Kids' favorite Chocolate Pancake

What is Pancake ?

A Pancake is a thin, flat, mostly round (can be made in any desired shapes & sizes) cake, prepared from a batter made of APF(all purpose flour), milk, egg and butter. The prepared batter is then cooked on a griddle or frying pan. Pancakes are named differently in different part of the World. Depending on the region, pancakes may be served at any time, with a variety of toppings or fillings including jam, fruit, syrup or meat. But basically, it's a wholesome breakfast item, loved by all ages, especially children are very fond of them. My daughter is a huge fan of Pancakes. Nowadays, readymade pancake batter are found in markets, because of its popularity. But if you want to make it at home, I'll give you the recipe today.........

Do you know What is a Pancake Day?

Pancake Day ( also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the last day before the period which Christians call Lent,
a Christian festival leading up to Easter Sunday (Easter Day). It is traditional on this day to eat pancakes. It is the one day of the year when almost everyone eats a pancake. Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.  
In 2010 Pancake Day will be on 16 February.
So now to the Basic recipe of pancake....

Ingredients : (yields 7-8 pancakes)

All purpose flour(APF)  :  1 and 1/2 cup
Baking powder : 3 tsp.
Salt : 1 tsp.
Fine granulated sugar : 1-2 tblsp.
Milk : 1 and 1/4 cup(as needed)
Egg : 1
Butter(melted) : 3 tblsp.

Method :

• In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In another big bowl, whisk together egg and milk, add to flour mixture little by little, just enough to make a semi-thick creamy batter. Blend in melted butter.
  
• Heat a non-stick frying pan or a griddle, apply little butter/oil, lower the heat to medium, then pour about 1/4 cup of prepared batter. Cook until you see little dry around the edges and lightly browned on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side. Drop a little butter/oil if you see it's sticking to the pan. 
• Your pancake is ready.
  

Variations : You can add any crushed or finely chopped fruits(eg. mango, apple, banana etc.) in that batter and can enjoy different flavours of pancake.

For Chocolate pancake :

• To the basic batter, add 2 tblsp. of chocolate syrup( I used Hershey's chocolate syrup) or cocoa powder. Mix together.  

Tips : While making chocolate pancake, add less sugar in basic batter recipe, as chocolate syrup is going to add the sweetness.

• Make pancakes same way as mentioned above. Serve hot .............................

Sending my daughter's favorite breakfast dish to Arundhuti of Gourmet Affair, who is hosting an event, "Served With Love" .

And to Srivalli , who is hosting "Kids' Delight - Wholesome Breakfast"

Bread Utthapam

Bread is now so important part of our diet...without eating bread day's diet can't be complete. But always choose wholemeal bread over white bread or white flour bread. The basic difference between these two types of bread is during production of wholemeal flour the whole grain is used. This type of flour has an extraction rate of 100%, which means nothing is removed during milling. White flour is refined. The bran and nutrient-packed germ are separated from the rest of the grain losing many nutrients. The wholemeal flour contains all parts of the grain: the fibre-rich bran (outer layer), the endosperm (middle layer) and the germ (inner layer). The bran provides fibre, B vitamins, minerals, protein and other phytochemicals. The endosperm contains carbohydrates, proteins and small amounts of B vitamins. The germ is packed with minerals, B vitamins, vitamin E and other phytochemicals. The regular consumption of whole grain foods has been linked by researchers to a reduction of several diseases including heart disease and cancer, especially colon cancer.
My family likes bread than cereal or any other breakfast stuff. So I'm in a constant look for something different to serve them with bread. Few months back, I came accross one such recipe which can be served as a breakfast and also for evening snack. My daughter loved it and now every day she wants only this for her evening snack...so try it some time and let me know how your kids have liked it...........

Bread Utthapam........It's very easy to make and simply delicious bread snack recipe, which will be loved by all ages. If you don't know what a uttapam/utthapam is, it is dosa like dish made from same batter like dosa, but it's thick and not filled like dosa and different grated veges spread over it and fried.

