Oven Roasted Aloo Jeera

Oven Roasted Aloo Jeera

It is only Monday today but I am so exhausted and the rest of the days are quite busy at work. Hope I find some strength from somewhere. Today has been so demanding at home as well that I could not even cook much. Anyway, enough of my rant as it does not do any justice to this yummy dish. Potatoes can save the day when one does not have strength or motivation to do much cooking and this dish is ideal anytime. I would suggest this be served fresh from the oven to enjoy most of the flavor  You can add any other spice powders you may like but here is my simple recipe...

3 large potatoes, cubed

1 generous teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon chilly powder

1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder

Cooking oil

Put the potato cubes drizzled with some oil in an oven proof dish and cook at 180degC for about 15 minutes, stirring in between

 Once the potatoes are almost done, add salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder. You could either add the cumin seeds straight away or temper it in some oil until it just begins to brown. I do the latter as it is more flavourful. Drizzle bit of oil and roast for further 8-10 minutes

Add the coriander leaves and it is ready!

Wholesome Red Velvet Cake

Wholesome Red Velvet Cake

I am guessing most kids like cakes, not necessarily ideal though. My child is no exception but I have always made him aware that cakes can be junk food and do harm over time. I do not like to keep him away from indulging but like to keep it least harmful and where possible, try to make it healthy. I have tried to include millet, wholewheat and with help from some refined flour, this cake is super moist and soft (hopefully the clicks show that). It does make quite a good snack and is quite filling. Having said all that, it is not just for the kids, it is equally enjoyable for adults as well. Here is the recipe...

¾ cup beetroot puree

¾ cup self rising flour

½ cup wholewheat flour

½ cup ragi flour

1/3 cup sunflower oil

½ up brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 bar of dark chocolate, broken into pieces

About 4 teaspoons coco powder

1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoon yogurt

Beat together sugar, beetroot puree, oil, milk and yogurt then add vanilla extract

Sift the flours, baking powder and coco powder together and add to wet mixture

Add about 2-3 tablespoons water and make a batter, add the chocolate pieces, mix and put into well lined and greased cake tin

Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for about 20-25 minutes. Skewer inserted will come out clean.

Oven roasted Achari Baingan

Oven roasted Achari Baingan

I absolutely love aubergine/eggplant/brinjal. Call it by whatever name you like, I love it, period. I have now heard from quite a few people that they dislike this veggie, some do not know what to do with it. For me, there is no limit to what we can make with this beautiful veggie. The varieties I get in this part of teh world do need plenty of seasoning and oil to get good results and there are times when I cannot be bothered waiting for it to cook on the hob. My sister-in-law had mentioned that she had good results roasting eggplants in oven and I often roast the whole large eggplant instead of charring on flame. So I decided to cook them in teh oven for this wonderful achari dish. Achar means pickle and as the spices used in this are typically used for north Indian pickles, it gets the name achari. Fennel seeds are usually added but I skipped it. The dish was super scrummy and for the little effort that I put in to prepare it, the results were plenty-fold better. I used the left over spice powder to prepare a similar dish using green chillies!

1 long brinjal, cut into roundels, about ¼ inch thick (about 2 cups of cut brinjal)

Turmeric powder

½ teaspoon amchur powder

Salt to taste

Cooking oil

½ teaspoon methi seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon sesame seeds

½ teaspoon nigella seeds

½ teaspoon chilly powder

Sprinkle turmeric powder on the cut brinjal (this helps avoid it going black) and rest until oven preheats to 180degC. Drizzle some oil and mix. Cook this in the oven for about 20 minutes, mixing it in between

Roast all seeds and crush to powder

Once the brinjals are done, add the crushed powder, salt, chilly powder and amchur powder, mix and put in oven for about 5-8 minutes

Serve hot with rice or rotis. I used the left over spice powder to fill into some slit green chillies and sautéing them in mustard oil...yum!