Caramel Wings

I love Elvis. We all do, don't we? Elvis loved his Peanut Butter sandwiches with Bananas. I may have made the Elvis sandwich a couple hundred times at home, over the years, but there is hardly a way to make them retain the goodness sans the fat and processed carb overload. So I thought of reinventing them as pancakes, but then again, there's flour and sugar.

I have been experimenting with a lot of new ingredients in my kitchen off late. A person who experiments may not always be successful but they eventually do strike Gold! Everyone I love cooking for is an ardent pancake lover and let's not kid ourselves, whole wheat pancakes just aren't as good. After a lot of thinking, I decided to grind up instant oats and use the flour instead, and like I said earlier, I did strike Gold!

Like Tata Salt Lite campaign says, it is all about bringing in a sLITE change in our lives, small changes that make big differences. Imagine the amount of excess Sodium, Sugar and sugar derived Carbs we would avoid by making simple choices. It only takes few minutes but it makes a world of difference.

I used instant quick cooking oats for this recipe but steel cut oats are your best bet. A cup and half of quick cooking instant oats yields a cup of flour. Just blend it till the consistency is really fine, et voilà! While the brand of Oats I used is not gluten free, you can easily find gluten free Oats in the market and pulse them in the blender for a great gluten free breakfast.

Just like every other recipe that I have been posting recently, I am leaving plenty of room for imagination and experimentation. Use your favourite fruit purée, chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, even cheese! These may not be the softest pancakes you've ever eaten but they contain no sugar, possibly gluten free, creamy, and not to forget, healthy! These are great as a post workout snack!






The Healthy Elvis Pancakes
Serves 2
Takes 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup Oats Flour (to make flour out of quick cooking instant oats, refer to the paragraphs above)
2 Eggs
2 tbsp Peanut Butter, melted
2 medium Bananas, overripe, mashed
1 tbsp Date Syrup/Honey
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Tata salt LITE
1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder

Method:

In a big bowl, mix the Oat flour, baking soda, Tata Salt LITE, cinnamon and nutmeg powders together.

In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Make sure the bananas are well mashed and the eggs are whisked well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix with a wooden spoon. Lumps are okay. Do not over mix. Let it stand for 5 minutes,

Heat up a non stick pan on medium low heat.

The batter must now be fluffy and tight, loosen it with some milk to a dropping consistency.

Grease with a pat of butter if you like. Place 2 tbsp batter in the centre and work it into a round shape. Cook for a minute or so, till you see bubbles appear on the side. Flip this darling pancake and let it go for another minute.

Stack up a few pancakes and drizzle with honey if you like. I topped mine with caramelised Banana slices and some honey. Oh, and do remember to serve them warm. They get tough if you let them stand for too long.

Enjoy!

Off late my schedule has been full of eggs. I'm an egg lover, but I may have exaggerated myself when I said I could eat eggs for every meal. It gets repetitive after a while and one can easily get bored. That's when the real challenge sets in. What sets the challenge in the Iron-Chef-America mode is being pressed for time, multitasking.

The best thing about eggs are that they are so versatile, you can almost add them to anything- a stir fry, rice, or a simple scramble or omelet. The quickest and easiest version of eggs with an attitude is what I call the Whatever-You-Get Omelet.

As for braising, after spending over a decade trying to perfect the omelet, watching them serve me a perfect one every time at leisurely brunches and breakfast buffets and me trying to replicate the same only to end up with brown omelet every single time, I have resorted to braising my eggs and they're perfect every time. Braising is basically cooking your eggs in steam, and you'll end up with the best omelet ever if you get it right!

The Whatever-You-Get Braised Omelet
Serves One
Takes 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 whole eggs/ 4 egg whites.
1 tsp Oil + 1 tsp Oil.
Tata Salt LITE to taste (low sodium)
Pepper to taste
Whatever you get. (Seriously. You can add some leftover Chicken or Veg. Mixed greens are a great option too. I used Broccoli, Lettuce and Spinach, some shredded chicken and half a Tomato. You can go as crazy as you like, be it mushrooms, different kinds of cheese, boiled Corn kernels,even leftover rice sautéed in spices!)
A slice of Cheese. I used White Cheddar
A splash of milk (approximately 1 tbsp)

Important apparatus: a non stick pan with a lid.

