Whole wheat Banana almond muffin

I wonder who coined this phrase "Go bananas".Whoever it is,I also wonder if he/she wanted to dedicate this to me exclusively somehow because I do go Bananas whenever I get Bananas and then I get my Ghajini moment /dementia-tic attacks and I ignore this fruit for longtime UNTIL it gets chickenpox and bit stinky !

Then my better 1/2 would also go Banana and taunt me ,saying ,"My dear monkey whoops wife-y,did you complete those Bananas yet ?" Aaah look they became dual colored -black & Yellow..what a combination and what a aroma !! Our dining room has become so aromatic- Welcome to Banana spa !!

Happy new year wishes in advance!

Can't blame him,this story happens everytime I buy Bananas and I never remember the previous lesson !! And then I would be digging recipes day in and day out  to hide these spoiled Banana neatly.

So,this time I made a very healthy muffin with of course Bananas,almonds and whole wheat flour .Oh so good !! It screams HEALTHY  yet tastYYY!

This is how I make a healthy Whole wheat Muffin with Banana and nuts.

  WholewheatBanana Muffin

Ingredients

Whole Wheat flour - 1 cup

Wholewheat bran - 1/4 cup(optional)

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt -1/4teaspoon

Eggs - 2

Oil/butter - 1/2 cup

Agave nectar/Sugar - 1/2 cup

Ripe Organic Bananas- 2-3

Almonds slices - 1/2 cup

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
• In a large bowl,mix together all dry ingredients-Whole wheat flour,whole wheat bran,cinnamon powder,baking powder,salt and keep it aside.
• Put the ripe bananas in a blender and mash it well or mash it with hands.
• In another bowl ,beat eggs ,butter and agave nectar well.Add the above dry ingredients to it plus the mashed bananas .
• Mix everything until well incorporated.
• Fold in the almond slices.
• Now put cupcake liners in the muffin pan and pour the batters into each cups.
• Bake it for 15-20 minutes approx or until the toothpick inserted into it comes out clean.

That's it.That's one of the way ,how I tastefully hide and end the Banana story forever ..Ennoda kalee/Humse hai muqabla

Have a fun filled,joy filled,blessings filled new year ya'll!

 Eat,love,Live deliciously,

Quinoa with mixed vegetables,squash ribbons & spicy baked chicken drumsticks Roast

 Well,after aVege and an eggy rendition,now it's time for something spicy,bakey and chicken-y. It's time for a masaaledaar/spiceful Quinoa makeover.King P is soo happy-whistle whistle wink wink ;p.So is this humble daasi/his maid . That means the menu and the Queen-dom is not bland anymore. Thank you my dear spices ,you make my food and life tad more interesting.

Hail King P,Queen Q & Indian Spies-ces (spices) !

Quinoa with mixed vegetables,squash ribbons & spicy baked chicken drumsticks Roast

Ingredients

 Quinoa - 1 cup

Water - 2 cups

Onion(medium size),sliced - 1 no.

Green Chillies,slit - 3-4 nos.

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon

Tomato(medium),chopped - 1 no.

Mixed vegetable (I used frozen peas,corn,beans,carrots),boiled-1 cup

Yellow long sqush (medium size),ribbons- 5-6 nos

Cloves- 2 no.(optional)

Cardamom - 2 nos.(optional)

Cinnamon-2 nos.(optional)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Shan Biryani Masala- 1 tablespoon

 Salt to taste

Oil/Ghee - 1-2 tablespoons
              
Baked spicy Chicken Drumsticks Roast
Ingredients
 Chicken Drumsticks -6 nos
Onion,sliced-1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2-3 nos.

