GRIDDLE SCONES and a HOLIDAY!!!

Scones are a favourite breakfast treat in England and Scotland.The First scone recipe I made was a savoury one.Then recently I found another recipe for scones which are made on a griddle or tava.I was so happy that I did not have to preheat my oven.Most important,these can be whipped up in a very short time.

Ingredients:225 gms plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cream of tartar

25 gms margarine/butter

25 gms white granulated or caster sugar

150 ml milk


Method:Heat a griddle/tava on medium heat, and smear some butter/fat over it to keep the scones from sticking to the griddle.

Now,mix the flour,baking soda,and sugar well.Add the margarine/butter and rub with your fingers till it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Add the milk and mix with a fork to a soft consistency where it holds together.

Flour your counter or a chapathi rolling board.With floured hands,divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.Take each piece and knead lightly on the board and flatten it to about 1 cm thick,about 3-3.5 inches in diameter.Place on hot griddle.Cook on medium heat until each side is golden and the scone is puffed up.Don't cook on high heat or the scones will collapse upon removing from heat, and the insides may still be raw.Best eaten fresh but can be stored and reheated for the next day as a snack or even breakfast.


My Notes:These tasted exceptionally good warm,freshly made, with some butter.I used soya milk in place of milk since I am lactose intolerant.They still turned out good.If you donot have cream of tartar,don't panic.

Instead of the plain flour and cream of tartar,you can also use self raising flour with 2 tsp baking powder.I have made these using both ways and they turned out good either way.


And now,what holiday,you ask?Well,the last three months have been more than agonising for me since we were not able to plan our yearly vacation to India.Well finally the gods decided to smile upon us, and we travel this saturday to India!So,it is a short goodbye from me to all of you, and see you again in September.I donot know if I will have much access to internet at all once I leave Hyderabad,so I can't promise that I will be around much.I will try though, and hopefully,come back rejuvenated with lots more recipes to share with you all.I will also be able to try out many of my favourite recipes from you all after I come back as I am planning to get some much needed kitchen stuff this time.Wish me luck,friends.See you soon then.These scones are all that I have had as breakfast all of this week since I started packing and cleaning before leaving for India.That is how fast you can make these-it takes literally 20 mins from start to finish!

HOT N SOUR VEG STIR FRY

I love chinese food-it is so fast to whip up and good to eat.So when I came across this recipe,I could not help noting it down so as not to forget it.When I made this,I was surprised by the taste.Of course,I did adapt it to my requirements.So without much ado,here is the recipe:

Ingredients:1 red pepper/1/2 cup of sliced red pepper

2 medium sized carrots(about 1 cup)

1 bunch spring onions

175 gms broccoli or cauliflower

100 gm baby corn

100 gms mangetout(known as snow peas in US)

2 cloves garlic

1 inch piece ginger

3-4 fresh green or red chillies

2 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

juice of 1 lime

450 gms medium chinese noodles(straight-to-wok variety)

OR

An equal weight of cooked maggi/any other dry noodles

Method:Slice the carrots and peppers into thin strips.Remove seeds from pepper.

Slice the baby corn into half lengthwise.chop spring onion into diagonal slices.cut the mangetout similarly.

Using a fine grater,grate the ginger and garlic(If you have a mortar and pestle,crush it Indian style).Now chop the red chilli finely.

Heat oil in a wide mouthed frying pan/wok.Add the garlic,ginger and chilli and fry for a few secs on high heat.Now add the carrots and pepper.Stir fry for 2 mins.

Add spring onions,broccoli/cauliflower,corn and mangetout.Stir fry for 2-3 mins until veggies start to wilt.

Meanwhile, if you are using maggi or other dry noodles,cook your noodles in plain water.Drain and keep aside.Don't cook them too soft.If you use the ready to use noodles,you need not cook them.

Now mix together the soya sauce,lime juice and honey and mix into the veggies.Add the noodles and stir until heated through and mixed properly.

Serve hot.



My Notes:The original recipe uses 450 gms of straight-to-wok traditional medium noodles.I made them using both normal maggi noodles as well as straight to wok noodles.Both versions were very good.You can always increase the spice if you like it that way.

This is very light upon the tongue-all the flavours gel together very well.The abundance of the vegetables in this dish also makes it quite healthy as well as satisfying.

PAV BHAJI

Friday night dinners are always special for us.It is our little celebration:That we can sleep a little late the following morning,and that I don't have to wake up early to pack Hubby V's lunch.Normally Ananya does not sleep long after I have woken up so Saturday and Sunday mornings are tension free for me because then I do not have to worry about having to cook with her in my hands (yes,she is 3 yrs old now and still wants to be picked up and cuddled for at least 10 mins after she wakes up) .So as usual this last Friday I was worrying over what to make:Worrying because I had been busy all day with different chores,went to visit friends because Ananya insisted on playing with her friends, and had little time left to actually plan what to make.Then came the final blow(well,sort of):Hubby V wanted Pav Bhaji!Now I do make bread and pavs often but using active dry yeast would push our dinner time to 10 pm!Then memory came to my rescue:I remembered having bought a pack of instant yeast,so the only thing to do was to search for a recipe which would make a good pav/bun.

I found it HERE

The only thing I did was to to shape the buns as usual,not the way mentioned in the recipe.The result was an incredibly soft bun.Very tasty when eaten warm from the oven.

Added on 9th March:I did not use the egg glaze suggested in the recipe.Instead,I just brushed the buns with some soft butter.Ghee can also be used.Only thing is to brush it with ghee/butter as soon as you take it out of the oven.




The Bhaji was not a difficult task.I had chopped some carrots and tomatoes earlier in the week.I looked into my freezer and found frozen peas,and viola!the bhaji came together:

Ingredients:1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup green peas(frozen or fresh)

1 cup chopped potato

1 big onion(about 3/4 cup)chopped

1 cup chopped tomato

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp grated fresh garlic

3-4 green chillies

2 tsp Pav Bhaji masala

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:Boil the vegetables in a pressure cooker.If you have a microwave steamer,all the better and faster.

Heat oil in a pan and add the ginger and garlic.Fry till they turn light brown.Add onions and chopped green chillies.Let fry till onion is pinkish in colour, and turns translucent.Add the chopped tomatoes.mix well,cover and cook till tomatoes are soft.

Add the pav bhaji masala to the tomatoes and mix well.Now add the boiled vegetables to the mix and keep mashing the vegetables using a ladle.The mix should be nice and mushy.If you have steamed your veggies in the microwave,you will need to add 1 cup water to the bhaji to make it to a thick gravy type consistency.

Once you have mashed the veggies,you do not need to cook the curry for long-just about 5 mins.Take it off the heat and add juice of half a lemon and chopped coriander,mix well and cover till ready to serve.

Preparing the Pavs:Slice the pavs into to using a bread knife or any serrated knife.Apply a thin layer of margarine(better than butter health wise)and toast the buns on a hot griddle until the pavs turn light brown.Serve the buns with the hot pav.