Healthy Methi Mathris

Who doesn't like Mathris during tea time? Crispy and salty mathris make up for a refreshing snack on the go. I remember as a kid, whenever we had a trip coming up, mom would prepare yummy mathris to be munched throughout the long train journey. Mathris are a favorite item in the wedding return gift sweet boxes (we call them Bhaaji in North). When I got married, we had a good quantity of mathris left from the Bhaaji. Every evening, after returning from office, the Mathris would give me and my MIL company with our evening chai. Often, we would prepare papdi chaat with the leftover mathris. 

There is magic in the hands of Delhi Halwais (special chefs for preparing sweet and savory items). Almost everyone in the North have their favorite Halwai shop from where they get their dose of Samosa, Kachoris and Mathris. 

After moving to Mumbai, I terribly missed the Delhi walla mathris. I did find good Mathris at some shops here however, my soaring waistline keeps me away from fried food.

Few days ago, as it was raining, my taste buds craved for Mathris. So, I decided to pamper them the healthy way and prepared these Baked Methi Mathris. Apart from being non fried, these Mathris are made with 100% wholewheat flour and yet, they taste so crispy and yum. Since Methi imparts a certain bitterness, you may keep the quantity of methi leaves less in your first attempt.

Over to the recipe now...

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Flour - 1 Cup

Chopped fenugreek (Methi) leaves - 1/2 Cup (You may adjust the quantity to your taste)

Salt - 1 1/2 tsp or to taste

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Carrom Seeds/Ajwain/Ova - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp (I didn't add as I was preparing for my kid)

Oil/Desi Ghee - 1 tbsp + for brushing

Water - 1/2 Cup

Method

1. In a mixing bowl, take the wholewheat flour. Add the chopped fenugreek leaves, salt, coriander powder, turmeric powder, carrom seeds and red chilli powder.

2. Add the desi ghee/oil. Add water bit by bit and bind into a still dough.

3. Cover with a dry cloth and rest for 15-20 minutes.

4. Roll the dough and divide into 15 small balls.

5. Roll each ball into a thin disc.

6. Arrange the discs on a greased baking tray.

7. Slightly prick with a fork to ensure that the Mathris don't rise.

8. Brush some ghee on the discs.

9. Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes or till the mathris turn golden brown.

Note - You can adjust the quantity of fenugreek leaves as per your preference. Start with small quantity and increase if you feel like. 

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Who doesn't like Mathris during tea time? Crispy and salty mathris make up for a refreshing snack on the go. I remember as a kid, whenever we had a trip coming up, mom would prepare yummy mathris to be munched throughout the long train journey. Mathris are a favorite item in the wedding return gift sweet boxes (we call them Bhaaji in North). When I got married, we had a good quantity of mathris left from the Bhaaji. Every evening, after returning from office, the Mathris would give me and my MIL company with our evening chai. Often, we would prepare papdi chaat with the leftover mathris. Few days ago, as it was raining, my taste buds craved for Mathris. So, I decided to pamper them the healthy way and prepared these Baked Methi Mathris. Apart from being non fried, these Mathris are made with 100% wholewheat flour and yet, they taste so crispy and yum. http://shaivikafunda.blogspot.com/2018/09/healthy-methi-mathris.html?m=1 #healthyrecipe #healthyfood #health #healthyeating #healthybaking #healthy #snacks #teatime #recipe #foodie #foodblog #foodblogger #food #snacks #delicious #tasty #tastebhihealthbhi #yummy #shaivikafunda #instagood #picoftheday #recipes #indianfood #india #indiansnacks

A post shared by Shaivi Sharma (@shaivisharma) on Sep 28, 2018 at 3:59am PDT

Samosa Memories - Part 1

When I was a kid, it was a general practice to order Samosas when guests came over unannounced. Otherwise mom was prepared with her pakoda batter before the guests rang the doorbell. As I loved samosas I loved guests who came unnanounced! Anyway, all I had to do was to smile and do a quick Namaste! Lol!