Ingredients :

Bread ( any type of bread) : 6-8 slices ( I used Focaccia, it was just yummy)
Curd/yoghurt/Dahi : 1/2 cup
Semolina/Suji : 1/4 cup
Grated Onion : 1/2 cup
Grated Carrot : 1/2 cup
Grated Capsicum : 1/4 - 1/2 cup
Finely chopped tomatoes : 1/2 cup
Grated Ginger : 1 tblsp.
Finely chopped Green chillies : 1 tblsp.(Omit if cooking for kids)
Finely chopped Coriander leaves : 1/2 cup
Chilli powder : 2 tsp.( as per taste)
salt to taste
Butter/Margarine : as needed
Oil/ghee(clarified butter) : 2 tblsp.

Method :

• In a big bowl, take curd/yoghurt, whip it a little. Then add all the ingredients except oil and bread. 
• Spread butter or margarine in only one side of your bread. 
  
• Heat tawa or a wide pan, put butter side of the bread down, let it brown, on the top side, spread the yoghurt batter evenly in a thin layer. Once the down part is done, pick it up with a flat spatula, drop 1 tsp. of oil, flip to the other side. 
• In medium heat, let it brown. Remove from tawa. Prepare other slices same way.
  
• Serve hot with a ketchup or any sauce of your choice.

I'm sending it to Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
for her event, "Sunday Snacks : snacks with bread". I've the priviledge to host this event next month, so friends and foodies come to my place for the announcement and please participate and make it a success........

Also want to share my daughter's recent favorite snack with Srivalli of Spice your Life, who is celebrating her first blog anniversary with the theme, "Kids Delight"

Spicy Potato & Scrambled Egg Sandwich

Friends, I have a good news to share with you...Sudeshna of Cook like a Bong, who is a famous bengali blogger, has loads of authentic bengali recipes in her new site. She is doing so much more than just blogging. Recently, she surveyed the web and enlisted Top 7 Bengali food blogger and Friends, I am in her list. I still can't believe this. This recognision just after 1 and 1/2 years of blogging, I am just delighted and so much thankful to Sudeshna and Kalyan. Thanks a lot, you both. She is going to publish the our interview, too in her site soon.
For this joyous occassion, I 'll share our family's favorite breakfast sandwich recipe which I make quite often ... its very filling and you can pack this sandwich for your and kid's lunch-box, too. It's a very healthy evening snack option for kids.

Ingredients :

Bread : any bread of your choice
Butter or margarine
For filling ::
Potato(medium) : 2(boiled and mashed)
Egg : 2
Onion(medium) : 1
Green chilli : 2(chopped)
Tomato(small) : 1(chopped)
Fresh coriander leaves : a handful(finely chopped)
Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp.
Red chilli powder : 1 tsp.
Chaat masala : 2 tsp. or Lemon juice : 1 tsp.
Oil : 1 tblsp.
Salt to taste
Black Pepper powder to taste
Lettuce leaves, Cucumber, Onion and tomato slices(few)

Method :

• Boil the potatoes and mash them finely with a pinch of salt. Keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, fry onion and green chilli till onion turns brown, add chopped tomatoes. Wait till tomatoes softens.
  
• In a bowl, beat 2 eggs vigorously to mix egg white and yellow. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper to the egg and add in the pan and mix well with onion and tomato.
  
  
  
  Vegetarians skip the above step and follow rest of the steps for spicy potato sandwich
  
  • Stir and break the fried egg into small pieces, just like you make scrambled egg, keep the eggs soft, not too much fried. So do it in medium low flame. Now add the mashed potato in it. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, chaat masala or lemon juice and coriander leaves. Season with salt and keep stirring until everything is well mixed. It should be a dry mixture. Remove from heat, your filling for sandwich is ready.
  
  

• Now toast bread slices, put some butter or margarine. On down piece of bread, place few lettuce leaves, spread some of the filling on that, place 2 slices of cucumber, onion and tomatoes each, sprinkle some black pepper powder on that and finally place your top bread slice.
• Your sandwich is ready. Give a big bite.........yummmmmmmmm
  

Alternatively, You can skip the potato and make a scrambled egg sandwich too in this way.....

