Veg Keema

One day I had a thought of cooking some non-vegetarian cuisine but as a vegetarian dish. I have tried Paneer bhurji, tofu bhurji, Biryani but didnt want to do same thing again and then ta-da I decide on Keema. So here it is my vegetarian version of keema.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 capsicum finely chopped
1 carrot steamed and finely chopped
100g French beans steamed and finely chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
3-4 green chilli finely chopped (depending on how spicy you prefer)
1 large tomato finely chopped
1 cup tomato puree
3 tbsp cheese
150g grated paneer
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
few coriander leaves
salt to taste
1/2 tsp coriander and cumin seed powder

Directions

1. In a pan, heat ghee. Add the onions and saute them well until they are brown in colour.
2. Add the ginger and garlic paste.
3. Add the finely chopped capsicum, frozen green peas and chopped green chillies,
4. Add the tomato puree and let it cook for at least 2 minutes.
5. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and let them cook until they are absolutely mushy.
6. Add the red chilli powder, coriander and cumin seed powder and salt to taste.
7. Add little water and saute the ingredients well.
8. Add the chopped, steamed vegetables - French beans and carrots.
9. Add the grated paneer (cottage cheese) and then grate some cheese over it. Mix all the ingredients well.
10. Sprinkle some coriander leaves over the kheema masala and add little water. Mix well.

The kheema masala is ready to be served. Garnish it with some grated cheese and coriander leaves. Also squeeze some lime over it. I served it with frozen garlic naan, onion slices and papad. Let me know if you have any better way to cook this dish.

Avocado Pasta

This is one of the simplest and quickest and easiest recipes that I have tried. Requires few ingredients and absolutely no compromise on taste. I came across this recipe during googling various ways to use avocados and been in love since then. Although S, is not big fan of it as he finds raw garlic little unpleasant to his taste buds.

Ingredients -

1. 1/2 packet of Pasta of your choice
2.  2 avocado, pitted and peeled
3. 1/2 clove garlic, smashed or grated
4. Handful of basil, finely chopped
5. 1 tablespoon of Lime juice
6. 2 tablespoon of olive oil
7. Salt and Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions -

1. Cook your pasta according to the package.

2. Add the avocado, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil to a blender and blend well.

3. When the pasta is cooked, save 2 tablespoons of pasta water and drain well.

4. Toss the pasta with the avocado sauce, thinning with pasta water if needed.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Idly

One day S tells me that he is going camping with his colleagues, and he would like to take idli and chutney along. This is how for the first time a made idli from scratch and am so proud of myself. No more MTR packs required. It was soft and fluffy. Growing up mom made idlis for dinner and next morning was dosa for breakfast. I have tried my best to explain the procedure on how to make a batter. This is so simple yet it gets little tricky. 

Ingredients  

• 1 cup parboiled rice
• 1/4 cup urad dal, skinned whole or spilt
• 1/4 cup poha/ flattened rice
• 1/4 teaspoon methi seeds/ fenugreek seeds
• water as required
• salt to taste
• oil to apply on idli moulds

Directions - 

• Pick and wash both rice and urad dal.
• soak rice and poha in water for 6-7 hours.
• soak urad dal with methi seeds separately for 6-7 hours.
• drain soaked urad dal and reserve the water. 
• grind the soaked urad dal, methi seed with some of the reserved water till you get a smooth and fluffy batter.  
• grind the rice and poha to make a smooth batter. 
• mix both batters together in a large bowl or pan and add salt and mix well. 
• cover and let the batter ferment for overnight. 
•  

1. 
   
2. cover and let the batter ferment for 8-9 hours.
3. after the fermentation process is over, the batter will become double in size and rise.
4. gently mix the batter.
5. grease the idli moulds.
6. pour the batter in the moulds steam the idlis in a pressure cooker or steamer.
7. if using pressure cooker remove the vent weight.whistle.
8. steam for 10-12 mins or until the idlis are done.
9. remaining batter can be stored in the refrigerator.
10. serve the steaming hot idlis with coconut chutney and sambar.

