Le-Bouffe

Rich Paneer in corn and peas

2012-01-26T20:32:00.005+05:30

Paneer is the evergreen in my family.And its easy to cook too.Paneer has many health benefits too .Paneer is the storehouse of calcium and makes your bones stronger and helps men and women as they age against brittle bones.Including paneer in one’s daily diet helps to give protein required by the body for growth and renewal.

A simple recipe which tastes super freaky awesome and is easy to make

Ingredients
Sliced Paneeer
Chopped Onion
Maggie Hot and Sweet Tomato Ketchup
Garlic paste
Carom seeds(ajwain)
Turmeric
Red chilly powder
Kitchen King Masala
Corn boiled
Green peas boiled
Milk and Cream
Kasuri Methi rosated
Cashews and Dried brown grapes
Salt

Procedure:
Fry Onion in Oil.Add garlic paste.Fry till golden.Add carom seeds.Fry a bit.Now blend it in blender to make a paste.Fry this paste again.Add some tomato ketchup.Add salt,turmeric,chilly and Kitchen king Masala.Now add boiled Peas and Corns.let this fry a while.Now add some water and milk.Add the sliced Paneer.Let it boil a bit

Season with dried roasted Kasuri methi.Add Cashews and Dried Gapes and cream.

Serve with paratha/chapati/bread

Souper Soup Time : Broccoli Soup

2012-01-26T20:21:00.005+05:30

The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of broccolo, refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"Broccoli also has health benefits like prevention of heart disease ,cancer and is also proven being rich in Vitamin C.

This is a very easy soup to make and tastes yummy

Ingredients:
Chopped onions
Chopped Potatoes
Broccoli chopped
Garlic cloves
Mixed herbs
Pepper
Milk
Water
Salt

Procedure
Mix all ingredients except Milk and Cornflour.Pressure cook till approx 2-3 whilstles.
Now blend everything in blender.Take a pan and put blended mixture in it .Add Milk and Cornflour.Season with herbs .Serve pipping hot

Bon Appetit
Ash

Souper Soup -French Onion Soup - A quick approach

2012-01-26T19:33:00.004+05:30

Its winter in Mumbai.Time to bid au revoir to the fans and ACs.This is a famous french soup called "Soupe à l'oignon" and is famous all over the world. I tried this simple French onion soup in this weather and it turned out to be fantastic.

Ingredients
Olive oil
Onions thinly sliced
Ginger Garlic paste
Pepper
Cornflour
Vegetable/Chicken stock
Croutons
Cheese
Salt to taste
Very little Brown Sugar
Additional seasoning herbs like thyme,rosemary,basil,oregano

Procedure:
Fry Sliced onions in olive oil.Add Ginger Garlic paste,pepper,brown sugar and salt.Fry till dark brown but not till burnt.

Add vegetable stock once the onion become brown.Add cornflour and let it boil for around half an hour.Keep stirring in between to avoid lumps.Once the miture boils well add croutons and cheeses on the top.

Cook till cheese melts.Serve hot.Add herbs for additional seasoning

Bon Appétit
Ash

Winter special Wheat Flour ladoos

2012-01-26T15:15:00.003+05:30

1 kg wheat flour - roasted
400 gms pure ghee (I used home made ghee)
300-400 gms jaggery (or as per requirement)
8-10 cardamom - ground
50 gms poppy seeds (khus khus) (lightly roasted)
Gond (gum resin) - roasted & powdered
1 cup almonds - powdered
1 tbsp methi/ fenugreek seends - roasted and powdered
Dry ginger (Sounth) - powdered
3-4 (chwara) dry dates - deseeded & ground/chopped
1/2 jaifal - powdered

Heat ghee in a big vessel. Mix the atta in the ghee, let it heat evenly.
Then all all the remaining ingredients. Turn off gas and add jaifal. Then add grated jaggery while it is hot.
The ladoos will have to be made while still warm, so that the jaggery is melted and distributed evenly.
Very healthy & tasty! Enjoyed by my 1 1/2 yr old baby too :)

Ladoo - Oat & Wheat Flour

2012-01-26T15:12:00.002+05:30

1/4 kg oats - ground to flour & roasted
1 kg - coarse wheat flour - roasted
1/2 kg pure ghee
10-12 cardamoms powdered
1 cup powdered - almonds, pistas and walnuts
1/4 to 1/2 kg jaggery

Oats Uttapam

2011-12-13T19:45:00.004+05:30

This one's quite simple..
Take equal quantities of urad dal and oats. Soak the urad dal for atleast 1/2 an hour. Grind it to a thick paste with some water.
Dry roast the oats and grind along with some curry leaves, jeera into the urad dal paste.
Add salt to taste, and cook like a normal uttapam! My 18 month old baby Sana has it too!

Of Crumpets and Scones….With Love Great Britain

2011-11-30T15:46:00.004+05:30

British food has not been discussed enough in media and in reality too.Infact if you ask a layman about British food, he would be clueless.So was I, til I visited UK in 2011 Summer

So far I had just heard about Fish and Chips.Which is like the vada pao of UK.The most commonly available. Basically it consists of fish (usually fried in a batter made of water and flour with a little baking soda).Chips refers to what the ameican call as” fries”Mind you..The British refer to fries (French fries) as chips and chips(like lays or wafers) as “crips”.This is staple dish of UK and you will get it at joints and outlets

Then comes macaroni cheese.The best food for vegeterians.Its a rather bland version of what we get here.Good to have as a side dish.

The next possible food which I ate without thinking was the baked beans.And I loved them .Somewhat like a westernized distant cousin of our home made Rajma .This particular dish is generally sold frozen.It is typically made in tomato puree and sugar is added for a little flavour.Tradtionally it is eaten with a bread

Next comes a famous English food item.”Crumpet”.This was completely new to me.This is a kind of pancake or a bread.It can be compared to a small uttapa. Usually the size of a small pancake.It is circular in shape having a flat top with many small pores. Crumpets are generally eaten hot with butter, , honey, jam, marmalade, peanut butter, cheese, Nutella. The Scottish variety of Crumpet is a little different.It may contain raisins in between

Scones as the English call it is pronounced as “Skawns”.Generally a favorite for afternoon tea time. These are light, buttery quickbreads made with flour, sugar, butter, milk or cream, and eggs, besides a leavening agent such as baking powder and are are usually round in shape,

My personal favorite was Hashbrowns .When I tasted them I thoughts it’s a cheese bread or something but actually they are cooked potatoes, fried until brown.The mixture is usually pressed down into a flat cake in the pan and browned on one side, then turned and browned on the other. It's sometimes only browned on one side. Other ingredients such as chopped onion and green pepper are often added for flavor excitement.

Think Scotland Think Haggis.
Haggis is a very old Scottish dish, which combines meats, spices and oatmeal to create a a delicious feast. Its description is a little weird and hence people may not experiment.
In fact, its simply delicious. If you haven't tried authentic Scottish Haggis...you must

The famous Scotsman Poet Robert Burns has made a special poem on Haggis”Address to Haggis” thus considering it an integral part of Scottish Culture

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place
(Translated as :Fair is your honest happy face,Great chieftain of the pudding race,Above them all you take your place)

Haggis is tradionally to be had with Neep and Tatties.”Neeps” is a shortened form of Turnip and “Tattties” is shortened for potatoes

Oh dear..last but not the least...Tea is an important part of the british cuisine.I couldn’t understand the difference between “builders tea” or “breakfast tea” and “afternoon tea”..but they really savoutr tea.They have it with meals and serve it either with milk and sugar or honey and lime.

All said and done..Just 10 days were not enough to know about this beautiful country and its lovely food.After eating all this I returned back home thinking that I will cook it sometime,but the day hasn’t dawned yet.Lets hope it happens soon

Whenever this happens will post the recipe on the blog

Babycorn Walnut salad

2011-11-29T13:47:00.003+05:30

The most quickest and the yummiest salad known to humankind.
This is my sister's recipe and is a superhit in my ,mom's and sister's circle

Cut/slice babycorns to round small pieces. And boil them
For the dressing:
Olive oil+ Squeezed fresh lime juice+ sugar+ Salt+Pepper powder
Add the above dressing to boiled Babycorn
Break walnuts into small chunks and top them up on the Babycorn + dressing.

Fun with Cornflakes-Health recipes

2011-10-05T17:14:00.003+05:30

Cornflakes as we know are the best kind of food which we can go for low cal food.
Some easy recipes for cornflakes

1)Mix dried raisins,almonds,walnuts,apricots,pitachios in cornflakes.Add cold milk n serve

2)Mix cornflakes with cut fresh strawberries,apples,peaches,kiwi basically any fruits you like and add cold milk

3)Mix cornflakes with boiled carrots, ,olives,babycorn.Add salt and pepper.

4) Add Cornflakes to oatmeal Porridge.Add nutmeg

5)Add Sweetcorn,corn,babycorn,chat masala,red chilly powder,salt and lemon juice .Add cornflakes.Top up with haldirams moong dal

6)Add some curd/yogurt..mix well and give a tadka of mustard,jeera and curry leaves

On having a pani puri

2011-10-05T13:46:00.002+05:30

The excitement begins since the moment we are given plates to eat.This is just any other roadside stall where I have been with my 5 more foodie friends.But we have been eating here since we were very little.We all stand there with plates in our hands.My hearbeats start increasing as one by one we get one ‘puri’ each.It is filled with cooked white peas, tamarind chutney and a spicy warm liquid made of jeera ,chilly and black salt.As we all get the puri..our tastebuds rejoice.The sweet,tangy,spicy,salty,warm crunchy,crisp hits us.

Again and again we are served a more puris each..as if it’s a marathon.We all savour each and every puri..Finally the last puri comes..we all eat a little slow .as it is the last puri :-(..We still relish it..enjoy it ..but it hurts a bit because that’s the end of our pani puri marathon…Now we are just looking forward to only one last thing “the Masala Puri”

After we all had our six puris each..we get the last masala puri..it is a dry puri with the white peas,salt,chat masala and some dry sev..We relish it..we have almost reached “Gastronomic Nirvana”

We make the payment and with a heavy heart..walk home.But we ll soon come again for another plate of Pani Puri

Amla Squash

2011-09-25T23:36:00.003+05:30

I'd stocked up on a bit of fresh Amla, and was wondering what to do with it..
So I took 1/4 kg of Amla, pressure cooked it. Deseeded, blended it and kept it aside.
Then took equal quantity of Jaggery, and dissolved it in water over the flame. Once dissolved, I strained it, cos jaggery generally has some dirt particles.
Mixed the jaggery water and amla paste, and added to it jeera power and kala namak powder and cooked on slow flame till thick.
Excellent, healthy and cooling squash, that can be refridgerated and used diluted as a refreshing drink!

Masala for various food

2011-09-06T19:01:00.005+05:30

I've recently cooked Mushrooms, Soyachunks and Paneer in the masala from this prawn masala
And it tastes yumm!!! Worth a try :)

-Naina

Carrot Coriander Soup

2011-09-06T18:57:00.004+05:30

I'm back after very long.. My baby is a 14 month naughty toddler now.. and she loves to eat :) So that's sure to get me back to innovating and blogging!

She was a bit unwell yesterday, & I thought a soup would do her good.

No tomatoes, no spinach, for the standard soups that I can whip up easily, so took one carrot, a bunch of coriander leaves a fistful of yellow corn & 2-3 peppercorns & salt for seasoning.. Cooked in the pressure cooker and blended in the mixie. Made it a bit watery.

Needless to say, Sana baby loved it!

