Chai Spiced Mini Pumpkin Mini Bundts with glaze - #bundtamonth

This Diwali, I didn't get down to making any of the traditional goodies. And I managed to find a valid excuse. Being down with the worst cough episode of the year during the festive season is such a dampener. But when loving neighbours get you home-made goodies, you can't help but muster some enthusiasm and make some stuff that you can share with them. 

Since I've been eyeing these pumpkin-spice loaves for quite sometime, I decided to make them into mini-Bundts with a glaze that will go with these flavours. The Wilton Mini-Bundt tray is the cutest baking accessory, generously given to me by my friend, Preethi, and it always makes the prettiest little cakes. 

Pumpkin and the spices that go into making Chai Masala make a lovely pair. The fragrance and heat from the spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon add a lovely dimension to the bland sweetness of pumpkin. Use the darkest golden colour pumpkin you can find for this recipe. Remove skin, dice into small cubes and boil in some water till soft. Drain and blend in a mixer till you get a fine puree. This can be refrigerated until use. Use in cakes, muffins for moist cakes with minimal use of oil / butter. This recipe uses just 2 tbsp of oil and yet the cakes are extremely moist.

Recipe for Chai Spiced Pumpkin Mini Bundts

Makes 12 - 16 mini bundt cakes

Adapted from : An Edible Mosaic 

Ingredients

3/4 Cup pumpkin puree (explained above)

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp oil

1 1/4 C all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp dried ginger powder

For glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp milk plus some more if required

1/2 tsp cardamom essence or vanilla extract or orange extract

1 tsp Cointreau (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 175 C.
2. Using oil, grease the cavities of a mini-bundt pan or two mini loaf pans or a 7" round tin.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, eggs and oil.
4. In another bowl, with a whisk mix together all dry ingredients.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two batches. Incorporate well to make a smooth batter.
6. Fill 2 heaped teaspoonfuls per cavity or 3/4 filling each.
7. Bake mini bundts for 15-20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Mini loaf pans may take around 30 minutes and round cake tin around 45-50 minutes. Once golden brown on the top and a tester comes out clean, they are ready to come out of the oven.
9. Mix all ingredients for glaze with a spoon until it is of drizzling consistency. Add a few drops more milk if required.
10. When the cakes are still warm, drizzle over them.
11. Serve warm.

Wishing you and your dear ones a very Happy Diwali

I'm sharing this with Lora and Anuradha for their #BundtAMonth challenge Spicy November.

You can check the other lovely Bundts on their blogs.

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My Diwali Gift to you : Triple Decker Brownies

I was looking for something blow-your-socks off sinful to make this Diwali to take to a friends' place tonight and also for the kids in my complex for the Diwali Party. And thank you, Pinterest, for leading me to the right place. I found this piece of awesomeness on this blog and one look at her pictures is enough to set you drooling. 

I've baked brownies tons of times and they are the two go-to recipes you'll find on my blog. But this one is from another planet. Bottom layer of cookie dough, middle layer of Choco Cream cookies (Oreo / Dark Fantasy / Bourbon) and top layer of brownie. So, while this looks complicated, if you've baked cookies and any sort of cake or brownie, you can do this. All you need is to buy a few packets of Oreos or any other rich cream filled biscuits.

Recipe for Triple Decker Brownies / Oreo Brownies / Cookie - Fudge Brownies

Makes 16 pieces

Time taken : Prep time around 30 minutes, Baking time : 35 minutes

Recipe Source : What's Gaby Cooking

Ingredients

For the Brownie Layer:

150 grams unsalted butter (left on counter top or straight from fridge is also fine)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp coffee liquor or decoction

On medium heat, in a big saucepan, melt butter. Once slightly melted, take off heat and stir to melt it fully. Add cocoa powder, sugar and whisk well till incorporated.

Remove from the stove, it should not be too hot. Whisk in eggs quickly along with vanilla.

Finally add flour and salt, coffee liquor, whisk well - for 3-4 minutes and keep aside.

For Cookie Dough Layer :

100 grams softened unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar or powdered jaggery

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large bowl, using hand mixer, cream butter and sugars for 3-4 minutes.

