Speckled with little pieces of the jalapeno pepper, this easy, vegan Jalapeno Cornbread pairs perfectly with a big bowl of chilli.
In my previous post, I’d shared with you one of my all time favourite recipes for a chilli. And I’d served it up with some homemade cornbread. This post, is all about that Vegan Jalapeno Cornbread. I felt it deserved its very own post, because it’s that good.
It’s a simple and easy recipe, and it comes together very quickly. It doesn’t need any time to rest or rise. Infact, I make this right when my chilli is set to simmer.
This cornbread is an absolute crowd-pleaser. Depending on the crowd, it’s really easy to dial the heat level up or down. With minimal prep required, it’s a great recipe to have on hand when entertaining too. This way you can focus on all the other elements of your meal. And let’s take a moment to talk about the taste. This cornbread turns out really delicious. No one is going to believe how easy it is to make. And you don’t need to tell them either. I’ll happily sit down and enjoy a warm piece of cornbread by itself, its that good.
I usually like to serve this Jalapeno Cornbread with a nice, hearty chilli. I’ve shared one of my favourite Chilli recipes in the past. If you haven’t seen that yet, you can check it out here – Vegan Chilli.
Vegan Jalapeno Cornbread
Course: SidesCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy9
servings10
minutes20
minutes30
minutesSpeckled with little pieces of the jalapeno pepper, this easy, vegan Jalapeno Cornbread is a perfect pairing to a big bowl of chilli.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon flaxmeal
*See notes.1 cup polenta
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 fresh jalapeño, chopped
3/4 to 1 cup of plant based milk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 180ºC.
- In a bowl, place 1 tablespoon of flaxmeal and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir well to combine. Set aside in the fridge for 5-10 minutes. This is your flax egg.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients – polenta, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and chopped jalapeño. Stir to mix through.
- In another bowl combine 3/4 cup of the milk and maple syrup. Stir well.
- Add the maple – milk solution and flax egg to to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. If the mix is too dry, gradually add a little more milk and fold in with a spatula. You are looking for a cake batter like consistency. (See the recipe video for more information.)
- Lightly grease the base and sides of an 8 inch square baking dish. Pour the cornbread mix into the baking dish and spread evenly.
- Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes or till a skewer pierced through the centre comes out clean.
- Take out of the oven and leave in the baking dish to cool.
- When it’s closer to room temperature but still warm, cut into portions and serve.
Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Notes
- Flaxmeal – You can either buy a packet of flaxmeal from the store. I make my own by simply grinding up some flax seeds in a dry grinder and store it in a jar and use it, as needed.
How to make Bread Rolls (Pao)
Soft and light, these delicious bread rolls are made from scratch and make the perfect addition to any dinner menu or party meal.
Believe me when I say, there’s nothing better than taking a batch of freshly baked bread out of the oven. Except of course, eating it. Have you ever tried baking bread at home, from scratch? I know a lot of people feel intimidated by the thought of yeast. I was a member of that club for a very long time. But I can tell you this much, if you keep a few things in mind, you will be well on your way to mastering the art of bread baking. Moreover, there are so many varieties to try.
The recipe I’m sharing with you today is one that I fall back on frequently to make bread rolls. It’s a very basic bread recipe and makes a great starting point, if you haven’t baked bread before.
Things to keep in mind –
- Yeast – Make sure that your yeast is viable. This is easy to do. Place the quantity specified in the recipe in a bowl with warm water and sugar. When rested for about 5 minutes, the yeast gets bubbly and frothy, signalling that it is still viable. If it doesn’t froth up, you may need to replace your yeast.
- Using warm water – Make sure that your water is warm, not hot. You should be able to keep your finger submerged in the warm water comfortably. If you cannot, the water is too hot, and it will kill the yeast.
- Kneading the dough – Kneading the dough takes a little time. You need to do this patiently. This helps build gluten fibres, which in turn will help your bread rise well.
- Resting time – Bread almost always, cannot be rushed, unless you’re making a quick bread. The time needed to rest (prove) your dough depends on the ambient temperature. Resting the dough in a warm spot in the kitchen will help it rise. If it is really cold where you are, consider keeping it by a window that gets a lot of sun or in the oven with just the light on.
