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My Legume Love Affair Event Round Up - #127

Hello All,

Here I have come up with the round up of My Legume Love Affair #127. I thank all my co-bloggers for participating in this beautiful event. Please find the below round up of all the traditional as well as innovative legume recipes.



Rajma Tikki or Kidney Bean Patties

Rajma tikkis are easy to make snack for your evening tea. Rajma tikkis are also called rajma patties or kidney bean patties. This is a healthy and nutritious snack. Kidney bean are packed with protein, hence they are good protein source especially for vegetarians population.

Kidney bean patties for Burger
Rajma Tikki


What do you often prepare with kidney beans or rajma?

If someone would have asked this question to me, without giving a pause my answer would be Rajma chawal. We all love rajma masala with plain basmati rice or jeera rice. This is one of our favourite combination for lunchbox or meal on any weekends. Being Bengali we are not grown eating rajma chawal instead we had our favourite fish curry rice. As we became adult and came to another city to explore our life we started adopting food and culture from all parts of India and incorporating them into our life. Many people prefer to stay at their own state (no, I am not at all criticizing the fact) however some of them get the opportunity to see the world beyond their boundary and then they are enriched with cultures, foods and so many things. And slowly rajma chawal became our favourite like many other Indian foods.

snacks made of rajma
Kidney Bean Patties 


When can I serve these rajma tikkis or kidney bean patties?

 Rajma tikkis are good with your evening tea or coffee. You can also pack kidney bean patties for kid's snack box. They are healthy, nutritious and filling snacks with less oil.
I always keep on thinking what shall I prepare for evening snacks which is healthy and tasty too. I keep exploring the opportunities. Other day when I soaked rajma for rajma masala. After soaking changed my plan and thought of preparing these patties instead of rajma masala. They were total hit in my house. I remember during our childhood ma used to prepare aloo tikkis quite often as evening snacks. I think this kind of tikkis or patties are great option for after school snacks or evening snacks.

How can I easily make Rajma Tikkis at home?

  I often get queries like how can I prepare quick snacks for kids. There are plenty quick snack options however, if you prepare well ahead you can prepare rajma tikkis quickly at home.

Though the procedure of making rajma tikki is easy but you need preparation for it. If you are planning this rajma tikki for your kiddo's snack box then soak  the beans previous day and after soaking boil them until they are soft. You can keep the boiled beans in the refrigerator and continue the remaining steps next day. You can also make your job easy by keeping the patties ready and next day take out the patties from refrigerator and shallow fry them.

Is Rajma tikki Vegan?

  Yes. Rajma tikki or kidney bean patties are absolutely vegan. Rajma or kidney bean are plant based protein.

 Can I use them as burger patties?

 Yes definitely you can. If you are looking for little more heavy snacks you can use these kidney bean patties as burger patties and serve a good protein rich vegetarian  rather vegan burger.

How can I serve this Rajma tikkis or Kidney bean patties?

 You can serve them with ketchup or any Indian style chutney or any of your favourite dip. If you do not like ketchup or any chutney, it can be paired with simple mayonnaise too. You can also serve them with a cup of tea.

If you love eating tikkis and looking for recipes, please don't forget to check these below recipes:

Arbi Tikki
Oats Tikki
Alu Tikki
Soya Tikki

Let's  learn how to make rajma tikki or kidney bean patties.