Recipe:

Whisk the eggs with Milk, Salt and Pepper. Set aside.
Heat up the non stick pan on medium high heat. Prep the veggies and keep them ready. Also keep the Cheese peeled and ready (you're welcome, bachelor readers, I'm laying it out step by step for you :P )
Add 1 tsp Oil to the pan followed by Chili flakes and veggies. turn heat to high and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove in a separate plate.
Put the pan back on heat and turn the heat to low. Pour the omelet mixture in and stir lightly in the pan. Gently whisk around, and then top with all the yummy veggies that have been sautéed, chicken, cheese, herbs!
Sprinkle few drops of water around the insides of the pan and immediately cover it. Let it stay for 3 minutes. The steam generated from the sizzling water will braise the omelet and will cook it from the top as well.
Remove the lid, and transfer the cooked omelet to a plate. If you think the omelet is too runny for you, give it a couple more minutes with a covered lid.
I drizzled the top of my omelet with Chili infused olive oil and had it as is, so filling, so healthy!

Last month I took a trip to North India. It was a work thing which mostly kept me busy throughout my time in New Delhi but what made the trip totally worth it was the 2 day getaway to Amritsar, or Ambarsar as it is lovingly called. Amritsar is home to the famous Golden Temple, and is the kind of place where one has to face oneself and go through self evaluation. Watching those beautifully huge Koi swim in the water where you also see your reflections only makes you realize that the most important things in life are fairly simple. We over-complicate everything.



 Incidentally we visited the Temple on the Birthday of Guru Ram Das, and we got to witness the overwhelming crowd as well as an Aerobatic show

Image Credit : Richa @ Knead With Love.

Scones are the death dish in my kitchen. I have never had a lucky day with them. Which is why when fellow blogger, a sweetheart and a storyteller of her own, Richa Lulla from Knead With Love volunteered to write for the Bettering Breakfast series and said she wanted to do Scones, my heart was filled with glee and a hole started digging itself in my stomach craving for these beauties. I might have to barter some of that Herb and Green Garlic Butter with the lovely lady in exchange for few of those Scones!



I could write everything about Scones and my hard luck with them, just like I did with the Chocolate Eclairs, but I will wait and learn from Richa and maybe write a victorious post about Scones later. For now, I would love to wake up to Scones just like it is mentioned on her blog.



The beautifully written blog post is here and you can find the recipe with detailed instructions too!

On the hunt for the most amazing Breakfast items, I have only learned one thing again and again. That would be that the more awesome you think you have had, the more awesomer stuff makes its way up to you. So it would be a real shame if I kept this series just for myself when there is so much one can do for Breakfast.... And that is why I asked some of my food bloggy buddies to write in to me with their version of Bettering Breakfasts, and I begin with my first ever Guest Blogger, Prachi from Deliciously Directionless. (Who, I figure is as big a fan of Alliteration as I am, Whose blog you should totally check out!)

Prachi was the first one to respond to my little idea

The whole motive behind starting this series was because I loved breakfasting and I loved making breakfasts as a whole. The sheer joy of watching someone enjoy their first meal is something that has always made my day. But then I got stuck in routine, making breakfast after breakfast, and there is a point where peoples appreciation turns into assumption and then you hit a creative block. But then I realized that this is all a two way street... and believe me it feels so awesome to be at the receiving end. Amrita from Life Ki Recipe made me a breakfast omelet filled with lots of veggies and so much of Love that, I just had to dig this series out of the grave right away. This recipe has been passed down the line and has been tweaked at every step but from what I hear it originated in Bangkok! So here we go!

Most people I know are the kind who wake up and rush to work, and breakfast can only consist of either cereal for the healthy ones, or leftovers or just some biscuits or crackers along with a cup of Coffee. Especially in India, Moms make breakfast daily as per custom but with modernization and growth, more and more people shift bases due to work and despite having a fully functional kitchen, prefer not to cook either coz of sheer laziness or coz they're too used to be brought fresh breakfast by Mommy dearest. I always encourage people to make their own breakfasts. It's easy, healthy, and would make your day better than you can imagine. One such easy breakfasts to put together is one of my most favorite things to eat, an Egg an Avocado Sandwich.

Egg and Avocado Open Sandwich.
Serves 2
Recipe : Self

Ingredients : 

1 Avocado, Sliced or mashed.
1 Tomato, Sliced into rings.
2 Eggs
2 tbsp Oil
2 Bread Slices.
Butter (Optional)
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:


Get the Ingredients ready.



Toast the bread in a toaster or on the pan. You can butter them if you like.



Make 2 Sunny Side up eggs with 1 tbsp oil, salt and pepper, one for each sandwich. I like runny yolks but suit yourself. You could also make an omelet or scramble them.


