outside to prevent any leakage. Place this on a cookie tray.

Add the batter to the prepared tin and bake it for 20 minutes. Leave it in the oven itself to cool. When it has completely cooled to room temperature, cover the tin and keep it in the refrigerator overnight.

Demould and garnish with white chocolate shavings.