Tofu Lasagna

Total time 1 hour

Prep time 30 minutes

Oven time 30 minutes

+ 

Rest time 30 minutes atleast. 

There are a lots of versions of lasagna on the web. My daughter loves lasagna and is lactose intolerant. So I set about trying some recipes. 

I have to mention Anu Srinivasan here (http://oystersandlemons.wordpress.com/). Was talking to her and she suggested to add some almond milk to the tofu while making the Bechamel Sauce. I took her suggestion and tried making it the traditional way of making the sauce. Then I made some more changes to the recipe. 

My version of the Bechamel sauce doesn't involve the stove cos I thought no point in firing up the stove if I blend the tofu and milk in the food processor itself. Since it's all already cooked and it's going to go in the oven for 30 minutes, that is enough to get it nice and thick. So I will call it tofu Sauce

This is a kind of a mixture of many recipes. Pretty easy but a little time consuming. It takes about 25 minutes to make the vegetable sauce. 5 minutes to make the tofu sauce.

As a first step, boil the lasagna according to instructions on the box. I haven't tried the oven ready lasagna. I always use the ones that need to be boiled.

I made 12 strips for this recipe. You will use 11 approximately.  I put one extra if one breaks. 

It will be easier if you have a food processor or a hand blender or a regular blender.

For the vegetable sauce, you can use any veggies you want. I add mushrooms sometimes. My daughter loves celery so I always add that.  Today I have added

1 zucchini

4 stalks of celery

1/2 of Chinese Eggplant

2 cups of spinach leaves

5 tomatoes (2 beef steak tomatoes  and 3 Roma tomatoes)

1 Onion

6 cloves of garlic 

          +

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tsp of oregano

1/4 of paprika

1 tsp of sea salt

3 heaped tsp of tomato paste (optional)

All the vegetables have to chopped into small pieces so that it will be easy to eat the lasagna.

If you have a food processor, just chop the tomatoes and put it in and purée that.

In a heavy bottomed pan, on a medium to high flameadd the oil and when that heats up, add the chopped garlic and onion. In about 4 mins they should be getting translucent, now add the chopped Zuchchini, Eggplant and celery and keep stirring. After about four minutes add the chopped spinach and the salt. Let it all mix and stir for a minute. Now add the puréed tomatoes, and the paste. Mix it well and reduce the heat a bit. Add the oregano and paprika, mix well and let It simmer for 10 mins.

For the tofu Sauce

You need two packets of Firm tofu 

Some lactaid. (I have used almond milk also)

Bit of salt

Bit of crushed red pepper (so it won't be too bland)

Wash the food processor if you want your 'tofu sauce' to be white. 

Just drain the tofu, no need to completely drain

Chop them in to big pieces and add to the food processor

And while it's running add the lactaid, salt and crushed red pepper and run until it becomes thick and creamy. 

Your tofu sauce is ready!!!

Now you can start assembling!!

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

I have used 3 small Pyrex glass containers and one really small glass container. 

You can choose to make it in a bigger pan. I like to make it like this cos you end up having leftovers and this way you can just put it in the freezer. Once it's to room temperature that is. 

Since these containers are small I have cut the strips in to two.

For every Pyrex container you will use 6 cut strips.

Start with two spoons of sauce in the bottom

*Layer 2 strips, 2 spoons of sauce, 2spoons of tofu spread them*

Repeat

Repeat

On top I just put a bit of veggie shreds, they are lactose free.

Put all of them in the oven for 30 minutes. (I have already put one in the oven)

Let it rest for a good 45 minutes, it will be easier to cut the lasagna.

I guarantee that you won't miss the cheese. 

This recipe is lactose free!

It can be vegan is you use almond milk or soy milk instead of Lactaid.

And use Soy cheese instead of the lactose free cheese.

Cheese is optional.

I usually serve it with a nice homemade dinner roll :)

RibbonBakoda

 

(Ribbon Bakoda pictured with kesari)

Ribbon Bakoda is also called ribbon for obvious reasons! It's an easy to make snack. It's crunchy, salty and deep fried. Now how can it not taste great!

