Biscuits aka sugar cookies

Inspired by a recipe on Rak's blog http://www.rakskitchen.net/2014/10/nan-khatai-recipe-nankhatai-recipe.html I wanted to bake the Indian local bakery biscuits. My mom buys the salt biscuits from our market when I visit her and makes sure I carry few packs when I leave. It is the perfect combo for tea, coffee or milk. My kids love dunking it in milk. They have this perfect crisp not too crunchy or soft or chewy at all, the ideal beige biscuit color, heavenly aroma of baked goodness. They are sold in large glass jars or in heaps on an aluminum tray at the shop. Our local bakers make these lovely flavors using spices, nuts and flours - like wheat, ragi, almonds, cashews, elaichi, jam, salt, diabetic version and likewise. What I love is the simplicity of ingredients - butter, sugar and flour that is all. Only 3 ingredients, well technically 5 can result in something as good as this. This is a bare bones recipe, you can decorate it or change it several ways. Personally, I want to drop down the sugar level, add a little salt and see how that goes. Remember, your outcome only tastes as good as what goes into it. Use good quality flour and ghee to see the difference.

 

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Elaichi/Cardamom - 3 pods (or lesser, or just omit if you do not like it)

Flour - 1 1/2 cups (I used Atta actually, not a fan of the bleached flour)

Baking powder - about 3 pinches

Ghee - 1/2 cup (or use soft butter)

 

Powder sugar and elaichi in the bender to a smooth powder. Measure the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add powdered sugar. Now add ghee/butter little by little and mix like you would for making chapattis. No water or milk. Use just the butter or fat to roll the flour into a ball. Adjust the texture by sprinkling more flour if needed. It should be thicker than what you would make for chapattis but roll into shapes for baking, without sticking on the hands or being dry.

 

Cut or roll into preferred shapes and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

 

One note is that, I baked the round bottom ones on a glass dish and square ones on a metal dish/tray. I strongly recommend the baking on metal- gives a nice brown on the bottom that I loved. It also tasted better, did not crack on the sides. The ones baked on glass had cooked alright, but looked plain and boring. These proportions yielded about 20 cookies. Well, depends how big you cut them into.

Berry heaven

I bake, I do not mind saying its in my genes. My mom bakes, sister bakes, aunts bake and I can see it in my daughter too. She has been pretend playing baker since she was barely 2. Baking is therapeutic and uplifting. I grew up savoring the nutty aroma of big batches of fresh baked biscuits (indian version of cookies) my aunt and mom made together over summer. When I am cranky, I bake. When happy, I bake. When am downcast, not so much. I would prefer my mom baked for me at that time. Anyways, as the warm aroma of spices and butter fills the kitchen and living room- my brain and moods lighten up, loosen up.

Sometimes the presence of certain ingredients lead me to an idea and I get thinking on how best to utilize them. Sour black berries, leftover blue berries, a 4oz cup of yogurt and single egg sitting in the fridge led me to this. I give credits to this recipe - http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/blackberry-muffins. However, I made alterations and it yielded a 'healthy' cup cake sans frosting rather than a muffin - a cuffin. A new term. My kids didn't say no to the end product, anyways and we usually avoid muffins at breakfast..

Butter - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Egg - 1

Vanilla essence - 1.5 tsp

Cinnamon - 1 tsp

Wheat flour (durum) - 1 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Yogurt - 4 oz

Milk - 1/2 cup (I used 2%)

Berries - 1.5 cups

Yields 12 cuffins ;)

Cream the butter and sugar, I just used a spatula and hands. Add the egg, vanilla and cinnamon. Now add half of the flour and yogurt with baking powder and salt. Beat well. Use the muscles. Add remaining flour, yogurt mix well. Then beat the milk into the batter. Finally, just fold in the berries. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Cool for 10 mins after taking from the oven, and then enjoy. The sourness of the blackberries somehow disappeared - I think they just caramelized well. The moistness and higher fruit quantity made it taste like a fruit pudding. All the berries did not sink to the bottom, the flour held it fairly. It was heavenly to stuff warm goodness into the mouth on a Saturday afternoon. But remember, moderation is key. Just saying. Saying to myself, not for the rest of you. Ok, enough said.

K-isms

After school pick up, on the way to car.

Me: You are getting to be a big girl, you will have to eat lunch in school from September. Will you be good?

K: Yes, amma. But I will miss you during the lunch time.

Despite all my chiding and sometimes yelling to get her to eat quick during lunch at home, I get this. This is why we need a daughter.

