Breads,Cakes,Cookies

Dar Ni Pori

Dar Ni Pori or Dar ni Poli is a Pastry stuffed with a Sweet Lentil Filling

A favourite tea time snack enjoyed by Parsis all over the world!

Dar in Pori is typically made from Toor Dal a lentil (also called split pigeon peas)

In my version of this delectable treat I have used a short cut method of making it with canned chickpeas!

Ingredients

Pastry

2 Cups of Maida or Refined Flour

6/7 cubes of cold butter cut in cubes

Ice cold water

A little melted Ghee to brush on the pastry

A dash of rose water

For the filling

2 cans of drained chickpeas mashed ( I used a food processor)

1/2 a cut of chopped nuts and dried fruits ( I used pistachios, almonds and cranberries )

Optional nuts are chironji or charoli  and fruits are raisins

2 tsp rose water

3/4 cup jaggery ( or  you can use sugar)

Method

Measure the flour

Sift it

 Add the butter cubes

Add iced water and rose water

Rub the butter and water in the flour

Make a smooth dough and portion it in small balls

Cover the balls with a damp towel and let them rest

Filling

Drain 2 cans of chick peas

Chop up fruts and nuts

Add the mashed chickpeas , a little ghee, jaggery and the fruit and nuts to a thick bottomed pan

Add a couple of spoons of  rose water

Cool the filling then make portions

Flatten on portion of the pasty and put the filling in it

Cover the filling in the pasty and shape it like a round disc

Brush with a little melted ghee

Preheat oven to 180 C and put 2 poris in a baking tray lined with foil(brush the foil with little ghee before putting the poris to bake) and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown on both side

Let the poris cool down

Cut and serve with tea!

Karkarias (Sweet Parsi Fritters)

Karkarias (a Gujarati /Parsi word) are sweet fritters made from a ripe banana and flour batter. Deep fried, they become crunchy-hence the name Karkarias-which sounds like crunchy! I vividly remember my grandma making them when we had a few over ripe bananas left in the fruit bowl. They are a great, once in a while, tea time snack!

 

Ingredients

1 Ripe Banana, mashed

1 large egg

1 tsp.  Vanilla essence

½ cup caster sugar

1/2 cup semolina

½ cup plain flour

1 tsp. baking powder

4 to 5 crushed cardamom seeds

1 pinch of grated nutmeg

1 handful of charoli (chironjee) seeds (optional)

Oil to fry

Method
Mix all these ingredients to make a batter

In a deep sauce pan put oil and heat to medium hot.

(Do not make the oil too hot otherwise the fritters will burn and wont cook from inside)

                                                                                   Serve them hot at tea time!

Stuffed Potato Parathas
(Aloo Paratha)

(Indian Flat Breads stuffed with Spicy Potato)

Paratha -or Indian flat bread is made with different types of fillings

Here I have used a spicy potato (aloo) filling, but be my guest and use any left overs such as Kheema (spicy mince-make sure it is cooked till the mixture is dry), or lentils.

I have made Sweet Stuffed Lentils flat bread called Puran Pori (Or Puran Poli-a Maharashtrian name) and they were delicious too!(see recipe of Puran Poli below!)

To make the filling:
Boil 4 large potatoes
Mash them.
In a pan add a little oil and warm up.Add half tsp of turmeric,(optional) a tsp of chilly powder,2 chopped green chillies. 1 tsp of garlic paste, 1 tsp of cumin seeds, 1 tsp of nigella seeds, and a hand full of chopped coriander leaves.
Add the mashed potatoes and let the mixture cool down

Potato Mixture

To make the dough:
2 cups of wholemeal wheat flour
1 tsp of salt
3 tsp of vegetable oil
Water 3/4 cup
Add the oil and salt to the flour and add water to make a smooth soft dough.
Make 6 parts of the dough and fill in the potato filling

Roll out the stuffed rounds with a rolling pin into flat discs

Heat a non stick pan on high and put the parathas to fry by brushing a little oil on both sides

Enjoy the parathas hot, with a meal or on their own with some chutney.!
Note: if you have any left over filling freeze it and use it another time

Puran Poli/Pooran Pori
  Sweet Indian flat bread stuffed with lentils

step by step method)

Puran Polis or Pooran Pori are a Maharashtrian /Gujarati dish. Eaten with tea or breakfast or as a snack these soft pooran poris are delectable and satisfying!

Soak 1 cup of daal (lentils) overnight. I used channa dal. Toor dal is Ok too!

Pressure cook the dal with minimum water, the next day, till soft

Add 1 cup of jaggery, 1 tsp of salt and cook daal till all the water has evaporated.

Cool this mixture. Add 1/4 tsp of cardamom powder. Test for sweetness.

To make the dough. Take 2 cup of wholemeal wheat flour, a pinch of salt, 1 dsp of ghee, and 2 pinches of turmeric powder

and make a soft dough.

let the dough rise by covering with a cloth and keeping it in a warm place for 2 hours

make smaller portions of the dough

put a tsp of the lentil/daal filling on each piece

close the pieces

flatten each piece

roll it out flat

bake it on a hot girdle

brush with ghee on both sides

cook till done

serve hot

yummy!

White Chocolate Flan Cake

(Gluten free White Chocolate Cake)

Baking a cake is one of the joys of someone who loves to cook!

I made this gluten free cake and used

almond meal for a base, instead of regular flour

I used this flan dish to bake the cake, hence the name "flan"cake.



