BHAJA MOSHOLA OATS DAL SAVOURY BAKE

Doing a savoury cake was a wish for sometime; ever since I came across the mentions of Handvo, Muthia, etc. I mean, when we Bengalis cook the "dhoka mix", it seems something like this before frying. The thing is, as per my habit; I did not consult in details a handvo or muthia recipe, I find it a very boring exercise. Whatever idea I could make from the pictures my co-bloggers shared and the short description that came along, I thought of baking this BHAJA MOSHOLA OATS DAL SAVOURY BAKE. "Bhaja Moshola" is Bengali spice mix; a variety of! The most common in my family is the one where we dry roast cumin-coriander seeds & dry red chillies; dry grind them. I totally love this spice blend, may be because I have grown up having it in various dishes including achars [Indian or South Asian Pickles]. We can call today's share a savoury cake, vegetarian bake / vegetarian baked teatime snack made with oatmeal, soaked yellow lentil / moong dal, semolina.

The man is at home for the next two weeks, starting from today. The new system in their office is to work at office for two weeks & work from home for two weeks. How happy could be the days if our heart had been here. The son kept himself closed in his room mostly, when in the living room, he would mostly fight with mumma; how badly I miss those days. Each time, I console myself thinking it's for his good. Did not I want my brother to explore the unknown outside the boundary wall of his home? I still believe, it was required in his life; so let it be!

Then, why I am lost most of the time, I do not even like wandering outside for long. I like sitting in my favourite corner trying to catch hold of the son and talk timeless. I have not been successful as yet, may be some day, as of now he allows me texts. Because, I do not know the details of his class time, I do not make calls now and then; that is not the right thing to do. Had he been here, at this time I would have served him a big slice of this vegetarian, savoury bake, a supremely tasty evening snack BHAJA MOSHOLA OATS DAL SAVOURY BAKE with his choice of sauce. We will be having it now with our sugar free, black tea / coffee. 

I had blend together soaked moong dal, oatmeal, semolina, baking soda & powder, the Bengali spice blend , salt, oil, plain yogurt; added minced garlic, sliced onion & chopped green chilli, cashews & raisins; poured the batter into an aluminium foil, baked and its done! I actually wanted a healthy something to gorge on and here it is!

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SPICE MIX :

CUMIN SEED : 1TSP

CORIANDER SEED : 1TSP

DRY RED CHILLI : 3-4

REST OF THE INGREDIENTS FOR BAKE :

YELLOW SPLIT MOONG BEAN : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

OATS : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP SIZE

SEMOLINA : 2-3 TBSP

PLAIN YOGURT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

THE SPICE MIX [BHAJA MOSHOLA] : 2TBSP

SLICED ONION : 1 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 2

MINCED GARLIC : 1TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

BAKING SODA : 1/2TSP

BAKING POWDER : 1TSP

OIL : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP SIZE

CASHEW NUT : 8-10 HALVED

RAISIN : 12-13

PROCEDURE :

The first thing I did was to wash & soak the amount of split yellow moong dal in enough water.

Whilst we will let it soak for at least 11/2 hours, we can do the rest of the prep work like slicing the onion, chopping the green chillies, mincing the garlic and wash them all.

We will take the oats & semolina together and blend it to a powder.

We will add the baking powder & soda and pulse it for just few seconds to mix well.

We will drain the soaked water & add the moong bean to the blender.

We will blend the mixture to a paste and add the yogurt & salt to it.

We will switch on the gas stove & dry roast the cumin, coriander seeds & dry red chillies for less than a minute at minimal heat.

We will take the prepared batter in a bowl, add the dry spice powder / Bengali Bhaja Moshola to it!

We will also add the onion slices, green chillies, minced garlic.

We will mix the batter well and pour in to an aluminium foil cake tin, then top it with cashew nuts & raisins.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven. I had placed the low height wired stool inside and preheated for 10 minutes @ 180*C.

Then I had placed the batter filled bowl on top and baked for 28-30 minutes @ 180*C.

Be careful, every electrical apparatus differ from the other; temperatures may differ.

Once done, take out.

It is best to have it warm & fresh with tea / coffee.