Grilled Pineapple & Cottage Cheese Bites - Desi Health Bites!

In a country where most recipes begin with heating oil in a pan and end with a tempering of oil and spices, disseminating information about cooking oil is a welcome idea. Fortune Foods invited food bloggers to come up with healthy recipes as part of an initiative to highlight some facts and bust some myths about rice bran oil. 

The company launches a 100% rice bran oil, Fortune Rice Bran Health. This oil is extracted from the thin brown layer (or bran) of unpolished grains. The bran contains lots of vitamins and other micro nutrients, making it the most nutritious part of grains.

 Some benefits of rice bran oil : 

1. Helps reduce bad cholesterol: Fortune rice bran health oil has a key micro nutrient called

“oryzanol”, an antioxidant found only in the bran of rice. It helps reduce bad cholesterol, 

increase good cholesterol and keeps your heart healthy, making it a healthier choice. 

2. Keeps your heart healthy: FRBH contains more antioxidants than blended oils or pomace

olive oil. They fight harmful free radicals, which cause heart disease and other chronic 

illnesses, keeping your heart healthy. 

3. Helps to have better skin: Squalene is an organic compound naturally produced by human skin cells and is a natural moisturizer. Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil contains good amounts of it which prevent the ageing of skin.

A couple of myths related to rice bran oil 

1. Darker Oils aren’t good for health. It is a myth that colourless or transparent oils are healthier than dark oils. FRBH is refined optimally to keep all the essential micro nutrients 

intact. It has a darker appearance primarily due to Oryzanol. 

2. Rice Bran alters the taste of food: Rice Bran leaves no aftertaste. It does not have a

taste of its own, so it doesn’t interfere with the taste of food.

Here comes  a delightful tango of hot-sweet flavors, Grilled Pineapple & Cottage Cheese Bites. Light enough to be served as a summer appetizer, enough spices to tickle the Indian palate.  

Grilled Pineapple And Cottage Cheese Bites

Ingredients : 

Cottage cheese - cut into 1'' cubes - 200 grams (please read note)

Fresh peeled pineapple - cut into 1'' cubes - 1 cup
Red capsicum - 1, cut into 1'' cubes

For the marinade 

Fresh red chilies, slit - 15-20  

Fresh coriander, chopped - 1/4 cup

Garlic - 5 pods
Oil - 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon
Roasted cumin powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Fresh, thick hung yogurt or low fat set dahi - 6 tablespoons

Chat masala - 1 teaspoon

Roasted chickpea flour - 1.5 tablespoons
Kasuri methi, toasted and crushed - 1 teaspoon
Oil - 1 tablespoon

Plus extra oil for grilling

Method : 

To make the marinade 

• On low heat, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan. Tip in the chilies, saute till lightly blistered. Now add the coriander and saute till just shriveled. Transfer to a plate, let cool. 
• Grind the sauteed chilies, coriander, garlic, cumin powder, a tablespoon of oil and salt to a smooth paste. At this point, you can store the paste in an airtight jar for a day in the fridge.
• Whisk 3 tablespoons paste with the yogurt, besan, chat masala, kasuri methi, going easy with more salt as chat masala already has salt in it. Taste, adding more marinade if you want it to taste more assertive. 
• Take the paneer, pineapple and capsicum in a bowl, scrape the marinade on top . Mix gently, coating the pieces well. Marinate for at least half an hour or longer in the fridge if convenient. Thread so that pieces of paneer, capsicum and pineapple alternate on the skewers. 
• Heat a non stick tawa. Brush generously with oil. On medium heat, grill till lightly charred, brushing oil lightly as needed. Take care not to overcook or the paneer will become tough and chewy. Serve immediately. 

Succulent pieces of sweet pineapple, soft cottage cheese and crunchy red peppers, I thought is a winning combination! You could even skip the cottage cheese to make it a really low calorie version!

Please note: I have used home made cottage cheese made with 3% milk. You can use store bought paneer or even pressed and drained firm tofu. 

Any remaining ground paste can be simply whisked into fresh yogurt, add a simple tempering of mustard and curry leaves. Enjoy with hot steamed rice or parathas. Or even tossed with cubed chilled cucumber as a snack!

