Curd Dip

Ingredients:

1.  Hung Curd – 1 cup
2.  Garlic cloves – 5-6
3.  Crushed black pepper - according to taste
4.  Lemon Juice - 1 spoon or according to taste
5.  Salt - to taste
6.  Finely chopped cucumber - 1
7.  Finely chopped green chilly - 1 (optional)
8.  Mint Leaves - 3-4 (Optional)
9.  Finely chopped coriander leaves - 2 spoon

1. Method:

1. Hang the curd in a muslin cloth overnight to remove all water
2. Take the hung curd in a bowl and add all the ingredients. Whisk properly.
3. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

Tip:

Experiment with this dip by adding or removing vegetables. Other vegetables that can be added are onions, carrots, olives, gherkins and jalapenos.

Kale Chane ke Kebabs

This is another health and tasty recipe which you can serve as snacks at any party or can enjoy in your breakfast.

Ingredients:

1. Bengal Gram or kala chana - 1 cup
2. Onions chopped finely - 1
3. Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 spoon
4. Green chilies finely chopped - 2
5. Fresh coriander finely chopped
6. Oats - 1 cup
7. Chaat masala - 1/2 spoon
8. Salt - to taste or 1/2 spoon
9. Garam masala powder - 1/4 spoon
10. Oil to fry

Method:

1. Soak the bengal gram overnight and boil in morning with  salt.
2. Drain them and let them cool.
3. Grind the chanas to a paste. Add very little water if you face difficulty while grinding.
4. Take the paste out in a bowl and add ginger garlic paste, green chilies, onion, coriander and all dry spices to this. 
5. As we have added salt while boiling the chanas, adjust the seasoning accordingly.
6. Add 1/2 cup of oats to this and mix well. You can add more if you feel the dough is too watery as oats will soak up extra water and kebabs will not break.
7. Make small kebabs of this dough of round or oval shape.
8. Take oats in a dish and coat the kebabs with the oats.
9. Put this in fridge for some time so that the kebabs are firm and oats are properly coated on them.
10. You can now deep fry these in hot oil or shallow fry in non stick pan with little oil for healthy snack.

Kuttu Atta Chila in Navratra

Navratras are here and everyone is busy fasting...or should I say feasting. Well these days navratras have become more of a fest than fast, with Haldiram's and Bikanerwalas coming up with navratra chaat, tikki, thali and what not.

If you are like me and want to eat light during the 9 days fast then I have just the right recipe for you. We usually use kuttu atta and singhada aata to make fried puris or paranthas which we eat with equally oily aloo sabzi during navratras. You can use the same flour to create something filling, healthy and yet tasty. You can remove/add few ingredients based on what you eat or avoid during fast.

Ingredients:

1. Kuttu atta or singhada atta - 2-3 serving spoon
2. chopped green chilies - 1
3. chopped tomatoes - 1
4. chopped fresh coriander - 2 spoons
5. Sendha Salt - to taste
6. Oil to cook - 1/2 spoon

Method:

1. Take your selected flour in a bowl and and pour 2-3 spoon water in it. Mix well to create a smooth paste.
2. Add some more water to adjust the consistency to make a thin paste so that it falls freely from the spoon.
3. Add salt to taste and mix.
4. Heat a non stick pan and and little oil to it.
5. Pour and spread the flour mix in pan with a spoon.
6. Sprinkle chopped coriander, green chilies and tomatoes on this, cover and cook for 3-4 mins.
7. Flip and cook from other side as well.
8. You can enjoy this with a peanuts chutney or curd.

Hummus

Hummus is an Arabic dip made of chickpeas which is very healthy and is normally consumed with pita bread and falafal. The recipe below is a bit different from authentic recipe and you can use this as bread spread or in sandwiches, instead of using butter and cheese spread. This can also be served with salad, nachos, chips and crackers at your next party.

Ingredients:

1.  Chickpeas/White Chana – 1/2 cup
2.  Garlic cloves – 5-6
3. Chilly flakes - 1/2 spoon or to taste
4. White sesame seed paste -  1 spoon
5. Olive Oil - 1 serving spoon
6. Lemon Juice - 1 spoon or according to taste
7. Chilly sauce - 1 Serving spoon
8. Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Boil the chickpeas with little bit of salt, drain water and let them cool.
2. In a blender add all the ingredients together and blend to smooth paste.
3. Add water if necessary to adjust the consistency of dip You can consume it as a spread on toast or as a chutney with kebabs.

Tip:

You can add chopped olive, pickles, jalapenos, capsicum, gherkins etc to this dip and make a sandwich with it.

Image courtesy @BostanMagzine

Pindi Chana

This is the easiest recipe in my cook book. Whenever we are going to have some guests in house this is my favorite as this does not involve any chopping, cutting or cooking the onions/tomato masala for hours.

This recipe demands some extra grease so if you want a healthier version you can use non stick but taste will be compromised. I usually do not use much of oil in this when cooking as a daily meal option. But for guests I try to be more generous.

Ingredients:

1. Kabuli Chana/White Chikpeas - 1 Cup
2. Tea bags - 2
3. Garlic - 6-7 cloves
4. Ginger - 1 inch long piece
5. Whole black pepper - 3-4
6. Black Cardamom or badi elaichi - 1
7. Cinnamon or Daalchini stick - 1
8. Cloves or laung - 2-3
9. Salt to taste
10. Coriander powder - 7-8 table spoon
11. Red chili powder - 1/2 table spoon
12. MDH Chana Masala - 4-6 table spoon (I prefer MDH because it gives the chana a very good taste. I have never been satisfied with any other brand , specifically for this dish)
13. Mustard oil - 1/2 table spoon
14. Cooking oil - 8-10 table spoon

Method:

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight or for at least a couple of hours if you are in hurry.
2. Put the chickpeas in a pressure cooker along with black peppers, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, salt, whole garlic cloves, ginger chopped in big chunks and tea bags.
3. Add mustard oil and water to this and let it cook for about 20-25 mins. Do not put a lot of water as this is a dry dish.
4. In another pan take cooking oil and let it heat. 
5. Add coriander powder and red chili powder to hot oil and let it cook for a minute.
6. Add this tampering to the boiled chickpeas in pressure cooker and let cook.
7. Add chana masala to the pressure cooker and give a nice stir.
8. Let this cook till the water dries and chickpeas have a good consistency.

Tampering (Optional):

1. Heat 1 serving spoon of clarified butter or desi ghee in a small pan.
2. Add dried red chilies to this.
3. Once chilies are cooked add this tampering on top of your serving bowl. 
4. You can add some degi mirch also to this tampering to add that extra color to your dish.
5. Garnish the chanas with fresh green coriander or sliced Onions, tomatoes and green chilies.

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.