Thursday 30 July 2015

Sabudana Vada - Maharashtrain Snack

Sabudana Vada is a type of deep fried snack most commonly eaten in the state of Maharashtra.One can eat it during fasting also as it is cooked with potato and sabudana without onion, garlic and other grains.I tried the healthier version of it by cooking it in appam pan to avoid more oil intake.Lets gather its ingredients now..

Ingredients :

1/2 cup sabudana ( soak it overnight in water)
2 -3 medium sized boiled potatoes.
1 green chilli finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil for greasing appam pan.

Method:  Take soaked sabudana in one bowl by straining water and add boiled potatoes,green chilli,coriander leaves and salt to taste in it.Mash all the ingredients together and mix it well with your hands.Now make small balls of this mixture ,size of balls should be in accordance with the each cavity of appam pan u r using.

Heat appam pan on medium flame and put drop of oil in each cavity , i prefer greasing it with silicon brush. Now when its hot put one ball in each cavity and cover it with lid .Cook on medium low flame for about 2-3 mins or till they appear golden brown in color.Once they are cooked from one side flip them with spoon to other side and cook till they are golden brown from this side too.

Take them out and cook all vada in the same way.Serve them hot with tomato ketchup or green chutney.

You can add roasted peanuts in crushed form and grated ginger too (optional).

Happy and healthy eating :)

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Spinach cheese kababs

Kababs are generally made from non veg but as we are vegetarian so want to try healthier version of it.So i tried it with spinach, rich source of iron.These kababs are crispy from outside and cheesy from inside.

Ingredients :

1/4 cup spinach puree
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tbsp cornflour
Salt to taste
2-3 tbsp oil for shallow frying kababs

Method: Take 1 cup of spinach leaves wash them with cold water for 3-4 times and microwave for 1-2 mins.Let it cool down and blend it in blender into puree form.Now take this puree in one bowl and add cornflour, salt and bread crumbs.Mix it well with your hands and form dough.

For stuffing take mozzarella cheese ,red chilli flakes,salt and chopped onion.Mix it well with hands.
Make small round balls of this mixture , it is to be used as stuffing for kababs.

Apply oil on palms and make medium sized ball of spinach dough and flatten it and stuff it with cheese stuffing and shape it like round ball and than flatten it like kababs.Heat non stick tawa,drizzle oil on it and put kababs on it for shallow frying on medium low flame.Fry from both sides till they are light brown in color .

Serve hot with tomato ketchup or dip of ur choice :)

You can make spinach puree on gas burner too , its same like we use for palak paneer.







Tuesday 28 July 2015

White chickpeas/white chane with tandoori naan - Punjabi Cuisine

White chickpeas/white chane is type of grain which is rich in protein.They are usually cooked with gravy and eaten with chapati, rice, pooris, paranthas and naan. Here we are cooking chickpeas with tandoori naan. Naan are usually made in tandoor but we can cook it on our normal tawa too.So lets see what all we need for this recipe.

Ingredients:

White chickpeas 2 cups (soaked overnight)
2 tsp salt , 2 tea bags and 2 cups water for boiling chickpeas
2 -3 onions
2-3 tomatoes
2 inch long ginger
2-3 green chillies
3-4 tbsp oil
1 pinch asafoetida
1 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp dry mango powder/amchur powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste


Ingredients for Naan :

2 cup refined flour/maida
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup curd

Method: Boil soaked chickpeas by adding salt,tea bags and water in the cooker, quantity as mentioned above.Boil it till first whistle and simmer for ten mins and switch off flame.Now blend onions,tomatoes,ginger and green chillies in mixer grinder and form smooth paste.

Heat oil in karahi i prefer iron karahi to enhance black color and increase iron content in chickpeas.Add asafoetdia and paste of onion and tomatoes to it.Cook on medium low flame by stirring in between till masala leaves oil on sides,now add all spices including red chilli,coriander powder, mango powder and garam masala.Add salt to taste. Saute all the spices and add boiled chickpeas in it, mix well and add 4-5 cups of water to form gravy, let it boil on medium flame till water get mixed properly with chickpeas and spices.You can use same water also which was used to boil chickpeas. It will take around 15- 20 mins to get proper consistency of chickpeas now u can switch off the flame. Serve it hot with breads or rice of your choice.