Add vanilla extract, egg and whisk again for a minute or so.

Add the flour, salt and fold in with a silicon spatula.

In the end fold in the chocolate chips.

Oreo Layer : 

Roughly 20 Oreo or Dark Fantasy cookies, if you get double stuffed Oreos, choose those, with the Vanilla filling as the white stands out in the dark brownie. I used a mix of choco filled and vanilla filled cookies, but next time will stick to vanilla alone.

Assembly

1. Line a 9X9 inch pan with parchment or aluminium foil. Butter or grease with oil.
2. For Cookie Layer : Put the cookie dough on the greased lining of the tin and spread it well to the corners, in a uniform layer.
3. Oreo Layer : Place the cookies side by side covering the cookie dough entirely. Break the cookie in half, if you want to cover a little bit of extra space.
4. Brownie Layer : Top the Oreos with the Brownie batter smoothening it out right upto the edges with a silicon spatula.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until tester comes out clean.
6. Remove from over and cool outside removing it along with parchment / foil on a cooling rack - for one hour.
7. Cut into 16 squares.
8. Serve as it is, slightly warm or with vanilla ice cream.

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The perfect lunchbox and recipe for Spinach Pesarattu

On my Facebook page (Saffrontrail on Facebook) I decided to do a month long series of logging my kid's lunch box and a brief recipe for each of the things. It turned out to be very well received, much more than what I had expected. Taking that cue, I did a column on lunch-boxes for my monthly column in Sunday DNA. Here, I am sharing the same for those who missed it in the papers. I shall be happy to answer your queries in the comment section. 

Whether it is for adults, or kids, the lunchbox presents many dilemmas. What to pack, how much time to spend on preparing it, what will taste good a few hours after packing, what can be made ahead – these are the top questions about packing a proper lunchbox.

A packed lunch should be a portable, less-elaborate version of a lunch you would have at home and by that I mean, well balanced, hygienic and tasty.

Carbohydrates form the base of any meal. One can choose from wholegrain bread, rotis, pita bread, cooked unpolished rice, broken wheat, semolina, pasta, potato etc. Younger kids can do with white sandwich bread as too much fibre can fill them up quickly before they can consume the required calories. Wholegrain sandwiches, stuffed pita bread, fried rice with vegetables or chicken, broken wheat patties, semolina upma, pasta tossed with vegetables or in a salad, boiled potato or potato patties are some of the ways to build the carbohydrate component.

The box needs to have a protein component too. You could choose from chicken, eggs, beans, lentils, cheese, tofu, paneer, yogurt and nuts. Shredded lean chicken can be a part of wraps, sandwiches or pasta. A whole boiled egg, sliced in half and sprinkled with a pinch of salt and pepper makes the perfect addition to a kid’s lunchbox, and the eggs can be boiled the previous night. 

Cooked beans like chickpeas, black-eyed peas, dried peas, rajma can be mashed and added to vegetable patties or made into hummus for sandwiches. Cheese cubes by themselves or in sandwiches are a most popular protein option for kids. Tofu or paneer can be added to dry vegetable curries that can be used to stuff rotis to make a roll. Yogurt can be set in one of the smaller boxes and put in the fridge overnight to be carried in the lunchbox. This makes a good accompaniment to rice and broken wheat based dishes, if the commute is not too long and the workplace / school has a refrigerator. 

Nuts are a great snacking option, rich in a variety of vital nutrients – add this to your kid’s muffins or cookies and to your salad. Taking it in the lunch box is the best way to eat nuts while exercising portion control. Nut butters are good for spreading in sandwiches.

Since both adults and kids need to get five to nine servings of vegetables and fruit, it is important that the lunchbox has a couple of servings from this group. Whatever food is going into the lunchbox, make sure it is fortified with some vegetables (other than potatoes, which are starch component) – for example, green beans and peas in rice, cucumber and carrot sticks with hummus, red bell pepper and zucchini in pasta. Add some pomegranate pearls to raita or curd-rice, grated apples and pears in muffins, sliced banana in peanut butter sandwich.

Once in a while, surprise your kid with a homemade goodie like a cookie or any other treat.

