Hi everyone! How’s everyone been? I’ve been great, and for the past few day’s I’ve been getting back into writing out my recipes and working on my blog. On the last Sunday of March, which was the 29^th at 1am the clocks went forward one hour. In England this means, it’s the beginning of summer, which means we have more light in the evening Yay! Ah but the thought of summer brings joy, I am one of the happiest people today. I do enjoy winter, it has its own beauty, and sadly the only boring part of winter is the darkness that arrives too early. I hate to photograph my foods as I cook most of the time at night. Night photography with no special equipment and not having any perfect spots for my photo shoots becomes a tedious job… not that I am a pro in photography but natural light is a plus point. When it is not available I lose interest, compiled with all these natural disasters and my lack of knowledge using my camera to its full extent is a long road to tread, one such example is the photos of my cookies which I have published here.

Anyway let’s not go too much into my photography adventures. Summer is around the corner, I love the sunshine and the beautiful gardens I see where ever I go.  Britain looks glorious love the gardens, the nature, the greenery, beautiful flowers and most importantly the people become bright and smiling.  Hmm.., I can go on and on.  Sometimes when we are lucky in this part of the world the beautiful early morning rays of the sun peeping through my window curtain makes me bake something, makes me feel I want to create something. Play around with the ingredients in my pantry.

When my kids are around I feel very energetic and crave to cook and bake something different (they are here now again for their Easter Holidays). I need somebody to taste, be a critique and tell me if I can blog my recipe with confidence. Now I keep giving my bakes to friends who would tell me what they think, I have got a few bakes I will be posting approved by my family and friends, I don’t know how you like it as I have played with different flours and it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, it will be a taste acquired.

To tell you the truth, I have been going through a bloggers block, somehow I keep postponing to write anything. Today I decided if I don’t do it I will never do, I will keep piling up my photos and they will never see the light of the day, I mean literally. Also, I have few followers and subscribers who like my style and I don’t want to disappoint themJ.

These cookies I made for my eldest she loves citrus flavour and pistachios, first time when I made these my kids who live away from home said they needed something to munch on when they are studying late in the night! And took everything away, kind off my eldest she packed them away saying that mum will anyway bake again. I baked a few different cookies for them, I will post the others soon.  So, I had to bake for my eldest again and this time I took some photos, I even shared these cookies with my neighbours and friends they all said it was lovely. Now my friends have also come to know I don’t use plain flour and I think they have started liking the taste or should I say they are getting used to the taste 🙂 and enjoy my bakes.

Recipe Source: Jayasri
Cuisine : International
Prep time : 10 minutes
cook time : 15 minutes
Yields : 20 to 25

Ingredients:
100 grams Rice flour
75 grams Quinoa Flour
75 grams Pistachio powdered
40 grams Plain flour
75 grams Butter
1 Lime zest
Juice of 1 Lime
3/4 th tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
200 grams Sugar
A pinch of salt
1 Egg (optional / if you want to make it eggless omit egg from the recipe)
1/3 cup chopped pistachio kernels for decorating

Method:

Preheat the over to 350 F (175 degrees)
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper
First mix all the flours together with salt, Pistachio powder, Baking powder and Baking soda, sift 2 to 3 times well enough and set aside in a bowl.
Take sugar and butter and cream them well together, If using Egg after creaming butter and sugar add Egg at this stage and beat well together add the grated zest of Lime and also Juice of 1 Lime as well.
Now add the mixed flours into these creamed batter, mix well together no need to over beat, blend everything well enough it comes into a dough like consistency.
Roll little balls in your hand and place them a little away from each other
Press the balls slightly and brush them with milk or water then top them with chopped pistachios and press them a little so they get stuck to the cookie dough.
Bake these cookies for 15 minutes max
once done take them out, slide the next tray for baking, meanwhile once it is cooled store them in an airtight container and stays for a week

Print

Eggless Quinoa Lemon and Pistachio cookies

These cookies are not too sweet, but delicious with lemony and pistachio flavoured

Course snacks

Cuisine International

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 20 to 25

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• 100 grams Rice flour
• 75 grams Quinoa Flour
• 75 grams Pistachio powdered
• 40 grams Plain flour
• 75 grams Butter
• 1 Lime zest
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 3/4 th tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda
• 200 grams Sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1 Egg optional / if you want to make it eggless omit egg from the recipe
• 1/3 cup chopped pistachio kernels for decorating

