Apple and Beet Quick Bread # Healthy Snacking

Chocolates are delicious and so are chips and they are probably the tastiest way to pacify a rumbling tummy between two meals... That and zillion cups of tea was a regular snack-ritual for me until our son was born... As in other aspects of life, motherhood completely changed my perspective on snacking soon after our little one started table food... His stomach is so little, I thought, on top of that if I let him snack on non-essentials then how will that little tummy ever have space for all the veggies and fruits that he needs... Ever since I have tried to be mindful of what goes into his tummy and into ours in general.

Chirer Chop (Flattened Rice Patty)

My mother is a great cook and like all good cooks she guards her recipes well. Request her for her signature dishes and she happily cook them for you... Ask her for the recipe and she'll give you a list of ingredients to play with.  And sometimes, that list is so short and simple that it makes you wonder if that is all that went into that lip smacking curry or the cutlet you just finished.... 

Nariyal Samosa (Coconut and Lime Samosa)

Unless we have company, I usually do not prepare evening snacks. A cookie or a toast is good enough with our evening tea. We like an early dinner. It isn't like that at my parent's place. They like to munch on something for tea and then have dinner around 9 - 9:30 at night... sometimes even later. Not a very healthy habit... but that is how it is... Earlier, when I was small my mother used to prepare one sweet and one savory snack everyday. Again not healthy... but that was how it was.. With time the number of snacks reduced to one but she still makes a little something everyday... and sometimes when I ask her for ideas for the blog she tells me what she prepared the evening before. That is how I was reminded of this Nariyal Samosa..

   

These samosas are a bit different from the ones that you get in the Indian stores. Typically it takes some time to prepare the stuffing for the Samosas.. but you barely need to no anything for these. Just spice up some grated coconut with green chili, add chopped onions and coriander to it, squeeze some lime juice, season with salt and sugar and your stuffing is all set. 

This recipe is my grandmother's....

After the Indian-Pakistan partition, owing to the unstable job scenario in Bangladesh, many of my mother's cousins from Bangladesh came to India and lived with them for a good many years. That meant that in addition to her family of five, my grandmother had to prepare meals for four to five more people everyday for all those years. I guess quick-fix snacks and meals would have been her saviors during that phase..  I am not sure if she bickered about the extra work load back then.. but in the years that followed I have only heard my grandmother, mother, uncles and aunt talk very fondly of the times they spent together..

I made these a couple of week's back when my cousin was here. She helped me take the step-wise photographs that you see below. In case the samosa fold feels like too much work, fold the dough empanada-style and fry them. I do not when I have to make bigger batches..

Medu Vadai

Medu Vada or Ulandi Vadai are donoughut shaped urad dal fritters that have been a traditional favorite of south India from antiquity. With exchange of food and culture, they have now become popular all over India and is often considered a healthy breakfast item. In south India they are often served with sambar and coconut chutney. You can however serve them with just about any chutney you have at hand and enjoy at teatime with your dose of caffeine.

Lately things have been somewhat unsettling around here. The  thing is... we want to move back to India. But right now the job scenario in homeland does not look too promising. We feel that the fact that husband and I are both past our mid thirties is working to our disadvantage. While I do not mind a change of career, my husband is not quite prepared for it. So he is tensed and I have been doing all that I can to lighten the atmosphere at home. Cooking his favorite meals, indulging in little scoops of ice-cream after dinner and mostly listening him out.. Hopefully things will change for the better soon.. Till then there will be a lot of deep fried snacks coming out of my kitchen. 

I adapted the recipe from Ez Cook Book.  Chopped onions were my only addition to their recipe. You can leave them out if you like or add some greens like finely chopped spinach, kale or fenugreek leaves to the batter. The recipe is highly adaptable so feel free to customize the flavors and make your own veggie medu vadai... 

Koffiebroodjes (Dutch Sweet Rolls) # Baking Partner's Challenge

This month Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal challenged the Baking Partners with two lovely Dutch recipes from The Dutch Table... a Dutch Apple Pie and these Dutch Sweet Rolls called Koffiebroodjes. While the spices of the Apple Pie were enticing, the sound of "Koffiebroodjes" was too sweet to pass up. So I decided on baking the later and glazing it with a jam that contained the flavors of the Dutch Apple Pie or Appletart.. The result was a delight and we really enjoyed them with our latte...

