Gobhi Paratha (Cualiflower Filled Flat Bread)

   
Gobhi paratha is perhaps the most famous breakfast that people relish in North India. It is generally accompanied with curd or pickle and during winter time it is at it's best. It is a rich source of carbs and keeps your body energies for a hard days work. 
                                                                    
Ingredients:
Needed for the dough
2 cups Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Ajwain (carom seeds)
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tbsp Oil
Water to knead the dough


For the Filling:
1 cup Cauliflower, grated
1 Onion, finely chopped
2-3 Green chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp Ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
A pinch of Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
Salt to taste (do keep in mind that I have added little salt in the dough as well)
1 tbsp fresh Coriander leaves, finely chopped
2-3 tsp Oil


Method:
Take a big bowl and mix flour, salt, oil, ajwain and mix well. Add oil and water simultaneously to knead the dough as you would do to make rotis. Cover and leave it for sometime to settle down.


To make the Filling:
In a microwave bowl, fill enough water and place the cauliflower florets with a pinch of salt. Now place this bowl in Microwave oven on high power for 5 minutes and let it stand for 2 minutes. After that rinse thoroughly in running water. Place the florets on kitchen towel to remove the extra water. Finely chop the florets and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering add onions. When they become transparent add ginger, green chillies and fry for a second. Add chopped cauliflower, haldi, red chilli powder, garam masala, coriander powder and adjust the salt. Saute well on low flame for 5-6 minutes. When the mixture becomes dry add coriander leaves and remove from heat. Filling is ready.

                                                            Filling is ready...... 


Assembling the paratha:
Now from the dough make two lime sized equal balls. Take a ball and flatten it on your palm and then by using a rolling pin roll out on a floured board to make a 5 inch disc.

                                                                         


 Shift this to another plate and make another 5 inch disc with another set of ball. Spread 2-3 tsp of filling on one roti and then cover it with the other roti. Press down the edges to seal firmly. Dust some flour on it and roll out slightly. 

                                                                
Transfer the paratha on to the hot skillet / tawa. Cook for few minutes, flip in between, when brown spots appear drizzle with some oil. When both sides are done dab little butter on each paratha. Do the same with the rest of the dough.
Serve hot with butter, pickle or with chilled curd. 

                                           See the lovely filling inside the paratha                                 

Bambino Vegetable Pulao / Semiya Upma

                                                                 


This recipe is for basic and quick breakfast. And doesn't take up much time to prepare also, especially if you clean, chop the vegetables and  store them in Ziplock bag previous night. Next morning it will be easy for you to serve this tasty and filling breakfast.

                                                                            


Serves: 2-3  , Preparation time: 15 minutes


Ingredients:
2 cups Vermicelli / semiya
2 cups of Water 
6-7 French beans
1/2 cup Green peas
1 small Potato
1/2 cup Carrot, chopped
1/2 cauliflower, chopped
2-3 Green chillies
1 tsp Ginger, finely chopped
1/2 Garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 Whole red chilly, chopped
1 Maggi cube (veg), easily available in markets
1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
2 tsp Ghee
1 tbsp Refind oil
1 tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped


Method:
Heat 2 tsp ghee and fry the vermicelli on low heat by frequently stirring until golden brown. Add two cups of water to it and add a pinch of salt. Mix well. Cover the pan with close lid and cook with low flame for about 4-5 minutes or till vermicelli is soft and all the water has dried up. Keep this aside.
Heat oil in another pan and add jeera. When they starts spluttering add chopped red chillies, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Stir well and add onions and fry till they are transparent. Add all the vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes. When they become soft and tender add maggi masala, pepper powder and salt. Now add the vermicelli and mix well with the vegetables. Fry for 2 minutes and then remove from heat. Serve upma with chopped coriander.


User Comments & Tips:

• The cup should be same for measuring semiya and water. 
• If you have roasted semiya then no need to roast it again in ghee, just add water and rest procedure is same.

