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Chakli – whole wheat version

Twisting, turning, going round and round with a crunch in each bite – this is our majestic chakli.

Making the chakli is no joke but once you have mastered the art you are not going to stop. The chakli is going to make a permanent place for itself in your snack rack.

When you get a wholewheat chakli the benefits are going to double. No worries of refined flour. On the contrary this chakli has an equal balance of protein too in the form of besan (gram flour).

My mother-in-law got this recipe from some friend long time back and it has stayed with us since then. I won’t say this is a low calorie recipe but it does use a little less oil than the others. But there is no compromise on the crunch.

One cup of wheat flour and one cup of gram flour and in all this we add only two tablespoons of ghee. Apart from this is the unavoidable deep frying oil.

There are two parts to this recipe – first we prepare the flour and then we prepare the dough. The flour can be prepared and stored upto week in advance.

Here goes the recipe

Ingredients:

  • Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
  • Gram flour (Besan) – 1 cup
  • Sesame seeds (Til) – 2 tbsp
  • Ghee – 2 tbsp
  • Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
  • Salt – as per taste
  • Oil for deep frying

Method – prepare the flour

Sieve the two flours together.

Place the flours in a large soft piece of cloth and tie it up into a bundle. We need to steam this flour.

Place the flour bundle in a steamer and turn on the heat. Mark the time. From start to finish, this flour has to be steamed for 20 minutes.

As soon as the time is up, take out the flour. The flour would be hard and stiff.

Break it up as soon as possible and make a fine flour of it. Sieve it once again to get rid of all the lumps.

Allow the flour to cool. You can store this flour in this state for upto a week.

Method – prepare the chakli

Add the chakli flour to a large mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients except the oil of deep frying.

Adding a little water at a time, knead the flour into a soft dough.

Place the oil to heat. There should be enough to allow the chakli to float.

Fit the star shaped attachment to your chalk machine. (the one shown in the picture here)

This one will give you a hollow centre. If you do not have this one a simple star shaped one will also do.

Take your chakli machine and fill it with the prepared dough. Fill it upto an inch below the rim.

Now pressing the lever of the machine make spiral shaped chaklis.

When the oil is hot carefully slip the chaklis in. Let the chaklis cook on high flame for some time. When a little done, flip them over and lower the flame. This will ensure proper shaped and well cooked crispy chaklis.

If you add the chakli to cold oil the chaklis will break into pieces.

Prepare all the chaklis in a similar manner until you finish up the prepared dough.

Make sure to cook the chaklis once you have prepared the dough. DO NOT store the dough. Chaklis made out of stored dough do not turn out well.

Stir Fry for the Picky Eater

Stir fries are customized veggies that can be enjoyed by both children and adults. The seasoning may vary a bit but the result is a colourful dish that tingles the taste buds and fills you up in a perfectly healthy manner.

So when my fussy eater said that he could not have the veggies cooked for lunch, stir fries was the solution.

One minute he said no to veggies and ten minutes later he was munching on a bowl of stir fries.

Since I only had broccoli and green bell pepper that was what I stir fried. A few pieces of boiled and shredded chicken added the protien punch.

Seasoning was merely mustard sauce and crushed black pepper. The sea salt rendered a slightly different taste compared to refined salt. IMG_0522

This is how my stir fried went as follows –

Ingredients:

  • Broccoli – half cup
  • Capsicum – half cup
  • Shredded chicken – half cup
  • Mustard sauce – 1 tsp
  • Crushed black pepper
  • Olive oil – 1 tsp
  • Cumin seeds – half teaspoon (optional)
  • Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan.

Add the washed brocolli, cubed capsicum and shredded chicken.

Add the crushed black pepper, salt and mustard sauce.

Cook on high flame stirring continously. After all it is a stir fried dish.

Stir fry for five minutes before you turn off the flame.

By now the veggies will be a bright and attractive colour and when you bite into one you will feel the crunch.IMG_0519

Tranfer into a plate or bowl and munch your way to healthy eating. Pair it up with whole wheat pita bread to enjoy it all the more.

This was a basic stir fry. You can add veggies like yellow and red capsicum, cabbage, beans, olives, zuchini.

The more colourful you make it the more appealing it looks and tastes.

 

 

 

 

Vegetable Patties within Minutes

Easy, quick and delicious . . . Yes these are vegetable patties that were prepared in a hurry.

They serve as a yummy after school snack, meal starters or patties for burgers.

They are quick to make so let us get to the recipe quickly.

With the given ingredients I could make 5 decent sized patties.

