Bakery Style Khara Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 250 grams All purpose flour (2 cups loosely spooned)
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 80 grams butter softened at room temperature (1/3 cup)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 green chillis chopped finely (adjust according to spice required)
• 2 -3 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves chopped
• 2 -3 table spoons yoghurt (2 tablespoons to start with and increase if necessary)
• 1/2 teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain/omam)

Procedure:

Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade/325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line your baking trays with grease proof paper or parchment. Or you may use an aluminium foil that has been lightly greased with butter.
Sieve the all purpose flour and salt together. Whisk that a bit to incorporate some air.
In a larger bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until light and creamy.Add to this, 2 tablespoons of yoghurt and cream further. Add the chopped chillis, carom seeds and the coriander leaves.

Now add the flour mix and with your hands gather the flour and creamed mixture. Handle the dough gently.

If it feels very dry add the extra 1 tablespoon yoghurt. The quality of the all purpose flour plays a role in the recipe so, depending on that you may require this extra yoghurt.
The dough will at no point be a wet dough. It has to be stiff and very lightly crumbly.

Roll the dough on a board and cut cookie shapes.

Place the shaped dough on the lined tray and bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the edges brown a bit.
Take them out once and re-position the cookies the down side facing up and continue baking.
Once done, cool completely and store in airtight jars.

Soon after the cookies are out of the oven, they tend to be soft. They acquire the crisp upon cooling.
These stay well at room temperature for four days and up to a week if refrigerated.

Dondakaya/Ivy Gourd Stir Fry

Ingredients:

1/4 kg Dondakayalu/Tindora /Ivy Gourds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
few curry leaves
1 large onion, finely sliced
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1/4 cup grated fresh coconut
salt to taste
 2 tbsps oil

Procedure:

Wash the tindora/dondakaya and cut and discard the tip and tail ends. Slice them into rounds and keep aside.

Heat a tbsp of oil in a cooking vessel, add the dondakaya pieces and saute on medium high heat for 3 mts. Now reduce to low flame, place lid, let it cook, approx 12 minutes. Keep checking in between, sauteing them so that they don’t burn. The sauteed tindora will lose moisture and begin to have a wrinkled appearance. Remove lid at this stage and saute on medium for 3-4 mins.

 While the dondakaya is frying, take another cooking vessel, add 1/2 tbsp oil, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add cumin seeds and curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. 

 Immediately add the sliced onions and combine. Add salt and turmeric pwd and mix well. Saute on medium heat for 5-6 minutes, keep sauteing so that it doesn’t burn. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 4-5 mts.

Add red chilli pwd and combine. Add this entire onion masala mixture to the almost cooked dondakaya. 

Add the grated coconut and combine. Cook on medium flame for another 10-12 mts, without lid. Turn off heat.

Serve hot with steamed rice.

Stuffed Gulab Jamuns

Gulab Jamun is deep fried sweet dumplings stewed in sugar syrup  and is liked by almost everyone.Stuffing it with a mixture of crunchy dry fruits adds a distinct flavor to the sweet. A little bit effort in making these gulab jamun balls by stuffing it makes it unique and special in taste.

Stuffed Gulab Jamuns.......

Ingredients:

• gulab jamun instant mix – 1
• sugar – as per mix instructions
• water – as per mix instructions
• cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
• Cashew nut - 2 tbsp chopped
• Almonds- 2 tbsp chopped
• Pistachios-1 tsp chopped
• Raisins - 2tbsp
• All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Oil for deep fry

Procedure:

Prepare sugar syrup as directed in the mix. Mix sugar and water  and then heat at medium heat for 8-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.Once the desired consistency is achieved, add cardamom powder and switch off.

Make the soft dough by adding  water into the instant mix. Set aside in a coved bowl for 15 mins.

Divide the dough into 3/4 inch portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. 

 Make a paste by adding raisins, all purpose flour, 1 tsp of sugar in a blender. Add in the chopped nuts. The raisin paste binds all these nuts. 

Make small dry fruit laddos as shown in the photograph of  about 1/2-3/4 inch. You can add extra flour to bind them if required.

Now the trick is to carefully stuff the dry fruit balls into the dough properly.
Grease your hands with ghee/oil, take a portion of dough in your palm and flatten it as shown.

 Carefully place the  small dry fruit laddo in the middle and seal it as shown. Gently roll the ball to ensure that it is smooth.

Prepare other stuff balls in the same procedure.

Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan.The Gulab Jamuns will rise slowly to the top.( The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.)

Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. 
Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup for atleast 3 hrs, for best results keep it for 6-8 Hrs.

Note :
If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.