I followed the recipe from Meenakshi Ammal's 'Samaithu Paar' which translates to 'Cook and See'. It is a bible for Tambrahm Cooking.

Here goes!

You need

Oil to deep fry and this 

Gadget called achu for pushing the dough on to the oil. It's available for $15 dollars at any Indian store. It comes with different achus to make all kinds of snacks from the book!

I have two kinds, the one on the left is easier to handle. The one on the right is a traditional achu.

The dough you make has to be made a little dry but not too dry. 

You need:

2 cups Kadala Mavu(Besan/Chickpea flour)

1 cup Arisi Mavu (Rice flour)

1 1/4 tsp Salt

1 heaped tsp Kara Podi (Chili Powder)

3 pinches  Perungayam (Asafoetida)

1 tablespoons Ghee or Unsalted Butter

 

Put the salt and chili powder in 1/4 cup water and let the salt mix well in the water

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl

Add the salt and chili powder to this

Keep some extra water on hand and knead until the dough becomes a bit thick like puri dough

In a thick bottomed pan, add oil.

On a medium flame, let the oil become hot.

To check of the oil is ready insert a wooden spoon in, you should see bubbles coming out or put a small ball of dough in the oil and you should see it rise to the top. 

Keep the flame in the same temperature.

Put the dough in the achu and push some out in to the oil.

It's done when it's a nice golden brown all over. 

Makes a great evening snack!

In my house we also have it as a side for curd rice!! 

Tips

Make sure you have time to make the ribbon once the dough is done. 

Is the dough rests for a while the Bakoda might become oily

Monitor the oil temp through out. If the oil gets too hot then the ribbon will become black. 

Nellikai Thokku (Amla Pickle) Version 2

Nellikai is Gooseberry in English and Amla in Hindi, thokku with regards to a dish, in tamil means to be mashed.

I already have a Amla Pickle recipe here. This is a drier version of that.
Since I dont have access to fresh gooseberries, I use frozen ones.
If you get fresh gooseberries, you would wash them, pat dry and cut and either directly move to step num 3
(this takes more oil but lasts longer)
or  pressure cook first (this takes lesser oil compared to the above but if you are like me, the pickle may not last more than a month, (in the bottle, I mean))

Sesame oil is optional, I love the flavor it brings to the pickle, you can use any oil you prefer.
The Chili Powder I use to make pickles is from Hyderabad. It gives it a good color and is equally spicy.You can use any chili powder, you have access to.

To make the thokku with two standard frozen bags you need.

2 bags of Frozen gooseberries / Amla/ Nellikai
3 Tablespoons Indian Sesame oil or Gingelly oil
2 tsp of Mustard seeds
4 Dry Red chilies
Salt as needed
Chili powder - approx 1/4 of the amount of Cooked Gooseberries
Methi Seeds - 1 tsp or Methi Powder
Hing - a generous 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1 tsp


-----> Put the frozen gooseberries along with a  2 tsp of salt and pressure cook them.
----> Once the pressure is down, you wait for the amlas to cool down and patiently take out the seeds, otherwise it may bother you by taking more space in the jar
Always cook in Med Flame 
----> In a kadai, add the oil and let it heat up and once its hot add the mustard seeds and let them burst
----> Add the dry red chili , methi seeds, turmeric powder, and hing and immediately add the de-seeded gooseberries to it and start to mix everything well
----> In a few minutes, everything will be incorportated in to the pickle, now mix it up with your ladle and divvy the mixture in to four parts and add the chili powder so that it covers 1/4 of the mixture completely. If you like it spicy, then add a little more for good measure, add about 1 tsp of salt and mix and taste for salt and if necessary you can add more.
----> In under 15 minutes, you will notice the gooseberries start to wilt and it will be easy to mash them up.
----> At this point, turn off the stove and let cool
----> Transfer the pickle to a dry jar and keep it in a cool place
Make sure you dont insert a wet spoon and nothing falls in to the jar accidentaly. This will make sure the pickle doesnt go bad. Made this way, you can use little oil and not feel guilty about eating pickle!

You say Pakoda, I say Bakoda

Bakoda is a nice crispy snack and pretty easy to make. It makes a great appetizer.

