Mingle it up

Hi Friends,

I am back with great, healthy & quick snack item - sooji dhokla. In a gujarati household, Dhokla is a very common food item. Dhoklas are steamed & most commonly served as an appetizer or tea time snack. They are soft, fluffy in texture & awesome in taste. They are very filling & healthy as well.

My mom makes lots of different kinds of dhoklas like

-Mixed Dal (Yellow Mung Dal, split mung dal, Channa Dal) Dhokla
-Khaman (Besan - Chickpea flour) Dhokla
-Rice Dhokla
-Sooji Dhokla

Today we will go over on how to make Sooji Dhokla
Serves 2-3 people

1 Cup Sooji (Cream of wheat)
1/2 Yogurt + 1/2 cup water
2 tsp of oil
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 tsp ginger/chili paste (to taste)
1 tsp of Eno Fruit Salt Or 1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of Lemon juice
few sprigs of cilantro for garnishing.
1/2 tsp ajwain / Carrom seeds (optional)

Oil Tempering

2 tsp of oil
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
1 /4 tsp of sesame seeds
1 green chili (slit lengthwise)
3-4 curry leaves

Step up used to steam the dhoklas

If you already have a Dhokla stand with the plates, then you are already set. If don’t have one no need to worry you can still make these spongy goodness without any problem.
All you need is a
-container with a lid
-a round plate that has some depth to it that fits in the container above.
-a small stand that can give the round plate an elevated platform when placed inside the container.

1. Take the container & fill about 1 inch of water in it or the amount which is lesser than the height of the small stand.
2. Place the stand in the container filled with water.
3. Place the greased round plate filled with Dhokla batter on top of the stand. Such that it is little high above the water level. Make sure that water should not enter the dhokla batter. Water is used to steam the dhoklas.
4. Cover the container with the lid & leave very small room for steam to escape the vessel.
5. You can use Pressure cooker with its lid as a container but make sure not to put its whistle while steaming the dhoklas.

Bruschetta is a fancy name for a simple Italian appetizer. In simple words, its French baguette topped with tomatoes, basil & olive oil.

With my twist on Bruschetta, it becomes a very well-rounded healthy snack item or a starter which is packed with great flavor. The reason I say it’s well rounded because you get -
Good Carb - I use Whole Grain French Baguette from Trader Joes so you get fibre & proteins
Good Fat - few tsp of Olive Oil
Veggies - I use red/green bell pepper, tomatoes, cilantro
Taste & Appeal - it looks & tastes great

I guess you must have figured out the ingredients by now but anyways lets go through them

½ Whole Grain Baguette (If you don’t have baguette no sweat, you can use Whole wheat bread or bagel & call it something else ;))
2 tsp of Olive Oil
½ cup finely chopped Tomatoes, Red & Green Bell Pepper, chilies (as per taste), and cilantro
Garlic Salt to taste
Pepper
Dried or fresh basil
3-4 tsp of Parmesan cheese

Yields around 10 pieces
Oven Temperature - 400 F

1. Cut the baguette at an angle about ¾ inches thick.
2. Lightly brush both sides with olive oil & put it in a pre-heated oven for 2-3 minutes. Switch sides & keep it for another 2 mins.
3. Till then cut all our veggies finely, add 1 tsp of olive oil, garlic salt, pepper & basil.
4. If you don’t have garlic salt, then lightly rub a clove of garlic on the surface of the bread after it comes out from oven. This imparts a little garlic flavor on the bread.
5. Put the veggie mixture on the warm bread & top it with a little Parmesan cheese.
6. Return this to the oven again for 3-4 more minutes.

And viola! Your good-looking bruschetta is ready to be eaten.

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