Instructions

• Preheat the over to 350 F (175 degrees)
• Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper
• First mix all the flours together with salt, Pistachio powder, Baking powder and Baking soda, sift 2 to 3 times well enough and set aside in a bowl.
• Take sugar and butter and cream them well together, If using Egg after creaming butter and sugar add Egg at this stage and beat well together add the grated zest of Lime and also Juice of 1 Lime as well.
• Now add the mixed flours into these creamed batter, mix well together no need to over beat, blend everything well enough it comes into a dough like consistency.
• Roll little balls in your hand and place them a little away from each other
• Press the balls slightly and brush them with milk or water then top them with chopped pistachios and press them a little so they get stuck to the cookie dough.
• Bake these cookies for 15 minutes max
• once done take them out, slide the next tray for baking, meanwhile once it is cooled store them in an airtight container and stays for a week

Notes

These cookies can be made with just plain flour but don't forget to add powdered pistachio
Substitute butter with oil or coconut oil but will have a coconut flavour for a vegan variation.

.

The post Eggless Quinoa Lemon and Pistachio cookies appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Who doesn't like ''Maggi 2 minute Noodles'', I think nobody would say No!, Yes, these noodles have been in India as part and parcel of our life for around 25 years now!,  right from kids to adults everybody loves this, It is basically I would say a quick food for hungry kids when they need it something quickly, Perfect Bachelor food sometimes and loads of adults love this quick tasty Noodles.

3 Packets (85gms each) Nestle Maggi Noodles
1 Big Green Bell Pepper ( Green Capsicum )
1 Big Red Bell Pepper ( Red Capsicum )
15 Mangetouts
1/2 Fresh Green Peas
2 Medium sized Potatoes
1/4 Cup Quinoa
1 and 1/4 Cup water***
1 and 1/2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste**
2 tsp Coriander seeds powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp of Paprika/chilli  powder
1/4 tsp of amla powder
1 tsp Chat Masala powder
1/2 tsp Kitchen King Masala
1 and 1/2 tsp Salt (or as required)
3 to 4 tbsp of Chopped Coriander leaves
Water as required*
1/4 Cup Oil

FOR THE COATING OF THE BURGER
2 tbsp each of Corn Flour and Plain Flour
1/2 Cup water
1Cup Bread Crumbs ( Home Made )
I make my own Bread Crumbs with 1/4 cup Walnuts and 4 to 5 slices of Brown Bread, Mixie them together and allow it to dry out.

***This water I have used to cook Quinoa
** I usually crush 4 cloves Garlic, 1'' Ginger and 2 chillies in my pestle and Mortar
* This water I haven't measured so I have said as required to cook the Noodles


METHOD:
First of all open three packets of Noodles and keep aside the taste maker in them if you are going to use this instead of all the masala powders I have used.
First of wash the Noodles with water and discard the water**
cook the noodles in enough water,keep moving them around so they are evenly cooked, until it is cooked, don't cook it too much, this might make the noodles become mushy so keep an eye on it, once it is done, that is you know it is well cooked, throw away the water with the help of sieve and run it through cold water.
Then drain the water completely pressing it lightly and add 2 tsp of oil mix the noodles in it so they don't get stuck with each other.

In a bowl wash Quinoa drain water and cook it in the amount of water I have given, be careful cook it in a low flame keep an eye on it when the water starts reducing so they don't get burnt and get stuck to the bowl, It should be perfectly cooked and with no water in it. Keep it aside until required.
Cook Potatoes in a bowl of water, drain, peel of the skin and keep aside.
Meanwhile wash all the vegetables and chop them into pieces,
In a Pan or Wok, heat 1/2 tbsp of oil, add G-G Paste ( careful they have water content in it if you are using ready made, they might splutter around ) or use my method which is much safer.
fry them for a minute then add all the chopped vegetables and fry them until they are soft but capsicums are still crunchy.
Then add slightly mashed up potatoes mix well, then add all the masala powders and salt, then add a tbsp of oil mix well, Then add cooked quinoa and close the lid and leave it in a low flame for few minutes so the masala is observed.
Then add Noodles and coriander leaves mix once again, close the lid again and leave it for few minutes, Then remove the lid and allow it to cool down a bit, so you can handle it easily.

For the coating of these Burgers:
Make a paste which is not too thin nor too thick with corn flour and plain flour (Maida).
Make Round balls out of the Burger filling prepared,  Press them in the shape of Burgers Dip them in the Corn Flour Paste then Press them on the Bread crumbs coating them completely.
Either Deep fry them or Toast them on the Pan / Tawa with a bit of oil until it turns Golden brown or put them in the grill for few minutes until they are golden in colour
If you want to turn it into a Cutlet, either deep fry them or Shallow fry them.
serve them Pita Bread, Buns or Baps or just like that with your favourite Sauce, Ketchup etc..,

Some Tips:
I do not use the Taste Maker provided with the Maggi Noodles will update about it soon
If you do not like Quinoa you can omit and make it as said above.
You can even trying making it with Bulgur Wheat if you are unable to find Quinoa
There is no Particular set of vegetables you can use Cabbage, carrots, onions etc.., you can add veggies which your kid doesn't like which can be hidden in this.
Instead of the Paste I have suggested you can dip them in Egg as they do commercially and then dip in Breadcrumbs and proceed.

