Gluten-Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake | Eggless Baking

More gluten-free baking @ Annarasa. Today I am sharing my go to recipe for a gluten free Pineapple Upside Down cake. This is a very simple recipe that is also eggless. It yields a very light, delicious dessert cake. Enjoy with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Veganising the Louisiana Po'Boy Sandwich | American Sandwich Recipes

Back in 2012. I saw a program on PBS about Sandwich favorites found across the USA. The program was  called Sandwiches That You Will Like. It was a deliciously well made program with favorites from many American stated being featured. One of the sandwiches that intrigued me both for its history and its saucy taste was the Louisiana Po'Boy!! The original Po'Boy Sandwich is a New Orleans favorite that is made with a spiced meat, chicken, or fried seafood filling of choice. This filling is stuffed into a French Baguette like loaf famous for a soft fluffy interior and crusty exterior. If you like your Po'Boy dressed, it comes with salad vegetables including lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise. Onions tend to be optional and the Po'Boys made with meat are accompanied with a coarsely ground mustard and/or gravy too.

Chana Dal Takda | Tempered Bengal Gram Dal and a Round Up of Healthy Me and Healthy Us

Dal is a staple in Indian homes - prepared at least for one meal if not two. As I kid I remember enjoying dal for both lunch and dinner. Moong was our lunchtime favourite and for dinner Arhar or Toor Dal always won hands down. Other dals were always included in the diet and my Mum always alternated between making the wide variety of dals and beans that are available in India. Today I follow this tradition of cooking dal at home. Often I use the pressure cooker as it is perfect to get dals ready in a jiffy. But sometimes I like to soak dals for up to two hours before cooking and then slow cook them in a stock pot on the stove!

Food Event: Healthy Me and Healthy Us | July 2013

Healthy eating is a challenge no matter where you live, what you do for a living, and even how organized you may be. Indeed it takes a real effort to evaluate our eating habits and begin including healthy foods in our diets in uncomplicated and tasty ways! Ways that will encourage our families also to enjoy them both for their nutritive value and taste.

Given the above, and I know this from my friends, it can be time consuming to hunt healthy recipes. In March of this year, Priya @ Mharo Rajasthan announced an event that goes some ways to make our lives easier. Healthy Me and Healthy Us is a food blogging event that not only encourages us to include healthy, fresh, and whole foods in in our diets, it also provides a forum wherein we can share our recipes and discoveries of nutrition adding foods that are really good for us. It is with great pleasure that I announce the July 2013 edition of Healthy Me and Healthy Us at Annarasa ~ Essence of Food.

Pineapple Ricotta Basundi | Milk and Ricotta Pudding with Pineapple Bits

In March I announced the first ever giveaway hosted at Annarasa ~ Essence of Food. This food event and giveaway ended on the 20th of April 2013 and I will announce the winners of the giveaway in the coming weeks. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every contributor and participant for taking the time to make this event a wonderful success. Over seventy unique recipes have been shared through this event by bloggers and non-bloggers alike.

Chocolate Chunks Cookies | Eggless Cookies

I like to bake cookies. Apart from the taste, I love knowing exactly what they are made of - no artificial ingredients, no colors, nor preservatives, no hydrogenated fats!! This is not to say that I am not occasionally partial to the biscuits I grew up eating in India. Its more that I am now more comfortable with the home baked versions. You can put them together so quickly and most of them can be stored for up to ten days, provided you can keep your hands off them.

Daring Bakers February 2013: Raincoast Crisps

I chose to make Raincoast Crisps for the February Daring Bakers Challenge. However as my internet was playing hooky, I have been unable to put up my post until today!! Well, here goes - good challenge, tasty crisps. I followed the recipe, but made only one fourth the total quantity of the recipe. They came out really well. Thanks to Sarah for this wonderful challenge.

Post Script: Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!

Click here to find the complete February 2013 Daring Bakers challenge.

Like this recipe. Tried it. Leave me a comment:) 

All content, text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007 - 2013. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Brussels Sprouts ki Bhaji | Brussels Sprouts Stir Fry

I like a light weekday lunch, usually a roti, a cup of dal, and vegetable. Brussels Sprouts just fit the bill for a simple vegetable on the lunch menu. Though Brussels Sprouts are the bane of many a cook's existence, and often saved for a Christmas meal, at which time they are supposed to be a delicacy, I rather like their bitter nutty taste. This was one vegetable that I loved cooking throughout the year back in London. It really quick, very nutritious, and wonderful with chappatis!

Hara Matar Kootu | Green Peas Kootu

Here is a simple and healthy recipe for you and your family. A mix of yellow moong dal, green peas and a freshly prepared spice mix, this kootu is simply heartwarming. I love to make this recipe in the winter when its snowing outside and so cold you would not want to budge. The ultimate in comfort food, enjoy this kootu with hot rice and dollop of ghee on the top!!