Keep these vital points in mind when you’re making bread and you will see great results. Bread making gets better with practice. If your first batch doesn’t turn out spectacular, don’t worry, the next batch will be better, since you now know what to expect. So now that we’ve covered all of that, let’s move on to the recipe.
How to make Bread Rolls (Pao)
12
Rolls20
minutes25
minutes2
hoursSoft and light, these delicious bread rolls are made from scratch and make the perfect addition to any dinner menu or party meal.
Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp instant dried yeast
2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup warm water + 1 cup warm water (approx.) to knead the dough
3 cups plain flour / all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp olive oil
Directions
- In a little bowl, place the warm water and add sugar and yeast to it. Stir to mix a little. Let it stand for about 5-10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the flour and salt. Mix through.
- Make a well in the centre and add the yeast and sugar solution. Mix it in with the flour. Add more warm water gradually and knead to a smooth, soft dough. (I had to use just over 1 cup of water) Once the dough comes together, continue kneading for about 5 minutes. You will find the dough gets a little more stretchy than it first was.
- Drizzle oil and knead it into the dough.
- Lightly oil the bottom of the bowl and place the dough in it. I lightly oil the top of the dough too. This keeps it from drying out. Cover and set aside in a warm spot in the for about an hour or till the dough has doubled in size.
- Knock the dough back to get rid of the air bubbles and roll to a ball. Cut into portions and roll out into smooth balls. Place them about an inch apart in a lightly greased baking pan.
- Cover and leave it in a warm spot for the second rise. This takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Brush the top of the bread rolls with some water and bake for about 25-30 minutes.
- As soon as the bread is baked, take it out of the oven, brush some butter over the top and cover the pan for around 5 minutes with a clean tea towel. This traps the steam in and keeps the rolls soft.
- Then take the rolls out of the pan and leave them on a cooling rack to cool.
Enjoy!!!
Recipe Video
Notes
- This is a vegan friendly recipe. I used a vegan butter, but feel free to use a butter of your choice.
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Soft and delicious Homemade Flour Tortillas made using just a few simple pantry ingredients. These are easy to make and great for meal prep.
So, I have a confession. Although I love a good wrap, I cannot stand the taste of store-bought tortillas. Maybe, its just me, but I can actually smell and taste the plastic on the store bought ones. Does anyone else feel that way? I’ve tried a bunch of different brands from both Coles and Woolworths and it’s always the same. And for me, personally, it spoils the whole wrap experience. And that’s one of the main reasons I haven’t shared many recipes for wraps here on the site. But all that’s about to change, now that I can make tortillas at home.
These flour tortillas are everything you’d want in a tortilla and then some. They are soft, so tasty and are made using simple ingredients like flour, salt, oil and water. That’s it. Knead these basic ingredients to a dough, roll out and cook them up. You can make these ahead of time and re-heat when you’re ready to serve. I made these tortillas using all-purpose flour, but you can also make them using whole-wheat flour, if you’d like.
This recipe is a great one for meal prep. You can cook up these tortillas ahead of time. Once they have cooled down, you can pop them in a zip lock back and refrigerate them and then use them through the week. Or you can even use them to make burritos and freeze them for use later. I’ve used these homemade flour tortillas to make quesadillas too. So this is one really versatile recipe that’s great to have on hand.
If this is your first time attempting to make tortillas from scratch, go check out my YouTube video, which takes you through the entire process and I share all my little tips and tricks as well.
This time around, I will be using these tortillas to make some amazing Tandoori Spiced Cauliflower Wraps. Stay tuned for that recipe, coming up next.
Homemade Flour Tortillas
Cuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Medium7
servings1
hour15
minutesIngredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
Warm water, to knead to a dough (around 3/4 cup)
Directions
- Add the flour, salt and oil into a large mixing bowl. Rub the oil into the flour to mix well and break down any clumps.
- Knead this to a dough using luke-warm water. Add water gradually to knead to a smooth pliable dough. I used about 3/4 cup.