Enjoy!!, Thank you Radhika for this opportunity and for the lovely blog you assigned me to., thanks Charul enjoyed your blog immensely.., Sorry for posting this really late, lots of things, thought first I will make use of the sudden sunshine to sort my garden out, then fell sick with severe Hay Fever, which I never had from past 6 years, Lots of work as kids have exams, life is very busy these days. Do check out here for the Lovely round up of this month BHW here from my fellow bloggers.

I am sending this to Shobha of Good Food's - Cook it Healthy (Proteinicious)
PJ of Simply foods - Barbecues and picnics 
Sending this to Sumeesculinary - Bon viviant - Apetizers and starters
Radhika of Tickling Palettes - Let's cook 16 - Kid's Special
Divya's Culinary Journey - Fun in the sun
Vardhini of Cook's Joy hosting srivalli's Kids delight evening snacks/Tiffin 

The post Quinoa and Maggi Noodles Burgers / Cutlets appeared first on My Veg Fare.

QUINOA AND MILLET PANIYAARAM / GUNTAPANGANAALU / POPOVERS

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Quinoa
1/2 cup Millet
1/4 Cup Urad dal
2 tbsp Channa Dal
1/4 cup Chopped Dill leaves
2 Medium sized Onions
1 Green chilli finely chopped (optional)
1 and 1/2 tsp Salt
1 Sprig curry leaves
1 tbsp coriander leaves
A Pinch of of Eno or Baking soda (optional)
oil as needed

Wash and soak Quinoa, Millet, Urad dal and Channa dal for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour.
Grind them into a smooth paste using around 1/2 cup to 3/4th cup of water into a Dosa/Pancake  consistency.
Chop onions, dill leaves and chillies into fine pieces.
Add these to the batter with enough salt and curry leaves chopped and leave it for 1/2 an hour

Add a 1/4 tsp of Eno or Baking soda in a tbsp of water and mix it well into the batter before making these.., which is totally optional Or you can even add 1/4 cup of sour yogurt which is also optional.
You can make these without fermenting too. I have made these just like that still it turns out very well crispy on the outside and soft in the inside.
Fill up the Guntpanganalu holes with the batter to its full lightly sprinkle oil on top of it, close the lid and when it cooked 1/2 way through turn it around with the help of a wooden stick which comes with it or with a tooth pick, as mine is a non-stick coated.
If you do not have this gadget you can make little pancakes.
You can even use Aebleskiver Pans for making these kind of Pancakes or popovers.

Serve them hot with Coconut chutney or any chutney of your choice.

Check out my other blogger friends running this Marathon with me from here...
Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#14

The post Quinoa & Millet Paniyaaram / Quinoa & Millet popovers appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Hi everybody, Hope you are all doing well, me.. ?, Oh! no I will tell you :), bloging is not jsut just about blogging food that's what I have come to know, because I keep writing to you all about  my troubles too. When I joined this Eggless Baking Club I thought I will not hold them back, baked this cake as soon as possible but could not post it right on time.., As always left it right to the last, and when time to post it, It just happened very  simple because I could not sit in front of the comp because of severe cervical spondylosis., good luck to me, Hopefully, I will finish this post today completely.
Gayatri of Gayatri's cook spot started this Eggless baking and I joined in with her and she asked us to bake this Coconut cake and told me to do whatever I want with the main Ingredient that is coconut as a must and no eggs.., If you would like to join her in the venture drop a line to her.
If you are a regular reader of my blog you would have certainly noticed that I love baking eggless,  and here I go with my recipe substituting eggs. Bascially the cake had 3 eggs and the recipe was from indobase.

