Rosemary Potatoes

Tags

baby potatoes, Friday Feast, main course, potato, recipe, rosemary

Who doesn’t love the humble vegetable potato and I absolutely adore it in its baby form (though I try hard very very hard to stay away from it). So when I chanced upon this while some online browsing, I knew this was a dish which had to be made ASAP 🙂 and I was glad I did make it because it was a absolutely yummmm

We had it with hot phulkas (I skipped them to balance on carbs), salad and a raita for a full satisfying meal

What I used

• Baby Potatoes – about 15
• Spring Onions – finely chopped about 10
• Fresh Rosemary – a handful chopped
• Dried Rosemary – 1/2 tsp
• Olive Oil – 1tbsp
• Cherry Tomatoes – about 15
• Salt – to tastes
• Chilli Powder – to taste

How I made it

• Wash and scrub the potatoes well, keep the skin (Tip : I keep a fresh separate scrotch bite to clean my potatoes, it works like magic)
• Boil them till 3/4 till done
• Heat olive oil in a pan and add potatoes, toss on high heat till they turn golden brown in color and are fully cooked.
• Add salt, fresh and dry rosemary and stir fry for another 2 minutes
• Add cherry tomatoes (I cut them into 2), chilli powder and spring onions. Fry for 2-3 minutes
• Serve hot

It was such a hit at home that I had to make it again after a week, the next time I made it I didn’t have fresh rosemary so I used a little more of dried and that too worked.

I am posting a recipe after so long, it feels good… It was almost like I have forgotten Friday Feast 😉

So whats cooking in your kitchen?

PS: Original recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor

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Meal in a box

Tags

cheese, Friday Feast, kiddie delight, kids eats, main course, pasta, recipe, veggies

Ojas is a very picky eater, very choosy about what he eats and even if he likes something he eats it very less… but one thing that works mostly with him is Pasta (a big kala tikka and touchwood here)

So I try and make pasta very often and also try and make it as healthy as possible… this one is one of my own creations that comes out very very yummy and is highly nutritious

Ingredients

For the sauce

Part 1 ingredients

• 1/2 cup yellow moong dal
• 10 ripe and red tomatoes
• 1/2 capsicum chopped
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 bunch spinach

Part 2 ingredients

• 1 large onion chopped finely
• 1/2 capsicum chopped finely
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1/4 corn
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1/2 – 1 cup grated cheese
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tsp oregano or any other dried spice
• Salt to taste

• 200 gm whole wheat boiled pasta (any shape but ojas loves fusilli or penne… I use Fab India pasta and its really fab)

Method

• Wash and boil the moong dal in a cooker well. Mash it a bit
• Blanch the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes in boiling water
• Remove the skin and keep aside
• Par-boil rest of the Part 1 vegetables and then grind all the part 1 ingredients to make a smooth paste
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom pan and then add onions to it
• Fry for 4-5 minutes till they start changing color
• Add the carrots, capsicum, peas and corn and stir fry for 5 minutes or so (U can also choose to parboil these veggies)
• Add salt, pepper and oregano (U can also add some chilli flakes if u want it spicy)
• Add the sauce prepared above and let it cook in medium flame for about 10 mins
• Add the shredded cheese and boiled pasta to it…. Mix well and serve hot

Grilled Arbi

Tags

arbi, Friday Feast, grill, grilled, healthy, indian cooking, indian main course, main course, recipe

I love arbi but used to stay away from it because

1. its full of carbs

2. its good when its made with lots of oil 😦

3. I cant just peeled it without having to itch my hands for the whole day afterwards

But all this atleast the last 2 parts were till sometime back when I discovered that we can grill this vegetable beautifully…. I used to boil it and then grill but then I read at some blog about steaming and grilling which seemed like an even healthier option

So now I have a much healthier version of arbi which satisfies health freak as well as the taste buds…. Iya the fellow arbi fan and Goofy as u had asked for it… this post is for both of u…. enjoy the arbi

Ingredients

• Arbi(Colocasia) 500gms
• Onion 1 medium sliced
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tbsp corrainder powder
• 1 tsp tava fry masala
• 1 tsp aamchor powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder (or to taste as fiery as u want)
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp oil + oil to grease the baking tray

Method

• Wash and roughly scrub the arbi (I have kept a scrotch brite seperately in the house for scrubbing potatoes and arbi etc)
• Steam for about 6-8 minutes till a tender.  I have this microwave steamer at home which is so handy and convienent to steam stuff, its my all time fav cookware. U can use any steaming method u like
• Let it cool and peel of the thick skin using a knife (surprinsgly doesnt itch so much after steaming)
• Chop the bigger ones into 2 pieces and leave the smaller ones as it is.
• Mix all the dry masalas,onions with arbi
• Grease a tray and put the masalsa arbi in it
• Grill at 200C for about 10 minutes or so, stirring once inbetween
• In a small pan take 1 tsp of oil and add mustard seeds and fry till they start spluttering.
• Pour over grilled arbi and mix well.
• Garnish with chopped corainder leaves and serve with hot paranthas or phulkas…