While guests would be counted before sending my brother to the Samosa shop, mom ensured 2-3 extra samosas would be ordered just in case a guest wanted to have a second helping. Being a foodie by birth, I obviously eyed those extra samosas. While everyone would be busy to escort the guests to their car, I would swiftly slip back in the house and gobble up the remaining samosas in no time. Such a brat I was that my greed was not just limited to the extra samosas...if a guest didn't choose to eat the Samosa, I rejoiced secretly as it meant another extra samosa in my tummy 😄

All this may sound very cheap and silly now, but I think every foodie kid is like that 

What to do, Samosas are so irresistible 😋

Pampered myself to these Samosas during teatime and remembered my childhood 

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When I was a kid, it was a general practice to order Samosas when guests came over unannounced. Otherwise mom was prepared with her pakoda batter before the guests rang the doorbell. As I loved samosas I loved guests who came unnanounced! Anyway, all I had to do was to smile and do a quick Namaste! Lol! While guests would be counted before sending my brother to the Samosa shop, mom ensured 2-3 extra samosas would be ordered just in case a guest wanted to have a second helping. Being a foodie by birth, I obviously eyed those extra samosas. While everyone would be busy to escort the guests to their car, I would swiftly slip back in the house and gobble up the remaining samosas in no time. Such a brat I was that my greed was not just limited to the extra samosas...if a guest didn't choose to eat the Samosa, I rejoiced secretly as it meant another extra samosa in my tummy 😄 All this may sound very cheap and silly now, but I think every foodie kid is like that 🤣 What to do, Samosas are so irresistible 😋 Pampered myself to these Samosas during teatime and remembered my childhood 😀 #samosa #snacks #foodie #foodblog #foodblogger #food #chaat #indianfood #samosas #childhoodmemories #children #childhood #downthememorylane #shaivikafunda #memories #stories #storiesuntold #foodstory #funny

A post shared by Shaivi Sharma (@shaivisharma) on Sep 18, 2018 at 6:48am PDT

Easy and Healthy Sattu Sandwich

I was introduced to Sattu by my mom in law, after I got married. My earlier job required me to be out by 6.30am. I still remember how diligently she would wake up every morning to prepare my breakfast and tiffin. Even during the famous Delhi winters, she would ensure I never left home without eating breakfast. Sattu was her favourite handy ingredient back then. 

For those who don't know much about Sattu, it is an excellent ready food which has several health benefits, as it is nothing but roasted gram/chana in powdered form. Sattu drink is an excellent way to beat the heat during summers in North India. An excellent food for people suffering from Diabetes and Hypertension, Sattu is an instant energy booster as well and rich in fibre, proteins, minerals and antioxidants. 

A super healthy and light option which perfectly compliments many recipes.

My MIL loves to play around a lot with Sattu. Apart from the Sattu drink in summers, she prepares excellent Sattu paranthas and Littis.

Having learnt so much from her, I experimented with Sattu and prepared these Sattu Sandwich for breakfast yesterday. To my utter gastronomic joy, they came out so well! Posted these on my Facebook foodie groups and the overwhelming response motivated me to post the recipe on my blog.

Ingredients (Makes 2 Sandwiches)

Brown bread - 4 slices

Onion - 1 medium

Green chilli - 1 large or to taste

Salt - to taste

Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Sattu/Roasted grams powder - 1tbsp

Lemon juice - few drops

Cheese slices - 1 per sandwich

Ghee - 1tsp (optional)

Method

1. Chop together onion and green chilli.

2. Add Sattu powder, salt, red chilli powder and lemon juice. Mix well.

3. Spread stuffing evenly on bread slices.

4. Put cheese slice on top.

5. Cover with the other bread slice.

6. Smear some Desi ghee on top (optional) for good colour.

7. Grill and enjoy!

Easy Eggless Sandwich Bread

Only he can understand the joy of baking a bread, who has got his hands dirty in the bread dough! 

Bread making is therapeutic. From the day MIL and I baked our first bread, each bread that turns out great gives us a feel good factor which is difficult to understand, unless you get your hands dirty!

Let me make an honest confession. Till now it was always my MIL who was kneading the dough. In her words, kneading dough is an activity she loves soooo much that she can even wake up at 3am and knead a dough! Now, can there be a better thing than this for a lazy daughter in law like me? Yes, I am counting my blessings!