-Naina

Peanut Sauce

2011-05-17T14:37:00.004+05:30

Recently I have become a fan of Thai/Malay food.This si a very simple recipe and taste yummmy with Thai Noodles or Satay dishes

Ingredients
Oil
Onions Chopped
Peanut powder
Brown sugar
Garlic
Soy Sauce
Tamarind sauce
Coconut milk
Salt to taste
Water

Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and . Add peanuts powder and water and cook. Add brown sugar, salt, crushed garlic,Taamrind sauce, coconut milk and mix. Add soy sauce and mix well. Add water and cook till the mixture gets a sauce consistency.Grind in a blender
Bon Appetit
Ash

Veracruz Sauce

2011-05-10T11:49:00.003+05:30

Yes you all guessed it right.the latest fascination has been Mexican food.So for all Saynors and Senoritas reading this blog,this is the one.
I just tasted Mexican food last week and since then have been smitten.Yes you can call me smitten because inspite of the summer temperatures soaring high,nothing is stopping me from eating Mexican food.
I tried this simple sauce which is really tasty but also very spicy.It can be best used for meat and fish dishes as a sauce or as ad ip

The Veracruz Sauce is a traditional Mexican Gulf Coast sauce.Veracruz is a port situated in East Mexico and the cuisine of the state is unique

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Garlic cloves
Tomatoes peeled and blanched
Green and Red bell peppers
Paprika dried
Capers
Green Olives
Jalapenos
Salt
Dried Thyme or Oregano

Procedure:
Heat Olive Oil in a pan. Add the garlic cloves.Let the he the aroma savour,now add tomatoes.Let it cook till tender.Add rest of the ingredients.Let it cook well.put it in a blender till smooth.

Serve with Roasted Chicken/Grilled fish or even with boiled vegetables like corn,cabbage etc.

Bon Appetit
Ash

Restaurant Recommendation -Peninsula Sion,Mumbai

2011-05-09T12:24:00.003+05:30

I have been there before twice.But this time I found them having great international cuisinea nd had a great experience overall

I would recommend chicken dishes of any kind.The chicken was cooked extremely well.The Non veg Platter included Chicken Tikka,Chicken Reshmi,Chicken Pahari and Chicken Banjara with Mutton Seekh Kebab.Each and every item was finger licking good.We also tried the craem of Chicken soup which appealed to my Taste buds.

Dont forget to try mouth watering" Quesadillas"
It literally takes form from the word Queso meaning cheese in spanish.
A quesadilla is usually made with a corn tortilla and is filled primarily with cheese and other ingredients such as cooked meat, refried beans, and vegetablesThe filled tortilla is then toasted under a boiler or fried, usually until the cheese is melted. Once the quesadilla is cooked, it is traditionally cut into slices, or wedges.
We tried the chicken ones and it was just too good.Perhaps the best Mexican food item I had ever had.They served with 3 various mexican dips including sour cream.I unfortunately could not identify the other 2 dips..could be Guacamole and Veracruz..not very sure
The drinks Menu has both alchohol and non alchohol varieties.
In the Desserts,we tasted the Honey Noodles with Ice Cream which was good enough.They also have I ce Creams, Chocolate Mousse,Rabdi and Sizzling Brownie.

Ambience is fairly good but food overtakes all.
In short..its a must try place for all

Bon Appetit,
Ash

Prawns in Butter Garlic pepper

2011-02-15T11:27:00.004+05:30

Ingredients: Prawns Cleaned and Deveined Garlic Paste Pepper Powder Salt Corn Flour/Maida for binding Rawa Lemon grass Sticks Mint Procedure Make a batter of Garlic paste Pepper Powder n salt. Add the Prawns and let it marinate for about 20 mins.Just before Frying apply the Cornflour/Maida and Rawa on the Marinated Prawns. In a heated frying pan add some butter.Add Mint leaves and lemon grass. Switch off the Flame and Cover the Pan for about 4-5 mins for getting the aroma. After 5 mins again switch on the flame and now place the prawns.Fry till golden. Serve on Toothpicks. Decorate with Mint leaves

Egg Bites

2011-01-29T23:49:00.007+05:30

Make the same base you make for burji & instead of adding eggs into the onion-tomato-spices masala----
---boil eggs, cut into halves, mix the yolk into the onion-tomato-spices masala & fill the masala into the egg white.
Top each piece with coriander & Serve! Yummy Egg-bites!!!

Paneer sabji (with soup powder)

2010-12-22T15:22:00.003+05:30

With my little one, I need to manage my dinner (when mil needs to go to the market..)while she naps, and she naps for just 30 mins.

You need:
100 gms paneer
3 small onions, 4-5 kaju pieces and some ginger - made to a paste in a mixie
Some butter
Some chopped coriander
Haldi powder - 1/4 tsp
Meat masala - 1/2 tsp
Tomato soup powder (Knorr/ Maggi or anything.. ) - 2-3 tbsp
2-3 cloves
4-5 curry leaves (roughly torn)

First, fry some paneer in butter and keep aside
Then heat some butter, add cloves and curry leaves. Then add the onion paste. When browned, add the haldi, meat masala, and tomato soup powder. Cook slightly and add water. Be careful not to get lumps cos of the soup powder. Bring to boil, and add the paneer cubes and chopped coriander leaves! Ready!

P.S: I also added a crushed cheese slice (since I didn't have cubes) which melted away and made the gravy cheesy!!

Pongal

2010-11-17T17:42:00.011+05:30

This is one of my most favorite South Indian dish.

I always had south Indian food during my college days in Matunga, a locality in Mumbai which is full of south Indian Restaurants.

The best Pongal I had was on my trip to Tirupati and Chennai and since then was hunting for a recipe.Finally a colleague of mine from Chennai shared a recipe and I modified it a little for my taste buds. It turned out to be successful.Here is it

Ingredients
Moong Daal and Rice (Equal Quantity)
Cumin Seeds
Pepper corns
Pepper Powder
Grated Ginger
Red dried chilly
Curry Leaves
Cashewnuts,Raisins 10-12
Grated Coconut
Ghee
Milk
Salt to taste
Water

Procedure

Cook the rice and moong dal together in a separate utensil

In another pan add ghee add Cumin Seeds,Pepper corns,Pepper Powder,Grated Ginger,
Red dried chilly and Curry Leaves.Let it fry for a while add cashews and raisins.Add salt to taste and grated coconut.Now add the boiled Moong dal+Rice.
Add some milk and water.Once it becomes soft add some ghee.

Serve hot with Sambhar

Chef's Tips:
1)Never Pressure Cook the Rice Moongdal Mixture as it becomes too soft.Cook it in an open utensil.Cook it 75-80% as later when you add it to mixture it gets perfectly cooked
2)When you add cumin and pepper corns to ghee, wait for pepper corns to pop and then add rest of the ingredients
3)You can substitute red chillies with green chillies depending on your taste.I recommend red chillies as it gives a wonderful aroma.
4)You can add coconut milk instead of grated coconut
Bon Appetit
Ash

Zaalouk and Moutabel

2010-10-02T15:53:00.005+05:30

We all are fascinated by the Middle East.Their colorful culture,the big barren desert,Oil fields,Hookas and Sheeshas,Camels,belly dances..blah blah.Very little is known about the food.So I made these lovely Middle Eastern Dishes rather Middle Eastern Dips

Naina and Monica have been preparing lovely Moutabel since months and I love it each time they make it.So today I thought trying my hands at it.I made Moutabel and it turned out to be lovely.I tried another dip called "Zaloouk" which is from Morroco and it turned out to be lovely too.Since we already have Moutabel om the blog I thought of sharing Zaalouk recipe with you all

Zaalouk

Ingredients:
Aubergine
Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Garlic
Parsley
Chilly Powder
Salt to taste

Procedure
Roast/Cook the aubergine and smash it well.Add boiled smashed tomatoes.Add a little tomato Ketchup.Add Crushed ground Garlic.Add some Red Chilly powder and Chopped Parsley.Finally add olive oil and salt per taste.Smash it in a huge vessel for about 5-10 minutes till it blends well.

Decorate with Olives and Parsley.Serve with Crusty bread

I served both Zaalouk and Moutabel with Garlic breads and they were too yummy

It was kinda great to have 2 dishes of Aubergine made on teh same day both tasting so different yet so nice

Bon Appetit
Ash

Butter Chicken with Kasoori Methi

2010-09-25T20:57:00.004+05:30

My Favorite Recipe from Childhood Days.Once Mum's Kitty Party Friend had made it around 15-20 years ago and since then is a famous one in my household

Ingredients:
Boiled Boneless Chicken
Oil
Chopped Onions
Tomatoe Puree
Milk
Cream
Chicken Stock
Chicken curry Masala
Red Chilly Powder
Kasoori Methi
Salt

Procedure:
Fry Onions in Oil in a Kadhai.Add the Ginger Garlic Paste.Now add Chicken Masala.Normally these Everest/Badshah have good Chicken Gravy Masalas.Pick anyone of your choice.Mix well.Red Chilly Powder.Once the Onions are brown, mix all very well in a blender.Add little water if you want.

Next add Tomato Puree.Let it cook well.Add the Boiled Boneless Chicken.Add Milk and Cream.Finally Add the Chicken Stock and Kasoori Methi.Add Salt as per taste.
Serve Hot with Parathas:)
Enjoyyyy

Chef's Tip:Additionally you can Add Cashew paste to make gravy thicker and tastier

Restaurant Recommendations- From Singapore with Love

2010-09-23T22:41:00.010+05:30

Singapore has almost become second Home for me. It’s a Modern and Happening City with a wonderful nightlife,superb brands to shop, warm and friendly people and fantastic places to eat There are some Restaurants you shouldn’t miss from Singapore

1)Crystal Jade: Authentic Chinese/Cantonese Cuisine
The Food and Ambience is Mind blowing.This is a Chain of Restauarants spread all over Singapore and serve authentic Chinese food.I never used to like the Chinese food that restaurants in India serve.But the kind of food they serve here changed my psysche about Chinese food. Don’t Miss the Dimsums.I tried both the Pork and the vegeterian ones.The Noodles and Fried rice were superb too.The starers were great although I don’t remember the Chinese names.Most important,they serve fantastic Chinese tea to sip in between meals. I tried eating with Chopsticks and believe me it was fun.The Chinese staff was happy to see an Indian woman like me savouring the cuisine the traditional way

2)Thai Express:Thai Cuisine
I go to this place each time I go to Singapore.The food is very nice. Right from Tom Yum Soup,Fried Prawns,Phad Thai(traditional Noodles),to Thai Curry and Rice the food rocks.Also,don’t miss the Tender Coconut Water which they serve with the Coconut itself.The taste is a little different from what we get in Bombay or Goa

3)Original Sin: at Holland Village. Mediteraanean Cuisine
This one is for all the Vegeterians.it is located in the quiet and yet posh area of Holland Village.Among the very few Restauarnts serving vegetarian food They have Greek ,Italian and other typical Mediterrrainean Food. I tried the Pumpkin Soup,Vege Platterr and Risoto.Also they serve greek dips like Tchachiki etc You can always ask the staff to describe the contenst of all food and then chose what you want as per your specifications

4)Marakkesh ,at Clarke Quay ,Moroccan and Arabic Cuisine
It’s a Moroccan Lounge bar at one of the most happening locations,Clarke Quay.The Ambience makes you feel you are in the Middle East.They have Arabic style seating and also have swinging seats.Also they play the Arabic Music in background and there are Sheeshas and Hookas all over too. The Platter which we ordered was nice.We ordered for 3 dips hummus,moutabel and Zaalouk, some falafel type tikkis and some Pita bread The food was good,so many new things.I don’t remember the exact names but you can always ask the staff to serve you authentic food as per your choice

5)Tratorria : at Orchard Road , Italian Cuisine
This one has the traditional Italian food and since Italian food is my personal favourite I had everything in the course from Soup,Starters,Salads,Main Course of Lasagna and Tiramisu. Its straight Italian food and superbly tasty

6)Komalas,at Little India, South Indian Cuisine
This one will be very useful for you once you are tired of eating the Chinese,thai,Italian blah blah. The restaurant is located in little India Area very close to the famous Mustafa Shopping Centre and is the low priced high quality South Indian food place.You get everything from Dosas,Idlis,uthappa .I guess I need not recommend what to eat as all the food is equally great.