Pav-bhaji Mumbai street food

Pav-bhaji, this one dish I have never ever heard anyone say no to. It is always Yay be anywhere, any time and by any one. I have tried various recipes to replicate as a restaurant style but never succeeded it. Then I found a recipe posted on Chef at large a home cook group on FB and trust me it is the best recipe. S, said it was closest to mumbai's famous restaurant called 'Achija' and am sticking to this from now on. 

I have tweaked recipe little by adding beetroot instead of food color to get that red color. 

Ingredients :-

250 gms green peas (boiled)

2 medium sized potatoes (boiled)

1/2 green bell pepper 

1/2 cup cauliflower (optional) (I skipped it)

2 medium sized onions finely chopped 

4 nos tomatoes finely chopped 

1 green chilly finely chopped 

A handful of coriander leaves 

2 tbsp heaped pav bhaji masala

2 tbsp kashmiri red chilly powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp kasuri methi 

2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

1 tsp garlic paste 

1/2 small beetroot (boiled) (used this for color only)  

Salt to taste 

100 gms salted butter 

Juice of one lemon

Directions:

1. Take 50gms butter in a pan add onions sauté till translucent,  add 1 tsp garlic paste, 1/2 tbsp kashmiri red chilly powder, 1 tbsp pav bhaji masala, 1 tbsp kasuri methi leaves, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and salt mash this well while making the masala and keep this aside. 

2. In another pan add very finely chopped capsicum put add some water and cook till capsicum softens, add chopped tomatoes mash it nicely and add boiled vegetables (potatoes, peas and cauliflower, beetroot) 50gms butter, add remaining 1/2 tbsp chilly powder, 1 tbsp pav bhaji masala, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 green chilly finely chopped, coriander leaves, salt.  Mash it continuously adding little water till it becomes like a paste.
3. Add the onion masala and mash everything until it all blends nicely. 
4. Add juice of one lemon.

Serving suggestion: I served it with Coke, papad and onion masala. 

Kesar-badam shrikhand

In a foreign country, friends are our family. One day our friend Ravi told that he nailed to how perfectly cook khandvi. S and I insisted that he prepares khandvi for us too. After long wait he agreed to prepare and in return he wanted me to prepare puri, bateta nu shak (aloo subzi) and shrikhand. In our culture Shrikhand puri is one of the royal and rich food. I wanted to make sure that this is the best shrikhand and nothing goes wrong. It was a hit when S, Ravi and Zeel liked it. Let's dive in.. 

Ingredients - 

1. 1 1/2 cups full- fat curd/ yogurt (I used greek yogurt)

2. 5-10 tablespoons of sugar (depending on level of sweetness desired)

3. 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

4. Few strands of saffron dissolved in 1 tablespoon of warm water

5. 1 tablespoon of almond slivers 

6. 1 tablespoon of pistachio slivers

Directions - 

1. Dissolve the saffron strands in 1 tablespoon of warm water and keep aside. 

2. Place the curds in a muslin cloth and tie it tight to squeeze the curds and remove all excess water. You could also, pour yogurt in a sieve and refrigerate for 8-10 hours to drain all excess water from it. 

3. Transfer the hung yogurt into a deep bowl, add the powdered sugar and mix well. 

4. Add ground cardamom and saffron water mixture and mix well again but be gentle. 

5. Pour shrikhand into a serving bowl and garnish with almond and pistachio slivers. 

Tips: 

• serve chilled always. 
• make sure all excess water is drained. hung yogurt got to be really thick, like cream cheese. 
• watching a video on youtube shrikhand by Late Tarla Dalal, I learnt that saffron gives best color when dissolved in warm water instead of milk and it was best learning tip. 

Bread bowl

For the first time my mom-in-law came to USA for much needed vacation. She enjoyed many things about this country except restaurant because, she doesn't eat onion and garlic. I wanted her to taste at least once this bread bowl at Panera or Boudin. However, due to diet restrictions it never clicked. So I thought of trying it at home. Fortunately it turned out so very well. When i pulled bread bowls out of oven my happiness knew no boundaries, I was so proud of myself. 

Once you try this do let me know about your experience. 

Ingredients - 

1. 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeat.

