Chocolate Pancakes

Sunday Breakfast merits special treats. This is a perfect treat on a rainy sunday morning or a winter sunday. Chocolate pancakes and a cup of cappuccino are the perfect combo.
Heres the easiset way to get there.

1 cup Maida ( flour), 2 Eggs , ½ cup Sugar,1½ tsp. Cinnamon powder , ¼ cup milk, Oil for frying, 2 tablespoons chocolate chips( or chopped chocolate). Suggested garnish Icing sugar, cinnamon powder, whipped cream.

Whisk the 2 eggs till smooth, gradually mix in the flour ,cinamon powder, chocolate chips, add in the milk and whisk till it is of a thick pouring consistency.

Cover and keep aside for about half an hour. Heast a gridle/ pan/ tawa, brush with oil .Then pour a small ladle full of batter and give it a gentle shake till it flattens out. Cook on a slow flame till the egdes look crispy and the centre is set. Flip and cook till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Serve with a generous dusting of icing sugar and cinnamon powder or with whipped cream

Manngane

Saraswat cooking is light except for the liberal use of coconuts.Most Saraswats are found in the coastal belt of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.Due to the abundance of coconuts , they have based their cuisine on coconuts. Coconut grated, dessicated , ground or the milk extracted from grated coconut.The richness it adds to gravies and the delicate flavour, is unmatched. Most of their sweets are coconut based. The delicate steamed Patolio, Modaks,Steamed Rice Semiyan in coconut milk, Sweet Potato Kheer and Manngane or Madgane.This is a rare sweet , but nutritious light and very different. The next time you want a dessert that is talked about try this.

1 cup Chana dal/ Bengal gram/ split chick peas ,1 cup grated jaggery,1/4 cup fresh coconut sliced and chopped into small pieces, 1 1/2 cups grated coconu,1 pinch cardamom powder,2 tbsps cashewnut pieces, 1 tbsp raisins, a pinch of salt

 Soak the chana dal in 2 cups of water for an hour, drain .Heat a tbsp of ghee,fry the channa dal, coconut pieces and raisins. Keep the cashews and  raisins aside, add 1/4 cup water to the fried chana dal and cover and cook the dal till soft but whole.Soak the grated coconut in 1 cup warm water.Grind it and squeeze the milk of the coconut.To the cooked dal and coconut pieces , add the jaggery and fried cashews. Keep on medium heat for 2-3 mins or so. Add the coconut milk and then the salt ,cardamom powder and raisins.Serve hot or cold.

French Toast Sweet

1 egg, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp cream, 2 slices bread

Beat together eggs, honey, cream. Soak Bread in it till mixture is absorbed.

In a pan put in 1 tsp butter, heat and carefully place the bread slices in it. Cover and cook on low flame for 2 mins. increase the heat and shallow fry till light brown. Turn and cook the other side similarly.

Serve topped with fresh cream and a blob of chocolate sauce.

Happy Kids, Happy Mommy. Have a Great Day.

Patoli

Nagpanchami is celebrated by Hindus with enthusiasm. The month of Shravan brings much needed respite from the heat and dust. The cooling showers of Shravan come with its special days. Hariyali Teej, Nagpanchami, Raksha Bandhan. Indians associate all happy occasions and festivals with special food. So is the case with Nagpanchami. The saraswats have special sweets called Patoli. They are stuffed rice pancakes  steamed in turmeric leaves.While the pancakes are plain the stuffing within is sweet and deliciousThe turemeric leaves give it a distinct yet exotic fragrance. Next time you are looking for an different dessert, why not try this

2 cups rice flour
2 1/2 cups hot water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp ghee
5 green turmeric leaves ( available with your green grocer)

Filling
1 1/2  cup grated/ dessicated fresh coconut
3/4 cup grated jaggery
4 green cardamoms crushed