QUINOA - BARLEY EGGLESS COCONUT CAKE





INGREDIENTS:
100 gms Quinoa flour
100 gms Barley flour
40 gms Plain flour
3/4 th Cup Sugar
50 gm Butter
4 tbsp Coconut oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/4 cup Silken Tofu
1/4 cup Milk
4 tbsp Pineapple juice (optional otherwise use 1 tbsp Apple cider)
1 tbsp Vanilla sugar
80 gms Apple ( I used 1 apple peeled and cored)
100 gms (50-50 sweetened & unsweetned desiccated coconut)
80 gms Pineapple pieces (optional)

METHOD
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4/180-175 degree Celsius**
Grease a rectangular tin and line with a parchment paper
First of all take all the Dry Ingredients such as the flours, Baking soda, Baking powder and  salt, combine all of them well together, sieve it at least three times and keep aside.
Blend Tofu, apple and milk well, In a large bowl take melted butter and sugar cream them together until well combined to this add the blend tofu mixture, add vanilla sugar and combine them all well together.
Pour this liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and blend them well together, here add pineapple pieces ( I used tinned pineapple juice and pieces ) as always do not over mix the batter as it is an Eggless cake.
Pour this cake batter into the tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

**My oven is slightly showing different temperatures, so I usually bake my cake on Gas Mark 3, so My cake was white in colour, when I increased it a bit more it started giving colour to the cake, so it is better to know your oven and bake the cake.
Once baked take it out of the oven and leave it on the wire rack for 5 minutes then invert the cake on to the wire cake until it cools down, then turn it around and slice them into pieces and serve it.

The post Quinoa - Barley Eggless Coconut Cake for eggless Baking appeared first on My Veg Fare.

These Peppers were grown in my garden and they were so tasty too..

The post Green Peppers/Capsicum Rice with Oats, Linseed and Quinoa Powder appeared first on My Veg Fare.

BLACK CHANNA/KADALE KAALU USLI/ USAL/ STIR-FRY

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Black Channa/Kadale Kaalu/ Kaala Channa/ Black Garbanzo Beans
10 to 12 Sprigs of Coriander leaves
1/4 tsp of Asafoetida
3 to 4 Green Chillies
1'' Ginger piece
1/4 Cup Coconut
2 tbsp of Quinoa Powdered
Salt to taste

SEASONING:
2 To 3 Tbsp of Oil
few curry  leaves
1 tsp Mustard seeds

METHOD:
First of all Soak Black Channa  Previous night, as it needs at least 12 to 15 hours of Soaking time ( A tip my sister gave me was soak all these kind of Beans with a pinch of Baking Soda, it makes the beans soft and in the morning you can wash it 2 to 3 times to get rid of Soda).
In India people don't like to use Soda in the cooking, as it was known as not good for health, well, these days I use it a lot because of baking, that too when you are trying out Eggless baking!
Any ways coming back to the recipe....
Fry Quinoa in a dry pan for few minutes like it starts to change colour and starts spluttering, remove it aside and allow it cool
Meanwhile cook Black Channa with a tsp of Salt in a pressure cooker upto 3 whistles which makes the beans quite soft using water (This water need have to be thrown out as it will have nutrients, you can use this to make Rasam, Sambhar, gravies or in any other way which it can be substituted for water), The water should be soaking level of the beans.
Once everything is cool, drain the water and store it for future use and keep aside.
In a mixie Grind coriander leaves, ginger, chillies, asafoetida and Fresh coconut to a consistency where everything is grinded properly add little bit water if required not too much.

Take a wok/pan heat oil when it is hot add Mustard seeds, when they splutter add curry leaves and the grinded masala and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the cooked Black Channa or Kadale Kaalu to the wok and mix well with a little bit more salt (Remember that you have already used salt when cooking the beans). Once everything is well mixed add Powdered Quinoa mix well once again, close the lid and leave it for few minutes in a minimum flame, so the Beans observes all the Ingredients well, be careful that they don't stick to the pan/wok, sprinkle little water if so, that's it mix well and it is ready to serve now
Enjoy..
I would like to send this MLLA#31 started by Susan hosted by Simona of Briciole
I would also like to send this to CMT- KATHOL, Event hosted by Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore, brainchild of Jagruthi's.

The post Black Channa/Kadale Kaalu/Kaala Channa/Black Garbanzo Beans Stir-fry with Quinoa appeared first on My Veg Fare.

COULIBIAC WITH QUINOA, LENTILS AND VEGGIES

FOR THE PASTRY
250 gms All Purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp Sugar
75 gms Cold butter
75 gms Vegetable Margarine
4 to 5 tbsps of Cold water

INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING
1/2 Cup Puy Lentils
1/2 Cup Horse Gram/Kollu
1/2 Cup Quinoa
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Potato
1 Big Onion
2 to 3 Green Chillies
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
5 sprigs of Coriander leaves
2 tbsp Oil

METHOD:
Making the Pastry:
Sieve the flour with salt and sugar then cut the butter into the flour with a knife, Rub it in quickly like bread crumbs with your fingertips, The secret of light pastry is in keeping your pastry cool, If we use our palms of our hand the butter will oil and make the pastry tough. Use water 1 tbsp at a time, you may need more or less water depending on the weather and the dryness of the flour, Knead it into a soft round ball, cover it in a cling film and keep it in the fridge until you require it.

