Hara-Bhara Mirchi

Sometime back I had seen the recipe for this on web but never got a chance to make it, infact I even forgot where I had seen it. I thought of making it with whatever I had in my memory and added ingredients to my taste and based on my gut-filing. Believe me it taste awesome and I think you can make this with any kind of mild pepper.

Ingredients:
Anaheim Peppers - 3
Roasted peanuts - 3/4 cup coarsely crushed
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cummin-Corainder (Dhana Jeeru) powder - 1 tsp
Dry Mango (Amchur) powder OR lime juice - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:
Cut the peppers lengthwise and remove all seeds. Mix together crushed peanut, turmeric, cummin-corainder, red chilli, dry mango powder, salt and little oil in a bowl. Fill the mixture in the pepper. Coat outerside of the pepper with little oil. Place peppers in a microwave safe dish and microwave high for 2-3 mins. Heat the oil in flat pan and then place semi cooked peppers in it and cook till the pepper turns light brown.

Hara Bhara Mirchi is now ready to serve.

I am sending this recipe to WYF series is "Salad/Starters/Soups" hosted by Easycrafts.

Paneer Bhurji

My hubby talked about his college days were he used to have paneer bhurji with Pav in canteen. So I thought to prepare it for him to make him recall his college days. He enjoyed it and so did I, hope you will enjoy too.

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1/2 Lbs. grated

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Tomato - 1 finely chopped

Green chillies - 2 finely chopped (or to taste)

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves - chopped for garnishing

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add onions and ginger garlic paste fry till onions are translucent. Add the chillies and tomatoes fry till they are soft. Add turmeric and garam masala powder, salt and little water so that all the masalas mix well. Add the grated paneer and fry for 5 mins, till the paneer blends into the masala. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.

Noodles Chaat

Noodles Chaat is merger of Chinese food with Indian taste. This can provide a good change to your regular Chaat. This is my version of Noodles Chaat, you can adjust the spices according to your taste.

Ingredients:

Noodles - 1 pack

Sprouted Mung Beans - 3 tbsp

Potato - 1 Boiled, peeled, cut into pieces

onion - 1 finely chopped

tomato - 1 finely chopped

Green chilli - 1 finely chopped (optional)

Tomato ketchup - 1 tsp

Green Chilli Sauce - 1 tsp

Soy sauce - 1 tsp

White Vinegar - 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

Break noodles into small pieces and put in the microwave safe bowl. Microwave high for 2 mins to make noodles crispy. Stir often to make sure noodles do not get burned. Now add all the ingredients in the noodles except coriander leaves and some onions and tomatoes for garnishing.

Mix it well.

Put noodles in a plate and garnish with onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves. here's your Noodles Chaat ready to enjoy.

Green Paneer Tikki

If you are very hungry before your dinner, Green Paneer Tikki will satisfy your hunger for while until dinner arrives. It's spicy flavour will tickle your tongue.

Ingredients:
Paneer Pieces
Coriander-Mint Chutney
Tomato slices (for garnishing)
Chat Masala powder
Lemon Juice
Cooking Oil Spray

Method:

Take a bowl put paneer pieces with chutney and mix well. Keep it in refrigerator for 30 to 40 mins. After that line a backing sheet with foil and spray cooking oil. Arrange paneer pieces on the foil and broil on high temperature for 5 to 7 mins, ensure that your paneer does not burnout during broiling.

When the paneer pieces start turning slightly brown at the edges, turn over them and apply some chutney on the top. Broil again about 2 to 3 mins until the paneer starts turning brown on the edges on this side.

Remove paneer from oven and arrange it on a plate. Sprinkle chat masala powder and lime juice on it and garnish with tomato slices.

Your Green Paneer Tikki is ready to serve. Enjoy!!!

I am sending this recipe to WYF series is "Salad/Starters/Soups" hosted by Easycrafts.

Rice Pudding (Kheer)

Rice pudding or Kheer as it is called, is very famous Indian sweet prepared on many auspicious days of festivals in India. You can also have it as a dessert dish. Since it contains sugar and rice it is not advisable for people having diabetes but you can use sweetener instead of sugar. I love kheer so much and you will like it for sure. Enjoy and have fun !!!