Some sample lunchboxes:

·      Egg Salad Sandwich and watermelon cubes

·      Broken wheat vegetable pulao with plain yogurt or raita

·      Pita bread stuffed with shredded chicken with salad and apple

·      Buttermilk semolina upma with peas and almonds

·      Pasta with spinach and cheese or paneer and orange

·      Vegetable idlis with tomato-onion chutney and a boiled egg

Recipe for Baby Pesarattu with spinach

1. Soak 1 cup of whole green moong overnight. 
2. Drain the soaked moong and grind it with a cup of washed and cleaned raw spinach leaves, a small piece of ginger and ½ tsp of salt. This does not require to be fermented. Pesarattu can be made immediately after the batter is ready.
3. On a lightly greased non-stick tava, spoon out tablespoon full of batter with a little space in between the pesarattu, add a few drops of ghee or oil along the sides and flip when one side is cooked. 
4. You can sprinkle sesame seeds on one side while the other is cooking. 
5. Cook the other side similarly and serve with chutney or ketchup. 
6. If this dish is for adults, you could add a couple of green chillies while grinding the batter.

[originally published in the Sunday DNA - September 23, 2012]

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Khatti Meethi Kaddu Subzi : Punjabi style red pumpkin curry

There are some side dishes that make the calories of a poori worthwhile. Aloo subzi and Chole have always been my favourite accompaniments to this deep fried bread and this pumpkin subzi (curry) is a recent discovery. Tangy, spicy and sweet at the same time, it is a great way to make use of red pumpkin which is in season now. In Bangalore, we find the Disco pumpkin which are smaller in size, the Ironbark or the Japanese, all of which have a deep orange flesh. For this preparation, the former varieties are preferred over the yellow flesh pumpkin used for Olan like Koottu.

This is a Punjabi recipe shared by my friend, Kishi Arora of Foodoholics and this is the way her mom makes it. I think I have more or less followed the recipe she dictated to me on phone. We prepared this with Aaloo Bhaaja, Chole, Halwa and Poori for a perfect Navratri dinner. 

Khatti Meethi Kaddu Subzi / Sweet and sour red pumpkin / butternut squash
Time taken : Under 30 minutes
Serves 4 people

Ingredients
750 grams red pumpkin 
1 tbsp mustard oil 
Fat pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi seeds)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp amchoor powder (raw mango powder)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1-2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp crushed jaggery (or brown sugar)
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp salt or more to taste
Finely chopped coriander for garnish

Directions

1. Peel pumpkin and scrape out seeds. Cut into even sized cubes, about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch big.
2. In a wide wok / kadai, heat the oil. Add the asafoetida, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds. Once the mustard splutters, add the pumpkin cubes and toss well to coat with oil and whole spices.
3. On medium flame, cook the pumpkin for 5 minutes or so, then add all remaining powdered spices, including crushed jaggery, add 1/2 cup of water, cover and cook on low flame. This will take at least 15-20 minutes to cook. Keep checking every 5 minutes, if any additional water is required, adding 1/4 cup at a time, if necessary.
4. When cooked, you should be able to crush the pumpkin with the thumb with light pressure but the shape should be retained, and the whole dish should not turn into mashed pumpkin. 
5. Adjust the red chilli powder, jaggery and amchoor to suit your taste such that it is a good balance of spicy, sweet and sour. If the pumpkin is inherently quite sweet, you don't have to add much jaggery.
6. Garnish with finely chopped coriander.

Serve hot with pooris or rotis.

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Seven things to remember if you want to market via blogs

Off late, I receive at least half a dozen emails a week from PR companies or marketing teams, who have woken up to the blogging community as a cheap free and effective way of promoting their food product / beverage / restaurant. And 5 out of 6 get it wrong. At first, it would anger me. Now, it amuses me. I feel bad for the big brands who throw good money on bad PR, who more often than not, rub bloggers the wrong way. 

Dear PR Company, 
This one is for you on how to get it right with us food bloggers (or any blogger).

Seven things to remember if you want to market via blogs

What's in a name? Everything.
Most bloggers (except the anonymous ones, in case there are any) have our name revealed somewhere on our blogs. Spare a second to find it and get it right. Calling me 'Nandini' or 'Sangita' on the invite, isn't going to make me feel like reading any further. You aren't addressing me, after all. Some of you don't even bother with a name. It's just 'Dear Blogger' - that is a total fail. You are even worse than the ones who get the name wrong. 