To make the filling:
Wash and Soak both the lentils before you start making the Pastry, Once done with pastry, put these lentils in one cup of water in a vessel and pressure cook them till soft ( 3 whistles), Drain the water.
Cook Quinoa in 1 and 1/4 cup of water with a tsp of oil in a low flame, stirring now and then they cook very well and fast. careful that you don't burn the bottom. Take it out and spread it out so the grains separate out.
Heat Oil in a wok add Chillies fry and then add Ginger-Garlic paste and then the chopped onion and sauté them till transparent, then add chopped peppers and sauté them till soft then add the cooked lentils, mix well then add Quinoa and chopped Coriander leaves and Salt as required mix well and close the lid, keep it in a low flame for few minutes so the mixture absorbs the salt.
Now the mixture or filling is completely ready, Keep it aside. Give time for it to cool.

To Assemble the Pastry:
Make 4 parts out of it, Keep the other three parts back into the fridge while you work on the first one, Make the dough into a rectangle spoon the mixture in the middle as shown in the figure, then cut diagonal strips in the pastry on each side of the filling to create a plaited effect ( I have not done a very good job as my kids helped me do it, they got bored and messed it up a little bit !!), I did not trim of any extra pastry that is why that odd look at the end, Brush the Pastry with milk and Bake in a Preheated oven 200 degree C (400d F)/ Gas Mark 6. until golden brown in colour.
If you do not want to make the pastry yourself you can use ready made Puff Pastry, which I used once and it was really beautiful to look at than this.

My kids loved it, and everything was gone.., I felt quite happy as I made them eat not too much butter (like used in Puff Pastry), they ate lentils and Quinoa.

I love to send this to Priya's CWF _ Quinoa event started by Kiran  thanks to both you, I enjoyed making and my family enjoyed eating it!!

This I would love to send to Hearth and soul volume #27 and Hope they like it.
I would also like to send this to MLLA #30 of Susan's hosted by Priya of  Mharo Rajasthan's blog

The post Coulibiac with Quinoa, Lentils and veggies appeared first on My Veg Fare.

QUINOA AND POPPY SEEDS POWDER

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp Poppy Seeds
2 tbsp Quinoa
2 tbsp Coriander seeds
2 tsp Channa Dal
1 tsp Urad Dal
Salt as Required

METHOD:
Dry Roast Poppy seeds and Quinoa until they change colour, and nice aroma comes out keep it is aside.
Again in the same wok with a tsp of oil fry the other ingredients with out salt and fry it well until they change colour.
Once they are cool grind them into a coarse powder in an air tight container.
You can use this stir-fry or dry curry recipes. It's a really good one and a keeper
This goes to Tried and Tasted event from Priya'seasyntasty reicpes hosted by PJ of seduce your taste buds, started by Zlamushka and is now taken care of by Lakshmi of Kitchen Chronicles.

The post Quinoa and Poppy seeds powder appeared first on My Veg Fare.

MANGO - QUINOA HALWA

The post Mango - Quinoa Halwa in Microwave appeared first on My Veg Fare.

I bought 2 avocados, thinking I will make Glucomole, As my daughter was pestring me to do so.., and cut it in half, but, it was too hard still, she just got upset and left it their, and then my hubby suddenly planned to take the kids to London, The one which was cut got ripened the next day, which I made into Avocado pulkas, the other one was also ripe and I was wondering what I am going to do with it!!, Flash !! came an Idea of baking a muffin, then I remembered Madhu's Quinoa event and Lo!!, here I made them into small cakes with my new tins!!, My friends who visited during the day, had a cake each and said it was absolutely gorgeous!!.
The best thing was even though the cake was heavy when I cut opened it, it was so tender, soft and beautifully textured, I was so amazed (only thing I did not like was the smell of Avocado baking!!!). I sure want to tell you guys you must try it definitely.
UPDATED : I had a friend telling she tried these but they were sticking on to the tin, so I tried them again, and I have updated the recipe... with more pictures hope it is helpful, I inserted the cherries inside the cakes to show that I have tried them again and has turned out perfectly well, This time I had no Quinoa flour so I slightly toasted the Quinoa in a pan and powdered it in my Indian Mixie and made a fine powder/flour out of it and that is what I have used it.

EGGLESS AVOCADO-QUINOA CAKES

The post Eggless Avocado-quinoa Small cakes appeared first on My Veg Fare.