Ingredients:
Rice - 1/4 cup
Milk - 5 cups
Sugar - 1/3 cup or to taste
Almonds & Pistachios - 2 tbsp sliced
Cardamom (Elaichi) powder - 1/4 tsp or to taste
Few strands of Saffron (Kesar)
Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 tsp

Method:
Wash the rice thoroughly and keep it aside. Melt the ghee in a pan on medium heat then add rice and saute it for 2 mins. Add the milk and cook until the milk reduces to half & creamy and rice is tender. Stir often to make sure the milk does not burn at bottom and also rice does not stick in the bottom of the pan. Now add sugar, saffron, cardamom powder and half of the almonds & pistachios slices. Let it simmer for 10 mins at low heat. Switch-off the heat and let it cool. Garnish with remaining almonds & pistachios slices.

You can serve warm Kheer as a side dish with meal. You can also serve chilled Kheer as a dessert. Enjoy!!!

Tip:- Use non-stick pan to avoid stickiness of the Rice at the bottom.

Cabbage-Paneer Paratha

I love stuffed paratha because it is stomach filler as well as it contains nutritious ingredients in it. Today my mood was to have stuffed paratha but I didn't want to eat potatoes so I thought to try with cabbage and paneer and here you go with my experiment.

Ingredients:

For the dough:
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil to cover the dough

For stuffing:
Grated Cabbage - 1 & 1/2 cups
Crumbled Paneer - 3/4 cup
Ginger-Green Chilli paste - 1 tbsp (to taste)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (to taste)
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp (to taste)
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp chopped
Salt and Lemon Juice to taste
Oil or Ghee for cooking

Method:

For the Dough:
Mix flour and salt in a bowl and use warm water to knead the dough until a pliable but non-sticky dough is formed. Cover the dough with oil and keep aside for at least 30 mins. After 30 mins divide the dough intoequal portions and make balls.

For Stuffing:
After grating the cabbage squeeze out the excess water. Put all the ingredients in another bowl and mix it well. Now divide the stuffing into equal portions and make small balls and place them aside.

For making Paratha:

Roll the dough into 3 inch diameter circles. Put the filling in the center. Seal by pulling the edges of the rolled dough together to make a ball. Proceed to make all balls. To make it easier to roll the balls, first roll them in dry whole wheat flour. Lightly press the ball on the sealed side and keep it on the top-side when rolling. Roll the ball light handle into 6 inch circles to reduce the stickiness on the rolling pin or rolling surface, sprinkle dry whole wheat flour on both side of semi-rolled paratha.

Heat the skillet on medium high, once skillet is hot place the paratha over the skillet. You will see the color change and the paratha will bubble in different places. Then turn the paratha over, it should have golden brown spots. spread oil/ghee over paratha on both sides. Flip the paratha and gently press with spatula. Flip again and press with spatula, make sure paratha is golden brown on both sides. Make all the parathas this way.

Serve hot Paratha with Plain Yogurt and Green Chutney.

Tip: If you do not want more oil in paratha you can use cooking spray oil instead.

Gobi Manchurian (Dry)

Gobi Manchurian is a famous Chinese (Indian style) appetizer. If you do not like the cauliflower in vegetables then think again and try this. The sauce of this dish gives cauliflower a different look, different taste and very nice aroma. My Mom-in-law likes this dish very much, this is for you Mummy.

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - Medium, cut into bite size florets
Oil for deep frying

For the batter:
All purpose flour (maida) - 5 tbsp
Corn starch - 3 tbsp
Ginger - 2 tsp minced
Garlic - 1 tbsp minced
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Soy Sauce - 1 tsp
White Vinegar - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For Sauce:
Onion - 1 diced
Green Bell Pepper - 1 diced
Green chillies - 4 slitted and cut in halves
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green Spring Onions - 3 tbsp finely chopped
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
White Vinegar - 1 tsp
Tomato Ketchup - 2 tbsp
Red chilli sauce - 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp chopped (for garnishing)
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

To make batter:
Take a small bowl add all purpose flour, corn starch, salt, black pepper powder, red chilli powder, minced ginger-garlic, soy sauce and white vinegar, mix well. Add some water and make a thick paste without any lumps.

For deep frying:
Wash the cauliflower florets and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Now coat cauliflower pieces well with batter and deep fry until cauliflower is a medium dark brown in color. Drain the excess oil with a paper towel and set aside.

For Sauce:
Heat oil in a wide saucepan on high flame. Then saute the onions, green bell peppers, green chillies and ginger-garlic for couple of mins. Once they turns slightly tender add soy sauce, white vinegar, tomato ketchup, red chilli sauce and salt, mix it well. Now add fried cauliflower toss everything and mix well until the masala becomes dry. Now add spring onions and lower the heat to low flame and toss again for a min.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Cluster (Guvar) Beans and Dhokli

The combination of Guvar (Cluster beans) with Dhokli is very uncommon but because of presence of Ajwain and Garlic it adds flavour to the curry which you will never forget. This is my one of the best experiment and believe me its awesome.