Preparation time: 6 to 7 hours / overnight
Cooking time: 1 hr
Yields: 15 to 16


Rajma Tikki or Kidney Bean Patties

 Ingredients

Kidney Beans or Rajma - 11/2 cups
Potato - 2 medium size
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Salt to taste
Green Chilli - chopped, 1 teaspoon
Coriander Leaves - chopped, 2 tablespoon
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Chaat Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Roasted Cumin Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry Ginger Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup (use as required)
Oil - 1/4 cup (use as required for shallow frying)

 Procedure
1. Soak the kidney beans overnight and later clean it and allow to boil in a pressure cooker with little salt for at least 5 to 6 whistles or till it becomes tender and little mushy in texture.
2. Drain the water and allow to cool. In the mean while, peel the potatoes and boil them.
3. When both kidney beans and potatoes are cooled down, take them in a plate and mash them together.
4. Next add chopped onions, coriander leaves, and green chillies into the mashed mixture.
5. After that add all the spices including salt, dry ginger powder, red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala and mix them well.
6. Next add the all purpose flower for binding and make a dough.
7. Apply oil on your palm and take lemon size balls and flatten them using your palm.
8. Heat a skillet and brush it with oil and fry the kidney bean patties under slow flame until both the sides are golden brown.
9. Serve them hot with ketchup or your favourite dip.

Jeera Rice

Rice is a staple food in many Asian countries including India, China, Japan and many others. Rice plays a versatile role in our food menu and using rice we prepare starter to dessert! Today I am sharing a popular rice recipe which we often order at restaurant. I am talking about Jeera Rice. This is a classic example how spice can make your daily rice more exotic and flavourful. I think this is the reason Indian cooking is famous for the spices used in it. Do you agree?


Recently I bought a rice cooker for my kitchen. Yes I am a bit fond of kitchen appliances though I like the traditional methods as well. However, sometimes I feel wherever possible we can take the help of gadgets to make life more simpler. Coming back to the recipe-- I have used rice cooker to prepare Jeera Rice however you can prepare on stove top also.

Jeera Rice
Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 11/2 to 2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Ghee - 2 tablespoon
Cinnamon Stick - 1 inch
Clove - 2
Cardamom - 1

Procedure

1. Clean and soak the rice for 20 minutes and later drain the water.
2. Now heat a large pan and add ghee.
3. Next add cinnamon stick, cardamom and clove into the ghee. Add jeera and wait foe them to crackle and change the colour into dark brown.
4. Finally add rice into the pan and coat properly with ghee.


Rice Cooker Method (Electric)

 5. Now add the rice along with spices into the rice cooker pot and add water as required. I have added 2 cups water for each cup of rice.  Add salt at this time. Cover it with lid and switch on the plug and put on Cook function. Once it is cooked the Cook function automatically goes up to the warm function. Then switch off it and serve hot.

Stove Top Method

 5. Add water as required. Normally 2 to 21/2 cup of water is enough for 1 cup of rice. Add salt at this time.  Cover it with a lid and wait till the rice cooks and bubble arrive on the top creating holes on the rice. At this time water in the pan should be dried up completely. Serve hot with your favourite side dish.

Dim Kosha or Bengali style Egg Kosha or ডিম কষা

Dim Kosha
Dim Kosha is a popular Bengali dish where Boiled eggs are cooked in a gravy of onion-ginger-garlic and other spices. Earlier dim kosha was predominantly done using duck eggs and it was also known as Hansher dimer kosha. I do not eat duck's egg, so I always prepare dim kosha with hen's eggs.

Bengali style Dim Kosha

What is difference between dimer jhol and dim kosha?

We Bengalis normally prefer dimer jhol on regular basis. Preparation of dimer jhol is very much similar to the dim kosha but there is subtle difference. Dim kosha is more spicy and rich compared to ordinary dimer jhol. We do not use whole garam masala in our day-to-day basis dimer jhol or egg curry. Dimer jhol is a runny watery kind of gravy whereas dim kosha represents thick gravy.

Dim Kosha in a pan


How long to boil an egg to get soft boiled egg?

Eggs are quite common in my kitchen and each of my family member loves egg especially our daughter. Almost everyday she prefers her egg to be 7- minute boiled. I will tell you why 7 minutes boil. Boiling a egg for 7 minutes gives a barely set yolk and she loves this soft boiled egg. Boiling an egg for 5 minutes gives a runny yolk though. If you prefer a hard boiled egg then you should boil the egg for 8 to 10 minutes.