Sending this to Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes for her event "Sunday Snacks : snacks with bread" 

Classic French Toast

French Toast!!! The first thing to know is that French toast isn't really French at all. It seems to have originated in Rome. Slices of bread are dipped in a beaten egg mixture. The slices of egg-coated bread are then placed on a frying pan prepared with a coat of butter or oil, and cooked until both sides are browned and the egg has cooked through. This versatile dish is topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other items.
Today, just about every country around the globe has their own version of this classic breakfast food. And by the way, don't look for "French toast" on the menu in France because the French refer to it as "pain perdu." In India, the version is salted rather than sweet. The egg is beaten with milk, salt, green chili and chopped onion. Bread is dunked into this mixture and is deep fried in butter or cooking oil. Its served with ketchup.
In legend, French toast recipes evolved when food was dear and every bit had to be used – even stale bread. Ancient cooks found that dipping stale bread in a mixture of eggs and milk helped rejuvenate it. They then cooked it on a griddle and served it up, much like our modern version.

Unfortunately, this breakfast tray was not for me, as I have egg white allergy. It was served(by me) for my hubby dear...and he enjoyed it thoroughly as he is an absolute egg-lover. Served it with few cherry tomatoes, few slices of cucumber, 2 dates and a cup of hot hot Indian black tea with milk without which our day can't start.............

So now to the recipe ............
Ingredients : (makes 8 toasts)
Eggs : 3
Milk : 1/2 cup
Sugar : 1 tsp.
salt : 1/2 tsp.
Black Pepper : 1 tsp.
White/brown bread : 8 slices
Butter/margarine : 1 tblsp.+1 tsp.

Method :

• In a wide bowl, beat eggs just till yolks and whites are mixed. Add milk, sugar and salt. Mix.
• Heat a tawa/griddle on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Spread little butter on tawa all over the area where the slices will be placed.
• Turn one slice bread in egg mixture leaving both sides in mixture for about 20 secs. Remove and place on tawa. place another slice soaked same way in the egg mixture on the same way. Fry on both sides till browned.
  
• While these two slices are frying, soak two more slices in the egg mixture and fry the same way. Add little butter on tawa for each batch.
  
• Cut each slice diagonally and serve hot with honey or jam or just sprinkle little black pepper on each slice. Enjoy this mouth-watering classic breakfast.........................
  

Sending this breakfast tray to
Srilekha of Me and My kitchen to her event EFM:Breakfast Series

Scrambled Paneer Sandwich w/Focaccia

You all know how my daughter is a paneer fanatic (yes, extremely in love with paneer)...if she could only eat paneer(Indian Cottage Cheese), that would be ideal for her. So I try to make different things with paneer....I usually make Paneer bhurji(scrambled paneer) to have with chapatis as a side dish, this time I added few vegetables to make it more healthier, it tasted real yum...and I made a sandwich(with focaccia-Italian bread with herbs) with vegetable paneer bhurji filling . It was heavenly ..............

Consuming Paneer or cottage cheese(as it contains the milk fat/saturated fat) in daily basis is not a healthy option for adults as well as children, but once or twice a week is not bad at all. It's a great source of calcium and protein.

Veg. Paneer Bhurji Filling for sandwich

Ingredients :
Paneer or firm Tofu : 50 gms.
Carrot : 1/3 cup (chopped)
Capsicum : 1/3 cup(chopped)
Corn : 1/4 cup
Onions : 1 (small-chopped)
Green chilli : 1 (chopped)
Tomato : 1 (small-chopped)
Turmeric powder : a pinch
Red chilli powder : 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil : 2 tblsp.
Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
(use vegetable of your choice like, cauliflower, potato, peas etc.)

Method :

• Crumble the paneer or tofu finely with hand and keep aside. Heat 1 tblsp. oil in a pan, add chopped up vegetables and in low flame fry until done with a pinch of salt added. keep them aside.

• In the same pan, heat rest of the oil, add chopped onions, fry until they turn light brown, then add chopped green chillies and tomatoes. Fry until tomatoes softens, now add crumbled paneer or tofu and fried veges. Stir to mix all the ingredients, add turmeric and red chilli powder and season with salt. Mix well and stir for another minute.
  
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Mix well. It's ready to serve.
  

The filling can be served as a side dish with any Indian bread(chapati, naan or paratha). Serve it hot.................otherwise, it tends to harden a bit and don't taste as good when hot.


To assemble the Sandwich.........

• Take a focaccia or any other bread, toast it, apply a layer of butter or margarine.
• Then lay few lettuce leaves. Over that lay a thin layer of paneer bhurji filling, then add some cucumber and tomato slices.
• Sprinkle little black pepper powder and give a big bite.......................

