Whats on the Menu?

Tostitos chaat

2008-07-31T21:19:00.001-07:00

This time we got the shell shaped(like small diwali panati/diya) tostitos, our favourite mexican corn chips! Its goes really well with the chunky salsa.
But my taste buds (seems to be missing the chaat) brought a chatpatta thought to mind. So is born a tostitos chaat that taste so much like the channa jor garam back home....aamchi ruchira agadi sukhawli :)

Ingredients:
10-12 Shell shaped tostitos scoops
2 tbsp sweet corns
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 tbsp finely chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp finely chopped cucumber
1 green chilli/jalapeno finely chopped
1 tsp chaat masala
1 pinch of garam masala
1 tbsp fresh corriander finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except tostitos to make a chaat mix. Line the tostitos shells on plate. Place a spoonful of the mixture on each shell.
Serve just like that.
This can make a nice light starter for a vegetarian party or can be used as a last course of the meal!

Celebrating Awards, Tags and Good Luck with Shahi Tukda

2008-07-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have tried the shahi bread pieces recipe of my dear friend Vijayta . Its also called Shahi Tukda. Its really a no hassle recipe, gets ready in no time and outcome is simply delicious. It was indeed needed to celebrate the awards and pass on to the next line of winners. I am passing the awards in the order I have received them :)

Firstly I thank Usha for passing the "Blogging with a purpose" award to me

I would like to pass on this award to:

Vijayta,

Pooja,

Sheetal,

Ruchi,

and Mints

Congratulations, you all indeed deserve this award for serving the purpose of sharing and popularizing Indian/Vegetarian cooking . Many congratulations!

Thanks Usha for the sweet gesture of acknowledging our friendship with a Friendship award. This is the one to cherish for long.

I would like to pass the friendship award to:

Trupti,

Chatnchaat,

Meh,

Ritu,

and Mints.

Congratulations to all of you…..let us grow the tree of friendship!

I have also been "Tagged" by Usha. Thanks for the same.
The rules are as below:
"At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 or 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog".Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers."-

1.What was I doing ten years ago?
Enjoying the much need vacation after my SSC exams.

2. Five things on Today's "To do" list
>Complete this post
>Congratulate the winners
>Plant the vegetable seeds in my small backyard garden.
>Try some new recipe for the evening snacks
>Brainstorm for putting the best dinner from the things available in the refrigerator to welcome the weekend.

3.I am addicted to :
Well I won’t say addicted but I like to read blogs. Mostly I read marathi articles and recipe blogs. Everyone out here in the blogosphere is so talented and innovative.

4.Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I would like to roam around the world, help the needy and offcourse some shopping!

5. Places I have lived:
Nagpur, Pune, Mysore, Bangalore, Fort Valley(GA)

Usha has also passed on the "Magic Lamp of Luck". Thanks Usha and magic has started doing wonders already.

The mighty Genie King and the beautiful Genie Princess from the magical Land of Faraway are back! Upon escaping the clutches of their Evil Master after being held captive for 1000 years, the magical genies have been busy flying on their Magical Flying Carpet, granting wishes and spreading love throughout the blogosphere.And now, the genies are back with a special gift for everyone! Behold the sacred, Magic Lamp of Luck! With this magic lamp, your blog will enjoy much good luck and fortune, warding off all things evil lurking around in the blogosphere.We would like to share this magic lamp with you so please pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to those in need of some good luck. Remember, do not be greedy or unkind, evil or vengeful and good luck & fortune will always be with you! Join us on another exciting magical adventure as we spread goodwill and good luck to one and all!

1. Add your site(s) to the list once you have received the Magic Lamp of Luck.

2. Pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to as many people as you like. After all, everyone needs some good luck!

3. Leave a comment HERE once you’ve passed on the Magic Lamp of Luck. Once the Genie King and Genie Princess have visited your site to make sure your links are complete and proper, you will then be added to the Master List.

4. To ensure everyone receives equal link benefit, please UPDATE your list regularly!

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I would like to tag and pass on the Magic Lamp of Luck to:

Vijayta,

Meh,

Nupur,

Ashwini,

and Mythreyee.

Aaloo Paratha

2008-07-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Aaloo paratha is everyones favourite breakfast. I like to make it with the aalo sabji or bhaji of pav bhaji. If you are making pav bhaji for dinner then make it little more in quantity for making aalo paratha as the next morning breakfast. The paratha made of buttery pav bhaji is just out of this world!

Note the ingredients and recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup bhaji( bhaji of pav bhaji or any aaloo sabji)

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp carom seeds

1 tsp sesame seeds

salt to taste

Note: Most of the times you may not have bhaji available at the time of making aaloo paratha. Then make a aaloo paratha mix using

3 medium sized mashed boiled potatoes,

1 tsp chilli powder,

1/2 tsp turmeric,

1/2 tablespoon oil or butter,

1 tsp cumin seeds,

1 small onion finely chopped and

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste.

Use this mix in the recipe instead of bhaji.

Directions:

Make a dough mixing all ingredients together and using little water if required. Knead it well to make nice soft dough.

Divide the dough into 8-10 parts. Make a ball of each part and roll into a 7-8 inch round parathas.

Heat a griddle on medium heat and roast the paratha 5 min on each side. Brush with ghee or butter while roasting.

Serve hot with plain yogurt and mango pickle. Yummy breakfast!

Orange Almond Cookies

2008-07-18T15:50:00.000-07:00

Orange and almond two adorable flavours make these adorable, Orange Almond cookies. These are great as to snack upon any time of the day. I have made these using whole wheat flour in order to add the fibre content. This way I can have these cookies without feeling guilty about it.

Ingredients:

2 Eggs

1/3 cup Almonds

1/3 cup Sugar

4 tablespoon Ghee

Juice of one orange

Zest of 0ne orange

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup All purspose flour

1/2 tsp Baking powder/Pinch of Baking soda

Salt to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven at 350F.

Roast almonds and coarsly grind them. Zest the orange.

Mix half orange zest, half almonds and some sugar together. This mixture will be used to top the cookies.

Beat eggs using a whisk till it doubles in volume. Add orange juice, remaining zest and sugar to the eggs and mix well. Now add melted ghee (when cooled) to the wet ingredients and beat well.

In another bowl mix whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt half of the ground almonds and baking powder/soda. Keep aside.

And incorporate dry ingredients together by adding in 3-4 parts. Adding in parts ensures easy mixing.