Any spice mix (I used Eastern's Chicken fry) - 1-2 teaspoons
Ginger-garlic paste-1 teaspoon
Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon
Chilly powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Lime juice - 1 teaspoon
Yogurt-1 tablespoon
Tomato,sliced - 4-5nos
Salt to taste
Oil-2 tablespoons
Oil spray

Method:

• Rinse quinoa under the tap water and put it in a saucepan with water and little salt.
• Place that saucepan on the stove and allow it to boil on high heat.
• Once it reaches the boiling point,reduce the fame to medium-low,cover it and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes until all the water is absorbed and most importantly,grains become translucent with a spiral tail.or watch this ...
• Put off the stove.Let it stand covered for another 5 minutes to make sure it absorbs any moisture left.If there is any water left,do drain it completely.
• Fluff it with a fork and keep it aside.
• Cut the squash into long,thin strips using a vegetable peeler that should look like ribbons .
• Heat a pan with little oil ,add the squash ribbons,sprinkle little turmeric powder,chilli powder and saute for a minute,then cover it and on low flame allow it to get tender.
• Heat another pan/kadai with oil ,add the cloves,cardamom & cinnamon to it .Saute for a minute.
• Add the onion slices and green chillies to it and saute them until onions become translucent.
• Add the ginger-garlic to it and stir until its raw flavor is gone.
• Add the chopped tomatoes ,turmeric powder,chilli powder and biryani masala to it.Mix well.Stir well.Low the flame.Cover it to make the tomatoes soft and mixed well with all the powders.
• Once tomatoes are soft & mushy,remove the cover,add the boiled mixed vegetables, followed by cooked Quinoa to it and mix well.
• Finally add the tender fried squash ribbons to it and mix everything well.
• Add the salt as needed.
• Quinoa s ready.

To bake the spicy chicken drumsticks :-

• Pierce the drumsticks with a sharp knife all over (here & there) so that flavor gets infused in and out.Now,combine all the ingredients with 1 tablespoon oil in a big bowl and allow it to marinate for 30-1 hr approx in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
• Take a 9*13 baking pan and put the remaining oil and swirl to make sure the entire pan gets well coated.
• Now place the marinated chicken drumsticks with space in between.(Not crowded)
• Bake them at 375 degree F for about 35 minutes approx and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degree F and turn the chicken drumsticks,onions,chillies and tomatoes,spray them with cooking oil lightly (don't do it directly in oven,it will be dangerous ,raher take out the pan carefully & spray outside the owen) .
• Bake them again for another 30 minutes or until the chicken is well cooked,juices run clear and is not pink anymore or use a cooking temperature which should show 165 degree F meaning cooked and ready to eat.

Note:

• Adjust the spices as per your spicy level.
• Use any spice mix . 
• How to make perfect Quinoa in 15 minutes 

That's it Quinoa filled with the goodness of mixed vegetable and squash with a spicy chicken-y kick is ready for my highness,King P.

Well, this humble daasi would like to take a leave now and let King P and Queen Q enjoy to the fullest.I don't want to be "Swaragthil katturrumbu (Malayalam)/Kabaab mein haddi (Hindi)/to play gooseberry".What say ??

All I say now ,Hail King P and Queen Q !!

 

P.S.Incase you mixed , Quinoa with raw papaya & red potato ,Quinoa with mixed vegetables,broccoli ,red bell pepper & scrambled egg , Quinoa Pilaf with baked spicy chicken ,

Quinoa Boondi (colorful & sugarfree)

Wow,today is Vijaydasami,the last day of Navratri also called Dussehra .Though I do pujas and prayers of Maa Durga (Hindu Goddess) at home,though I go to temple on this occasion as well,honestly speaking,I hardly felt like it was Navratri and it is Dussehra today .Well,I guess,that's what is called "Being-abroad-syndrome" !! and let me tell ya,it's not fun,something is always missing here.I am so jealous of all of you who are living in India and enjoyed the festival in and out.

Every year it reminds me of my childhood days when my mom would be busy preparing festival delicacy (& me eating like there is no tomorrow) and by evening dad would take us all across the town every 10 days to show us different pandals( temporary platforms where goddess is being placed and worshiped) and different one-of-a-kind beautiful Devi idols worshiped that day .

