Indian Raita Feast

Carrot Raita

1/2 c shredded carrot
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (to taste)
1/4 tsp paprika or red pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)
chopped coriander (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

Banana Raita

1 banana, quartered lengthwise, cut into 1 cm pieces
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (to taste)
1/4 tsp paprika or red pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)
chopped coriander (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

Radish Raita

1/2 c shredded carrot
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (to taste)
1/4 tsp paprika or red pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)
chopped coriander (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

Onion Raita

1/2 c onion, diced
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (to taste)
1/4 tsp paprika or red pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)
chopped coriander (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

Boondi Raita

1/2 c boondi
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (to taste)
1/4 tsp paprika or red pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

Mix Raita

1/4 c shredded carrot
1/2 diced tomato
1/2 banana, quartered and cut into 1 cm pieces
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
1/2 tsp cumin powder (to taste)
1/2 tsp coriander powder (to taste)
1/4 tsp paprika or red pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)
chopped coriander (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

Cucumber Raita

1 cucumber, shredded, water squeeze out by hand
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper powder (to taste)
1 pinch asafoetida powder
1/2 c yogurt (to taste)
chopped coriander (to taste)

Mix well and enjoy.

NOTE: These taste great on their own as a savory snack, can also be enjoyed with poori, paratha, methi paratha, as a side with spicy curries, with naan, with rice, .. really, the options are endless.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

There are a bunch of recipes on the internet for this. I’m going for a delicious, moist, AND healthy cake.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 c almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup oil
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

GLAZE:

2 tbsp (approx) lemon juice
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp (approx) lemon zest

Mix well.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray your loaf pan with nonstick spray.  I used four mini loaf pans instead of one big loaf pan.
3. In first bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, and salt.
4. In second bowl, mix sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.
5. Add yogurt, oil, eggs and extract to second bowl.
6. Fold first bowl mixture into second bowl mixture.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top.
8. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.
9. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
10. Invert onto rack; let cool completely.
11. Add glaze topping.
12. Enjoy!

NOTE: Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature. Freezes well also (take finished cake, wrap in wax paper, then aluminum foil and then cling wrap – all this is to make sure the freeze smell does not get absorbed into your cake).

SUBSTITUTIONS: If you don’t have almond flour, use all purpose flour. If you don’t have lemon, use lime, or orange, or any citrus for the juice and extract. If you don’t have oil, use melted butter. If you don’t have yogurt, use sour cream or ricotta cheese.

VARIATIONS: Can add 1/2 c of fresh fruit to finished batter (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, bananas). Can also fold in some dried fruit or nuts (walnuts, almonds, dried cherries, dried cranberries). Can also change the extract used from almond to vanilla to lemon to orange to really anything you like the flavor of.

NOTE2: With substitutions and variations, bake time will have to be adjusted. So just check on the cake every so often.

NOTE3: This batter does not make good muffins, because it does not rise.

NOTE4: The glaze is optional but tastes really good 🙂

NOTE5: With the mini loaf pans (animals, traditional, Fall), you can make multiple flavors – just divide up the main batter, and to one add lime or orange flavoring, to the other add fresh strawberries, blueberries or blackberries, the other banana walnut, and the last dried cherries and almonds. The sky is the limit!

Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake

From Food.com.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
2 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces plain Greek yogurt or 8 ounces vanilla, greek yogurt

Fruit:

1/4 c flour
12 ounces fresh strawberries, diced

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sift together the 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tb. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Creme Fraiche

I had a taste of La Fermiere yogurt while abroad and – WOW. If you EVER see it, buy it to taste – it’s wonderful! They sell it in cute little blue terra cotta jars. Love!

This is NOT sour cream, or yogurt, or whipping cream. It is something special and amazing. Hug a French person today, for inventing this. Vive le France!

Living in the US, they don’t sell creme fraiche in the supermarkets. And recipes say to just sub in sour cream or yogurt. NO NO NO. OMG NO. Having had creme fraiche, seriously.. NO!!!!

And it’s so darn easy to make! Make this! Make this now!