This blog post is in association with Fortune Foods as a part of their Desi Health Bites activity– The Hunt for the Best Rice Bran Oil Recipes. For more updates and healthy recipes using Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil, follow Fortune Foods on Facebook and on Twitter 

Whole Wheat Carrot & Pineapple Cake

A good carrot cake is meant to be eaten throughout the year, seasons are just an added excuse!  Or so thinks yours truly!

The last of the bits and pieces of Ottolenghi's Carrot Cake stashed away in the freezer were devoured long ago. Winter came and went, I almost could taste and smell the cake whenever I saw carrots. Coconut, nuts, carrots and spices, irresistible! But life has been a tad busy of late and I did not get a chance to bake that cake again. Thank God for fresh carrots all year round, I finally got some to bake a cake. Only this time around it had to be a healthier, easier version I could bake more often.
 

The 100% whole wheat carrot cake page in the King Arthur Whole Grain Book has been thumbed often enough, so I really wasn't searching for a recipe. And when the cake promises to be one which is hard to tell as whole wheat, I have no second thoughts! Delivering what it promises, it indeed is a delightful cake with a surprisingly tender crumb. Succulent pineapple bits make a lovely addition. Very soft and so good warm, I had to remind hubby and son that I still had to take some pictures. The advantage of baking a cake in a square tin, you can actually taste the cake before you take the mandatory pictures!  

What's even better is, it's a simple and easy cake to bake. I like these cakes plain, dress it up with cream cheese frosting if you wish!  

Watch the video! 

For best results, do not make any changes to the recipe. Use the right tools, pan size and ingredients. 

You can find some product suggestions on my Amazon Storefront here.

Ingredients :

Eggs - 2 large / 100 grams (without shell)

Vegetable oil - 3/4 cup / 180 ml

Grated orange zest - 1 teaspoon

Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon

Sugar - 3/4 cup / 150 grams, powdered (weigh and then process). Use 1/2 cup/100 grams for a just about sweet cake

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup / 50 grams

Whole wheat flour - 112 grams

Baking soda - 1 teaspoon

Baking powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Salt - a pinch

Ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon

Ground cloves - 1/4 teaspoon

Finely grated carrots - 1 1/4 cup approximately / 122 grams

Pecans or walnuts or cashew nuts, chopped and toasted - 1/2 cup (or more)

Unsweetened shredded coconut - 1/2 cup / 40 grams

Pineapple bits ( I used canned) - generous 1/2 to 1 cup

Cream cheese Frosting ( Optional )

Unsalted butter, at room temperature - 3 tablespoons /

Cream cheese, at room temperature - 4 oz 

Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon

Confectioner's sugar - 2 cups/ 225 grams, sifted

Chopped nuts - 1/2 cup, optional

Milk - 1-2 tablespoons

Method:

• Pre-heat  oven to 180 C / 350 F. Line an 8'' square tin with baking parchment, grease lightly. You could alternatively use a 9'' or 8'' round tin or a 9x13 pan for double the recipe. The baking time will vary.

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt. Set aside.

• In a medium sized bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the eggs on the lowest speed for about 30 seconds. Add the oil, vanilla and orange zest, beat 30 seconds again.

• Tip in the sugar, beat again just to incorporate, about 30 seconds.  Add the flour, beat 30 seconds on low speed till smooth. Using a spatula, mix in the carrots, pineapple bits, coconut and nuts.

• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan. Cooling it for a few hours should give you neater slices. 
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• Dust with confectioner's sugar or frost with cream cheese, both entirely optional.

Cream cheese frosting

Combine the butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat them together till light and fluffy. Add the sugar gradually, beating well. Stir in the nuts, then the milk, a little at a time, till the frosting is of a spreadable consistency. 

Please note: 

Spices : The recommended amount of spices is 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. I used lesser(above) and used cloves in place of the nutmeg. I may add about 1/8 teaspoon more cinnamon next time.

You can use 1 cup raisins in place of  half of 8 oz can pineapple bits, but the cake will not be as moist.

Baking time :  8'' round - 30-35 minutes

9'' round - 35-40 minutes

Sheet cake - 45-50 minutes.


This tasty cake, I know will be made regularly to feed the sweet tooth of the foodie son and the fruit-cake loving hubby.  Now, we can't really deprive the baker of her slice. Right?

Forgive me for me being irregular, hope to be around more often! So, what's baking in your home to feed the exam fervor?

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