Comfort Food – Post 25

Tags

channa dal, fengureek, Friday Feast, indian, indian main course, main course, methi, NaBloPoMo, palak, pulses, recipe, spinach

Everyone has a comfort food isnt it… The food you crave when u have nothing else to do, when u wee bit down… when may be your mood is not uptight or may be the health is not the best… For N its rasam-rice…. and for me its dal-roti… seriously when nothing works Dal-Roti does…

And hence I love experimenting with dal, mixing various dal’s together, adding some veggies to it… the variations give dal a face lift and make it an all new dish which is yummy and healthy too…

So when after marriage I first eat this dal which is the favorite of my mil too, I fell in love with it… a dal which has all my fav elements – dal, methi and palak… But unfortunately toor dal doesn’t suit me too much these days… gives me terrible gas so I came up with my own version of this dal which now everyone in the house enjoys totally………

Ingredients

• A cup channa dal (use toor dal if u want to)
• 2 bunches of fresh methi (fengureek)
• 3 bunches of fresh palak (spinach)
• 8-10 shallots or baby onions (I love their flavour and the crunch in the mouth they leave, however mil uses normal onions so feel free to use them if u don’t have baby onions)
• 1 large tomato chopped
• 1 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp channa dal
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp jeera seeds
• 2-3 green chillies
• 2-3 dry red chillies
• 1 medium sized tamarind ball
• 7-8 curry leaves
• 1 tsp sambhar powder (optional)
• 1 tsp corriander powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp turmeric

Method

• Wash and chop methi and palak leaves finely.
• Boil together with dal, chopped tomato, slit green chillies, salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker
• Let the steam escape.
• Soak tamarind in warm water
• Heat oil in a pan and add mustard jeera seeds to it
• After they turn brown and start spluttering add the urad dal, channa dal, curry leaves and dry red chillies.
• Fry for 2-3 minutes till the dal browns a little
• Add onions to the same and fry them till golden brown
• Add all dry masalas, fry for another minute
• Add the dal, mash a bit along with the tamarind water.
• Let it simmer for about 5 minutes or so
• Serve hot with rotis or rice

Sluuurp

Cheese Croissants – Post 11

Tags

baking, bread, breakfast, cheese, croissants, Friday Feast, main course, NaBloPoMo, recipe, recipes

I was going to do this recipe a little later but than lot of people have asked for it since I put the pic on FB… specially Deeps…So deeps this one is for u 🙂

Actually these are just cheese dinner rolls shaped as croissants but they taste pretty yumm and go very well with any continental kind side dish for dinner, with eggs for breakfast and even with tea if u make their mini versions

Ingredients

• Maida 250gms
• Salt 4gms (1 little less than 1 tsp however u can go upto 1 tsp)
• Sugar 10gms
• Yeast 12gm
• Water 150ml
• Fat 14gm (we can use butter/margarine or oil)
• Milk 10ml
• Pepper Powder 1 tsp
• Cheese 75gm
• Mustard Powder ¼ tsp

Method

• Mix yeast, water and sugar together and let it activate for about 5 mins.
• Sieve flour and make a well in the center. Add the yeast solution, milk and make soft and smooth dough by kneading. We have to knead it really well atleast for 25 mins or so till it passes the gluten membrane test. Basically when u take a piece in your hand and stretch it should not break

• Mix the fat now and smoothen it.
• Add the grated cheese, pepper powder, mustard powder and knead again for like 4-5 mins. (U can also add any herbs at this point, I think I added oregano to mine)
• Rest the dough covered for about 20-40 mins (depends on the weather hot weather it will work sooner) till it becomes double
• Knockback the dough and rest again for 5 mins
• Roll the dough in a smooth circle. Cut into 8 triangle pieces using pizza cutter.
• Take one part, make the slit at the bottom of about ½ – 1 inch and roll upwards to give it a Croissant like shape till u reach the tip. Put a drop of water to seal.

• Place in the greased baking tray
• Leave it for proofing for about 10-15 mins till it doubles in size and when u touch it kind of bounces back. At this stage u can also brush them with a little mixture of egg and for the shine and color
• Bake at about 200C for 10-15 mins
• The above recipe will yield 8 of them.

Bread Kofta Biryani and more

Tags

baking, biryani, bread, curd, fahsion show, Friday Feast, indian, indian main course, main course, plus size, ramp, recipe, rice, soya, veggies

I love biryanis and I often claim that veg biryani is a term meant to make vegetarians happy and there is no such thing like that, its just a modified form of pulao but then once in a while a recipe like this comes and proves me wrong 😉

When I first saw this sometime ago in Tarala Dala’s book it excited me because I love both koftas and biryanis and a combination of that excellent isnt it 😉

As usual I tweaked the recipe a little to suit what I want and here is how I made it..