Butter and flour the baking sheet. Put a scoopful of batter 2-3 inches apart. If the batter is too thin you can use the muffin tray to keep your cookies in shape. Now sprinkle the zest and almond topping on each cookie.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. When done cool on a wire rack. Serve as you like it!

Gajar Koshimbir

2008-07-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Koshimbir in marathi is similar to raita. Any combination of salad items with yoghurt or lemon juice can make a wonderful koshimbir. Maharashtrian favourite danyacha kut( coarsly grounded roasted peanuts) is also added to few of them.

This Gajar koshimbir is quick and can me made with minimun hassle. Its made with just 5 ingredients including salt. My mom made this for me once and since then it has become a regular in my household too.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized carrots grated

1 green chilli chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Coarsly grounded roasted peanuts

Salt as per taste

Directions:

Just mix all ingredients together and the gajar koshimbir is ready to accompany your favourite food.

Don't go on its simplicity. Make it once and taste it for yourself. Its really very crunchy, tangy and will add a burst of flavour to your every bite. Enjoy!

Homemade Khari or Pastry Puff

2008-07-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

I always wondered how khari must be made. As kid I used to like it very much.

I have tried making khari to know that the end result is nowhere close to it in my first attempt. In my second attempt though my khari came out perfectly fine, crisy and mutilayered, perfect texture and taste too. I was pleasantly surprised at myself.

My younger brother being a chef told me that you can't be assured about the end result of a perfect khari or pastry puff. But I still tried and will peasantly surprise him with this post of mine.

Ingredients:

1 cup All purpose flour

2.5 tbsp butter for kneading

Pinch of salt

3-4 tbsp milk

6-7 tbsp margarine or butter

Note: Margarine having a higher melting temperature will give better result. Butter being easily available, I have used butter. Just increase the refrigeration time when using butter.

Directions:

1) Mix salt and 2 1/2 tbsp butter in the flour to form a crumbly mixture. Knead this mixture using milk to form a little soft dough. Let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes in a cold place or refrigerator.
2) Take out the dough and kead well again. Divide it into 5 parts. Make a ball of each part and roll out a circular chapati making 5 flat breads.

3) Now take one flat bread and spread about 1 tbsp butter/margarine at room temperature on it evenly.

Cover with another flat bread.

4) Repeat for all 4 flat breads to form a layer of bread and butter. Cover with the 5th flat bread.

Keep this layered rotis in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

5)After 15 minutes, take out and roll it out to make little thinner. Then spread some more butter on top to form a thin layer of butter. Fold this into a square.

Square shape can be formed by closing the flap action on all four sides (right, left, up and down) .

6) Make sure that the buttered portion is completely covered. Refrigerate again for another 15-20 minutes.

7) Take out the folded pastry sheets. Roll it to make it thin. Again spread a thin layer of butter. Cover it folding properly and refrigerate.

8) Repeat this action for about 6-8 times. The intention of doing this is to make as many layers as possible. Refrigeration is done so that the layers are intact and do not mix into each other. Chilled butter in between the layers keeps the layers separate.

9) When you are satsified that enough layers are made the finally roll (roll lightly otherwise butter will come our tearing the dough) the dough into a flat bread of about an inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes( squares, rectangles or triangle etc).

10)Refrigerate again before baking. Store the extra pieces in a ziplock bag and keep in freezer. Use as and when reuired.

Baking Instructions:

Preheat the oven at 450F. Line the pastry sheet pieces on a baking tray.

Pop the baking tray in the oven and turn down the oven temperature to 400F.

Bake for 15-25 minutes.

Enjoy with a hot cup of tea. Wonderful tea time snack!

Variations/Note: Any kind of filling (apples, pears, some sauted veggies etc) can be used to make different varieties of puffs or turnovers using these pastry sheet.

Apple Turnovers: Put peeled and chopped apples, sugar and cinnamon mixture on a 4 inch square pastry sheet. Fold diagonally and seal the edges. Bake following the baking instructions to make a perfect Apple Turnover.

Peach Turnovers: Same as apple turnover just add peaches instead of apples.

Veg Puff: Put sauted cabbage sabji on the pastry sheet, fold to form a rectangular shape and seal properly. Bake as per the above instructions. Veg Puff is ready.

Make your own variations! Happy Baking!

Uttappa

2008-07-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

Uttappa or the Indian Pizza as my husband calls it, is an eye appealing snack. Its easy to make, filling and healthy(as most of the south indian food is) at the same time.

Ingredients:

Dosa/Uttappa batter (refer my previous posts)

Onions finely chopped

Green chillies finely chopped

Tomatoes finely choppped

Oil

Salt as per taste

Directions:

Take the dosa batter thats fermented properly and add salt to it. Mix well.

Heat a griddle on medium-high heat. Brush some oil .

Now add a laddle full of uttappa batter and spread evenly using the bottom of the laddle. Form about 1/3rd inch think pancake.

Spread the chopped onions, green chillies and tomatoes on top.

After 4-5 minutes turn it to cook on the sides of the topping. Cook for few minutes.

Uttappa is ready. Serve hot with coconut chutney or just like that.

Its so easy to make, no wonder the picture posted above is the Uttappa made by my hubby. It tasted yum!

Samosa

2008-07-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Samosa is the most popular Indian snack around the world. Liked by one and all, its a very filling snack. Its unique triangular solid shape makes it stand apart from a variety of appetizers.

The fillings can vary to make different varieties of samosa like paneer samosa, keema samosa or the authentic potato stuffed samosa. You can think of any innovative fillings and make a different samosa altogether.

Recipe for the original potato filled samosa.

Ingredients:

For Crust:

2 cups All purpose flour

4 tbsp soft butter or ghee

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon carom seeds(ajwain)

Water to knead the dough (Use milk for kneading if you are planning to bake the samosas instead of deep frying)

For Filling:

2 Large sized boiled potatoes

1 medium sized onion chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

3-4 green chillies coarsly chopped

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Salt as per taste

2 tablespoon Oil

1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds

1/2 cup green peas(optional)

2 tablespoon fresh corriander coarsly chopped

Few Curry leaves

1 teaspoon garam masala(if you like it spicy)

Directions:

Mix flour, butter/ghee salt and carom seeds to form a coarse crumble. Knead with water or milk depending on your cooking style. If you are planning to bake knead with 4 tablespoon milk. Otherwise knead with water.

Keep aside in a cool place or refrigerator for few minutes.

Now for making the stuffing, heat oil in a pan. Add Mustard seeds when oil is hot. When mustard seeds splutter add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Now add garlic, onions and green chillies. Saute till onions turn translucent. Now add turmeric, salt and garam masala(optional). Saute well.