If you dont have instant mix . you can follow the below recipe for instant mix

• Milk Powder – 1 cup
• All purpose flour/ maida – 1/2 cup  
• Baking soda -1/2 tsp 

Cake Pops - Kids Special

Ingredients:

• 1  box cake mix of choice, baked and cooled 
• 1/2 cup creamy frosting of choice
• 1 cup of choco chips or 1 bag of Candy Melts
• lollipop sticks/tooth pricks
• Colored sugars, nuts, sprinkles, pearls and other decorations

Procedure:

1. Cake pops can be made with any left over piece of cake or you can use a  cake mix and bake your cake as directed.
2. Once the cake is baked, allow the cake to cool. Put your baked cake in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to crumble the entire cake. Add 1/2 cup of vanilla / chocolate frosting to the crumbled cake. The frosting is what acts as a glue to hold the cake balls together.
3. Now its time to get dirty. Use your hands to mix the frosting evenly throughout the crumbled cake mix until the cake mix is well moistened. Your cake mix should be moist enough to shape into a large mound and keep its shape.
4. Roll your cake mix into 1 inch balls using the palms of your hands.
5. Now we prepare the chocolate shell. Pour a cup of choco chips/ candy melts into a microwave safe bowl. Follow the melting instructions on the package. Be sure not to burn the candy melts.You can also use cocoa powder  for making this.
6. Pull out your melted  chocolate and stir thoroughly with a spoon until COMPLETELY smooth. Little oil can be added to achieve the desired flowing consistency.
7. Now take a cake pop/tooth prick  and dip into the chocolate about 1 inch. And then place it into the center of your cake ball. This will act as a glue keeping your cake pop and stick attached. Then place your cake pop in the stand and refrigerate for 10-15 mins  to harden. Continue with the remaining cake pops.

Now you are ready to coat your cake pops in the delicious  chocolate. Try to do this as quickly as possible before the chocolate begins to harden and get lumpy.

Its time to make your pops look extra pretty. When the chocolate coating is wet , you can decorate it with different kinds of sprinkles, nuts, colorful M & Ms etc

 Refrigerate for 15 mins until the outer chocolate coating is dry and then you are done.

Garlic Rolls - Whole Wheat

Ingredients: 

For the bread:

• Whole Wheat Atta – 2 cups
• Warm milk – ½ cup
• Warm Water- 1 cup(varies depending on flour)
• Yeast- 1tbps 
• Salt - 1tsp
• Sugar- 2 tbps
• Olive Oil- 2-3 tbps

For the garlic spread (to crush):

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp garlic finely chopped and crushed cloves 
• 3-4  green chilies,finely chopped 
• 2 tbsp finely chopped coriander 
• Red Chill Flakes (Optional)

For the garnish:

• 1 tbsp white sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

Microwave milk for 30 seconds until it is luke warm to touch. Pour this into a wide bottomed bowl and add sugar, olive oil, salt and add the yeast  and mix thoroughly until dissolved. Leave this aside for 15-20 mins until the yeast mixture becomes frothy. If the yeast does not become frothy, please throw it and start the process again from the scratch. A compromise at this stage with inactive yeast would spoil all the bread and the flour wouldn’t  rise.

Frothy yeast after 15 mins.

Slowly add the wheat flour into it and mix well until you get a lump of smooth dough. Knead for 4-6 mins for soft bread.

Coat the dough with oil slightly and place it in the greased bowl.Cover with a lid and keep it in a warm place for 1- 11/2 hours until the dough almost doubles.You can either microwave for a minute and kept the bowl in it or keep it near a cooking stove.

Normal Dough

Dough that has risen after 1.5 hours

Meanwhile, mix in all the ingredients and prepare the Garlic spread.

After an hour or so, dust a clean platform with wheat flour. Remove the dough on the platform and knead it well for some time to remove the air bubbles. If the dough is too wet and sticky, some wheat flour can be added to make it manageable.

Divide the dough into two equal portions.Flatten one portion with a rolling pin to form a square of approx 1 cm thickness .Spread the garlic spread mixture in the center and roll it carefully to form a spiral.

 Cut into  portions to get  spirals.Repeat the process with the other portion of dough.

Place the spirals in the greased pan and keep them again in a warm place for 45 mins - 1 hour for the final rise.Spread the remaining garlic spread mixture over it and brush the top of the spirals with milk very gently and sprinkle white sesame seeds over the nicely risen spirals .

Before final rise.

After final Rise.

Keep it in preheated oven and bake them at 400F for 18-22 mins until the top portion of the bread turns slightly golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack and Enjoy your snack.

Incase the rolls become hard after sometime, microwave them for 20 sec.