Translated literally, Koffiebroodjes means Coffee Buns. Apparently these old-fashioned glazed sweet rolls are available at local bakeries and supermarkets in Netherlands. They are usually eaten around 11:00 am during the coffee break or shared over a cup of coffee with the neighbours. Though the recipe here uses a jam glaze, these buns are also made with a sugar based sweet glaze. In some respect they are very similar to the classic cinnamon buns. They too are sticky from the glaze and have raisins in their folds. However these are not pull-apart buns and there is no brown sugar or cinnamon. These are baked as single units and a vanilla pudding replaces the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture in them, thereby making them quite different from their Siamese twins... the cinnamon rolls.

Mangalorean Goli Bajje # South vs North Nov' Challenge

This month Priya Suresh of Priya's Versatile Recipes challenged the Northern Group of SNC team to make Goli Bajje.

These deep-fried snacks are a specialty of Mangalore in Southern Karnataka. Unlike most other deep-fried snacks from South India, these are not made out of urad dhal. So no soaking or grinding is required for them. Traditionally these bajjes are prepared from an overnight-fermented-batter. However I did not plan them well in advance so ended up making them with a batter that had rested only for an hour. Though we enjoyed them as they were, I am pretty sure that overnight fermentation would have accentuated the flavors of these Bajjes.

Typically Mangaloreans enjoy Goli Bajjes with tea. We however  had some of it as a side for lunch with Gujrati Kadhi and Aloo-methi and thought they complimented the meal very well.

Recipe Card : Oven Roasted Escarole

Oven roasted Escarole .... a quick healthy snack to accompany your cup of evening chai. 

a recipe inspired by Nomnom Paleo.

Sharing this with Nupur's event  Whats with my cuppa ? which is being hosted at Nandoo's Kitchen this month.

Monday Food

Made with Love Mondays, Marvelous Mondays @ This Gal Cooks, Melt in your Mouth Mondays, Inspiration Monday Party, Sharing Monday, Inspire Me Monday, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Maniac Monday Linky Party,Mix it up Monday, The Scoop

Tuesday Food 

Totally Tasty Tuesday @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Tasteful Tuesday Party @ Nap Time Creations,  Show Me What You Got @ Our Delightful Home,  Hand Made Tuesday @ Ladybug Blessings, Share it Link Party @ Winthrop Chronicles, Tasty Tuesday, Hearth and Soul blog Hop

Wednesday Food

What's Cooking Wednesday @ Buns in my Oven, Cast Party Wednesday @ Lady Behind the Curtain , Show and Share @ Semi Homemade Mom, Wonderful Food Wednesdays at @ Home Take 2

Thursday Food

Link it Up Thursday @ Seven Alive, Fantastic Thursday @ Three Little Chiefs, Thriving on Thursdays @ Domesblissity, Freedom Friday @ My Turn, Full Plate Thursday @ Miz Helen's Country Cottage  

Friday Food

 Foodie Friday @ Home Maid Simple, Friday Favorite (DYI too) @ Simple Sweet Home, Foodie Friday @ Not Your Ordinary Recipes,  Foodie Friday @ Rattlebridge Farm , Weekend Wonders @ The Thriftiness Miss, Friday Food Frenzy @ Mostly Food and Crafts , 

Weekend Potluck @ Sunflower Supper Club,  The Weekend re-Treat @The Best Blog  Recipes 

Boulevard Raspail Corn on the Cob # French Fridays with Dorie

I love a corn on the cob. Back in India I would always buy myself one whenever fresh juicy corns were in season and a "bhutta-wala," (as we refer to the street vendors selling corn) was in sight. here, my favorite way of cooking corn is to grill it on stove-top and then spice it up with chilly, lime juice and salt. my husband does not enjoy this stove-top grilled corn much so i usually cook it for lunch. but yesterday things did not work out as I had scheduled  and i ended up roasting the corn in the evening. husband agreed to have some, may be because the recipe was Dorie's... and much to my amazement, he really liked it. yeah !!  

Thanks to Dorie for sharing the recipe of the vegetable lady selling corn in Boulevard Raspail. Had it not been for her I would have never thought of roasting unhusked ears of corn in the oven and delighting over it hence. It is certainly a wonderful and easy way of cooking the corn. just put the whole corn with husk and all in a 400 degree F oven, roast it for 40 minutes, turning it once at 20 minutes mark, remove the husk, butter the corn, sprinkle salt and pepper and enjoy ! 

try this recipe while corns are still in season and be prepared to be impressed ! happy Friday !

Visit here to know what the other members of french fridays with Dorie have to say. For many more delicious recipes such as this one order your copies of Around the French Table from Amazon or from The Book Depository and join us as we cook our way through the book.