Steamed Instant Khatta Dhokla/Rava Dhokla

(Indian Savory Semolina Cake)

The recipe is from Shweta in the Kitchen. The results were delicious! 

This is a traditional Gujarati dish from western India. Although the batter does have to sit for 10 minutes before steaming, that is still instant, compared to the traditional method: soaking legumes and rice for hours, then grinding them, and letting them ferment, before steaming.

I made it in the Instant Pot (not sponsored), using IP instructions from Instapottin' with Poonam's method for Dhokla. I don't usually use Eno fruit salts for instant leavening (as in the recipe). Instead, I used a small amount of baking soda and baking powder, and the Dhokla was fairly light.

Shweta in the Kitchen Website, Instant Khatta Dhokla - Instant Rava Dhokla -  Savory Semolina Cake

Instapottin' with Poonam Website, Dhokla

Instapottin' with Poonam YouTube, Dhokla | Gujarati Snack

 Rava Idli 

(South Indian Steamed Dumplings), 

with Carrot & Zucchini Sambhar 

(South Indian Legume & Veggie Dish)

This includes some of the Rava Idli (South Indian Steamed Dumplings) featured in the last post, with Carrot & Zucchini Sambhar (South Indian Legume & Veggie Dish). The Sambhar was featured in a post on February 6 (with a different batch of Rava Idli). This was the same Sambhar, as leftovers from the freezer. Very convenient. I noticed, as I hadn't before, that the Sambhar had a bit of a sweet taste from all the carrots ... I liked it! 

Rava Idli 

(South Indian Savory 

Steamed Dumplings)

These were made from rava/sooji/farina (like Cream of Wheat), and steamed in an Instant Pot (not sponsored).

The idli batter is from the Rava Idli recipe of Nisha Madhulika , and is an "instant idli" (no long fermentation required, just a short wait of 20-30 minutes). I used the cooking instructions for the Unicorn Idli of Instapottin' with Poonam. The idli rack was a gift from my sister-in-law, and I was waiting to use it.

I enjoyed the first few Idlis with chutney powder, coconut oil, and whole-milk yogurt. What shall I make with the rest of my new stash of Idlis? Hmmm... 

Nisha Madhulika Website, Rava Idli Recipe 

Nisha Madhulika YouTube, Rava Idli Recipe - Soft & Spongy South Indian Suji Idli

Instapottin' with Poonam Website, Unicorn Idli

Instapottin' with Poonam YouTube, Unicorn Idli in the Instant Pot

Spaghetti, Broccoli, & Carrots, with Eggplant

This was a simple combination of Spaghetti, Broccoli, & Carrots, with leftover Baba Ghanoush/Ghanouj (Middle Eastern eggplant spread) mixed in. This is from a few weeks ago, but I seem to remember the veggies had already been steamed? Or were they the ends = remainder of grated veggies which couldn't be grated for safety reasons? (No need to waste!) Either way, the small bits were cooked in the water with the spaghetti, with the Baba Ghanouj added at the end. 

Kulche Jawari (Afghan Corn Cake)

The recipe is from Afghan Desserts Made Simple, by Sina Abed. Inspired by @mamas._best_ 's recent post on Instagram, of Jawari (Corn Cake), I just had to make one. This seemed like a good, simple recipe, so I decided to try it.

I made only half a recipe, in a glass 9.5-inch round deep pie dish. I used masa harina (Latin American corn flour) instead of cornmeal, and added a pinch of salt, as well as a little extra milk. It took a while for the cake to start to rise, but it did bake in the 40 minutes the recipe said it would take.

The result was ... Yummy! The cake was light and flaky, and reminded me of Sfouf, a Lebanese cake with saffron. Next time, I might add a little saffron!

@mamas._best_ Instagram, 2 February 2018, [Jawari Corn Cake]

Pizza 

with Puli Gozzo [Gotsu?] Topping

(South Indian Tomato & Eggplant Sauce) 

I think this pizza actually looked better after I cut it, but by then, I just wanted to have some and not take a pic.