2. 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

3. 2 teaspoons salt

4. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

5. 7 cups all purpose flour

6. 1 tablespoon cornmeal

7. 3 tablespoon milk

Directions - 

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 8-10 minutes. 

2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups of flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition. 

3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough, in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. 

4. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. place loaves on lightly greased  baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes. 

5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly brush the loaves with half of milk. 

6. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining milk and bake 10-15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks. 

7. To make bowls; Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from the top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4 inch thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately. 

I filled it creamy tomato soup and added some croutons. 

Ginger-orange tofu triangles

After coming to USA i have started to experiment with food a lot and started to learn various cuisines. One of the best experiment in my opinion was ginger-orange tofu. Let's get started with it. 

Ingredients - 

1 pound firm tofu

1 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 rice vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup oil

4 teaspoons dark sesame oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 green onions, cut into 1-inch strips

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 dried chipotle chile pepper (optional)

Directions -

1. Turn the tofu on its side, and cut it into 4 thin slices. Lay the tofu flat again, and cut the block diagonally to make 8 triangles. Without separating the pieces, place tofu on a cutting board. Cover, with a paper towel, and place a heavy skillet on top. Set aside for 30 minutes, allowing time for excess water to drain from the tofu.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, oils, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Separate the pressed tofu pieces, and arrange in a baking dish in a single layer. Cover with the marinade, and sprinkle with the green onion and cilantro. Cut the stems off the chiles, remove the seeds, and place the chiles in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Pour off some of the marinade, so the tofu is covered halfway. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, without turning, until the tofu is golden and most of the marinade has been absorbed.

Paneer Fried Rice

This recipe is one of the finest ways to consume as many veggies as possible and no one will fuss about including fussy eaters, as everyone loves indo-chinese.

Ingredients - 

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

2 cup Basmati rice (long grain rice)

1 cup Paneer cubes

1 Medium size green bell pepper

1/4 cup carrot julienned

1 Medium size onion

1 Teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 Cup peas (fresh/ frozen) 

1/2 Cup chopped onion greens 

1 Teaspoon oil

1 Tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

1 Tablespoon green chili paste

Directions - 

1. Cook basmati rice as per instructions on the packet. 

2. Cut the green bell pepper and onions lengthwise. 

3. Heat the oil in a pan and saute ginger-garlic paste. Once it is fragrant add green chillies, saute for few seconds then fry onion till translucent and add green bell peppers, peas, carrots. Saute for 5 mins.
4. Add paneer cubes. I shallow fried them and then added it.
5. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper.
6. Add cooked rice and mix well but gently.

Serve hot with vegetable stew.

Spinach Soup

I love greens in any forms and in any meal. However, S is little fussy about it. He keeps telling me that I cook hospital food. To make sure that he eats spinach I had to google recipes. I didn't want to make the usual indian curries from it and that is how I stumbled upon a recipe from a website called allrecipes. This is one of the yummiest soups and it is healthy. 

Ingredients - 

1 1/2 cups water

1 bundle of fresh spinach (washed and chopped)

1 tablespoon butter

3 cups milk

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (optional)

1/8 cup minced onion

salt and pepper to taste 

2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 cup chopped and boiled carrot (optional)

Directions - 

1. In a saucepan, combine water and spinach. Bring to a boil, and cook till spinach is tender. 

2. Melt butter in another sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic and cook till translucent. Gradually whisk in milk and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add carrots and let it cook for few minutes till it all blends. 

3. Stir in spinach to the mixture. Once everything is cooked and blended well, pour mixture in a blender and blend if you have any chunks of veggies. heat it a little add cream and serve hot with croutons. 

Tips:

If you want soup thicker, you could stir in some all purpose flour in melted butter and then add other ingredients. I skipped all purpose flour and heavy whipping cream to make it healthier. 

You could also use chicken bouillon if you wish to. You can add this step 1 with water and spinach. 

You can try to make soup with other veggies of your choice e.g., mushroom, broccoli, asparagus, etc.

Instant bread dosa

I love south indian food. After coming to USA, I miss eating all these delicacies from food street. I was very apprehensive of making a batter for various reasons. That is when I found a recipe of instant bread dosa on one of the groups on FB. My happiness knew no boundaries that and I tried that recipe immediately. It was a hit at my place. So lets dive into flavours of south india.

