Hand rolled parathas

Ingredients:

Mixed following ingredients:
Wheat flour 1 cup
soya flour : 1/2 cup
 finely grated paneer carrot courgette ginger about 1 cup. Finelly chopped coriander 3 large spoons. 
Jeera powder, fennel seed powder, aamchur, salt to taste.
Whole milk: to knead the dough
Oil 2 spoons
Ghee/ butter

Procedure:

Mix well all the dry ingredients and veggies. 
Knead the dough with whole milk and later add oil and press the dough.  Set aside for 10minutes. 
Immediately start rolling the parathas.
Prepare the rolling pan with cling film and press gently with your palm making round circle. If the dough gets sticky take dry flour and roll until you get the size and thickness you want. Heat the pan and shift the rolled paratha on the pan and let it cook on one side, flip over and add ghee/ butter and roast it nicely until all sides are cooked.

This was super hit with my 4 year old son. He is a rice person and hates to chew roti/ paratha. He did not even complain once and nicely ate his paratha. 
It is also good for the occasion when you had super busy day and you want your family to eat balanced meal. This has protein carbs and vegetable along with dairy! Try it!  

Manchau soup

Manchau soup:

Carrot

Cabbage 

Capsicum

Onion

Spring onion

French beans

All of above finely chopped into very small pieces. 

(1/4 cup each) 

Ginger paste 2tbs

garlic paste 2tbs

Sou sauce - 1/4 cup or until the soup is lil dark, so add little and cook little.

Schezwan sauce: 1 tbs

Tomato sauce: 1-2 tbs

Cornflour - make it into paste.

Water

Sesame oil

Black pepper crushed

Salt to taste

Recipe:

[chef's tip: Indo-Chinese is cooked on high flame, so keep all the ingredients closer to you for quick access]

Heat a sauce pan, heat until fumes starts coming.

Add 2-3 tbs oil.

Add ginger garlic paste, Stir well.

Add onions stir for 1/2 min

Add carrots and beans stir for 1 min

Add cabbage stir for another min

Spring onion's onion part will be added now.

Add black pepper salt to taste

Water 3-4 cups and all the sauces. Once the water boils add the cornflour mix. 

Just taste and adjust the amount of sauce / salt accordingly. 

Add soy sauce if soup is not dark enough. 

Add capsicum now, should take 1 min or so to get cooked and crunchy. 

Add 1 tbs of ginger garlic paste in the soup. 

Garnish with spring onion greens.

Serve hot. 

Hot shot stir fry

It has been ages since I wrote any post. I have been real busy with my toddler. Now its time to shade off excess fat and get that lean body. This recipe is very good. It satisfies your taste buds and fills up your tummy with essential nutrients.

I highly recommend this dish, it is yummy, easy and all that you want.

Serves 2:
Ingredients:

Onion: 1 small
Brocoli: 1/2
Mushrooms: 6
Red pepper: 1 medium
Spinach: handful
Vegetarian sausage: 3 (if frozen, remove and keep it outside for 10-20minutes)
Salt to taste
Extra virgin olive oil: 1 table spoon

Sauce:
Soya sauce: 3 table spn
Garlic crushed: 1 table spn
Red chili flakes: 1/2 table spn
Honey: 1/2 table spn
Cheery tomatoes: 5-6 finely chopped
Toasted seasom oil: 1 table spn

Optional:
Boiled noodles / rice of your choice

Garnish: 
Green leaves of sping onions
Freshly crushed black pepper

Preparation:
Mix all the sauce ingredients and keep them aside.

Wash and cut all the vegetables and keep them seperate. Cut them one inch long.  Rough chop spinach.

Cut vegetarian sausage into half and make 1 inch long pieces and cook on non-stick pan on very slow heat for 5-10minutes in total by turning when once side is cooked. One side will take 4-5 minutes. Cooked pieces will have light brown color on them. Remove from heat once cooked.

Boil the noodles or rice if you want to add extra carbs in your dish else you can just skip it.

Take a large wok, heat it. Add extra virgin olive oil and let it heat for 1 minute. Once the oil is hot, add each vegetables in order. Brocoli, stir on high heat for 1 minute, onions, let it cook for half a minute and add rest mushrooms, red peppers, spinach and cook for 1 minute. Add the sausage pieces and salt to taste. Mix well. Add the sauce and mix well. It will not take more then 5minutes for all the veggies to get cooked. It shouldn't be overcooked. Just enough till it has a bite.

Mix noodles or rice. Add more soya sauce if needed.

[Tip: If vegetables leave lot of water, spinkle some flour and mix until the water is turned into nice thick sauce.]

Garnish with greens of spring onion and freshly crushed black pepper. 

Kolhapuri Misal Pav

I have been craving a lot for spicy food. What is more delicious than Kolhapuri Missal Pav in such case! I decided to try this following recipe and it turned out to be the best home made misal I have ever had. It is very health and yummy. When you are up for a spicy treat, kolhapuri misal pav won't let you down.