Now Add boiled and chopped potatoes and peas. Mix well and cook covered for few minutes.

When done garnish with corriander. This Stuffing is a mutlipurpose one. Its used as masala in masala dosa, filling for batata-vada(vada of the vada pav), as a side dish in main course Indian food, its stuffed in breadpakodas too. Truely versatile.

For making samosas: Take out the dough and knead well to make it soft. Divide in appx 5-6 balls. Roll out each ball into a cirular sheet. Cut it into halves. Whole dough will make 10-12 semicircular sheets.

Take one sheet and make a cone shape out of it, keeping the center of the semicircle as your one corner of the cone. Fill the potato stuffing inside it and seal edges of the cone. Similarly make all the samosas.

For baking preheat the oven at 375 degree F. Line samosas on a baking tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Or Deep fry the samosa in vegetable or canola oil on medium heat. Fry them till nice golden brown in color. Drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Serve with tamarind or pudina chutney. Or Simply serve with fried green chillies like you get on a street food shop.

Or Serve with yogurt on top to make a samosa chaat. Top with tamarind and pudina chutney, some chopped onions, some fine shev, chaat masala, salt and chilli powder.

Or Serve as appetizers in the party if you are planning a light main course.

Enjoy your samosa as per your taste and mood!

Dosa/Uttapa Batter

2008-06-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Dosa batter is something which allows you to make a variety of dishes out of the same batter. Once made, the batter can serve for almost whole week with the quick dosas or uttapas.

Every home has its own proportions for making the dosa batter. Here is my version of the dosa batter recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup Urad dal
2 & 1/2 cups Rice
1/2 cup Chana dal (optional)
1 teaspoon methi(fenugreek) seeds

Directions:
Urad daal and rice are taken in 1 : 2.5 proportion. Increase the urad daal proportion if you want soft dosa. For thin and crispy dosa increase rice proportion.

Soak all the ingredients together in 4-5 cups of water for few hours. 3-4 hours should be enough to soak the dal and rice mixture.

Now strain the water and grind the mixture to the consistency where the paste looks fine but when touched feels coarse grains (grain size of fine rava) of rice. Adding extra water while grinding is not required.

Let the mixture rest in a warm place for 8-10 hours or overnight.

After the batter is fermented overnight, its ready to use for making dosa or uttapa.

It can be stored in the refrigerator for around a week.

Akki Roti with Palak Dal

2008-06-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Akki roti is roti made with rice flour. Its not very soft like the wheat roti but somewhat like makke ki roti. Its texture and taste makes it different and special. I have had these rotis in one of the Darshinis in Bangalore(Jayanagar 4rd block). And then on I went on looking for its recipe. Found various recipes on the net. Tried it myself trying to make it closer to the one I had tasted in bangalore.

I have just added cumin seeds, salt, crushed green chilles and finely chopped onions to the rice flour while kneading. This ensured the ease while rolling chapatis. For more taste and color you can also add grated coconut and carrots.

Ingredients:
2 cups Rice flour
1 green chilli crushed
1 small onions finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
Salt as per taste
Hot water to knead
Ghee for brushing

Directions:

Mix onions, chilly paste, salt and cumin seeds and little ghee with the flour.

Now add hot water and knead the dough. Keep covered with a damp cloth for 5-10 min.

After 10 min knead the dough well to make it soft. Use some ghee if required.

Divide into 8-10 balls.

Spread some flour on the table top and roll into chapati . Take care to roll lighty or it will break apart.

Heat griddle on medium high heat. Now roast the rolled chapati on the it. Cook on both side brushing with ghee.

Serve with coconut chutney or sambar.

I have served akki roti with Palak dal. Following is the recipe of palak daal.

Palak Dal:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds followed by chopped garlic and onions and broken red chillies. Now add cumin and corriander powder, salt and turmeric. Saute well. Now add spinach and cook till its raw smell goes off. Add tomatoes and cooks till tomatoes are tender. Now add cooked split green pigeon pea dal which was already boiled till mushy. Mix well and bring it to boil. Now add little tamarind pulp with a pinch of sugar/jaggery. Cook for few more min. Serve hot with Akki Roti.

This combination worked very well with me. It was a good change from the regular chapatis.

Malai Kulfi

2008-06-07T16:02:00.000-07:00

Another Summer cooler here! May be summer is just an excuse to make this yummy kulfi. You can make malai kulfi with very little effort. But you have wait min 6 hrs for it to frezze completely before its ready to be served.

Ingredients:

4 cups of milk

1 cup fresh cream/whipping cream

1 cup of cool whip/whipped cream

1/3 cup Coarsly grounded almonds and pistachios

2 teaspoons of freshly grounded cardamom

1/2 cup Sugar

Directions:

Bring milk to boil. Reduce it to half while stirring constantly on medium heat. Mix sugar and let it cool.

If you dont want to do any cooking here then use 2 cups of evaporated milk instead of milk.

Now in a mixing bowl add reduced/evaporated milk, cream and cool whip. Whisk prroperly to incorporate eveything together. Then add the grounded nuts and cardamom. Mix well using a whisk or a mixer.

Transfer to the elongated kulfi mould or small glass. Cover with a foil and freeze for min 6 hrs.

When chilled take out from the freeze. Pierce a stick into it. Dip the mould lightly in water to loosen the kulfi. Take out the stick with kulfi. Its ready to enjoy!

You can also put it in a big long glass and cover wih foil while freeezing. Cut into slices after taken out from freezer. Decorate with choped nuts. Its ready to relish!

Pastry Shell Kachori

2008-06-07T14:42:00.000-07:00

"Pastry shell Kachori" sounds interesting isn't it? Ya even I was excited when that came to my mind. But actual execution was little time consuming, may be because I started with making my own pastry shell instead of using the readymade ones. Otherwise the recipe is easy, tasty and ideal to be served as an appetizer at the parties. Its an effort to " remix" the kachori by presenting it in new avatar :). If you are also interested make note of the recipe.

Ingredients:

For Filling:

1 cup yellow Moong dal

1 small Onion finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon Corriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon corriander powder

1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

salt as per taste

2 tablespoon oil

You can use the ready made pastry shells. They are easy to use. If you plan to make your own note ingredients.

For Pastry shells:

2 cup All purpose flour

5 tbsp butter at room temp

Salt

Cold water to knead

Directions:

Mix flour. salt and butter till a crumbly mixture is formed. Add cold water little by little and knead the dough. Wrap in a plastic sheet and refrigerate for half an hour.