Ingredients - 

White/ brown bread slices - 8-10

Semolina/ rava - 1/2 cup

Rice flour - 2 teaspoons 

Curd - 1/2 cup

salt to taste 

Seasoning - 

Oil - 1 tablesppon

Mustard seeds/ Rai - 1/2 teaspoon 

Cumin seeds/ Jeera - 1/4 teaspoon 

Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped)

Urad dal - 1/2 teaspoon 

Cilantro/ coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons (finely chopped)

Directions - 

1. Take the bread slices and trim the edges of the bread. Grind the bread slices to a fine powder.

2. Add semolina, rice flour, curd, salt and water and grind to make a batter of dosa consistency. Pour the batter in a clean bowl and check for the consistency. Adjust water and salt accordingly.

3. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds and allow it to splutter.  Add urad dal and saute till light brown. Add green chillies and chopped coriander leaves and saute for half a minute.  Add this seasoning to the dosa batter and mix well.

4. Heat a tawa on a medium flame. Pour a big spoonful of the batter and spread wide to a medium circle.  Drizzle oil on the top and sides of the dosa and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Flip the dosa on the other side and cook till crisp and light brown.

Serve it hot with chutney of your choice. 

Palak Paneer

I have tried various versions of palak paneer and this is one of the best versions. It is simple and real quick. I got this recipe from cookingshooking blog and was totally impressed by the kid who presented this recipe in video. Do watch him am sure you too will get inspired. From now on i'm gonna stick to this recipe. This is a real healthy food. Like they say in tele-ads "Taste bhi Health bhi".

Ingredients: 

• 2-3 bunches Palak/ Spinach 
• 250 gms Paneer
• 2 tablespoon Cream 
• 1 Onion roughly chopped 
• 1 Tomato roughly chopped 
• 1/4 cup coriander/ cilantro
• 1/2 inch Ginger  
• 1 pinch Nutmeg 
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 7-8 Green chilies
• 1 Bay leaf 
• 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds 
• 1/4 cup Yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder 
• 1 pinch Turmeric powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar 
• Salt - to taste  

Directions

• Heat a pan and add oil. Once oil is ready, add cumin seeds. Add bay leaf, grated ginger, chopped garlic and green chili to spluttered cumin seeds. 
• Once it is lightly cooked, add onion and cook till it is translucent. Add tomatoes and salt and let it cook. 
• Remove pan from heat and let it cool. Add in smooth yogurt and stir well for about a minute and then add turmeric, coriander-cumin powder, red chili powder and lastly, grate in some nutmeg.  
• Start the flame in low and stir well and cook till simmer. Add sugar and mixed well. Now add chopped spinach.
• Keep stirring and cook till the volume reduces and it is slightly wilted. Remove pan from heat after a minute. Mix coriander to it and then make a paste out of it. 
• Heat up a pan, add the paste and get it to a simmer stir in cream and mix paneer well in it. Garnish it with grated paneer and cream.

Serve it with Naan and onion slices. 

Tips: Yogurt helps in retaining green color due to its acidic nature. Also, never cook in a close pan. 

Let me know how you liked it. 

Veg Dum Biryani

Today's recipe is Veg. Biryani. Am very fond of eating lot of vegetables in my meals, not just as salads. Biryani was nice way to eat all my favorite veggies in a meal. It is perfect combo of Carbs, fiber and protein. So what we waiting for.. Lets get started......

This is cooked in 3 steps viz., step 1 consists of cooking vegetables (Partially), step 2 partial cooking of rice and last step is combining veggies with rice and cook completely. 

Ingredients

• Carrot - 1 medium
• Potatoes - 1 medium

• Paneer - ½ cup

• Green peas - 1 tbsp.

• Yogurt - ½ +1/2 cup

• Coriander - 1 tbsp.

• Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp.

• Green chili - 4 to 5

• Oil - 2 tbsp

• Salt 

• Biryani Masala - 1 and ½ tbsp.

• Red Chili Powder - ½ tsp.