For making naan without tandoor firstly we will prepare dough by mixing all the ingredients in big mixing bowl with the help of hands and knead dough with little warm water and knead very soft dough.Now we will apply oil on hands and knead dough till its very shiny and greasy.It will take around 5-7 mins to make it greasy.Almost 1/2 cup of water is used for kneading this dough.Put little oil on the dough and keep it covered for 2-3 hrs at a warm place.

After 2 hrs, dough will expand. Now we will take a little flour in our palms and make big ball from dough.Make all balls from the dough and cover it to avoid drying of it.Lets heat tawa and roll one ball with help of rolling pin on rolling board by applying dry flour on it.Roll it in round or oval shape according to ur own choice.Naan shouldn't be very thin ,keep it little thick like parantha.Apply little water on top surface on rolled naan.Now put naan on hot tawa, keep wet surface down in contact with the tawa. Once it starts showing darker color on above surface, we will turn the tawa over to cook the naan directly over the flame means ur naan remains intact to tawa from one side and cook it from other side by rotating tawa to get brown spots appear.Cook till it is done, remove from tawa using spatula and apply ghee/butter of ur choice. Serve hot with ur choice of dal or vegetable. Enjoy :)






Gur Pare - Traditional Sweet

Gur pare is a kind of traditional sweet cooked during occasions like Diwali, Holi and Wedding too.
It is made of whole wheat flour or all purpose flour and dipped in Gur/jaggery syrup afterwards.Today we are going to make healthier version of it with whole wheat flour and jaggery/gur added in dough itself.

Ingredients: 

2 cup wheat flour/atta
1/2 cup semolina/sooji
Jaggery/gur Slightly more than 1/2 cup
Ghee 1/4 cup
Saunf  3-4 tbsp
Oil for deep frying

Method: Put 1/2 cup water to boil in one open pan and add jaggery mix it till it get dissolved in water.Strain it and keep this gur syrup on side. Now mix wheat,sooji,ghee and saunf in one bowl with hand and add gur syrup slowly slowly ,knead dough and cover it and leave it aside for 15-20 mins.Dough should be hard not soft like we knead for chapatis.

After 15- 20 mins we will make a big ball from dough and press it flat with our hands and roll it on rolling board by applying dry wheat flour on board with help of rolling pin into 1/2 cm thick round.Cut it from edges and than cut into small pieces as per your choice.

Heat oil in kadhi/wok when its medium hot than start frying gur pare in oil.Fry them on low flame and side by side prepare gur pare from remaining dough.When they are brown in color turn them over and fry from other side too till they are golden brown from both sides.

Place them over kitchen towel to soak excessive oil and let them cool completely.Store them in air tight container and enjoy after your meal or with tea.

They are rich in iron and healthy too so eat it as much as you want :)


Idli sambar with coconut chutney - South Indian Cuisine

Idli sambar is whole some meal which was earlier eaten in southern states of India but now its eaten in every part of our country.Idli is a kind of steamed pancake made from batter of grinded urad dal and rice.Usually both dal and rice are soaked for 4-5 hrs and than batter is made and fermented overnight to achieve soft idlis. It is served with coconut chutney and sambar.Sambar is toor/arhar dal cooked with variety of vegetables and tempered with mustard seeds,curry leaves and spices.Sambar can be eaten with rice, vadas , appe, dosa and of course idli etc.

Today we are going to cook instant idli when u forgot to soak and ferment dal and rice.It is made from semolina and curd know as Rawa idli. Lets see ingredients required for it.

Ingredients :

Idli : 
1+ 1/2 cup semolina/sooji/rawa
1+1/2 cup thick curd
3/4 tbsp eno salt (regular/ no flavour)
Salt to taste
Oil for greasing idli stand

Sambar :
1/2 cup arhar dal (soaked in water for 1/2 hour before)
2 medium sized tomatoes chopped
2 medium sized onions chopped
1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
1 cup bottle gourd (cut into medium sized pieces)
10- 12 beans cut into long pieces
2 cups veggies(potato, capsicum and cauliflower)
9- 10 curry leaves
2 tbsp tamarind pulp/ lemon juice
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1-2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
3-4 dried red chill whole (optional)
3-4 tbsp oil
Water as required