Navratan Korma | Mixed Vegetables in a Mild Tomato Curry | Vegan Recipe

Navratan Korma is a classic dish from Uttar Pradesh that found its notoriety in restaurant and shaadi meals in India. The idea of nine jeweled curry with lashings of ghee, fresh cream, paneer, pineapple, and cashews seemed to befit special occasions and treats. Today Navratan Korma is still very much a part of the restaurant menu, more so in Indian eateries across the world than in India. The other day I saw it on the lunch menu of my local coop!!

Fada Idli | Dalia Idli | Broken Wheat Idli | Steamed Black Gram and Wheat Cakes

Idlis have always been a weekend staple at my home. Usually I pair idlis with a sambar and coconut chutney. But on occasion we also like them with rasam and milaga podi or gunpowder are it is know around here:) I have been experimenting with making all sorts of idlis and today I wanted to share a favourite recipe - dalia idli or broken wheat idli.

Moongphali ki Chatni | Peanut Chutney

Not all chutneys are made equal and peanut chutneys hold a special place the Indian kitchen. To begin with there are just so many ways of preparing them. Then there are the many textures, the flavours, the combinations, the dry chutneys which can stay pretty much forever if refrigerated properly and the wet versions that disappear before the meal is over!! I could just go on.

Spinach and Broccoli Mac & Cheese

Who does not love Mac & Cheese - its the ultimate comfort food. Deliciously simple and creamy with loads of cheese, Mac & Cheese in it many avatars has won the hearts of kids and adults alike. We love Mac & Cheese around here, but I always try to make a variation around this theme. This recipe is something that came to me as I sat down to plan dinner last week. I wanted to make something with broccoli and spinach, maybe add it to a pasta sauce or make a pesto of it.

Phool Gobhi Rassa | Cauliflower in Coconut Milk

Good quality cauliflower is a rare and prized vegetable here in winter. While in Delhi, we got some of the best cauliflower in this season. However with inches of snow covering the ground here we rarely get to see a decent head of cauliflower between December and March. All the vegetable comes from the warmer climes and has for so long sat in some cold storage chain that it becomes a challenge to cook it. But sometimes you get lucky and I got some really beautiful organic cauliflower at my local market the other day. I wanted to do justice to this lovely vegetable and so chose this delicious and simple curry to enjoy it in!!

Moth Usal | Sprouted Dew Bean Curry

Moth Usal is a classic Maharashtrian dish. There are many ways of preparing usal and every family has its own unique twist to the recipe. Sometimes the usal and its curry are prepared separately and mixed only at the time the dish is served. Some like peanuts in the sprouts, and the amount of chilies in the recipe vary from negligible to fiery!! Some like only green chilies in this recipe and others swear by red chili powder. The common factor is the goda masala (though the version with kolhapuri masala is popular too), onions, and the sprouts!!

Peas Nutri-Nuggets Curry | Curried Peas and Soy Nuggets

I love cooking with soy nuggets, they are so versatile and wonderful! What I like most about them apart from the fact that they are nutritious is that they absorb the flavour of pretty much any curry they are cooked in. I always keep a stash ready in my pantry especially for days what I want to make a one pot meal or simply a quick curry.

Caramelized Fennel and Onion Tart with Feta Cheese

I have been wanting to make something with fennel and bread for so long I can't even remember. Every time I bring some fennel home from the supermarket, it lands up in a bake or a soup!! Last friday I saw some super fresh and crunchy fennel at the local market I picked it up immediately. I also got some fresh yellow onions and a nice batch of feta cheese to go with it - the result was this yummy tart!!

Eggless Tutti Frooti Panettone | DB December 2011

Absolutely loved this Challenge!! I have always wanted to make Panettone but was put off by the idea of so many eggs in the dough. But the fact that the Daring Bakers decided to make this lovely holiday bread encouraged me to think of ways of making an eggless version of the same. Just back for a a long vacation I set to work on the recipe and find ways of eliminating eggs from the recipe. After several permutations I managed to replace the eggs with either milk or a mix of water and flax meal. But then I realised that this bread uses a lot of butter too. I decided reduce the butter by half in the recipe, and then replacing half of that with oil.

Badam ki Kheer | Almond Milk Pudding

Diwali Greetings to all my readers!! I have been wondering for some time what sweet I should make to mark this festival and I realized that it has been some time since I made Kheer!! Badam Kheer or Almond Milk Pudding is one of my favourite Kheer recipes. The Kheer has a deliciously soft grainy texture, is fragrant with cardamom and saffron, and if you pay close attention gives a hint of heady almond towards the end.  Here is the delicious milk pudding recipe.

Chocolate Doodh Burfi | Chocolate Milk Fudge: Indian Festival Sweets

Chocolate Doodh Burfi is one of the most popular burfi items around festival times in Delhi. When I came across this confection the first time I was quite frankly horrified by the idea. The very thought of combining creamy milk burfi with cocoa seemed strange!! But one bite and I was hooked. This delicious sweet is seldom found in the Mithai Shops we have around here. This year I was simply craving this burfi and so I decided to just go ahead and make it. All I can say is that there were no regrets and the family just loved it!!