Eggless Pancakes

This blog would not exist if it weren’t for my mother whom I fondly call “Amma”, not because she gave birth to me but because the reason of making me a food geek. My mom was the first of my many food idols. From her, I gained a deep inspiration and abiding love for magically transforming raw ingredients into mouthwatering feasts. She could easily prepare a feast for a big crowd with a broad smile in her face. This explains why lunch/dinner parties can’t hold a flame to my mom.

My fondest childhood memories are of me shadowing my mom around the kitchen as she finely used to prepare dinner after a long tiresome day. I mastered the art of lingering next to her chopping board when she was cutting my favorite foods. I’d sigh, roll my eyes casually tell her that I am direly hungry that my stomach was digesting itself. Despite of her being super hungry, she would first feed me with a smile that I greedily used to gobble up.

These days I smile when I find my kids secretly trail her in the kitchen when she prepares family meals. Here’s wishing HAPPY MOTHERS DAY to my AMMA.

Nothing says Mother’s day like sleeping in and breakfast in bed! If your kids are like mine, they wake you up at dawn are full of energy and ready to start the day. Although this early rising motivates to get a good head start for the day, it definitely is always a treat to sleep in. What a better way to wake you up with a cup of hot filter coffee and warm breakfast in bed made by your adorable kids and loving husband. This was my perfect Mother’s day! They made some delicious pancakes with warm butter and topped with maple syrup. I clearly remember this amazing sweet smell.

These pancakes are

Fluffy

Light

Tender

Perfectly sweet

Hearty

Satisfying

Simple

And Fast.

So here’s the recipe for Eggless pancake.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour	1 Cup
Unsalted butter	2 Tbsps.
Baking powder	1 1/2 Tsp.
Baking soda	½ Tsp.
Salt	½ Tsp.
Buttermilk	1 Tbsp.
Sugar	3 Tsps.
Milk	1 Cup

Method:

In a medium sized bowl, combine all the dry ingredients first.

 Then add milk, buttermilk and melted butter.

 Mix the contents really well.

 Now heat a griddle on medium heat. When the griddle is nice and hot, add a little nonstick spray to your griddle and pour the 1/4th cup of batter.

 Pancakes are ready to flip when we see bubbles in about 2 minutes if cooking on medium heat.

 Let the other side brown, then transfer to a plate and serve with warm butter and syrup!

Tips:

Transfer the batter to a large cup; it will be easier to pour.

If you think the batter is too thick, add just a little bit of milk to thin it out.

Walnut Pesto Pasta

The other day I was wandering through the produce section at our local market, and stumbled upon “fresh basil”. It was gorgeous and the scent was intoxicating. I almost believe that fresh herbs can elevate anything and everything. They can rejuvenate a boring recipe with just few chops. Since I was dreadful of missing my flavors that I had experienced in Naples, Italy, I decided that the best thing was to use fresh basil, instead of the dried version.

 There was something about enjoying food in Italy…the amore song, juicy cherry tomatoes and garden fresh basil leaves with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. We are now very careful in selecting the type of restaurant that we go to, as we make sure that kids would have something to eat. But our trip to Europe was at a time when we didn't have kids – so we were able to try and enjoy all types of restaurant and food – from street vendors to fast food to fine dining.

Since my husband and I are big time foodies, we wanted to recreate those good moments spent in Italy. 

         

For those of you unfamiliar with pesto, it is an uncooked sauce made of basil, Parmesan, olive oil and pine nuts. It perfectly showcases ever-abundant summer basil, is extremely flavorful and quick to make and best of all, it just requires a quick mix in the food processor-no heat needed. It is traditionally served over pasta or a spread on toasted bread as an appetizer. The traditional pesto recipe uses pine nuts, but since my family loves walnuts, I added it as a substitute.

I think you guys are going to LOVE this pasta. It’s

Super Flavorful

Savory

Fresh

Simple

Satisfying

Eat it hot, eat it cold or eat it lukewarm-It’s still delicious. This makes perfect for picnic and road trips.