Ingredients:
Cluster (Guvar) Beans - 2 cups (cut into pieces)
Tomato - 1 medium finely chopped
Garlic cloves - 2 big finely chopped
Ajwain seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
A pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp

For Dhokli:
Besan - 3 tbsp
A pinch of Salt, Turmeric powder and Red chilli powder
A little Oil

Method:

For Dhokli:
Mix all the ingredients and make a dough by using a very little water. The dough consistency should be slightly harder than chapati dough.

For making curry:
Heat the oil in a pan and add ajwain seeds. Once seeds starts to cook, it will release an aroma, then add hing. After few seconds add cluster beans with some water. Add chilli, turmeric powder and salt then saute the beans for 3 to 4 mins on medium heat to make beans little crunchy. Then cover the pan and cook on low heat for around 5 mins, until the beans becomes soft, add some more water to ensure cluster beans don't get dry. We want to steam the beans not boil. Now add chopped tomatoes and garlic in the curry and mix it well.

Now we add dhokli by taking a marble size piece of dhokli dough and flatten with fingers and thumb. Press to form a small circle and add in the curry. Cover the pan and cook for around 10 mins on low heat. May need to keep adding some more water. Dhoklis tend to thicken the curry as it cooks, so be mindful that the curry should not be watery but moist.

Once the dhoklis are cooked the curry is ready to have it. Serve with Chapatis or Rice. Enjoy!!!

Banana Raita

Banana Raita is one of the favourite side dish which is normally taken with any main course. It is very easy to make and helps in digestion of food.

Ingredients:
Ripe Banana - 2
Yogurt - 2 cups
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Salt and Sugar to taste
Few Coriander leaves
Few Mint leaves (optional)

Method:
Cut the banana into thin rings. Beat the yogurt till it becomes uniform. Grind the mustard seeds to fine powder. Now add mustard powder, salt and sugar in the beaten yogurt and mix it well. Then add banana rings to this mixture and mix it but make sure the rings are not broken. Keep the raita in refrigerator to cool.

Serve chilled raita garnished with coriander and mint leaves.

Crushed Eggplant (Baingan Bharta)

Eggplant or Baingan as it is called is not at all my favourite vegetable but my hubby just loves it. Whenever I want to make my hubby happy I prepare this dish and he just forgets everything, believe me. Oops!!! I hope he does not see this else I will loose this golden key.

Ingredients:
Baingan (Eggplant) - 1 large
Onion - 1 medium chopped length wise
Tomatoes - 2 medium chopped
Frozen Peas - 1/2 cup (optional)
Garlic cloves - 2 (optional)
Ginger-Green chilli paste - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Cumin-Coriander (Dhana-Jeeru) powder -1 tbsp
Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
Rub some oil on the baingan (eggplant) and roast directly on the flame until the skin chars and the flesh is completely cooked. or else you can broil it on high in oven until the eggplant is cooked (keep checking and turning when required). Once cooked let it cool a little and then peel off the skin (it will come off very easily), cut cubes of the flesh and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan after the oil gets hot add asafoetida, ginger-chilli paste, onions and garlic. Once the onions are translucent add tomatoes and cook till the oil separates from the mixture this will take a little while. Don't forget to keep stirring, tomatoes tend to burn fast. After the tomatoes are cooked add the cumin-coriander (dhana-jeeru), chilli, turmeric and garam masala powder and mix well. Now add chopped baingan (eggplant) and mix, while mixing the cubes will fall apart and become one big mixture. Add the frozen peas and salt mix it well and cover with the lid. Let it cook together for another 5 mins. The is dish is ready now garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with Chapatis.

Masala Okra (Bhindi)

Though you find Okra (Bhindi) a sticky vegetable but my recipe will make you love this vegetable as my method reduces the stickiness and adds a good taste. I bet you will love this Bhindi Masala.