7)The Soup Spoon, at Raffles Place, Soups ,Dips, Sandwiches and Salads
It’s a restaurant specilising in soups, and delis.It has outlets all over Singapore but I have been to the only place in Raffles Place.Raffles Place is the Office are and everyone is looking for quick bites here. Though its soup, one set meal will make u really full. The mushroom soup is thick and the best.Tomato soup and Pumpkin soup are next..Also they have good sandwiches and wraps.Try the Sandwich in Focacia bread.One of the best things to try is the Caeser Salad which is one of the best I had till date.I also tried the Ice tea which was good too

Prawns in Okhra Gravy South Indian Style(Courtsey:Masterchef Australia)

2010-09-23T21:30:00.007+05:30

I have off late been addicted to Masterchef Australia on StarWorld big time.I love the way they make those dishes and also the way they give small tips.
Last week when famous chef Kumar Mahadevan gave this recipe,I really found it interesting.I have not yet tried,but it looks so intesting ,that I thought I should record it somewhere before I forget and share with all of you.

Ingredients:
Oil
Okhra
Prawns
Grated Coconut
Chopped Onion
Chopped Tomato
Mustard,Cumin,Fenugreek and Dhaniya Seeds
Red Chilly powder
Turmeric Powder
Chana Dal Roasted
Curry Leaves

Heat oil in a Pan.Add Mustard,Cumin and Fenugreek.Now add Chopped Onions.Add Dhaniya Powder ,Red Chilly Powder Turmeric and the Okhras (Ladyfingers) with its top chopped.Let tehm Fry well.Once fried ,remove the Okhras.
Now add Tomatoes,Green chilly and Water.Add the Prawns now.Add Curry Leaves and let it Simmer a while.
Separately mix grated coconut and roasted chana dal in a mixer,add water and make a paste and add it to the above.Re add Okhras and Serve hot

(Courtsey:Masterchef Australia)

Celebration Time

2010-09-23T21:16:00.008+05:30

We had so many reasons to celebrate as September witnesses 3 Le-Bouffe Member Birthdays..

It was Palak,Monica and Suzanne's Birthdays..
Monica actually baked a Cake for Suzaane and we got some Yummy Cakes for Palak and Monica as well.
We at Le-bouffe Team wish that all the 3 gals ..fondly called as Mini,Mo and Sue have superb year ahead .May God fulfill all their desires and give them a long and beautiful life..
Please join me in wishing them a wonderful wish fulfilling year ahead !!
Time to Raise some Toast..
Cheers
Ash

Cabbage in Tomato Base

2010-09-22T14:31:00.003+05:30

I am not particularly fond of Cabbage.But this is something Novel and interesting
Also, Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C. It also contains significant amounts of glutamine, an amino acid that has anti-inflammatory properties.

I wanted to make something Mexican..But realized I had no Bell Peppers or Jalapenos or chilly flakes.So decided to make Indian and was happy that this turned out to be nice.Everyone in office seemed to like it too

Ingredients:

Oil
Tomato Ketchup
Ginger Garlic Paste
Cabbage
Vermicelli
Milk/Cream
Chopped Corriander
Kitchen King Masala
Red Chilly Powder
Turmeric

Procedure:
Toss oil in a Pan/Kadhai.Add tomato ketchup to form gravy base.Add ginger garlic paste and let this cook for a while.Add Kitchen King masala,chilly powder and Turmeric.
Now add half -boiled Chopped Cabbage
Add Vermicelli and let it cook for a while
Season with Milk and cream and Corriander leaves
Serve With Roti/ Jeera Rice

Chefs Tips:
Cabbage if not cooked well may give a peculiar smell.See to it that when you half boil, add a little bit of salt and pepper
It hardly takes 7-8 mins to cook.Its good to cook when you are in a hurry and have to rush to work or When you have least ingredients at home
I have not added salt to the gravy as Ketchup already has salt in it.You can add depending on your choice
You can Substitute boiled cabbage with Boiled Sweet corn or Baby Corn or Even Half Boiled Mushrooms
Never tried it with Boiled Chicken though. but guess that should be tasty too

Bon Appétit
Ash

Modified Caesar Salad

2010-09-20T11:34:00.005+05:30

I had Caesar Salad in Singapore when my sister introduced it to me and since then have become a huge fan .I tried again after coming in India and then tried my hands at making it. Now even have got my family and friends addicted to it
The salad's creation is generally attributed to restaurateur Caesar Cardini (an Italian-born Mexican). Most times they add bacon, parmesan cheese and anchovies which I have dropped I this recipe
I have modified it with my own creativity and more specifically with all the available vegetables

Ingredients:

Iceberg Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Bread Cut into small square Pieces
Olives
Cherry Tomatoes
Boiled Eggs
Mustard sauce
Olive Oil
Garlic
Herbs like Parsley,Oregano,Basil,Thyme

Take a huge bowl.Tear both Iceberg and Romaine Lettuce with your hands(do not cut as they turn black if they contact a knife).Take a huge Bowl and layer the Lettuce,olives and Cherry tomatoes one after the other.Put a little bit olive Oil and Vinegar mixed with salt, pepper and herbs.Toss the salad.Now put a little mustard sauce and toss it again.
For the Croutons.Toss some olive oil in a pan.Add the garlic and herbs.Now add Bread crumbs.
OR
Alternatively if you are calorie conscious.Just roast the bread pieces in oven.Rub Garlic against it and add herbs
Put Croutons over the salad.Garnish with boiled eggs slices and add the herbs
Serve in a bowl.

As they say.Caesar Salad goes very well with the finest wines.
Here too I didn’t go by the conventionl norms of serving with sparkling white wine. Instead clubbed it with my personal favorite Pinot Noir from Burgundy

So Enjoy!!

Bon Appetit
Ash

Seyal bread

2010-09-16T19:47:00.003+05:30

Mo - this ones specially for you.. You love the Seyal bread my mom makes na, so here's the recipe :)

1 bunch of Rs 5. coriander
10-12 garlic
5-6 green chillies
Small piece of ginger
1/2 onion (optional)
Make a paste of all these in a mixie

Heat some oil in a pan, add the masala and cook a bit till oil separates. Then add water, 1 tbsp tamarind pulp and bring to boil. Finally add enough bread pieces to make a nice snack!

Enjoy
-Naina

Black Dal

2010-09-12T13:25:00.004+05:30

Saw this recipe on Discovery Channels Rhodes across India.. An amazing show! Here's the link. Will try it out after a couple of months, as I'm not supposed to have these kind of heavy dals while my baby is so small!

The recipe in short:
Take 1 cup washed black dal, add 4 cups water, some chopped onion, chopped ginger, garlic, some mustard oil and boil
Later, add some curd mixed with salt and red chilli powder
Add a tempering of only hing in ghee
Later, add some dried plums
Then add another tempering in ghee of onion, ginger and red chilli powder

Also, want to try this recipe of potatoes

Lets hope I come around to trying these soon!
-Naina

Some masala pastes

2010-09-12T13:19:00.004+05:30

Picked up these masala pastes from tv and my mom's cook..
1. Make a Paste of cooked onion, ginger, garlic, dry coconut powder and whole red chillies. Cook some onions, add to it the masala paste, one tomato, dhania powder, red chilli powder, haldi and garam masala powder!
2. Make a paste of onion, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and loads of khus khus and fennel seeds

White Sauce

2010-09-12T13:13:00.004+05:30

I really need to clean up the blog, its been a long time, and I guess I'll happily be a passive blogger for another couple of months, with my little baby!
Anyways, just learnt the tips and tricks of making proper white sauce from my mom.

You need
6 cups milk
6 tbsp maida
6 tbsp butter (or less)
Salt
Black pepper
Italian herbs
Grated cheese

Cook the Maida and butter, like sheera, till it gives an aroma, doesn't burn, but the fat kind of starts to separate. Takes around 10 mins
Then, remove from gas, and for the 1st cup of milk, add one spoon at a time and keep mixing, so that no lumps form. Then add the remaining milk slowly, so that no lumps are formed. Return to the gas, bring to a boil and keep stirring. Cook till the desired consistency of thickness.
Finally add the salt, pepper, herbs and cheese! Done. Its yummy!

Burnt Onion n Baby corn Sweet Corn Soup

2010-08-03T13:02:00.005+05:30

Simple Soup on a Rainy day

Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Sliced onion
Garlic flakes
Oregano
Basil leaves
Sliced Babycorn(boiled)
Boiled Sweet corn
Salt to taste
Cream

Procedure
Fry onions in olive oil.Add garlic and oregano.Let it burn a little.Add salt and some water.Now put it in blender till it becomes completely blended.Bring it to boil.Add boiled corns n baby corns.
Top with cream and basil leaf

Serve hot

Bon Appetit
Ash

Post delivery recipes :)

2010-07-31T12:25:00.005+05:30

Thanks Ash! That was the reason I had reduced my online activity. They say its not good to spend too much time on the comp during pregnancy :)
Baby's doing good, and I'm well too, thats why I'm blogging away while the baby's just 15 days.
Some quick recipes I need to document -

Kaada

To grind
1 kaju
1 badam
1 apricot
1 sauth / dry ginger
1 chwara / dry dates
1/2 tsp charoli
1/2 tsp ajwain
5-6 brown raisins

Other
1 tbsp dry khopra powdered
1 pinch haldi
ghee for tempering
1 tbsp atta
1/2 tsp jeera

Grind all in 1 cup water. Leave aside for 1/2 hour. Again grind with khopra, haldi and atta to smooth paste. Heat ghee, add jeera and then the paste. Cook for 10 mins and thicken a bit.

Methi Ladu
300 gm methi - roasted and powdered
1/4 k sukha khopra roasted in ghee
750 gms wheat - roasted till pops a bit and ground - not fried in ghee
150 gms almonds fried in ghee
100 gms khus khus
100 gms haleem roasted
100 gms dink / gond fried in ghee
1/4 kg kharik / dry dates - powdered
warm ghee for binding
jaggery to taste - approx. 1 kg

Dry Fruit Powder to have in milk
Almonds - 250 gms - ground
Pista - 250 gms -ground
Saunth powder < 100 gms
Ganthoda / Pipri powder < 100 gms
Gond - fried in ghee <100 gms
Magaztari - roasted to change color <100 gms
Little ghee if needed to mix all

Enjoy :)

Naina has become a proud Mum

2010-07-24T08:53:00.004+05:30

It gives me immense pleasure to tell you all that Naina has been blessed with a little baby girl on 15th of July:))Its been a celebration for all of the Le bouffe members..

Please join me and Le bouffe team in Congratulating Naina and showering our blessings and best wishes on our little angel!

Cheers
Ash

150 posts already!!

2010-05-02T15:24:00.005+05:30

Its a pleasure that we at Le-Bouffe have crossed 150 posts mark too.
3 cheers to the Le bouffe team girls esp dear Naina whose contribution has made this Blog a huge Success.

And a very special thanks to all our readers,follower and fans for the support,suggestions and feedback to us.Also a big thanks to the dear friends who gave some awards making us feel special

We will continue to post more and will not let you a down

Enjoy life,enjoy food

Bon Appetit
Ash

Mushroom Jhatpat Masala

2010-04-16T15:58:00.002+05:30

Sorry.. this one got eaten away before I could think of taking a pic..
Here's the recipe, specially for all those of my friends who tasted it on the lunch table today in office -

1 packet mushrooms (nicely cleaned and chopped into small cubes)
3 medium onions (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp jeera seeds
2 tbsp curd
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 heaped tsp Meat masala (I used Everest)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Heat some oil (used olive oil here) in a kadhai, add jeera. When it changes color, add onions, and cook till almost brown. Add the masalas, ginger garlic paste, and saute for a minute. Add the curd and mix well. Then add the mushrooms, salt and cover and cook for 10 mins or until done, stirring every 2-3 minutes. Finally, garnish with coriander leaves.
Enjoy!

Dim Dal Fry

2010-04-01T10:56:00.001+05:30

This one's one of my favourites, and my mil likes it a lot too..

Pressure cook 1 cup of whole moong dal, with a pinch of turmeric.
In a vessel, heat some ghee. For tempering add garlic, ginger, jeera, hing, red chillies, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and coriander powder. Add the dal, enough water and bring to boil. Finally add salt, lemon juice / amchur to taste (optional), and chopped coriander leaves.
Enjoy
-Naina

Gajar Halwa!

