Tag: quick and easy

Sweet Potato chapati

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1sweet_potato_roti

BM# 97: Week 2, Day 3
Theme : Vegan recipes

I have been making a whole lot of Vegan recipes for this theme but unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to take pictures. The weather is now bad and before I know it, it’s dark outside and there is no light to take pictures. If I take pictures indoors, the colors don’t come out right. So that’s something I have given up doing a long time back.

Initially i was planning to post the recipe of a vegan cake I had made sometime back. Unfortunately the frosting had butter in it. Coming to think of it, its easy to make a vegan cake, but vegan frosting can be much harder.

Anyway I decided on this sweet potato chapatis for today. It’s been in my drafts folder for a while. My cousin has made this for us when we were in our Velacheri house. I still remember how soft and delicious it was. Mine didn’t turn out to be as good as hers but still it was pretty good. I forgot her recipe so this recipe is from the internet. These chapatis turn out to be very soft. The spice level can be adjusted to your preference. I like it flavored only with chili powder, but you can try adding whatever spices you like.

Read on for the recipe.

2sweet_potato_roti

Recipe adapted from: Archana’s kitchen

Sweet potato roti:

  • 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato
  • 1 cup wheat flour
  • 1.5 teaspoon red chili powder, or per taste
  • Salt as needed

Method:

    Pressure cook sweet potatoes. Once completely cooked and cooled down, peel and mash them. For every cup of wheat flour, add one cup of mashed sweet potatoes.
    In a big mixing bowl, add the mashed sweet potatoes, flour, chili powder and salt. You can add a teaspoon each of cumin seeds and ajwain(carom seeds) too, if preferred. Mix everything and make a smooth and soft dough, sprinkling water as needed to bring the dough together. Don’t add too much water in one shot, add a little at a time, mix in and add more if needed.
    Once the dough comes together and is soft and not lumpy anymore, cover the bowl and leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes.
    Make chapatis. I suggest watching a video in YouTube if you are not familiar with the making chapatis.Serve with pickle or a curry of your choice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#97

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Instant Pot Ginger Almond Oatmeal

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BM# 97: Week 2, Day 1
Theme : Vegan recipes

When I bought Instant Pot almost three years back, a friend of mine told me that I would stop using my regular pressure cooker shortly. I didn’t believe her for a single minute – How could I? I had been using my stove top pressure cooker for almost 2 decades! There was not a single day I wouldn’t use the cooker. So…No. No way that I would stop using my stovetop cooker.

Fast forward a couple of years and I can see what she meant. I have ditched my stovetop cooker for its electric counterpart. The only time I use the old one is when instant pot is not free.

I have resisted buying cookbooks for instant pot till now. Between the library and the internet I have never felt a need for it. But these books always have a long waiting period at the library. And now, there are so many Instant pot cookbooks just for Indian cooking that I finally felt compelled to buy one :D. I ended up buying The Essential Indian Instant Pot Cookbook and I absolutely love it.

This recipe is from the book and I have made it with homemade almond milk to make it vegan. Pressure cooking oats is not something I have done before and I couldn’t believe how creamy it turned out to be. I have already made this a couple of times and I love the taste and the texture a lot. Ginger, almonds, saffron and cardamom with oats…oh it’s delicious!

Recipe source: The essential Indian Instant Pot

Ingredients:

    1 cup rolled oats
    2.5 cups almond milk, divided
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    1 teaspoon grated ginger
    1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
    A pinch of saffron
    A pinch of salt
    1 tablespoon each almonds and walnuts

Method:

  1. Add a cup of water inside the instant pot and keep the trivet inside.
  2. Keep 1 cup of milk aside. Add everything else into a steel bowl or Pyrex bowl that will fit inside the instant pot. Give a stir to combine everything and place the bowl in the trivet.
  3. Secure the lid and make sure it’s in sealing position. Set the timer for ten minutes in Manual setting. Let the pressure release naturally.
  4. The oatmeal would be thick. At the time of serving, add in the reserved cup of milk and mix everything. Serve with a teaspoon of maple syrup if desired.
  • Note:
    • You can use pot in pot method or cooking everything directly in instant pot.
    • If using regular cooker, about 8 whistles would do.