Soak moong dal for half and hour and then boil in enough water for 5 minutes. Strain all water and coarsly grind it or use it whole. Its good either way, but I have grounded it a little so that the masala sticks to most of the dal.

Now heat oil in a pan. Add all the seeds. When the seeds crackle add onions and cook till onions turrn light brown. Now add all the powders and mix well. Add the dal now, mix well and put off the flame.

Now take out the pastry dough from refrigerator. Let it rest for 5 min. Now its ready to work with. Take a small portion on your palm and turn into a ball. Now roll into a circle of 3-4 inches.

Preheat the oven at 450F.

Now put a spoonful of the dal filling in the middle of the pastry circle. Now make 4 Z shape folds at four corners to form a shell filled with stuffing. Similarly form all your filled shells and line on a baking tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Then take out from the oven. Put a small piece of mozarella cheese on each shell and sprinkle a small amount of the garlic-herb seasoning.

Put it back in the oven and bake for 3-5 min. Its just for the cheese to melt and form a tempting top layer.

Serve the pastry shell kachories with tamarind or pudina chutney. They are bitesize and perfect to kick start the party.

These "Pastry Shell Kachories" is my entry for theMonthly Mingle-Appetizers & Hors'Doeuvres. Some more details at Meeta's blog.

Puneri Daal Khichadi

2008-06-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

I came across Daal Khichadi in menu cards of the restaurants in Pune. Khichadi is favourite comfort food but Daal Khichadi sounded different. I tried it once and then ordered it over and over again whenver I went to restaurants in Kothrud or JM road. Its really a delicious comfort food. It resembles to the karnataka's Bisibelle bhat but its not that spicy.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked Toovar dal (split pigeon peas)

1/2 cup curd

2 cups steamed rice

1 medium sized onion finely chopped

2 cloved of garlic chopped

2 red/green chillies cut into big chunks

2 medium sized tomatoes diced

2 tablespoon Ghee

1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

3-4 Whole Black peppers

Few curry leaves

1/2 teaspoon corriander powder

1/4 teaspoon garam masala

Salt to taste

Directions:

Daal should be boiled with little oil and turmeric, till mushy and form a thick paste.

1. Heat ghee in a pan. Add fenugreek seeds, mustard and cumin seeds. Let them crackle.

2. Add peppers, onions, garlic, chillies and curry leaves. Saute till onions turn light brown.

3. Add tomatoes. Cook till tomatoes are tender.

4. Add corriander powder, garam masala and salt. Saute well.

5. Now add curd and lower the heat. Cook for 2 min.

6. Add cooked daal. Mix well to incorporate curd and daal together.

7. Add 2 cup of water to loosen the mixture. Bring it to boil.

8. Now add steamed rice and cook covered on low flame for 10 min.

Serve with some potato chips and little butter on top of the Daal Khichadi.

The Egg Affair

2008-05-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Egg is the saviour of all lazy cooks. Scramble, omlette, boiled eggs, egg curry, casserole, french toast and not to mention so many yummy desserts. Its nutritious and gives you a wide variety of recipes. Its the perfect binder and stabilizer.
Some quick egg recipes for a lazy day when we are in no mood of cooking but still want to eat something homemade.

Scrambled eggs:
Scrambled eggs are all about technique. Its just butter, eggs, milk or cheese, salt and pepper.
Add butter to the pan on medium heat. When butter melts add lightly beaten eggs (about 3 eggs). Keep stirring lightly with the spatula. Keep scooping with the spatula from oustide to the inside ( in a circular pan, its like drawing a radius over the egg mixture) and then spread again. Keep the motion on till the eggs mixture is still moist. Now add cheese, let it melt and mix with the eggs. When cheese is just mixed well, season with salt and pepper. Dont let the eggs dry up. Put off the heat when scrambled eggs are creamy. Serve with toast and some stirr fried vegetables.

Omlette: For Omlette no trick is required. Beat the eggs, mix finely chopped onions, green chillies and salt.You can also add your favourite vegetables like cabbage, capsicum, tomatoes etc. On a heated pan, brush some butter or oil. Pour the mixture and move the pan in circular motion for the mixture to spread evenly all over. When omlette is firm, you can turn it and cook on the other side. Serve with toast or chapati or just like that.

Half Fry: Heat little oil in a pan on medium heat. Break two eggs on the pan itself (beating not required). Let it spread on its own. Season with salt and pepper. Dont turn it, let the beautiful yellow yolks be seen whole on the white background. And dont overcook it. Trick is to cook it on medium-low heat.

French Toast: Whisk 3 eggs with 1/3 cup milk, sugar and some cinnamon/cardamom powder.
Soak the bread slices in the egg mix on both sides. In the pan spread liitle butter, when butter melts put the soaked bread slice and cook on both sides till golden brown. Serve hot with some strawberry or chocolate syrup on it.....yummy!

Savoury French Toast: This is my favourite dish. Beat 3-4 eggs, season with salt. Add chopped onions and green chillies. Now cut the bread pieces in diagonally into triangular halves. Soak the bread in the beaten egg mixture on both sides and shallow fry with some oil in the pan. Turn over and fry on the other side till it turns golden brown. Serve with tomato ketchup. Its really Yummy!

Boiled Eggs: Just boil the eggs with enough water to cover the eggs for around 20 min. When done peel, cut into half, season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Boiled Egg n' chutney Sandwich: Cut boiled egg into half. Spread green chutney on both halves of the Sandwich bun. Club the boiled eggs halves and onion slices between them.

Green Chutney: Grind together corriander, green chillies, mint leaves, and few garlic cloves and little cocunut. Add cumin seeds and salt for taste. Green chutney is ready.

Boiled Egg Bhaji: Cut the boiled eggs into small pieces. In a pan heat oil. Add Mustard and cumin seeds. Then add finely chopped one medium sized onion and few garlic cloves. Saute till onions turn light brown. Season with salt, red chilli powder(1/2 teaspoon) and garam masala (1/2 teaspoon). Now add the egg pieces. Saute well and serve with Chapati. Its tastes very good!

Egg Bhurji: Egg bhurji is the Indian scrambled egg. Here we put the tadka and cook the eggs really well till the egg mixture turns into small crumbles.
In a pan heat oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they splutter, add finely chopped onions, garlic and green chillies. Saute till onions turn light brown. Now add turmeric and salt. Mix well. Now break the 3-4 eggs directly into this tadka. Mix well stirring constantly on medium-high heat. Stir well till the eggs turn crumbly and no moisture is left behind. All chunks of the egg mix should appear distinct. Oil will be seen on the sides of the pan. Egg bhurji is ready. Serve with Bread slices or chapati/paratha.