Off course, serve the sandwich hot, not cold..........................

Sending this yummy sandwich to Me and My Kitchen
who is hosting an event named EFM: Breakfast Series
Also on the way to Divya's photo event- Show me your Breakfast

Semiya Upma for MBP: Snacks

I recently came across this nice blog, "Sunanda's Kitchen" . While I was going through her post, I found the recipe for "Semiya Upma (veg vermicelli upma)". I love upma and make it for breakfast often, but I never used vermicelli for upma. I always used sooji(rawa). I liked the idea of using vericelli and I tried it. It really taste great. Thanks Sunanda for this nice recipe.


I followed most of her recipe but need to change a little as per my taste. Use any vegetable available. I followed her 1st step of recipe. In the 2nd step, I tempered the oil, with red chilli, curry leaves, 1 tsp. of chana dal(bengal gram) and Urad dal each and mustard seeds. I added chopped green chillies in it. Rest I did the same way.

It's a lovely,delicious and easy to cook breakfast recipe....anyone will fall in love once tried.

So I am sending this mouth watering recipe to
MBP : Snacks & savouries hosted by
Aswini's Spicy Cuisine. MBP is a brainchild
of Coffee of Spice Cafe.

Vegetable Masala Idli for All Ages

My 10 years old daughter is an absolute Idli-fan. At least 3-4 times a week she'll ask me to make idlis. So this time I thought, why not make it a little healthier? So I tried to add some vegetables and it absolutely came out very tasty and yummy. She loved it and she said, "mom, from now on you have to make idli this way only". So my experiment was a great success.


Ingredients :

Idli Batter
Carrot : 1/2 cup
Capsicum : 1/2 cup (all colours)
Green beans : 1/4 cup
Onion : 1(small)
Ginger : 1/2 inch
Green chillies : 1 or 2
Coriander leaves : 1/2 cup(chopped)
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp.
Curry Leaves : 5-6 nos.
Urad dal : 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste

Method :

• Cut all vegetables in very small pieces. Blanch ginger and green chillies. If your child can't tolerate green chillies, avoid it.
• In a pan, heat oil. Temper with curry leaves,mustard seeds and urad dal, when seeds start to crackle, pour it in the idli batter. In the same pan, add ginger and green chillies and all the vegetables, fry for 2-3 minutes with a pinch of salt and add them too in the batter.
• Lastly add coriander leaves and onions and mix the batter with a spoon vigorously for a minute or two.
• Your idli batter is ready. Mow grease your idli stand, pour the batter on each mould and steam in the idli cooker.
• Serve them with hot sambar.

I am sending this post to Alka of Sindhi Rasoi who is hosting an fun event "Just for You" and this cute little masala idlis are just for my cute little princess.

Crispy Moong Dal Masala Dosa

Dosa or crispy pancake is a staple food of South India. It is served mainly for breakfast. It is also popular allover India. To make a regular dosa is atleast 2 days job. You have to soak rice & dal overnight, next morning grind them to make a batter and keep it for fermenting, it's a lengthy process..but end result is definitely awesome. Once you have it, you'll never forget the taste. I would like to share with you a simple dosa recipe, which you can make instantly avoiding all those process. It is made from Moong dal and it tastes as good as regular dosa. I am sure everybody will love this. From when I get to know that moong dal burns fat from your body(ya, it's true, Ayurveda says that), I am just looking for moong dal recipe everywhere and trying to consume as much as possible. So, I found out this recipe here and tried it. It's a lovely recipe. So try for sure and you'll love this ...............

Ingredients---------
For Dosa :
Moong dal : 2/3 cup
Ginger : 1"
Green chilli : 2/3
Oil : 3-4 tblsp.
For Masala filling :
Potato : 2/3
Green peas : 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp.
Mustard Seeds : 1 tsp.
Dry red chilli : 1(bresk into 2)
Turmeric powder : 1 tsp.
Chilli powder : 1 tsp.
Grren chilli : 1 or 2 (cut into small pieces)(optional)
Coriander leaves : a handful
Oil : 2 tblsp.
Salt to taste

Method :

• Soak moong dal in hot water for 1 hour. Grind dal adding ginger, green chilli, salt and 2 tblsp.(tablespoon) of water. Don't use much water and make a smooth paste. It won't be not too dry but a smooth, creamy batter.
  
