Category: VEGETARIAN

Baking | Olive Oil Walnut Garlic Rosemary Foccacia … bread of life

“If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens.”
Robert Browning

This Olive Oil Walnut Garlic Rosemary Foccacia is bursting with flavour, topped with everything I love and more. To get an even heartier bread, you could even double the toppings, maybe knead in some extra walnuts, olive and cheese through the dough after the first rise. These are thoughts that race through my head as I write, things I would definitely consider doing for my next artisan loaf. I know that will be sooner than later!

That’s just how good this bread was. As you might have noticed, I’ve been baking a lot more artisan bread of late. The recent Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche is another great bread, almost similar flavours, though that was cheesy good to the core! Then of course another favourite, the Wholewheat Garlic Oat Soda Bread, rustic, moorish, earthy and wholegrain. While kneading dough is therapeutic and a lot of fun, I think I’ve become a little lazy.

I find myself turning to the trusted stalwart on my counter, the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. That paired with the great quality bakeware they offer makes the whole process so pleasing, so fuss free. Baking bread  is something I’m doing more and more, often wholegrain, sometimes part wholegrain. With dough making sorted out, the mixer kneading in the background, I reach out to flavours my bread might like.It’s often fresh herbs as they grow in my little patch, especially rosemary, as long as it lasts. This past harsh summer killed one of my two precious little plants; the second is kind of surviving. The other thing I like to add is nuts, walnuts in particular. Drizzled with olive oil, they toast up quite beautifully on top of the bread. The rest is pretty optional, whatever catches my eye really. Olives, sun dried tomatoes, mature cheddar, garlic, garlic greens, finely sliced mushrooms, sunflower seeds etc.Use herbs and nuts of your choice, play around with ingredients, but do make this. I think a sweet version with saffron and pistachio might work great here too. Maybe a grape foccacia. The recipe  results in a light, airy, easy to form bread, a dough which behaves beautifully if kept in the fridge overnight as well. Plenty of good quality extra virgin olive oil is key for a Olive Oil Walnut Garlic Rosemary Foccacia like this.

Nothing like  a bowl of salad and a crust of artisan bread. Once the weather gets cooler, maybe some soup to complete the meal. Until then, we’re just happy to keep it light with the Olive Oil Walnut Garlic Rosemary Foccacia & a Roasted Beet, Chickpea, Red Onion, Walnut Salad.

Note: The beautiful ceramic ware is from a local ceramic artist, Anumita Jain, from Delhi. You can find her at A Clay Story. I think you’ll see a lot more of her art in my frames now, like in the Eggless Wholegrain Almond Jaggery Oat Cookies featured above {recipe coming soon}. Her pottery is very inspiring.

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Olive Oil Walnut Garlic Rosemary Foccacia

Nothing better than fresh home baked bread, and this Olive Oil Walnut Garlic Rosemary Foccacia is bursting with flavour. The Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and their great quality bake-ware make baking breads so therapeutic, so fuss free. Use herbs and nuts of your choice, play around with ingredients, but do make this.
Course Appetiser, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients

Starter

  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp dried active yeast

Garlic Rosemary Dough

  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin oilve oil
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 tsp rock salt

Topping

  • 1/2 cup walnut halves roughly broken
  • 1/4 cup green olives/ sliced
  • Few sprigs fresh rosemary
  • Himalayan pink rock salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over

Instructions

Starter

  • Place warm water, honey and yeast in bowl of stand mixer. Stir and leave for 5-10 minutes.

Garlic Rosemary Dough

  • Add remaining ingredients to bowl of KA stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Stir to mix on speed 2, then knead for 5-7 minutes on speed 4 until the dough is smooth and elastic. Add a few spoons of wholewheat flour if the dough is too wet, or a tbsp or two of water if too dense. We are looking for a soft dough.
  • Form into a ball, drizzle over with a little olive oil, cover the bowl with cling-wrap or a wet kitchen towel. Leave to rise in a warm, draft free place for an hour or two until doubled.
  • Preheat oven to 200C.
  • Divide dough into 2, knock back a little and make 2 balls. Flatten gently into the base of a lightly oiled round baking tin. I used the Kitchen Aid non stick 9" pie pan. All their bakeware is excellent.