Ingredients:
Bhindi/Okra - 15 to 20 washed, towel dried & cut into pieces
Onion - 1 small finely chopped
Tomato - 1 large finely chopped
Ginger-Green chilli paste - 1 tsp
Garlic cloves - 3 big finely chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Amchur powder - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - finely chopped for garnishing

Method:
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and add bhindi to it. Saute them on high to medium flame continuously till the stickiness is reduced and they start to brown. In other pan heat 1 tsp of oil and add cumin seeds to it when they sizzle add finely chopped onion. Saute the onion till it turns translucent. Now add garlic and ginger-chilli paste and saute till onion turns golden brown in colour. Add garam masala and turmeric powder and saute for another min till you get nice aroma of spices. Add finely chopped tomatoes, sugar (if using) and cook on a medium flame for about a minute or two. Add amchur powder, bhindi and salt. Keep stirring for another couple of mins till all the flavours blend well. Turn off the flame and after few seconds add lemon juice mix it well and garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Chapati or Rice.

Microwave Khandvi

Khandvi is a very famous Gujrati snacks (farsan) often taken with sweets. I like Khandvi very much and hence posting this item. The traditional way of making Khandvi is little difficult hence I have brought this recipe to cook in microwave, which is easier and faster.

Ingredients:

For batter-
Besan (Gram flour) - 1 cup
Sour butter milk - 3 cups (1 cup sour yogurt+2 cups water)
Green chilli-Ginger paste - 1 tbsp
A pinch of Asafoetida (Hing)
A big pinch of Turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For tempering:
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Green chilli - 2 finely chopped
Fresh Coconut - 1 tbsp grated
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp finely chopped
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Take the gram flour, turmeric powder, green chilli-ginger paste, hing and salt in a microwave safe bowl and mix well. Add buttermilk to the mixture and mix well with a egg beater or spatula taking care that no lumps is formed.The batter should be thin and flowing without any lumps.

Place the bowl in a microwave and cook at high speed for 5 mins. Remove the bowl and mix the contents well. Place again in a microwave and cook for another 5 mins. Mix well and check if is still runny (watery), place it again in microwave and cook for another 3 to 4 mins. Mean while, keep ready 3 steel plates and spatula to spread the batter. Don't grease them with oil.

Spread the thick batter quickly on the back side of steel plates. Spread it as thiny as possible. Let it cool for 2-3 mins. Then slice them with knife into 2 inch long stripes and roll each stripe neatly. Place each rolls in a serving dish.

For tempering-

Heat oil in a skillet and add mustard seeds to it. When mustard starts to pop and splutter add sesame seeds and chopped green chillies and saute it for few seconds. Spread them evenly over rolled khandvi. Garnish with coconut grates and chopped coriander leaves. Serve them and enjoy!!!

Jaggery Laddoo

Gur ke laddoo is most famous and favourite sweet item in India. This item even favourite of Lord Ganesha. Though it is sweet, normal diabetic patients can have it as it contains jaggerry instead of sugar. It is easy to digest because it contains wheat and its considered light sweet. So Enjoy this delicious item and provide me your opinion about it, chao.





Ingredients:
Wheat flour - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Jaggery - 1/2 cup Shredded OR thinly sliced
Ghee - 3/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Poppy seeds (Khus-khus) - 1 tbsp (optional)
Oil OR Ghee for frying

Method:

Take the flour and 1 tbsp oil and use warm water to knead a very hard dough. Then use your palms to form first-sized koftas/rolls from the dough. It should be very hard, if you drop them they should not break or crumble. Now take a oil OR ghee and fry these balls on medium flame till they turn a little more than light brown in colour. Set them aside to cool.

Once the fried rolls come down to room temperature, crust them in a dry grinder to form a coarse powder. Do not grind it too smooth. Now take this powder in a dish with edge. Add the cardamom and nutmeg powder to the mixture and mix it well.

Warm the ghee to make it liquid, now add the jaggery and mix it well until the jaggery evenly mixes with the ghee but make sure jaggery is not over cook. Now add this mixture in the flour and mix it well. Once you feel the mixture is reasonably soft, take a small portion and roll it into a medium sized Laddoo. Remove the poppy seeds in a dish and rollover each laddoo in this.

Laddoo is now ready to eat, Enjoy it !!!!

Khasta Kachori

Khasta Kachori is one of the famous Rajasthani Chaat which has blend of north Indian Chaat and sweetness of the west. The memories of Khasta Kachori goes to my sweet old college days where I use to pounch it with my friends. Hope you will enjoy this....