 

My mom would make all kinds of Bakodas. Coriander Bakoda, Mint bakoda, Cashew Bakoda and ofcourse, the famous onion Bakoda. 

Today I have used onions, a bit of methi, a bit of coriander and some cashews.

For about 8 to 10 servings you need:

Chopped onions - 4 cups

Salt- 1.5 tsp (I use sea salt in my cocking, pls adjust the salt measurements according to the salt u use)

First chop the onions and add the salt and mix it well and keep it aside for 10 mins. You will see that the onions let out water because of the salt.

In the mean while, keep the oil on the stove on a medium high flame. 

Now add 

1 and 1/2 cups of gram flour

1 and 1/12 cups of rice flour

1 tsp of turmeric powder

1 tsp of chili powder

6 or 7 green chilies chopped

* I added a handful of chopped coriander leaves and methi leaves, this is optional

2 strands of fresh curry leaves

2 tsp of ghee

Mix everything well. Do not add any extra water, keep mixing it and u will see that it becomes a thick paste like dough. 

Check if the oil is ready by adding a small ball of the dough to it. It should come up and start to get golden brown in color. 

Once u see that it's ready, pinch the dough on to the oil. Bakodas should be shapeless and that's how they get crispy.

 

Dill Raita

Dill was on sale in my local Indian store.I wanted to make the Dill Raita as an accompaniment to the Aloo Paratha I was planing to make for dinner. It was as simple as can be.
Dill - One Bunch (probably 1 cup washed ,chopped and filled tightly)
Yogurt - 2 Cups
Sour Cream - (Optional) 2 Tablespoons
Salt - As Needed
Garnish
Oil - 1 tsp
Garlic - 4 Cloves (Chopped)
Ginger - 1 Inch Piece (Peeled and Chopped)

--->Wash the Dill
--->Drain it well
--->Chop it
--->Beat the Yogurt and Sour Cream well
---> Mix in the Chopped Dill
--->In a Pan, add the oil, and when it gets hot, add the chopped garlic and ginger to it and saute for a few minutes
---> Add the garnish to the yogurt and dill mister.
--->Just before serving add salt, so it doesn't get watery

An option is to ad some cucumbers to this, in case you dont like the stong taste of Dill. It is tastes better than the tzatziki you get from costco!

Serve with Hot pulav or Roti or Paratha 

Gulab Jamuns Made from Scratch!

Yes, you read the title right, its not from a mix, and no you do not need Khoya!

Jamuns with slivered Almonds

I learnt to make these from Santosh, a good friend of mine. She ran a successful catering business  and is a great cook. I really enjoyed learning the recipe from her. Also equally enjoyed the Punjabi Kadhi with ghee on top and the Baingan Bharta that I had (while learning) for lunch at her place :)

By far, these are the best Jamuns I have ever had in my life. That's saying something because I don't have a sweet tooth.

Well, here it is
You will need
a Food Scale
a Deep fryer (optional) for best results.

For Jamuns: (to make 30 small round jamuns or 20 oblong ones)

3oz of Bisquick Pancake Mix
4 oz of Milk Powder
5 oz of Heavy Cream.

For Sugar Syrup. (for above measurement)

2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Water
Saffron - a pinch

In a heavy bottomed pan, add both sugar and water, Mix and let boil on a medium flame. Once the sugar is melted add the saffron, switch the stove off and let cool. Please note the syrup will be thin. Not thread consistency. Should easily flow from the spoon.

If you are making it in summer, start with placing the Heavy Cream in the freezer before measuring your ingredients. (For about few minutes so it will be extra cold)
 Measure the above ingredients to a tee.
Mix the dry ingredients (Bisquick, Milk Powder) well.
Then slowly add the Heavy cream to it, and make in to a nice soft dough. It should be soft to touch and not be sticky.
This usually takes 5 to 10 minutes of kneading.
Now just divide the dough in two and then make small balls out of them. Make sure they are almost the same size, so they will all get cooked evenly.
You can make oblong ones or round ones.
The oblong ones are trickier, if not made well, they might break in oil.

