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

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 😉

A day for Baking

Tags

banana, bread, choclate chip, Friday Feast, muffins, pasta, recipe, vegetables, veggies, whole wheat

Myself, N and Ojas all of us love Pasta, and this is the simplest and frankly the most delicious pasta recpie… Works well with almost all pastas…  I have tried it with Frafalle, Penne, Fussili, Alphabet Pasta, the shells and it tastes well with everythin… ofcourse the colored alphabets are Ojas’s favorite are colored alphabets 😀

Ingredients

• 1 cup pasta (I use whole wheat/semolina)
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup chopped and blanched veggies (cabbage, capsicum, carrot, baby corn or whatever u like) also if u like ur veggies crisp skip the blanching I blanch more for Ojas
• 1 onion chopped
• handful of fresh oregano, thyme and basil (incase fresh is not there u can use dried variety)
• Red chilli flakes and salt to taste
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter

Method

• Boil pasta as per instructions
• Heat olive oil and butter in a pan
• Add the herbs and onions and fry for 3-4 minute, the onions wont really turn brown because of olive oil and butter
• Add the veggies and stir fry for 3-6 minutes depending on whether u blanched ur veggies or not
• Add salt and red chilli flakes
• Fry for another 2-3 minutes
• Transfer to a baking dish, sprinkle the grated cheese
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 5 mins till the cheese is nicely melted
• Serve hot

I usually take out my portion, spice it up with more chilli flakes, Tabasco before baking the rest…

I was in a baking mode today and also made yummy Banana muffins courtesy the Baking Buddies, I modified her recipe a little though…. instead of all maida… I made it 3/4 whole wheat flour and 1/4 maida and increased the eggs to 2… the result was healthier and still yummy muffins…

I also experimented with bread the first time in life… again with Mandy’s recipe… but what a disaster it was…Its edible but doesnt have the bread texture at all… My bread is shouting for help Mandy…. feel there was some problem with the way I handled yeast or the yeast I bought because the dough didnt raise at all even after keeping for 4 hours… we have to use dry yeast only na? Mandy, Smitha help please here…

Broken Wheat Khichdi

Tags

broken wheat, chicken, dal, daliya, Friday Feast, green masala, grill, grill chicken, marinate, recipe, veggies

Of  late in my search of healthy things to eat the standard namkeen daliya and khichdi have met to make a Broken Wheat Khichdi for me…

Its extremely healthy, light and good for kids, adults and dieters too and believe me its yummy… the first time I made it N said na u have this boring food but when he tasted he loved it and all of us at home are now hooked on to it..

Ingredients

• 1 cup roasted broken wheat
• 1 cup mixed dals (moong, masoor, tur & channa)
• 1 cup diced mix veggies
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup minced chicken (optional, I put it when Ojas has not eaten his meat for the day)
• 1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 2-3 dry red chillies
• 1 green chilli
• 1/4 tsp garam masala (optional again)
• 2 cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp oil

Method

• Soak broken wheat and dal for 2-3 hours (its ok if u dont soak, u just have to boil a little longer)  in 5 cups of water
• Heat oil in a cooke
• Add jeera, mustard seeds and dry chillies
• Add bay leaf and cloves
• After 2 mins add onions and fry till golden brown
• Add tomatoes and green chillies and fry for another 3 mins
• Add veggies and chicken fry for 2-3 mins
• Add salt to taste
• Add the soaked broken wheat and dals along with water
• Pressure cook for about 3-4 whistles
• Serve hot with curd,pickle and kachumer salad for lunch/dinner and with green chutney for breakfast/snacks

The other day I was chatting with Tara and discussing the marinates for our grilled chicken and I mentioned to her the green masala and she requested me to put it up here… so here it is dear for u 🙂

• 1/2 bunch of mint leaves
• 1 bunch of coriander leaves
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 6-7 dry red chillies (reduce if u dont like spicy food)
• 2-3 green chillies (again depends on u)
• 1-inch cinnamon
• 4 cloves
• 2-3 black pepper seeds
• 1 black cardamom (u can use green also if black is not there)
• salt to taste

grind the above to a coarse powder, mix with Olive oil and marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge and then grill as usual

PS: I have been running really really really busy will reply to all the comments soon…

Sandwich Break

Tags

cheese, curd, Friday Feast, green chutney, peas, recipe, sandwich, veggies, whole wheat bread

I love sandwiches, the very fact that you can make a sandwich as healthy or as sinful as you want :D.. Also you can eat them at any time of the time.. breakfast, snacks, dinner… Isn’t that versatile.

I am eating a lot of sandwiches for breakfast these days however I find very less recipes that can suit my requirements these days viz no cheese, no butter, no potatoes but still tasty 🙂 A lot surfing, a little bit from this recipe, a lit bit from that and I have discovered my own set of such healthy and low cal sandwich recipes. Here are the two which are my favourite.

Avanti hopefully you can use them for your snacks too and Sols hope peanut likes them too.. Let me try and do some recipes that I make for Ojas next week :D, only point is that I will have to click pics

Green Peas and Roasted Tomato Sandwich

Ingredients

• 4 slices of whole wheat/multigrain bread
• 1 cup shelled and boiled peas
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 tomato
• Green Chutney/ cheese spread
• Grated cheese (optional)
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 flakes of garlic

Method

• Mash the green peas coarsely by either a masher or in the mixer
• Cut the onions and mix the masalas, green peas and onions together
• Cut the tomatoes in round, place them on a microwave friendly plate and microwave on HIGH for abour 4 mins
• Sprinkle the oregano and garlic flakes on top of the tomatoes
• Put the microwave on convection/grill and roast for about 5 mins
• Spread green chutney on one side of two slices, for kids or for those who like and can afford cheese use cheese spread 🙂
• Put a layer of green peas stuffing on the bread and put 2-3 roasted tomatoes on the top, u can also top it with grated cheese if u want
• Grill it or roast it on the tava
• Repeat with the other two slices

PS: pls excuse the qaulity of the above pics… taken from N’s lousy cell camera 🙂

Its an absolutely yummilicious sandwich and very healthy because of the nutrients used.

Dahi Walla Sandwich

Ingredients

• 4 whole wheat/multigrain bread slices
• 1 cup curd
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 carrot grated
• 1/2 cup grated cabbage
• 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• pinch of nutmeg/cinnamon powder

Method

• Hang the curd in a muslin cloth for about half an hour so that the whey drains out

• Mix all the ingredients along with the curd drained of whey
• Put some mixture into the slices and grill or roast on tava

I really love this sandwich, I used to love mayo based sandwich but since I cant have it now I found this closer and healthier option. Personally I think that curd is the best way to have milk based products. Extremely healthy, maximum amount of calcium and great bacteria for the stomach..