Ingredients:

For the crust-
Plain flour (Maida) - 2 cups
Ghee - 1/4 cup melted
Fruit salt (soda) - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

For the filling-
Yellow moong dal - 1/2 cup
Besan - 2 tbsp
Ginger - green chilli paste - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Dry mango (Amchur) powder - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida (hing) - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 3 tbsp
Salt to taste

To serve-
Coriander (green) chutney
Khajur - Imli (sweet) chutney
Garlic chutney (optional)
Thin yogurt
Boiled Potatoes - chopped finely
Onions - chopped finely
Coriander choped
Thin sev

Method:

To make Crust-

Make the dough for the crust, mix all the ingredients and knead into a firm dough by using a little water at a time. Knead properly for atleast 5 to 6 mins, but keep it hard and firm. As the Kachori's need to thick and flaky cover with a wet muslin cloth and leave for 30 mins.

To make filling-

Soak the moong dal in water for atleast 6 hours. Then drain the water and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan, at the jeera and asafoetida. When the seeds crackle put the soaked and drained moongdal and fry for few seconds. Add the green chilli - ginger paste, chilli powder, garam masala, gram flour, amchur and salt. Stir for 5 mins. till all the masala's are cooked properly.

Pulse this mixture in a food processor to form a coarse to fine powder. Divide the mixture into 12 equal parts.

To make the Kachori's-

Take the dough and knead it for few minutes. Divide the dough in 12 equal parts. Take one part in your palm and with your fingers flatten the edges so that it becomes the circle of about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Mould the dough into a cup and add about 1 tsp of dal mixture in the center. Seal by pulling over all the edges. Repeat with the rest. Now heat about 1 1/2 inches of oil in a frying pan on medium heat.

Set the Kachori's on a surface with the seams facing up. Using the base of your palm, slowly flatten them into circles about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Fry them on medium-low heat. After they start to puff slowly turn them over. Fry until golden-brown on both sides. If the Kachori's are fried on high heat, they will get soft and will not be crispy.

Serving the Khasta Kachori-

Keep one kachori on a plate and crack a hole in the center of it. Fill it with 3-4 tbsp of the beaten yogurt. Add the chopped potatoes and onions, then pour the green, tamarind and garlic chutneys and sprinkle coriander and sev on the top.

Enjoy this delicious chaat ....

Garlic chutney

The garlic chutney is must for any kind of chaat. You may not like to peel the garlic but it definitely adds a good taste to your recipe. Garlic is also considered good for diabetic patients and cancer patients (proved by Ayurved but not clinically proven yet). It is good to have garlic especially in winters.

Ingredients:
Garlic cloves - 1 cup peeled
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)

Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender with 1/4 cup of water and grind to a fine paste.

Before using dilute with water and use as required.

Tip:

Soaking garlic cloves in hot water makes it easier to peel them.

Oil your hands before you peel garlic to prevent having a lingering garlic aroma throughout the day.

Coriander chutney

Green Corainder chutney which is great for sandwich spreads, chaat and snacks. The addition of lemon juice enhance the flavours of mint & corainder and prevent discoloration of the greens. This chutney can be stored refrigerated for upto a week.

Ingredients:
Coriander (fresh) - 1 bunch chopped
Green chillies - 3 chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp chopped
Mint leaves - 5-6 (optional)
Salt, sugar & lemon juice to taste
Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch
A fistful of raw peanuts

Method:
Take a blender and add the peanuts to it first. Grind them for a min. Now add the remaining ingredients, add water as needed and blend together to achieve a thick paste like consistency.

There, your chutney is ready to be serve with any kind of snacks and chaat.

Tamarind-Date chutney

The sweet & sour chutney is the main ingredient in all chaat recipes. The jaggery makes the chutney sweeter, but you may omit it if you prefer a more tangy flavour.

Ingredients:

Traditional-
Dates (Khajur) - 2 cups de-seeded
Tamarind (Imli) - 1/4 cup de-seeded
Jaggery (Gur) - 1 cup grated
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
Salt to taste
Water - 4 cups

Microwave-
Tamarind - 1 big lemon size
Dates syrup - 4 tbsp OR a small lemon size
Jaggery - 1/4 cup OR to taste
Red chilli powder to taste
Salt to taste

Method:

Traditional-
Wash the dates and tamarind and place them in a sauce pan. Add the jaggery, chill powder, asafoetida, salt and 4 cups of water and simmer for 20 to 25 mins. Cool and strain the mixture through a sieve. You can also puree the chutney in a food processor and then strain it.

Microwave-
Soak the tamarind and dates (if not using syrup) for half an hour and extract the juice. Add it to a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 4 mins. Add the rest of the ingredients and microwave on high again for 3 mins. If it is still very watery, microwave on high for another 2 mins.

Tip:
Tamarind - Date chutney can be stored refrigerated for upto a month and deep frozen for upto 6 months.