Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut and Mustard Dipping Sauces

I've always been intrigued by Rice Paper Rolls. They are dry, thin sheets of rice that become translucent when you immerse them in warm water. I love the idea of blurred colours of the vegetables stuffed in them popping through the sheets, waiting to be dipped into spicy sauces.

I found Rice Paper rolls in a store inside Crawford Market here in Mumbai. They are a bit expensive because they are imported but they are worth every rupee. They are perfect to make rolls or wraps and I'm sure would taste great with sweet stuffing.

What I love about them is that you can do so much with them. You can stuff them with thin noodles or lots of lovely raw vegetables. It doesn't have to be the same every time.

To make them you need:

Rice Paper
A continuous supply of hot water
A large deep plate big enough to fit one rice paper sheet in it

Cooked Rice Vermicelli Noodles (optional)

Any of the following:
Cabbage
Purple Cabbage
Peppers- Red, Yellow and Green
Carrots
Leeks
Sauteed Mushrooms
Sauteed Spinach, Chard, Kale
Coriander to Garnish

Chop all the raw vegetables into long, thin slices.

Dipping Sauces:

Peanut Sauce
2 tbsp Peanut Butter
1 Clove of Garlic
1/2 tsp lime juice
Red Chilli Powder(Optional)
Salt
Water

Mustard Sauce
3 tsps Whole Yellow/Black Mustard
1 Red Chilli
1/2 inch piece of Ginger
1/4 tsp vinegar
Salt
Water

Sriracha (because it makes everything better)

To make the sauces, grind the ingredients of each sauce until smooth.

To assemble the dish, pour a little of the hot water into a plate. Now carefully immerse the rice paper roll in it while keeping it pressed so that it doesn't roll up. Be careful not to burn yourself. Once the rice paper has gone from white and hard to translucent and lose, it is ready. Carefully pick it up without folding it and put it on a dry plate. Add you choice of stuffing in the center in a line leaving at least 2 inches space along the top and bottom edges. You can also add a bit of the sauces inside the roll. Working quickly, roll the top and bottom of the rice paper towards the stuffing and then do the same with the sides. Either top it with your sauces or serve them separately. Garnish with coriander.

Continue to do the same with every sheet of paper while replacing the water in the plate as it gets cooler.

Tweet

Pin It

Peanut Butter Pillows or Heaven in a bite

Sometimes I indulge and most times it's by coming up with recipes I think up before I go to bed. Then I will dream that I'm in Charlie's (Vegan) Chocolate Factory and Johnny Depp is baking the most delicious looking things for me. Sigh. This recipe I did not dream up, but dreamed of a lot. It's a recipe I had bookmarked a long time ago because it involves mixing my two favourite things, chocolate and peanut butter.

Every time I stole this cookie from my fridge I wanted to pinch myself for giving in again. I am trying to reverse my cavities and the progress so far has been pretty good. I don't feel immense pain when I eat something sweet and that's only because I have stayed away from the good stuff (refined, sugary and fried food).  It's hard to stop eating sweet specially because I bake mostly sweet stuff and I have to keep tasting batters and frosting which then starts the whole craving sugar cycle. But this cookie will destroy all resolutions. It can be made healthier and may be one day I will dare to try it again. Whoever got a few of these cookies finished it all within the hour. 

This recipe is an adaption of Terry Hope Romero's recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows which I found on the Post Punk Kitchen's website. The instructions are the same with a few changes I made, like making the peanut butter from scratch and using whole wheat instead of maida.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup any neutral oil

1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tablespoons black cocoa or more cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 cup roasted peanuts

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.

To make the peanut butter, put the roasted peanuts in a grinder jar and grind it. Stop after the sound changes to scrape the sides off. Continue the grinding process and stop at intervals  of about 20 seconds to scrape the sides. Do it till you get a creamy peanut butter (takes less than 5 minutes). Add salt and proceed to make the filling.

In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry, stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease your baking tray.

Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary (I did flatten them).

Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. 

Store it in the fridge. They are nicer when they are warm and they tend to become softer cookies as days go by. So you can heat up the oven and warm them for about 5 or 7 minutes before you eat them again.

This is going over to the #chocolatelove bloghop, being co-hosted by Richa @ HobbyandMore and so many other wonderful bloggers. 

Tweet

Pin It

Desserts: Roasted Bananas With Peanut Butter

This one's inspired from what Dr Nandita Shah serves at her workshops. It's really easy and it's addictive.

You need:

Bananas, cut in half and then split lengthwise

Roasted Peanuts, unsalted ones

Jaggery Syrup/ Dates Syrup or Maple Syrup

I'll start backwards. If you don't have maple syrup, make some jaggery syrup with jaggery and a teaspoon of water on a low flame. The jaggery will melt in to a lovely dark brown syrup. If you're too lazy for that, just buy some Lion Dates Syrup.

To make the Peanut butter

Put the roasted peanuts in a blender and let it go on for a while till you hear the sound changing. Stop to scrape the sides occasionally. The peanuts will go from powder to butter consistency in about a minute or two. Thats it!

Heat a flat pan / tawa and put the cut bananas on top. They will start to sizzle and turn brown and soft. Turn it over till both sides are nice and brown.

Put the bananas on a plate, top it with the peanut butter and drizzle some syrup on top!

You can even use Tahini instead of peanut butter. Tahini is a paste made with sesame seeds. It's available in bottles or you can make it by toasting the sesame seeds and putting it in a blender. The natural oils from the sesame will be enough to make the consistency just right.

Tweet

Pin It