Stoneground Whole wheat flour Buns with Home-made Mixed-fruit Jam

I caught hold of some stoneground whole wheat from Waitrose. I was bit apprehensive, as to how my buns will turn. Nevertheless, I went ahead with my normal bun recipe. Threw in some sunflower seeds, wheat germ and wheat husk as I went along. The dough was a sticky blob, so I made sure that it sits for min 1 hour for it to double the size.

I followed the same recipe as Dinner rolls, just that I replaced white flour with stoneground whole wheat, along with other ingredients. Though they looked a bit rough, these buns were real yum, and they paired so well with the home-made mixed fruit jam.

Home-made Mixed-Fruit Jam

Ingredients

Fruits - 4 cups (I used grapes, apple, raspberry, guava. You can mix and match any fruits like strawberry, blueberry, kiwi etc etc. Just make sure you don't add all sour fruits)
Dates - 1/2 cup (pitted and chopped)
Raw sugar - 2 tbsp (adjust as per your taste)
Water - 1/2 cup
Lemon juice - juice from 1 lemon

Method

Chop all the fruits to medium size and pressure cook them along with water and dates. Wait for a whistle and then switch off. Wait till the pressure goes off.
Open the cooker, add the sugar & lemon juice. Switch on the flame and keep stirring at medium-low flame till the jam thickens.
Once it reaches jam consistency (it should coat the spoon) switch off the flame. It will thicken a bit once it cools. Pulse it in the mixer to get a smooth consistency.

Once cooled well, store in an airtight container. Since it has no preservatives, this will last only a couple of weeks, and this need to be kept in fridge always.

Dryfruit Balls

They are tasty, healthy, nutritious and pretty easy to make and store well too. They make a quick snack box item. You can vary the quantities, dry fruits as per your liking. If the mixture becomes dry, just add some more ghee or chocolate to turn into a pliable mixture.



Ingredients (makes about 25)

Dates, pitted and chopped - 3 cups (Kitchen scissors makes chopping very easy)
Almonds - 3/4 cup
Pista - 1/2 cup
Fig - 1/2 cup, chopped, again kitchen scissors might come handy
Marie biscuit or Digestive biscuits - 3-4
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Chocolate chips - 2 tbsp



Method

1. Soak almonds in water for atleast an hour. Remove the skin.
2. Crush together almonds, pista and the biscuit into fine or coarse powder. Keep it aside.
3. Heat ghee in a wide-mouthed pan. Add the dates and fig and let them cook for 3 minutes.
4. Once they become slightly soft, add the ground mixture and mix well. It might appear slightly dry at this stage.
5. Add the chocolate chips and mix well so that the chocolate melts and holds together the entire mixture roughly. Switch off the stove.
6. Once the mixture has cooled down slightly (don't allow to cool down completely as then it tends to become hard and is difficult to shape then), grease your palm with little ghee and start rolling the mixture to small balls.
Store in an airtight container.

Mathipodi / Sardine Preserve

This dish definitely bowled me over!! I came across the recipe in Vanitha (a Malayalam magazine) and thought would try it out, since the author mentioned it would sit for atleast a week. I was happy, since that would mean I need to cook one side-dish less for rice. So happily I went ahead and made it...phewww...it got over in the first meal itself...but yeah...my kitchen stank of sardines for 3 days!!!

Ingredients

For boiling

Sardines - 5-6
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Water - 1/2 cup
Salt - as per taste

For frying

Small onion, thinly sliced - 1 cup
Ginger - 1 inch piece, crushed
Garlic - 4 cloves, crushed
Curry leaves - 3 sprigs
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp (as per your spice level)
Coconut oil (any oil) - 4 tbsp



Method

1. Clean and wash the sardines thoroughly. Boil it with water, salt and vinegar as mentioned above. Once the sardines are cooked, remove the excess water. Then take the sardine (one at a time), hold it by its tail and just shake a little bit..the flesh alone will fall to the plate. Discard the bone. There will still be small bones left in the flesh, but thats fine. Once the flesh is fried in oil, they become crispy and and can be eaten. Repeat the process for rest of the sardines. Keep the flesh aside.
2. In a non-stick pan, add all the oil. When its heated, add sliced onions, ginger, garlic and curry leaves. Let them get sauteed till they becomes almost brown in low flame.
3. Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder and saute for a minute or so.
4. Add the sardine flesh and give a thorough mix. Add salt as per your taste. Let the mixture get cooked/fried in a low flame till its nicely browned as shown in the pic.
Enjoy with some steaming rice..they are so addictive...

Fish Pickle

My husband is a big time pickle lover...we have atleast two types of pickles at home at any given time. But I have tried my hand at making pickle only couple of times and this is the first time I am making fish pickle.




Ingredients

To marinate
Fish (any fleshy fish) - 1 kg (cleaned, bones removed, cut into small cubes)
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required

To grind
Ginger - 3 inch piece
Garlic - 7 big cloves
Chilly powder - 2 tbsp ( as per your taste)

To powder
Mustard seed - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida powder - 1/2 tsp

Gingely oil - 4 tbsp
Vinegar - 1 cup
Curry leaves - 1 sprig



Method

Marinate the fish with items under "To marinate" and keep it for atleast half hour.
Heat a kadai, and add gingely oil. When its hot, fry the fish pieces (they should not be fried too much that it becomes difficult to chew). Keep the fried fish aside.

Fry curry leaves and keep them aside with the fish.

Grind items of second batch in small jar of the mixie. In the hot oil (left in kadai after frying fish), saute the ground masala in the oil till oil separates. Add more oil if required. When raw smell of ginger-garlic is gone and oil starts separating, add vinegar and let it boil. Check salt, add as required at this stage. Once vinegar starts to boil, reduce the flame and add fried fish and curry leaves. Mix the whole thing gently and let fish get cooked in the masala. Check salt. Switch off the stove. Now add the powdered items (mustard, fenugreek and asafoetida) and mix well.

Once the pickle is cooled well, transfer it to a clean glass jar with tight lid.