Chocolate brownies

This is my next recipe using the foodie ingredients, chocolate brownies! With a twist I used the scrummy chilli chocolate.

Melt 7oz chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Cream together 8oz butter and 10oz soft brown sugar until smooth.

Add 4 eggs and the melted chocolate and beat in.

Fold in 3oz plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 3 tbsp cocoa powder and 4oz chopped nuts (I use walnuts).

Pour into a lined and greased tin about 9"x9" and bake at 180C fan for about 25 mins.

Enjoy!

Veggie Lentil Soup

Lentil is nothing but "Pulse/Legume". Lentil are a main part of the Indian food. There are a lot of varieties which can be easily differentiated by their color and shape. We mostly eat the split varieties, but after coming to the US, I started liking the whole lentils a lot more. So I usually use more of the red lentils and the green.

One day at our office I got an email to volunteer to get a soup or a dessert which will be given for money and that money was being collected for the Food Bank. So I was thinking of making a soup, but was not sure as it was on a weekday and moreover Anush was also not keeping well. But a day before the event I just decided I would do a soup but had no idea as to what soup I am going to make. Well I thought how about do it in a crock pot/slow cooker so that I need not worry about it after I on it.

Now the question comes....I didn't have a crock pot or a slow cooker. Eventually I managed to borrow one from one of our colleagues. It turned out very good, but guess it might be little bit spicier for the american crowd.....  The best part I liked in it is the color of the soup and the potatoes in the soup. You must be wondering why did I like potatoes in it so much, well I love potatoes in any form (but cooked of course :)).

Well I am happy to say that many of them liked it and it was almost over within the lunch time.

Ingredients:
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2 cups Whole Green Lentils
1/2 cup Whole Red Lentils
1 Big Onion chopped
2-3 Carrots chopped
2 Potatoes chopped (I used red skin potatoes)
3-4 Garlic Pods chopped
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 tsp Hot Salsa (Optional)
1 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper Powder
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1 tbsp Spanish Paprika Powder
1 tbsp Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Thyme
Salt as needed
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Method:
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1. Wash the lentils and soak it in warm/medium hot water for about 30 mins.
2. Add these lentils to the crock pot along with enough water. (Adding more or less water will depend on how you want your soup to be)

3. Meanwhile, In a pan, add olive oil when it's hot medium hot add garlic and onions and saute it until the onions are transparent.
4. Now add all the spices and salt...add chili, cayenne, black pepper, paprika and cumin powder, along with the spices add salt and thyme.
5. Saute the spice powders until the raw smell is gone, now add tomato paste, salsa and saute it for a min.

6. Add the veggies, carrots and potatoes. Mix well cover and cook it in medium flame for about 5 mins.
7. Now add the veggies and spices to the lentils in the crock pot and I cooked it until the lentils were cooked completely in high or for quick results pressure cook it.
8. Garnish with your choice of herbs and serve it with Tortilla chips or your choice of chips or just eat it plain or even steamed rice will go well with it.

You Might Also Like:

Tomato Soup	Sage Rasam/Soup	Barley Mint Stoup

Ragi Poori / Puffed Indian Bread using Ragi Flour

I usually prepare Ragi Sankatti, Ragi buttermilk and Ragi pakoda using ragi flour. All of them are yet to come from my kitchen to on line. This time, for a change I prepared Ragi poori for a change. The reason is very simple. I found the opened pack of ragi flour untouched, when I cleaned my pantry last time. As It was in very small quantity(only one cup), I added it with wheat flour and prepared poories/puries. Most of the poories/puries were puffed up well but you have to put some extra care/effort while rolling the poories/puries. I used more flour for dusting to roll perfect poories/puries.



Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Makes: 20-25 small poories/puries

Ingredients:



Ragi Flour - 1 cup

Wheat Flour - 1 and 1/4 cup

Wheat flour - for dusting and rolling poories

Salt - to taste

Oil - 2 teaspoons + For frying

Water - Slightly less than 1/2 cup or as required to make tight dough

Method:



1) Mix wheat flour and ragi flour in a mixing bowl.

2) Add salt and make a tight dough by adding water little at a time.

3) Divide the dough into small equal parts and make smooth balls.

4) Roll each of the balls into poories using a rolling pan.

5) Heat oil in frying pan/Kadai. When it is hot enough and not smoking, add rolled poories one by one and fry them.

6) When both the sides are cooked well, transfer the poories to a plate covered with kitchen tissue to absorb excess oil if any.

7) Serve hot with potato kurma(Kilangu Masala)