So many yummy and quick dishes can be made with eggs (though I have not covered the desserts here) and that makes it so adorable. Its a perfect breakfast element. Its a must in my kitchen!

Paneer Bhurji

2008-05-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

Paneer bhurji is a quick dish made with paneer. Paneer is so versatile, I feel its the vegetarian's meat. But it delights the vegetarians and non vegetarians equally. From Kebabs, tikkas, different curries, paratha and bhurji too. Paneer can make a perfect recipe for special occasions as well as everyday cooking, like this one!

Ingredients:
Fresh paneer finely chopped or crumbled
1 Onion finely chopped
2 Green chillies
Few curry leaves
Cumin & mustard seeds
1 tbsp Oil
Salt as per taste
1 pinch of turmeric

Method:
In a pan heat oil and add mustard and cumin seeds. Add onions, chillies and curry leaves and saute till onions turn light brown. Add paneer and mix well. Now season with salt and turmeric. Cook for 5-10 min. Crumbled or chopped paneer cooks quickly. Paneer bhurji is ready in just 15 min.
Serve with phulka or paratha. Its good to go in lunch box too.

Chiwda

2008-05-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Its the ultimate homemade snack for munching while you are travelling. Its also one of the main items in the Diwali Faral(Festive snack). It may make so many hostellites nostalgic thinking how they have survived on the chiwda and how chiwda kept their taste buds happy when they had no option for the mess food :(
So lets indulge in the chiwda making process to discover what was the secret of those memories apart from mom's love in it :)

Ingredients:

4 cups Thin Poha (Rice flakes)

Onions thinly sliced (1 cup)

Green chillies slit

Peanuts

2-3 Garlic cloves(thinly sliced)

Saunf (fennel seeds)

Cumin and mustard seeds (I can't do without these)

Salt

Turmeric

Chilli powder (optional)

Curry leaves

Corriander leaves

Oil

Thinly sliced dry coconut

Method:

Lightly roast the poha in a pan till little crispy and keep aside.

In a pan add 1/3 cup oil enough for frying. Fry the peanuts and keep aside.

Add Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, onions, garlic and slit chillies. Fry onions and garlic on medium heat till it turns brown and crispy ( this will take at least 10-15 min). Add Fennel seeds, curry leaves and corriander and coconut slices. Fry till coconut is light brown in color. Now add the remaining ingredients i.e salt, turmeric, chilli powder. Mix well. Now add the fried peanuts and roasted poha. Mix well till all the poha mixes well and not a single poha is white in color. Mix till the whole mixture takes same yellow color.

Let the chiwda cool completely. Then store in an airtight container.

Whenever you feel the urge for some munching action, you know which container to look upto!

Tava Gobi/ Cauliflower in Griddle

2008-05-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Tava Gobi is an instant dry sabji that goes well with soft parathas or curd rice. Its simple recipe makes it ideal for the bachelors. Only extra thing to do here is the cleaning part of the cauliflowers. As we all know that a cauliflower may turn a veggie into a non-veggie :) (considering the insects it may have :)). It becomes so imperative to wash it thoroughly with salt in warm water. But don't be discouraged with the effort, as the end product is absolutely worth it!

Note the Ingredients:

Cauliflower florets thoroughly washed,

2-3 Garlic cloves

2 Green chillies finely chopped

1/2 tsp Mustard and cumin seeds

1 tbsp Oil

1 tsp Garam masala powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric

Salt as per taste(apprx 1/2 tsp)

Fresh Corriander

Method:

Heat oil in a tava/griddle. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds followed by pressed garlic cloves and Cauliflower florets. Saute on medium heat for about 5 min. Then add green chillies, salt, turmeric and garam masala powder. Cook uncovered for another 5 -10 min taking care that the florets dont stick to the tava. When done put off the heat.Garnish with fresh corriander/cilantro.

Serve the nice n crunchy tava gobi with chapati/paratha or curd rice.

The Foodie Blogroll

2008-05-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a good news for all the silent food bloggers who want to make their presence felt online! There is a wonderful blogroll dedicated to the food related blogs "Foodie Blogroll".

Foodie Blogroll is one of its kind online. If you have a Food related blog, submit it to the list and experience the increased popularity of your blog.

Isn't it true that appreciation inspires you to work better and harder? Here you can meet so many fellow food bloggers, get to know them through their Culinary art. You definately get inspired and that brings the best in you!

Join the Ultimate source of recipes and Cooking sites. Explore the vast culinary knowledge and treat your family with some wonderful recipes. Check out the Foodie Blogroll!

Pav Bhaji

2008-05-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Pav Bhaji is another simple recipe. I am trying to make it more simple for the bachelor section.

Ingredients:
4 Potatoes
1 cup tomato puree
1/3 cup Green peas(optional)
1 1/2 tbsp Everest Pav bhaji masala
1/2 tbsp red chilli powder( or as per taste)
Salt for taste
4 tbsp Butter
Cilantro/Corriander for garnish

4-6 Pav or buns

Finely chopped onions and one lemon cut into quarter for serving

Directions:
Peel and dice the potatoes. In a pan add 2 cups of water and add the potatoes and boil.
Diced potatoes will cook fast and cooking in pan will save the cleaning effort of an extra vessel used for boiling potatoes :)

When potatoes are tender, mash them with a masher. Add tomato puree and rest of the ingredients. Add little water if required. Keep stiring till the nice familiar pav bhaji aroma starts spreading. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

In another pan heat pav or buns with liberal amount of butter till light brown on both sides.

Serve bhaji and pav with finely chopped onions and lemon pieces. Put some more butter on bhaji while serving.

Tomato soup with Garlic Toast

2008-05-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

The first thing my husband served me, after my tiring India to US flight, was Tomato soup and garlic toast. It was his rescue recipe and he survived on it for some 6 months.
He was using Campbell tomato soup and frozen garlic toast. But the soup was sort of not so tasty as my tastebuds were used to the flavourful and spicy indian food.

Then I showed him the twist to the tomato soup adding just simple flavours to it. And his eyes went bright when he tasted the same soup he was having for so many months.

Well, what I did was very simple.

Directions:

Pour the campbell tomato soup in a vessel, adding 1 cup of water. Bring it to boil. Add 1 tbsp butter, finely chopped garlic (2 cloves), some salt and pepper.Cook for 10 min. Garnish with chopped cilantro while serving.

Serve with Garlic toast. Texas toast in the oven 475F for 10-15 min.