However, I wanted to do everything by myself this time around. We hadn't baked the sandwich bread so far. Mr. Hubby insisted we bake our own sandwich bread, since commercially available breads have chemicals. So, I got on to the task. 

Since I had to use the bread to prepare grilled sandwiches, I did keep a good share of all purpose flour, in addition to my favourite wholewheat chakki wala Punjabi Atta from Sion. The bread came out so well that I was beaming with pride!

Try it out and I am sure you too will stop buying bread from outside.

Ingredients

Wholewheat flour/Atta - 1 Cup

All purpose flour/Maida - 1 1/2 Cup

Instant dry yeast - 1 tbsp

Grain Sugar - 2 tbsp

Warm Milk - 1 Cup

Salt - 3/4 tsp

Water - 3-4 tbsp

Ghee/Butter - 1 tbsp for dough + 1 tbsp for greasing tin and brushing the bread

Method

1. In a clean bowl, take the sugar and instant dry yeast. Mix well.

2. Add 2-3 tbsp warm water. Mix well. Cover with a plate and keep aside undisturbed for 10 minutes. 

3. After 10 minutes, you will see that the yeast has risen beautifully.

4. In a bowl/Paraat take the wholewheat flour, all purpose flour and salt. Mix well while it is still dry.

5. Add the activated yeast mixture and knead well to form a smooth dough. After few minutes of kneading the dough will begin to stick to your hands but do not fret and continue kneading. The dough will automatically leave your hands. However, in total you will have to knead for a good 5-7 minutes to get a good dough. Also, stretch and knead the dough for good results.

6. Add 1 tbsp ghee/soft butter to the dough and knead well to form a soft dough. 

7. Shape the dough into a smooth ball with all the folds tucked below.

8. Transfer to a greased bowl. Cover with a dry cloth and keep for proving in a warm place (I use my switched off microwave oven) for about an hour or till the dough doubles.

This is how the dough looked after an hour.

9. Punch the dough in the middle to knock off the air.

10. Dust some plain flour on a clean kitchen platform/chopping board (I used the same Paraat I had used to knead the dough). Start kneading the dough by stretching and folding. 

11. After 2 minutes of kneading, spread the dough in an oval shape.

12. From one end, start rolling the dough, with soft hands but give a tight fold so as to avoid gaps in the bread. 

13. Pinch and seal the last fold and seal the sides as well.

14. Transfer to a 8" greased loaf tin. Spread the dough to cover the corners and lightly even the surface.

15. Cover with a dry cloth and keep at a warm place for proving for 30-40 minutes.

This is how the dough looked after 2nd proving.

16. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 200 degree centigrade for 10 minutes.  Then lower the heat and bake a 180 degree centigrade for 20 minutes.

17. Brush some ghee/butter on the bread as soon as it is out of the oven. Cool for few minutes and demould. Cool on a wire rack to avoid perspiration at the base. Once the bread is cooled, cut into slices and enjoy as a sandwich or just with a slice of butter. 

Few Tips

1. As soon as you are done with the yeast, wrap the packet really tight and store in refrigerator.

2. Do not disturb the yeast bowl when kept for activation.

3. Keep the warm milk handy before you start kneading the bread. I once got the milk few minutes late and my bread did not take the wait very well.

4. If you don't find a warm place to prove the bread, your oven is your saviour. No matter how the weather is, I always keep the dough bowl for proving in the empty oven (switched off, obviously!). It gives a wonderful rise plus saves accidental disturbance to the bread, in case there is space constraint or you have children at home.

5. Cool the bread completely before you cut the slices. You will get much neat slices. If you try to cut slices while the bread is still warm, there will be a lot many crumbles. If you notice my pics, you will notice few crumbles. This is because my overenthusiastic MIL couldn't resist the aroma of the bread and enjoyed a slice before the bread could cool completely. 

6. The water used to activate the yeast should neither be too hot nor too cold else the yeast won't rise. It should just be warm enough so that your fingers can tolerate the warmth. 

7. Always use good quality yeast.

8. Never ever leave the bread in the loaf tin for cooling else the bread will have perspiration at the base. Always cool on a wire rack.