Topping

  • Make indents into the surface, generously pour over extra virgin olive oil, allowing it to get into the indents.
  • Scatter fresh rosemary, walnuts, olives and Himalayan pink rock salt over the top.
  • Drizzle a little more extra virgin olive oil over.
  • Leave covered with a kitchen towel until the oven preheats.
  • Bake for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown and done. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baking | Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche … goodness of cheese & bread

“Life is great. Cheese makes it better.”
Avery Aames

Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche is everything you might want in bread, then some more. Yes, with the weather changing, or rather showing some sign of cooling down, I’m back to bread baking quite a bit. For those who know me, I love a good stuffed bread. Give me a French Fougasse that is bursting with the goodness of cheese, walnuts and garlic and I promise I will not complain. Actually, for the baker in me, the process of making the bread from scratch is seriously therapeutic. The end result always worth waiting for. After all, how much wrong can you go with bread?If you’ve been baking bread for a few years like me, you’ll know that simple is best. Yeast that works, good quality ingredients, flavours that pair well, a handsome dose of some delicious cheese, some nuts. What else? Oh yes, fresh herbs too. Always a winning combination and such a crowd pleaser. And if you know me, you’ll know of my love for dairy and that any eggy flavours don’t work with me, especially with breads.

So I thought I’d do a brioche style enriched dough, but chose to skip the eggs. Because eggs give volume to baking and bread, so the absence means that this dough does’t rise much. Yet stuffing it with all things good makes it better than a normal brioche. I used an absolutely delicious Red Cheddar from Godrej Nature‘s Basket for the brioche. The gourmet cheese store offers you the option of having the cheese grated, sliced or cubed if required. I had it grated, and that I found very handy, a tiny yet welcome luxury!The bread was gone before I knew it. With so many fabulous things within, eating the Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche was literally like nibbling a cheeseboard! Serve pears, apples, grapes, olives, cold cuts on the side, maybe a nice smoked cheese too. The bread takes care of the rest. The rolling up is quite simple, the slicing through and twirling a tad more complex. If you aren’t up to playing with your dough, plaiting it etc like I enjoy doing, you can always just cut the roll into 1″ circles, bake them flat in a square pan.

The bread is on the indulgent side, a little healthier since I added some wholewheat flour as well. Also better than most breads as it is a virtual mini meal in itself. Since it’s rolled thin and well stuffed,the carbs come down, and with it a little guilt too. It’s a good bread for friends, to gift, to nibble. It’s also entirely customisable to your palette. Use any variety of cheese you like. My next one is going to be a smoked cheese, sundried tomato and olive brioche.

Use stuffing that you enjoy, let your imagination lead you. I’m thinking pizza sauce, salami, olives, mozzarella … and roll! Also a herbed garlic chili oil, feta, walnuts, olive, smoked cheese … and roll! I’m thinking many good things, combinations that work for a bread like this. The Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche makes a great make ahead snack for the evening, sliced thin like biscotti, also a very welcome tiffin filler.

Just make sure the cheese is good, the ingredients are fresh. The rest will fall into place!

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Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche

With so many fabulous things within, eating the Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche is literally like nibbling a cheeseboard! Serve pears, apples, grapes, olives, cold cuts on the side, maybe a nice smoked cheese too. The bread takes care of the rest.
Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Yeast starter

  • 1/4 cup plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp yeast
  • 1/4 cup water

Enriched eggless dough

  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 65 g clarified butter room temperature
  • 2 tbsp milk {as required}

Filling

  • 1 tsp roasted red chili flakes
  • 2 tsp dried Italian herbs
  • 2 cloves garlic, grated fine
  • 1 cup grated mature cheddar 150g
  • 1/2 cup toasted walnuts chopped
  • Few sprigs rosemary chopped

Instructions

Yeast starter

  • Place ingredients in a small bowl, stir. Leave to rest for 5 minutes to activate the yeast

Enriched eggless dough

  • Place yeast starter and all ingredients except milk in bowl of food processor. Knead to a soft smooth dough, adding a tbsp or two of milk as required.
  • Place in a bowl covered with cling wrap in a warm place to rise, approximately 2 hours OR leave to slow rise in the fridge overnight. I prefer an overnight rise since the chilled dough is easier to roll out.

Cheese Garlic Rosemary Eggless Brioche

  • In a small bowl, stir together extra virgin olive oil, chili, herbs and garlic.
  • Roll out dough to a rectangle, 12" X 8". Spread the seasoned oil all over with a pastry brush.
  • Sprinkle over with chopped walnuts,then grated cheese and rosemary.
  • Roll up the longer edge to form a tight Swiss roll. Gently seal the open end and transfer to parchment lined baking sheet.
  • With a sharp knife, cut right through the centre, lengthwise, leaving one end attached. Gently plait the two, and tuck in the ends. Leave to rise 30 mins while you preheat the oven.
  • Bake at 180C for 30 minutes.

