Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Simple recipe, complicated taste.....:-)


 I've often felt that a lot of stuff like flax seeds , which are recommended in the diet, by modern nutritionists because of their amazing quantities of  the good Omega-3 fats, were actually part of our diets , say 50 years ago.  I distinctly remember, in my childhood,  seasonal variations in dry chutneys, vegetables, methods of preparation and so on. Unlike today, when everything is available all the time , on a shelf, in a shop which sells 200 other varieties.

My household help "S" (hitherto blogged and filmed about)  introduced me to a perfect flax seed chutney, amazing in its simplicity.  It was something that was part of her traditional diet when she lived and tilled fields, and they occasionally made it even now.  Most chutneys go overboard on coconut and sesame seeds, two things with their own fat content,  different from the beneficial omega-3 fats.   This was a simple combination of roasted flax seeds ground together with dried roasted kadhipatta leaves, garlic and red chillies. Salt added as per taste. Folks went crazy over it, adding it to things like toast, curd-rice,  salads , and some even used it to bring taste to vegetables they abhorred,  like doodhi,  by sprinkling it there in copious quantities.

I knew these seeds contained oil and wondered if one could use it in baking.  And I decided to use the delicious flax seed dry chutney which I had in large quantity.  


Many years ago,  baking was all about sweet stuff , birthday cakes  and home made pizzas,  while you pretended to ignore the amount of ghee in nankhatais.  With the icing-licking members  now much older and into more exciting pursuits and sports,  one has been trying some tried and tested recipes from friends  in the blogging world and Facebook, like Monika Manchanda and Sangeeta Khanna, with amazing results.

 And I was looking for something which would have very little added fat, minimal or no sugar, and something savoury, utilising some of the less experienced tastes (As opposed to the sweet). Another motivation was that people were continuously looking for something to snack and nibble on.  And there needed to be a brake on bad fats and sugar.....

  Using a  whole wheat cookie recipe, from Monika,  and Sangeeta's experience with flax seeds in baking, I experimented with a recipe using whole wheat, oats, flax seed chutney (I have tons of it), various dry fruits/nuts, and spices.  And I came up with these crunchy, savoury, cookies with a sudden sweet raisin sensation as you chewed. Folks dipped them in tea, coffee, yogurt, and some are planning to try it with chutney, sauce and even mustard.  I thought next time I would add methi leaves.

(Disclaimer : I am the type who measures with handfuls, fistfuls, dollops and so on. Every time I make stuff , we enjoy different tastes, based on what I added more. More of an eater than a cooking person,  I just do things with a different perspective.  )

Here is how it happened.



The blue bowl holds 250cc of water. One such bowlful of whole wheat atta.







Same amount of flax seed chutney to be added.








Two fistfuls of ajwain (carom) seeds. Also called Trachyspermum ammi. Not that you need to know, but I thought the name was amusing.    (You could try using saunf, shahajeera, jeera etc instead. ) 







 Half the blue bowl full, oats







Handfuls of whatever dry fruits and nuts you have.Coarsely crushed. I used, raisins, walnuts,almonds, apricots, and the last of the manookas.





 Add 4 teaspoons of oil, and use milk to make a  semi stiff dough, the kind you can make balls out of and press easily into flat rounds. (I didn't want to add the oil, but that was the old conservative me taking over; and 4 teaspoons would mean very little in each cookie. ( made 35 cookies). Ah well !

Arrange in a non stick pan . Bake in a preheated oven (OTG)  at roughly 180 degrees.  About 15-20 minutes. Till nicely browned, looking dryish, and test with a knife to see if cooked in the centre of the cookie.

Remove from oven, let cool .  These are not chewy, but quite dry. Get nice and crunchy as they cool. Taste a bit like bajra puris. Great with chilly pickle,  or burnt fresh green chillies, coarsely crushed and mixed  with dahi....:-)


Immediately store when cool, in an airtight  bottle/container.

Eat.



21 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Probably would have looked yummier if you had done the photography. :-) Daughter was at work, so it was just me and my ancient(!) digital camera....

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  3. hummm... I think, i can take risk of trying it.

    :D

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  4. Wonderful. Rich deep taste and I know aromatic too.

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    1. Maybe a bit more ajwain, or a bit of jeera, and half a handful of extra raisins would have made it even better ! Will try dates next time.... Thank you !

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    2. If you want a savory cookie my suggestion would be half boiled mung, lots of black pepper cracked(not powdered), jeera , some grated ginger and a dash of hing. Chatpata to the core. I have tried this recipe with sesame and that is a huge favorite.

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  5. Great recipe...am most definitely going to try this one!

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    1. Thank you. It really tastes less like a cookie and more like a bajra puri. Me thinks it will taste amazing with chhunda or gorkeri.

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  6. Delicious! :)
    We get Flax seeds here and Flax seed meal and i have always wondered what to use them in! These cookies seem perfectly delicious! :)

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    1. You need to keep in mind that I used a flax-seed-chutney in this recipe, instead of just ground flax seeds by themselves. That gives the taste. See the link at http://apnathyroid.blogspot.in/2010/06/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.html

      Scroll down for the chutney recipe

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  7. Your presentation is simple and easy to make, Suranga! Thanks for a new snack for me to do!

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    1. Thank you! Do write and let me know . Maybe you need to tweak the spices a bit to your taste, but we enjoy the no sugar version as above.

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  8. One question - What is flaxseed called in Hindi/Marathi? Will I get it in any Kirana store?

    If its savory, I am sure it will be a hit..going to try it over the weekend...its a long one na :)

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    1. R.s Mom, I have a blog about thyroid called Apnathyroid.blogspot.com, where I have a section on Flax seeds.

      See http://apnathyroid.blogspot.in/2010/06/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.html

      I think it is called Ali Vidai in Tamil, and Alsi in Gujaraati. The seeds are shiny brown and actually look like bedbugs.:-))

      You might want to add chopped methi and increase the amount of ajawain if u make it over the weekend.

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    2. Oh its Alsi got it got it...errr...my Tamizh is sad :)

      But I got what you are saying...I am going to try this for sure...

      No, I am not going to use methi first...I think I will make the cookies exactly the way you did and then experiment later on..after the masoor dal fiasco, I am too scared to try anything which someone I know has not tried :)

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    3. R' Mom, it might be a good idea to divide the dough into two. Leave one exactly as indicated above. I was talking to Sangeeta yesterday and she mentioned adding cooked mung dal for body. You could try experiments on the other half of the dough adding and deleting stuff. I made 35 cookies out of the above. If you dont like them , this way you might only have to figure out what to do with 17 ....:-)) let me know what happens. (I think you might increase the raisins in view of R)

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  9. A nice read Suranga! The best thing is that we have started rediscovering what we enjoyed a few decades back and find virtues when nutrition experts suddenly recommend them:)

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  10. Flax seed chutney is very commonly used in north karnataka. I got to know that MTR is now selling it. It is called agashi chutney

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