JFI:Rajma

Here comes the next event in my blog. Indira of Mahanandi gave me the opportunity to host this month's edition of JFI. I chose the theme to be Rajma. "Jihva for Ingredients (JFI) is an online monthly food event, celebrating the natural Ingredients and what they can do for our Jeeva." Rajma is commonly known as kidney beans. True to their name, these popular beans are kidney shaped and are especially good in simmered dishes where they absorb the flavors of seasonings and the other foods with which they are cooked.


Here are some facts about the bean Rajma:[Wikipedia]

• Before they are eaten, the raw bean seeds should be soaked in water for several hours and then boiled for at least ten minutes in new fresh water to degrade a toxic compound — the lectinphytohaemagglutinin — found in the bean, which would otherwise cause severe gastric upset.
• Kidney beans, especially, should not be sprouted.
• Similar to other beans, the common bean is high in starch, protein and dietary fiber and is an excellent source of iron, potassium, selenium, molybdenum, thiamine, vitamin B6, and folic acid.
• Dry beans will keep indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry place, but as time passes, their nutritiveflavor degrade and cooking times lengthen.

Some ideas for cooking kidney beans:
The authentic rajma chawal prepared in North India. A wholesome one pot dish where the rice is cooked with the rajma.

Combine cooked kidney beans with black beans and white beans to make a colorful three bean salad. Mix with tomatoes and scallions and dress with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper.

Serve cooked kidney beans over a piece of cornbread and top with grated cheese for a twist on the traditional tamale pie.

In a food processor or blender, combine cooked kidney beans with garlic, cumin and chili peppers for a delicious spread that can be used as a dip or sandwich filling.

Make a pot of chili, the hearty Mexican soup that traditionally features kidney beans.

Make tacos with a vegetarian twist by using kidney beans in place of ground meat.

So put on your thinking hats and come out with your version of cooking Rajma.

Coming to the rules:

• Come up with a recipe that has Rajma/Kidney beans as one of the main ingredients.
  
• Email me the link to your post on or before October 31st, 2009.
  
• Please make the dishes Vegetarian; cheese & eggs are allowed.
• Include a link in your post to this announcement and to Indira's site (themahanandi.org).
  
• If you have recipes that are already posted, repost and include a link to this announcement and Indira’s site.
• Use of Logo is optional, feel free to use it.
• Non-bloggers can email me your recipe along with the picture of the dish.
  
• Email me at divyablogs[AT]gmail{DOT}com with the following information.

1. Name
2. Entry Name
3. Entry URL
4. Picture of your creation in any size.

You can find the roundup : here

Zebra Cake

Finally, I happened to try the zebra cake which has been going around the blogosphere. i was pretty impressed with the results. It was pretty easy to achieve the stripes and was elegant to look at. It won praises for me at home and it tasted great as well. We finished the whole cake in two days and am looking forward to making it again. The cake tasted great with tea.


I was in a hurry to slice it before it completely cooled. So the designs do not look very clear in the cross section of the cake. Also pardon my pictures as I made the cake in the evening and had no proper lighting.


Ingredients

Eggs - 3 large
All-purpose flour/maida - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Oil - 1 cup ( I used canola oil.can be replaced with butter or any vegetable oil)
Vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1 tablespoon
Dark cocoa powder - 2 tablespoons

Directions
Bring the eggs to room temperature
In a mixing bowl, combine together the eggs and sugar and beat well electric mixer or whisk until frothy. Slowly add the milk, oil and vanilla essence and beat until well blended together.
In a separate mixing bowl combine all the flour, baking powder together. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until well incorporated together.

Divide the cake batter into two equal portions. To one portion add the cocoa pwder and mix until well combined.



Grease a 9-inch round cake pan or line it with parchment paper.
Carefully do the following process. Take 3 tablespoons of the white batter(plain) and pour it in the center of the pan. Followed by 3 tablespoons of the brown (cocoa) batter.

Do this alternatively. Do not spread the batter yourself. the batter spreads by itself. Do this until the entire batter gets over.


This is how the cake batter will look before it goes into the oven.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about 35 to 40 minutes. Check if the cake is done by inserting a fork or skewer. Cool the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes and then transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool it. Slice after the cake gets completely cooled!


Serve with tea!