- Roll to a ball, cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, divide dough into portions. I got 7 wrap sized portions. Roll these portions into balls, cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rest for another 15-20 minutes.
- After resting the dough, roll out tortillas on a floured surface to a thin disc about 1/8″ thin.
- Heat a pan on medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place tortilla on pan and let it cook for about a minute or till you see little bubbles appear and the side touching the pan has a few light brown spots.
- Gently press the air pockets to help them expand a bit.
- Flip over and let it cook till you get a few light golden spots on the tortilla. Don’t overcook the tortillas as they tend to get hard.
Recipe Video
Notes
- You may need to use a little less or a little more water depending on your batch of flour. Add the water gradually.
Methi Poori – Fenugreek speckled, deep fried flatbread
Methi Poori
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 heaped tbsp natural, unflavoured yogurt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Oil, for deep frying
Mix the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour and salt in a large bowl.
Place the kasuri methi in your palms and rub a little to release their flavour. Sprinkle over the flour.
Tip in the turmeric powder and mix everything together.
Add the yogurt and stir through.
Gradually add a little water and knead to a soft, pliable dough.
Add the water gradually as you don’t want to end up with a sticky dough. If the dough turns out too sticky, sprinkle a little flour over and knead it in and you should be good to go.
Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for about half an hour.
Heat the oil for deep frying over medium heat.
(To test the oil, drop a tiny pea sized ball of the dough carefully into the oil. It should sizzle and rise to the top fairly quickly. If this happens, your oil is at the right temperature. If it browns straightaway, your oil is too hot. Take it off the heat for a while and then start frying. If it just sinks to the bottom without any sizzle, your oil is not hot enough.)
Make small walnut size portions and roll to form a disc. Do not roll out too thin. (According to my mum, they need to be a little on the thicker side to puff up. I simply follow that and get brilliant results each time.)
Deep fry as you’re rolling them out. Don’t stack the raw discs before frying.
When golden brown, drain on absorbent kitchen paper.
Serve hot!
Green Peas Parathas – Whole Wheat Flatbread with a savoury green pea stuffing
So back to this paratha. This paratha is easier to make than the Gobhi Paratha, because of the filling. This filling has lesser moisture and so is so much easier to roll. I was happy with that. I love the little green peeking through the paratha with the finished product. Try it out and see what you think of it.
Green Peas Parathas
Yields approx. 9-10
For the dough –
2 cups wholewheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Water
1 tbsp olive oil / ghee
Mix the flour and the salt well.
Drizzle the olive oil and mix through.
Bind with a little water at a time to form a soft pliable dough. The dough should not be sticky.
If you find the dough sticky, add some more whole wheat flour. If the dough is too dry and difficult to knead, add a little water.
Knead well, roll into a ball, cover with a damp cloth and keep aside while you make the filling.
For the filling – 1 1/2 cup frozen green peas (you could use fresh too), rinsed, thawed and thoroughly drained
2 birdseye chillies, or to taste
1 tbsp garlic minced
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) (alternatively you could use olive oil)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
Into the bowl of a food processor, place the green peas, chillies, garlic, coriander and salt.
Pulse a couple of times. You want a coarse blend and NOT a paste or puree. You want some larger pieces and some smaller bits, much like what you see in the pan in the next picture.
Heat a pan over medium heat and add 1 tbsp ghee.
Add the cumin seeds and let them sputter, being careful to not burn them.
Add the green peas mix.
Stir around and let it cook out for about 2 minutes.
Remove from the pan and let it cool completely.
**Additionally you will need some dry whole wheat flour for dusting your work surface and some ghee to brush over the parathas.
To make the parathas –
Place a thick bottomed pan / tawa on a medium flame and let it heat up.
In the meanwhile, divide the dough and the pea mix into portions.
1) and 2) Dust your work surface with some flour. Roll a ball of dough between your palms to form a smooth ball. Flatten and using a rolling pin roll out to a disc about 6 inches in diameter. While rolling you need to make sure it doesn’t stick to the work surface. Don’t flip the dough over while rolling. (Note that these measures are approx. just to give you an idea of the sizes).
