Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cheesecake is my weakness. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like them. So, I rarely make cheesecakes. I was planing to make a cake using Oreo cookies for my husband's birthday this week. But, he wants a chocolate cake with caramel. It happens to be my friend's 25th anniversary. She mentioned  that she wanted cheesecake. So, my son made cheesecake cupcakes with the cookies. He adapted the recipe from handletheheat.com. I hope to surprise my friend with these delicious puppies

Ingredients:

21 Oreo cookies, leave 15 as is and coarsely chop 6

1 lb. cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 Cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 Cup sour cream

1/8 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 275 deg. F. Line 2  muffin pans with paper cups. Place one Oreo cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

2.In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth, using an electric mixer.

3. Add the sugar and beat until combined.

4. Beat in the vanilla.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.

6. Beat in sour cream and salt. Take care not to over mix.

7. Fold in chopped Oreo cookies.

8. Divide the batter equally among the cookie-lined muffin cups, filling them almost to the top.

9. Bake for 20- 22 minutes, until the filling is set.

10. Transfer to wire racks and cool cheesecake completely in the muffin pan. 

11. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight before serving. 

Lemon Rasam

 

Delightfully light with a tangy lemony taste, lemon rasam is good to be served over rice or just as a soup. Unlike other types of rasam that is cooked in tamarind pulp, this rasam needs no tamarind.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon chopped tomato

2 green chili, cut in half

2 curry leaves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon chopped ginger

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon cumin and peppercorn powder (powder peppercorn and cumin seeds together)

salt to taste

1/4 Cup cooked toor dal

2-3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Method:

1. Cook tomato, chili, curry leaves, ginger, turmeric powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 1/2 cup water. 

2.Reduce to half. Add 1 teaspoon cumin-pepper powder.

3. Add 2 cups water to 1/4 cup mashed toor dal. Pour this into the saucepan with reduced tomato pulp. Check for salt and add more as required.

4. Bring rasam to a simmer, until it froths all over.

5. Remove from stove. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Temper 1 teaspoon mustard seeds in ghee and pour it over rasam. Stir in lemon juice. Serve warm over rice or just as a soup.

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Gobi Parantha (Cauliflower stuffed flatbread)

Stuffed Paranthas are popular breakfast dish in any Punjabi household. It is usually served a small block of butter, pickle, and a large glass of buttermilk. Paranthas, or flatbread can be stuffed with a variety of vegetables or paneer. I made cauliflower paranthas for lunch today. Normally, I would stuff paranthas with a raw mixture of grated Gobi (cauliflower), onion, and spices. Today, I tried my friend's version, sauteed vegetables for stuffing. It came out very well.

Ingredients:

For Paratha:
2 Cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoon salt
water to make dough

For stuffing:
2 Cups grated cauliflower
1 onion, grated
2-3 green chili, chopped
1/2 inch ginger, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method:
1. Sift wheat flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add enough water and knead to form a nice pliable dough. Add 2 teaspoons of oil to the dough. Cover and leave for a few minutes.
2. Mix the ingredients for stuffing. Saute in a pan over low flame until all moisture leaves. Do not use any oil to saute. Remove from stove. Allow to cool.

3. Divide dough into big balls.

4. Take one ball of dough. Flatten a little bit. Fill the center with 1 tablespoon of stuffing. Close the edges to make a ball again.

5. Repeat process for remaining dough.

6. Place one ball on a lightly floured flat surface. Gently roll out to a thick even disk with a rolling pin or flatten with palm.

7. Place parantha on a hot griddle. Cook on one side for 2 minutes without touching. Gently turn over and cook the other side for 2 minutes on medium low flame.

8. Drizzle 1/2 teaspoon ghee over the parantha. You can use a pastry brush to gently spread ghee all over. Flip over and drizzle 1/2 teaspoon ghee on the other side.

9. Cook both sides to golden brown.

10. Repeat process with remaining dough. Serve hot with raita, pickle, or chutney.

Aval (Poha) Dosa

It is a pain in the neck to decide what to cook for every meal when you have to stretch your groceries to avoid going out aka Covid 19 lock down. My mom's suggestion for last night was  instant poha dosa. Poha is rice flakes. Got this recipe from my aunt. My kids prefer "regular"dosa, and always protest when I make any other kind. I was pleasantly surprised when my daughter tasted it and said she liked it and even asked for second serving. Now, that's a big win in my book.