Just the tomato soup and garlic taost can be comfort food in the winters.

Welcome to the Bachelor Cooking

2008-05-21T09:45:00.000-07:00

These days we are visiting different countries, living away from families for work. For the bachelors it becomes difficult to manage the cooking along with long office hours. Even the separated(due to work related reasons :)) couples have to rely on outside food. But it will certainly have ill effects on the body in the long run.

Some of us might have never entered the kithcen or have a cooking phobia :)

This is my effort to offer some hassle free, easy to cook recipes for the people pressed for time and new cooks fed up with outside food.

Trust me cooking is fun and cooking all by ourselves is an achievement in itself!

Banana Cake Trifle

2008-05-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to serve the chocolate banana cake with fresh ripe bananas. What better way than a trifle for serving the cake? It definately adds to the eye appeal and enhances the taste as well.

Ingredients:
Chocolate Banana cake without frosting (refer previous recipe)
Bananas
Chopped dry fruits
Grated coconut
Whipped cream
Strawberry jelly

Method:
Toast the dry fruits and coconut at 400F for 10 min.
In a glass arrange a layer of banana cake. Then some banana slices. Next layer of strawberry jelly, follwed by toasted dry fruits and coconut. Now cover with whipped cream. Garnish with remaining toasted dry fruits, coconut and remaining banana slices.

Repeat the layers depending upon your glass length.

Banana chocolate cake

2008-05-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Banana cake is super simple to make and extremely tasty. Here the banana work as flavouring agent as well as a substitute for the eggs ...good for the veggies!
This recipe contains egg (just one) but can be made without it also. The chocolate and banana flavours go so well together that the chocolate banana cake will become your favourite cake! It requires minimal whipping!
Frosting is also simple and eggless!

Ingredients for cake:
2 Bananas
1/2 cup melted Semisweet chocolate
1 cup Milk
1 Egg
1.5 cup All purpose flour
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup melted Butter
pinch of Salt
1.5 tbsp Baking soda
1.5 tbsp Vanilla extract

Ingredients for Frosting:
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate
1 cup cream
1 Mashed banana (optional)
Strawerry syrup

Chopped almonds/walnuts for garnish.

Method:
Preheat the oven at 350 degree F.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt together and keep aside these dry ingredients.
In a mixing bowl add melted chocolate, sugar, egg, mashed bananas, milk, liquid butter and vanilla extract.
Now put dry ingredients to the wet ones in three parts, one third at a time. You can also add some chopped walnuts if u like.
Butter and flour the baking dish and shift the mixture into it.
Now bake at 350F for 30-35 min. Insert a toothpick, if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Let it cool.

For the frosting, melt butter in a pan on medium heat, add 1/2 cup cream to it. When it just comes to a boil put off the heat and add chocolate to the butter cream mixture. Chocolate will melt in the warm mixture.
Let it cool in the refrigerator for 30-45 min. Add remaining whipped cream to it and the mashed banana or banana smoothie. Cool for another 10-15 min .
Sprinkle strawberry syrup on the cake and then cover it with the frosting. Garnish with chopped almonds or walnuts.

As we have added mashed bananna to the frosting it better to eat it fresh. If you wish to store it then make the frosting without banana just with chocolate, cream and butter.

Banana cake is too good to resist!

Pasta in spinach sauce

2008-05-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

I am a great fan of spinach and like to add it to almost every recipe. Here is a spinach twist for the Pasta along with crunch of the corns!

Ingredients:
Pasta 1 pack (spaghetti)
Spinach 1 bunch
Boiled corns 1/2 cup
Rosted garlic 2-3cloves
Flour 2 tbsp
Butter 4 oz (half stick)
Milk 1 cup
Salt and Pepper

Method:
Boil Water in a tall vessel and put pasta. Boil till cooked well. Remove water and set aside.
Puree spinach with roasted garlic and set aside.
In another pan put butter. Add flour when butter melts. When flour and butter are nicely incorporated add milk to make nice white sauce. Now add garlic and spinach puree, followed by boiled corns. Let it cook till the raw smell of the spinach disappears. Remove from heat
Mix boiled pasta with green sauce and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to a serving platter. Garnish with fresh herbs like basil or cilantro.
Spinach corn pasta is ready to eat!

P.S:

Roasted Garlic: Cut off the upper 1/2 inch of the whole garlic. Bake in the owen for 45 min. Garlic cloves turn brown. Just push the back of the garlic and roasted cloves come out like a brown colored paste. It can be stored for later use.

Shrimps in poppy seed gravy

2008-04-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Vijayta's shrimp recipe. I must tell you it tastes so yummy that it will leave you craving for more.

Ingredients:
2 cups medium sized raw Shrimps
1 1/2 tbsp Poppy seeds
1 1/2 tbsp grated Cocunut
2 medium sized Onions
2 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
2 Green chillies
1 bunch Curry leaves
2 tbsp Tamarind pulp
1/2 tspTurmeric powder
1/2 tsp Chilly powder
1 tsp Dry Corriander powder
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds
Fresh Corriander
Salt
Oil

Method:
Dry roast poppy seeds and grated cocunut and make paste of these ingredients adding little water.
Run the Shrimps under warm water with some salt, dry and set aside. Marinate with ginger garlic paste and turmeric and salt and chilly powder.
Now in a pan add some oil and fry the marinated Shrimps. Shirmps should be cooked before adding to the gravy.
Now in another pan add oil, some mustard and cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds. Add finely chopped onions, saute till onions turn light brown.Then add salt and green chillies cut in small pieces. Now add bunch of curry leaves and turmeric and cook for some time...When the onions are little soft add GG paste and cook for sometime. Add chilly powder and corriander powder. When done add that poppy seed paste we made and some water.
Let it cook till the paste leaves oil. At this time the mixture will become thick. Now add the shrimps, cook for 5 minutes and then add the tamarind juice . To adjust the consistency add water and simmer it and let it cook for 5-7 minutes. Add salt if needed and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with steamed rice!

Palak missi roti/ Spinach flavoured Indian Flat bread

2008-04-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Missi roti is made with Besan(chickpea flour), wheat flour and jowar or bajara(millet) flour together. Its a mixed grain roti. Delicious as well as nutritous. A whole meal in itself.