• Whole Garam Masala

• Basmati Rice(soaked for 1 hour) 1.5 cups

• Water - as required

• Oil - 1-2 Tbsp.

• Salt - 3 Tsp.

• Saffron strands - dipped in milk, a few

• Chopped Nuts - As desired

• Fried onions - two handfuls

Instructions

Step 1:

Heat oil in a kadhai, add whole garam masala (I have used Cloves, Cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and bay leaf) and ginger-garlic paste. Saute for a minute. Add carrot, potatoes, peas and salt. Saute until they are partially cooked.

Time to add biryani masala, red chili powder, and gradually add yogurt stirring well to prevent curdling of curd. Throw in coriander and paneer. Cook until the moisture is dried. 

Make sure veggies are not cooked completely as it will get cooked again in process of dum.

Step 2:

Boil water. Add oil, whole garam masala (I have used Cloves, Cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and bay leaf), salt. Boil until roaring boil. Add the soaked rice. Cook rice until it is 70% cooked. Strain it and spread on a big plate to cool it and prevent it from getting it cook further.

Step 3:

Take any utensil which has a tight lit. I used cooker and removed whistle from it. Make first layer of vegetables, almonds, cashew, raisins, fried onions and handful of coriander. Spread it evenly and throw in a good layer of rice.

Repeat this process once again with remaining veggies and rice. 

On the final layer of rice pour saffron mixture. 

Now sprinkle some water over it, cover and cook for 2 minutes in lowest flame.
Transfer the cooker to a bigger utensil with some water (Double boiler). This technique will prevent the dum to get burnt. Cook on slow flame for 30 mins.  

Step 4:

Once rice and veggie are cooked stir a little and serve along with raita or mirch salan. 

 Would love to hear from you.. Let me know if theres any other better way to cook dum biryani..

Till then take care

Avocado cup cake

Other day we went to Sam's club for shopping and bought a bag of avocados. I used half of it for gauc. I didn't wanna use remaining for gauc not that we don't enjoy it but wanted to enjoy avocado in various other ways. I started googling and guess what.. I found a nice recipe of a cup cake. Sounds so very appetizing .. so what we waiting for.. Let's make note of ingredients

Ingredients - 

Cupcake - 

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
•  teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup mashed avocado
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil/ olive oil/ canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup non-dairy milk ( you can also use regular dairy milk if you are not vegan)
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.  

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup mashed avocado
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 cups icing sugar
• Milk if needed for thinning

Directions - 

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and line a muffin tin with 12 liners. In a large bowl combine the flour, lime zest, baking powder and soda, and salt. 
• Puree the avocado in a bowl or blender then mix in the oil. Stir into this the sugar followed by milk, lime juice and vanilla extract. 
• Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Make sure there are no lumps. 
• Pour batter into prepared liners and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked. Let the cupcakes cool in pan. 

Frosting Directions - 

• Mash avocado with the lime juice in a medium bowl until smooth then stir in icing sugar. Cover and refrigerate it until cupcakes cool and ready for frosting. 
• Spread about a tablespoon of frosting on each cake. 

Let me know if you like them. I enjoyed the new way of consuming avocado. To avoid calories, I skipped frosting :P

Banana-choco bread

I found this yummy recipe on one of the groups on facebook called Chef at large. It was super hit amongst everyone. The best part of this recipe is it is yeast free and zero oil, uses whole wheat flour. Very healthy and absolutely no compromise on taste. Let's get started without further delay -

Ingredients - 

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 
• 2 banana
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup crushed almonds and walnuts
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• Pinch of salt

Directions - 

• Preheat oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and prepare a tin/ pan
• In a bowl; mix flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda. Keep aside. 
• Blend bananas and sugar with electric mixer for 3-4 minutes
• Add vanilla extract and yogurt to the banana mixture and mix well. 
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Add nuts to the mixture. 
• Pour batter in the prepared tin and sprinkle some nuts on top of the batter. 
• Bake for 45-60 mins or until done.  

Please do leave a comment and help us bake better. 

Amish White Bread

Bread is such a staple food in everyone's home these days. From west to east, all of us enjoy eating bread with butter, cream cheese, jam, spreads, etc etc.

