Eggless Conchas, Mexican Sweet Bread

          This month, for the Eggless Baking Challenge, Gayathri had chosen these lovely Conchas, Mexican Sweet Bread ( Pan Dulce ) Or Rolls. The name ' Conchas ' is because of the appearance, they look like sea shells, it's basically bread rolls, covered with sweet, buttery dough on the top, which is marked with lines, to make it look like shells. The sweet coating can be plain sugary dough or chocolate, can be colorful, using food colors or as in the recipe, using natural dried fruits which gives a nice color, flavor and taste to it. The original recipe uses about 5 eggs and gives you 16 conchas, I have halved the quantity and made 8 conchas and I have used just curd/ yogurt as the egg replacer. I have used cocoa powder on 4 of the shells and dried cranberries on the other 4, we liked the cranberry topped conchas more than the chocolate ones, the reason being, the dried cranberries has some sugar in it, which made the sweet topping a little more sweeter and not too dry. Next time, when I use cocoa powder, I am going to add another teaspoon of sugar, which would make the dough easy to spread and also make it more tastier and also I am going to try with the other dried fruits like blueberries, raspberries or even with dried pineappple, mangoes too..

Aloor Dum, Potato Curry

          After seeing the combination of Kachoris and Aloor Dum ( popular Bengali dish ) in many blogs, I had wanted to try it, but kept putting it off for one reason or the other. And then, last week , I saw these kachoris with aloor dum in a cooking show, and I couldn't wait any longer to try it. I made Radhaballabhi kachoris ( obviously my next post ) along with Aloor Dum, though I made it as an evening snack, we can have this for a weekend breakfast or brunch. I already have a post for Dum Aloo in my blog, a very rich almond-yogurt based curry, but this one is a very simple dish, but very tasty in its own way and a perfect side dish for the kachoris. We just loved this curry and it would go very well even with regular pooris and rotis too..

Aloo Parathas, Flat Breads With Potato Filling

          While going through the list of parathas that I have posted in the blog, I found that I have missed the most popular Aloo Paratha/ Flat Breads With Potato Filling. This is one of the most easiest parathas and the filling is mashed potatoes mixed with spices. It's not only very tasty and easy to make, it's also easier to roll out these parathas because of the smooth texture of the mashed potatoes. It's very filling, there's no need for any side dish, it just tastes great with some curd/ yogurt and pickle..

Summer Coolers

          It's summertime, and most of us are inclined more towards juices, lassis or something cold, rather than having spicy and heavy meals. Here is a compilation of delicious summer coolers that I have posted in my blog..

Okra And Peanut Curry, Bhindi, Vendakkai Curry

          Okra/ Bhindi/ Vendakkai is a favorite at home, we love it in sambar, curry, thayir pachadi and of course not to forget, the fritters/ pakoras. When thinking about doing something other than the above, I made this curry with okra along with some peanuts. Though the spices added are the regular chilly and coriander powders, the peanuts added at the end gives a nice crunch, the fenugreek powder gives a nice flavor and the curry goes well with both rice and rotis..

Ragi Dosai, Finger Millet Crepes

          On weekdays, our morning breakfast is mostly idlis and dosas, I always have the idli/ dosa batter, and on those days that I don't have it, I make these instant dosas with ragi or bajra flours, which are not only healthy, but very easy to make too. They come out very crispy and yummy and go very well with both chutneys and sambar and I have added some coarsely powdered cumin and pepper and some curry leaves which gives a nice flavor to the dosa..

Mango Salad, Mampazha Salad

          Last week I had bought some mangoes, as much as I enjoy eating them as such, I wanted to try out something different with it. I had tasted chopped ripe mangoes with chat masala and I had liked it, so thought of trying out something like that, a salad with it. This is a very simple salad, needs no special salad dressing, just regular ingredients in the kitchen, I tried it with only half a mango but it turned out really good, so I made it with the other half too. A perfect side to any meal, rice or rotis or you can even have it with some tortilla ( corn ) chips..

Date Filled Semolina ( Rava ) Paniyarams, Aebelskivers

          This month for the 'Shhhhhhhhhh Cooking Secretly Challenge ', I was paired with Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes. For those who are not familiar with it, this is an event initiated by Priya, we have a facebook group, where we are paired with another blogger each month. Between the two bloggers, we give each other a couple of ingredients and using one or both of it, we are supposed to make a dish and post it. The fun part is the guessing, we post our completed dishes in the group, a little before the reveal date without letting out the secret ingredients. Priya had given me semolina and dates as the secret ingredients, initially, I was thinking about doing a cake, pudding, pancakes, but finally settled down with these paniyarams/ aebelskivers. I have used semolina/sooji/rava for the batter and dates and walnuts for the filling. The paniyarams tasted really good, semolina gives a nice crispy texture to the paniyarams, we loved it, perfect evening/ after school snack for the kids and Priya, thanks a lot for giving me these delicious ingredients..

Radish Dal, Radish And Lentils

          Radish, though I buy this vegetable, almost every week, I have posted only a few dishes with it, the reason being, I use it only in a couple of dishes, most of the time, in a sambar, stir fry or parathas. For a change, I wanted to try out a dal with this vegetable. I have used split moong dal ( green gram ) with skin, it's a very simple dish, using basic ingredients in the Indian kitchen, goes very well with rotis and rice and a nice way to sneak in the vegetable, the kids would never be able to pick it out..

Tofu Kurma, Curry

          Every once in a while, I buy tofu and most of the time it ends up as tofu bhurji. This time when I bought it, I wanted to try something else with it like chilli tofu or in some baking but then it finally ended up in this kurma. This is again an easy dish, goes perfectly with rotis, naans and pilafs and a nice healthy alternative to a paneer dish..

Aam Ka Panna, Raw Mango Drink

          Aam Ka Panna, a refreshing drink with raw mangoes, I had tasted this only a couple of times but never tried making it at home. Last week, I wanted to try this and while browsing, I found that there are two ways of making it, either pressure cooking the mango or grilling the mango on direct flame, then peeling and removing the pulp. I was not sure how the smoky flavor from grilling would taste in a drink, so went ahead with the pressure cooker method, next time, of course, I am going to try the other method too. It's a very easy and tasty drink and is an excellent cooler, with a nice flavor from the roasted cumin and mint, a perfect drink for the hot summer..

Eggless Italian Rose Cake, Torta Delle Rose Del Garda

          For this month's Eggless Baking Challenge, we had a real challenge, Italian Rose Cake, Torta Delle Rose Del Garda, suggested by Gayathri. After reading the recipe, I was not sure about doing it, the recipe called for so many eggs and there were number of steps involved. But then, I went ahead with it and the end result was absolutely worth all the time and effort. The cake came out very good and tasted really too good. It was so soft and buttery, a very rich cake, make sure you have people around you to share it..

Bread Dahi Vada, Bread Thayir Vadai

          With the weather so hot now, we don't feel like eating heavy food, especially in the afternoons, I am happy with some salad and buttermilk or juice. Also, you don't want to spend long hours in front of the stove, today's dish Bread Dahi Vada is such an easy and healthy one which you can put together in minutes, perfect for the hot summer. It's a healthy twist to the regular dahi vada, no batter to be grinded and no deep frying involved. I had noted this down from a magazine long time back, had made it a couple of times and then totally forgot about it. The recipe uses white bread, but I had only wheat bread with me, so just went along and used it for making the vadas. I had it for lunch today along with some juice, and my daughter had it as her after school snack, we both loved it. Try this out, next time when you want to have dahi vadas but don't have the time or mood to do the regular one..