While cooking this dim kosha I boiled the eggs for 7 minutes. I made slit on the skin of the egg which allowed to enter salt inside the egg and when your egg is soft boiled, salt enters to the yolk too.

Many people does not prefer to fry the eggs and they directly put them into gravy. Dim kosha is special and we eat it occasionally so I would suggest them to fry the eggs which gives a different taste to the eggs. Once you fry them well with spices, the outer part becomes little hard and when you bite inside it is soft. I believe you will enjoy this taste.

You can use any oil to cook this dish, however, I would recommend mustard oil for this recipe to get the authentic taste.

If you are an egg-lover just like us then don't forget to check the other egg recipes here:
Scrambled Egg Pulao
Egg Bhurji Sandwich
Omelette Masala Curry

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serving: 3

 Dim Kosha or Bengali style Egg Kosha or ডিম কষা

Ingredients

Eggs - 3
Potato - 2 medium, cut into 4 pieces, par boiled
Onion - 2 to 3 medium, finely chopped
Ginger Paste - 1 teaspoon
Garlic Paste - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon (approx.)
Cumin Powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander Powder -1 teaspoon
Tomato - 1 small, chopped
Bay leaf - 1
Dry Red Chilli - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch
Green Cardamom - 1 or 2
Clove - 1 or 2
Green Chillies - 2
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Mustard Oil - 4 to 5 tablespoon

Procedure

1. Boiled the eggs for 7 to 8 minutes. Cool them and peel the shell.
2. Make slit on the eggs using knife and keep aside.
3. Heat oil (2 tablespoon) in a wok and fry the parboiled potatoes with little salt and turmeric powder and take them out and keep aside.
4. Add little oil in the same wok and fry the boiled eggs with little salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder until they are golden. Keep them aside.
5. Now add remaining oil in the wok and add dry red chilli and bay leaf.
6. Next add cumin seeds and whole garam masalas (cinnamon, cardamom, clove). Sauté them for few seconds.


7. Now add chopped onion and fry them till them are translucent. You can add little sugar and salt while frying them.
8. Neat add garlic and ginger paste and cook until the raw smell is gone.
9. Now it is time to add chopped tomato and green chilli and cook until the tomatoes are soft and tender.
10. Next add all the dry spices including turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste. Mix them well.
11. Now add little bit of water and cook all the spices and later add 1 cup of water.
12. Now add fried eggs and potatoes and allow it to boil for few minutes. Cover with a lid and after some time switch off the gas and serve hot with roti, paratha or rice.

Vanilla Pound Cake

Vanilla Pound Cake
Recently I completed 600+ posts and more than 550+ recipes  in my blog. 

 Do you find the above statistics interesting? Then let's celebrate this occasion with a Vanilla Pound Cake. 

 It's been almost 7 years I am into blogging. First year I had only 3 posts as I had no idea about blogging and busy raising our daughter (it was also her birth year) because she was just six months then and I did not have any helping hand except my house-help for cleaning utensils and rooms. So I had many activities at that point of time starting from cooking, laundry, giving bath to baby, feeding, meeting her other needs, reading storybooks to her, taking her out, grocery shopping and many more activities. I also started my freelance medical writing job at the same time so often I used work late night and again get up in the early morning, basically sleepless nights and my hardship days.
Slices Vanilla Pound Cake



Slowly I understood what is blogging how does it work and still learning. Initial days, I clicked pictures in mobile (not smartphone), years later I started clicking with a canon digital camera and past one year I have upgraded to DSLR (husband always complaints I sneaked it😁). So you might often observe I try to update my old posts using new pictures to improve the website/blog. Recently, I have tried to give new look and feel to the blog and still working on it. I am not a technical person but given a chance I can learn that easily, so presently I have taken the help of search engine and improving the website with my limited knowledge. People often says why didn't you study engineering my answer to them I do what I love and don't simply go with the flow always. 