2010-03-31T14:05:00.002+05:30

Just a pic of some lovely Gajar Halwa made at home (by mom in law) a while ago!

Enjoy
-Naina

Ram Navmi Offerings

2010-03-29T12:55:00.003+05:30

The Prayer Arrangement -

The Goddess -

The Offering!!

This has puris, curd, medu wada, bhajiyas (made of soaked and ground chana dal), whole soaked chanas, atte ka halwa, and some deep fried sweet made of wheat flour

Mushroom Starters

2010-03-28T19:28:00.005+05:30

This is one of my favorite.I had tried it in a nice italian restaurant and tried preparing at home

Its very easy and quick to prepare.

Ingredients
Button Mushrooms
Cheese
Olive Oil
Oregano
Basil leaves

Clean the mushrooms and remove its stem/stipe.
Take a pan and roast it on olive oil for not more than 1 minute and add oregano on it.

Remove it from the flame and stuff cheese inside it.Roast in Microwave till cheese melts..It looks like this:)

Decorate with basil leaf and serve hot

Bon Appetit
Ash

Dum Murg ki Kacchi Biriyani

2010-03-21T22:18:00.008+05:30

Saw this Lucknowi style Biryani recipe on NDTV Good Times & immediately thought of trying my hand at it. Firstly my sincere apologies that i could not click any pics as i wasn't sure how it would turn out.... But amazingly it came out really yum!!!!! So, thought of sharing this with you darlings!!!
______________________________________________________________________

Ingredients:
½ kg basmati rice
1 kg chicken
2 onions - sliced long
½ tsp saffron
1 cup milk
juice of 1 lemon
fresh green coriander - chopped
2 green chillies - chopped (optional)
1 tbsp oil

Ingredients for the marinade:
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 ½ cup curd
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste

Spices for chicken:
4 cloves
1” cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2 green cardamoms
1 black cardamom
½ tsp cumin seeds

Whole spices for rice:
2 cloves
½ “cinnamon
2 green cardamoms
salt - to taste

For the Dum:
Dough made of wheat atta & water

METHOD:

Marinate the chicken with curd, turmeric, salt, chilly powder and ginger-garlic paste. Coarsely grind all the spices for the chicken & add to the marinade. Leave the chicken to marinate for an hour minimum or overnight.

Heat two tbsp of oil in a pan. Sauté the onions, till they turn golden brown. Keep aside.
Put the rice into the cooking vessel & add the requisite amount of water. Add the whole spices and the salt. Cover and let it cook till the water is absorbed.

Add the saffron to warm/tepid milk & stir till the milk takes on the colour of saffron. Keep aside.

Crumple half the burnt onions & add it to the marinated chicken. Put back in fridge for half an hour.

TO LAYER THE BIRYANI:

In a handi put 1 tbsp oil & heat. Add the chicken & cook on high heat till chicken takes on a light brown colour & is half cooked & add the lemon juice.

Lower the flame; flatten the chicken to form a layer. Put chopped coriander & green chillies (optional) on top.

Put all the rice on top of this layer, add the remaining fried onions & smoothen out. Pour in the saffron milk over the rice.

Cover the vessel & make long snake off the dough by rolling in on the counter & use it to seal the top of the cooking vessel. (Note: if you don't want to use atta you can tie the vessel tightly with a cloth instead)

Let the biryani cook on a very slow fire till the seal is hard & the rice looks fully cooked.

Serve hot.

Love Akki!

Black current Sqaush

2010-03-14T17:05:00.004+05:30

There is nothing very special about this.
I just crushed the black grapes in the juicer ,added salt-sugar,water,ice cubes and served chilled..Its simple n yummy

Ruby Splash

2010-03-01T20:38:00.004+05:30

Yet another drink..just put it in the wine glasses for some fun.It reminds me of Ruby in a ring..so the name:))

Simple and easy to prepare

Ingredients
Strawberry squash
Ginger lemon Squash
Ice
Water
Salt -sugar

Put all the ingredients in the blender.Serve chilled :)

Cheers
Ash

Lawn Teaser

2010-02-28T23:40:00.005+05:30

Yet another one of my favorite drinks..Named it lawn teaser because the color reminds me of a fresh green lawn

Kiwi Crush
Lemon Juice
7up/Sprite
Ice cubes
Salt and Sugar
Lemon wedge for decoration

Mix all ingredients in a blender and serve in a glass.Decorate with a Lime Wedge and serve chilled

Cheers
Ash

Blue Lagoon

2010-02-28T21:41:00.009+05:30

It was a long weekend and my Didi and Jijaji had come over..I decided to make this suave looking drink for the evening.Its on the lines of Martini but its non alcoholic cousin

Ingredients
Blue Curacao Syrup
Tender Coconut Water
Coconut cream
Mint leaves
Water
Ice
Tinge of lemon
Green grapes(instead of the olives)
Sugar
Salt

Mix all the ingredients except the grapes in the blender.
Take a martini glass and put the blended mocktail.Add 1 grape to each glass..Serve chilled

Chef's Tips
1)Before you pour the drink in the glass, put lot of salt in a tray/plate.Wet the upper rim of the glass in water.Now turn the glass upside down and put salt on the upper most edge by dipping the glass in the salt
2)Never put Ice in this type of drinks.Just crush it and blend it well.
3)Its better if you chill the martini glasses too
4)Traditionally ,Martini consists of Olives.We are putting grapes instead to give it a chic look and the taste goes very well too

Cheers!!
Ash

Finally.. some photos

2010-02-26T00:40:00.002+05:30

Have just uploaded some of the pending recipe pictures!
Spinach Soup
Veg Hot Dog Roll in the Cream Dip

Enjoy!

Quick Moong dal Rasam

2010-02-18T15:16:00.002+05:30

I saw this lovely Dal Sandwich recipe on Sindhi Rasoi yesterday, and surprisingly, I just wished to have the dal.. like a thin soup or rasam..
So, took 1/4 cup of moong dal, and boiled it in water with a pinch of turmeric and salt. Boiled till it was done..
Then heated some ghee for tempering, added to it 1/3 tsp of our home made mixture of red chilli and garam masala. When it gave a nice aroma, added a nice tsp full of coriander powder. Poured this into the dal, added water (as I wanted it thin and watery) and Amchur / dry mango powder to the dal as per taste and simmered it.
Didn't look great, since I didn't garnish it, so didn't take a pic! But tastes yummm
Very quick and simple too..
-Naina

More Awards!

2010-02-17T14:29:00.019+05:30

Thanks a lot to Devi, for passing on these awards to us!!

Thanks a ton for this..

Rules for accepting this award:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award

2. Pass it on to your blogger friends

Thanks for this one too!!

And for this one too!

Rules for accepting this award
Thank the person who gave you the award.
Copy the award to your blog.
Place a link to their blog.
Name 7 things people don't know about you.
Nominate 7 bloggers.
Place a link to those bloggers.
Place a comment letting those bloggers know about the award.

So, we'd like to share this (Kreativ Blogger) award with

Zesty South Indian Kitchen

And the other 2 awards (Thank You and smart Food Blogger) with these 7 and

Bombay Foodie

Desi Soccer Mom

The Chef and her Kitchen

Thanks a ton again Devi for this!!

And here's 7 things people don't know about us (i.e. Ash, Monica, Naina, Kanchan, Palak ,Suzie and Akki ):

We are a group of office friends!
We're from different departments, but on the same floor!
We are all from Mumbai (born and staying here!)
We're all different girls with different personalities, but yet so alike!
We've all got silly nick names for each other
We've got code names for others too!!
We love to get together for lunches / snacks and laugh our heads off!

Enjoy!!

Cream dip

2010-02-17T12:33:00.005+05:30

Mom in law made some veg hot dog roll yesterday, trying to replicate something she'd tasted a while ago...

I'd bought the hot dog rolls from the market, we have cheese and hot sauce at home. No one at home is fond of mustard sauce, so that's ruled out.
She make the veg kebabs of gram flour, methi (fenugreek) leaves and lots of spices for seasoning, and deep fried them.. something like Muthiya
What was missing was the mayonnaise... and being a Tuesday (veg day), I couldn't attempt the egg version..
So, made do with whatever I had... (sorry.. forgot to take pics!)
Took a 4 tbsps of fresh cream (really thick), added to it a tbsp of olive oil, a tsp of milk powder (all that was there with me), and whipped it up with a fork! It became nice and creamy. I had to add a little milk as it was too thick. Then added salt to taste, some ground pepper and some crushed dried mint leaves for flavor. In the end, added 2-3 drops of vinegar and mixed it all up. Didn't whip it too hard, cos may be the vinegar could curdle the milk.. not sure..
Using this in the hot dog sandwich made up for the mayonnaise! Yippee.
(Btw - Didn't add sugar, as my hubby hates it in dips, and didn't dare make a dip with hung curd, as he may not like it!)

She then put the sauces (cream dip and hot sauce) in the bread, then the muthiya, and topped it with cheese, and heated it in the microwave for 30 secs, for the cheese to melt and taste lovely!

-Naina

Spinach Soup

2010-02-11T13:23:00.005+05:30

Always wanted to try this out, so saw a few recipes, and taking clues from them all, came up with this...

I used:
1 1/2 bunches of roughly chopped palak leaves
1 large sliced onion (used white onion, since I had it with me)
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
4-5 pepper corns
1 tsp butter
3 cups water
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste

Heat butter in a pan and add peppers. Then add onion and cook untill light gold. Then add the ginger garlic paste, salt and spinach, and cover and cook for say 5 mins, untill done.

After cooling, blend in a mixie with some water. Take a vessel and pour this mixture, remaining water and milk, and bring to boil. Let it simmer for 2 minutes, and serve hot.
I added a few lemon drops to my bowl, and my mom in law added some tomato chilli sauce to hers! Either way, it tasted good. You could add cream, sugar, or croutons! Very healthy too

-Naina

Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce with Peppers and Olives

2010-02-10T18:42:00.001+05:30

Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce with Peppers and Olives

A little different recipe which I experimented and it turned out to be very tasty.Pasta has always been my favorite and this turned out to be much better than expectation.

Ingredients
Olive oil
Onions Finely chopped
Potatoes peeled ,cut and half boiled
Pumpkin peeled ,cut and half boiled
Ginger Garlic paste
Finely chopped Bell Pepper
Black olives
Salt
Oregano,
Ground Pepper Powder
Chilly flakes
Salt to taste
Pasta (cooked in water al dente), Would recommend Fussilli pasta here
Milk/Cream
Cheese grated

Take a Deep pan on a flame and put the olive oil on it.Add Onions,Oregano and Ginger Garlicg Paste.Let it cook till translucent.Add Pepper Powder and chilly flakes.
Now Add the boiled Potatoes and boiled Pumpkin. Let it cook for a while.Add some cream and milk..Put the whole thing in blender till it becomes smooth paste.

Now roast the bell peppers for some toime.Cut them finely.Also chop the black olives add to this paste.

Cook Fussili pasta in water.Add a little salt and oil to it to prevent from sticking at the base of the vessel.Once its cooked al dente,drain the water.Add it to the Sauce+veges

Add grated cheese and roast in Microwave for 5 mins.Season with herbs

Serve hot..its really yummy..

Bon Appetit

Rice Phirni

2010-02-08T16:23:00.002+05:30

Saw this on Bombay Foodie , and decided, that I just had to make this to taste it!