Location, location, location
I have my location clearly mentioned in my blog. I live in Bangalore. And 50% of the times, I get invites for events in Bombay or Delhi or some other city. Dude, seriously, do you have *that* big a marketing budget, to fly bloggers to other cities? In these times of recession, I'm sure not! Then why not spend another second to verify location and send an invite only if the event is in my city.

The details
Don't be all mysterious in your mail. We do have other things to do than spend 10 minutes trying to decipher what is it that you are exactly trying to market to us. If it is a food brand that sounds baffling enough to masquerade like Viagra, you are not going to get a response. I understand confidentiality and all that - but some degree of clarity is surely required. 

Give us time
Believe me, I've got invites for events well after the event date saying please RSVP urgently and I've had to reply - "Sorry, I don't time travel well". Food bloggers are not utterly jobless people, even if you think that way. Most have a serious career, pursue hobbies, mind their kids, look after their family and blog in their spare time. Even if they would be interested in attending your event, they need at least a week's notice. Sending me a mail on the 20th October about a special cuisine week in your restaurant that is running from 13th October to 21st October is so not done. No one likes to be invited as an after thought. And that too, expecting an immediate RSVP. Sorry, no one is *that* jobless.

More details
In case you got the name and location right, and you were nice enough to contact us a week before the event, and you managed to get a 'Yes' from the blogger, please share other essential details like the exact venue, time of the event, the dress code and any other specifics that we need to know. A blogger friend who attended the launch of a certain beverage last week found herself in casuals when most of the (non-blogger) guests were dressed as though they were on red carpet. No thanks for the embarrassment.  

Transparency
Be honest about what you want from the blogger. Do you want him to tweet about the event / photograph the event and post on Facebook / write a post on her blog about the event / product. It's better than being all ambiguous and then you feeling all sore about having given a free meal for nothing in return. 

Lastly, some respect, please.
We are food-bloggers. We cook decently well. We eat out in restaurants regularly, pay our bills and leave a generous tip. Assuming that by throwing some free food and drink our way, you can get things done the way you want, is not the best way to go about it. Free food is NOT fees for a professional's service. The reason you are approaching me in the first place is that you realize that when I say a product / restaurant is good, the people who read my blog, follow me on Twitter or on Facebook will believe my word and be willing to try your product out. Since when does a free meal constitute as fees for a professional marketing service rendered? As a PR company, please realize you are the bridge between a food company / restaurant / brand and the blogger. It's a relationship that needs to be maintained if you are going to need foodblogs as one of your marketing arms. If you think foodblogs don't deserve the respect, then why bother with us anyway?


This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda
Theme : If I had the power to change something, I would...

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Saturday Dinner at the Raj Pavilion - ITC Windsor

When I received an invite for the 'Your Grill, Your Way' festival at Raj Pavilion at the legendary ITC Windsor, Bangalore, it was a tough one to turn down. We have some fond memories of dining at the ITC restaurants starting from the Pan Asian & Peshawari at the ITC Maratha in Mumbai to the Kababs & Curries at the ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad. They know their hospitality and they choose their chefs well, no wonder eating there is a near perfect dining experience.

Being a Bangalore newbie, this was my first time at the ITC Windsor, while the husband having lived here and been a regular in their restaurants, was just reminiscing about old times, not that much had changed. Raj Pavilion is their multicuisine 24 hour restaurant and the first thing that strikes you is the massive windows that open into the outdoors and the pool. I learnt later that this was inspired by the 100 year old glass house at the Lal Bagh gardens.

Their regular menu has some beautiful stuff from the Anglo-Indian cooking repertoire and items like the Southern Railway Mutton Curry that you rarely find in many other restaurants. 

Since we were there to try out their grill event, Chef Prashanth explained to us the marinades and rubs available that we could choose from and use on our choice of meat or vegetables. 

We started our meal with some battered and fried lotus root and coloured bell peppers. Crunchy and full of texture, it made the perfect appetizer.