Let's not go into the deep past instead focus on today and learn how to make this simple vanilla pound cake. Many might raise their eyebrows and say you are celebrating for completing only 600 posts in 7 years. My answer would be yes I am proud of it what I am doing may not be consistent in this page as I have a professional side and I have personal commitments too. Others might ask why a simple vanilla pound cake for celebration why not a cake with lots of cream, glaze, this, that or what not. I love simple naked homemade cakes any day so I give preference to simplicity instead of show off. This is what I am (you must be knowing me by now). 

This is a very basic recipe of vanilla cake and you can call it a beginner's vanilla cake recipe. I have mentioned 2 to3 eggs. If the egg size is large use 2 if the size is small use 3. I have mentioned 1/4 cup of milk here, use it as required. Don't make a runny batter and also avoid making a very dense batter. Whenever you are adding milk to batter add little by little instead of adding the full amount at a time. If any of your ingredient is kept in refrigerator, please bring them into room temperature before you start baking. This is a fail proof and full proof recipe of vanilla pound me which never made me upset.

 Sprig Gourmet had sent me a pure natural vanilla extract which I have used in this vanilla pound cake. This gives superb aroma and taste to your bakes. If you do not have vanilla extract then replace it with vanilla essence and use only few drops instead of the given measurement. However, I would recommend once you should try to bake your cake with pure vanilla essence and you can definitely make out the difference. 

 Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 to 40 minutes
Servings: 6 

Vanilla Pound Cake

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 11/2 cup
Butter - 2/3 cup, at room temperature
Eggs - 2 to 3 (I used 2 large eggs)
Milk - 3 to 4 tablespoon
Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - a pinch
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Vanilla Extract - 11/2 teaspoon

Procedure

 1. Take melted butter and sugar in a bowl and cream it.
2. Next add eggs one at a time and beat well.
3. Add vanilla extract and beat well.
4. Now in another bowl sieve flour, baking powder and salt together.
5. In a separate bowl sieve all purpose flour, baking powder and salt together.
6. Now slowly add the dry mixture into wet mixture and fold it.
7. At this point add milk little by little and make the batter ready.
8. Preheat oven at 170 degree C and grease a loaf tin with butter and line with butter paper.
9. Now pour the batter into the greased tin.
10. Put the tin in the oven and bake at 170 degrees C for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

N.B.: (I baked this cake in Microwave convection mode at above mentioned temperature and time)

Soya Keema Paratha or Vegetarian Keema Paratha

Vegetarian Keema Paratha is nothing but Soya Keema Paratha. Non-Vegetarians can get protein from numerous sources however the choice is limited for vegetarians. Protein is an important part of our diet, especially soy protein has crucial health benefits. 

 Recent study (The Journal of Perinatal Education. 2003;12(3):42-45.) says soy products have special focus for women and children. It plays crucial role in various life stages of women. Apart from that, other benefits of soy products include improved diet and cardiovascular status, prevention of certain types of cancer, menopause, obesity prevention, etc. Soy protein is beneficial for vegetarian or vegans, infants with special conditions (lactase deficiency), preschool children. So what are you waiting for?? Include soy protein in your daily diet. Here is an easy recipe of soya keema paratha to include soy protein in your menu. 

What is the main ingredient used as Vegetarian Keema Paratha?
 Soya granules are used as the main ingredient of Vegetarian Keema Paratha. Soya granules are look alike mince meat and they are high in protein hence they are called as vegetarian keema.

  Why Soya granules are called as Vegetarian Keema?
 Soya granules are tiny particles of soya bean chunks and look alike minced meat in texture. They taste great like minced meat hence known as vegetarian keema. Soya granules are plant based and no animal protein is involved in this, hence mentioned as vegetarian keema.

Is soya granules good for health?
Soya granules are loaded with protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre. Most importantly it is plant based protein and people who does not consume animal protein, this is a great source of protein for them.

