ANJEERI GOBHI

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The weekend was a lazy one. V and I spent it at home mostly. Last few weekends have been very hectic, so both of us enjoyed this one by just sitting it out and watching movies the whole day.

I also managed to clear my inbox- from 7000 unread messages to 0 unread! Do not ask how I managed to have 7000 unread messages- thanks to all the needless subscriptions I was tricked into keeping =/ but, finally, I am down to zero unread messages! And believe me, its a great feeling to open your inbox and see just 1 or 2 unread messages!! 🙂

 

We did get out of the house though during the weekend. Our microwave broke down last week. So we had to get a new one and thus, had to make a trip to Home Depot.

Now as the proud owner of a new microwave, I thought of making today’s lunch completely in it. My in-laws gifted me these two books on microwave cooking and both are wonderful books. This also is the start of a new section on the blog solely dedicated to microwave cooking. Microwave cooking is not only fast, but since food  gets cooked in its own juices, it is full of natural aroma, texture and colour.

Another plus, which according to me is the biggest one, is that one ends up using only one dish for the cooking and the serving! I have always been apprehensive about using the microwave too much because of the radiation but the book guarantees no such evidence of it being harmful, especially since todays health standards limit the amount of micro waves that leak from a microwave oven to a safe level. So you have quick, healthier cooking with negligible clean up!

Today I made anjeeri gobhi. Its basically cauliflower cooked in a yogurt and dry figs paste. The end result was a pretty tasty dish and thanks to the microwave a snap to make!

This was my second attempt at microwave cooking. The first time I tried kadhai paneer with quite good results ( I do have to say that kadhai paneer made conventionally tastes better, but this wasn’t bad either. Plus, cooking in the microwave was really quick and clean!)

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APPLE CIDER DONUTS

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For those of (the very few) you, who have been following my blog, would probably remember me mentioning having these awesomelly sinful apple cider donuts at an apple orchard that we went during the pumpkin picking festival. Since then, I have been dreaming of trying my own version at home. Finally, on Friday I got the opportunity.

Every Friday is coffee morning. A bunch of us ladies (stuck in this god forsaken town with nothing much to do) get together at someone’s place for coffee and general chit chat. This Friday was coffee at my place and the perfect time to try making apple cider donuts.

Cider donuts are cake doughnuts, unlike the yeast doughnuts I have made in the past and have been generally good at making. I got the recipe off Smitten Kitchen’s site (my regular go to site). Deb uses shortening for frying. I found it a novel idea, plus it was the best way to use the Crisco that had been lying in my fridge for weeks (or was it months?). And the best part, frying in Crisco makes the donuts less greasy than frying in oil. Of course, most shortenings have trans fats which clog your arteries but luckily, I had, lying in my refrigerator, the zero trans fat Crisco. Lo and behold!

The donuts turned out awesome, very very close to the ones I had at the Orchard. They are definitely best freshly fried, but can be successfully reheated in the oven too. The donuts are very delicate, thanks to being cake like. So treat them with care. The dough is very sticky so be sure to freeze the dough before cutting the circles and flour generously!

Though sweet just the way they are, I prefer mine topped with a little cinnamon sugar. I glazed the donut holes with apple cider. Everyone at the coffee loved them- I got the tag of being a good cook that day. I am a happy baker!


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PITA BREAD

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It snowed on Monday, which is a rarity, since it hardly snows here. Well, to be fair, it was the kind of snow that just melts as soon as it hits the ground. But, nonetheless, the snow made me all excited and lifted my spirits. After a nice weekend in Phoenix, coming back to an empty house did drain my energy out. Well, the first flakes of snow did cheer me up. The snow also meant that winters are here, for good!

I was always a winter person, and hated summers, but my two year stay in Russia changed that. Months of sunless skies and the cold can make one morose. Come summers and one could see the change- bright clothes, smiling people everywhere, kids playing in the park- everything seemed beautiful. Fortunately, Moscow summers aren’t like India’s. Probably that’s why (actually, exactly why), I used to have this dislike for summers. In India, summer comes with sweaty clothes, power cuts, water shortage..well, you get the drift. But, post Moscow even Indian summers changed for me. Now summers for me is a time where I can wear skirts, floral dresses and show my skin off . Even though these days with the weight that I have put on, the prospect of doing so puts me in a depression worse than what I used to experience during Moscow winters and no sun 🙁 . Well, that’s where I think winter dressing comes to the rescue. The layers cover all the stored up fat! 🙂 Though there is a charm in winter dressing too- boots, colorful scarves, long coats, stockings, caps – it’s fun.

Speaking of fun- today, I decided to make Pita. And it was everything but fun! The prospect of Pita and Humus has been haunting me for a while now. Since we don’t get Pita bread at the store here, I decided today would be the fateful day I would try my own version. Half way through making Pita, I realized the humus that we had was way past its expiry date. I could have and would have made the humus, but neither did I have the energy nor the time, nor the soaked chickpeas in hand to make the humus. So, instead I had to substitute with this other dip that was their in the fridge. It was no hummus but it did the job.

Now the reason why I didn’t call the Pita making process fun was that it did not go as the recipe says it should. Even though the pita was tasty, it did not fluff up. I tried spritzing the rolled up dough with water but that didn’t help either. Next time, Ill try keeping the dough more moist. (Yes, there is going to be a next time- I’m not the once bitten, twice shy kind of person- well, at least not when it comes to baking.) Another thing I’ll change is to keep the dough overnight. (I just kept it for two hours to rise)

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