Pistachio Apricot Biscotti

I made this Pistachio Apricot Biscotti for the Baking eggless group.Initially I was little sceptical as I had not tried baking a biscotti before.I used Flax seed as the egg replacer and the biscotti came out very well .The original recipe uses Orange Blossom water,a flavouring used in French and Middle eastern cuisine.I din't use Orange blossom water and also din't use any substitute for that.I just added a dash of extra vanilla and proceeded with the recipe. 
          I loved the mild orange flavour from the orange zest combined with the crunchy pista and soft apricots in between and the whole batch got emptied so quickly that I had to rush to take some photos.
          I just halved the ingredients from the original recipe and got around 15 biscotti plus few small pieces.Though the procedure sounds lengthy at first it is a simple recipe.Try it yourself and enjoy.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	1 cup
Sugar	½ cup
Baking powder	1/2 tsp + a pinch
Salt	A pinch
Butter	50 gm(1/4 cup)
Orange zest	1 tblsp
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Flax seed powder	1 tblsp
Pistachio	½ cup
Apricot chopped	½ cup

Method:

• Mix flax seed powder with 3 tablespoon warm water in a bowl and keep aside.
• Preheat oven to 180 °C.
• Sift Flour,salt and baking powder.
• Take the sugar in a bowl and rub orange zest to it till the sugar becomes moist.
• Take the butter(room temperature) and the sugar in a mixing bowl and beat well using an electric beater till fluffy.
• Add the vanilla essence and the prepared flax seed liquid and beat well for 2 mins.
• Now add the sifted flour to this and beat till it is just combined.Don't over beat. 
• Add the pista and chopped apricots and mix gently.
• I divided the mixture to two parts.Form two logs and slightly flatten using wet fingers.
• Place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 180°C for 25 mins till it turns slightly golden and is firm to touch.
• Cool on the sheet for 10 mins.Transfer to a cutting board and slice them into 1/2 inch pieces diagonally.Arrange the pieces with cut side down on the baking sheet and bake again at 170 °C for about 15 mins till they turn crispy.
• Once done cool completely and store in air-tight container.

Corn flakes Mixture

I like to make snacks which is healthy as well as easy to prepare.This Cornflakes mixture is one such snack which is different from the regular mixture which is deep-fried.Here I have roasted all the ingredients using minimum oil.Try it and am sure you will like it too.

Ingredients:

Corn flakes	½ cup
Poha(Rice flakes) Thin/Medium variety	½ cup
Peanuts	¼ cup
Roasted gram dhal(pottukadalai)	2 tblsp
Golden raisins(kismis)	2 tblsp
Curry leaves	Few
Salt	as needed
Chilli powder	as needed
Turmeric powder	A pinch
Asafoetida	A pinch
Oil	3 tsp

Method:

• Heat a pan and add 1 tsp oil and add the Poha(rice flakes/Aval) first.Spread it out evenly and fry till they pop up a bit and turn slightly golden.Transfer to a plate.
• Add 1/2 tsp oil and fry the cornflakes in the same way till they puff up a bit.Transfer to a plate.
• Add little oil and fry the peanuts and keep aside.
• Fry the Raisins till they plump up and keep aside.
• Finally add 1 tsp oil and add the roasted Gram dhal followed by Asafoetida and chopped curry leaves.Once the Gram dhal is roasted add all the previously roasted items Poha,cornflakes,peanuts,raisins.Add salt,chilli powder,turmeric powder and mix well.Corn flakes mixture is ready.Store in an air-tight container.

Note:

• Roasting in a Fry pan is easy than roasting in a kadai as the fry pan has flat surface we can roast them quickly and evenly.
• Adding cashewnuts or other nuts is optional.I din't add any.I used store bought cornflakes (kellogs) regular one.

Tomato Gothsu

I usually prepare coconut chutney or onion gothsu for Ven Pongal.When I visited my friend ,she prepared an excellent Tomato gothsu for pongal and I liked it a lot.Here comes the recipe..

Ingredients:

Onion	1
Tomato	1
Sambar powder	1 ½ tsp
Salt	as needed
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Channa dhal	1 tsp
Urad dhal	1tsp
Asafoetida	a pinch
Curry leaves	as needed
Besan(Gram flour)	1 tsp
Oil	2 tsp

Method:

• Chop Onions and Tomatoes finely.
• Heat oil in a kadai ,add Mustard seeds and once they crackle add Urad dhal,Asafoetida,channa dhal,curry leaves and fry till the dhals turn slightly golden.
• Add the chopped onion and fry till they turn translucent.
• Add the chopped Tomatoes and cook till they turn slightly mushy.
• Add the sambar powder,salt and 2 cups water and cook for few minutes till the raw smell of sambar powder is gone.
• Mix besan with 2 tblsp water and add this mixture to the gothsu stirring continuously.Add water to get the right consistency and let it boil for 2-3 mins.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with Ven Pongal/Idli/Dosa.I personally like it with Pongal.

Ven Pongal

Ven Pongal is a popular food in South India which is served for Breakfast or Dinner.The preparation is so simple,pressure cooking rice with dhal and tempering with spices.Check the recipe for easy Tomato Gothsu here.Lets move on to the Pongal preparation..