Followed her recipe.. but increased the proportions..
Mixed 2 tbsp of rice flour with some milk to form a paste. Boiled 500 ml milk with 4 tbsp sugar. Took it off the heat and poured into it the rice paste and whisked until it was smooth, the rice completely mixed in. Then returned the milk to the stove and simmered for 10-15 minutes till thick, while constantly whisking the milk to avoid clumps. Once done, cooled it, sprinkled pistachios and badams, and let it chill.
Yummy custard

-Naina

Blue Fusion Delight

2010-02-07T14:34:00.006+05:30

The colour blue has always attracted me.Be it the blue sky,the blue sea or the gem Sapphire..blue always holds a special place in my heart.It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and i decided to make this simple mocktail.
Ingredients:
Blue Curacao Syrup(Mapro's Brand is readily available )
Salt
Jaljeera powder(Badshah /Everest)
Water

Procedure:
Add the Blue Curacao syrup.Add to it salt.Add the Jaljeera powder and water(Ideally Curacao to Water should be 1:5 in proportion).Stir well.Else put it in a Shaker and shake well.
Now use a drainer or a soft handkerchief to drain the sediments of Jaljeera.Do not use a tea/coffee drainer ans sediments might not get eliminated.
Freeze in the refrigerator(never deep freeze) and serve in a Pinacolada glass

The reason why named it as Fusion was it takes both the Indian and Caribbean Flavors and merges so well that you get an amazing flavour.

Jaljeera("Jal" means water and "Jeera" means cumin)is ideally a Indian drink used as a digestive,appetizer as well as a coolant especially in Summer considering the tropical Climate of India..One of the main ingredients is black salt or rock salt which acts as a digestive

Blue Curaçao is a classic, sweet and slightly bitter syrup originally made with the dried peel of oranges or dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, grown on the island of Curaçao a Caribbean island.The syrup is traditionally used to impart a hint of Caribbean blue color in several cocktails.Most Curacaos which we get in India use the Syrup of Sweet lime and Orange Combined with artificial colorants to give the blue colour.

So ideally now when climate has started getting warmer its great to have this drink..Enjoy

Ash

Tasty Corn Sandwich

2010-02-05T20:45:00.004+05:30

Wow..Just the thought of this Sandwich gets my mouth watering.Frankly speaking,I had tasted this on a local stall when I used to work in Vashi and gradually had gotten addicted to it.Later when I changed my workplace,i started making this at home.Its very simple.

Bread Slices
Cheese
Sweet Corn Boiled
Mushrooms Boiled
Capsicum Finely chopped
Onion Finely chopped
Tomato finely chopped
Salt /Pepper if needed

Just put all ingredients together and grill the sandwich.

Enjoy the molten cheese and corns:)..pure addiction

Bon Appétit
Ash

Awards

2010-02-05T11:29:00.003+05:30

Thanks a ton to Jayasri for passing us these lovely awards! Our first!

Lapsi Rawa Dosa

2010-02-05T09:42:00.005+05:30

Dosas of all types are adorable.. so, made some for dinner yesterday. I just took some inspiration from lots of other blogs, and added my own stuff!

You need:
1 cup Lapsi (thick rawa)
1/3 cup rice flour
1 chopped onion
Chopped coriander leaves
1 chopped green chilli
5-6 curry leaves chopped
1/4 tsp jeera
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp curd
Salt to taste

Mix all the above ingredients with enough water to form a dosa type batter. Leave aside for atleast 15 mins. Since this is not the normal rawa dosa, it'll be a bit different from that.
Then, heat a tsp oil in a non stick pan, pour a laddle of the batter. I cooked on high flame, and since my non stick tawa is totally worn out, some of my dosas kept tearing off! But nevertheless, they were yumm!

I served them with green coconut chutney. Spicy food is simply awesome!
You need to churn these in the mixie:
1/2 a fresh coconut - (the one we use to make coconut milk)
Bunch of fresh coriander leaves
2-3 green chillies (deseeded preferably)
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

I sure had lots of these dosas and chutney!

-Naina

Simple Pasta

2010-02-04T16:06:00.005+05:30

Since it was just me and hubby at home for dinner, I decided to make pasta. Simple and quick, not too many ingredients though. Hubby just doesn't like the sweetness of tomatoes, so I couldn't make any red sauce, and was too tired to make white sauce. So, just make it like a Pulao :)

200 gms packet of pasta - boiled and kept aside

Grated cheese (for garnishing)

1 large capsicum (sliced)

1 large carrot (sliced)

2 onions (sliced) - I used white onions here

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp oregano powder

Salt to taste

Olive oil to cook

Heat oil in a pan, and add the ginger garlic paste. Once the aroma starts coming, add onions and cook until transparent. Add the remaining veggies and all the other ingredients (except pasta), and cover and cook until the veggies are done to your liking. I keep it semi done, for the slight crispiness.

Then add the pasta, stir well, cover and cook for 2 mins.

While serving, I garnished the pasta with lots of grated cheese and heated in the microwave for 1/2 a minute. This really made up for the lack of sauce in the pasta!

Enjoy

-Naina

Caffè Mocha

2010-02-03T15:50:00.005+05:30

Caffe Mocha essentially is cofee combined with chocolate and milk.There are various ways of making this cofee at different places right from Starbucks to the local CCD.
Both things as such are highly addictive so we thought we can make a simple recipe for this to make it at home
Ingredients
Instant Cofee Powder(Bru /Nescafe)
Coco powder
White chocolate bar/Dark chocolate bar or both
Water
Sugar
Warm Milk
Whipped Cream(Sweetened)

Put the Coffee powder in the Mug and add very little coco powder.Add sugar and very little(about 1 tablespoon) of boiling water.Stir vigorously .
Take some warm milk and add teh mixtiure.Mix it well in the blender.
Now pour this mixture in the mug.Now grate the chocolate bar in the mixture.Keep this mixture in microwave till chocolate melts
Add whipped cream..

Your Caffè Mocha is ready

Lapsi Upma

2010-02-01T12:29:00.003+05:30

Woke up hungry Sunday morning, and wanted to have something hot, steaming and spicy.
There was a pouch of Lapsi Rawa (the thicker rawa, used to make porridge) lying around.
So, heated oil in a pan, added mustard seeds, curry leaves, and a chopped green chilli. Then, added a large chopped onion. Cooked till light golden. Then, added turmeric powder, enough water to soak the rawa kept aside, salt to taste, and since I was making 2 servings of the upma, added 2 maggi magic cubes. Then, added the rawa (which was already dry roasted) and covered and cooked untill done. (Kept added a bit of water, till it was done)
As simple as instant noodles! And definitely very healthy. Lapsi rawa is a very good source of calcium too. Perfect breakfast!!
-Naina

Quick Chicken Curry

2010-02-01T12:11:00.002+05:30

Posting after really long! Cooked after a long time too! Churned up a quick, simple Chicken Curry yesterday for dinner. It was good, since there was not even a speck on gravy remaining..

You need
2 small cups boneless chicken
1 tsp curd
1 pouch chicken masala (I used some Everest chicken masala)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 medium onions (ground to paste)
A pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Clean and marinate the chicken in curd, chicken masala and giner garlic paste for a few hours. I kept it in the fridge.
Heat some oil in a kadhai, add any spice (like a clove or 2), add the onion paste and cook till oil seperates. Then add the marinated chicken, turmeric, salt and mix well. Add water, and cover and cook until done. Very easy and yummy.
Alternativerly, you can make a dry preparation (i.e. dont add water), and have it as a snack, or as a filling in yr sandwiches.

Tip: to make Ginger Garlic paste at home, use equal quantities of ginger and garlic, and grind to a fine paste using oil. Don't add water, use just the required quantity of oil to make a fine paste. Store in refridgerator. This way, its stays fresh longer

-Naina

Bon Appetit..the way we Indians say that

2010-01-22T10:07:00.003+05:30

Till date we always have been saying Bon Appetit,before we begin.When I was a kid my grandpa taught me a certain chant to say before one begins their food .It has much Similar implications of Bon Appetit but much deeper meaning and much higher emphasis on food as a part of god:)
We used to always say it when we were kids.Gradually with quick lifestyle,we lost teh emphasis.But still during Ganesh Chaturthi , Weddings an Functions it is still chanted and is considered very auspicious.

It goes this way
"Vadani kaval gheta nam ghya shree hariche.
Sahaj havan hote, nam gheta phukache
Jeevan kari jivitva anna he poornabrahma
Udarbharan nohe janije yadnya karma"
Jai Jai Raghuvir Samarth

Meaning is as follows(I am not sure of the exact meaning,but tried to apply my own and also have seeked some research on this.Please forgive me if i have said anything wrong)

While taking a mouthful of food, chant the name of God
The food is easily offered as a offering to god when his name is said
The food gives life to us as it is completes God Principle
Having food is not just filling the stomach but is a type of fire-sacrifice (Yajna)

Ash:)

Mushroom Masala (dry)

2010-01-19T20:57:00.004+05:30

This was specially on Kanchan's request as she loved it a lot:))This too is my Mum's recipe since my Dad and me are perpetual fans of mushrooms.
Here it goes Kanchi.. for you

Ingredients
Chopped Onion
Chopped Mushrooms
Coriander leaves
Grated coconut
Red chilly paste (dry)
Garam Masala
Turmeric
Ginger garlic paste
Salt to taste

Procedure:
Fry the Onions in oil in a Kadhai till golden brown.Add Ginger Garlic paste,Red chilly paste and Turmeric.Now add chopped Mushrooms.Add Garam Masala and let it cook for a while.Once its well cooked add chopped dhaniya leaves and coconut.Add salt as per taste

Its ready to serve

Bon Appétit
Ash

Restaurant Recommendation-Indigo Cafe

2010-01-19T16:27:00.010+05:30

I had been to this place around a month ago actually because of the hype and found out that the place is very much up to its expectations.Located in Andheri near Lokhandwala Complex ,It has a prime location and is one of the places where you would bump into the celebrities..the local ones of course(so chances of bumping into Hugh Grant or Mel Gibson is just meager)
As we reached there we found the tables well kept beautifully and decorated with white lilys .They served Food & Beverages in very good dinnerware and Stemware

Firstly we had special white wine with chopped apples in it.Basically the concept of mixing anything with white wine will hurt any Frenchman or Wine Connoisseur for that matter,but surprisingly it turned out to be simply mind blowing

We tried the roasted Mushroom with goat cheese and pine nuts as a starter which was simply amazing.The Pine nuts were so tasty as if from Mediterranean Region just picked up a few minutes ago.We also had a fish starter which was great too
The Main course was decently good wherein we tried Chicken and Fish varieties,from which I would recommend the lobster which my friend had as it was much tastier than the chicken which i had ordered.

The Dessert was the best just like a love story with an happy ending:).We took a Tiramisu and a Molten Chocolate Cake which pampered our tastebuds.
The food was tasty ,differenta nd had a taste of its own.The Ambience was Semi formal ,relaxed (it being a Sunday) and very very classy
Good place to go with your partner or for a small afternoon lunch with close friends and ideally also to give your parents a surprise on their Anniversary
I would definitely recommend this place..

Bon Appétit
Ash

Quick Sandwich

2010-01-19T14:31:00.004+05:30

This is a wonderful and super tasty sandwich which usually my mom makes for breakfast.
Ingredients
Bread
Butter
Cheese Slice
Fresh olives
Finely chopped bell peppers
Red chilly powder(dry)

Procedure
Put the cheese slice in bread.Add Oi lives and chopped bell peppers.Sprinkle red chilly powder.
Apply butter on the outer edges of the bread and grill it
Now grill the bread and fillings.Serve hot with Tomato Ketchup

Bon Appétit
Ash

Samosa Chat

2010-01-12T16:51:00.005+05:30

This one is quick and is highly appreciated by people of all ages

Ingredients
Punjabi Samosas
Tamarind Chutney
Chopped Onions,Tomatoes,Dhaniya leaves
Sev
Chat Masala.