    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#97

    Brigaderio – Brazilian chocolate truffles

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    BM# 96: Week 4, Day 3
    Theme : Southern Hemisphere

    On Day 3 of Blogging under recipes from countries in Southern hemisphere theme, I am here with a dessert. Brigaderio are chocolate fudge/truffles made from condensed milk and cocoa powder. It’s a very popular dessert in Brazil and is extremely easy to make.

    I have followed the instructions and recipe from Easy and Delish. You can check out the videos by Tasty too where they share more flavor ideas. I have tried the cocoa version here.

    All you need to do is cook, stirring constantly, condensed milk, a little butter and cocoa powder. In about ten minutes, the mixture will become shiny and start to pull away from the sides and bottom of the pan. The cooking part is over! The next part is harder though – the waiting time! You can refrigerate the mix to cool faster but even then you are looking at at least 30 minutes. Once it cools down completely and then all you need to do is roll it into small balls and serve.

    The serving size is a little difficult to generalize since it would depend on the size of the truffles. If you take bigger scoops to make the balls, then you would have lesser number and if you stick with smaller scoops you will have more truffles. I got around 11 truffles, each slightly smaller than a golf ball.

    Ingredients:

    • 1 (14oz) can condensed milk
    • 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • Chocolate sprinkles for decoration

    Method :

    1. In a thick bottomed pan, add the can of condensed milk and cocoa powder. Mix well until no lumps remain. Add butter.
    2. Heat this mixture, stirring continuously, until it becomes shiny, thickens and starts to pull away from the sides and bottom of the pan. It takes about 10 minutes. When you run the spoon in the middle, you would be able to see the bottom of the pan. It should take a couple of seconds for the fudge mix to come back together.
    3. Take off the heat at this point and add the vanilla. Transfer to a greased plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes or leave them at room temperature until it’s completely cooled down. At that point, grease your hands and roll them into small balls. Dredge carefully on top of chocolate sprinkles to coat and serve on mini cupcake liners.

    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#96

    Kenyan Masala Chai

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    BM# 96: Week 4, Day 1
    Theme : Southern Hemisphere

    My search for recipes from some of the African countries brought me so close to home that I was really surprised! I saw the recipe for Githeri at Mireille’s blog. I wanted to read up a little more about it and my search took me to YouTube. Video suggestions that followed the Githeri recipe showed one for Kenyan Masala Chai. I was intrigued by the name and reading more about it, I realize that it’s derived from the Indian masala chai. This particular video is by Jikoni Magic and is very well explained.

    Tea plantations were introduced in Kenya in the early 1900s by the British and they are now a one of the leading producers in the world. Apparently the country is a mix of lot of cultures with the presence of British bringing in a lot Indians/Asians as well. I knew that before but still looking at a recipe so far away from home, yet so similar to what you make everyday is a rather pleasant feeling.

    There is no one single recipe for the tea. Some add spices, some don’t. It’s all adjusted to suit your personal preference. So make your own call when it comes to what you add to your tea. The base concept is to boil the tea leaves with milk and water. So check out this recipe, prepare it at home and take a sip from anywhere in the world!

    Serves: 4

    Ingredients:

    • 3 cups water
    • 2″ piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
    • 4 cardamom pods
    • 1″ piece cinnamon stick,
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper
    • 2 teaspoons black tea leaves
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • 2 cups milk

    *the spices and the sugar can be adjusted according to your taste preference. You can add more tea leaves for a stronger brew.

    Method:

    1. Simmer water with the spices, tea leaves and sugar for about 10-15 minutes.
    1. Add the milk and simmer again for 5 minutes, making sure that it doesn’t spill over. If you mix the froth that comes up on top, the tea will go back to a simmer.
    2. Take off the heat and strain using a tea strainer. Serve hot.

    Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#96