Re Cap of Baked Event " Fire Up Your Oven"

For one long month excluding Sundays we friends at Blogging Marathon have featured yummy baked dishes under the theme "Fire Up Your Oven". Enjoy the round up. 

Day 1 <-> Sun-dried Tomato Pinwheels

Day 2 <-> Baked Asparagus

Day 3 <-> Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Day 4 <-> Cabbage Fritters

Day 5 <-> Pink Velvet Choco Chip Cookies

Day 6 <-> Orange Cupcakes

Day 7 <-> Peanut Butter Mug Cakes

Day 8 <-> Brownies

Day 9 <-> Chocolate Cupcakes

Day 10 <-> Nutella Coffee Mug Cake

Day 11 <-> Baked Omelette 

Day 12 <-> Baked French Toast

Day 13 <-> Quiche Bread Pockets

Day 14 <-> Scrambled Eggs

Day 15 <-> Baked Granola

Day 16 <-> Egg in the Hole

Day 17 <-> Onion Samosa

Day 18 <-> Fried Moong Dal

Day 19 <-> Chocolate Chip Cookies

Day 20 <-> Masala Vada

Day21 <-> Baked Green Peas

Day 22 <-> Kanda Poha

Day 23 <-> Gobi 65

Day 24 <-> Achari Paneer Tikka

Day 25 <-> Dil Pasand Cupcakes

Day 26 <-> Masala Corn

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Baked Green peas

Baked Green Peas is a guilt free snack & it is also a sister dish of Fried Green Peas. This fried peas are widely available in Indian stores, but the sad part is they are deep-fried with god know's what oil they have used. I'm too reluctant in buying any kind of snacks from out side & that gives me a chance to experiment these dishes at home. I made this baked green peas to make them healthy & at the end result was yummy as the deep-fried one's. Try making this guilt free snack & enjoy !!! 

Prep Time-30mins {Thawing + Drying}
Cook Time-30mins 
Serves-2people
Ingredients
1/2Cup green peas 
1Tsp oil 
Salt & chili powder for taste
Directions
- If using frozen pea's then thaw them & fresh peas are the hero then cook them ahead. 
- Dry peas on a kitchen towel & make sure they are dry before baking them. 
- Pre-heat oven @400F & line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
- In a bowl take peas, oil, salt & chili powder. Mix them well & make sure that peas are well coated.
- Layer up the arranged baking sheet with green peas by leaving a little distance in between them.
- In to the oven @400F for 30mins or until green peas are crisp.
- Remove from oven & cool them on counter. 
Note
- Store them in an airtight container. 

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Masala Vada {Baked}

Masala Vada is a popular Indian tea time snack. This vada is crisp & crunchy in texture. This is originally a deep-fried dish, but here I'm sharing a healthier baked version of this snack with out loosing the goodness of deep-fried version. This recipe can be customized easily with your choice of ingredients. Other than baking & deep-frying you can also shallow fry them with out loosing any goodness of this vada. 

Prep Time-40mins {30mins of soaking + 10mins}
Cook Time-30mins
Serves-8 to 10 vada's
Ingredients
1/4Cup channa dal
1/4Cup toor dal
2 Tsp jeera
2Green chili's
2Tsp grated ginger
1/2Cup chopped onions
Few curry leaves
1Tbs oil
1Tsp chili powder
1/2Tsp baking powder
Salt to taste
Directions 
- Soak chana dal & toor dal for minimum of 30mins & maximum of 3hrs. 
- Pre-heat oven @350F & line up a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
- Strain water from dals & add them to a blender along with jeera, green chili's, ginger, curry leaves & onions finally. 
- Coarse grind the mixture & transfer to a bowl. Mix in salt, chili & baking powder.
- Scoop up a small ball of batter & lay it on the baking sheet. Press a little to make a nice round shape as shown above. Repeat the same with rest of the batter. 
- Place sheet in oven & bake them for 10mins. Remove from oven brush on little oil on each side of the vada's. Back in to oven for another 15mins or less @400F. 
- You can see a brown crust on top & when you flip it will be light brown too. 
- Remove from oven & allow them to cool on the counter. 
- Serve warm with ketchup or any spicy chutney of your choice. 
Note
- I changed the temp of oven as it will help in perfect baking. 
- You can bake @400F thru out but the bake time will be sure reduced. Keep an eye to prevent from burning vada's.
- In addition to the ingredients you can add in 1Tbs of ginger garlic paste for more flavorful vada's. 
- Don't add extra water for grinding. We need a thick batter for crisp vada's.
- You can replace curry leaves with coriander or mint leaves. It's your choice.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies {Semi Homemade}

Chocolate Chip Cookies are delicious sweet bites. It is hard to categorize them as you can enjoy them any time of the day. For me they are a go to snack as when ever I'm hungry & I love to take a bite of them. The recipe I'm sharing is a semi homemade & makes it easy when you are in desperate of having a cookie. I have a sweet tooth & I crave for a sweet at night times. I love keeping something in hand for those nights when I'm desperate to have a sweet. Today is one of those nights &  I ended up making a big batch of cookies to sooth my cravings.

Prep Time-10mins
Cook Time-10 to 15mins
Serves-12 large cookies
Ingredients 
1Pack of Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookies mix
{Follow the instructions on box} or
1/4Cup butter @ room temperature
3Tbs milk
Directions 
- Pre-heat oven @300F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Unpack the mixture in to a bowl. Add butter & milk to bowl & make dough out of it.
- Scoop up a small lemon size dough balls & place them with 2inch space on baking sheet.
- Bake it for 10mins-15mins or till cookies are light brown in color.
- Remove from oven & cool them on the counter.
Note 
- I replaced water with milk & rest all the same as on the package.