                                                                     

Spinach Cutlets (Palak ki tikki)

                                                                            
Years ago I used to adore a character from a comic strip called 'Popeye'. And from there only I started liking spinach, and used to think that just by eating spinach, I will become strong like him. LOL !!! In a way I think Popeye has made kids eat spinach over the period.
I still remember how my Mom used to ask me to pick fresh spinach from our backyard garden. After wrapping a shawl, walking on the lawn barefooted to find early morning dew drops on spinach leaves, cauliflower, tomatoes was a delight. Ma used to make parathas, salads with the fresh picked leaves.
I learnt these spinach tikkis from my Mom. And now a days I make these delicious tikkis for my son who otherwise is not a big fan of spinach. I'm hoping that my son too becomes a fan of Popeye and start liking spinach !! Hope you all like it....

                                                                                      
Yields: 6 tikkis, Preparation time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:
2 big Potatoes, boiled
4 bunch of Spinach
1/2 cup Green peas
1 Carrot, finely chopped
1/2 cup Cauliflower, finely chopped
2 Brown breads
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 1/2 tsp Coriander powder
2-3 tsp Ginger- Garlic paste
1 Green chilly, chopped
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
1tbsp Cornflour
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying + 1tbsp oil


Method:
First pick only green leaves, remove brown and yellow spots from them. Remove the thick stems, rinse thoroughly to remove any dirt /sand. Do wash the leaves 2-3 times because even the slightest bit of grit can spoil your whole tikki mixture and will leave your mouth with a  bad taste.

                                                                   
Heat a big bowl of water on hight heat and place a big steel strainer on it. Place spinach leaves on the steel container (which is above water) and steam it for about 2-3 minutes on low flame. The color of the leaves should remain green. Now allow the spinach to cool, then grind to smooth paste. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and add cumin seeds. When they start to splutter, add ginger-garlic paste, green chilly and all chopped vegetables along with peas. Add salt, coriander powder, cumin and garam masala. Fry for few minutes. Then remove from the heat. 
For breadcrumbs I do not like to throw bread ends so I make my homemade breadcrumbs. For that you need to  toast the breads in a toaster and then put it in your blender. Simple isn't it ???
After the mixture has cooled down, add breadcrumbs, cornflour, mashed potatoes, coriander leaves and finally spinach puree. Combine well to make a smooth ball. Then take little mixture in your hands and roll them into balls or your desired shape.

                                                                              
 I used cookie cutter to shape them in an interesting way. Enjoy these healthy cutlets with ketch-up sauce or with your favorite chutney along with evening tea or cuppa.

                                                                         

Carrot Soup with macaroni and an award with tag....

                                                                        
Now a days, it's quite windy out here in Bangalore. And on cold evening nothing can beat a steaming hot soup. Since we are able to enjoy red carrots only during this winter season,so I'm using this in every possible dish. My son doesn't like to have thick soups so I made it lighter by adding tomatoes.


Serves: 4, Preparation time: 15-20 minutes


Ingredients:
3-4 Red carrots, cut into big pieces 
2 big Tomatoes (ripe), chopped
1 small Onion, chopped
1/2 inch piece of Ginger, minced
3-4 Garlic pods, chopped
1 Green chilly
4-5 Baby corns, cut into pieces
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
3-4 cup Water


For Macaroni:
1 cup macaroni, boil as per the instructions and do add little salt and half tsp oil in it. Keep aside


Method:
In a pressure cooker add tomatoes, carrot, garlic, ginger, green chilli, baby corns and water. Put salt as per your requirement. Close the lid and pressure cook for 10-12 minutes. Once the steam subsides, open the lid and let the mixture cool down. Take out the baby corns and keep aside. Blend this liquid in a blender to a smooth paste. After that strain through a sieve. Transfer this soup to a saucepan and reheat. Add sugar, boiled macaroni and baby corns to the mixture. Adjust salt and black pepper powder. Garnish with chopped coriander. 
Enjoy this hot soup of bowl with garlic bread or bread sticks in the evening !!

                                                                     
Nanya of simply.food has passed on the above award to me. I'm overwhelmed with joy on receiving this stylish blogger award. Thank you so much Nayna. Requesting other blogger friends: Do drop by her blog to see some amazing vegetarian dishes and also her recent hobby of vegetable crafting .


The rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who has awarded you. 
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass it on to  5 people who you think are fantastic.


Though I would like to pass this award to all my blogger pals but abiding by the rules, I'm passing it to 5 of my blogger friends. Please, if any of you want to share this fab card, feel free to take it.
Pari
Kamalika
Pree
Swathi
Raji

And here comes the boring part......
7 things about myself:

1. I love to collect old coins and notes. I have 1 paise, 2 paise, 3 paise coins and some very old notes.
2. I love to do multi- task at all the time. 
3. I can't imagine to start my day without going through the headlines of News Paper.
4. I'm addicted to travelling different places.
5. Whenever I'm bored I pick a random Friends episode and watch it on my computer. Rachel is my favorite character. 
6. One thing I love the most is playing with my toddler.
7. I can spend  whole day in the swimming pool. :-)

Celebrate Makar Sankranti with Nolen Gurer Payesh (Bengali Style Pudding with Date Jaggery)

                                                                     

Today is a very auspicious festival for us Bengalis called Poush ( Makar)  Sangkranti which is also celebrated in form of Pongal in South India or Lohri in North India. For us preparation of Nolen Gur ( Date Palm Jaggery) based sweets adds up to the vibrancy of this festival. I rember during my childhood days I used to hide behind the kitchen doors and wait for such sweets be prepared by Mother and Grandmother. Every year we have a two month slot in the season to purchase fresh Nolen Gur . Since in Bangalore we do not get this jaggery, I had it flown from Kolkata thru my Husband's colleague . Believe me friends, during preparation of this payesh, the aroma that was generated was excellent. However, it requires you to be patient , to stir the pot for an hour so as to thicken the milk. Therefore, I recommend that you prepare this payesh during the time  you cook for lunch or dinner to be able to keep an eye on it. However, at the end of it when you taste this payesh you would feel that all your effort and patience is well rewarded. 

                                                                          

Serves: 5-6, Preparation Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 liter Full cream milk

1 cup Palm Date jaggery (khejurer gur), broken into small pieces

1/2 cup Gobindobhog Chal / Kalajeera rice

1tbsp Sugar

6-7 Raisins

10-12 Cashews

5 Almonds 

Method:

Wash the rice 2-3 times, drain out the water and keep aside for half an hour. Soak almonds in warm water and peel of the skin and cut into thin stripes.

Pour milk in a heavy bottomed pan and wait till the first boil comes. Add rice, cashews and raisins to the boiling milk on low heat. Now here comes the part which tests your patience, keep stirring intermittently otherwise rice will stick to the bottom of the container. When the rice is cooked and milk reduces to almost half (this process takes about 35-40 minutes) switch off the burner. I did not add jaggery when the milk is on the stove as there is always a risk of cuddle milk. After 5 minutes add date jaggery little by little and with the help of spaluta mix well with the milk until it dissolves fully.

Put it back on the heat again and adjust the sweetness as per your liking. After 5 minutes switch off the gas burner. Transfer it to a serving bowl and serve it with sliced almonds. Let it cool down then refrigerate this payesh for 2-3 hours before serving. This payesh tastes best when served cold.

                                                                          

Restaurant Style- Schezwan Vegetables

                                                                        
Dear Friends, 

For a long time I have been trying to register my entry for Bookmarked Recipes but due to scarcity of time till now I could not do so. Finally I found an excellent recipe posted by Sailu (adapted from Nita Mehta's Vegetarian Chinese Cookbook) which I believed is not only delicious but also excellent to view. I would like to thank Sailu to share this Veg Schezwan with us. To my friends who till now have not prepared this recipe, trust me you would not only love to eat it but also enjoy preparing it as well.

