Wednesday 6 August 2014

Paneer Rolls

What to pack for lunch box is one matter which takes up about half an hour of my precious time every day. Having a week long menu planned on Sunday itself is one is one thing which sets my mind on rest on the already busy weekdays.

I have this habit of trying different snacks for my son’s lunch box. As it is difficult to make him sit and eat at one place, I try to conjure up finger foods which are easy to cook in mornings. Not to mention many of my experiments fail but I do not give up.

Paneer roll is one such attempt which was successful and so I am sharing its recipe with you.

Ingredients:


1.       White bread slices – 2
2.       Cottage Cheese or Paneer , grated or mashed – 2 serving spoons
3.       Salt to taste
4.       Chaat masala to taste
5.       Black pepper – a pinch
6.       Corn flour – 1 level tea spoon
7.       Oil to fry
8.    Fresh Coriander


Method:


1.       Take the grated paneer in a bowl and add salt, chaat masala and black pepper and fresh coriander to it. Keep it aside.
2.       Mix 1 spoon water with the corn flour in a separate bowl and make a fine paste.
3.       Remove the sides of bread slices.
4.       Take a bread slice and flatten it completely with help of a rolling pin.
5.       Put the paneer mixture at one side and slowly roll the bread to form a cigar.
6.       Seal the edge with help of cornflour paste to avoid spilling the contents.
7.       Cut the cigars in 2 halves carefully.

8.       Repeat with the other slice of bread.
9.       Deep fry the rolls in hot oil at medium heat.
10.   You can serve as it is or can cut the roll in smaller circles.


These can be packed in lunch box or served as an evening snack for kids.



You can serve them as a snack as well at one of the house parties by changing the filling to chicken or adding capsicum and some spices to cottage cheese. Optionally processed cheese can also be used.

Peanuts Chutney

Swapna, this recipe is totally dedicated to you.

I never imagined myself eating idli or dosa without sambhar. The idea always appalled me till the time I tasted the most yummy peanuts chutney made by my friend Swapna who is a Telagu Brahmin. A regular breakfast for her is idli or dosa with peanuts chutney and I always ended up eating more than half of her breakfast every morning.

I noted down the recipe from her and tried it at home. Now this deadly combination is a regular breakfast option in my family as well.



Ingredients:


1.       Peanuts – 1/2 cup
2.       Garlic cloves – 5-6
3.       Whole dried red chilies – 2-3
4.       Curd (optional and does not go in authentic recipe) – 2 serving spoons
5.       Salt to taste
6.       Curry leaves – 4-5
7.       Mustard seeds – ½ tea spoon
8.       Oil – ¼  table spoon
9.       Chaat masala (optional and does not go in authentic recipe) – ½ table spoon

Method:


1.       Take a pan and dry roast peanuts with garlic cloves and dried red chilies for about 3-5 mins on low flame. Keep stirring in between.
2.       When peanuts turn a dark red color, remove them from flame and add to the grinder.
3.       Put salt and chaat masala (optional) to this along with 2 spoon water and grind.
4.       Check for the consistency and add water or curd (add either chaat masala or curd. Do not add both as it will make chutney extra tangy) to adjust the consistency and grind it to a fine paste.
5.       Heat oil in a ladle and add mustard seeds and curry leaves to it. Once they splutter, add this tampering to chutney.




Enjoy with idli or dosa for your breakfast.




Mix Vegetables and Rice Casserole

As per me Casserole are the perfect comfort food. When you are not in a mood to cook a complete meal with different variety of veggies, proteins, carbs etc. and still want to eat something light and healthy at home while sitting in front of a TV, it does wonders.

One such comfortable yet healthy recipe is mixed veg and rice casserole. In the recipe shared below I am using fresh lentils (daal), but you can easily substitute this with any leftover daal from previous day.


Ingredients:


1.       Rice, washed and soaked for upto 1 hour -  1 cup
2.       Arhar/Tur dal (yellow lentils or any other as per your choice), washed and soaked upto 1 ½ hour – 1 cup
3.       Curry leaves – 5-6
4.       Cumin seeds – ½ tea spoon
5.       Medium size onion – 1
6.       Peas – 2 Serving spoons
7.       Carrot chopped finely – 1
8.       Capsicum chopped finely – 1
9.       Beans chopped in small either small pieces of diagonal slits – 8-10
10.   Cauliflower flowerets – 6-8
11.   Green chilies sliced – 2
12.   Optional vegetables like mushrooms, eggplant etc can be added
13.   Turmeric powder – ½ tea spoon
14.   Red chilli powder – ¼ tea spoon or as per taste
15.   Garam masala – ¼ tea spoon
16.   Dry mango powder/ Amchoor – ½ tea spoon
17.   Sambhar powder – 1 tea spoon (use this with arhar daal. If you decide to use any other daal just omit this masala)
18.   Clarified butter or desi ghee – 1 serving spoon

Method:


1.       Wash the rice and daal separately and soak them for a couple of hours.
2.       In a pressure cooker add ghee and let it heat.
3.       Add cumin seeds and wait for them to splutter. Add green chilies and curry leaves after that and stir for 30 seconds.
4.       Thinly slice the onions and add them to the pot. Sauté till onions turn translucent.
5.       Add remaining vegetables one by one, stirring each one of them for a minute or so after adding. Add capsicum as the last vegetable as it cooks quite quickly.
6.       Let the vegetables fry for about 2-3 minutes and then add all the dry spices except for salt. Stir for another minute.
7.       Drain water from daal and add it to the pot. Mix and stir for 1-2 mins.
8.       Remove water from rice and add to the pot. Mix well.
9.       Add about 3 cups of water and salt to the pot. Close the lid of pressure cooker and cook on high flame.
10.   Cook on low flame for about 5-8 mins after the first whistle.
11.   You can cook this in an open pot as well. In this case the water to be added will be around 5 cups. You can adjust the water as per the consistency you like your casserole to be in.