Ingredients:

Raw rice	1 cup
Yellow moong dhal	½ cup
Pepper	½ tsp
Cumin seeds	1 tsp
Ginger finely chopped	1 tsp
Salt	As needed
Curry leaves	As needed
Turmeric powder	A pinch
Asafoetida	¼ tsp
Oil	1 tblsp
Ghee	1 tblsp
Cashewnuts	As needed

Method:

• Heat a pan and dry roast moong dhal(Pasi paruppu) slightly till nice aroma starts to come.
• Take the rice,moong dhal,turmeric powder,asafoetida and 1/2 tsp salt in a vessel.Add 5 - 6 cups of water and pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.
• Once the pressure releases,open and mash the cooked rice and dhal slightly and keep aside.
• Heat a pan add little ghee and roast cashews till golden and transfer to a plate.
• In the same pan heat the oil,1/2 tblsp ghee and add the chopped ginger followed by coarsely crushed pepper and cumin seeds,curry leaves and immediately add the rice+dhal mixture.Add the salt needed and mix well.
• Add the fried cashews and the remaining ghee and mix well.
• Serve hot with chutney or Gothsu.

Sending this to Favorite recipes Event: Breakfast Recipes hosted by Swathi and also to Healthy Food for Healthy Kids  event by Nithu and  hosted by Nivedanam.

Note:

• Adjust the water quantity according to the rice you are using.
• I usually don't add much ghee during the pongal preparation but add little ghee on the top while serving.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was browsing my collection of eggless bakes I realised that I have not yet posted these Chocolate Chip Cookies which is our favourite and yes its eggless too.When you have all the ingredients ready it takes less time to prepare them.What are you waiting for ...Grab the ingredients and prepare these tasty cookies.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	1 cup+ 1 tblsp
Butter softened	1 stick (100 gms)
Light brown sugar	¼ cup+2 tblsp
Granulated white sugar	¼ cup+2 tblsp
Baking soda	½ tsp
Salt	¼ tsp
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Semi sweet chocolate chips	1/2 cup
Milk(see note below)	2-3 tblsp
Flax seed powder(see note below)	1 tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 190 °C.
• Whisk together Flour,baking soda,salt in a bowl.
• Take softened butter,brown sugar and white sugar in a bowl and beat well using an electric beater till creamy.
• Add the Flax seed powder,vanilla essence,2 tblsp milk and beat well for a minute.
• Add the flour to the butter-sugar mix and just beat till everything comes together. Don't over mix.
• Add the chocolate chips and mix with a spatula.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper and drop even sized portions of the mixture and slightly flatten the top with your hands.Leave enough space between as they spread while baking.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 190 °C for about 10 mins till its slightly browned on the sides and botom.Cool slightly and tranfer to wire rack to cool completely.(Transfer cookies to wire rack after 5 mins as they will be still soft and break if you transfer immediately).
• Once cooled completely store in an air-tight container.

Note:

• No need to beat the butter-sugar mixture for very long time.There will be some granules of sugar present and its ok.
• I have made this without Flax seed powder also and I don't feel much difference in taste and texture without adding them ,so you can skip if you don't have.
• The amount of milk used is approximate only.If you feel after adding the chocolate chips the mixture is very dry add little milk and mix.
• You can keep the prepared dough in the refrigerator for 10 mins before baking for easy handling.
• The cookies appear soft after the given time.But don't keep for more time.The cookies will become hard after sometime.
• I got 18 cookies for the above quantity.

Sending this to Vardini's Bake Fest hosted by Archana.

Mysore Rasam

A typical south Indian meal is not complete without Rasam. It is a great comfort food too.The aroma that comes from the freshly ground spices used in this rasam makes it more flavourful and tasty.I followed the recipe from Smt.Meenakshi ammal's "Samaithu paar" book.I made few changes to suit my taste.

Ingredients:

Tamarind	Small gooseberry size
Tomato	1
Toor dhal	3 tblsp
Curry leaves	As needed
Salt	As needed
Asafoetida	A pinch
Jaggery(optional)	A small piece
Ghee	1 tsp
Mustard seeds	½ tsp
Coriander leaves chopped	As needed
For the spice powder
Channa dhal	1 ½ tsp
Coriander seeds	2 tsp
Red chilli	1
Black pepper	6-8
Coconut grated	2 tsp
Oil	1/4  tsp

Method:

• Soak Tamarind in hot water and extract 1 1/2 cups of juice from it. Chop the Tomato.
• Pressure cook Toor dhal with a pinch of turmeric powder.Mash it well and keep aside.
• Take 1/4 tsp oil in a pan and add all the ingredients given for spice powder except coconut and fry till it turns golden in colour. Transfer to a plate and now fry the coconut (if using) till golden.Allow it to cool and grind the roasted spices and coconut together in a mixie to a powder.
• Take the tamarind juice,chopped tomatoes,asafoetida,salt,curry leaves in a vessel and boil till the raw smell of tamarind goes off and tomato is well cooked.
• Add the Cooked and mashed Toor dhal and the prepared spice powder,Jaggery(if using) and boil for few more minutes.
• Add required water to get the right consistency and switch off when it starts foaming on the top.
• For the seasoning,Heat 1 tsp ghee,add mustard seeds and few curry leaves and once they crackle pour it over the rasam.Add chopped coriander leaves.Mysore Rasam is ready to serve.

Note:

• I have used only 1 red chilli .Adjust the amount to your preference.
• Jaggery is not mentioned in the original recipe but I added little.It is optional.You can also skip coconut if you don't like.