Ingredients:
1 Cup parboiled rice or idly rice
1 Cup raw rice
1 Cup poha, soaked in thick plain yogurt
1 green chili
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon oil

Method:
1. Soak rice and poha separately for 2 hours.
2. Grind rice to a smooth batter in a blender or grinder.
3. Add soaked poha and grind to smooth batter.
4. Blend chili, ginger, curry leaves, and cilantro to a paste.
5. Stir in paste to batter. Add salt. Add oil to the batter and mix well.

6. Heat griddle. Pour 1/2 cup batter in the center of the griddle. Use a ladle to spread batter into a thick disk. Cover with  a lid. Cook on both sides by flipping dosa once.

7. Repeat process with all of the batter. Serve hot with any chutney of your choice.

Note:
This is a quick and easy dosa. There is no need to ferment the batter.

Chop Suey

Chop Suey is a very popular dish in Indo Chinese cuisine. It is also known as American Chop Suey in many Indian restaurants. Chop Suey is quick stir fry of vegetables in a thick sauce served over cooked and fried rice noodles or Hakka noodles. This time I made the guilt free version, yes, I used the air fryer to fry the noodles.

Ingredients:
1 package Hakka noodles
2 Tablespoon oil
2 green chili, chopped
1 pod garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
1 onion, sliced thin
1 cup each of colored peppers (red, green, yellow), sliced into thin stripes
2 cups of shredded cabbage
1 Tablespoon chopped spring onion
1 Tablespoon Ching's red chili sauce
1 Tablespoon Ching's green chili sauce
3 Tablespoons Ching's Schezuan sauce
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon tomato sauce or ketchup
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon corn flour
1/2 cup water (more if required)

Method:
1. Cook noodles as per instruction on the package.
2. Rinse noodles in cold water and drain. add some oil to noodles to avoid sticking. Dry cooked noodles on a paper towel.

2. Heat oil in a wok. Quickly saute chopped chili, ginger and garlic. Then cook onion for couple minutes. Next, add the peppers and give a quick stir, keeping them crunchy. Then add cabbage. Give a quick stir.

3. Mix the sauces in a small bowl along with corn flour, salt and water. Stir this mixture to the stir fry. Mix well. Check for salt and add if required. Add a little more water and cook for a minute to a thick sauce. Add chopped spring onion. Remove from stove. Keep aside.

4. Preheat air fryer at 370 for couple minutes. Place a layer of noodles in the air fryer. Cook for 8 minutes, flipping over in between, until crisp on both sides. slide onto a dish. Repeat process for remaining noodles.

5. Place 1 set of fried noodles on a plate. Spoon stir fry evenly over the noodles just before serving.

Note:
I used millet and rice ramen noodles for this dish.
Noodles can be cooked and deep fried.

Plantain Fry (Patha kari)

I remember having this dish for the first time at my neighbor's house as a child. I loved the crispness on the outside and soft inside. Plantain coated with a thick layer of spices and shallow fried on a skillet. My sister makes this often with plantain or with elephant yam (karunai kizhangu). I followed her recipe to make this. Goes well as an accompaniment to South Indian meals.

Ingredients:
2 plantains
4 quarts water
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoon sambar powder (adjust to taste)
2 teaspoons red chili powder (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil for shallow frying


Method:
1. Peel plantain. Cut in half and make thick slices.

2. Take 4 quarts of water in a large saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon turmeric powder and 2 teaspoon salt to water. Cook plantain in water till soft, but firm. Drain water. Rinse immediately in cold water. Lay on paper towel to dry.

3.Mix sambar powder, chili powder, turmeric powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add just enough water to make a thick paste. Should be thicker than bajji batter.

4. Dip each sliced plantain to coat both sides with the spice paste. Lay them on a plate.

5. Heat 1 to 2 tablespoon oil in a skillet. Place 4-5 slices on the skillet. Cook on low flame, untouched  for 5 minutes. Flip over and cook the other side. Remove from skillet. Repeat process with remaining plantain slices.

6. Serve as accompaniment to a meal.

Note:
Patha (slice) Kari can be made with plantain, elephant yam or potato.