Greek-style Stewed Green Peas

This was based on the recipe of Mia Kouppa. I kept thinking how nice this would be, which meant I should make it! 😉 However, I was too tired to follow the recipe properly, so I made some "adjustments": frozen chopped mirepoix (onion, celery, carrot) and frozen peas-and-carrots; frozen chopped cauliflower instead of potato; no tomato sauce at home, but leftover canned diced tomatoes were handy. 

I didn't defrost/drain any frozen veggies, or drain the tomatoes. I just remembered what my mom said to do when something has too much liquid: Cook a bit extra, uncovered, until the liquid evaporates.

It was either make the dish this way, or not at all (with apologies to Mia Kouppa for not following their great recipe). (I guess I was really tired, and needed all those veggies!). Hopefully, next time, I could make it more properly. For this time, though, it was great!

Mia Kouppa Website, Stewed Green Peas

Baked Instant Medu Vada 

(Indian Savory Dumplings)

This is a combination of the batter for Instant Vada from Herbivore Cucina, baked (but in a mini-bundt pan), according to the method for Baked Medhu Vada of My Kitchen Adventures [Suji's Kitchen].

The batter contains urad dal (legume) flour and rice flour, with some baking soda and seasonings. (I did add a pinch of baking powder that wasn't in the recipe, to make the batter lighter.) It's the use of these flours, rather than soaking and grinding the legumes and grain, that makes the batter "instant."

The original baking method used a doughnut pan, which I don't have. I figured a mini-bundt pan would suffice, instead. I think it worked rather well, if I may say so. 😉 The taste was yummy, and the Vadas were fairly light. Almost as good as winning the Super Bowl? 

Herbivore Cucina Website, Instant Dahi Vada 

My Kitchen Adventures [Suji's Kitchen] Website, Baked Medu Vada

Gozzo/Gotsu 

(South Indian Tomato & Onion Sauce)

This is a South Indian sauce with mustard seeds, onions, and tomatoes. It's nice with a milder main dish like Khichdi (rice & dal) or Upma (like savory cream of wheat). I think the first time, I made it to go with Ven Pongal (rice and dal). I know my South Indian friend approved of the combination! (The recipe is from Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking.)

Sambhar Sandwich

This was made with the Carrot & Zucchini Sambhar (South Indian soupy dal/legume dish) seen in a recent post (although unfortunately none of the carrots appear here). When I have a lot of leftovers, as well as bread, it becomes . . . Sandwich Time! 😉 This bread is an oval Italian loaf, with slices of different sizes, and so I made an open sandwich. Had it been regular loaf bread, I would've made an enclosed sandwich. I like to accompany sandwiches like this with whole-milk yogurt, and some potato chips and/or crunchy Indian snacks (not seen here). So, it contains all the essential food groups! 😄😎

Pita Chips

I remembered that I had some pita bread bought before the holiday, and I think it was at least 2 weeks old. Normally, I would've used it up by now, but somehow I didn't even open it. Fortunately, it had been in the fridge, and was in very good condition. I decided that pita chips would allow me to finish it up before it would go bad.

I cut each pita into 8 wedges. (I didn't separate the top from the bottom of each pita, but you could, if you wanted to.) I sprayed the pitas with oil, and sprinkled on some salt. I baked them at 400 F for about 7-8 minutes. I tried to watch it at the end, so it wouldn't get too done. That's all! 

Khaman-Dhokla 

(Savory Baked Indian Cake)

This was from the recipe of Vegan Richa. This one is baked, but the recipe also gives instructions for steaming and microwaving. The original recipe calls for chickpea/garbanzo bean flour or besan, but I was almost out. Therefore, I used a dhokla mix from the store (a mix of ground dry rice and different legumes). I used dairy yogurt, as I tend to have it around and I'm not vegan; the original calls for vegan yogurt.