                                                                            
Serves: 4, Preparation time: 40 minutes


Ingredients:
2 Onions (cut into 8 pieces)
1 Carrot, cut into thin rounds
8-10  French beans, cut into thin pieces
1/2 Cucumber,cut into small pieces
1 Green capsicum, cut into 10 pieces


For Sauce:
1 tbsp Tomato ketchup
1 1/2 Soya sauce
2 tbsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Tomato puree
8 Garlic flakes, crushed
2 -3 dry Red chillies, de-seed and cut into small pieces
1 tbsp Brown sugar
1 tbsp Cornflour
1/2 tsp Clove powder
1/4 tsp Red chilly powder
1 1/4 cups Water
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
2 cups Vegetable stock/ water


2 cups Sesame oil
2 tbsp Spring onion (green) finely chopped for garnishing


Method:
Heat oil in a large wok and add onion. Saute till it becomes soft.Add carrot, babycorn and beans. Sprinkle salt in it and saute till 3-4 minutes. Do not over-fry the mixture to retain the crunchiness of the vegetables. Add cucumber, capsicum and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Mix all the ingredients of sauce in a big bowl. Mix this with fried vegetables and bring to a boil. Keep stirring this sauce for 2-3 minutes or till the sauce thickens and vegetables turn crisp and  tender. Remove from the heat and garnish the dish with chopped spring onions or with fried noodles. I served this veg schezwan with egg-noodles. Tastes best when served hot.

                                                       
Sending this Schezwan dish to Aipi and Priya's Bookmarked recipe event .

                                                                               
                    

Piyaji Bhindi (Okra with Onion)

                                                                                                       
Piyaji Bhindi is a regular side dish during winters in North India. If  served  with a comforting dal and hot chappatis,  it boosts the appetite like anything. It's an unbelievably simple dish to prepare and stands out among many other lavish vegetarian dishes that you can think of.

                                                                        
Ingredients:
250 gms Okra (bhindi) washed & dried
2 Tomatoes (deseed and thinly sliced)
2 Onions, thinly sliced
2 Green chillies
6-7 Garlic pods (finely chopped)
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp Amchur powder (mango powder)
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste


Method:
Make vertical slits in okra and cut into two halves. In a non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. 

                                                   
Add cumin seeds, once it  splutters then add onions. Saute till the onions turn transparent.

                                                           
 Add chopped garlic and stir fry (do not let it burn). Add tomatoes and saute for 5 minutes. Add green chillies and all dry powders except amchoor powder. Add okra and salt, stir fry for 5 minutes. Do not add water as this will make the okra slimy. When the okra starts leaving oil from the sides of pan, add amchur powder and mix well. Switch off the flame. Your side dish is now ready to be served with hot chappatis.

                                                                              

Rava Laddoo/ Semolina Balls (Sooji ke Laddo) NEW YEAR: Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye

                                                                                     
Hi Blogger Friends and Readers, 

First of all a very happy and prosperous New Year to all of you and your family. I am very happy to receive so many encouraging messages from all of you during last year and that has made me work even harder to prepare and share with you new and varied recipes. I hope to receive the same if not more encouragement from all of you in this year as well. So let me begin this year on a sweet note. The recipe for today is called Sooji Ladoo which is a traditional dessert particularly from Northern India. hope you like it. 

                                                                       
Ingredients:
1 cup Sooji (semolina-fine quality)
1 cup Ghee
1 cup Granulated Sugar
8-10 Raisins
8-9 Cashews
1/2 cup Milk
!/2 tsp Cardamom powder
1/2 cup Dry coconut(grated)


Method:
Take a deep pan and heat ghee on medium flame. Roast cashews and raisins.

                                                   
 When the raisins expand and cashews are fried, add sooji and roast till it leaves nice aroma.

                                                             
 Do not let the color of sooji change into light brown. Add sugar and mix it well.

                                                           
Turn off the heat and add dry coconut and cardamom powder. Make sure there are no lumps. 

                                                                   
Add warm milk little by little and mix well.

Take little quantity of the mixture in your hand and try to make little sized ball by pressing it gently. Now you have to act quickly here because it's easier to make the mixture into balls if the mixture is warm. Keep these delicious laddoos aside for 20 minutes. Later enjoy these yummy balls.....

                                                                     
        My dear friend Sonu has passed me a lovely award which I'm happy to post it on my first recipe of the year. Thank you dear and welcome back after a break.