It avoided baking this for very long due to my apprehensive nature and am glad not only that I overcame my apprehensions but it was softest bread and from now I intend to bake bread and stop buying from market.

Trust me after you have tried this, you won't ever wanna buy it from market.

Let's dive in -

Ingredients - 

• 1 cup warm warm (about 110 degrees F)
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups bread flour/ all purpose flour

Directions - 

• In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. 
• Mix salt and oil into yeast. Mix in flour and knead dough until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. 
• Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes and shape into loaves. Place into well oiled loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes or until dough has risen 1 inch above pan. 
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes. 

It rose so much that it touched upper rack and those marks are visible on bread... Had to adjust rack position but was too late by then.  

Tip: 

If you don't like sweet bread reduce sugar according to your taste. 

Timing to bake bread varies depending in oven. So you may be more or less than 20 minutes.  

Do try this and post your opinion in comments below.

guacamole

S, had asked me to prepare guac way long back. I finally surprised him last evening with guac during our snack time. S, loves food (good food) and he doesn't praise unless I nailed it perfect. When he tasted guac, he gave me a pat on my shoulder. I was on cloud nine :)

Let's get started - 

Ingredients 

•  3 Avocados - Peeled, Pitted and mashed
• 1 small lime juiced
•  Salt to taste (add little less than what usually you use) 
• 1 small onion (you could also use spring onion/ scallions/ green onion)
• 3 tablespoons of chopped cilantro (coriander)
• 1 large tomatoes - diced
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
• 2 jalapenos (depending on spice level of your choice).

Directions 

In a bowl, mash together avocados, lime juice and salt. Stir in onion tomatoes, cilantro, garlic and jalapenos. Serve immediately.  

Tip: If you have prepared this ahead, keep stones of avocadoes in gauc and keep it refrigerated to retain green color. 

Enjoy and relish this healthy snack without any guilt. 

Very soon will upload recipe of baked chips to munch with gauc. Till then goodbye. 

If you like my post please do leave a comment.  

Thepla

Thepla, is another type of indian bread from Gujarat, India. It is also called as 'Dhebra'. This is very popular as they are served regular meals, best companion during travel and picnics. These can be made with variety of flavors like ajama (Carom seeds), Til (sesame seeds), Doodhi (Bottle gourd), Mooli (Radish). 

Ingredients  -

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp chilli powder 

1 tsp coriander / cumin powder

salt to taste

whole wheat flour for rolling

oil for cooking

Directions - 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and knead into a soft dough using enough water. 

Knead the dough well cover it and keep aside for 10 mins. 

Divide it into equal portions and roll out each portion into a circle desire of your thickness.

Heat a tava (griddle) and cook each side, after that add little oil on each side and let it cook till golden brown color from both sides. 

Serve it with chundo (sweet mango pickle), or aloo subzi (dry potato side dish), yogurt (curd). My personal favorite is aloo subzi. :)

Tip: If preparing for travelling, knead it with milk instead of water. For soft thepla, dough should be soft and cook it on high flame.

During travel, I enjoyed these with srikand, Chundo, ghatiya, spicy mango pickle, onion, aloo subzi and Alphonso mangoes

Try it, click it and share it.

Potato Soup

This is my second winter in USA and this year winter is so much better than previous year. While I think what to cook for dinner the only thing which occurred to me was something which keeps us warm and then I decide for potato soup, which will warm us on a cold winter night.

Ingredients

1-1/4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

3/8 small carrot, finely chopped

1/8 stalk celery, finely chopped

3/8 small onion, minced

1/2 cup water/ vegetable broth

salt to taste

3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese

Directions:

In a large saucepan, bring potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, vegetable broth/ water and salt to boil. Reduce heat cover and simmer until all veggies are tender. Once cool pour this in a mixie and make  it into a nice smooth. I left some potato pieces intentional to chew it while sipping it. Also, I used water instead of vegetable broth. 

Stir in milk to the mixture. 

In a small mixing bowl, blend butter, flour, parsley and pepper; stir into mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.

Remove from heat, add cheese and stir until melted. 

