Wheat paniyaram (baked)

When I saw this cake pop maker in Aldi and the first thing that came to my mind was kuzhi paniyaram. It was almost sold out as USA's cake pops are popular. The nice cashier lady asked me if I am going to try any Indian recipes using that and also told me that her mom has started making spicy paniyarams. I told her that that's the idea :)
That weekend I made a  'whole wheat paniyaram' (just like  unniappam). It took only 5 minutes to prepare the batter. By that time I started preheating and poured the paniyarams and baked everything within 30 minutes.

Now I am pretty sure that this cake pop maker can be used to make any kind of paniyaram by baking and the best part is this baking needs very little oil only. 

This is not an ad for cake pop maker machine but I tell you all how much this equipment is useful in creating Indian dishes too :)  So, what is the difference between baked paniyaram and one that is cooked in a non stick pan ? Almost the same..... if we are using the usual rice batter, but this baking process helps us make our own version of paniyarams using various healthy ingredients.

Here is the 'baked kuli paniyaram' for you all !

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

ravai (sooji / semolina) - 1/4 cup

Indian brown sugar (jaggery / vellam) - 3/4 cup 

ripe banana - 1 

salt - 1/4 tsp

baking soda - 1/4 tsp

oil - few drops

Method:

Mash the banana in a wide mixing bowl. To the same bowl, add wheat flour, semolina, jaggery, salt, baking soda,  fruit salt or orange juice or curd 1 tbsp, 

Grease the non stick paniyaram pan or electric cake pop maker with one or two drops of ghee or oil.

I used an electric cake pop maker. If you are using a stove top paniyaram pan, the click to see 'how to make kuli paniyaram'.

The following instructions are for electric cake pop maker. 

Grease the lower plate of the pan. The upper plate may not need any greasing.

Switch ON the cake pop maker and preheat for 5 minutes.

Then using a spoon carefully fill the bottom holes upto 3/4 th. 

Close it. Let it cook for 6-7 minutes.  Insert a toothpick and see if it comes out clean. The paniyaram would be baked perfectly. No need to flip. Just take out using a wooden skewer or plastic fork (no metals).

Whole wheat sweet paniyaram is ready !

Serving suggestions:

Time taken less than 30 minutes.

Number of paniyaram : 30 (tiny size)

Bok choy stir fry

Bok choy also known as Chinese cabbage belongs to the cabbage family. Unlike cabbage , the greener leaf tastes mildly like kale or drumstick leaf (my view) and the white stems taste like lettuce. This is one vegetable that is always sold in the nearby Asian store. So I buy this and simply make a stir fry by water-saute method. It can be enjoyed as a side dish or added to cooked noodles too.

The recipe is very straight forward and even a child can do this :) I hesitated to write it as a post, but still wanted to show how cooking can be done quicker and healthier too.

Ingredients:
Bok choy - 4
water / olive oil- 1 tbsp
salt and pepper - to taste
lime / lemon - 1/8 of  a fruit.

Method:
Rinse the bok choy thoroughly (no need to separate the stems).
Chop to 1 inch pieces.
Heat water or oil in a wok.
Add the bok choy and saute without closing the lid for 2 minutes.
Switch off.
Add lemon juice , salt, pepper.
Bok choy stir fry is ready !

Serving suggestion:
Serve as side dish.
Add to noodles or pasta, just like spinach.