Quick Tomato Carrot Stir Fry with Soya Sauce

This is one for the morning when I am loathe to cook and yet I want something that helps the taste-buds as the lunchtime beckons.


I started with a medium sized onion (about and inch and a half in diameter). This quickly got chopped into four and then another slice through the middle. A quick slap with the palm gave me little pieces that would add texture to the dish. A few cloves of Chinese garlic (easy to peel) got gently smashed by the blade and then roughly chopped next.

A couple of smallish tomatoes got chopped next

The carrot take a while to dice but once done I popped it into the microwave for a couple of minutes to soften them while everything else got started.

The garlic went into the hot oil and quickly started getting caramelized...

The onions went in next and got tossed around briefly to coat them with the oil to get the garlicky flavour on them but not too cooked since I wanted them to retain the crunch.

And then the tomatoes joined in while the microwave started beeping to remind me that the carrots were ready...

After adding the carrot I put in a wee bit of dark soy sauce to add some salt and the overpowering taste of soy...

A little shake and a minute later my lunch was all ready to be packed into my trusty Tupperware lunchbox.

Carrot Sesame Basil Salad

It was one of those days when I just could not bring myself to cook anything in the morning. Also I did not have much in the fridge.
So I pulled out a few carrots and three sachets of the of ketchup.

The sliced the carrots...

...and then got out some iceberg lettuce and basil leaves that I had in the fridge...

I quickly chopped the basil...

...and then mixed half of the basil with the shredded lettuce...

I did not want the carrots to be too much of a 'chew' in the carrot, so I microwaved the carrots for a minute and then mixed the rest of the shredded basil with this.

I'd mixed them separately as this way the basil would mix better I thought. 

After this I started making the dressing. I cut and poured all the ketchup into a small bowl...

... then I put in a teaspoon of dark soya sauce...

... and added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar...

I tossed everything together, added the dressing, and then topped everything with sesame seeds and some kalonji.

It was time to pack the salad and then quickly rush off to office after this.

Cookies - Eggless, Flourless, and Sugarless

I wanted to make some cookies along with the carrot cake.. So I was looking for a recipe on the net that mixed oats with carrots..


I found this interesting recipe for cookies that I adopted and made my own. Have the look at the original recipe as well...


This is a very easy cookie to make... I made this while Guru and I were testing his Tata Photon connectivity in my flat. I think we were done and out in some 45min or so...


I took 4 bananas and some of the grapes left over from the carrot cake and squished them together and got an interesting purple slurry to get things moving...

... and yes... I added a a quarter cup of vegetable oil... 

Next, I got out a cup of Quaker's oats and about half a cup of raisins..

I added some ginger (very finely chopped) to add a little zing...

... And threw in some chopped figs as well...

 ... I added a bit of grated dry coconut to make things interesting... 

 I took the rubber spatula and went all mix-mix...

... This is the happy part. :D Some dark chocolate, chopped into little pieces went into the dry mix... About 250gm. I had and used Morde, but would recommend something better ... At least Selbourne extra dark.

 ... now the mixture looked like inviting muesli...

... the grated carrots joined the wet mix and did their little smoozing thing in the pool...

... the dry ingredients joined the wet ones in one happy cookie thing and soon I'd spooned out the lot onto some washed and recycled aluminum foil on the baking trays. This is my attempt at recycling ... 

...Oh yes! I added some toasted cucumber, water melon, musk melon, and other yummy seeds to add some crunch to the sweetness and gooey chocolate inside...


Tadaa!

Here're the ingredients:


1   cup - Grated Carrots
1   cup - Oats (I used Quakers Oats)
1.5 cups - Black Grapes (Squashed)
1.5 cups - Black Grapes (Squashed) (I needed 4 medium bananas)
3/4 cup  - Raisins
1/2 cup  - Chopped Figs
1/2 cup  - Dried coconut shavings
1/4 cup  - Vegetable Oil
250gm - Dark Chocolate (chopped to bits)


Frosting:


150gm - Cream Cheese (I used Britannia... Philadelphia is horribly expensive but preferred)
100gm - Icing Sugar
 25gm - Melted Butter (used Amul)

Carrot Walnut Grape Cake

I have been waiting to try out a carrot cake in the new oven. It was the first thing I'd tried in the convection microwave and I now I wanted to try it out in my new oven.


While I was waiting for Guru to come with the TV, I started with the irritating part—grating two and a half cups of carrots...

That done, I was smiling and measuring out the walnuts after breaking them into wee little bits.... (a heaped cup)

Then a teaspoon of baking powder went into two and a half cups of atta (whole wheat)...

... and a cup of brown sugar (dark brown not demerara... about 200gm) was kept aside...

...since I could not lay my hand on sour cream, I whipped some sour dahi (yoghurt) to make the cake a bit moister...

The walnut bits and the flour got whisked and thoroughly mixed...

...while I lightly greased and floured the sides of the baking tins and papered the bottoms...

I used two tins (one spring-form) and realized that I need to buy another spring-form tin for cases like this where I want to bake layer cakes...

  Next, I cracked four eggs into the mixing bowl and started whisking them...

I added the dahi and half a cup of cooking oil as well (since I did not want to add butter and make it too rich...)

I creamed in the sugar next ...

Soon the mix was nice and frothy and the brown sugar had started working it's effect...

I added the grated carrot—and the twist in the tail—the squashed grapes...

The walnut and flour went in next...

... and into the tin...

The baking took 45min ...

Once the cakes cooled, I whipped together 150gm of cream cheese and added a little less than half a cup of icing sugar and knob of melted butter for the frosting.


I slathered on a generous helping on the bottom layer...

... and then added the top layer and put the rest of the frosting...

Minutes later Guru and I had devoured a wedge while the cat got some frosting...

Here's what the wedge looked like before it went into out stomachs...

The rest of the cake carved  up for distribution...

Here're the ingredients:


2.5 cups - Grated Carrots
1    cup  - Brown Sugar
1    cup  - Walnut Bits2.5 cups - Black Grapes (Squashed)

2.5 cups - Atta (Whole Wheat Flour)

4           - Eggs

100 gm   - Sour Yogurt (Dahi)

0.5 cup  - Vegetable Oil

Frosting:

150gm - Cream Cheese (I used Britannia... Philadelphia is horribly expensive but preferred)

100gm - Icing Sugar

 25gm - Melted Butter (used Amul)