Ingredients:
1 cup Wheat flour/ Atta
1 cup Besan(Chickpea flour)
1 cup Jowar or Bajara(Millet) flour
1 bunch of Spinach (puree)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Aajjwain (carom seeds)
Paste of 2 green Chillies
Paste of 2 garlic cloves(optional)
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil
Ghee(Clarified Butter) for brushing the roti

Procedure:
Knead a dough mixing all ingredients expect ghee, with warm water. Divide in 12 equal parts. Take one part and roll into a chapati. Roast on the tava(griddle) on medium-high heat, 3-4 min on each side. Brush with ghee on top. And Palak missi roti is ready.
It can be served with any Indian curry specially Sambhar. Its great to pack for lunch and goes well with some butter or curd or some chutney.

Shakarkand pakoda ( Sweet Potato Fritter)

2008-04-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

Sweet potato pakoda is my recipe inspired by the pumpkin sweet pakoda. I have just replaced the pumkin with sweet potato. The pumpkin pakoda is treated as the sweet feast for the guest in the rural vidardha region of Maharashtra. But its simplicity is the key to its wonderful taste. Your kids will just love it and will ask for more! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
3- medium sized sweet potatos
1 cup All purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3 tsp poppy seeds
1/3 cup of grated coconut (optional)
Oil for frying

Directions:

Boil or steam the sweet potatoes. Peel and mash them. Add sugar, cardamom powder, flour, poppy seeds and shredded cocunut. Mix well to form a semi-thick dough (little thicker than cake mix consistency).
Heat oil in a kadhai or frying pan on medium heat. Put the pakoras with hand or small spoon.
Fry till golden brown. Serve hot.

Drizzle some honey or date syrup while serving. Garnish with coconut.

Pineapple Sheera

2008-03-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

This is the sheera with chopped pineapple in it. The already good tasting sheera goes to a new height when pineapple flavour combines with it.

Ingredients:
Rava / Suji - 1 1/2 cups
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Milk - 2 cups
Chopped pineapple - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Pineapple essence - 1/2 tsp
Saffron - few threads dissolved in milk
Crushed cashew nuts - 1/2 cup
Pinch of salt

Preparation:
1. Heat ghee in the pan. Add rava and fry till golden brown.Keep moving constantly so that it doesn't burn.
2. Now add the pineapples. Saute for few minutes.
3. Add Hot milk, sugar, half of the cashew nuts, cardammom powder, pineapple essence, saffron and salt.
4. Let it cook on medium heat till all the milk is absorbed and ghee starts to separate from the sheera. If required add some more milk and cook till milk is reduced.
5. Transfer into a serving platter and garnish with remaining Cashewnuts.
Delicious pineapple sheera is ready to eat.

Eggless peach-orange-chocolate cake

2008-03-19T10:51:00.001-07:00

This cake is a good idea for all vegetarians out there.......who so much want to grab a bite of the yummy cake but keep away from it because of the eggs used in its preparation! Now you can have a yummy cake without even feeling guilty about it!

Ingredients:
Peach flavoured yogurt - 1 1/2 cups
Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
Orange juice - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Grated chocolate - 1/4 cup
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Zest of 1 orange
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:
1. Make sure that butter is at room temp. Beat it well with the sugar .
2. Now add remaining wet ingredients i.e Yogurt, condensed milk, orange juice.
3. Keep beating in one direction to incorporate lot of air.
4. Now add the flovouring i.e Orange zest, grated chocolate and chocolate chips and salt.Mix well.
5. Add the flour and keep mixing in one direction, 1/2 cup at a time. Repeat till whole flour is mixed well.
6. Preheat the oven at 375 Degree F.
7. Add the baking soda and mix well to incorporate it. Pop in the oven for 30-40 min.
8. After the cake is done ....it looks yummy with nice brown crust!
Let it cool and serve with or without icing.

Santra(Orange) Burfi-Nagpur Special

2008-03-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

Amongst all the citrus flavour, orange flavour is the most mouth watering! And belonging to the city of oranges, how can the recipe of orange burfi be left behind in my blog? Here's it for all the sweet lovers.

Ingredient:
Peeled and Grated Lauki (bottle gourd)- 2 cups
Thick Orange pulp -1 cup (or 2 peeled oranges)
Zest of 1 orange
Ghee - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Condensed milk - 1 1/2 cups
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Chopped dry fruits - 1/2 cup

Preparation:
1. Heat ghee in a pan.
2. Fry grated lauki (bottle gourd) in the ghee till it becomes tender.
3. Now add the peeled oranges, orange zest and sugar.
4. Keep stirring on medium heat till the mixture thickens.
5. Now add the condensed milk and cardamon powder.
6. Keep stirring till the mixture becomes thick enough to be flattened into burfi.
7. Take it off heat and pour on a buttered flat surface. Garnish with chopped dry fruits
8. Let it cool and cut into square/diamond shape. Orange burfi is ready to be relished!
Can be refrigerated for 2-3 days.

Kalakand

2008-03-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Kalakand is the simplest and yummy Indian sweet. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
3 cups of milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice/ vinegar
pistachio and almonds

Preparation:
Bring 2 cups of milk to boil. Dilute the lemon juice or vinegar in little water and add little by little to the boiling milk until the milk starts curdling. Remove from heat as soon as the milk is curdled. Strain out the water and keep aside the 'chenna' or soft paneer. Now in another vessel add remaining milk, chenna, sugar and reduce the mixture stirring constantly on medium heat.

Put of the heat when the milk is reduced and a thick granulated mixture is left. Spread it over the greased plate. Let it cool and cut into squares or diamonds. Garnish with the cut dry fruits on top.

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Tangy Chicken

2008-02-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

An interesting chicken recipe came to my mind while surfing through the savouries and desserts section back to back. Here it is for you to try:

Ingredients for Chicken:

Chicken breast -2
Ginger garlic paste
Chilli powder
Cumin powder
Corriander powder
Garam masala
Salt to taste
Oil
Preparation: Mix all the ingredients except chicken breasts. Coat the chicken breasts with the mixture and let it marinate for an hour. In a pan heat some oil and then put the chicken breast. Turn as and when required until the chicken becomes nice cripsy and brown. Keep aside in a serving dish when cooked properly.

Ingredients for Sauce:

Tamarind pulp - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 2 teaspoonful
Ginger garlic paste
1 Onion paste
Curry leaves
Black grapes pulp (1/3rd ofa cup)
Black grapes (cup into half- 8to 10 nos.)
Green chillies
Salt
Pepper

Preparation: The pan where chicken was cooked will have the juices of chicken along with its flavours. Heat some oil in that pan and put green chillies, onion paste, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, jaggery salt and pepper. Pour in the tamarind pulp. Add 1 cup of water followed by black grape pulp and half cut grapes. Let it cook till you get the consistency of the sauce . Serve hot on top of the Chicken. Some salad will be a good combination along with the Chicken n' Tamarind sauce.
Give it a try! Its very simple and delicious!