Coconut chutney :
1 fresh coconut (chopped into small pieces)
1 tbsp ginger
1-2 green chillies
Water as required
Salt to taste
1 tbsp soaked channa dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 curry leaves
1 tbsp oil for tempering

Method:  For making idli beat the curd with hand whisker till it is smooth and add sooji into it and form smooth batter without any lumps.Add salt to taste and whisk it properly.Add water if required.Add eno salt and mix it well.Apply oil on idli maker with brush and fill it with batter upto 3/4 level and microwave it for 4-5 mins.Check by inserting toothpick in it  and you have to add water in microwave safe bowl to the level marked in it before putting idli stand in it for steam formation inside microwave. You can steam at gas burner too by putting idli maker stand in cooker and covering it lid without whistle , on gas it will take 10-15 mins.

For Sambar heat oil in cooker add chopped onions, saute till they are golden brown,add ginger and cook for 1-2 mins.Add chopped tomatoes and cook till they are soft, now add all the vegetables including potato,cauliflower,capsicum,beans and bottle gourd and cook on medium low flame for 5-6 mins by mixing in between , add salt,red chilli powder,turmeric powder and coriander powder and cook for 1-2 mins till all spices leaves it's flavour, add soaked dal and add water 6-7 cups and mix it and cover the lid.Let it cook on medium low flame till 2-3 whistles come now reduce the flame to simmer and cook for 15 - 20 mins.Grains of dal shouldn't be visible when your sambar is cooked properly check it and cook further by removing lid if required. For tempering heat oil 1-2 tbsp add mustard seeds,curry leaves and dried red chillies and pour it over cooked sambar.Finally add lemon juice/tamarind pulp and give final mix .Serve it hot with idlis.

Coconut chutney: grind coconut,ginger ,green chilli ,soaked channa dal and salt in mixer grinder by adding small amount of water till its smooth paste.Now for tempering heat oil add mustard seeds and curry leaves switch off the flame when it will leaves aroma in oil. Pour it over grinded coconut chutney and serve with idli sambar.

Everyone has different style of cooking this wholesome meal so u can change according to your taste.

It can be eaten at any time of day and best menu option for guests if you don't want to remain in ur kitchen while they want to gossip with u.

Happy eating:)












Thursday 23 July 2015

Solkadhi - Konkan Drink

Solkadhi..their is story behind this drink, i was coming home with my family from somewhere and my brother in law ordered this drink at one Vada pav centre and i liked it so much that i explored it on youtube and finally made it at home. Its a mixture of coconut milk and kokam water. Kokam is type of spice used for enhancing sourness in food like v use tamarind/imli. Kokam is blackish red in color.
Kokam is used for making curries and sherbet too. Lets collect all the ingredients now..

Ingredients: 

9-10 kokam leaves (available at grocery store)
2 cups freshly grated coconut
Salt to taste
2 green chillies (use spicy chillies)
2 tbsp ginger grated form
Few coriander leaves for garnishing(optional)
Water as required.

Method: Soak kokam leaves in 1 cup warm water for 2- 3 hrs, sieve it and extract all juice from kokam leaves,water will look like blackish red in color.

Now grate coconut in mixer grinder by adding small amount of water and add salt ,green chilies,ginger in it. Grind it for 2-3 mins till all coconut milk is extracted from grated coconut.Sieve the coconut milk from strainer and keep it aside.

Now mix the kokam water and coconut milk together and taste it, add more water and salt according to your taste. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and keep it in fridge for 2- 3 hrs before serving.

It is served cold as drink and to be consumed on same day or other option is to keep kokam water and coconut milk separately in fridge and mix it when you want to drink it.

Its is tempered with mustard seeds and asafoetida (hing) and served as curry with steamed rice too.

Health benefits it helps in aiding digestion of food.

And, you can use store brought coconut milk tetra pack too for it.

Enjoy it and do let me know ur comments on same in comment section :)

Vanilla Ice cream - Dessert

Ice cream is a frozen food typically eaten as dessert ,usually made from dairy products like milk, cream and flavours are added of fruits or essence.If you want to try ice cream at home than initially try the basic flavour i.e. Vanilla flavour.Its simple and require very less no. of ingredients.