Yield: 2 one cup servings

Ingredients:

1 pint whipping cream (2 cups)
2 tbsp yogurt (natural with bacteria – I use dannon natural NO PECTIN or Trader Joe’s Organic Cream Top Whole Milk Plain Yogurt)[NO PECTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
2 tsp sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 F (this is the lowest my oven goes, if your oven goes lower, preheat to that temperature).
2. Find two cute cups, like the terra cotta cups they sell the La Fermiere yogurt in (click link above to see picture). Or use custard ramekins. Or a small individual sized yogurt container.
3. In each cup, pour in 1 c whipping cream, 1 tbsp yogurt and 1 tsp sugar. Mix well. It helps with the mixing if the whipping cream and yogurt are at room temperature.
4. Turn off the preheated oven, let cool until slightly warm but not hot (175 F is too hot, you want it warm but not hot, but most ovens do not go that low). The oven should not be too hot, you will kill the bacteria in the yogurt and then your creme fraiche will not firm up.
5. Cover yogurt with cling film. I placed it in two small ceramic pots and onto a small tray (so it would be stable going into and coming out of the oven).
6. Place yogurt into the oven overnight. It will solidify.
7. When done, the creme fraiche will jiggle like jello. At that point, it’s done! Fridge and enjoy!
8. I like to eat this with honey and fruit. It tastes great with oatmeal. Granola. Cake. Pie. Any kind of dessert, really. Or by itself. Just taste it and you will know, it’s soooo divine.

 

Hot Buttered Apples and Vanilla Yogurt

In pot over med/low heat:

3 apples, sliced
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 c brown sugar
pinch salt

Let cook around 10 min, until done (cooking time varies by apple type).

Vanilla Yogurt

Mix:

1 c plain yogurt
1/4 c white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Enjoy!

Also tastes great topped with granola.

Buttermilk Substitution

1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice – Allow mixture to stand for five minutes prior to use.

1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp vinegar (white, apple cider or rice vinegar) – Allow mixture to stand for five minutes prior to use.

1 cup milk + 1/2 Tbsp cream of tartar – Mix well to dissolve the cream of tartar.

1/4 cup milk + 3/4 cup plain yogurt – Whisk together until no lumps remain.

1/4 cup milk + 3/4 cup sour cream – Whisk together until no lumps remain.

LACTOSE FREE YOGURT

Please publicize this recipe, I think it can help a lot of people.

A lot of people who can’t have dairy can’t do so because their body does not produce sufficient quantities of the lactase enzyme, which digests the lactose in milk and other dairy products.  This means that they get very ill if they consume dairy products.

Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (eg: Xeloda) also have this problem. A lot of the time, the chemotherapy drug, in trying to eradicate the cancer, kills good cells and enzymes (lactase) that people need.  For some, it causes illness (bloating, gas, diarrhea, etc) when they consume dairy, similar to the side effects shown by lactose intolerant people.

One solution to this is LACTAID milk.  It is basically regular milk with the lactase enzyme added. It works really well because then your body has lactase and you can digest the milk without all those nasty side effects.

Another solution is making homemade yogurt out of LACTAID milk. This creates yogurt rich in lactase enzymes, which can be easily digested without side effects by lactose intolerant people.  I think LACTAID could make this, but there probably isn’t enough demand for it.

Without further ado, here is my recipe for a lactase enriched yogurt. Enjoy!

RECIPE FOR YOGURT FOR LACTOSE INTOLERANT PEOPLE AND CANCER PATIENTS

Ingredients:

1. 2 c Lactaid milk

2. 1/4 c full fat regular plain yogurt with active yogurt cultures (including S. THERMOPHILUS, L. BULGARICUS, L. ACIDOPHILUS, BIFIDUS, L. CASEI, AND L. RHAMNOSUS) (Brands include Dannon, Stoneyfield, and I’m sure others).

Directions (begin at night, after dinner):

1. Put Lactaid milk in Pyrex. Microwave on lowest power setting for 8 minutes. Milk will boil but not overflow if you do it that way.

2. Turn on oven. Heat to 170 degrees.

3. Let milk cool to 170 degrees. No need to measure. Let cool until it is warm to the touch.

4. Stir in yogurt.

5. TURN OFF OVEN (this is super important!!).

6. Place Pyrex in oven overnight. When you wake up in the morning, the yogurt will be ready. Enjoy!!! 🙂

 

NOTE: Lactaid does NOT taste at ALL like regular milk. BUT, the yogurt made out of it tastes just like regular yogurt. I made this with a batch of yogurt made with regular milk, and did a taste off. You cannot identify which is made with regular milk and which is made with Lactaid. (Yay!)