Mango Smoothie Bowl … breakfast stories on the go #Foodventures #breakfastforchampions


“Fussing over food was important. It gave a shape to the day: breakfast, lunch, dinner; beginning, middle, end.”
Robert Hellenga

Summer Mango Smoothie Bowl, another thing off my bucket list, the most beautiful way to begin the morning. Colourful beginnings!! They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I say bring it on! This one was fun to make, thinking ingredients, plating {or rather bowling} it, adding bits and bobs to the top. So much went into it, near raw other than the yogurt, very in season, a  mélange of flavours and textures.For me, an edible pot potpourri, inspired and exciting. With the first one down, my call was, “This was fun, now can someone set me a bowl everyone morning please!!“The inspiration came from Ruchiras smoothie bowls each more delightful and colourful that the other. Inspiration really gets me going, food shared the best thing ever. Talk about breakfast and it’s amazing to see how different cultures wake up to the most important meal of the day. Granola, crepes, vadas, puris, kachoris, omelette, fruit bowls, smoothies, waffles, pancakes, overnight oats, avocado and egg on toast are some of the simpler everyday options.My recent overnight oats were a great experiment and now find a spot in the fridge every night. It’s a really convenient way to wake up to healthy ready made breakfast. Grab a spoon, dig in. I change the flavours with fruit in season and experiment as I go on. The main characters in the story remain the same – oats, milk/yogurt/coconut milk, honey, basil seeds, watermelon seeds. Fruit in season breaks the monotony. Mango, peaches, apple, banana, strawberries rotate. Pie spice, cinnamon, thandai mix, pepper, nutmeg, saffron. You get the drift! It’s always fun to explore something new and different apart from the regular old breakfast choices we usually have.Step out of home, travel a bit, within the city, country or overseas and new frontiers open up. Food and flavours begin to get magical, new and interesting. For someone who constantly cooks at home, hands that cook in other kitchens are fascinating. They offer exciting experiences, food adventures! Here are some breakfast stories, delicious bites mainly in pictures and in no particular order. Actually just as they tumbled out of my head when I read about #Foodventures by Axis Bank Dining Delights!

We sleepily got off the train in Benaras early one winter morning, a hungry foursome, and hit breakfast street quite soon. The city has a reputation and we knew where to head. Can there be anything better than fresh garam kachoris, sabzi and jalebis straight out of the pan? Perhaps not.

Perhaps yes if you add some famous Pehelwaan ki lassi to wash down breakfast. Nirvana. Life accomplished.

Ticked off list, but ‘will be back soon‘ recorded.

Fly across the globe. Switzerland, where I was last year at this time, a European breakfast will spoil you for choice. Every city we traveled to had a different layout, a regional offering, local produce shining through, breakfast an elaborate ceremony, fit for a king, something to sit and enjoy.Tuck in. Cheese, yogurt, fresh baked breads, fruit, coffee, tea, eggs galore, cold cuts, fresh milk, best way to breakfast. Did you hear me say “Serve me breakfast and I shall be happy!” ? Swing back to India, a trip into the heart of the South, Karakudi held us mesmerised earlier this year. It was a trip of a lifetime. Same feeling – breakfast is a celebration. Simple, flavourful, delicious and so much variety. Almost always ‘from the frying pan onto the plate‘, whether it was the elaborate ‘eat till you drop luxury at Chidambaram Vilas‘ or the street food at the temple at Pillaiyarpatti with the most refreshing filter coffee and finger licking good vadas. Memorable, satisfying and an absolute joy.

And then there was the absolutely amazing breakfast with peacocks and neelgai as company at Lakshman Sagar in Rajasthan? Breakfast was an eye opener there. Elaborate, each morsel served with love, truely regional and so much variety. Breakfast day 1 was something like this – fresh orange juice, maize dalia, googri {overnight soaked and cooked wheat kernels and horsegram}, sapota/cheeku jam, gum berry jam, fresh fruit, gur/jaggery, boora, honey, achaar, masala omelet, fire roasted tomato. Nothing refined or processed. Experiencing it was pure joy.If that wasn’t enough, one morning we trudged across the countryside for a breakfast in the fields! Get closer home, one trip into Old Delhi and you’ll be cured of any breakfast woes. Nagori halwa puri, nimbu ka paraatha, sweet lassi, hot jalebis, garam chai, then begin again! If you are stuck with the same old routine of toast and cheese, wake up and smell the coffee! Rustle up something fun and interesting {or bribe some willing soul to do it}. Better still, get out and explore. Make the mornings matter!