Ingredients

For the bread koftas

• 4 bread slices (I took the 5 grain bread)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onions
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 2 tsp curds
• 1/2 carrot grated
• 1 tbsp soya flour
• salt to taste
• some oil

For the rice

• 1 cup long grained rice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 2 cardamom
• 2 cloves
• salt to taste

For the gravy

• 2 cloves
• 1″ cinnamon stick
• 1/4 cup sliced onions
• 1 tsp chilli poweder
• 2 tsp coriander-cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 cup tomatoes sliced
• 1/2 cup curds
• 1/4 cup green peas
• 1/4 cup carrot grated
• 1/4 cup cabbage grated
• 2 tsp pil
• salt to taste

To be mixed together for curd mixture

• 4 tbsp curds
• 2 tbsp chopped mint
• 2 tbsp chopped corrainder
• 2 tbsp water

Method

For the bread koftas

• Combine all the ingredients except oil with some water and mix well
• Shape the mixture into 15-20 even sized rounds.
• Now u can deep fry the koftas or bake them at 180C for about 15 mins or till brown or fry them with a drop of oil in my fav paniyaram pan 😀

For the rice

• Clean, wash and soak rice for approx 15 mins
• Boil 2 cups of water, add the bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and salt and then add the rice
• Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook till the rice is done
• Seperate each grain of rice with a fork. Keep aside

For the gravy

• Heat oil in a pan and add the cloves and cinnamon
• Add the onions and saute till golden brown
• Add all the dry masalas and saute for 1 min
• Add the tomatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes till oil seperates
• Add the curds, mix well and simmer for further 5 minutes
• Add all the veggies and mix well. Keep aside

For the final assembly

• Spoon out the gravy at the bottom of a baking dish
• Top with bread koftas and cover with cooked rice
• Top with curds mixture
• Cover with a lid or aluminium foil and bake in a pre heated over at 200C for 15-20 mins. Serve hot

The changes I made to the recipe were basically that I added some veggies and soya flour to the koftas and lots of veggies to the gravy… makes it more healthier… and yes didnt deep fry the koftas as suggested and also used much less than what was suggested by the recipe.

What I absolutely loved about this recipe was the fact that this is a true one pot meal not even curd needs to be served along as the top layer is just that

Wanna have a bite with all the layers?

Apart from this so nice of u guys this time to ask where have I been missing since a week… life has been very busy, in the baking class, coming home and practising… It was also N’s birthday last week and we planned a party for him and another friend who had her birthday last saturday and did lots of rain dance 😉 and I baked two cakes for the same… they were yumm and were totally polished off 😀 😀

Mocha Black Forest

Chocolate Sacher Cake

Both the cakes were yummy and were polished off by a gang of 10 people….

What fun that party was and then for the day his actual birthday falls on I planned a surprise family dinner for him with his sister, cousin a few close friends… the higlight of that party was the cake too but this I didnt bake it… I ordered it and u have to see it to understand what I mean

A picture cake with a family collage

Apart from that I have been very busy in one more thing and that is the fashion show that I took part in…  About a month or so back a friend called me saying her friend who is a final year student in JD Institute of Tech is doing a collection for plus size women and will I be interested in walking the ramp for her…. I didn’t think of it much and said yes why not… a sweetheart of a girl came and took my measurements of the dress, showed me a couple of designs and I choose one and then all was forgotten about it till a week or so back when she called saying that we have to come for rehearsals and Rahul Dev Shetty is the one who is choreographing it and there are the likes of Jacky Shetty and Pashmina Barker along with a whole of lot of other models walking for the other segments that I started getting shivers…. 😉 The last time I had walked the ramp was when I was 15 yrs younger and 1/4 the current size…

But Rahul and others did everything to make us all (the plus size models who were all regular women) comfortable and confident and we did walk the ramp after all… It was so much fun… I totally enjoyed myself…

And these are the details for all of those have been asking after seeing the pic on FB, I hope I didnt disappoint those who were asking the designer name 😉

So how has life been with u?

