Ragi (Millet) Waffles

So my best friend from college is going to be in town briefly this weekend, and is going to come over for brunch. I'm always excited to decide on a menu for my company, but a twist is thrown in to come up with vegetarian, gluten-free options. I could easily go the traditional Southern Indian breakfast of idli, dosa, or uttapam. However, I want to serve something more Americanized, especially since this provides a good excuse to try new recipes!! After searching online for ideas, I finally came across this gluten-free & VEGAN waffle recipe guide. If someone experimented with the same recipe over 24 times, testing various flours, then it must be a recipe I can trust. I was so excited to try it out, that I just made two batches this afternoon as a trial run before this weekend. I adjusted ingredients slightly according to what I had on hand, and of course, using gluten-free flours found in a typical Indian pantry.

First batch was made with ragi flour (millet flour) and my second batch was with besan flour (chickpea flour)

The ragi waffles will be the recipe I make for our brunch. They are a better match for maple syrup. The besan waffles aren't bad, it's just that they are more suitable as a savory waffle as opposed to sweet. I've never eaten savory waffles before, so am not exactly sure what that would look like...right now I'm thinking I'd try it with some melted cheese on top. Who knows, maybe even a curry. If we go with sweet, next time I would probably double the sugar and add some cardamom. I will have to continue to experiment, but for now...here's the recipe.

Ragi Waffles ~makes 2 large waffles or 3-4 smaller ones
Ingredients-
1 1/4 cups ragi flour (or use other gluten-free flour of your choice)
1/2 cup tapioca flour (tapioca starch)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs water

Process-
Heat waffle iron.

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the oil and water to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. (May need to add a little more water, 1-2 Tbs at a time to reach desired consistency.)

 

-I didnt think to take pics  of the process until batch 2, so this is how the besan flour batter looks 

Grease the waffle iron, and put 1/2 cup of batter (more or less, depending on how big you want your waffles to be) onto the waffle iron. Use spoon or spatula to help spread it out to cover the waffle iron.

Close the waffle iron and allow to cook for about 3 minutes, or until desired done-ness is reached.

**For more gluten-free waffle ideas and tips from the gluten-free waffle/pancake baking pro, make sure to visit the link I included above! Have fun :)

Stoplight Salad

One of my favorite cookbooks is called Simply in Season. It's not 100% vegetarian, but it is vegetarian friendly. Plus, the recipes are categorized according to produce that's in season during spring, summer, fall & winter. (thus the title). This is by far our favorite quinoa recipe, which I have to admit we make year round even though it's best made with fresh summer produce!!

Stoplight Salad with Quinoa, yield 6-8 cups
*We use as a main dish, sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese, slightly warmed to melt the cheese. It's good served cold as well.

Ingredients & Process

In large bowl, combine the following ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
2 cups corn
1 medium green pepper, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1/2 cup red onion OR scallions, diced
1/4 cup cilantro

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups cooked black beans

Pour 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar over the salad and gently toss to combine. Add salt & pepper to taste. Garnish with shredded cheese.

Notes:
The name of this salad comes from the colors of the veggies used-red, yellow. and green!
I cook the quinoa in the rice cooker. It cooks perfectly, without boiling over or burning, which is usually the case when I cook it on the stove top.

Pineapple Pastry Cake (Eggless)

Husband raves about Pineapple Pastry Cake from India. He had been waiting for me to make it for several months, and I finally found a recipe to adapt in my attempt to make something I have never tasted before in my life. The initial result was definitely a success, but I made a few mental notes to adjust on subsequent attempts. I made this cake two months in a row because it was so delicious. Oh, and we had a couple occasions worth celebrating with cake :) I am always glad for an excuse to indulge!

slice of pineapple and whipped cream heaven

Pineapple Pastry Cake
*Notes*
-If making in 9x13 pan, will probably need to make two recipes of cake.
-Line the pan with parchment paper to make a sling to easily remove and transfer the cake from the pan.
-Original recipe which I used as my inspiration was from this blog. Many thanks!

Ingredients & Process
Ingredients for Simple Eggless Vanilla Cake

Plus
1 can of pineapple pieces (reserve the juice)
1 jar of maraschino cherries (a dozen or so cherries for decorating)
1 quart heavy whipping cream (this is more than enough for decorating and for leftovers to add into coffee, or eat by the spoonful)
pineapple essence
powdered sugar

1. Follow the Simple Eggless Vanilla Cake recipe and substitute pineapple essence in place of the vanilla extract. Bake the cake in a 9x13 pan (or whatever size you have on hand) or divide between 2 baking sheets.
*If you have two pans of the same size, you can pour half of the batter into each pan to make the layers. Otherwise, you will bake one cake, wait for it to cool, and slice it in half so that you will have a two layer cake.

2. Allow cake to cool. Slice if necessary to have two layers. Use a spoon or pastry brush to apply the reserved pineapple juice onto the cake. Allow to sit for a couple hours at least, optimally over night in the fridge. (This is an important step so that the cake gets nice and soft. Like, it will practically melt in your mouth!)

3. Make whipped cream by whipping the cream with 1 tsp of pineapple essence, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 cup powdered sugar (adjust to suite your taste preferences). Using a hand mixer makes whipped cream without much effort.

4. To assemble the cake: On one layer of cake, spread 1/2 the whipped cream mixture and 1/2 of the pineapple pieces. Very carefully, place the second layer of cake on the top and apply the remaining whipped cream. Spread evenly. Use the pineapple pieces and maraschino cherries to decorate the top of the cake.

Top layer of the cake is still in the parchment paper sling. This helps to more easily place on top of the bottom layer.

Refrigerate until serving.

Coconut Carrot Curry

This is one of the simplest lunchtime curries that I make, on just about a weekly basis. Any member of my family will probably be puzzled by this since I am known for not eating cooked carrots. My tastes magically changed when I first tasted this curry. I suppose nearly anything paired with coconut can become palatable. That's the only thing I can attribute to this miraculous change!!

Ingredients & process

5-6 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized rounds

2-3 Tbs shredded coconut (fresh is best, but frozen or dried is fine too)

1Tbs oil & seasonings for popu (tempering)

In medium size pan, add 1 Tbs oil and heat over medium heat.
Add these spices in the order listed:
1/4 tsp black mustardseeds
1/4 tsp split channa dal
1/4tsp split yellow pesara dal
1/4 tsp split urad dal

*Note, if you would like this to be spicy, you can add a dried red chili pepper and/or fresh green chili during this step.

Once mustardseeds begin to pop & sputter, turn heat to low & add:
6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt

(Popu can burn quickly if the heat is too high, so try to add veggies quickly to help prevent the seasonings from frying too much.)

Add the carrots, cover with lid and allow to steam over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add the coconut & stir to combine. Cover & steam another 5 minutes or so until desired tenderness of carrots is reached. Stir occasionally. You can add a Tbs or two of water, if needed, to help prevent the carrots from burning and sticking to the pan. 

Serve with rice.