3) Place the disc in the palm of your hand. I am right handed, so I place the little disc on my left palm.
4) Spread a few drops of ghee on it.
5) Place a spoonful on the filling mix in the centre. You don’t want to overfill the parathas or rolling can get messy.
6) Pick up opposite sides of the disc and press together to seal.
7) Gather in the rest of the edges. Press the edges against each other (like a little dumpling) to seal. Then flatten it gently and press the edges down. Here you are trying to roll it into a little ball carefully without smashing it.
8)Dust a little more flour on your work surface, if needed. Place the seam side down and gently start rolling the little ball out.
9) Roll out to about 8 inches wide. Again, you need to make sure it doesn’t stick to the work surface. You can dust with more dry flour if needed. You also don’t want to roll it too thin because the filling will just ooze out.
Place this on a well heated tawa / griddle and roast for a while moving it around till light brown spots appear on one side. Turn over and cook on the other side till light brown spots appear on the other side as well.
To finish off, spoon a few drops of clarified butter on the paratha and spread. Flip over and repeat this on the other side letting it roast for a few seconds after you add the clarified butter to the side.
Serve hot with butter and a mug of hot coffee for a yummy Indian breakfast or brunch option.
This time around, I served this up for dinner with some mildly flavoured yogurt (plain raita) and some sweet mango pickle. (The pickle is called Chunda / Chundo and you should be able to find it in any Indian store.)
These parathas go very well with any Indian style veggies too.
**Notes –
You can leave out the clarified butter if you want an even healthier version, but it does wonders for the taste.
If you have any dough or filling left over, simply refrigerate and use the next day.
You can also make a plain paratha by simply rolling out the dough, spread the ghee, wrap and re-roll and roast it without the filling. This can be served with your favorite jam or cheese or scrambled eggs or an omelette or anything else you’d fancy.
You could serve this up with plain yogurt too.
For the plain raita –
Good quality, unflavoured yogurt
Salt, to taste
Sugar, to taste (I use about 1 tbsp to 1 1/2 cups of yogurt, approx)(This will also depend on how tart the yogurt is. I sometimes use lesser than that)
Cumin powder
Red chilli powder
Mix the yogurt, salt and sugar and still thoroughly to incorporate the salt and sugar and beat till you are left with a smooth yogurt.
Place in the serving bowl and lightly spinkle some cumin powder and red chilly powder over.
Enjoy.
Crusty Italian Bread
On to my experience baking bread from scratch. In the past, using yeast overwhelmed me. I tried my hand at bread a few times a couple of years ago and each time ended up with blobs of unrisen dough resulting in brick hard bread, no, you could definitely not call that bread. Later on I learned that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Infact, I was using a brand of yeast that was known to fail; only I didn’t know that. So if any of you reading this are based in India and have tried baking bread using Bluebird yeast, without much success, you know why. Please change your brand of yeast.
This Crusty Italian Bread is something I am so proud of. Once you get the hang of making bread, its actually a lot of fun and very satisfying to see a beautiful loaf emerge from the oven. The flavor and texture was fantastic. My husband isn’t overly fond of bread, but he went back for seconds. He liked this bread so much that he had a slice after dinner with some butter. I was elated. I knew that I had done something right. I can’t wait to make this again.
Crusty Italian Bread
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 heaped tsp instant dry yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp salt
Place the flour in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in the yeast, salt and sugar.
Add the oil and the water and mix it well till the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough well. Add more flour gradually if the dough is too sticky. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes. The dough should be well knead, soft and not tacky or sticky.
Smooth it out into a ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Keep the bowl in a warm place for about 60 minutes or until double in size.
Remove the cling film and punch the dough back to knock out the air.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten the dough with your hands. Roll it to form an oval shape. It should be rolled tightly and press the seam well. Repeat the process again. You should end up with an oval loaf with slightly tapered ends. Place it onto a lightly floured board and cover loosely with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven and your baking tray to 220°C.
When the dough is ready to be baked, remove the tray from the oven, sprinkle some semolina and place the loaf of bread over it, to add some crunch to the base.
Using a sharp knife, make a couple of slits on the top of the loaf about 1-2cm deep.