Place on a slice of bread each and top with Tomatoes and Avocado slices. I sprinkle extra pepper on top too! Top with another slice of bread if desired. Enjoy :)

Out of the few parts of India that I am a mixture of, South India is very dominant. There is South Indian food almost every Sunday at my place. Dosas and Idlis Galore!! This recipe is so unbelievably simple and yummy both at the same time! I used something called an Appam maker to make these, but you could just spread them out like Pancakes or Dosas and cook on the normal frying pan.

Appam with Coconut Chutney.
Serves 4
Recipe : Mommy Dearest.

Ingredients :

1 cup Semolina/Rava
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Small Onion, Chopped
2 Green Chilies, Chopped
Handful of Coriander Leaves, Chopped.
4 tbsp Oil

For the Coconut Chutney: (You can also Skip the Chutney and have these with Chili Sauce instead)

1 cup grated Coconut
3 tbsp Chana Dal
3 tbsp Water
Sugar and Salt to taste
2 Red Chilies, dried.
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tbsp Curry Leaves
1 tsp Urad Dal
2 tbsp Oil

Method:

In a bowl, add the Semolina.


Add all the remaining ingredients and mix.


Let it rest for 10 minutes.


Heat up the Appam Pan or a Normal Pan  on medium high and lightly coat with Ghee/Oil






Drop the batter by spoonfuls in each pocket or use 4 tablespoons batter for each Pancake.


Let them cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip them over with a spoon/Spatula


Let them cook for another 1 minute on the other side and Voila! Repeat till all the batter is gone.





For the Chutney:

Grind together Coconut, Chana Dal, Water, Sugar and Salt.


Prepare tempering by heating oil, add Mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, add Red Chilies and Urad dal, followed by Curry leaves. Pour over prepared Chutney. Serve with Appam!

I have become so obsessed with these breakfast posts that I keep getting ideas in my head all day long!! But one thing that I really want to cover in this series is Breakfasts from all over India. Starting from the North! How can anyone not like a heavy Chhole Bhature breakfast?

I remember when I lived in Delhi, every morning we would go out and eat Nagpal Ke Chhole Bhature, and I used to be full in just 1 of those deep fried large Bhaturas. Served with a side of Carrot Pickle, some Curd and Onions cut into rings, this makes the best heavy breakfast after which you feel fully satiated. I could have this dish more often but it's too oily! So I decided to bake the Bhaturas and I was not disappointed at all!

Chhole, Masala Aloo and Baked Bhature
Serves 4
Recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor


Ingredients:

For the Chhole:
2 cups Chickpeas soaked overnight.
1 large Onion, chopped.
1 Medium Tomato, chopped.
2 Green Chilies, Slit.
1 tbsp Red Chili Powder
2 tbsp Coriander Powder
2 tbsp Everest Chhole Masala

For the Aloo:
2 medium Potatoes, boiled and diced.
Salt
Chaat Masala

For the Baked Bhature :

2 cups Flour
1 tbsp Instant Yeast
1/2 cup Warm Water
1/2 cup Milk+Yogurt
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tbsp Poppy Seeds (optional)

Coriander leaves for garnish.

Method:

Cook Chhole as per instructions on the packet of Everest Chhole Masala. (I will be putting up step by step pics here once I have them, the last time there was some problem with my Camera)



Dissolve Sugar in warm water  and add yeast to it. Leave it covered for 5 minutes. In the mean time cut your Potatoes into dice.


By now your yeast must have turned nice and frothy. Something like this.


Sift the Flour and Salt together.


Add in all remaining ingredients to it.


And knead it into a nice dough ball. I left mine for an hour to rise for 30 minutes.


While the dough rises, heat up a pan with some oil, and fry the Potato Dice till nice and golden brown.


Toss them in Salt and Chaat Masala, and also some Aamchur if you desire. Set aside. You may leave them on the tava without any heat, as the residual heat would still leave them crisp.






Your dough must have risen by now.


Divide it into 8-9 Lemon sized rounds. Preheat oven to 200C/400F


Roll these out one by one into cute oblongs and place on greased baking sheet!


Let them bake for 10 minutes or till slightly golden brown, lesser than what you see in this pic.


Transfer Chhole on to a plate and top them with Masala Aloo, and sprinkle some Cilantro/Coriander for garnish. Serve with hot yummy Bhature and forget feeling heavy and lethargic later! :)

 YUM!

This week has been so crazy, erratic sleeping patterns, busy schedules, having one drink too many at times and hung over mornings. So much so that I was not even able to go up to the kitchen and do one of my favorite things in this world, cooking breakfast. Add to it all the backlogs. Okay, enough of complaining and back to action!!