Ingredients :

1 cup Heavy cream ( Available at supermarkets or diary shops)
1 cup full cream milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp Corn flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Method: Take milk in vessel and switch on gas, keep 2- 3 tbsp milk separately before switching on gas.Dissolve the cornflour in cold milk kept aside, mix well till all lumps are dissolved.When the milk kept on gas comes to boil add cornflour mixture to it by lowering the flame to medium and stir continously for about 5-6 mins until milk starts thickening. After almost 6 mins milk will become thick in consistency now switch off the flame.Keep this milk on wire stand so that it cools down faster.

Now we will whip the cream,take cream in one bowl and keep it over bowl of ice cubes.Because cream can be whipped properly only it remains cold enough.We will whip it with electric hand blender for 2 mins , now we will add vanilla essence in it. Whip it again for 1 min and add sugar in it and whip it further for few mins.

Mix the milk with cornflour into whipped cream and whip it again for 1-2 mins.Keep it in freezer for 1.5 - 2 hrs and take out, whip it again for 3-4 mins so that no ice crystals left in ice cream while freezing.

Transfer ice cream into plastic air tight container and keep it again in freezer for 6-7 hours.

Now ice cream is ready to serve.

You can serve it with dry fruits on top,chocolate sauce or with gulab jamun etc.

Its a bit long process but home made ice cream is without any preservatives and stabilisers.

Enjoy it :)

Veg Burger

Burgers are very popular now a days.They are served in various restaurants and famous outlets like Mc donalds,Burger King and KFC etc. Main ingredient you require is burger bun and patty.Veg Burger consist of patty made of vegetables(potato,peas,onion etc) and non veg burger have patty of meat,chicken and fish. We are going to cook veg burger today.

Ingredients:

2 burger buns (market brought)
2 medium sized boiled potatoes
2 tbsp of fresh peas/ frozen peas
1/2 cup of bread crumbs(coating the patty)
1 big onion sliced in circular form
1 big tomato sliced in circular form
2-3 lettuce leaves / cabbage
2 -3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2-3 tbsp coriander mint chutney(optional)
Salt to taste
3-4 tbsp oil for shallow frying patty
Red chilli powder 1-2 tsp


Method: Take boil potatoes in bowl and mash them with hand or potato masher, add fresh peas in it and mash them too a little bit.Now add salt and red chilli powder and mix well. Apply oil on hands and roll patty in circular form like aloo tikki ,press it to flatten it a bit and coat it in bread crumbs.U can add bread crumbs in patty mixture if your patty is too soft to handle with hands. Take 1 tbsp oil on non stick pan heat it and put patty on it and let it cook till light brown color is achieved, turn it and cook from other side too. Put it on kitchen towel to remove excessive oil.

Take burger buns and cut them from centre into two parts and apply 1-2 tbsp tomato ketchup on on side and coriander mint chutney on other side.U can apply mayaonoise too if want.

Take lower part of burger bun and put 1-2 lettuce leaves and than onion slice over it, now put cooked patty, tomato slice on it and finally top part of burger bun.U can sprinkle salt in between veggies (optional).

Now microwave burger for 1 min and serve hot with ur choice of sauce or french fries.

U can add cheese slice too in your burger and make patty with any vegetable of ur choice. And u can heat burger bun on hot pan too if microwave is not available.

Enjoy it with ur friends and family :)


Wednesday 22 July 2015

Kalakand - Indian Sweet

Kalakand is a popular Indian sweet made out of solidified ,sweetened milk and cottage cheese.It is made on the occasions of Holi ,Diwali,Eid and Navratri.It is also known as milk cake. Lets start collecting the ingredients for it..

Ingredients: 

2 litres full cream milk.
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
5-7  chopped almonds (optional)
4 small powdered form cardamom(green cardamom)

Procedure:  First take 1 litre of milk in open vessel and start heating it.Keep stirring in between or every 1-2 mins to avoid sticking on bottom of vessel.When it comes to boil switch off the flame.Keep it for 2-3 mins to cool down a little and now add lemon juice in it,initially add 1 tbsp to split the milk and mix it than add more lemon juice,milk will split into cottage cheese(paneer). Now sieve the water through a thin cotton/muslin cloth. Wash the cheese a bit so that sour taste of lemon is removed. Lift the cloth from all sides and squeeze the water out of paneer. Paneer is ready.