• With a spoon, whisk the batter in circular motion only for 2-3 minutes. keep aside. The batter is now ready to make dosa.
  
• For the masala filling, boil potatoes. Cut in cube like pieces. In a pan, heat oil. Then add dry red chilli, cumin & mustard seeds, when it splutters, add green chillies, potatoes and green peas. Put salt, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir for few minutes and mix well with potatoes.
• Pour 1/2 cup of water and in low flame let it cook. This is not a very dry preperation. There will be a little gravy well-coated with potatoes and masala will be soft. Sprinkle coriander leaves over it and masala is ready.
• To make the dosa, take a non-stick tawa or a frying pan with wide flat surface. Grease the whole pan with 1 tsp. oil and drop little batter on it. Now with back of a spatula, spread the batter in circular motion in a thin layer.
  
• As soon as the upper surface looks dry, drizzle one tblsp. oil all over the dosa. Flip over carefully. The lower surface should be light golden in color and crispy. Cook the flip over side until it also turns light golden for about 1 minute.

• Flip it over again and put some of the masala filling in the center of the dosa and fold from both sides.

• Take it out of the pan and serve hot. Same way, make some more dosas and serve with sambar and coconut chutney.

Sambar recipe, you will find here , it can be made with or without vegetables.

If you have excess dosa batter, don't throw them out. Try next day this Moong Dal Vada. It goes well as an accompaniment with any dal(lentil) and white rice or serve just as an appetizer.
Ingredients :
Dosa batter
Coriander leaves : a handful
Black cumin(nigella) seeds : 1 tsp.
Oil for frying

Method :

• Heat enough oil in a pan( it doesn't have to be deep-fried). Take little amount of batter in your hand and drop little by little on the oil. Fry on both sides until golden brown.
  
• Remove from oil and keep on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

Note : always serve this vada hot and make just before serving, as it gets soft very fast, then it won't taste so great. Serve with any chutney or chilli or tomato ketchup.

Both recipes are going to MLLA : Sixth Helping : Hot & Spicy at Tasty palettes hosted by Suganya
Also sending these two mouth-watering warming recipe to Trupti of Recipe Center who is hosting Winter Treat Event.

Chirer Pulao (Poha/flaked rice pulao)

If you ask me, what a typical bengali breakfast or jal khabar(in bengali) is, then there are a lot. Nowadays, when both the couple are busy getting ready for work, then in breakfast menu there will be french toast, egg omelette or milk and cereal and off course a cup tea. But on holidays, almost every household there will be an elaborate prepeartion for breakfast. I can list a few favourite, bengalis love to munch on like, Luchi-aloor dom, paratha-tarkari, kochuri(dal-stuffed puri)-tarkari, singara-jilevi with muri (puffed rice), pakora-muri or even chirer pulao.
Today I would love to share one of the easiest and delicious breakfast recipe that is loved in my household, even the kids love it...i.e. Chirer Pulao


Ingredients :
Chire/Poha(flaked rice) : 100 gm.
Potato : 1 or 2 (medium)
Green peas : 1/2 cup (optional)
Onion : 1 (medium) (sliced)
Green chilli : 2 (blanched)
Ginger : 1" (blanched finely)
Turmeric : 1/2 tsp.
Sugar : 1/2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil : 3 tbsp.
Poppy seeds : 1 tbsp.
Grondnuts/raw peanut : 25 gms.
coriander leaves for farnishing

How I make it :

• Wash the poha and drain all the water from it. There shouldn't be any water. Keep it aside.
  
• Fry raw peanuts in oil and set aside.
  
• Cut potatoes in small pieces and fry in oil until done. Set them aside. In the same oil, add poppy seeds and when it turns brown and the aroma comes out, add the onions. Fry them until brown, add ginger and green chillies. Stir for few more minutes. You can increase or decrease the chillies according to your taste.
  
• Now add potatoes and chire/poha to the onion and mix them finely. Add the fried peanuts, turmeric, sugar and season with salt. Give it a good stir for about 2 to 3 minutes.
  
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot. This dish won't taste good when cold.
  

Note : You can add more vegetables like, carrot, cauliflower, green beans to this dish.