S chose the grilled bhekti and basa, both in a mustard-garlic marinade. The fish were grilled to perfection and flaky, served with a lemon butter and barbeque sauce. 

Grilled Eggplant

Grilled Vegetarian Platter

I asked the chef to serve me a platter of vegetarian grills. My favourite was the stuffed grilled eggplant with bold mediterranean flavours, which I had a double serving of. The other interesting grill was cabbage leaf roll stuffed with mashed vegetables with creole spices. I intend to try this out at home soon. The stuffed bell pepper is always a good option to put on the grill but I didn't find the filling very interesting. There was also a grilled paneer but since I saved it for the end, it didn't taste that great. It is indeed too much expect that cold paneer taste good :)

There was also grilled corn on the cob served with butter of choice but after having eaten a bit of everything, I was already stuffed. The husband ordered a grilled chicken breast with a black pepper rub and he seemed to savour it in silence while I had a conversation with the chef.

While I had made up my mind to give dessert a miss in anticipation of the long hours on the treadmill to make up for all this, the phirni that made an appearance on the table was far too enticing not to try. It was creamy, light, just the right level of sweetness, in short-deliciousness out of an earthen pot. It was tough to stop at one spoonful. 

The serving staff also forced me to taste their best-loved item, the Windsor mousse convincing me that they will only get me a tiny portion and I'm glad I succumbed to the melt-in-mouth chocolatey goodness. I also had a taste of the creme caramel from a friend on the table and it was the perfect ending to a good meal.

I realised that the peace of the dining experience was enhanced by some good music which was playing all along, soothing without being an intrusion to a good conversation. The service was highly attentive, right from the personal welcome every guest got into the dining room to the grace with which it was served to us. 

I am told their Sunday brunch is highly popular because the guests can not only dig into the buffet spread and live counters but also sample stuff from any of the restaurants on the floor such as Dakshin, Royal Afghan and Dum Pukht Jolly Nabobs. But for my current fitness regime and training for a marathon, I would be here the very next Sunday :)

ITC Hotels know how to make you feel special, even over a dinner and no wonder we have celebrated most of our special occasions with them.

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Crustless Quiche using homegrown Swiss Chard

Crustless Chard Quiche 

There's something wonderful about quiches, they fit perfectly as a meal for any time of the day - be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. The only thing that probably deters people from making this is the mess (well, a little) of making and blind baking the crust and the quantity of butter that goes into it and the thought of burning all that butter off the next day on the treadmill. Well, may be that's just me but yes, if the crust is eliminated, the quiche becomes healthy, quick while still tasting delicious. It's also a great way to use up spinach, mushrooms, corn and bits of any cheese you may have in the refrigerator. 

Freshly plucked swiss chard

I used chard because they were just plucked that evening, all fresh and luscious green, you could by all means use spinach, or a combination of other greens and add any other lightly sautéed vegetables like zucchini or bell peppers to this. A spinach quiche is also the best way to make kids eat their greens up without much fuss.

Recipe for Crustless chard quiche 

Adapted from a recipe on Food.com

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil

3 cups of roughly chopped chard (include tender stalks too) or spinach

1 medium onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 medium sized eggs

3/4 cup milk 

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup cheese (grated or crumbled, as per the cheese used. I used fresh mozzarella, crumbled)

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp ground pepper

Handful of fresh herbs, finely chopped or 1 tbsp dried herbs (Oregano and thyme)

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 180C. Grease a 6" pie dish or a baking tin.
2. In a pan, heat olive oil. Add the sliced onions and garlic, lightly saute for 3-4 minutes on medium flame, until onions are soft. 
3. Add the chard or spinach and saute for 2-3 minutes until just wilted.
4. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, herbs well and add the crumbled cheese.
5. Transfer the chard mix from the pan into the bowl and mix with a fork.
6. Pour into the greased pie dish. Top with bread crumbs, more freshly ground black pepper and dried herbs and bake for 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out clean.

Serve with a salad for a light lunch. 

Crumbled feta pairs well with spinach and it's a classic combination in Greek cuisine. 

You can easily scale up the recipe and bake in a bigger dish with increased baking times. Leftovers make great breakfast, just microwave for 30 seconds or so before serving.

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