Choccy Melts

There's a new bookstore in my neighbourhood and being a bookaholic I had to visit....again and again and again. There was a time, not long ago (less than 2 years) when I would home in on the fantasy literature section, murmur a spell, make money disappear and the book/s appear. I'd amble towards the culinary division, gaze fondly at the dessert recipes and saunter back home. Now, I head first to the underage section, find something to occupy my daughter and head to the culinary section....they're on the same level ;) I've resorted to online shopping for fantasy fiction. (sigh!)

On one of those 'new-bookshop-has-to-be-visited' jaunts, I saw a new addition in the desserts section. I, It was titled 'cookie magic'. Obviously, I fell for the title, and the book was good too. Pages of simple recipes :)

Using the 'try-before-you-buy' axiom, I noted down the recipe for the cookie titled 'Choccy melts'.

I baked the biscuits and left out the chocolate drizzle. The cookies were a nice dark brown and crisp. Some of them were a bit hard....the thinner ones got a bit over-baked... thankfully, they didn't burn (phew!)

Ingredients:

Butter - 9 tbsp; room temperature

Icing sugar - 1/2 cup

Cornflour (cornstarch) - 1/2 cup

Cocoa powder - 1/4 cup (I used Cadbury's)

All purpose flour - (3/4 cup

I also added one tablespoon of Bournvita. This wasn't a part of the original recipe and you can definitely omit this.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celcius.

Beat butter till very soft and add all ingredients till it forms a dough. Used my hands towards the end to get the dough together and form a log or sorts. I chilled it for thirty minutes and cut the 'log' into discs, placed them on a cookie tray and baked for about 5 to 6 minutes. My biscuits were about an inch in diameter and I got lots of them...bite-sized snacks :)

For the 'melts', author recommends that you melt some chocolate (100gms) in a heatproof bowl set over a vessel with boiling water or use a double boiler (a 'milk cooker' with lots  of water does the trick) and drizzle over the cookies. 

 

 

 

These cookies are heading to Niveditha's 'Let's celebrate sweets- Chocolate' event at Veggie Hut and to 'Bake-off' at Versatile Vegetarian

Source: Cookie Magic by Kate Shirazi

Paneer-Potato Stuffed Banana Peppers (Stuffed Bajji Molagai)

Madras weather has been pleasant these few weeks and the city metamorphoses into a butterfly, with music, dance and drama lovers donning on their festival finery for the December 'season'. The sabha's also cater to the non-'season' participants.....literally. The hubs of art and culture are redolent with mellifluous notes and tantalizing aromas.

One such aroma that assailed me, as I buzzed past an auditorium, was that of molaga bajji (batter fried banana peppers). Spurred by a hedonistic urge, I picked up some of the peppers and headed home, only to be confronted by a dilemma. I don't like deep frying. It's not the calories, I don't like left over oil.

I remembered reading about cheese stuffed jalapenos and re-found them on Divya Vikram's Dil Se. I used paneer/cottage cheese and potato for the stuffing. 

Ingredients:

Banana Peppers/ Bajji Molagai - I used 4 (and got 8 'bajjis')

Paneer - 200gms (1 packet)

Potato - 1 medium sized, boiled

Salt - to taste

Mozzarella cheese - a little bit

Corriander leaves/ Cilantro - a little bit

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp

Pre-heat oven to 190C

Liquidize boiled potato and paneer with some salt to get a thick homogeneous paste.

Slit the peppers lengthwise and de-seed carefully. Wash hands immediately and apply a bit of oil. 

Banana Peppers - deseeded

Lightly oil the peppers and stuff the hollows with the paneer-potato paste, top with Mozzarella and cilantro.

Stuffed Peppers

Pop it into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and wait till it is ready to be handled. Serve with ketchup or eat it as it is. 

Ready, steady, Bite!

It was delicious. I have some of the potato paneer paste waiting for some peppers....and will probably make it again very soon!

Vazhaipoo Vadai - Banana Flower Fritters

Now that I'm here....where I didn't expect to be...I'm excited.

I love cooking, and look for interesting things to dish up and making everyday food interesting..... And so began my saga of raking food blogs to enliven and sustain various ventures in my kitchen.

My debut contribution will be banana flower fritters.

I've never had banana flowers in any form. I've bypassed the 'stuff' in markets and vegetable stalls, not because I chose to ignore it but because it never fell withing the radar of material I'd use. So why the change of heart?

We have plantain trees in our backyard and I'm attached to them since they seem to thrive with minimum fuss. The saplings were a gift and were planted when I was preparing to introduce my daughter to our world. I've been watching my DD and the trees grow and was thrilled when when I noticed that one of them was going to fruit. 

I watched and watched and watched. Green plantain leaves slowly unfurled to reveal a large burgundy coloured flower. The flower began to shed its petals (?) to reveal the fruit in miniature. My well meaning gardener, who wasn't aware that I would want a picture of the flower with its fruit on the tree for my soon-to-be-blog, brought me the flower and beamed with pride at having got the flower at the 'right' time. 

I proceeded to make the fritters. Why the fritters? Well having never had the flower, I felt it would be most easily appreciated in this form.

Ingredients:

Vazhaipoo (Banana flower) - 1 medium size

Kadalai paruppu or Channa dal - 1/2 cup

Ulutham paruppu or Urad dal - 1/2 cup

Payatham paruppu or yellow Mung dal - 1/4 cup

Red chillies - 3 to 4 (more or less as you like it)

Salt -  1 1/4 tsp (vary according to taste)

Curry leaves - 8 to 10 leaves 

Buttermilk - 1 cup

Asafoetida - a generous pinch

Oil for deep frying.

Wash and then soak the dals in warm water.

Peel the burgundy petals to reveal the florets, which are red/pink initially and become white as to remove layer upon layer. And when you can peel no more, you will find the heart, which is also edible. The outer 4 to 5 layers of florets need some more attention. A long stalk with a flat white bulb at the tip and a 'plasticky' sheath need to be removed - these parts are inedible. As you keep peeling the flower, the burgundy petals become pale and then white and the florets become more tender. The tender florets can be used as they are. Chop the florets. Wash thoroughly in water and transfer to a bowl of buttermilk diluted in two cups of water.

The florets

The dals should have just soaked, grind with red chillies, curry leaves and salt. Try not to add any water and keep the batter coarse but cohesive.

Drain the buttermilk and squeeze the banana florets to remove excess fluid. Mix into batter and add the asafoetida.

Batter - ready to use

Heat oil in a wok. Drop a pea sized bit of batter, if it rises immediately, its hot enough to fry the fritters.

Take a lemon sized ball and flatten it slightly on the palm of your hand and gently slide it into the wok. Turn the fritters to fry evenly on both sides. When the fritters are a nice golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and collect in a dish lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Continue till you've used up all the batter.

Eat the vadai when its hot to appreciate it. I got 18 vadais, which kept disappearing as I made them. The fritters were delicious by themselves and if I were to choose an accompaniment I'd make a spicy tomato chutney/ dip.

There was one flip side to this endeavour, I couldn't appreciate the flavour of the flower (if it has any). I'm all set to making other dishes with this erstwhile neglected element in my kitchen as my trees bear fruit.