I liked that the recipe uses baking powder and baking soda, as I tend to have both around. I think that with the different base I started with, I might try a little more of either next time, to make it even lighter. However, I really liked this one, and was glad to have such a reliable and versatile recipe for Khaman-Dhokla!

Vegan Richa Website, Chickpea Flour Snack Cakes - Khaman Dhokla Recipe

Deep-Dish Pizza with Sliced Tomatoes

There's also a little store-bought pizza sauce under the tomatoes, but as it was just a little bit (end of the jar!😉), it "melted" into the dough. For the dough (based on that of @markbittman ), I used 3 cups flour, 2 tsp salt, 2-4 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp active-dry yeast, and water. I like to make pizza by hand, as I don't have to knead it very much anyway, and it doesn't need to rise very much. (A loaf of bread is a different story! 😄) I baked it at 425 F for about 25 minutes.

If you don't make homemade pizza because you don't think it'll turn out well, try it some time. Don't worry about if the crust is thin enough (unless that's your preference), or if it's perfectly baked like the pizzeria, or if you don't have a pizza stone ... or about anything else. If you want to try making homemade pizza, then make it as you like and are able. If it tastes okay, even if its not as you'd hoped, you then have more experience in order to make the next one more like your ideal.

Baked Polenta Squares

These were inspired by the Dec. 17 post of @ahava_x . Also, my grandma once or twice spoke with nostalgia of Mamaliga (though she never made it herself) -- which I understand is a Romanian dish, similar to Polenta.

Although twice-inspired to make Polenta, cornmeal isn't good for me. Therefore, I decided to use masa harina (Latin American corn flour, used for tortillas). This substitution had previously worked well for cornbread, so why not polenta?  For the liquid, I used half-water, and half-milk (as I had some older milk to finish up), which made the polenta very creamy.

After letting the polenta cool and then refrigerating it overnight, I cut it into squares, and baked it at 450 F. It doesn't look exactly like @ahava_x 's results, partly because the milk made this creamer, and partly because the squares were too thick (not to mention the masa harina in place of cornmeal). To reheat, I cut each square across the middle, and cooked each half in the toaster oven with the already-browned side, down. I like the way it's so creamy, even though that wasn't what I'd intended. 

@ahava_x Instagram, 17 December 2017

Basbousa Madeleines

Basbousa, or Namoura, is a cake-like sweet, soaked in syrup, from the Middle East. Normally, it's in the form of squares, but here, I've been inspired by @ahava_x 's post of August 15, featuring it in Madeleine form. These were very light and yummy.

I used the Basbousa recipe kindly provided, but used ground almonds instead of coconut, and coconut oil instead of butter or margarine. I added a pinch of salt, and then, just "for insurance," a pinch of baking soda. I had an open bottle of rosewater 🌹, so I used that to flavor the syrup. It took about 20 minutes of baking at 350 F to get them "done." (I kept checking on them, at 8 minutes, then 14 minutes, and then every minute or 2 afterwards.)

I added the "insurance" of baking soda, as until recently, every time I made any form of Basbousa, it basically ended up heavy like a brick! Very disappointing. I eventually realized that the recipes I was using for Basbousa, which called for "semolina," actually were referring to semolina *flour* (and not the semolina/farina/sooji/rava, like Cream of Wheat, used in many Indian recipes). However, I still get just a little nervous whenever I make Basbousa, lest it should be another brick.

@ahava_x Instagram, 15 August 2017

Spaghetti with Carrots & Sauce

The sauce is store-bought pizza sauce = what I had. A few weeks ago, when I made Carrot & Zucchini Kofta with grated veggies, some of the ends of the carrots didn't quite get grated. However, I didn't want to waste them. So, I added them to the water for the spaghetti. When I'm just making a small amount of pasta like this, I like to use a small pan and less water. Once the pasta is cooked, I add some sauce, and cook it a little further, until it looks like this. I might add some dried Italian herb seasoning, as I did this time, for a little extra flavor. And here we are! 