The best thing about this dish is that there are no rules. You can add any leftover daal or veggies to it. Many times I am confronted with a situation where I have just one carrot, half a cauliflower, a lonely piece of capsicum lying about in my fridge demanding attention. In such cases such casserole recipes comes to my rescue.


So do not ponder over the leftovers now and enjoy this simple meal.

Atta Chocolate Cake

It is every alternate day that my little three years old keeps on requesting me to bake a black cake for him so that he can celebrate his birthday. Black cake does not mean that I burn the cake; it simply is a dark chocolate cake as he is still not able to clearly draw the line between black and dark brown.

I am more than happy to fulfill his demand as he is a fussy eater and cake is one thing he enjoys. But baking a cake with refined flour was what made me worried. Hence, I thought about experimenting with whole wheat flour to make a cake that is both healthy and yummy and will give a balance of carbs and proteins to my little one.


I succeeded in first attempt and here is my recipe to bake a quickie atta (whole wheat flour) cake.

Ingredients:


1.       Whole wheat flour (atta) : 1 cup
2.       Refined oil/unsalted butter: A little more than one cup but less than 1 ¼
3.       Eggs: 3
4.       Brown sugar/grounded white sugar : 1 cup (you can use a little more if it is brown sugar)
5.       Chocolate powder: 2-3 spoons (If you want a dark chocolate cake then increase this as well as sugar content)
6.       Vanilla essence :  1 tea spoon
7.       Baking Powder: 1 level tea spoon
8.       Assorted nuts chopped – ½ bowl
9.       Milk – About half cup

Method:

1.       Sieve wheat flour and mix baking soda with it. Mix well and keep aside.
2.       Grind the sugar finely and add it to a blender.
3.       Add butter or refined oil to this and mix for about 3-4 mins in blender
4.       One by one add all three eggs. Churn the blender for about a minute after adding each egg.
5.       Add vanilla essence and mix well.
6.       Add the chocolate powder to the sieved flour and mix with a spoon.
7.       Slowly add this flour mixture to the blender. Do not put the entire flour in one go. Add a little and blend and so on.
8.       If the mixture is too thick then add some milk and mix well. The final consistency should be a thick layer of batter falling freely from your spoon. If batter falls in thick chunks then add some more milk. (generally a little less than half cup milk is sufficient for these measurements)
9.       Add half of the chopped nuts and give it a good mix.
10.   Grease a baking dish with some oil and pour the batter in it. Top it with remaining nuts.
11.   Set the microwave on convection at 220 degrees.
12.   Ones the desired temperature is reached put the baking dish in for 10 mins.
13.   After convection 10 mins are over, microwave for another 4 mins.
14.   Check the cake with a knife. If it comes out clean your cake is done.
15.   You can top is with some icing sugar to make it pretty for your little one or add some colorful candies.




There can be many variations to this cake. You can do it without chocolate and with only nuts. You can also add a couple of mashed bananas to the batter to make a banana cake. Any other fruit like tinned pineapple or dried plums can be added for a little tangy flavor as per the taste buds of you children. The sugar can be replaced with brown sugar or even jaggery in same amounts. 


Hope you enjoy this healthy variation of the cake. Do share your variations in this cake.

Masala Fries

French fries are and will always be a favorite snack among kids. As we are moving one step closer to a more comfortable lifestyle each day, making French fries on request of you kids have become super easy. Just open that packet of frozen fries and put them in the wok to deep fry. Voila; you are ready with a tempting looking plate of fires.

As easy as it seems, that frozen packet comes with a baggage of doubts. They are a boon when an unexpected guest lands at your house expecting to be served tea with some hot snacks but a big No-No option as everyday snack for kids, especially for mothers like me who are always conscious to give fresh food little ones.

I try to make evening snacks as healthy as possible but once in a while indulge into French fries also. Here I am quoting a variation on those regular fries and they are called the masala fries.

Ingredients:

  1.  2 large potatoes
  2.  2-3 serving spoon of besan (gram flour)
  3. Salt to taste
  4. Chaat masala – ½ tea spoon
  5. Chilli flakes – ¼ spoon (optional)
  6. Oil to fry


Method:


  1. Peel the potatoes and wash them thoroughly.
  2. Par boil them so that they are a little soft but not cooked completely.
  3. Cut them in long fingers and try to make those fries equal in size.
  4.  Put the potatoes in a bowl and add besan, salt chaat masala and chilli flakes to this. Mix well so that besan coat the potatoes evenly.
  5. Fry them in medium hot oil on low flame till they are crisp.




So next time you kids want some French fries, go for these masala fries as it will have some proteins added along with the carbs. Optionally you can cook them in an oven to avoid frying but I do not care about frying with kids.