Whole wheat biscuit

Hello everyone, 

Whole wheat biscuits are crispy with nutty flavor. I used organic brown sugar to prepare this biscuit. It is an eggless biscuit so I used extra butter to get the desired texture and taste. These are very easy to make with simple ingredients which we have in our pantry. 

I always need a biscuit to dip in my coffee. Me and SV tried avoid added sugar for a month. I was craving for some biscuit or cookie for my daily coffee. Almost all the cakes, cookies and biscuits we buy from store are made of refined wheat flour(maida/all purpose flour) and refined white sugar. I wanted to try baking biscuits which are healthy so I baked these with whole wheat flour and organic brown sugar. Of course, this recipe has added sugar but it is far better than regular refined sugar. This turned out to be very crispy and delicious. 

Here is the recipe.   

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Milk - 2 tbsp

Butter - 1/3 cup(room temperature)

Chopped cashews - 2 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degree F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. 

2. In a large bowl mix butter and sugar together with the help of hand mixer or whisk. Combine well and keep it aside. 

3. In another bowl mix wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. 

4. Slowly add wheat flour mix to the sugar and butter. Combine well.

5. Add milk and chopped cashews. Mix well to form a firm dough. 

6. Flatten the dough and roll it to 1/4 inch thick using rolling pin. 

7. Cut them into small round shapes. Make a pattern on top.

8. Place the cut dough on a lined baking tray. Bake the biscuits for 18-20 mins.  

9. Let it cool down completely to get crispy biscuit.  

Notes:

1. Replace brown sugar with Jaggery if you do not have brown sugar. 

2. Store in an air tight container so that it lasts for at least 3 weeks. 

Butter Muruku

Hello everyone,

Butter Murukku is called as Benne muruku(Kanada) or Vennai muruku(Tamil). This crispy muruku is made with rice flour, gram flour and of course butter :). It is usually made during the festivals like diwali and janmashtami. 

I tried to make butter muruku soon after we shifted to US. To my surprise it turned out very crispy and tasty. My husband wanted me to make again to share with his office friends. Since then I follow the same recipe to make it.  

Ingredients:

Rice flour - 3 cups

Besan/Gram flour - 1/2 cup

Roasted gram flour - 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Hing  - 1/4 tsp

Salt as needed

Butter(room temperature) - 2 tbsp

Water as needed

Oil for frying

Method:

1. To make roasted gram flour Take 2-3 tbsp roasted gram in a mixie and grind it to fine powder. Roasted gram flour is ready. 

2. In a mixing bowl, take all rice flour, gram flour, roasted gram flour, cumin seeds, hing, butter and salt. Butter should evenly mix with the flour.

3. Add water little by little and knead the flour to a smooth and tight dough. 

4. Use the star shaped plate to make butter muruku. Grease the muruku maker with oil. 

5. Fill it with prepared dough and tighten the lid.

5. Heat oil on a medium flame to maximum temperature. Squeeze it directly in the hot oil. Flip the muruku to cook on both the sides. Cook until golden brown and drain it in tissue paper. 

6. Allow it to cool down and store it in an air tight container. 

Notes:

1. Do not squeeze more and over mess. Muruku will not be cooked properly. 

2. Make sure the dough is not too soft otherwise muruku will absorb more oil.

Rava Semiya Paniyaram

Hello everyone,

Rava Semiya paniyaram is an easy snack or tiffin which is made by adding onion, carrots and other spices to the rava semiya batter.

We usually make Paniyaram or paddu with idli/dosa batter. If we are out of dosa batter, we have the option of making rava semiya paniyaram. This instant paniyaram is easy to make for kids lunch box.

 

Usually only rava is used to make instant paniyaram but adding semiya will give a nice taste and texture.

 

My MIL read this recipe in some magazine. She said she tried without any spice or masala and it came out well. 

My son likes carrot in everything. I tried adding onion and carrots and it turned out really yumm :)

 

Ingredients:

For batter:

Rava - 1 cup

Semiya - 1 cup

Curd/Yogurt - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup+ 1 cup

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves

Oil as needed for roasting

 

For the masala:

Oil - 2tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1tsp

Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Urad dal - 1tsp

Chana dal - 1tsp

Green chili - 1 or 2 finely chopped as per spice level

Ginger - 1tsp grated or crushed

Curry leaves -few chopped

Hing - a pinch

Onion - 1 cup finely chopped

Carrot - 1 cup grated

Salt - a pinch

 

Method:

1. Dry roast rava and semiya for about 1-2 mins or until it is hot.
2. In a large bowl, add rava, semiya, curd and  1 cup water. Mix well and let it rest for 25mins.
   
3. In the mean time, prepare the masala for the paniyaram. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds.
4. When it splutters, add cumin seeds, urad dal, chana dal, green chili, ginger, curry leaves. Fry until dal turns golden brown.
5. Add onion, sauté until it is translucent. To the onion, add carrot and sprinkle some salt. Sauté for a minute and switch off the heat.
   
   
   
6. Transfer the prepared onion carrot mix to the paniyaram batter. Add some salt, coriander leaves and mix well.
   
7. Further add 1 cup water to adjust the consistency.
8. Heat paniyaram/appe pan, add few drops of oil in the holes.
9. Fill each hole with prepared rava semiya paniyaram batter. Simmer and cook until the base turns golden.
   
10. Flip it over and cook on the other side. Simmer again and cook until golden brown.
11. Rava Semiya Paniyaram is ready to serve with any preferred chutney

Ribbon Pakoda

Hello Everyone,

Ribbon Pakoda|Robbon Muruku|Nada|Ola Pakoda is an Indian snack prepared during festivals days especially Diwali. It can be made using rice flour, gram flour and roasted gram flour or only gram flour or rice flour and roasted gram flour or rice and gram flour. If you want to retain the crisp for more than a week, I would suggest making it with rice flour, gram flour and roasted gram flour.

All three flour is mixed with water to form a dough and then pressed in oil using muruku maker.

Ingredients:

Rice flour- 3Cups

Gram flour/Kadala Maavu/Besan - 1 Cup

Roasted gram flour - 1/2 Cup

Hot Oil - 1tbsp

Melted Butter - 1tbsp

Hing a pinch

Red Chili Powder - 1tsp

Salt and Water as required

Method:

1. In a bowl, take rice flour, gram flour, roasted gram flour, hing, red chili powder, salt, hot oil, butter and mix well.
2. Add water little by little and knead the dough using hand to make a smooth, non-stick and soft dough.
3. Fix the muruku maker with ribbon pakoda mold. Grease the muruku maker with oil.
4. Heat oil in a Kadai.
5. Fill the muruku maker with prepared dough. Close and tighten the muruku maker.
6. Press the dough into the hot oil by moving the hand in circular way.
7. When the bubble reduces, flip the muruku and cook until the bubble stops or until it is crispy in both sides.
8. Drain them in a paper towel. Server with hot coffee or tea.
9. Store in an air tight container to retain the freshness.