Oatmeal is one of my most loved breakfasts. I do think it is difficult to get it just right when making Oatmeal, either it's too runny for me or a bit too cloying. After years (literally) of going wrong I have finally found something that suits me best, and is perfect on my palette!



Oatmeal is one of those things where you can go completely crazy. Oats with Mango with a hint of Cinnamon is my favorite! And I discovered some new flavored Oatmeal treats from Quaker Oats at the Supermarket the other day. The Lemon and Veggie combo seemed intriguing. So I gave that a try too. Here's my recipe for Mango Oatmeal.

Mango Oatmeal
Serves 2
Recipe : Self

Ingredients:

1 Cup Instant Oats.
1 Cup Warm Milk
2 Cups Water
4 tbsp Sugar
A pinch of Salt (1/2 tsp)
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tbsp Butter
Half a Mango, Chopped into dices.

Method:

Soak the Oats in 1 Cup Milk and 1 Cup Water. Reserve 1 Cup Water for later. Let it sit for 30 minutes.



Chop the Mango. Let it chill in the refrigerator.



Mix the Cinnamon and Sugar. I ground the two since I had no powder. I used 1 inch of Cinnamon. Also add the Butter. Then turn the heat on medium low.





In a Saucepan, add the soaked Oats, remaining Water, Salt, Sugar and Cinnamon. Add the Butter too.




Let this cook stirring continuously for 10 minutes, till you get a nice fluffy texture. Pour in a bowl and top with chopped Mangoes. Enjoy!


How are you guys liking this series? Feedback will be appreciated :)

Breakfast is my most favorite meal of the day. Most nights I go to sleep thinking what I would be having for breakfast the next day. I am so crazy about a good breakfast that I many times end up having breakfast for Lunch and sometimes for Dinner too. Not too proud of that but it's kind of an addiction. So one would be able to imagine how my reaction was when I saw a Re-tweet by Culinary Storm on my Twitter Timeline about 50 of the best breakfasts in the world, by Victoria Philpott. My reaction was somewhat like this.




And then I thought, I HAD to do something about it. What if I try making some of these recipes? So I tweeted to Ms. Victoria Philpott and she loved the idea too! I then put up a status on my facebook page asking for people to tell me what their favorite breakfasts were. And I got a lot of variety there too, mostly Indian variety, which is awesome coz people around the world really don't know what are the types of breakfasts in India. Finally I decided to go ahead and do a feature on my blog, 50 breakfast dishes that I think would be great to try out in the kitchen, and what a great variety it would make!

It was the most difficult thing to pick one recipe to start with, but for the first time I would like to thank my PMS that made me crave Mangoes and Pancakes and hence this recipe was born. Tangy Buttermilk Pancakes, with Diced velvety Mangoes and drizzled with Chocolate Sauce, topped with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream. What more could one ask for?

Tangy Buttermilk Pancakes with Chopped Mangoes and Chocolate Sauce.
Serves 2 (2 pancakes each. And these are heavy)
Recipe adapted from Closet Cooking and Chocolate Sauce from none other than David Lebovitz

Ingredients :

For the Pancakes:

1 Cup Flour (All Purpose or Whole Wheat)
2 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp melted Butter (I used Ghee)
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 Egg

1 Mango.

For the Chocolate Sauce :

6 tbsp Sugar
1/4 Cup Water
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
4 squares of Chocolate.

Method:



Peel the Mango. Cut into dices. Put in a bowl and refrigerate.



In a small Saucepan, add the Sugar and Water. Heat this up until Sugar is dissolved. Add in Cocoa powder and mix, then add in the chocolate and mix till melted. Transfer to a container and let it cool. It will thicken as it cools.



In a big bowl, sift together Flour, Sugar, Salt and Baking Powder. Set Aside.







In another bowl whisk together Buttermilk, melted butter and the Egg until well mixed.



Add the Buttermilk mixture to the Flour mixture and mix, don't overmix. You don't want all that air to escape to have fluffy pancakes.



Heat up a pan on medium and add a little bit of butter/ghee. Pour in 1/4 cup of the mixture and let it cook till it has small bubbles on top, or up to 2 minutes. Flip it over and give it another minute to 90 seconds.



Make two of these and then add half of the mango dices from the refrigerator.










Then top it up with the remaining two pancakes. Put the remaining Mangoes on top and around the assembly.



Pour, Drizzle the warm chocolaty beauty of the sauce over the pancakes, and feel lucky that you're viewing this spectacle. Nothing could make this better. Oh except...



Top it with Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream!!






Nom.








This picture deserves to be put up. It was finished in record time!



So how did you guys like the idea of 50 breakfast posts? Do let me know, also do recommend or send me awesome breakfast recipes! :D