   In a pan , melt the jaggery. add cardamom powder and coconut.cook till well mixed and a little dry.
Heat the water, add salt and ghee.sift the rice flour. As teh water comes to a boil, take off the heat and slowly stir in the rice flour, taking care to mix it well , with no lumps.cover the dough and leave to cool.Similarly cool the filling. Meanwhile wash and wipe the turmeric leaves.Cut each into 2. Smear a little oil on each leaf. Divide the rice dough into 10 balls and the filling into 10 equal portions.Place a ball of dough in the middle of each leaf and pat it so as to form a thin flat pancake. Place the filling on one half of the pancake , taking care to leave a thing edge around the filling, empty. Fold the leaf at the spine so that each pancake is a closed crescent.lightly press the edges. Prepare all the patolis in this way.

Prepare a steamer . Oil the sieve well and place the folded patolis comfortably apart , so as to not squash them. Steam them for 10 mins.
Remove and steam the next batch.
These patolis can be eaten hot or at room temperature. These are best eaten on the same day as the outer layer tends to dry out.

Sweet Potato Kheer

The Sweet Potato is the amongst the most ignored root vegetables. While the Potato is a universal favourite and the colacassia bulbs ( Arvi) have its own fans in the North and South, the Yam( Suran), Purple Yam (Kand, Jimikand) and Tapioca make its presence felt in certain parts of South India. Sweet Potato also known as Shakarkandi , Ratalu, Ratale,  is an extremely nutritious tuber. Rich in complex carbohydrates, beta carotene , Vitamin C and manganese it is great source of dietary fibre. A regular intake of Sweet potato is today recomended to increase immunity in the body. 

In Maharashtra, the sweet potato or Ratale is used during fasting days. It is cooked in vegetables, kheer, halwa , puris and even fritters. Here is the recipe for a basic yet nutritious kheer.It is a Phalahaari / Farali dish.

Sweet Potato can be boiled and peeled just like the potato. Pressure cook 2 sweet potatoes. Peel and finely chop to yeild about 2 cups of small pieces.Grate 1/2 a fresh coconut. Soak the grated coconut in 1 1/2  cup hot water , for about 10 mins. Grind the coconut using half of the water it had been soaked in.Strain and keep aside this thick coconut milk. Grind the coconut again using the balance water.This is the thin milk. Add 1/4 cup of grated jaggery ( Gud, molasses) to the thin milk and heat till the jaggery dissolves. Add 2 crushed cardamoms and the chopped sweet potato.Add in the thick coconut milk and take off the stove. Serve warm or chilled .

Rice Kheer

Rice Kheer is the first solid food fed to a child in India.Around 6 months of age is when a child would start eating solids.There would be a rite-of-passage , Annaprashan or Ushtavan. The rice kheer was the first solid a baby was intriduced to and usually remains a favourite right into adulthood even though their palates have been corrupted by all kinds of junk foods . The home made rice kheer is a surefire way to lift up anyones spirit.

Its easy to make and can be made with cooked rice or from scratch. I prefer to let you in on the shortcut and the shorter cut.

Short: 1 cup cooked rice, 1 litre milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 cardamoms crushed, raisins, chopped nuts.Boil the milk , add sugar. As the sugar dissolves, add the cardamoms, raisins and rice. Cook on a slow flame till the milk reduces to half. Keep scraping off the creamy deposits on the edges of the pan and put it back into the milk.Garnish with nuts and serve hot or cold.

Shorter: 1 cup cooked rice, 1 litre milk, 1/4 cup sugar,1 cup sweetened evaporated / condensed milk, 2 cardamoms crushed, raisins, chopped nuts.Boil the milk , add sugar. As the sugar dissolves, add the cardamoms, raisins and rice. Cook on a slow flame for 5 minutes. Add the evaporated milk bring to a boil. Cook further for 5 mins .Keep scraping off the creamy deposits on the edges of the pan and put it back into the milk.Garnish with nuts and serve hot or cold.