Pancake

Pancakes are easy to cook and come in a wide variety of styles, but today I am going to share my basic pancake recipe, not to fancy but makes light, fluffy and tender pancakes. I like to serve them with some fresh fruit maple syrup.

Ingredients

For Pancakes

1 1/4 Cups	all purpose flour (Maida)
2	Eggs
1 Cup	Milk
1 tbsp	baking powder
1 tsp	bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp	Salt
3-4 tsp	Sugar
1 tbsp	Melted Butter
1/4 tsp	Vanilla essence

For Strawberry/Kiwi Syrup

Method

4-5	Strawberries
1	Kiwi
4-5 tbsp	Maple Syrup
1 tsp	Butter

Pancake

·         Mix all the dry ingredients flour, baking powder, soda bicarbonate, salt and sugar together in a bowl.

·         Then slightly beat the eggs and add it to the bowl. Also add milk, vanilla essence and melted butter. Mix until you have a nice and even pancake batter.

·         Keep aside for 15-30 minutes before you start making pancakes.

·         Heat a non-stick frying pan and grease it with a very small amount of butter.

·         Pour some batter onto the hot pan so you make a round pancake about 15cm in diameter.

·         When bubbles appear on the top of the pancake turn it around and cook it on the other side until it turns until golden-brown. Approximately 1 min each side.

Strawberry/Kiwi Syrup

·         Chop strawberries and kiwis into small pieces.

·         Heat butter in a pan and put the chopped fruits. Cook for 1-2 minute till the fruits slightly cooked.

·         Add maple syrup and simmer for another minute

·         Just pour the syrup over the pancake and enjoy

Tips

·    This is a basic pancake recipe. You can add raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, cocoa powder etc. to the basic pancake batter to try different versions

·    Sieve dry ingredients, such as flour, raising agents etc. into a bowl before combining them with the liquid ingredients. This will ensure your batter is light and airy.

Hummus

Hummus is a Middle Eastern food dip/spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic.

This creamy tangy dip is quick and easy to prepare. Hummus is generally served with pita bread, corn chips, as an accompaniment to falafel or used as a spread on sandwiches or wraps.

Ingredients

1 cup	Chickpeas (Kabuli Chana)
1/4 cup	Tahini*
2 tbsp	Lemon juice
3-4	garlic cloves
2 tbsp	Olive Oil
to taste	Crushed Black Pepper (Optional)
to taste	Salt

Method

·         Soak Chickpeas for 5-6 hours in warm water. Then boil the chickpeas in a pressure cooker/Microwave till they become soft.

·         Place the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, lemon juice, Salt, crushed black pepper in a food processor/mixer grinder and process. Add 1/4 cup of water from boiled chickpeas and process again until quite smooth

·         Garnish with paprika, olives and a drizzle of olive oil

Tips

·         *Tahini Paste is nothing but roasted sesame seeds grinded along with some olive oil. Make sure that the sesame seeds do not change color while roasting.

·         I have found that I enjoy a lighter hummus more than the thick stuff so u can increase or decrease the quantity of water and olive oil as per your choice

·         Olive oil keeps the dip soft and mushy and prevents it from drying up

·         Canned chickpeas can also be used for a quick dip

·         The quantity of lemon juice can be increased if you like it tangier.

Mushroom Tikka

Mushroom tikka, the button mushrooms marinated in spices and curd and then grilled in either oven, tandoor or a grill pan. It’s a very easy to make vegetarian dish and can be served with drinks as a starter.

Ingredients

For Marinade

5-10	Garlic Cloves
1/4 inch	Ginger
5 tbsp	Curds (Dahi)
2-3 tbsp	chopped Coriander leaves
1	Green Chili
1/2 tsp	Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp	Chili Powder
1 tsp	Tandoor Masala
to taste	Salt

750gms	Mushrooms
2	Capsicum (Bell Peppers)
200gms	Cherry Tomatoes
2	Onions
1	Lime
	Wooden Skewers Sticks
2 1/2 tsp	Oil or Butter
1 tsp	Chaat Masala

·      Soak wooden skewers in water before using them, to avoid risk burning. Submerge them in water for at least 20 minutes.

Method

·         In a Mortar and Pestle pound ginger, Garlic, green chili and coriander till it becomes a paste.

·        Combine all the ingredients together from the marinade section along with the pounded ginger and garlic paste.

·       Cut Bell peppers and onions in 1inch squares with a sharp knife

·       Pour the marinade on the chopped Onions, Bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Mix well and keep aside to marinate for half an hour.

·       Slide the vegetables onto the wooden skewer, alternating between the different ingredients, and leaving no space between each item.

·         Heat the grill pan on medium flame. Drizzle some oil or butter and Roast them till they turn golden brown and crisp from all sides. (approx. 1 min on each side)

·         Just before serving, sprinkle some chaat masala.

·         Serve hot garnished with onion rings and slice of lime.

Tips

·         While dicing vegetables try to match with the size of mushrooms for uniform cooking

·         Mushrooms can be replaced with Paneer cubes to make Paneer tikka kebabs

·         While selecting different vegetables for these kebabs, make sure you are choosing vegetables with similar cooking times.