Soni's Food

Indian Inspiration!

Easy Home-made Hummus

27 | 12 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

The party season is on full swing and everyone wants easy recipes that can feed a crowd.My recipe today is probably one of the easiest and my most favorite of all time.Hummus!Its great for entertaining,its packed with nutrition, it’s easy to make and it tastes delicious.Hummus is a dip or a spread,made using cooked mashed Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) served alongside some toasted Pita or chips.It finds its origin in the Middle East and has now become an extremely popular appetizer in parties all across the globe.I love serving my Hummus with some Corn Tortilla Chips!

hummus1.jpg

Apart from its delicious taste, Hummus is also very nutritious.Its high in Iron and Vitamin C,and a great source of protein for Vegans and Vegetarians.You can cook the Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) at home (the process begins by soaking the raw garbanzo beans overnight followed by pressure cooking them the next morning).In case you’ve forgotten to soak your Garbanzo Beans (like I invariably do :)), place about 2 cups of raw Garbanzo Beans in your slow cooker.Add 4-5 cups of water.Let it cook for 5-6 hours and you have your Cooked Garbanzos ready to be used!I’ve cooked mine from scratch in this instance and you cannot beat the fresh flavors!Or you can skip the above process and use a Can of Cooked Garbanzo Beans instead.

Easy Home-made Hummus

An easy dip or spread using Cooked Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • Cooked Garbanzo Beans Chickpeas -2 cups
  • Reserved cooking liquid-1/4 cup
  • Tahini Sesame Paste-1 1/2 tablespoon
  • Garlic-2-3 cloves
  • Lemon Juice-3 tablespoon
  • Olive Oil-2 tablespoon
  • Salt-to taste

Instructions
 

  • Place all the ingredients in your food processor or blender and blend until smooth and mixed thoroughly.
  • Add a little cooking liquid if its too thick.
  • Check the seasonings.
  • Serve chilled or at room temperature with some toasted pita or any other chips or veggies of your choice.
As with any home made stuff, its way healthier than store-bought ones, since You control the amount of sodium. I have to warn you though that its highly addictive and you just cannot stop eating once you’ve started 🙂

hummus2.jpg

 

 

 

Chewy Cocoa Fudge Cookies

20 | 12 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

Its the Holiday season and the one thing we cannot get enough of are cookies! The food world is teeming with thousand of cookie recipes every day .I also jumped into the bandwagon and decided to try something different 🙂

Of late I’ve been using Coconut Oil a lot in my desserts and ever since I laid my eye on a recipe at My Recipes, I’ve been thinking of giving it a try.I finally did that yesterday and put my own spin by substituting Coconut Oil for Butter and boy was it good!

choc fudge cookies2

We’ve all been eating away the cookies and I’m worried we’ll be running out of these too soon 🙂 The coconut oil and the yoghurt gives these cookies a very chewy almost cake-like texture that makes them very indulgent.Who knew healthy could be so so good!The recipe suggested that these were crisp on the edges, but mine were chewy all over and I think the coconut oil made that happen.It makes baked stuff really moist and chewy, just the way I like them :)These also have a longer shelf life since there are no eggs.I couldn’t have asked for a better, healthier , holiday cookie~

choc fudge cookies1

 

Chewy Cocoa Fudge Cookies

Delicious and healthy, these Cocoa Fudge Cookies use Coconut Oil and Yoghurt!
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons Coconut Oil
  • 7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
  • ⅓ cup plain low-fat yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Cooking spray

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Combine flour, soda, and salt,set aside.
  • Melt coconut oil for about 20 seconds in a microwave.Remove .
  • Stir in cocoa powder and sugars
  • Add yogurt and vanilla, stirring to combine.
  • Add flour mixture, stirring until moist.
  • Drop by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until almost set.
  • Cool on pans 2 to 3 minutes or until firm.

Sweet Potato Cranberry Casserole with Almond Coconut Streusel #CookedInTranslation

20 | 11 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

Today I’ve got for you a recipe that I could easily call one of the ‘best things I ever made and ate’ :).It can be made ahead and frozen or refrigerated to be baked at the last minute to get all lovely and golden.The secret to my recipe here is ginger that adds a great depth of flavor to this dish.

The streusel consists of Almond Flour and some shredded coconuts for a crunchy nutty topping and boy was it good!!I’m so glad I used Almond Flour instead of all purpose flour since it gave it so much more body and flavor.The sweet aroma of coconut filled my kitchen as it was baking in the oven.It tasted phenomenal and had the perfect amount of sweetness!

The cranberries gave it the perfect tartness and the coconut worked like magic!! A lovely Casserole that’s easy, healthy and the most delicious!

Sweet Potato Cranberry Casserole with Almond Coconut Streusel #CookedInTranslation

A delicious Casserole using Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries topped with an Almond and Coconut Streusel makes for a great Holiday Side Dish or even Dessert!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • Sweet Potatoes-2 lbs
  • Dried Sweetened Cranberries-1 cup
  • Packed Brown Sugar-1/2 cup
  • Freshly Crushed Ginger-2 tsp
  • Sea Salt-1 tsp
  • For the Streusel
  • Almond Flour-1 cup
  • Unsweetened Shredded Coconut-1/2 cup
  • Packed Brown Sugar-1/4 cup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake in the oven for 50 min-1 hr until cooked.Let cool.
  • Peel off the skins and mash the sweet potatoes with the next 4 ingredients and mix.
  • Mix the Streusel ingredients and keep aside.
  • Coat a medium sized square or rectangular baking dish with cooking spray and spread the Sweet potato mixture evenly.
  • Cover with the Almond coconut mixture and bake it in the oven for about 40 minutes until golden.

 

Our Cooked In Translation group is celebrating a Fusion Thanksgiving and this event is hosted by the lovely Stacy @ Food Lust People Love!! We’re recreating traditional Thansgiving dishes but with our own little twists :)Please check out other interesting recipes on the table!!


'); // ]]>