Friday, July 30, 2010

Desi Chickpea Salad

Beat the summer heat with cold chickpea salad. Very easy to prepare recipe and needs few ingredients.
But why the name 'desi chickpeas' ? This is majorly cultivated in the Indian subcontinent and is otherwise called as 'kala chana' or' black chickpea'. There are 2 varieties of chickpea: Desi chickpea and Kabuli chickpea. The first variety is bit smaller,darker in color,rough and high in fibre content and low in glycemic index compared to the 'kabuli '.On the other hand, Kabuli chickpea are the regular type which are larger,light golden in color and much smoother than desi variety.

You need:

1 cup of desi chickpea / kala chana
1/4 cup of grated carrot
1/4 cup of shredded raw mango
1/4 cup of sprouts
2 tbsp of lemon juice
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 green chilly cut and split
Asafoetida or hing a little
salt to taste
1 tsp of oil

* Soak the chickpeas overnight and cook them well till soft. Drain excess water and transfer to a bowl.
* Heat oil in a small pan to splutter mustard seeds, add split green chilly and asafoetida.Switch off the heat and add the spluttered contents to the bowl of chickpea.
* Add carrot, mango and sprouts and squeeze the juice from the lemon and add salt.
* Give a big toss and voila the salad is ready.
* Salad can be chilled in refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving. This can also be served hot.


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Monday, January 11, 2010

Eggless - Fruit and Nut Biscotti



I always love to try baked recipes and me being a vegetarian, eggless recipes makes it real special. I generally replace eggs with flax seeds or apple sauce.These fruit and nut biscotti has full of heart healthy ingredients like cranberry, almonds and other mixed candied fruit and nuts that gives a delectable taste and festive gift idea. Unlike cookies, biscotti are baked twice to retain the crispiness. The ingredients I used are:

1 3/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of mixed candied fruits like pineapple,mango,peach,papaya
1/4 cup of cranberry
1/4 cup of roughly chopped almonds
1/3 cup of dark brown sugar
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of apple sauce
2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of powdered flax seeds
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of cardamon powder
1 tsp of nutmeg powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of baking powder




Preparation:

1. Warm 2 tbsp of water and soak the powdered flax seeds for about 5-10 minutes.

2. Keep aside 2 tbsp of flour to mix the dry fruits.

3. In a large bowl, mix butter,oil,sugar together until well blended.Mix in the vanilla extract, apple sauce, the flax mixture and beat well together.Combine, flour, baking powder and gradually stir all dry ingredients into the mixture.Stir in all the dry fruits and nuts by hand.

4. Make a dough out of the mixture and form a log. Flatten the top of log. Cover the log with cling foil and refrigerate for 25 -30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 300 degree F. Drizzle some olive oil to the cookie sheet.

6. Bake the log for about 35 minutes in oven or until light brown.Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.Reduce oven heat to 275 degree F.

7. Cut the log on diagnol into 3/4 inch thick slices.Lay on buttered or oiled cookie sheet.Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Cool after removing from oven for 10 minutes.







Note: If desired, dip one end or one side of the biscotti in melted chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden the chocolate. Pack some of the bicottis in colorful gift bags for a homemade gift.

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