3 O'Clock Cookies (Also good for breakfast)

1 1/3 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup dried fruit of choice chopped
1/2 cup Chopped nuts
1/4 cup flour
1 cup coconut
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 to 1 1/3 cup Apple Sauce
1 tsp vanilla
Mix until you have wet dough. You can add more apple sauce if needed depending on if you want a chewier and lighter or a denser cookie. Mould into desired size and shape. These work well as jumbo cookies. Place on lightly greased tray.
Bake in a preheated 180 oven for about 15 min

Dosas - Daring Cooks September Challenge

Debyi from http://www.healthyvegankitchen.com was the host for the September 2009 Daring Cooks challenge.

3 cups rice
1 cup skinless split urad daal (skinless black gram)
3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
Salt to taste
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil

Wash the rice and urad daal well. Add the fenugreek seeds to the mix and fill enough water in the rice-daal bowl to cover them about 2" deep. Soak overnight.

The next morning, drain all the water from the rice and urad daal. Now put some in a food processor and grind - adding very little water if necessary - to a smooth yet slightly grainy paste.

When all the rice-daal mix is ground like this, put it into a large mixing bowl and add enough water to make a batter. The consistency of the batter should be such that it thickly coats a spoon dipped in it.

Now add salt to taste and keep the Dosa batter aside in a warm, dark spot, covered, for 6-8 hours. After this fermentation, stir the batter well. It is now ready to make Dosas.
Put some cooking oil in a small bowl and keep ready. You will also need a bowl of ice cold water, a large, flat nonstick pan, 2 sheets of paper towel, a ladle, a spatula and a basting brush.

Fold one sheet of paper towel into a wad and dip lightly into the bowl of cooking oil. Squeeze out any excess and then rub the paper towel all over the surface of the pan to grease. The correct amount of oil is such that it is barely visible on the pan. Now turn on the heat/ flame at medium high.

Fill the ladle upto the 3/4 level with Dosa batter. Gently pour this batter onto the center of the pan - just as you would for a pancake - till the ladle is empty.
Now begin to spread the batter in sweeping circular motions to form a pancake of roughly 8" diameter. Do not be alarmed if the Dosa develops tiny holes as you spread the batter. This is normal.

As soon as you have finished spreading the batter out on the pan, dip the basting brush in cooking oil and drizzle the oil all over the surface of the dosa and also around its edges. Now hold the pan by its handle, lift up and swirl it so as to make the drizzled oil spread all over the Dosa.

When the upper surface begins to look cooked (it will no longer look soft or runny), flip the Dosa. By this time, ideally, the surface that was underneath should be light golden in color. Allow to cook for 1 minute after flipping.

The Dosa is almost done. Fold it in half and allow to cook for 30 seconds more.




Masala Filling

2 large potatoes cooked and chopped
1 medium onion (chopped)
½ teaspoon yellow split peas
½ teaspoon mustard seed
½ teaspoon turmeric
1-2 green chili
1 tablespoon oil
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and add the mustard seeds, then onions, curry leaves and green chillies, and sauté over high heat till the onions are a little transparent.
Add the salt and the turmeric and mix well before adding the potatoes. Turn the potatoes around till well mixed.

Sides

2 Tomato’s finely chopped
1 Spanish onion finely chopped
Juice of one lemon
Salt
Handful of chopped coriander
Pinch of sugar

Mix together and serve

1 cup of yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
1 cup chopped mint
1 cup of chopped cucumber
Pinch of salt and sugar

Mix together and serve

Shrikhand (Cardamom Yogurt with Mango)

700g Greek yogurt
2 tsp cardamom pods
100g golden caster sugar
8-10 saffron strands
1 tsp milk
1 tbsp shelled pistachios , slivered
1 large ripe mango , sliced

Place a piece of muslin or thick kitchen paper in a large sieve set over a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the sieve, cover with another piece of muslin or 2 sheets of kitchen paper and set aside at room temperature for 25-30 minutes (this is done to remove excess moisture).
Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and crush them using a pestle and mortar - you will need 1 tsp of ground cardamom.
Lift off and discard the top layer of paper from the yogurt, then scrape the yogurt into a bowl and stir in the sugar. Mix the saffron strands with the milk, then add the lot to the yogurt with the ground cardamom. Give the yogurt mixture a good stir for a few minutes so the ingredients are well mixed. (You can make up to this stage a day ahead and keep covered in the fridge.)
Divide between 6 small glasses and scatter over the pistachios. Stand each glass on a saucer with some fresh mango slices on the side and serve at room temperature.

Polenta with Spinach

1 cup of polenta
1 litre vegetable stock
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper
1 cup cooked baby spinach
A handful of sliced spring onion
A handful of chopped coriander
1 cup of grated cheese (optional)

Sauté garlic and spices in a little butter or oil. Add stock and bring to the boil. Lower heat, add polenta and stir until thick. Add spinach, onion, coriander and cheese.

Pour polenta onto a large flat pan or container about half an inch thick. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Cut into portions. Serve warm or cool.

Top with salad for a light lunch or chilli con carne for a warm dinner.

Pumpkin Baby Cakes topped with Cranberry Cream

Babycakes

2 cups self raising flour
¼ of a teaspoon of cardamom
½ of a teaspoon of Nutmeg
1¼ of a teaspoon of Pepper-berry (this is not straight pepper)
90g butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of cooked pumpkin mashed

Beat together butter and sugar and spices. Add eggs and pumpkin. Sift in flour. Mix until smooth and spoon baking tray.

Icing

250g of cream cheese softened
100g of dried cranberry blended
½ cup of icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest of one orange

Blend together until smooth and ice.