Take the samosas and remove their top cover(Chop almost the top part of samosa so that we get the broad centre of samosa to put the other ingredients

Add Chopped onions,Tomato,on it,Add tamarind chutney on the Samosa.
Now put the chat Masala, Sev ,Dhaniya leaves and serve

Bon Appétit
Ash

Risotto

2010-01-12T16:00:00.006+05:30

Risotto or the traditional Italian Rice is one of the most tasty rices of all:)
Here is a easy to make recipe which I modified a little bit from the traditional version

Ingredients
Semi Cooked rice(Al dente ie almost 75-80% cooked)
Olive oil
Onions
Garlic Cloves
Herbs of your choice like Parsley,Oregano,Basil
Vegetables of your choice like Broccoli,Mushroom,Corn,Babycorn,Zucchini,Bell Pepper
Stock/Veg Stock
White Wine
Salt
Cheese
Butter
Milk

Take a huge pan ,heat olive oil in it and cook the Onions .Now add the Garlic Cloves and Saute till Brown.Add herbs.Put all the chopped Vegetables in it.Let it cook well.Add salt.You can add the stock now and cook till it becomes dry.Add about a teaspoon of White wine(this is optional depending on your tastes/preference etc)

Add the cooked rice.Top it again with dried herbs.Add some Milk and Cheese.
Your Risotto is ready

Once it blends together..Serve hot.

Bon Appétit
Ash

Thanks all!!

2010-01-05T16:44:00.002+05:30

First of all.. thanks EC for giving us space in your Budding blogger series.. check it out here..
And thanks to all the lovely people for leaving tons of encouraging comments... I can't wait to head back to the kitchen..
Have been on a short .. or may be longish break for the past few weeks.. Hope to get back soon!!

Thanks all once again!
Naina

Atte Ke Ladoo

2009-11-15T19:33:00.004+05:30

Haven't tried anything significant in the kitchen in the last week.. not been keeping too well.. so here's something from a chit of paper my mom had given me, her all time hit - 'Atte ke ladoo' (So now I can throw away the chit of paper!)

You need:
900 gm wheat flour (preferred - punjabi atta)
500 gms pure ghee
25 gms ilaichis
1 whole jaiphal / nutmeg
Approx 150 gms badam
25 gms khus khus
500 gms powdered sugar

Fry / cook the atta in ghee until brown. (I prefer roasting atta seperately till 3/4th cooked and then frying in ghee. You may need a bit less ghee then..)
Switch off the gas and then add the remaining ingredients (except sugar) and mix well.
When cooled, add powdered sugar and shape into ladoos!

Enjoy
-Naina

P.S. Mom in law's made some yummy besan ke ladoo this week, with less ghee.. need the take the measurements from her and post it!

Bombay Khandvi

2009-11-05T23:56:00.007+05:30

Make this amazing snack earlier this week! It turned out just perfect.. Its from a Nita Mehta recipe book I bought last week.. After so many tries, finally managed to make perfect khandvi.. I really love this, and I've even had patra and khandvi for lunch!!

You need:
1/2 cup besan
3/4 cup curds
3/4 cup water
1 pinch of asafoetida
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 green chilli crushed (I used some red chilli powder instead)
Salt to taste
1 tbsp mustard seeds
Some til seeds

Mix the besan, curd and water to a smooth paste. Microwave at 80% power for 4 minutes. I stirred once in between.
Then add the turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, chillies and salt and microwave on full power for 3 minutes or untill thick. 3 minutes was just perfect for me.
Then, spread very quickly on a greased plastic sheet.. or easier... on a slightly greased steel dinner plate. I use a flat wooden spoon to spread it. It's got to be spread before it starts cooling, else it'll set in the cooking vessel.
You may need 2-3 plates to spread the whole mixture. Let it cool and set. Should take 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small microwavable bowl, heat oil for 2 minutes. Add musturd seeds and heat for 2 minutes. Then add the asafoetida and til seeds and heat for another minute or so until done.
Once the spread mixture is cool, make slices of 1 inch thickness, and fold and roll.. (for a novice.. its like folding normal tissue paper into a toilet roll kind of shape!!)

The tempering can be put on the mixture before rolling or after making the rolls too.. The rolls can be garnished with freshly chopped coriander leaves and fresh grated coconut. (I didn't do that though..)

It was perfect.. hubby's expression said it all!

-Naina

Quick Raitha

2009-11-04T23:04:00.005+05:30

What if you see unexpected guests?You are going to serve them Rotis Sabsi,Dal Rice?Is tahta ll?
Here is what you can do additionally.

Incase you have a packet of kurkure/twisters/namkeens etc.Here is what you can do.

Ingredients
Curd
Jeera Powder
Amchur powder
Salt
Sugar
Red chilly Powder

Break the dahi and add all the ingredients.Mix well.
Just before Serving,add the kurkure/chips and serve as raitha.Believe me people loved it!!

Bon Appétit
Ash

Paneer Gravy

2009-11-04T22:41:00.007+05:30

Very Simple dish and was highly appreciated by all today:))True Punjabi flavour made me say haay rabba after having this

Ingredients
Paneer Sliced
Chopped onion
Tomatoe Puree
Ginger garlic Paste
Ajwain
Jeera
Red chilly paste
Garam Msala
Salt
Milk+ cream

Fry onions in oil till golden brown.Add Ginger garlic Paste,Ajawain,Jeera,chily powder and garm masala.Cook for sometime and then blend in blender.
Once blended put it in the pan again and add tomato Puree,salt,Milk Cream
Add paneer and cook for sometime

Serve hot with Parathas or chapatis.

Chef's Tip:You can also add Badishep(Saunf)Powder while frying onions for additional flavour

Bon Appétit
Ash

Garlicy Baked Fries

2009-11-01T20:00:00.007+05:30

Tried Purple foodie's Garlicy Baked Fries yesterday for dinner, paired it up with Khichdi and soup.. It came out nice, tasty and crispy, and disappeared very fast! Hubby loved it too :)

I preheated my microwave convection to 210 degree C. That's the max temperature it can enter!
I took 3 potatoes and cut them into wedges. Then took 6-8 garlic cloves and 1 tsp of black pepper and ground them. Cooked this ground stuff in 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and added the potatoes and salt to taste. Covered and cooked for 3-5 mins. Then arranged it all on the borosil glass wide vessel that I have. Baked (on convection) for 10 minutes. Then turned all the pieces and it for 10-15 mins till nicely brown and crisp!

It sure was yumm.. The 3 potatoes seemed too less...Hubby could've eaten them all..

-Naina

A great day in the kitchen!

2009-10-30T01:05:00.004+05:30

Well..had a great time today.. Made perfect (well.. almost..) Gulab Jamuns from scratch.. for the Indian Cooking Challenge..

Mom in law made some awesome pav bhaji too.. loaded with butter here :) And believe me, she doesn't need to use pav bhaji masala, her own masalas are enough

Gulab Jamuns turned out the authentic Sindhi ones that I love (since I was born a Sindhi..)
Followed Alka's recipe, which goes thus..

"For sugar syrup:

Ingredients:

Sugar - 500 gms (This can be reduced as per taste)
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup (bit more or less)
Cardamom - 2-3
One spoon of milk (optional)
Few threads of saffron (optional)
2-3 drops of rosewater (optional but highly recommended)

Method:

Mix about 500 gms of white sugar in one and half cup water and keep it for boiling.

Add a spoonful of milk to remove the impurities (impurities if any, will form a scum on surface)

Add 2-3 green cardamoms also in syrup for strong flavor, and a tad of saffron strings (optional)

Boil until you get just a tad sticky syrup. Gulab Jamun syrup is not very dense nor too dilute as in Rasgulla

Strain the syrup, add rosewater when syrup is slightly cooled.
Always remember two things while using rose water, do not add it while syrup is bubbling hot or on fire, and be particular about the quantity mentioned in every recipe, since even few drops of excess rosewater could lend a bitter taste to the final product.

For Gulab Jamun:

Ingredients:

Unsweetened Maawa* - 250 gms
All purpose flour - 1 & 1/2 - 2 tsp
Cornflour - 1 tsp
Green cardamom - 1-2 crushed
Oil for shallow frying

* (khoya-the condensed milk thickened till it turns into moist dough, preferably made from cow’s milk, also known as Hariyali mawa)

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a wide mixing bowl until soft textured dough is obtained (keep mixing until it is really soft)

Make very small sized balls (bit larger than pebbles) as they swell up after frying and soaking in syrup

Make sure that the surface of dough balls is really smooth without any cracks. In case the cracks refuse to go away, slightly wet your palms with water and roll the flour till absolutely smooth.

Now take little oil for frying in preferably flat bottomed pan, and heat the oil. But gulab jamuns are to be fried on LOW FLAME or else the surface will be browned while the core will remain uncooked. Some prefer to place an unsalted pistachio in the center of every gulab jamun while making balls, that way the core of gulab jamun is not left uncooked .

Fry one or 2 gulab jamuns at a time and always remember to STIR THE OIL with slotted spoon AND NOT TO TOUCH GULABJAMUNS, which means keep swirling the oil without tossing or turning gulab jamun.

Fry till light brown in colour, remove on tissue paper and repeat the procedure with rest of dough.

Now soak these in COOL syrup for few hours. They will surely swell up

These can be stored in the same syrup till consumed

If there are cracks in the balls before frying it will burst open while frying, in that case adding a bit of cornflour will surely help

You can enjoy it hot or cold ,either way it is delicious"

My experience:

First thing.. mom in law was there to guide me on intuitive things.. cos I rely a lot on her experience!

I took less than 1/2 the quantity

Sugar syrup - Took 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water and boiled it. Didn't need to add milk to clean the syrup. Added cardamom powder, and the flavor's so good, that I've not yet added rose water.. may be I'll add it later..

I'd made mawa from 1 lt milk reduced by 2 tea cups, day before yesterday.. (can't make mawa and gulab jamuns in one go, cos of routine office and house work.)

Took that mawa from the fridge, added 1.5 tsp cornflour and 1 tsp maida and kneaded it till it got soft and smooth. Added some cardamom powder to this dough. Then rolled it into small 'pebble' size balls - they just didn't crack at all

Then deep fried it in ghee in a kadhai, stirring continuously. Well, Alka says not to touch the gulab jams, but I kept stirring them all the time!! Cooked 4-5 at a time, at a very low flame till nice and brown and soaked in the sugar syrup.. and ready to eat in 1/2 an hour.

I guess, they are just a little bit hard right now (still may be to soak more syrup overnight), but the moment I microwaved them for 10 secs, they got real spongy and yummy..

So far, one of the easiest (like a breeze) and best cooking experience.. Thanks ICC!!

-Naina

Some cookbooks and fish curry - Crossed a century too

2009-10-29T00:37:00.006+05:30

This blog has finished 100 posts.. without me realising it !! :) Yippee

...Back to my post..
There's this book exhibition going around near my place in my Mumbai suburb.. I surely enjoy so many books... Read '2 States' by Chetan Bhagat in 1/2 a day.. (rather night) pre Diwali.. now, Monica's got for me 'The Secret'.. and I purchased 3 cook books today!!!

I'm quite used to reading Nita Mehta's recipes, cos I had (mom still has) plenty of the small cook books of hers before my marriage, and have experimented a lots of paneer and other stuff on my brother.. Bottom line.. I like the way she explains in the books. One is on microwave recipes (everyone at home wanted this one..), and the other on cakes.. I wanted something Indian to refer to..
The 3rd book is 'Cakes & Bakes 500' by Martha Day.. seems like a lovely bible on baking.. :) Makes me really happy..

So, got back home a bit late, and mom in law was preparing for fish.. our usual one.. Just the fish breed changes, the gravy's the same, and the tastes of different breeds differ like east and west..

(sorry.. pic's not too presentable.. but the fish was mostly head pieces.. not attractive to take pics of! Will post a pic of the next make sometime later)
You need..

1/4 of a whole dry coconut (sukha khopra) - roasted to black, chopped and ground.. u can refer here..
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1 small onion
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tsp sunday masala - this is prepared by my mil, and a similar thing is available in some local masala shops.. but no hygiene there...else you can take a mixture of garam masala powder and red chilli powder

Grind all these ingredients with enough water to get a fine paste.. like this

Heat lots of oil (say 3 tbsp) in a kadhai. Add methi (fenugreek) seeds, and when they are brown, add the masala and cook till oil seperates.. Add some water and cook if needed. Then add the cleaned fish pieces,let the masala coat it, add enough water to make a nice gravy.. we make it a thin gravy type. Add salt and cook for 5-10 mins. Finally add some kokam pieces and garnish with chopped coriander.. Yummy..
-Naina

Karanji & Besan Ladu

2009-10-28T01:20:00.003+05:30

These are my mom in laws belated Diwali sweets!! She's a super chef! And she's fully supportive and excited for the Indian Cooking Challenge tasks.