Oh, and did you know you can go beyond just egg and toast for breakfast? Here take a look at these #Foodventures by Axis Bank Dining Delights !

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Mango Smoothie Bowl

Colourful beginnings!! They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I say bring it on! This Mango Smoothie Bowl was fun to make, very in season, a mélange of flavours and textures. For me, an edible pot potpourri, inspired and exciting.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1 mango pureed
  • 200 g Greek Yogurt {or regular full fat yogurt hung for 30 minutes}
  • Honey if required
  • 2 tsp sabja seeds soaked in water for 10 minutes
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate pearls
  • 1 kiwi chopped
  • 1 peach chopped
  • 2 tbsp melon seeds
  • 2 tbsp chopped walnuts
  • Fresh mint for garnish

Instructions

  • Stir the mango puree through the yogurt until uniformly mixed. Adjust sweetness if required.
  • Ladle the mango yogurt into 2 breakfast bowls.
  • Top with the remaining ingredients.
  • You could always just mix everything through too, yet it makes the first meal of the day attractive this way, garnished with love!
  • Use any seasonal fruit, berries, nuts etc.

Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip … earthy, smokey, moorish, delicious!

“As while other passions in your life may, at some point, begin to bank their fires, the shared happiness of good homemade food can last as long as we do.”
Jenni Ferrari-Adler

Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip is perhaps the yummiest dip I have made in a while. From an out and out eggplant hater, to one who got sold over a smokey roasted eggplant {or brinjal or ‘baingan’ as referred to here locally} one fine day, the journey was uneventful. There are some things I just will not touch with a barge-pole. Eggplant was one of those. For a long time. Until 3 years ago.

Then one day I tasted a Baingan ka Bharta made by a lady who used to cook at my mothers. The flavours had me captivated, and her style of cooking this quintessential Indian vegetarian dish had me smitten. Garlicky, smokey, earthy, firey was what she presented on the table that memorable day. One bite down, and I chased her for the recipe. Simple as ever, it was a game changer for me. Then came a dip I tasted at Ruchira’s place more recently. Sold again!This Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip is inspired by both the recipes. The twice used garlic from the bharta, and the creaminess from the dip. Can there ever be too much garlic? For me, no. I love it with a vengeance, and here the roasted garlic pods with eggplant bit gives the dip subtle undertones. The caramelised sweet onions and garlic add more depth to the flavour. I love adding walnuts to dip so in they went, while the Greek yogurt adds the right creaminess that the dip demands. All in all it has a lot to offer. Go ahead and add some roasted paprika to it if you like, maybe some pomegranate pearls to give it a juicy pop of flavour and colour. In the blender and smooth, this barely takes time and is a great make ahead party option. It also doubles up as a useful ‘sauce‘ for wraps, or a sandwich spread if you like. I served the Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip with these equally earthy Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers I made recently. The more garlicky, the better! And of course, since the dip was ready and sitting there, I decided to experiment with it for a few pictures.Just different backgrounds, angles, light, what have you! Some work, some don’t, but the important thing is to keep experimenting. Darter & yours truly have announced our next Food Styling & Photography Workshop  in Delhi this September, our 5th one here, so it’s always fun to experiment and share ideas. I tell the participants to try and shoot everyday, to constantly experiment with different backgrounds, angles, light and moods. I do just the same.

Everyday. With whatever I have on hand. If I haven’t baked or cooked something ‘image worthy’, then I just grab raw produce, knick-knacks or props from an earlier shoot, things lying on my desk, stuff I like, then shoot them in frame. It’s a huge learning process, and therapeutic too. The important thing is to experiment, to keep your mind open. I can never say that enough!

And that’s how I got to this delicious Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip too, with an open mind!

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Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip ... earthy, smokey, moorish, delicious!