I was (&am) so crazy about all those fairs and processions of that day .Those ten days I would dump all my books for good :D and moreover, one of the day is dedicated to worship Goddess Saraswati ,the goddess of Knowledge,wisdom and art and on that day, after performing all rituals,the students are suppose to put their books,pens etc  in front of the goddess for her blessings and no one is suppose to study that day .Not to mention my favorite day of the Navaratri festival :D .

Now being far far away from my motherland and my home ,with hardly any relatives here in US and friends with benefits mostly :p ,I am dead homesick.Ab kya karein paapi pett ka sawaal jo hai ;kuch paanein/kamanien keliye kuch khona bhi padtha hain :P.

However,I believe what makes me to remind ,reemphasize and celebrate this festival are "Sweets" / Festival delicacies. One such sweet I made is "Quinoa Boondi "which is infact kinda healthy version of the traditional boondi.

Boond in Hindi means Drop and this sweets look just like sweet droplets,made with thick and runny Besan/chickpea/Gram flour batter and deep fried in oil and later on dunked in sugar syrup. This sweet are usually offered as Prasad/offerings to Hindu Gods and Goddess during festivals .I added the extra goodness of quinoa and covered it in sugar free .This is exclusively for diabetic patients.


This is how I make healthy sugar free Boondi:

Sugar Free Quinoa colorful Boondi

Ingredients

Quinoa flour - 1 cup
Gram flour/Besan -1/2 cup

Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon

Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon

Water - 1/2 cup

Ghee or oil for deep frying

Beetroot juice - 1-2 teaspoons

Hemp/Spirulina juice - 1-2 teaspoons

Saffron strands (4-5) in warm water

Perforated frying ladle/spoon

Stevia/Sugarfree - 1-2 tablespoon

Method:

• Take a bowl and combine quinoa flour,besan,cardamom powder ,baking powder and water.Mix well until it is lump free.Keep it aside for about 10 minutes (approx).(The consistency should be thick yet runny)
• Take three bowls and divide the batter into each of them respectively.
• Add beetroot juice in one bowl of batter , hemp powder/spirulina powder in other bowl and saffron in the third bowl of batter.Mix well the colors to each bowl.Keep pink,green and yellow colored batter aside .
• Heat the ghee/oil in a pan and put it on high flame for a minute.Drop a batter and if it fluffs up and surfaces on the top of oil/ghee ,it's ready to deep fry.At this point reduce the flame to medium-low.
• Take the perforated ladle/spoon,hold it about 3-4 inch above the pan ,pour about 4 tablespoons of batter at once and and slightly move the ladle up and down in such a way that the batter easily flows out of the hole of the perforated spoon and falls freely as droplets into the ghee.
• Deep fry them on medium flame.Repeat the steps for rest of the batter.
• Remove them using the slotted spoon.
• Once all boondis are ready,sprinkle the stevia or any sugar free on the top and mix well so that all boondis are covered with sugar free well.
• Serve immediately.

Note:

• I used Baking powder as this flour needs it to get it fluffy later unlike the Chickpea flour/Besan.
• Grate little beetroot and juice it in blender , sieve it and use it.There is no aftertaste of any of this or hemp/spirulina.Make sure when you add the juice to the batter it shouldn't turn it too runny otherwise it won't come out good .In case, if it happens,add more quinoa flour and adjust accordingly.
• You can also use simply a spoon and dip it in the batter and put the batter as drop by drop and fry it too.It is time consuming though and may not yield evenly shaped boondis.
• You can also make sugar syrup and use it instead of sugar free.That will be certainly more tastier comparatively.
• Serve this boondi immediately otherwise it'll get dry and won't taste that good later.

Enjoy the victory of truth over evil !

Happy Dussehra to one and all .

Jai Mata Di,