Masala Bhaat/Spicy Rice Maharashtrian style

2008-02-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
Basmati rice 2 cups
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Garlic -5-6 cloves
Green chillies - 3
Shredded Coconut -1/2 cup
Cinnomom sticks- 2 no.
Black Cardamom - 2 no.
Cloves - 3 no.
Green Cardamom- 2 no.
Black pepper seeds - 5-6 no.
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoonful
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoonful
Bay leaves -2 no.
Oil
Salt
Turmeric - 1 teaspoonful
Diced selected vegetables(potatoes, cauliflower, green peas etc)
Cashew nuts and peanuts
Corriander

Preparation:
Wash and drain the basmati rice. Add 3-4 cups of water and soak for 1/2 an hour.
Roast the Cinnamon, black and green cardamom and cloves. Grind it in mixer to make a fine powder.
Make a fine paste of ginger, garlic, coconut and green chillies.
Heat 2 tablespoon of oil or ghee in a vessel/cooker. Fry the peanuts and cashews. Keep aside.
Add Bay leaves, mustard and cumin seeds and pepper corns. Add the coconut paste and mix well. Add the dry powder and mix well. Add the peanuts and vegetables and cook for a min. Season with Salt and turmeric. Now Add the soaked and drained rice. Add three cups of water. When water comes to boil and rice absorbs the water, put on the lid and cook on low heat for another 15 min.

Garnish with fried cashews and corriander. Masala bhaat is ready to serve.

Peanut-Jaggery Chikki/ Peanut Brittle

2008-02-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

The peanut chikki was a favourite sweet of the kids even before chocolates became so popular!
Its full of iron and gives warmth to the body. So its good to have peanut chikki during winters. And its super simple to make!

Ingredients:
Peanuts 1 cup
Jaggery 1 cup
Ghee 1 teaspoon

Preparation:
Mix Jaggery with 1/2 water in a pan and keep on medium heat. The Jaggery will mix thoroughly with water.

Meanwhile roast the Peanuts, Remove the skin and keep aside.

Keep stirring the jaggery mixture. When the jaggery starts boiling and thickening, add 1 teaspoon of ghee. Adding ghee will lighten the brown color of the jaggery mix. It will ensure that the chikki becomes brittle/crispy and non-sticky when cooled. Now add the roasted peanuts and mix well.

Oil a flat dish and spread some flour on it. Pour the Jaggery-peanut mixture on the oiled and floured dish . Spread it evenly to form a layer of 1/2 inch and let it cool.

When cooled down completely, invert the dish and the chikki will come out.

The delicious chikki is ready to eat. Break it and serve it. (It can also be cut on the dish before cooling).

Note: Instead of peanuts, Kaju or Seasame seeds can be used to make Kaju chikki or Til Chikki.

Puran Poli/Festive Sweet(Stuffed flat bread)

2008-02-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

Make me think of the sweets I like the most .....and the first dish that comes to my mind is the Puran Poli. When I was a kid, I often wondered how can someone not like puran poli ???
We used to wait for most of the festivals to munch on our favourite sweet .......and Aaji and Aaai's touch to it used to make it a heavenly experience for the tastebuds.

Here is the recipe of delicious puran poli!

Ingredients:
Chana Daal(Split Chickpeas) 2 cups
Sugar or Jaggery 1 cup
Salt
Cardamom powder
Nutmeg powder
Ghee(Clarified Butter)
Wheat flour/All purpose flour

Preparation:
Cook the chana daal in water with pinch of salt. Once half cooked and water is reduced add sugar/jaggery. Let it cook in the water formed due to addition of sugar/jaggery. Add water as required making sure that the daal does not stick to the bottom. Keep stirring at regular intervals. When the daal starts breaking and thick sauce like consistency will be formed. Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder. Mix well and cook for another 5min. Remove from heat.

When the mixture cools down, grind it finely and puran is ready. Make sure balls can be made from the puran. If the balls are not staying firm then refrigerate for an hour or heat in a pan to dry the extra moisture.

Knead a soft dough by adding pinch of salt and little ghee to the wheat flour. Make a small ball and roll a small chapati. Keep the puran ball (bigger than the wheat ball) on top of the small chapati.

Cover the puran ball and remove the extra ends of the chapati. Now the puran stuffed wheat ball is ready.

Pat with hands or use a rolling pin to form a chapati. Liberally add ghee on a heated pan and fry on both sides for 4-5 min each

Serve hot with extra ghee on top! Enjoy!

Preparation time is about 1 1/2 hour. But its worth it!

Kothimbir vadi/ Cilantro stuffed Spring Rolls

2008-02-19T16:43:00.000-08:00

Writing a recipe blog was on my mind from a long time. Finally I am here writng one. All the credit goes to my temporary break from the work and I want to make the most of it.

Being a foodie I love to eat and to feed! And I would like to give the honour of being the first recipe on my blog to our regional favourite "Kothimbir vadi". Here is the recipe for all food lovers.

Ingredients:

For the Stuffing:
Corriander(cilantro) 1/2 kg
Onions 1
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Ginger small piece
Besan(Chickpea flour)
Salt
Chili powder
Turmeric powder
Oil to cook
Cumin and mustard seeds
Kasuri methi (Dried fenugreek leaves)

For the Rolls:
Wheat flour/All purpose flour
Oil
Salt
Ajwain(Carom seeds)
Cumin powder

Preparation:

For preparing the stuffing heat enough oil in the pan. Season with cumin and mustard seeds.
Put finely chopped ginger and garlic . Saute well and next to go are the chopped onions. Add salt, turmeric , chilli powder. Add the washed, drained and finely chopped corriander (cilantro) leaves. Saute till its half cooked. Add dry besan to it and mix well . Sprinkle little bit of water and keep stirring. After its cooked properly(15-20 min) you should get a coarse crumble of about the size of the peas. Put the Kasuri methi and heat till its flavour is incorporated well . The stuffing is ready.

For the crust of the "Kothimbir vadi", add little oil, salt, cumin powder and ajwain to the flour and knead a tight dough.

Roll circular chapatis from the dough. Put the stuffing on it at the center and make rectangular rolls like the spring rolls.

Heat oil in a deep vessel . Deep fry the rolls till golden brown.

Serve hot with Tamarind chutney or Kadhi.

Its a refreshingly different snack from the popular lots. Try it ........you are going to love it!