Spray the loaf with water and place it in the oven for 3 minutes. Repeat this step 2 more times, leaving the dough to bake for about 40 minutes after the last spray.
If you think the bread is browning a little to much or too quickly, place some aluminium foil loosely on top.
When the bread is done, take it out of the oven, turn over and tap the base of the loaf. If it sounds hollow, the bread is done.
Leave the bread on a cooling rack. Once it has cooled, slice and enjoy!!!
Cheese stuffed Whole Wheat Garlic Breadsticks
Gobhi Parathas
Do you have a favorite paratha? Leave me a comment and let me know what it is. I’d love to try it out!
Gobhi Parathas
For the dough recipe and on how to make the parathas, click here.
For the Filling-
1 head of cauliflower, washed and grated (Do not use the greens)
1″ ginger, grated
1 green chilly, finely chopped
Salt, to taste
Mix well and use a spoonful of this mix to stuff the parathas.
For details on how to make the parathas, go here.
This recipe is linked to –
My Meatless Mondays
Pooris – Deep Fried Whole Wheat Flatbread
Learn how to make the Puris here –
Pooris
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp Salt, or to taste
Water (approx 1 cup)
Oil, for deep frying
Mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Make a well in the centre and adding water a little at a time, knead to form a nice pliable dough. If you need to use more than a cup of water, please do so.
Heat the oil for deep frying over medium heat. To test the oil, drop a tiny pea sized ball of the dough carefully into the oil. It should sizzle and rise to the top fairly quickly. If this happens, your oil is at the right temperature. If it browns straightaway, your oil is too hot. Take it off the heat for a while and then start frying. If it just sinks to the bottom without any sizzle, your oil is not hot enough.
Make small walnut size portions and roll to form a disc. Do not roll out too thin. (According to my mum, they need to be a little on the thicker side to puff up. I simply follow that and get brilliant results each time.)
Deep fry as you’re rolling them out. Don’t stack the raw discs before frying.
When golden brown, drain on absorbent paper.
Serve hot!
This recipe is linked to –
Let’s Do Brunch
Full Plate Thursday
It’s A Keeper Thursday
Methi Parathas – Whole Wheat Flatbread with Fenugreek Leaves
Usually fenugreek is known to have a bitter-ish taste. These parathas however aren’t. For this recipe, I don’t use the baby fenugreek leaves but the larger ones. Another thing to keep in mind, is that when you are cleaning the sprigs of fenugreek leaves, make sure you pick only the leaves and not the stalk, no matter how tender you may find the stalk to be.
You might want to allow a couple of extra parathas per person as these are not as heavy as the Aloo Parathas are and they are very more-ish. I added a couple of hot green chillies. You can either deseed them to cut down the heat or simply cut down the amount of chillies if you are not used to spice. Also, if you are calorie conscious, you can leave out the ghee and these parathas will still be tasty.
Methi Parathas
(Makes 12-15)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 cup fenugreek leaves, chopped
1 tsp carrom seeds, rubbed between the palms of your hands to release their flavor
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp ghee / clarified butter + extra to smear on the parathas while they’re cooking (optional)
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients well to make sure they are well distributed.
Make a well in the centre and gradually add enough water to bind into a pliable dough.
Divide into portions the size of a golf ball and keep ready.
Roll this out to a thin disc on a floured surface.
Place this on a well heated tawa / griddle and roast for a while moving it around till light brown spots appear on one side. Turn over and cook on the other side till light brown spots appear on the other side as well.
To finish off, spoon a few drops of clarified butter on the paratha and spread. Flip over and repeat this on the other side letting it roast for a few seconds after you add the clarified butter to the side.
Serve hot with butter and a mug of hot coffee.
You can leave out the clarified butter if you want an even healthier version, but it does wonders for the taste.
Enjoy.
This recipe is linked to –
Just Another Meatless Monday
My Meatless Mondays
Meatless Mondays
Let’s Do Brunch
Not Baaad
Mangia Mondays
Herbs and Flowers in my platter- Fenugreek leaves
(http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/p/herbs-flowers-hosting-schedule.html)