Can I prepare curry using soya granules?
 Yes you can use it for making curries and here is a recipe of soya keema curry.

Soya keema paratha is a good option for lunch box. As this is a stuffed paratha you do not need a side dish to have it. Just a dollop of pickle or curd is enough to finish these parathas.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Yields: 8 to 10 parathas

Soya Keema Paratha/Whole Wheat Soya Keema Paratha/ Stuffed Keema Paratha for Vegetarians 

 Ingredients

For Dough

Whole Wheat Flour (Atta) - 21/2 to 3 cups
Ghee - 2 tablespoon
Salt to taste

 For Stuffing

 Soya Granules ( Chura) - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup, chopped
Garlic - 2 teaspoon, chopped
Ginger Paste - 11/2 teaspoon
Cumin Powder - 1 teaspoon
Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Carom Seeds (Ajwain) - 1/2 teaspoon
Tomato - 1 tablespoon, chopped
Garam Masala Powder - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder - 1 teaspoon
Refined Oil - 1/2 cup (use as required)
Salt to taste 

 Procedure

 Make a dough using whole wheat flour, ghee, salt and water (as required). Cover it with a damp cloth for 15 to 20 minutes. Now add soya granules in hot water and keep it for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the water using a strainer and keep the granules aside. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin & carom seeds. Once they start crackling add onion and garlic. Once the onion becomes translucent add ginger paste and other dry spices. Mix well and add chopped tomatoes. Wait till tomatoes are cooked completely, if require add little water. Next goes soya granules (soaked) and cook them properly. When the stuffing becomes almost dry switch off the gas and allow it to cool. 



  Make big size balls from the dough and stuff each ball with prepared filling. Roll them like chapatis and fry them on skillet (both sides) with refined oil (or ghee).







Virgin Pineapple Mint Mojito

April was totally hot this time and we were trying all possible remedies to cool ourselves. Every summer I prepare different types of summer cooler to beat the heat and this year was also no exception. This time mangoes are late in the market but other summer fruits were flooding the market. There was good supply of pineapple, muskmelon, watermelon and other melons.  This time we enjoyed pineapple a lot. Normally, we enjoy pineapple just like that with the sprinkle of little salt. I also prepare pineapple juice but this time I tries a perfect summer cooler virgin pineapple mint mojito.



Mojito is a famous Cuban drink which contains white rum, lime juice, soda, and mint leaves. It is a cocktail. However, I prepare non-alcoholic mojito which is also called virgin mojito. This time I tried mojito with a tropical fruit pineapple and virgin pineapple mint mojito tasted just awesome. Combination of pineapple and mint is really refreshing. If you are arranging a party at home you can surely try this Virgin pineapple mint mojito. When pineapples are in season, you must try this interesting mocktail recipe.

Serving: 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Virgin Pineapple Mint Mojito
Ingredients

Pineapple - cut into dice, 2 cups
Pineapple Disc / Slice - for garnishing
Sugar - 3 to 4 tablespoon
Mint Leaves - 6 to 8
Mint Sprigs - 2
Lemon Wedges / slices - 3 to 4
Club Soda - approximately 2 cups (to top the glasses)
Ice cubes - few
Water - 1/2 to 1 cup

Procedure

1.       Take 11/2 cup of pineapple cubes in a blender and add required water and blend well.
2.       Strain the pineapple juice and keep aside.
3.       Take two medium side glasses and in each glass, add few pineapple cubes (4 to 5), mint leaves           (3 to 4) and sugar. Muddle them using a muddler till the pineapple chunks are mashed      
          properly.
4.       Now add ice cubes in each glass and add lemon wedges, mint sprigs in the glass.
5.       Pour prepared pineapple juice equally in both glasses.
6.       Finally add the club soda to top the glasses and Virgin Pineapple Mint Mojito is ready to serve.
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