Whole wheat honey bread recipe

Whole wheat honey bread recipe - This is a soft, moist and  healthy bread made with wheat flour and honey. I call it  healthy because wheat flour contains natural antioxidants, fibers, B vitamins along with unique flavor, colour and texture. This bread also carries all the goodness of honey and yogurt. Honey is a healthy sweetener and enhances the taste of bread. Note that use of honey is optional and if you do not like to add honey you can skip it.

I have baked this healthy bread few days back. I set aside the dough for about 4 hours to rise higher enough to get the light and soft bread. Usually, I store bread at room temperature up to 3 days. Therefore I make only one loaf at a time. Several years back, I had joined a cookery class to learn  various cakes, breads, cookies and ice cream. There I learnt this bread. Since then I baked it a few times and every time it has come perfectly, so decided to share this recipe with you all. 

Bread is very handy and is useful in making quick sandwiches and toast. Freshly made green chutney with fresh cucumber and tomato slices make a healthy sandwich. A layer of jam and cheese on the toasted bread slices make delicious jam sandwiches and kids love it for sure. Peanut butter sandwich and white sauce sandwiches are one of the popular sandwiches. You can make bread upma, double ka meetha, shahi tukda, bread rasmalai and bread jamun with this bread.

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Rice appe recipe - Akki appe - Tandula appe - Paniyaram

Rice appe recipe - Appe or paniyaram is a rice based konkani dalicacy prepared by using a special mould due to which the appe takes the round shape. This rice appe has slightly sweet taste as jaggery is added and has coconut flavor. Basically rice, jaggery, rice flakes, coconut and fenugreek seeds or methi are added in this  appe. Rice appe is a popular breakfast snack and is usually served with ghee. 

This is very tasty, addictive and is very filling. It is flavorful and soft. In this dish addition of coconut enriches the taste. The batter needs to be fermented well to make a spongy soft appe. Once the batter is fermented, it can be stored in the refrigerator for further use. You can use this batter to make hot appe as and when required to serve your kids and other family members. 

Back to the memory lane, my mother used to make it at least once in a month and served us hot directly from the appe pan. When the fragrance of appe spreads in the kitchen mouth starts watering, and you may feel like to have it immediately. This is one of the best snacks to serve when guests or friends visit. 

This is very easy to make though it looks bit tedious. Once a batter of perfect consistency is prepared, making appe is very easy. Non-stick appe pans are readily available in the market and the same can be used for preparing appes. Note that always grease the mould with ghee instead of oil to increase the taste of the dish.

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Keerla palya recipe - Bamboo shoots sabzi - Kalale palya

Keerla palya is one of the popular side dishes of Konkani cuisine. This is one of the best side dishes which goes well with rice and chapathi. The keerla  palya requires tender bamboo shoots and chickpea. This is prepared in coconut based masala paste. Bamboo shoots are not available here where I am currently staying, therefore I could not take a photo of the whole bamboo shoots.  But I got a box full of chopped frozen bamboo shoots from my native. 

I just soaked them in water for an entire day by changing water at regular intervals  to remove the bitterness of the bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots are available with hard brown colored layered outer cover and you have to peel them off to get the tender white colored bamboo shoots for curry. Then these bamboo shoots are chopped and soaked in water by changing the bitter water several times before the use. 

Every house hold has its own version of making dishes of bamboo shoots. This is my version which my family likes a lot. Bamboo shoots are also used to make sukke and phodi. Curry made in combination with sprouted green grams, fresh green peas and toor dal also tastes great. 

This coconut based curry is flavored with fried coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds and spluttered mustard seeds. I have used a very small quantity of tamarind in this dish as I like it in the dish which increases the taste especially when having with hot rice. But it is totally optional and you can skip it.

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Plain uttapam recipe - Uttapa recipe

Plain uttapam recipe - Uttapam or uttapa is a signature breakfast dish of South India. This nutritious dish is easily digestible, hence making it frequently is a good idea to serve healthy and filling breakfast to your loved ones. Uttapams are served with coconut chutney and sambar. The proper proportion of ingredients, level of fermentation and consistency of batter is important to make perfect uttapams. 

Though the method of preparation varies slightly from house to house and restaurants, the taste is more or less identical. To make delicious uttapams, the batter needs to be fermented. The fermentation depends upon the atmospheric temperature. It takes less time in summer and more time during winter. 

Fermentation not only improves the texture of the dish but also makes it healthy and tasty. With the same batter other varieties of uttapam such as onion uttapam and masala uttapam can also be prepared. Uttapams are slightly thicker than dosas and it uses rice, bengal gram dal, skinned black gram dal, beaten rice and fenugreek seeds. 

The consistency of batter for uttapam is slightly thicker than dosa batter. These uttapams are very soft and tasty. The batter can be prepared well in advance and after fermentation it can be stored in a refrigerator for three days to make hot uttapams as and when required.

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