Ingredients:

1 and a half cup of sieved almond meal

2 eggs at room temperature

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

4 dsp sugar

About 12/15 Glace Cherries

Quarter cup white chocolate bits

A handful of pistachio nuts

A handful of flaked almonds

A pinch of Salt

4 tsp of brandy or rum or any liquor of your choice

1 tsp of vanilla essence

A few pieces of dark chocolate (optional) to decorate.

Method:

Pre heat the oven at 200 C

Sieve the almond meal

Add all the nuts, cherries, 1/4 of the white chocolate chips and salt to the almond meal

Separate the eggs from the whites and beat the whites till medium stiff

Melt the rest of the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 20/25 seconds.

Beat the egg yolks and add the butter, sugar, Vanilla essence, rum or brandy and the melted chocolate

Pour the egg yolk mixture to the almond meal and mix it.

 Add the egg whites to the mixture and put the mixture in the flan dish to bake

(line the dish with baking paper)

IMPORTANT!

Reduce the oven temperature to 150 C as soon as you put it for baking

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Leave the door of the oven open and let the cake cool completely before removing it.

Once it cools, melt some dark chocolate and drizzle with a spoon lattice lines on the cake

Enjoy!

This one's made the same way -except with dark chocolate!



Rice Rose Water Cookies

Made these lovely cookies with rice flour, sugar and egg white and rose water.

Ingredients

1 cup Rice flour
1 egg white
3/4 cup Caster sugar
2/3 teaspoons Rose water
Dried rose petals

Method

Mix rice flour, to slightly beaten egg white.Add the caster sugar and rose water.
Mix into a dough, roll in a log shape and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for at least. 2 hours.
Cut the log into slices and place on baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake on 120 C (medium heat) till cookies are set.
I pressed a pinch of dried rose petals on each cookies before baking.

Nan Khatai 

(Egg less cookies)

Nan Khatais  or Indian Short bread cookies are one of those melt in the mouth cookies

They are easy and quick to make.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)

1/2 cup icing sugar or you can use caster sugar

1/2 cup melted ghee (cooled ) or you can use unsalted butter

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cardamom powder (optional)

1/2 tsp. rose essence (optional)

1 pinch salt

Method

Pre-heat your oven on 170 C 

Line a baking tray with baking paper or foil.

Mix flour,sugar,salt,baking and cardamom powders in a bowl.

Add the ghee and rose essence and make a soft dough.

Make small balls and sightly flatten them. 

Place them on the baking tray and bake the biscuits for 15 minutes.

Switch off the oven and leave the cookies in the oven to cool for 1/2 an hour

by leaving the oven door sightly open.

This will sightly crispen the cookies

Remove the cookies and let them cool outside for a further 1/2 and hour.

Put them in a cookie jar or air tight container.

Enjoy them with your tea!

Cheesy Crescents (Cookies)

These tea time treats are delicious with their 2 cheese flavors

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 stick unsalted butter 100 grams grated Parmesan cheese 50 grams shredded cheddar cheese 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. caraway seeds 1 tsp. dried parsley (or you can use any dried herbs such as oregano, basil etc.) 1 pinch pepper powder 1 pinch salt ½ cup water   Method    Pre-heat the oven to 200 °C In a mixing bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder, caraway seeds, pepper and dried herbs. Add the butter and cheeses and rub them in the flour. Add the water a little at a time to make a medium soft smooth dough Keep the dough aside for 15-30 minutes, covered. Shape the dough into small crescent shapes and transfer to a baking pan. Put them in the bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180 °C and bake for another 10 minutes. Leave the crescents in the oven with the door ajar till the cookies cool down. This will allow them to become a bit crispy. Enjoy them with your favorite cuppa! N.B. You can shape the cookies in to small balls to have round cookies Christmas Banana Bread Recipe/Spiced Banana Bread/ Banana Cake/Xmassy Banana Cake/Healthy Banana Bread/Gluten Free Banana Bread

Ripened bananas in the fruit basket, is always an excuse to bake banana bread or a cake. With Xmas just looming around the corner I thought of making it a spiced cake. It was just yummy!!

Wet Ingredients

2 ripe bananas (reserve 4/5 slices to garnish on to)

3 large eggs
1 knob of fresh grated ginger
A dash of vanilla essence
A dash of Cointreau liqueur
A Dash of Rum
½ a cup of Maple syrup or honey
¼ cup of virgin coconut oil
6/7 glace cherries cut in half to garnish on top
A handful of raisins (soak them and then drain them)

Dry Ingredients

1 tsp of sunflower seeds

1 tsp of chia seeds

2 tsp of ground flax seeds

½ tsp of all spice powder
1 large pinch of cinnamon powder
1 large pinch of cayenne pepper
1 large pinch of nutmeg powder
A handful of mixed roughly chopped nuts (cashews, macadamia, walnut or any nuts)
2 dessertspoonful s of coconut flour or desiccated coconut
¾ cup of gluten free flour (if that is not available then use more of coconut flour)
1 dessertspoonful of almond meal
1 tsp of baking powder

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients and add the raisins
Mix the entire wet ingredient in a blender or food processor
Add to dry ingredients
It is a slightly wettish batter
Garnish the top of the cake with the sliced bananas and glace cherries

Pour batter in a greased cake tin or loaf tin and back for 50 to 55 minutes in a fan forced oven at 180 degrees centigrade.

Test with a skewer to see if the cake is baked otherwise leave it for a few minutes until it is cooked

When the cake is almost baked brush the top with maple syrup and leave in oven for 5 minutes

Note: You can skip the seeds or the alcohol if you wish