 

 

Ingredients:

  • Potato – 1 medium sized
  • Carrot – 1 small sized
  • Peas – half cup
  • Onion – 1 medium size
  • Jeera – half tsp
  • Haldi – one fourth tsp
  • Chilli powder – as per taste
  • Salt – as per taste
  • Juice of one small lemon
  • Garam masala powder – one fourth tsp
  • Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp chopped
  • Oil – 2 tbsp + 2 for shallow frying
  • Rawa (semolina) for coating

Method:

Chop the potato, carrots and onion.

Heat oil in a kadai (wok).

Add jeera and turmeric.

When jeera is cackling add the onion. Cook till onion turns translucent.

Add the chopped potato, carrot and the peas.

Add the chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt.

Add a cup of water, stir the vegetables once and cover the kadai.

Allow the vegetables to cook.

When mashed return the kadai to the fire and let the vegetables cook a little more.

Stir frequently to avoid burning.

When the vegetables are mixed and come together in a ball turn off the heat.

Add the lemon juice and the coriander and mix well.

Allow to cool.

Take the rawa in a plate. Make small balls of the mashed vegetables and drop in the rawa. Roll it around to coat completely.

When well coated press between your hands to shape like a patty.

Heat oil in pan and shallow fry the patties in batches.

Serve with sauce, chutney or stuffed between a burger bun with cheese!

Enjoy it as you like it.

Sattu Paratha

Before the recipe a few notes and tips:

  • This is a Bihari dish and the sattu used here is roasted gram flour. 
  • The ingredient list may look a little too long but it contains of some very simple and everyday stuff that we always have at home. 
  • When preparing the filling, add water one tablespoon at a time. Too much water may make it sticky and difficult to handle. When you hold the mix in your fist it should retain the shape. 
  • Too dry a mix can cause the filling to break out of the dough while rolling.
  • Keep the dough on a medium soft side. This helps hold the filling inside the dough when rolling.

For an authentic Bihari meal, serve parathas with baigan bharta. Can also serve with pudina chutney, curd and pickle.

So let’s get going. 

If you enjoy the recipe please feel free to leave a feedback in the comments section and if you do not like it please be sure to leave a feedback. It will help me look into my mistakes.

Sattu Paratha

Spicy, filling and healthy parathas made with a filling of roasted gram flour and a range of spices.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time45 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Indian food, Paratha, Sattu
Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 2 cups Whole wheat flour
  • 2 tbsp Oil/Ghee
  • 1 tsp Carrom seeds

For the filling

  • 1 cup Sattu
  • 1 no. Onion chopped
  • 5-6 nos. Garlic cloves chopped
  • 1 inch Ginger grated
  • 1 no. Green chilli chopped Add more if you wish to
  • 2 tbsp Corriander leaved chopped
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • A pinch Asafoetida (Hing)
  • 1 tsp Carrom seeds (Ajwain)
  • 1 tsp Nigella seeds (Kalonji)
  • 2 tbsp Pickle masala with oil Preferably mango pickle
  • Juice of one lemon
  • Salt to taste
  • Ghee to prepare the parathas

Instructions

  • Mix the dough ingredients, add enough water to make a soft dough.
  • Mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Add 3-4 tbsps of water and mix well. When held in a fist, the filling should retain its shape.
  • Divide the dough into 12 lemon sized balls.
  • Divide the filling into 12 portions.
  • To make the paratha, dust the dough with dry flour and using both thumbs make a small cup shape.
  • Add one filling portion to the cup and seal the edges.
  • Roll out the dough with the filling.
  • Roast on a medium hot tava.
  • Flip over when bubbles appear on the surface.
  • Roast for another minute on the other side.
  • Add a tsp of ghee to the paratha sides on the surface. Flip
  • Cook till golden brown spots appear on both sides.
  • Repeat for the remaining dough and filling portions.
  • Serve hot.

Easy Cheesy Pasta

Pasta needs no introduction. It has become a part of almost all households. Children especially love this cheesy pasta. As an after school snack or a wholesome meal the pasta is always a hit.

The real pleasure is in watching those little ones open their eyes wide, give an extra-large smile and dive into the bowl of these extra cheesy pastas.

I have chosen the macaroni pasta but you can also go for ones like the shell or penne.  

The tricky part is the cheese sauce. The presence of onion helps prevent lumps to a great extent. Besides that, remember to remove the pan from the flame while pouring the milk. Use a whisk instead of a spatula to mix the milk evenly.

DO NOT add the salt to the sauce while cooking. Let the milk boil, the cheese melt in it and reach the right consistency. When you are assured that it requires no further cooking remove the cheese from the flame and add the salt.