Sending this to CFK:Chocolate hosted by Hema and started by Sharmi
Monthly Mingle hosted by Aparna and started by Meeta
This is something which is special and just not any other dish, so am sending this pretty cake dressed in stripes to Just not any other dish event.
And also to Kidz Delight hosted by Srivalli.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Hi All,
Am back after a small unannounced break! My inlaws were here for sometime and I was a little busy. We traveled a lot and ate out and very little cooking at home. Still relaxing to get back to normal. And my fall semester starts tomorrow and hoping to get back to the routine soon. And will also get back to blog-hopping as usual! Though we had loads of delicious food, I did not have the chance to click all of them. So here is one of my recipes from my draft.

Banana bread is one of our favorites. I make it often and we have it for breakfast and also along with tea in the evening. I wanted to make a healthier version and so I planned to go eggless by adding flax seeds and replacing the white flour with whole wheat flour. It came out a little denser than the white flour one but it tasted equally good and was guilt-free. So am looking forward to bake more of these healthier versions of bread.


Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Milk - 1/2 cup
Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup melted
Bananas - 2 large riped ones
Vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon (optional)
Flax seed powder - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Almonds / walnuts / pecans - 1 handful (can be replaced with any nuts)
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup (optional)


Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.
Peel and mash the ripe bananas well.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, flax seeds, baking soda and baking powder. In another bowl, mix together all the liquid ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix slowly until well incorporated. Finally add the mashed banana and combine everything together. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips if using.
Grease and flour a loaf pan or cake pan . Add the prepared mixture slowly to the pan.
Transfer to the center rack of the oven and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes. Insert a toothpick or fork and check if it is done. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.
Once cooled completely slice it up.
Serve with butter!

Spicy chicken burgers

Having tried bean burgers and veggie burgers at home, I have always been skeptical about trying chicken burgers. I happened to have minced chicken at home and googled for some burger recipes. I found umpteen number of recipes and was quiet confused with what to make. Using all the inputs from google I settled upon this recipe of my own, which was indeed really good. We had it for dinner with some homemade baked french fries and some cherry pepsi!



Ingredients

Ground chicken - 1 pound

Instant oats - 2 tablespoons (can be replaced by breadcrumbs)

Egg - 1

Seasoning:

Sesame oil - 1 teaspoon

Soy sauce - 2 teaspoons

Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
Garlic powder - 1 teaspoon
Freshly ground black pepper- 1 teaspoon
Chilli flakes - 1 teaspoon (can be replaced with chilli powder or chilli sauce)
Dried oregano - 1/2 teaspoon (optional-or can be replaced by any herbs)
Sugar - 1 teaspoon

Directions

Place all the seasoning in a bowl and mix it well with a fork. Powder the instant oats.

In another bowl, take the minced chicken and add the egg. Beat well so that it is well incorporated with the chicken. Add the seasoning and mix again. Finally add the powdered oats and mix well.

The egg helps in holding all the ingredients together and the oats gives a nice crust to the burger.

Make burger size patties and shape them in your palms.

Heat a shallow pan and drizzle some oil. Once it is heated, 3 to 4 patties at a time. Cook on medium heat for about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the patties over carefully and allow to cook on the other side for about 4 minutes.

Check if it has cooked through completely.

Serve over burger buns with toppings of your choice.

I made mine with some low-fat mayonnaise, mint chutney, cheese, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. Enjoy!

Also do check out my burger bun recipe!

Sending this to Cook for Yourself event and
Food For 7 stages of life:Kids initially started by Radhika .

Free Coupons Giveaway !

I have a couple of coupons for the Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt. After using a few of them I had a couple of them left, so I thought I would give them to my blogger friends. So for a chance to win these free coupons, here is what you need to do.

Please comment here to win a chance to win these yogurt coupons. Also, tell me what is your favorite way of using the yogurt - what is your favorite yogurt based dish!
For a second entry:
You tweet about it (I am @athisayadivyas) or link back to my blog, you get an extra chance to enter! Just don’t forget to let me know in another comment that you did so!!!

I will be selecting the winner on Fri using a randomizer!

I can ship the coupons to anywhere in the US!

Good Luck!!

You must have noticed my absence in the blogosphere for a while. I was busy with my final exams for the summer quarter. Hope to catch up with all your posts soon!!