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Fried Moong Dal

Fried Moong Dal is an amazing tea time snack which is crunchy & addictive. I'm sharing two versions of making this snack. The actual recipe for fried moong dal requires moong dal to be deep fried in oil, but the microwavable recipe for this snack reduces the oil content in it & tastes the same as deep dried one. To keep this snack fresh & crisp store it in a air tight container & it should be good for 1week. As said this is very addictive snack & sure you will not be able to stop with little bites.

Prep Time- 30mins {minimum or overnight}
Cook Time-6mins
Serves-2people
Ingredients
1/2Cup moong dal
1/2Tsp baking soda
1Tsp oil
1/4Tsp chili powder
Soft Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Directions
- Soak moong dal along with baking soda for minimum of 30mins & maximum to overnight.
- Strain water from dal & allow it dry on a towel. Dal should be dry. It will take 10mins to dry.
Microwave version
- In a microwave safe mix dal & oil.
- Microwave it for 1mins & mix. Then microwave it for 1more minute & mix.
- Repeat the same procedure for another 4 more minutes. If you see any lumps break them while shuffling the dal.
- You can see a fried moong dal which is fried & crisp.
- Mix in salt & chili powder. Enjoy this snack as it is.
Deep Frying Version 
- Heat oil for deep frying. Mean while arrange a plate with paper towels.
- Dal should be dry with no drops of water left to it. Once oil is hot add little by little of dal to pan & fry them to puffed shape. 
- Dal doesn't have to turn brown in color. It should be puffed & you are ready to remove it on to the paper lined plate. 
- Repeat the same with rest of the dal.
- Transfer the fried dal to a bowl. To that add in salt & chili powder. Mix it well & enjoy the snack.
Note
- For every 1min mix the dal to fry it evenly.
- Add a 1/4 tsp of chat masala to flavor it up.
- Make sure dal is dry before deep frying it.
*** Pictures represent the microwavable version.

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Onion Samosa

Samosa is a popular and favorite snack of India. This snack is originated from central asia, with a presence world wide. This snack is available as deep fried one in the markets but to make it healthy you can bake it too. So here I'm sharing both ways (deep-fried & baked) of making this dish with my one of my favorite fillings. You can make the layer from scratch or can use store bought wonton wraps to make this snack.
I'm not so crazy about these store bought samosa's with the traditional filling, but my favorite one's & those I go crazy for are sold in trains. Yes...I know they aren't made in hygienic conditions & the oil used has no words to explain. They are small in size & the onion filling makes them so tasty.
Filling is the main part of samosa. The classic filling in samosa is made of onions, potatoes & peas. You can play with fillings of your choice & can enjoy this snack. I used onion poha filling in this recipe as it is one my favorites & also a yummy filling.

Prep Time-30mins
Cook Time- 30mins to 40mins
Serves - 12
Ingredients 
For filling 
1Onion finely chopped
1/4Cup poha
Few curry leaves
1/4Tsp turmeric
1Tsp red chili powder
2Tbs oil
Salt to taste
For Outer layer 
1Cup all-purpose flour + some flour for dusting
1Tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Water
For flour paste 
2Tbs all-purpose flour
2Tsp water
Directions 

Onion Filling
- Heat pan with oil. To that add onions & curry leaves. Fry them till onions are translucent.
- Add salt, chili powder & turmeric. Cook for 1min & switch off heat.
- Add poha & mix them well. Balance salt & chili powder if needed.

Making the outer layer
- Mix ingredients under out layer by adding little water at a time & form a smooth dough.
- Cover dough with a wet cloth & allow it to sit for 15mins before making roti's.
- Divide dough in to 6 equal balls. Dust the base where you are rolling the roti with little flour.
- Roll a thin roti out of the dough as seen above & keep aside. Repeat the same with rest of the dough balls.
- Heat a wide pan & allow it to get hot. Now lay a roti on hot pan & cook on both sides till the wetness disappears as seen above.
- Remove from pan & repeat the same with rest of the roti's.
Flour paste
- Mix flour & water to form a smooth paste.
Making Samosa
- Cut roti's into half as seen above. Layer the flour paste to the straight line of roti & fold it to cone shape. Press the edges a little to make sure they are stuck together.
- Now place spoon full of stuffing it to the pocket & stick the edges using flour paste. Now samosa is ready to be fried or baked. Repeat the same with rest of the stuffing & cut roti's.
For Baking 
- Pre-heat oven @400F & line up a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Arrange samosa's on the baking sheet with a little gap in between & brush them with little oil on both sides.
- Bake them @400F for 15mins & by now they should be mildly brown in color. Flip samosa's to other sideBake them for another 10 to 15mins. You can see a brown crust on top of samosa.
- Remove them from oven & cool them on counter.

Deep Frying 
- Heat oil for deep frying. Add in uncooked samosa's to pan & fry them on medium to low heat till they are nice & brown in color. You can fry couple of samosa's or more at a time depending on the pan size.
- Remove them onto a paper towel once they are golden in color on both sides. 
-Serve them hot as they are or along with green chutney or ketchup.
Note
- You can use your favorite filling instead of the one shared here.
- Brush a generous amount of oil on both sides of samosa's before baking them. This will give you crisp samosa's when you bake.
- Baked samosa's are crunchy when they are warm & are less crunchier after 1hr.

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