If you have a fryer, add enough oil and keep it a temperature of 350 deg. Otherwise, in a kadai, make sure the oil is hot but not too hot. Santosh says to keep extra oil on the side, so if the oil in kadai gets hot, add some to cool it down.
I made it once in a kadai and the next time in a fryer. I felt the fryer jamuns turned out better, because the temperature was maintained through out and also it was not oily. I also added a bit of ghee in the oil the second time around.

When you fry them, move the oil around with the ladle, but try not to touch the jamuns.
In the fryer it takes a good 1 to 2 minutes for them to become completely golden brown.

Once the jamuns are fried, just drop it in the sugar syrup immediately. They absorb the sugar water and double in size :)

The variation to this is Kala Jamun. With the same measurement, to the dough add, a tablespoon of sugar. This caramelizes and the jamuns become dark.

Decorative ideas,

- You could make oblong or round ones, and place them in cupcake liners.
- Cut the Jamuns in Half, get the pastry decoration from a store, and make designs on them

- you can sprinkle almonds or any other kinds of nuts.

When the jamuns are cool and have absorbed the syrup. You store them in the fridge for up to a week. 

When making it for a party, these can be made a day ahead. Will taste much better too. 

Kitchen Mishaps!

Warning: this post has no recipes what so ever. Just a collection of funny incidents that happened over the years in our family.

Well, this whole thing started with me making Rava Dosai for dinner. It was a long day and I was tired and in my hurry to make the dough, I picked up the Cream of rice / idli rava instead of rava and made the dough. When I was making the dosas, it was not getting crispy and not getting cooked enough at all. Still my family enjoyed them and had at least 4 each, while appreciating the 'tasty' rava dosais. I realized my mistake the next day and told them what I did. And then one by one went, 'Oh! Is that why it was not good', 'Oh! Is that why it was not crispy' 'Oh! Is that why it was not cooked'. We all had a good laugh about it.

I was telling about this incident to my grandma(paati) and she recalled this particular incident.
It was a time when they had moved to a new house and all the stuff in the kitchen was all over the place. My aunt was there during the move but had to leave to her husbands house by train in the evening, so she quickly arranged the kitchen for my paati before she left.
My Grandpa(Thatha) was hungry in the evening and asked if my paati could make 'Gothumai (Wheat Flour) Dosai' for him to eat. Gothumai dosai is very similar to rava dosai except its made with Gothumai (Wheat Flour), Maida(All Purpose Four). Well, my paati made the dosai with what she thought was Maida but it was actually bleaching powder. She was struggling to make the dosai, and somehow made a few and served it to him on a plate. She also had tasted the first itty bitty one, and thought it tasted a bit funny but was too tired to notice anything major.As soon as he had the first one, he felt that his throat was on fire. He immediately lied down and accused my paati of serving him a poisonous dosai and said that he was going to die soon :) My paati found the whole situation funny and was giggling and said 'What are you talking about'. Just at that time, my (Chithapa) Thatha's younger brother who's is actually my Chinna thatha but since my mom and uncles called him chithapa all the grand kids also called him chithapa (who lived diagonally opposite us) happened to be passing by out house and stopped to say hello. He noticed that my thatha was lying down rather uncomfortably and asked him about it. My thatha narrated the whole story and then my Chithapa turned and asked my paati, 'Well if you wanted to poison him, why go out of your way and make dosai out of it, why not just give it directly!'
That's how matter of fact we are in our family!!
And then he tasted it and found that it was bleaching powder and told my thatha he had nothing to worry about and asked him to drink a litre of water to wash it out!

This one again involves my paati, the time she made Rava Kesari. She let the sugar melt and then when it was time to add rava, she added sugar again and then was wondering why it was all melting and not coming together!

Speaking of crazy families, our family friend also have equally crazy incidents. My aunt told me was how her friend 'Mrs.C' had gone for a wedding in the morning and told her family that she would do a simple 'paruppu podi' dinner. She put hot rice and ghee on everyone's plates and then put a spoonful of paruppu podi. When her son tasted it, he complained something was wrong with it and 'Mrs.C' chided everyone until she had a taste of it, the alleged 'paruppu podi' was actually Horlicks!!