Garnish with cheese and croutons. Serve hot. 

Try it, click it and let me know if you enjoyed it. 

Mango cheesecake

It is a season of love, romance and to fill our lives with sweetness. To celebrate valentines day was thinking of various options to gift my S (my spouse). I wanted to gift something apart from card, chocolates, candles, accessories, clothes, etc. so thought of making an eggless no bake mango cheesecake. S loves mangoes and in USA we don't get the type of mangoes which are so very easily available in India. And I was very happy with results. It was such a delight to see him enjoy cheesecake. This is a simple recipe with few ingredients. Best part is no bake and no egg. 

Let's make note of ingredients required (for a 750 gm cake) 

250 gm Mangoes
200 gm digestive biscuits
3 tbsp melted butter (unsalted)
3/4 cup sugar or more (Depending on sourness of fruit)
1 cup hung curd (You could also use cream cheese)
1 cup cream
1 tbsp gelatin (or agar agar)
4 tbsp water
some pistachio for garnishing

Steps:

1. Grind the biscuits and mix in the melted butter with it. Line the base of the serving dish evenly and smoothly with the biscuit mixture. Put in the refrigerate to set. I used individual classes to serve this to all guests. You could use either of things as per your preference and comfort.  

2. Puree mangoes and sugar together in a mixie/ blender. Add the hung curd and cream, blend well to make a smooth mixture. Pour it into a bowl. You could also use readily available mango pulp in that scenario sugar is not required. I used pulp and skipped sugar. Add 4 Tbsp of water in the gelatin. Then pour the gelatin slowly into mixture. Keep stirring continuously. 

3. Now pour the mango mixture onto set biscuit base. Cover and refrigerate to set overnight.

4. Pour some mango pulp on the top of mixture as a final layer to dessert and refrigerate for 30 mins and serve cold. 

Garnish with sliced pistachio and serve cold, unfortunately I ran out of it so couldn't garnish :( 

Tip: Make sure to drain water from curd. The curd should be really thick. 

Note: I have never used agar agar so not very sure how to use it. Please refer some youtube videos to guide you. 

  

Rotli / Phulka

Rotli is the first thing which I learnt in cooking and so its very special & close to my heart. What better way to show my love towards it than to make it my first post of my cooking blog. With all these years of practice I know for sure that on any given day my rotlis are soft, tasty and yummy and it can never ever go wrong. Not that am self-praising or being arrogant just that I made all possible mistakes during my learning days, can't find any more mistakes to make and hence, end up making perfect rotlis every time :)

Rotli (or Roti in Hindi) is a staple bread in my home. These are paper-thin and smeared with ghee. No one can get bored of eating them everyday. They taste best not only when they are hot but also when cold. I have these everyday for breakfast and for lunch. Of course hot ones for lunch and leftovers tastes good with milk/ tea/ coffee and pickle of your choice for breakfast. 

Without further delay lets get started. 

Ingredients 

1/2 cup whole wheat flour/ multi-grain flour

ghee for smearing

Whole wheat/ multi-grain flour for rolling

Luke warm water 

Method

Knead into a soft and smooth dough using enough water. Keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure dough is soft. As in picture, I could easily make an impression of my finger indicating that it is soft dough. I generally don't use oil/ ghee during kneading process. 

Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and roll out each portion into a thin circle. Make sure that you roll it evenly. It should be as thin as a paper from all sides. 

Heat a tava (griddle), place the rotli on it and turn it over after a few seconds. 

Cook on the other side till air pockets appear on the surface and then turn it over onto an open flame for a few seconds till it balloons up.

  

Smear a little ghee on top of each rotli and serve immediately.

 

My mom once had told me that "the day all rotlis are of same size and paper thin, that day you are best in making rotlis". Keeping her words in my mind, I try to achieve it every time I make these. This is how it looks when all are done. 

 

Serving suggestion: These are an excellent accompaniment to any Dal or subzi. 

Tip: I keep all my rotlis on a tissue before transferring them to hot box. This helps in keeping bottom most rotli in good condition else steam makes that rotli little soggy making it stick to the dish.

Do let me know your feedback once you have tried.