Enjoy with this song as we did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69O4PXzAQ5Y.    

So here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

Penne pasta	200 grams
Olive oil	2 Tbsps.
Cherry tomatoes halved	10
Salt	To Taste
Crushed red chilies	½ Tsp.
Milk	1 Cup
Walnuts Crushed	8-10
Basil leaves	¼ Cup
Garlic cloves	3-4
Parmesan cheese	4 Tbsps.

Method:

Mix basil, olive oil, walnuts, garlic, salt and parmesan cheese in a food processor.

 Mix until it is thoroughly combined into a fine puree. Add parmesan cheese and blend for 5-10 more seconds. Now you have your pesto ready. Transfer the pesto to a large bowl using a spatula.

Take a medium pot, and add water and salt. Bring it to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain the pasta and add some olive oil to prevent sticking to each other.

 In another nonstick pan, add olive oil, cherry tomatoes and salt.

Cook the tomatoes on low flame with a lid until they become soft.

Once the tomatoes have becomes soft, add walnut, pesto and crushed red chilies.

Next add the cooked pasta and toss them well until the pasta gets a nice pesto coat.

Add milk and cook for 3-4 minutes.

 Switch off the flame and add remaining parmesan cheese.

Instant Rava Dosa

Rava dosa is one of the most popular breakfast items in South India. It also happens to be the most ordered recipe at any South Indian restaurant. Whenever we go to a south Indian restaurant, we never fail to order Rava dosa. A plateful of lacey textured crunchy Rava dosa paired with coconut chutney and sambhar is something one can dream for starting the day. Normally in a week for a couple of days, fermented dosa batter will be in stock at home. When I run out of fermented batter, instant Rava dosa comes to my rescue.

To prepare such instant Rava dosa, you need to make sure that your hunger pangs are not roaring high and you have enough time to cook it slowly to a paper like thin texture.

Among Rava dosa, my family loves the Onion Rava dosa. The juicy and succulent onions that you bite in between lends to a sweet tinge, while it is mildly spicy and flavorsome from the green chilies and the whole spices that we add to the batter. When I make it for my kids, I leave out green chilies and ginger, but still the whole spices make up for the flavor.Recipe inspired from Vahrevah

Let’s see how it is made:

Ingredients:

Semolina(Rava)	1 Cup
Rice flour	1 Cup
All-purpose flour	½ Cup
Finely chopped green chillies	1
Finely chopped ginger	1 inch
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Crushed black pepper	½ tsp.
Salt	To taste
Chopped onions	If desired
Oil/Ghee	2 Tbsp.
Water	4-5 cups

Method:

Take a large mixing bowl. Add all the dry items on the ingredients except oil and water.

 Mix well .

Add water to make a very liquid and runny batter consistency similar to buttermilk

 Heat a flat non-stick pan on medium flame and let it get hot. Then add chopped onions.

 You should be able to hear a sizzle. Onions act as a non-stick agent. So it’s preferred to be added first. Then hold the batter bowl on one hand and with the other hand scoop some batter in fingers and quickly sprinkle it on the pan from a height.ghee/oil over the dosa especially over the holes.

 Repeat it 2-3 times so that a dosa with connecting holes like a lacey texture is formed.

 Now pour ghee/oil over the dosa especiallly over the holes. Ghee gives a nice roast and taste to crunchy dosa. Cook on medium-high flame till it is golden in color and crispy in texture. No need to flip it. So fold it and transfer to a plate..

Serve it with piping hot sambhar and coconut chutney.

.

Tips:

·         Make dosas immediately after you make the batter. The rava in the batter will keep absorbing water and the more you rest the batter, the more thick it will get.

·         Make sure that the dosa pan is hot and we need to hear the sizzle when you sprinkle the batter.

·         Wait until dosa is completely cooked and all browned. Trying to remove dosa too soon will only break it.