We'll, I've told her to write down the recipes, and I'll put them in the blog then.. may take a while.. :) Meanwhile.. have a look .. 2 ladus and a karanji

-Naina

Masala Mushroom & Vegies

2009-10-28T01:09:00.005+05:30

Tried out a simple variation in Masala Mushrooms...

Added a handful of green peas, and 1 medium potato (finely chopped)..
Had to pressure cook it till 4 whistles..
Yummy.. No doubt..

-Naina

P.S.. Notice the latest few pics :) New digi cam :) :)

Mawa

2009-10-28T00:55:00.005+05:30

Made Mawa today.. just keep boiling the milk and stir continuously.. till it thickens such that it looks like some mithai from the shop.. looks like a softly kneaded dough..

-Naina

Diwali Celebrations

2009-10-22T20:59:00.003+05:30

-Kanchan

Hyderabadi Egg Curry

2009-10-22T20:39:00.006+05:30

Here's some lovely egg curry I made.. took this recipe from PrasuKitchen

Ingredients:

1 Onion Sliced (I took 2 onions)
1 Tsp red Chilly Powder
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
Cilantro Leaves For Garnishing
1 Tsp Yogurt (I took 2-3 tsps)
1 Tsp Kasoori Methi .
Salt-To Taste
Oil - 2 Tbsp
Turmeric-Pinch
Paste:
1 small Onion
1 Inch ginger
Garlic Few pods
1 Tsp Yogurt
1 stick Cinnamon
3 Cardamoms
3 Cloves
1 Tomato
2 Tbsp Cashewnuts

Directions To Prepare:

1) Boil 6 eggs , make slits on each Egg (I took 8 eggs)
2) Add oil in a Pan Add Onions Fry until brown Add Paste and fry until Oil seperates
3) Add Red Chilly Powder,Turmeric,Coriander Powder,cumin Powder
4) Add eggs So that its coated well with the Masala Stuff
5) Add salt ,Garam Masala at the end and Garnish with Cilantro And add Kasoori Methi Which adds great taste to the Curry .

Enjoy
-Naina

Happy Diwali !!

2009-10-18T01:29:00.010+05:30

Happy Diwali to everyone..
Well.. this one's going to be a really long post.. Great celebrations, meeting relatives, painting diyas (one of my fav hobbies).. and tons of cooking.. - lots of snacks and sweets!!

To start with..

Some Rangoli I made..

Some Diyas I painted..

Here's all the snacks we made (recipes at the end)

Some Pedha I made..

This one was really simple.. I had 200 gms of sweetened condensed milk with me.. added to it one heaped cup milk powder.. 3/4 cup milk, 3-4 tsps sugar.. some cardamom powder and 1/4 cup butter.. put all of this in a microwaveable deep dish, and microwaved for 5 minutes, stirring after every minute. Allow it to cool and roll into pedhas.. really tasty.. and extremely easy.. Turned out like the malai pedhas you get..If you want firmer pedhas, you can perhaps skip the milk..

My mom in laws Diwali special snacks..

The rectangular ones are 'Cheesy Peas Puff Pastries'
For the stuffing.. Take heat some oil, add jeera, crushed green peas and seasonings of your choice.. like turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, garam masala and lots of chaat masala.. After cooking it, remove it from the gas, and add grated cheese. Keep aside.
For the covering.. Knead a crumbling dough of maida in oil.. Add salt..Knead with enough water to get a dough like for poori.. Now.. the secret to puff pastry.. Roll a large chapati, fold into half.. again fold into half, so you get a 1/4 looking chapati.. While you were folding, stick the chapati with a paste of ghee and cornflour. Now, roll up the 1/4 looking chapati, you'll get a cylinder.. Cut this cylinder into 4-5 pieces. Each piece is to be rolled into a poori, place the stuffing (similar to Karanji) and fold the poori into half.. stick the edges, and cut the edges into desired shape. Then deep fry in oil.. (Hope I've explained properly.. was too busy with Diwali preparations to take pics of the process...)

The other one is 'Tortillas'..
You need black gram dough, but we just used gram dough.. added seasonings.. like salt, chilli powder, and kneaded with some oil and enough water to get a poori type dough.. Roll into a chapati.. stick some coriander leaves and cumin seeds on the chapati and lighty roll it to stick them.. Then, cut into 8 pieces.. (1 lenghtwise cut, 1 horizontal cut, and 2 diagonal cuts.. ) and deep fry in oil..

Hubby made some 'Dahi Boondi' :)

Here are all the recipes for the variety in the snack tray..

Chakli (Bhajni chi)

Its in the centre of the snack tray..

This is Chakli pic taken while frying :)

500 gms Bhajni Chakli atta (got the ready atta.. no need to add salt too..)
600 ml water
Some oil for kneading
Kneed the chakli in around 1/2 cup oil. Then boil the water, and add the hot water to this chakli atta. Keep for 3 hours. Then, cook in boiling oil (at high flame), using a Chakli press. If you lower the flame.. the chakli bursts.. or absorbs too much oil and becomes soggy like jalebi :) (yes.. a handful turned that way..) But most of it turned out really nice, crispy and tasty..

Murukku pieces (Top right of snack tray)
We'll.. this one's simply from here.. Just that changed the shape, and made finger like pieces..

Mathri (Bottom right of snack tray)
You need to knead maida.. with enough ghee to have a crumbling mixture.. Then add enough water to knead a tight dough (similar to poori dough). To the maida.. add a spice of your choice and salt.. We put black pepper powder this time.. but have also tried out with jeera, kasuri methi.. in the previous years..Then, roll into small thick pooris, make 3-4 holes in each poori with a fork / toothpick..and deep fry in oil on medium heat.

Twisty crispy (Sweet - Bottom of snack tray & Chatpata - Red colored thing top left of snack tray)
This dough is exactly the same as for mathri.. But no spice or salt added at all.. Then, roll out the dough into a normal poori. Using a knife, made vertical parallel cuts on the poori, leaving the edges uncut.. Then roll up the poori, twist a bit and press the ends. It looks like a twisted up Diwali Kandil.
I was inspired by this recipe at Cooking 4 all seasons
Then I deep fried these in oil at medium heat. We'd made 2 doughs.. one normal, and to the other part, we added red food color. The red fried ones, I sprinkled generously with chaat masala, and the normal ones, I rolled in sugar powder.. really yummy and very easy!

Sweet Chakli (Bottom left of snack tray)
This one's made by my mom in law..
Same dough like the mathri.. but to the maida.. she added a little food color (yellow) and sugar powder.. as per the desired sweetness (we like it mild).. Then, used the same rolling technique as for the puff pastry thing.. Then deep fried in ghee.. Due to the stick and rolling, you get the layers thing..

Nachni Shankarpali (The blackish cubes at the top of the snack tray)

I saw this on a cookery show on television.. Take like 2/3rds nachni atta, and 1/3rds maida, and sugar powder to taste.. add enough ghee to make a crumbling mixture.. Add cardamom powder and knead with enough water to made a poori type dough. Then roll out into a large roti, thickness of 1/4 cm. Cut into cubes and deep fry in ghee on medium heat. It generally fluffs up llike pooris.. and is very nice and crispy.. biscuit like crunchiness.. Mine didnt turn out so well.. cos I used less ghee while kneading the dough.. Edible and tasty though.. just a bit hard..but good for a first timer I hope :)

All these go to Priya's Diwali 2009 contest & Purva's Dawaat

-Naina

After very long...

2009-10-17T00:52:00.005+05:30

Its the festive season and have been really busy, cleaning and cooking!! Diwali's here!
End September, went to Igatpuri for a short holiday.. very nice.. back.. and it was Karwa Chauth.. then Diwali..
Have just made several delicacies for Diwali, will post them immediately after Diwali..
Here's what I did for Karwa Chauth..
It's my fav festival so far.. I just love keeping the fast for my husband.. no food.. no water.. To sacrifice something so basic to our existence is such a wonderful and pure feeling..

Here's the prayer arrangement..

Made several delicacies, managed to cook most of it with my mom in law's help..Forgot to take a pic of the 'Baayna' (all the food together.. offered to mom in law).. hence all separate pics..

Here's 'Sev Barfi'.. Its a typically Sindhi sweet..

You need:
400 ml milk
250 gms mawa or sweeetened condensed milk
200 gms sugar / or 6 tsps if you are using sweetened condensed milk
250 gms unsalted sev
Some chopped almonds and pistas (to garnish)
Some cardamom powder

Melt the mawa and bring to boil. Else bring the sweetened condensed milk to boil. Add to it the milk, sugar and cook for 5 mins. Then add the cardamom powder and sev and cook until it leaves the sides of the vessel and turns into a thick lump. Transfer to a greased plate and let it cook. Garnish with chopped dry fruits.. Its yumm.. disappears very quickly!

Here's some 'Atte ka Halwa'

Well.. its mostly made by judgement.. and no measurements.. Take some flour in a pan.. and dry roasted untill light brown. Then add ghee and roast it till it gets a nice dark brown color.. The quantity of ghee should be such that the you can bind the mixture into a ladoo..
While roasting the flour.. take some water in a vessel, add to it jaggery to taste.. and bring to boil. Add this sweetened water and some cardamom powder to the flour mixture, and cook for a minute or untill it looks perfect! If you love jaggery flavour.. this one's for you!

Then made some simple 'Aloo ki Sabzi'

This one's just got a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies, turmeric powder. Add to it boiled chopped potatoes, salt and garnish with coriander leaves..

Next was 'Paneer Mirchi Tamatar'.. my mil's and my combined innovation..

Gave a tempering of 2 cloves, added to it 2-3 tbsp of red chilli paste, paste of 2 large tomatoes and some ginger.. cooked it oil seperated.. Then added some 2-3 tbsp of cashew paste, cooked... Added some turmeric powder, coriander powder.. added water and boiled.. finally chopped paneer paneer pieces (400 gms) ..And a lovely paneer dish (without onion and garlic) is ready!

And... mom in law made all the puri's and some dahi wada..

And..to pass my time during the day.. I applied some Mehendi on my hand.. (I'm a left handed.. hence the other hand :) )

Enjoy!
-Naina

Jantikalu or Muruku

2009-09-28T21:40:00.010+05:30

Decided to make this as a part of the September Indian Cooking Challenge

Here's the recipe

Followed the recipe, but took half the quantities.. Washed and shade dried both the rice and the urad dal, as the dal was not so clean.. Then.. roasted it.. cooled and ground into a fine powder. The grinding took a lot of time and was very noisy :(
Then, made the dough as instructed. After that, took help from my mom in law to operate the chakli press.. and once fried, it turned out reasonably good for a first timer :)
Fried just some of it, and refridgerated the remaining dough..
Will make it again tomorrow, with the remaining dough. adding to it some red chilli powder
-Naina

P.S:
This is the roasted rice and urad dal

Happy B'day Ash!

2009-09-27T00:00:00.003+05:30

It's Ash's bday today (27 Sep).. She's our Lebouffe team member with the real love for cuisines, specially Italian, and prepares yummy Pasta, soups and mocktails!!

Happy Birthday Ash.. :)
-Naina

Paneer Laal Masala

2009-09-26T23:07:00.008+05:30

My mom in law read some recipe like this in the newspaper or saw it in a cookery show.. can't remember.. But it was really nice.. proof - the gravy got devoured by the time I took the pic above :)

Ingredients:
200 gms paneer cubes
2 medium onions - paste
2 medium tomatoes - paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp meat masala or any garam masala
1 tbsp fresh cream
1/2 tsp jeera
Salt to taste

The red masala:
4-5 red chillies soaked for an hour (the non spicy ones, may be kashmiri laal mirch)
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece ginger

Heat some oil and add jeera. When it spluters, add onion paste and cook till light brown, and keep aside.
Then heat 1 tsp oil and cook the red chilli paste till oil seperates.