Serves 2
Ingredients:

Matki/Moth beans sprouts: 2 cups

For masala:
(set 1)
Cumin seeds: 1 table spoon
Garlic: 3-4 cloves
Ginger: 1 inch
Cumin-coriander powder: 1table spoon
Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
Clove - 3-4
Black pepper whole - 4-5

(Set 2)
Oil: 2 table spoon
Onions: 1
Tomato: 1 large
Grated coconut (fresh or dry): 3 table spoon
Green chilies: 1-2

For curry:
(Set 3)
Mustard seeds: 1spoon
Cumin seeds: 1spoon
Asafoetida: 1/4 spoon
Curry leaves: 8-10
Turmeric powder: 1/2 table spoon
Red chili powder: 1-2 table spoon (depending on how spicy you want)
Tamarind or Kokam paste: 2table spoon
Jaggery: 1/2 spoon
Coriander: washed and chopped

For garnish:
Bombay mix:
Onion: finely chopped
Tomato: finely chopped
Cut lemon pieces
Coriander: washed and finely chopped

Accompliments:
Pav (Indian bread): 4 (2each)

Preparation:
Boil matki sprouts, just enough to have a bite in salted boiling water. Do not drain the water as it will be used in the curry. It takes 5-7 minutes to boil fresh matki beans. If beans are bit old, it will take longer.

Take the ingredients mentioned in Set 1 and fine crush them in the grinder. This we will call it as masala mixture.

Heat the pan and add 2 table spoon of oil, now add the masala mixture with 1-2 cut green chillies. Saute until the oil starts to leave the masala, roughly for about 3 minutes. Add finely chopped onion. Stir for 1 minute or two. Chopped tomato goes in with grated coconut. Stir till its all blended well and oil starts to leave the paste.

Take it off the pan and let the mixture cool off a bit. Blend it into smooth paste. This we will call as wet mixture.

Heat the pan, add 2-3 table spoon of oil. Once the oil it hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida once the seeds start to splutter. Add curry leaves and after a minute turmeric powder, red chilli powder, wet mixture and 2-3 cups of water. You can use the water from boiled matki beans. Add tamarind or kokam paste, salt to taste, jaggery, chopped coriander and stir well. Add matki beans and let it cook on slow heat for about 10minutes.

Matki misal is ready to be served.

Garnish it with bombay mix, chopped onion, tomato and coriander along with some lemon juice. Enjoy it with hot pav.

Black Forest Cake

Black forest cake is the most famous cake of all. It has many versions and following is my version of cake and also it is eggless recipe for black forest cake. Try it and you will love it.

Ingredients:
Chocolate cake (250gm plain flour, 100 gm butter, 400gm condense milk, 5gm baking soda, 2.5gm soda bicarbonate, 250ml of coke, 1 tea spoon of salt, 1 table spoon vanilla essence, 4 table spoon coca powder, 2 table spoon drinking chocolate. Mix all wet ingredients butter and condense milk together then all dry ingredients and later coke and vanilla mix well. Bake on preheat oven on 180degree for 15-20minutes until the knife comes out clean.)

Double cream: 350gm
Icing sugar: 100 gm
Vanilla essence: 1 table spoon
Brandy: 4 tbs (optional)
Powdered sugar: 4 table spoon
Cherries: 200gm
Cherries to decorate: 5-10
Dark chocolate bar to decorate

Preparation:
Bake the chocolate cake and let it cool down for minimum 3hours. Cut the cake into equal size piece for layering.
De-seed cherries and cut them into small pieces. Add powdered sugar and brandy. Let aside for 4 hours. This will leave some juice which we will be using on cake sponge.
After 4 hours of cooling cake and leaving cherry into sugar we will spread the juice coming out from the cherry onto the cake. Take a spoonful at a time and apply it over the cake. Leave for 2hours and again repeat the procedure of applying sugary cherry juice onto cake.
This will make the cake sponge very soft. Make sure you do not over apply the juice other wise the cake will become too soft and will break.

In a bowl add double cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence. Whip it until it become thick. Cover it with cling film and leave it in the freeze for minimum of 30minutes.

Once the cake is ready, apply one layer whipped cream and a thin layer of cherries and again whipped cream.
Place second layer of cake and apply whipped cream on the top as well as on the sides. Do a fine finish as this is the final layer.
Using a large knife surface, place the chocolate bar on the kitchen top run the knife from top to bottom and repeat until you get fine, thin and long flakes of chocolates. Take little and decorate it on the cake. Do it until all sides are covered and you are satisfied with the decoration.

Finally place cherries and leave it in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

Veg Crispy

I really miss veg crispy dish I used to hog on back in Mumbai. I finally manage to re-create close to restaurant taste and thought of sharing it with you all. Hope you like it.

Ingredients:

For crispy veg:
Vegetables of your choice. I took following (1/2 cup each)
Cabbage:
Cauliflower:
Onion:
Capsicum:
Broccoli:
Asparagus:
Mushrooms:
Baby corn:
Plain flour 1cup: Cornflour 1cup: Bengal gram flour/ besan: 1/2 cup (take more if quantity of vegetable is more)
Salt to taste
Soya sauce: 2 table spoon
Oil to fry

For gravy:
Spring onion: 2
Garlic: 4-6
Soya sauce: 1/2 cup
Tomato sauce: 1/2 cup
Sugar: 1 tbs
Salt to taste
Green chilies: 4-5 (take more if you want hot)
Black pepper powder: 1 table soon

Preparation:

For crispy veg:
Wash cabbage, capsicum, asparagus, broccoli, baby corn, cauliflower, mushrooms and peel onions. Cut them into 1-2cm large squares or pieces. Set aside to fry.