This Persian Roasted Eggplant Walnut Dip has a lot to offer. The twice used garlic, the walnuts, then the creaminess from Greek yogurt make it endearing. The caramelised sweet onions and garlic add more depth to the flavour. Play around with ingredients to suit your palette. That's the beauty of dips.
Course Appetiser
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

Roasted eggplant walnut dip

  • 1 medium eggplant, whole
  • 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 1/4 cup walnuts halves
  • 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 tsp salt {to taste}
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tsp ghee to caramelise garlic and onions
  • Juice of 1/2 lime as per taste
  • 2 tbsp chopped chives {or garlic greens}

Topping

  • Walnuts, chives & extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over

Instructions

  • Cut 1/2" slits into sides of eggplant and push in 4 cloves of unpeeled garlic. Roast over low flame {or under broiler} until charred {like for baingan ka bharta.} Leave covered in a bowl to cool.
  • Remove garlic and press out roasted pods. Discard skin. peel off charred skin of eggplant. Chop roughly. {Can be done a day or so in advance}
  • While the eggplant is cooling, heat ghee in heavy bottom pan and caramelise onions and garlic.
  • Place in cooled eggplant with with caramelised onions & garlic and remaining ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Stir in chopped chives. Taste and adjust seasoning. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and keep for a couple of hours/overnight for flavours to mature. Top with chopped walnuts and chives.

Eggless Baked Cheesecake with a Mango Lime Sauce … desserts for summer

“The only way cheese is dessert is when it’s followed by the word cake.”
Michele Gorman

Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce must be the easiest dessert to make. Minimum fuss, barely four ingredients, one bowl dump and quick hand whisk, can’t ask for much more in a dessert for summer. I make this often, and am constantly amazed at how versatile I can get with it. Even if summer has slipped by, please make the basic cheesecake and dress it up with anything you like – a salted butter caramel sauce, a berry reduction, a dark chocolate ganache, a homemade preserve, maybe grated chocolate and toasted nuts.

I made a series of mango based desserts this summer. Have been busy with work, some travel, loads of house work etc. Did I mention the guinea pig? Now there are TWO just because they are social animals so a pair seemed right. Then there is Coco who now eats ALL vegetables with renewed interest trying to beat the guinea pigs at their game!

In any case, that I procrastinate is quite obvious else this would have been on the blog a while ago. I made this a short while ago, and recently shared the image on Facebook and Instagram. With so many requests for the recipe, I thought I had better share it before summer sneaks by us, while a few of you can still make it.

So here you are. A quick, eggless delicious cheesecake that is a western take on an old Indian classic, ‘bhapa doi’. Make the Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce a day ahead, chill well, and then enjoy the compliments that come your way. Looks like a lot of work, but all this actually needs is half an hour in total. The mango sauce compliments it beautifully, and makes it look pretty too if you ‘dress it up’ a little. I had fun cutting out shapes with a sharp cookie cutter! I’ve baked this several times before. With summer stone fruit, a Mishti Doi Cheesecake for  a festive feel, a Salted Butter Caramel Cheesecake, and a Dark Chocolate Orange Cheesecake too.

So grab your bowl and whisk and get baking!

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Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce

Quick, eggless delicious, the Eggless Cheesecake with Mango Lime Sauce is the Western take on an old Indian classic, ‘bhapa doi’. Make it a day ahead, chill well, and then enjoy the compliments that come your way. Looks like a lot of work, but all this actually needs is half an hour in total. The Mango sauce compliments it beautifully, and makes it look pretty too.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  • Eggless Lime Cheesecake
  • 1 tin sweet condensed milk {approx 400g}
  • 400 g yogurt
  • 2 tsp milk powder
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Mango Lime Sauce
  • 150 ml mango juice fresh/tinned
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 1tbsp of cold juice
  • 1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

Eggless Lime Cheesecake

  • Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 6″ dessert ring with a double layer of foil to come up around the edges so the mixture doesn’t leak. You can also use a loose bottomed tin but make sure you wrap it with foil too.
  • In a large bowl whisk together all ingredients for cheesecake until smooth.
  • Turn into prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes. Leave to cool in tin, then cover and place to chill in fridge overnight.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the sauce for topping.

Mango Lime Sauce

  • Place the mango juice a in a heavy bottom pan with lime zest and sugar, and cook over medium high heat until halved in quantity. {If you like a slight hint of chili, you can add half a slit deseeded green chili for 2-3 minutes, and then discard it}
  • Once the juice has reduced, add the lime juice and corn flour stirring until it thickens to desired consistency. The sauce will thicken a bit more on cooling.
  • Cool sauce, and then chill overnight with the cheesecake. {The sauce can be made in advance}
  • Top with cutouts from mango slices, fresh basil leaves, flowers if in bloom. Chill until ready to serve!

Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers with Lovilovi and Bird’s Eye Sweet Chili Pickle … earthy beautiful pairing





"There is a lot of food culture that goes on in the home and in the community in non-traditional ways. Food is a lot more than restaurants."
Eddie Huang


Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers with Lovilovi and Bird's Eye Sweet Chili Pickle. These turned out to be crackers with a bite. Paired with the sweet chili pickle, they got just the right kick as well, some smoked Gouda on the side to balance the heat from the pickle. Both the crackers and the the pickle have much in common, other than the long name of course! Both earthy and rustic, both from local produce, they have a combination of flavours that compliment each other. The taste undertones are complex but subtle, individual ingredients in each that compliment the preparation. The good thing is that they pair together beautifully too!


Say millets to me and a part of me shudders with fear, while the other part of thinks happily this might be the time for me to 'step out' and be millet confident. I've had a LONG unsteady relationship with millets, more hate than love. In the past I have found them uninspiring, sandy, gritty and rather unrewarding to work with. Yet a recent contest on Commeat which focused on millets made me sit up and take notice. Couldn't figure out why it had everyone so excited.Thus began a small journey. Though only a few weeks old, I am fast covering ground. Picked Madhuli's brains as she does a load of creative food with millet. I pestered her SO MUCH that she just mailed me many bags of different varieties.Then I shifted gears and pestered Ruchira, my other millet inspiration. She put me onto making the yummiest millet khichadi ever. So I bravely ventured further on my own, and here is my first experiment, millet crackers. Flavoured with my fave ingredients, garlic and rosemary, I threw in some sesame seeds too!Much reading online tells me that roasting the flour before using it reduces a characteristic mustiness the flour has. Did just that. Looked and felt like sand, or rather EARTH! Which gave me an idea. I decided to pair these earthy rustic millet crackers with this Lovilovi and Bird's Eye Sweet Chili Pickle from Place of Origin.On the onset, might I warn you that the flavours just explode in your mouth. Not for the faint-hearted, this intriguing pickle tempts you to dig in. The heart wants more yet the mouth is on fire! Smoked or herb cheese on the side balances it off!Made from the Lovolovi plums and the bird’s eye chilies that grow wild in the coffee estates of Coorg, The Earth Reserve's Sweet pickle is a must-have for all who love combination between sweet and spicy. One of the most piquant chilies and tartness of the berries combine to bring you a flavor that has a spicy kick but not mouth burning and you can still taste all the individual flavours. This pickle looks good, tastes good and provides you a versatile usage. Liven up a burger, serve with a cheese board or cold meats, spice up sausages, mix in to mayo…






Based in Scotland of India - Coorg, The Earth Reserve brings to you homemade products with a passion for bringing wholesome food to the table without any added colours, flavours, synthetic preservatives, taste enhancers or pectin. Free from harmful pesticides or any other chemical sprays, the ingredients are instead sprayed with the nourishing rains and mists that the hills of Coorg are blessed with. With its natural heritage and colourful history, India is the birthplace and home of a number of cuisines. The environment, soil, climate and history contribute to unique recipes made with locally sourced produce. Accordingly, every town in India is famous for select foods or food producers. As human beings, it is natural for us to have a strong emotional connect with the food we eat. There will always be some food products which trigger fond memories of familiar hometown flavours and gastronomical experiences – it could be the sweetshop from across the street from where you grew up or a confectionery in that hill station that you went to one summer. This pickle hits 'thta' spot and more! So if you make crackers like these, to set your world on fire with this fabulous pickle, PlaceofOrigin.in is the answer!!


 
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Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers

Crisp, earthy, flavourful and gentle, these Rosemary Garlic Sesame Millet Crackers are a great wholegrain savoury bake. They are good on their own, and really good when paired with a dip , maybe cheese as well. Paired with Lovilovi and Bird’s Eye Sweet Chili Pickle, they got just the right kick, with some smoked Gouda on the side.
Course Snack
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup millet flour {ragi}
  • 1/2 cup wholewheat flour {aata}
  • 3 tsp white sesame seeds
  • 2 tsp black sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp clarified butter {ghee}
  • 1/2 tsp rock salt
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2-3 sprigs rosemary finely chopped
  • 50-60 ml water

Instructions

  • Gently roast the ragi with sesame seeds over low heat until lightly coloured. Cool.
  • Preheat oven to 180C.
  • Place all ingredients except water in bowl of stand mixer.
  • Mix on low speed, then add 50 ml water to make a soft firm dough. Add a little more water as required. Knead the dough until smooth for 2 minutes.
  • Roll out as thin as possible between two sheets of baking parchment, cut into desired shapes, then transfer to baking sheet.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes until they turn brown on the edges and feel firm.
  • Cool completely, then transfer t an airtight container.
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