·         If the batter becomes thick, dilute with enough water and adjust the salt.

·         Since the batter is very thin, the water will stand on top and all the main ingredients will settle at the bottom. So, mix the batter from the bottom every time before you make dosa.

After one dosa is made on the pan, before pouring the batter for the next, just wipe again with a kitchen tiisue.

Onion-Pepper Focaccia with a Hearty Minestrone soup

I had something on my meal plan tonight but I wasn’t in the mood to make it. What I really wanted to bring to my table was an Italian meal that my family loved. Since I had everything that I needed to make, I decided to go ahead with a hearty warm Minestrone soup with Onion-Pepper focaccia bread. Life’s boring if you never go off the plan, that’s for sure.

Anyway, I chose from various internet recipes for the soup with the availability of ingredients on hand and just messed it with it fair amount to make it Aromatic Happy home. So I decided to make use of chickpea in lieu of cannellini beans and macaroni pasta coz that’s for sure easily available in a toddler’s home. Otherwise, I mostly just modified things to be a little simpler and work with what I have (plain water instead of vegetable broth)! The result was a thick hearty, perfectly delicious soup for a cold fall night.

Meanwhile, for the bread, we really enjoy focaccia bread at Sweet tomatoes. Both my sons are big time bread lovers. Ever since I found the recipe from http://cookclickndevour.com/herbs-and-onion-focaccia, I wanted to try it out. I thought the best way to pair it was with a warm soup. So here it is, I just modified it to add peppers. And, omg, you guys! It’s SO good. My kids went nuts for it, and they jokingly tried to steal pieces from each other.

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

Olive oil	1Tbsp
Chopped Onion	½ Cup
Peeled diced carrots	½  Cup
Diced Roma tomatoes	2 Cups
Fined chopped French beans	½ Cup
Canned Chick peas	1 Cup
Finely chopped spinach	1 Cup
Finely chopped fresh basil	1 tsp
Dried Italian Seasoning	1 tsp
Garlic powder	1 tsp
Uncooked Elbow macaroni	¼  Cup
Freshly coarse ground black pepper	1 tsp
Water	2 cups
Parmesan cheese	For topping

Method:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onions and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until just lightly browned.

Add water, carrots, French beans, chickpea, basil, dried Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, tomatoes and garlic powder.

Bring to boil and reduce the heat, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add macaroni cover and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Adjust spices to suit your taste. Serve hot with some parmesan cheese.

Onion-Pepper Focaccia

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour	1 ½ Cups
Rapid rise yeast	1tsp
Salt	¾ tsp
Warm water	To knead
Sugar	2 tsp
Thinly sliced Onion	½ Cup
Thinly sliced bell pepper	½ Cup
Dried Italian seasoning	1 tsp
Olive oil	3 tbsp

Method:

Proof the yeast by combining it with 1/4th cup warm water and sugar. Stir gently to dissolve.

Let stand for 3 minutes until foam appears. Take all-purpose flour and salt in a bowl.

Add olive oil and mix well.

 Add the yeast mixture and mix well. Now slowly knead the dough and add more water if needed. Form the dough into round and place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat the entire ball with oil so that it doesn’t dry out.

Cover with a plastic wrap in a warm place until it doubles in size, for about 1 ½ hours.

Once the dough is doubled, turn it on the counter.

Roll and stretch the dough into a rectangular/square shape about ½-inch thickness. Lay the flattened dough into a baking sheet and cover with a plastic wrap.

 Let it rest for 1 more hour for second rising. After an hour, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Uncover the dough and dimple with your fingertips. Brush the surface with more olive oil and spread sliced onions, bell pepper and salt and sprinkle the Italian seasoning as needed.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the edges turn golden. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, slice, and serve warm.

Tips:

·         If you have half of the baked loaf leftover, you can refrigerate or freeze it. First, wrap it tightly in a plastic wrap, then in a foil. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days and in the freezer for a month.

·         Day old bread can be toasted and used as croutons.