REMEMBER we are dealing with milk products here and hence the extra caution. Salt, when added to the milk or the sauce while cooking, may cause it to curdle. And this I tell you from experience.

Here we have the recipe for making the easy cheesy pasta.

Cook like a Pro

Ingredients:

  • Macaroni pasta – 1 cup 
  • Onion – 1 medium sized, chopped
  • Whole wheat flour – 1 tbsp
  • Milk – 1 cup
  • Cheese – 1 cup grated + ¼ cup for topping
  • Cooked chicken shreds – 1 cup (optional)
  • Olive oil – 1 tbsp
  • Dry basil
  • Pepper
  • Salt

 

Method:

In a large dish take 4 cups of water, half a teaspoon of salt and set it to boil. When it starts boiling add the pasta to the water and stir well. Make sure you have stirred all the pasta in the dish and none remain at the bottom.

If pasta is not stirred well, some will stick to the bottom of the dish.

Cook for around 5-8 minutes. When half done turn off the heat and cover the dish. The heat inside will help the pasta cook.

 

 

Now the sauce –

Heat the olive oil in a thick bottom pan.

Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. The onion should cook till soft NOT brown.

Add the flour to the onion and cook. The flour will be done when it stops smelling raw, just a couple of minutes.

Now it time to pull up your sleeves and get ready for some quick action. You need to add the milk to the pan and prevent lumps from forming. Follow these steps and you will get smooth creamy sauce:

  • Grab a whisk
  • Remove pan from fire
  • Holding pan with one hand pour  ¼ of the milk and immediately stir the ingredients. If you prevent lumps at this stage you are through.
  • When you know the all the flour is mixed in the sauce pour the rest of the milk, stirring continuously.
  • Return to flame and cook.

When the milk is about to boil add the 1 cup grated cheese and stir well.

The sauce should be cooked for a couple of minutes but not allowed to boil.

Add salt and pepper and stir once again.

Let’s go back to the pasta –
remember we had left it in the bowl with the water?

Reserve a cup of the water and drain the pasta. We might need this to adjust the sauce consistency.

Pour the pasta in your serving dish. If you are adding chicken add at this stage.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and mix well.

The ¼ cup grated will now be used as topping. Cover the top of the pasta and sauce with grated cheese and dry basil.

When ready to eat just put it in the microwave for 2 minutes and you will have a hot cheesy pasta meal ready.

Grab your spoons and dive in! SLURP! SLURP!

 

 

Fox Nut, Do We Know You?

How many of us have had this nut? I am sure all of us. However, not all of us know that is called a Fox Nut.
Strange right? Has no resemblance to a fox or a nut and yet it is called the Fox Nut.
We call it Makhana in hindi. Yes, our very own humble makhana. Makhana is a nut and the seed of the lotus.
Mostly found in Asian countries the health benefits of the makhana are many. Sadly it is a much ignored food item that mostly comes out during fasts. It is time we gave the makhana a little more importance and made it part of our daily snack list.
When cooked with butter the fox nut can serve as an excellent snack for children. The crunchy-munchy tasty nuts are far better than the popcorn too.

Pack a powerful snack

Health benefits of makhana are many. But what are these benefits? Let us take a look at them.
• Low in sodium and high in magnesium and potassium; this means these nuts are friendly to those suffering from heart diseases, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
• The astringent properties of the lotus seeds are beneficial for kidney health.
• Fiber rich foods are good and going by that principle the makhana is definitely one of the best food ingredients.
• Kaempferol is a natural flavonoid which prevents aging and inflammation and the fox nut is one good source of this flavonoid.
• Our humble makhans is low on glycemic index too and that makes it a dieters’ choice. Grind it and add to the roti flour and give your rotis a nutritious kick.
• Easily digestible 9.7 percent protein in one serving of makhana is yet another point in its favour.
Ways to have Fox Nut

Ways to consume fox nuts
The simplest way to have the makhana is as a snack. Two cups of makhana roasted in two tablespoons of ghee and sprinkled with seasoning. Enjoy a hot cup of tea with this crunchy snack.
For children, replace the popcorn with fox nuts. Children might find this name to be interesting as well. Roast the makhana in butter to bring about the buttery flavour of popcorn.
As a main dish we can prepare makhana sabzi. Team it up with paneer, peas or any other vegetable. Make a rich narvratna sabzi by adding makhana to the recipe.
Fox nut can be served as desert too in the form of makhana kheer. While makhana and rice serve as the main ingredients add other nuts like cashew, blanched almonds, pistachio and raisins to prepare a royal treat.
One simple ingredient found underwater – the fox nut or makhana. From snack to desert we can savour it in multiple ways. Include it in your daily diet to experience the benefits.

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