K: Thambi is always bothering me, he follows me everywhere when I don't want him. Even in school he is like that.

Me: Okay, we will be moving Thambi to another class room from next month. But will you miss him though?

K: No, never ever. I am happy he won't be with me in class.

K and S are eating eggs for lunch one day.

K: Do you know who gives you eggs? Do you know Thambi, how eggs come?

S: Amma gives them.

K: No, you idiot. HENS! You don't know hens give eggs to the farmer and farmer sends to the shop and we buy it from there. Amma just cooks it. 

Apparently she knew process. She is shocked and frustrated at her brother's ignorance. Men will be men!

S after using the restroom.

S: Amma, I spilt pee on the potty. Sorry!

He is trying to a big boy using the regular potty etc, but sometimes misses the shot, just like other little boys. But he feels bad about it. 

Yes, kids will be kids and what will I do once this innocence is lost. I will be one lonely mama  bear missing her kids to the bits.

We moved, again

After a great New Year service in our Mysore church in 2015, January just whizzed and Pramod had to make some hard decisions with regards to a job situation. We went ahead with the job change and he left for Canada in February. The kids and myself lived in Mysore, through several sick weeks and wrapped up our apartment towards end of March and moved to Chennai to my parents for few weeks. Once more, a 35 yr old supported by patient parents who just welcome us back and put up with our zillion moves. We joined Pramod mid April and went through the postpartum period yet again to setup a functioning household in Canada. Sparing the logistics of selling, buying and the packing, unpacking stories I will just summarize that we survived. Survived past the joy of looking forward to something new, past the pain of good byes and lost friends and the biggest pain of moving thousands miles away from family, to a place where we know nobody- not one. Mysore holds a deep place in our hearts and will continue to do so.

The bane of 'this is better here' and 'that was better there' does haunt me on and off, but that is the bane of having lived in several cities and countries. It does me good to just realize that and see past the criticisms and sarcasms my dark soul brings up time to time. We need a job, a work, a profession for being and we go where that takes us. This is what I kept telling my mother in law back home and in a recent conversation, she rightfully reminded me of the same. Living in one of the costliest cities in the world, with a bloated beyond comparison real estate market- I sure needed the reminder to keep me afloat.

But in all these years and moves, I have attained the zen of just being in the moment and giving the best for that moment. Regardless of where, how and what you live in - the essence of life remains. That essence needs to be protected, nourished and cherished. So, here we are back in the business of kids, routines and preserving the spirit, soul and body. I smell and breathe the crisp mountain air, walk through the woods, listen to the birds and revel in its purity. My soul's release.

Breakfast kozhukattai

This is one of those items that fit the bill in the absence of idli/dosa batter, or you need a quick non oily bite or you just need something different to start the day. Recipe credits go to my neighbor Rajathi Maami and her commendable enthusiasm in sharing Tamil Brahmin recipes. She is one of the energetic, sensible, down to earth, efficient, knowledgeable, open minded maamis around. Now, I am not as industrious to prepare the broken rice for this from scratch, but conveniently used idli rava from the store packet. The procedure is much similar to making upma, but this is rice based, not sooji/semolina which is a derivative of wheat. There is some theory that rice based items are easier to digest for kids and older folks, maybe that is why they prepare this in south india where everything is rice based. Rice is what is cultivated and grows here. Hotter weather also has something to do with consuming more rice than wheat, to keep the body cooler.

Mustard seeds, Urad, Channa dhal, oil - just enough for tempering
Dry red chillies - about 3 or 4

Hing - a pinch

Curry leaves - few

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Water - 3 cups

Salt - 1 tsp

Idli rava - 1.5 cups

In a fry pan, add the oil and wait till it heats up. Add mustard seeds, urad and channa dhal. Let it sputter. Now add the hing, broken red chillies grated/chopped ginger and curry leaves. Preference is to add fine ginger shavings or real tiny pieces of ginger for even distribution in the end product. Once the curry leaves let out their aroma, add the 3 cups of water and let it come to a boil. Add in salt, mix well. Next, add the idli rava and stir till the water is absorbed. Turn the stove off and let it cool for about 15 mins. 

Make small balls of the above cooked dough and steam in idli plates for about 12 mins.

I have paired it with an onion tomato side here - a dish that falls between a chutney and gojju. That is my cook's creation, she calls it eeruli kosu. It reminds me of something called tomato kocchi prepared in my native place out of onions, tomatoes, green chillies and coconut paste with pottukadalai. For a quick yet tasty side, coconut chutney would be totally fine. Just that I prefer to pair somewhat bland mains with a tangy, colorful side.