Layered Spinach Casserole

Tags

baking, Friday Feast, main course, one pot meal, recipe, rice, spinach, stir fry, vegetables, veggies, vegies

I heart, I love spinach so its made in the household quite often and Ojas seems to like it too makes it even more common and hence I am always on the lookout for some spinach recipes

So when I saw this dish with spinach flavored rice and stir fried veggies in Nita Mehta’s Baking Dishes cookbook I had to make it… a great one pot meal…

Ingredients

For the rice

• 1 cup rice – washed and soaked in salted water for 30 mins
• 2 tsp vegetable oil (the original recipe asks for 4 tbsp butter.. sigh)

For the spinach layer

• 2 cups chopped spinach – pureed in a mixer
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 green chillies (the original asked for 3 though I am sure it would taste awesome I reduced it because of Ojas)
• 1/2 cup curd
• 1 tsp atta (the original asked for maida and the regulars here now my hatred for it very well 😉 )
• 1/4 tsp salt

Stir Fried Veggies

• 1 onion – sliced
• 1 potato  – boiled and sliced into thin fingers (I skipped this and instead added a little more of all other veggies)
• 1 carrot – cut into thin fingers
• 5-6 french beans – cut into 2″ inch long fingers
• 1 capsicum cut into thin fingers (I added this and I personally u can add any veggies to this)
• salt, pepper and red chilli flakes to sprinkle
• 2 tsp olive oil (my addition)

Method

• Boil 6 cups water with 1 tsp salt. Add rice and boil till soft. Strain rice. Spread the rice in a plate to cool. Keep aside
• Heat oil butter in a pan, add ginger and green chilli. Stir till ginger starts to change color. Add spinach puree. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from fire. Let spinach cool.
• Whisk curd till smooth. Add 1tsp flour to curd and whisk again. Add curd to spinach and mix. Return to fire and cook till thick. Add salt to taste. Remove from fire to cool. Pour over the rice.
• For the stir fried veggies, heat the olive oil in a pan (in the original this is also done in butter… so chose what u like). Add onion, stir fry till pink. Add all the veggies apart from potato incase u are adding it. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes on low heat. Add the potato and stir fro another 2-3 minutes. Add salt, pepper and red chilli flakes to taste.

To assemble the casserole

• Grease a baking dish and spread spinach rice and press down gently
• Spread the stir fry veggies over the rice in a uniform layer
• Bake in a hot over at 200 degrees for 20 mins
• Remove from oven, sprinkle chopped coriander and serve hot. We had it with curd and it was yummy

And it look so colorful and vibrant that u feel like reaching to it and eating 😉

Methi Matter Pasanda

Tags

Friday Feast, gravy, indian, main course, methi, milk, peas, recipe

Folks don’t run away, this has not turned into a food blog as of yet 😀 and I know I know its not a friday 🙂 but this had to be blogged, had to be blogged about u….

Scene I :Sunday morning about 11:30 am

Me : I don’t feel like coking today

N : And I don’t feel like going out

Me : ok then lets order in

N : naah mood nahin hai plus what will it do to your diet

Me : sigh but I dont want to cook why do u have to  sayno everytime I ask to go out *picks up ojas and walks away in part anger part style to the first floor*

Scene II

About an hour or so later totally convinced that I have been royally ignored and this man won’t come up to say ok lets go out and eat… I come down to make some quick eat… and what do I see…

All my cooking books half open, half closed thrown away on my carpet in the middle of the living room and a very very very messy looking kitchen but the dining table set in a lovely manner with nothing less than methi mattter pasanda & egg bhurji….

and I didn’t have anything to say after that apart from enjoying the meal and yes the 2-hour cleaning after that 😉

so here is the recipe ab bolo post karna banta hai na 😉

Ingredients

• 1 cup green peas, boiled
• 1 cup methi leaves finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp kasuri methi
• 1/4 cup low fat milk (we used Good Life Slim Milk)
• 1/4 cup low fat curds (use probiotic if u are buying from outside)
• 1/2 tsp Bengal gram flour (besan)
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste

for the paste

• 1 1/4 cups sliced onions
• 1/4 cup cauliflower finely chopped
• 1-2 green chillies (I think N used 4 here 🙂 )
• 1 large cloves garlic chopped (I don’t enjoy eating garlic too much, so N skipped it)
• 1/2 ” piece ginger sliced
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 clove
• 1 cup low fat milk

Method

for the paste

• Combine all the ingredients in a pan and simmer for 8-10 minutes till the onions are soft and nearly all the liquid has evaporated
• Puree the mixture to a smooth paste in a blender. Keep aside

for the gravy

• Combine the milk, curds and gram flour. Mix Well and keep aside
• Sprinkle salt over the methi leaves and leave aside for 10 minutes. Wash the leaves well. Squeeze out all the water.
• Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and add the cumin seeds
• When the seeds crackle, add the methi leaves and kasuri methi and saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Add the prepared paste, curd-gram flour mixture, garam masala  and salt with 1/2 cup of water and bring the mixture to a boil
• Ass the green peas and simmer for 1-2 minutes
• Serve hot with chapathis

God bless the man for serving a good meal and god please send me someone to clean the mess after that 😉

Recipe Source : Tarla Dalal’s Cooking with 1 teaspoon of Oil

PS: I missed posting yesterday (had a terrible Migraine) and I dont know what to do with NaBloPoMo… should I continue and post 2 posts in a day sometime or should I call it off…