Aloo Samosas (Spicy Potato Turnovers)

from Andrea Nguyen's Asian Dumplings. This is the first recipe I've made from this book, although I've had it for a while. When I've read through it before, I've felt intimidated ... I wouldn't be able to make many of the dumplings according to the recipes, because I don't/can't eat some of the filling ingredients, or because I can't eat deep-fried items, etc. So, I decided to start out with something more familiar, like these Samosas.

I used coconut oil in the pastry, but made the filling (which is fabulous on its own) much like the recipe. The directions for making the pastry and filling, and assembling them together, were very clear. The original recipe called for deep-frying (which is always such a yummy way to make them). I sprayed the Samosas with oil, and baked them at 350 F for 35-40 minutes (turning them over once, halfway through). They were dee-licious! And the leftovers reheated well in the toaster oven. 😍 Awesome recipe! 😊

Next time, I may try baking them at 375 F. Or pan-frying them. (I once used spring-roll wrappers for Samosas, and pan-fried them. I know, that's unusual for Samosas, but it turned out well that time.) 

Spaghetti with Carrots & Sauce

The sauce is store-bought pizza sauce = what I had. A few weeks ago, when I made Carrot & Zucchini Kofta with grated veggies, some of the ends of the carrots didn't quite get grated. However, I didn't want to waste them. So, I added them to the water for the spaghetti. When I'm just making a small amount of pasta like this, I like to use a small pan and less water. Once the pasta is cooked, I add some sauce, and cook it a little further, until it looks like this. I might add some dried Italian herb seasoning, as I did this time, for a little extra flavor. And here we are!

Broccoli-Potato Pancakes

My grandma used to make this for me, although it didn't look exactly the same. She also called them "warm potato pancakes," as the potatoes are already cooked (vs "cold potato pancakes," in which grated raw potatoes are used).

I left out the egg she would've used , as it didn't seem necessary this time to bind the veggies together. I steamed cubed potatoes and frozen broccoli, and then mashed them together, added some salt, and left it in the fridge overnight. The next day, I mixed in some onion powder and rice flour, and fried the pancakes in oil (but not too much, so it wouldn't be too rich). Even with so few seasonings, they were a little sweet and a little spiced. Yum! 

One trick she used, was to fry some chopped onions in oil, and then fry the pancakes in that same oil. She did this, rather than add onions directly to the veggies. It was a more subtle onion flavor, that way. I didn't do that this time, but perhaps another time!

Idli-Rasam

This is the same Rava Idli, or South Indian steamed dumpling, as 2 posts ago, and from the same batter as that of another post. (Please see that post for more details, if you like.) This Rasam is a South Indian soup-like dish, based on tomatoes. The simple Rasam was easy to prepare, and very cheerful in the cold and snowy weather. 

The Tomato Rasam recipe is from Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alemalu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt.

Chai (Indian spiced tea)

My simple version of Chai. It's decaf green tea, not too strong, with some ground cinnamon and cardamom, as well as a generous amount of honey and sugar. (I actually like unsweetened tea; it's just not good for me.)

I like to dip crispy baked cinnamon-sugar Mediterranean crackers, as well as homemade biscuits, in my tea. The Chai is very warm and soothing. A few winters ago, when I had aches and pains from the very cold weather, this was one thing that helped a lot. This post is in honor of #internationalteaday !

Rava Idli (South Indian Savory Dumplngs) 

with Carrot & Zucchini Sambhar

This Idli was made at the same time as those in the photo featured 2 posts ago. (Please see it for more info on the Idli.) However, I steamed it in an ovenproof bowl, on a steaming rack, in the Instant Pot (not sponsored). I steamed it for the same amount of time as the more dumpling-like Idlis. Later, once they were cool, I cut them into wedges. I wasn't sure how that would turn out, but it ended up being a nice alternative. 

Here, the Idli is served with a Sambhar from Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alemalu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt. This is a soupy South Indian dal/legume dish, which here contains masoor dal/red lentils, tomatoes, and lots of veggies. A very healthy and delicious combination.