Mix plain flour, corn flour and bengal gram flour. Add salt to taste. 2 table spoon of soya sauce. Add water and make thick pourable consistency so that each vegetable get nice coating of this batter.

Take oil to fry in frying pan and heat it on medium flame. Heat until oil is hot. Add a drop of batter and see if it floats on the surface thats when the oil is ready to fry.

We will fry each type of vegetable separately as cooking time for each is different. Cauliflower, baby corn and broccoli has higher cooking time then cabbage, onion, capsicum and mushroom.

Dip each type of in the batter and fry them until they are golden brown. Take them out on absorbent tissue paper.

For gravy:
Wash spring onions nicely and fine chop them. Keep the leafy part on the side.
Peel garlic and fine chop it. Wash and remove stem of green chili. If you want to too hot cut them into small pieces else cut it into 2 cm large juliennes.

In a bowl mix soya sauce, tomato sauce, garlic, sugar and black pepper.

Tip: Before you proceed with following step check if your fried vegetables are crispy. If not place them in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes on 180 degrees which will bring out crispiness again. Fried vegetables kept outside for long time looses its crispness.

Heat a large pan on high flame. Heat it until fumes start to come out. Add 2 large spoon full of oil. Add green chili and after 1/2 minute add spring onions and stir for a minute. Add fried vegetables and mix well. Now add the mixed sauce and let it cook for another minute or until the vegetables are nicely coated with the sauce.
Garnish with green leafy chops of spring onion. Serve hot. I bet you will enjoy it.

Rajsthani Khasta Kachori

I have been craving for khasta kachori for long time. I remembered the days when I used to reach railway station and there was this shop outside it. They used to sell all sorts of street food.

Me and my friends used to enjoy occasional khasta kachori treats. They had real big size kachori which I could hardly finish. The taste is still lingering in my memory with hot and sweet chutney and little yogurt and sev on top. It was just what you want after finishing hard day at college.

I decided to give it a go at home. This was my first attempt at khasta kachori and it turned out pretty well. It was as khashta as I had expected. It is also very easy to make.

Makes about 10 to 12 kachori
Ingredients:
Plain flour: 1 cup
Oil: 2 table spoon
Salt to taste
Chilled water: 1/4 cup

For filling:
Yellow mung dal: 1/4 cup
Fennel seed powder: 1tbs
Coriander seed powder: 1tbs
Dry mango powder: 1/2 tbs
Chili flakes: 1tbs (take more if you like hot)
Ginger powder: 1/2 tbs
Asafoetida: pinch
Garam masala: 1/2 tbs
Salt to taste
Oil: 2 tbs
Water: 2-3 tbs

Oil to fry

Preparation:
Mix plain flour with oil and salt and add water slowly to make dough. Keep aside for 15-20minutes.

Crush yellow mung dal into coarse powder. Somewhat like medium semolina or idli rava. Add fennel seed powder, coriander seed powder, chili flakes, dry mango powder, ginger powder, asafoetida, garam masala and salt and mix well.

Add oil and mix well.

Dry roast for 3-4 minutes on low-medium flame and allow flavours to come out. Notice the color change.

Add 1tbs of water at a time and mix well. Mixture should be slightly moist. Set aside for 5minutes.

Knead the plain flour dough for 2-3 minutes and divide it into 10-12 equal parts.

Take one dough ball and using hand make small round shaped patty such a way sides are thinner than the center.

Keep it in your palm and place the mung dal filling roughly 1 tea spoon. Gently cover the sides and repeat the same for all balls.

Let the ball dry for 3-4 minutes.

We will press the kachori using our palm. This is to avoid uneven surface or breaking of kachori. Place the filled ball on flat surface.
Using end of your end of the palm press it to make small round flat kachori just as shown in the picture.
Heat the oil on slow flame. To fry the kachori we will be using medium hot oil. To test the temperature, add a small piece of dough in the oil. If the dough piece comes up straight away oil is too hot and if dough ball seats at the bottom of the pan, oil is not hot enough. The right temperature is when dough piece comes up floating slowly on the surface.

Add one kachori at a time and allow it to fluff up. Leave it in the oil for 3-4 minutes and turn the sides. Cook like this until each side is golden brown. Fry the number of kachoris that will fit nicely in your frying pan.

My pan takes up to 3 kachoris.
You can enjoy it as it is with any chutney of your taste. Suggestion: imali chutney.
Or you can spice it up bit more by making a hole in the middle of kachori and fill it up with boiled channa/ sprounted mung, yogurt (salted/sweetened), imali chutney, coriander chutney, sev, chaat masala.
This is also called as raj kachori short form of Rajsthani khasta kachori.