Add to it the cooked onion paste, the tomato paste and the remaining spices.
Cook till oil seperates. Then add enough water for gravy, salt to taste and bring to boil.
Finally add the paneer pieces, simmer for 5 mintues and serve hot with rotis..
-Naina

Ribbon Cake

2009-09-26T22:49:00.009+05:30

Came across this Zebra Cake at EasyCooking, and tried out the layering technique with my Eggless milkmaid cake

Made the batter for the cake, then divided it into 2 parts. Added 2 tsp of cocoa powder to one part.

The key is the assembling.. as she says (I'm reproducing it for my easy reference..):
"Scoop 3 heaped tbsps of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan.
Then scoop 3 tbsps of cocoa batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter.
Continue this way until both the batters are finished.
Do not spread the batter or tilt the pan to distribute the mixture. It will spread by itself and fill the pan gradually."

This is a great technique.. and though my cake didn't turn as attractive as hers, it looked nice..

Will try it with 'With Egg' version next time..
-Naina

What to do when your cake flops..

2009-09-26T22:16:00.008+05:30

... make some 'Cake & Milk Pudding'

I really wanted to try out Madhuram's Low Fat Vegan Cupcakes.. with vinegar..but I guess I overbaked it.
I used 1/2 the quantities given in the recipe, and probably baked it an extra 5 mintues. I turned really funny and hard.. Some corners were like biscuit..Now what.. I didn't feel like throwing it away.. (Won't reproduce the recipe here, as it flopped!!)

Then, I got inspired by the several pudding recipes on Priya's Recipe blog.
Made some quick and simple milk pudding
You need:
300 ml milk (I actually used dairy whitener... and water)
4-5 tsp china grass / agar agar powder
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
1-2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp condensed milk (you can do without it also)

Add the condensed milk and sugar to the milk and bring to boil. Stir in the agar agar / chinagrass powder till dissolved. Remove from the fire and add the cocoa powder and mix well..
Let it set in a dish.. Cool and serve.

Now, what I did is, added the edible bite sized pieces to this pudding..

Then, for the inedible hard cake, I ran it in a mixie into a coarse powder.. and layered in on my pudding

And here was a nice dessert ready to celebrate our saree day in office..
-Naina

Emerald City -Easy Mocktail

2009-09-26T11:20:00.003+05:30

No it has nothing to do with the wizard of oz..its just a welcome drink offered to all

Ingredients

Kiwi Crush
Tender Coconut water
Some tnder coconut cream
Ice cubes
Sprite
Lime juice
Cherry/Lime Wedge/Mint leaves for Decoration:)

Mix the Kiwi crush with Tender Coconut water in a blending jar.Add ice cubes and shake well.Now add Sprite and a spoonful of lime juice.
Put some coconut cream on top

Now add the whole drink in a martini glass and top up with a cherry/lime wedge/mint leaves for the decoration..
Enjoy!!

Ash:)

An offering

2009-09-22T20:19:00.011+05:30

- The complete offering

- A magnified view

We have a ritual of making an offering to the crows on Sarva Pitra Amavas, thats just before Navratri starts..
We have an eloborate menu.. this year it was Poori, white peas vegetable, medu wada, Chana dal wada, rice, dal, sevai kheer, and some fish fry and prawns gravy..

Very nice :)
-Naina

Made Beetroot soup too

2009-09-22T20:19:00.008+05:30

Plain

With roasted bread

I made Monica's beetroot soup.
Was an instant hit with my mom in law :) She always loves everything...

-Naina

Suzie's Bday last week

2009-09-22T20:09:00.003+05:30

It was Suzie's bday last week, and we celebrated in office :) We couldn't bake a cake (I was a bit unwell) so Monica bought one..
We had a great time :)

Jalpari Takatak

2009-09-18T13:42:00.002+05:30

This is from my pre-marital days :) Something from Nita Mehta's recipe book.. Its really yum
Don't have a pic to post though..
Jalpari / Kamalkakdi / Bhee is something typically Sindhi.. and very unique..
You can check out this link at Sindhi Rasoi to see what Bhee looks like..

I don’t have the recipe book with me, but I still remember how I used to make it ..

You need:
To marinate
2 cups boiled and sliced thickly of Bhee
1/4 cup curd
3/4 tsp ajwain
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp tuemeric powder
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Others:
4-5 tbsp gram flour
1 tbsp oil

Marinate the Bee with all the ingredients and keep for 1/2 an hour.

Heat some oil in a pan, and roast the gram flour until its brown and gives off a nice aroma
Then, add the marinated stuff and cook until the gram flour nicely coats the Bee pieces and looks edible :)
I've also made paneer in the same way, and its yumm too..
-Naina

Breakfast sent by Aunt - Doodhi Bites

2009-09-17T13:35:00.009+05:30

This is something my mom in law's sis made sometime back and sent it to us..
I really dont know the recipe, but its made of grated bottle gourd (lauki / doodhi), besan and lots of spices, ginger-garlic paste and chillies. Its quite a thick dough, something like a wet roti dough. She rolled it into a cylindrical shape (the way we do for patra), and steamed it. Then we cut into thin slices and shallow fried with some mustard seeds and hing!
Something very different, and it was very tasty
-Naina

Kadhai Mushroom

2009-09-16T17:48:00.002+05:30

This recipe's from a newspaper cutting, and mom in law wanted to try this out :)

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped mushrooms
2 onions finely choppped
2-3 medium tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1.5 tsp meat masala
1/4 tsp haldi powder
Salt to taste

Heat some oil in a kadhai, and saute the onions in it till light brown. Then add all the remaining ingredients and cook untill tender.
Then add the mushrooms, and cover and cook for 5 minutes or until done .
Tasty.. a treat for mushroom lovers

Vegetable Cutlet

2009-09-15T18:55:00.006+05:30

Well, my mom in law made this, and I helped her out.. and she never uses measurements.. just 'andaaz', so here's an approx recipe

6-8 medium potatoes - boiled, peeled and mashed
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup grated boiled beet root
1 cup finely chopped and boiled french beans
Crumbs of 4-5 bread slices (just run the bread slices in the mixie)
3 tsp paste of ginger, garlic and green chillies
Salt to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients together... and well, we simply taste (since everything's cooked) and add anything we need like salt, sugar..
Make cutlets of any shape of your choice, dip it in fine rawa (or bread crumbs) and shallow fry..
Yummmm..
-Naina

Eggless Dark Chocolate Wheat Cake

2009-09-15T11:23:00.007+05:30

Reached home yesterday, to find that the dinner was already made by my mom in law, and I had almost an hour to spare, so went through the bunch of print outs I tag along, and found this one from Veggie's Cookbook ..

Ingredients
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (I took heaped)
1/4 cup All purpose flour (I took heaped)
1 cup sugar (Took a bit less than 1 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp canola oil (just took the regular cooking oil, which is odourless)
1-2 tsp milk powder (didnt have milk at home :))
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup cold tap water
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
Method:
Sift whole wheat flour+all purpose flour+baking powder+baking soda.
Add all the remaining ingredients and enough water and mix into a smooth mixture with no lumps. The batter should be of the consistency of dosa batter. Whisk till you see some small bubbles on the top layer of the mixture. Grease a baking tray and pour the batter.
I baked for 25 mins in a preheated oven at 180 C. (To check, try the toothpick test)
It was nice, dark and yummy.. and you can't say its wheat cake :)

-Naina
P.S: My Victoria Sponge Cake vanished very soon.. will make it again as hubby loved it :)

Sprouts Dosa / Childa

2009-09-09T14:07:00.003+05:30

This one's another occasional breakfast I created in my kitchen.. had some leftover sprouts and hence made this..

You need:
1 cup whole moong sprouts
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1 chopped green chilli
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
some chopped coriander leaves
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder

Blend the sprouts in a mixie with little water, to make a smooth paste (not very smooth, but just a little coarse).
Then add to it all the ingredients and enough water to make a batter of the desired consistency, whether you want it thin like a dosa or thick like an omlet.
Heat some oil in a dosa tawa / non stick pan, and pour a laddle of batter. Cover and cook for 2-3 mins. Turn the side and cook for another minute.
Serve hot.

Enjoy
-Naina

Oats Dosa

2009-09-07T15:21:00.001+05:30

This one's from Simple Indian Food, I've repasted it here..

You need :

1 cup oats (no need to grind)
1/4 cup rava/sooji
1/4 cup rice flour
2 cups water
2 green chillies cut finely
Finely chopped coriander leaves (I didn't put that.. got lazy to clean it)
Salt to taste
Oil
I added some chaat masala and meat masala to the batter, as I didn't have chutney ready..

Mix all ingredients except oil and let it stay covered for 15 minutes.
Heat tava and add a laddle full of batter to it and spread in circular way. Spread out a little oil in the sides.
When one side is cooked, turn it and cook on other side as well.
It turned out to be a perfect Sunday breakfast.. everything's good for me if hubby likes it :)
-Naina

Sev Sabji

2009-09-07T14:25:00.001+05:30

This one's from my other sis in law.. She's also a very good cook, but doesn't get time with her job and little angel :)

You need:
100 gms sev, better are the spiced sev you get from farsan companies
2 tomatoes
1 tsp mustard seeds
some curry leaves
1 chopped green chilli
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste (very little, as there's generally

Heat some oil in a kadhai, and add the mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies. Add chopped tomatoes and cook untill very soft. Then add the powders and salt. Saute for 2 mins, add 1/4 cup water and bring to boil. Then add the sev and cook for just 2-3 mins till soft (but not mashed).. Serve hot with rotis

Very simple and quick

-Naina

Victoria Sponge Cake

2009-09-07T13:57:00.004+05:30

This is my personal 50th post, and the blog's 67th Recipe.. (never realised when we reached here..) So lets celebrate with a cake!! Made it on Sunday :)

This is a piece I cut while it was warm!! Thats why the crumbs..

And this is the freshly baked cake straight out of the oven!

Made this simple Victoria Sponge Cake.. Took it from a Tarla Dalal Recipe book. Its very simple, and tastes so nice, no one'll believe its not from the market!

Ingredients:
170 gm maida / all purpose flour
170 gm powdered sugar (I just reduced 1 spoon, cos I prefer less sweet..)
170 gm white butter
3 eggs
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 tea cup milk

I used a hand beater for this, since I don't have an electric one.. Not as painful as I thought it might be..

Take the butter and sugar and beat well, till it becomes soft and fluffy. Then add to it one egg at a time and beat well.
In case the mixture curdles, add 1 tbsp of maida and keep mixing. After all the eggs are added, fold in the maida. The mix the milk and vanilla essence, so that you get a batter of dropping consistency.
Bake in a pre heated oven at 400 deg. F / 170 deg C for 20 minutes..

And the most loved sponge cake is ready.. the freshly baked aroma is amazing!!
P.S: Everyone liked it... sp Hubby :)
-Naina

Multi Grain Ladoo

2009-09-07T12:00:00.003+05:30

Make this on Saturday.. The Oats ladoos got over, so made another batch, these were around 20-25 ladoos..

You need:
1 cup atta / wheat flour
1 cup besan / gram flour
3 cups oats
1/2 cup rawa
1/2 cup peanuts
5-6 tbsp ghee
Jaggery to taste
8-10 cardamoms

Roast all the flours seperely, one by one, till the raw flavour goes.
Roast the oats till it gives a aroma as if cooked, cool and grind in the mixie to a flour.
Also grind the roasted peanuts.
Heat a kadhai and mix all the flours. Add 1 tbsp of ghee at a time, and mix well. Once its suffiently moist, and cooked, remove from fire.
While warm, add enough jaggery as per the desired sweetness and mix well.
I grate the jaggery and add a little at a time and mix well, then again grate some and add, to ensure even mixing.. And for the quantity, well, I keep tasting in between :)
Finally, when cool, add the crushed cardamom, and make into ladoos when cooled!
Nice and healthy
-Naina