Take left 1litre milk in another vessel with thickened bottom and start boiling it.Keep stirring it every 1-2 min and boil it on medium flame till it reduces to half of its original quantity.

When above milk reduces to half add paneer in it by crushing from hands.Cook this mixture till it thickens and no water left in it. Now simmer the gas and add sugar. Stir for 2-3 mins after adding sugar to mix it well. Switch off the flame when mixture is of freezing consistency. Add cardamom powder and mix well.

Spread a little ghee on the plate on which we will freeze kalakand. Put the mixture on the plate and press it using spoon to make it even.Add chopped almonds and press evenly on kalakand.

Keep it for cooling at room temp only for 1-2 hrs and cut into pieces of ur desired shape.

Points to remember, add sugar only when milk is thick and keep cooking after u add sugar and put it on the plate.

Want to have a bite than start cooking it :)

Tuesday 21 July 2015

Assorted Pakodas - Fried snack

Pakodas/pakoras are also known by the name of fritters or bhajia in some parts of India.They basically consist of two main ingredients one is vegetable like potato,onion,cauliflower,spinach ,panner and bread etc and second is gram flour/besan. Pakodas are deep fried in oil by dipping cut vegetables in batter of gram flour.

Ingredients :

1 big sized onion sliced length wise.
1 big sized potato sliced in circular form.
3-4 pcs of bread slices sliced in four part each.
1 cup of gram flour
Water to make batter of gram flour.
Salt to taste.
Red chilli powder 1 tbsp(Increase or reduce according to taste)
Turmeric powder 1/4 tbsp
Coriander powder 1/4 tbsp
Green chilli chopped 2 (optional)
Oil for deep frying.

Method: Peel all the vegetables,wash them and slice them.Now in a big bowl mix gram flour with water.Pour water slowly so that no lumps are formed and whisk it either with clean hands or hand whisker.Add only that amount of water that it forms smooth not too thick or thin batter.Add all spices and mix well.

To make assorted pakodas,heat oil in deep wok ,i prefer mustard oil as its healthy ,now take each slice of vegetable and dip it in gram flour batter ,coat from all sides and deep fry in oil.Always put the pakodas from side of wok to avoid hot oil spilling over u and deep fry them on medium high flame so that vegetables are cooked from inside while deep frying. You need to toss them for proper frying and to avoid burning of pakodas too.Take them out on paper towel to strain excess oil.

Serve them hot with coriander mint chutney,tomato sauce or tamarind/imli chutney of ur choice.

Pakodas can be made from any vegetable of your choice and goes well as snack during rainy and winter season.

I have mentioned simplest method which i used to follow if u want u can mix all veggies together and
make mix pakodas too.And u can add more spices like dried mint leaves powder or anardana or cumin seeds of your taste.

Enjoy them with hot cup of tea or coffee :)



Curd Rice -South Indian Cuisine

Curd rice is also known as yoghurt rice.It is popular in the states of Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka and Kerala.It is usually accompanied by pickles like mango or lime.It is eaten in main course meal by south indian people to ease the effects of spicy main dishes.It helps in aiding the digestion process.


Ingredients includes 

1 cup boiled rice.
1 cup thick curd/yoghurt.
Salt to taste.
1 tbsp oil for tempering.
8-10  curry leaves.
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 finely chopped green chilli.
2 dried red chilli(optional)
1 tbsp chana dal
Few strands of chopped coriander leaves.

Procedure : Usually it is made with leftover rice otherwise wash and soak rice for an hour and boil them with 2 cups water in vessel (2 cup water for 1 cup rice) by covering the lid.Let it cool down.
Take curd in big bowl and blend it so that it forms smooth paste now add boiled rice in it and salt to taste.You can add salt during boiling of rice too.Mix it well.

Heat oil in small pan add mustard seeds,curry leaves,dried red chilli and chopped green chilli and chana dal.Roast all of them and add this tempering in bowl of curd and rice mixture.Mix it well so that all spices get mixed properly.Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Keep this bowl of curd rice in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.Serve chilled with mango or lime pickel.

Tip: It can be used as baby food too by skipping red and green chilli from it.

Simplest dish to try..i bet u will love eating it :)