 This is my cousin S's first experience making Mango Cake in the form of a poem!

My attempt @ Eggless Mango Cake By S
Was my first baking experience (alone) ever.
So all the baking equipment including measuring cups & spoons, ingredients & me got together.

Made a near perfect dough – “perfect”, according to my standard.
Poured into the baking tin & off it went into the oven and me hoping my baking journey would continue onward .

The oven is new so is being tested for the first time so..
It conked off!! Tried once again but it wouldn’t budge & so hard we did try though!

But giving up is not the solution right?
And so put it in one of the saviours of the kitchen for 7-8 mins – The Microwave which put up a good fight.

Now that was a whee bit too long and so the result was a spongy edible cake..
BUT.. something told me that it was going to harden up and turn into stone bake .

So what did I do? Quickly literally gobbled up two huge slices of the cake!
Almost 60% of my first “masterpiece” of a cake

Before it turned into stone and it did eventually turn into a hard rock filled with stress,
Relished the “taste” & was pretty satisfied that none of the appliances burst in the process.

And now, my baking equipment, ingredients & me are all waiting for the oven to get well soon
So that we can together bake my official first cake hoping that doesn’t turn into a mishap too!

PS – All words within “ “ are sarcasm hints.

Paruppu Podi

Podi means powder in Tamil. This is one of the mixes that can be made and stored. The days when there is no Rasam or Sambar, you can mix this with hot rice and ghee and add a 'sutta aplam' as a side.

You need
Toor Dal 1 cup
Red chillies 2 or 3
Black Pepper 1 Tsp
Hing 1 Tsp
Salt as needed
Method
Roast the dal, chillies, Black Pepper, in a thick bottomed pan, on a medium flame.

Make sure the flame is a steady medium and keep stirring the pan constantly so it doesn't burn.

You should roast this until it changes color. It took about 12 mins for me.

Add the Hing in the last two minutes.

Let cool, and grind to a fine powder.

Mix with hot rice and ghee!

Satvik Paneer

Satvik simply means pure. In this case, I call it Satvik Paneer because there is no onion and garlic in it. Also called the 'Jain' Version because of the same reason. 

On festival days, food is usually prepared without adding onions or garlic. 

When i was growing up, onions were rarely used in our house and garlic was an absolute No No. Once every blue moon when the small onion sambar was made it was an absolute delicacy. 

During the nine days of Navarathri, Onions and garlic are not used in everyday cooking. I made this as an accompaniment to the roti that was served.

Basically to make 'Jain' version of any recipe, you have to add more flavors to mask the missing onion flavor and use lots of tomatoes.

For about 4 to 6 servings here is the recipe

You Need

Tomatoes - 6

Green Chili -2

Ginger - 1 and 1/2 Inc piece

Oil - 2 Tsp

Butter - 1 Tsp

Kasoori Methi - 2 Tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Roasted Dhaniya /Coriander Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Roasted Jeera / Cumin Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Garam Masala - 1 Tsp

Yogurt (well beaten) - 3 Table Spoons

Salt - about 1 and 1/2 Tea spoons (more or less according to your taste)

Paneer - Standard small slab that you get in the Indian store, cut in desired size

#It helps if you mix all the dry masala powder in water so there are no lumps and also the masala wont burn.

#You can prepare the Dhaniya Jeera masala powder ahead of time in a larger quantity and store. 

#Please adjust the spiciness of this Sabji to your taste.

Method

In a Food processor, grind the tomatoes, green chili and the ginger.

In a pan, on a medium flame, add the oil and butter and once the butter melts, add the kasoori methi.

Add the mixture of masala and water to this and let it come to a slow boil -about 3 to 4 minutes

Add the tomatoes mixture to this, and add salt to this and close the pan so everything can come together and thicken - about 10 minutes

Once the mixture is thick, slow down the flame and add the yogurt and mix well

On the side, if you prefer, roast the paneer a bit, (i do it, because my kids dont like the paneer if it is not sauteed, but if you don't mind you can skip this step)

Add the Paneer to this and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with Pulav or Rotis.