Mini Samosa

Samosas are deep fried triangle shaped starters filled with vegetables. There could be no one without knowing this famous appetizer. Mini Samosas are the one in miniature versions. And these will be more crispier than the regular ones. These are mostly filled with onions. And the taste of onions inside these fried samosas - OMG!! - its utterly delicious. I recently saw a cookery show in youtube and got this recipe. Its very simple to make and you will get amazing response. I tried this with store bought samosa sheets. But if you prefer you could make your own sheets too.

 

Ingredients:

Samosa sheets
Thinly sliced Onions - 1 cup
Thinly sliced Cabbage - 1 cup
grated ginger - 1 tsp
sliced green chilly - 2 ( I replaced this with red chilly powder)
salt

Glue paste
Mix a tsp of all purpose flour in water to a semi running paste.

Method

Mix the sliced onions and cabbage with 1/2 ttsp salt and mix well. Keep this aside for half hour. After half hour the onions will leave water. Now squeeze all those water from the onion mix. You should really squeeze well as it helps to make crispy samosas. If you don't squeeze well, then the samosas will be soggy. So squeeze it really well

After squeezing, add other ingredients and little more salt (remember we added some salt earlier. though we squeezed some will still be there)

Take the samosa sheets. Mine was a square one. so I sliced it lengthwise into 4 rectangles.

Take a spoon of the onion mix and keep it one corner. Then tightly roll it as triangles throughout the length of the sheet. Make sure that you don't have any open corners as the mix might drop out. At the end apply the glue paste and stick it well. In the same way roll all the samosas.

Heat oil in a pan to deep fry these samosas. The oil should not be too hot. I kept it in a low flame. Slowly drop one batch of these mini samosas. And let them cook slowly till they get the nice even golden coloring. Then turn and cook on the other side. This takes around 7 - 10 minutes for each set.

Drain the oil well and place them on tissue papers. These stay crisp even for hours later. Enjoy these crispy snacks on a holiday evening.

Note:
Make sure to squeeze well the onion and cabbage mix
Fry the samosas in really low flame to have the crispy texture.

 

 



 

Red Chutney - perfect for Idly / dosa

We love Idly / Dosa the traditional South Indian breakfast. We have it regularly on weekends morning breakfast. I used to make red chutney with only onions and tomatoes earlier which is always the least favorite in my family. So this time I tried a little variation to my ingredients and BINGO it was a great hit!!! So here goes the recipe for your hit list..

Ingredients:
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1
Tamarind - a bit
Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Coconut powder - 2 tsp
Salt
Oil - 1 tsp

For Seasoning:
Oil -  1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves

 

 

 

Method:

 

Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions and tomatoes and sauté well. After they are half cooked add the tamarind, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Add little water and cook till it gets almost dried. At the end add coconut powder and stir for a minute. Grind it to a paste after cooling this. Heat oil and add the seasoning ingredients. Pour the seasoning over the chutney and serve with Idli / dosa.

Popcorn chicken

I made this as a special treat for my kid who is fond of chicken. And this turned out to be a hit as even my hubby liked it. I saved some boneless breast pieces and made this crunchy snack. Next time I will try to bake it and make it a healthier version. Here goes the recipe.

 

Recipe source: vahrehvah

 

 

 

Ingredients :

 

Boneless chicken - 250 gms

Eggs - 1

Corn flour - 1/2 cup

All purpose flour - 1/2 cup

Red chilly powder - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder - 1 tsp

Chaat masala - 1 tsp

Salt

Oil- for deep frying

Parmesan cheese - to sprinkle

 

 

Method:

 

Wash chicken and cut into small pieces. Put them in a bowl and season with salt, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, lemon juice and mix well. Marinate in the fridge for few hours.

In a dish, take ½ cup corn flour, ½ all-purpose flour (maida), and combine them together. Add little salt and red chilli powder, mix and keep aside.

Whisk 1 or 2 eggs in a bowl and keep aside.

In another tray, add all-purpose flour and put in the chicken pieces and coat well with the maida flour (this helps in absorbing the excess moisture).

Take the coated chicken pieces and drop them in the egg mixture and coat them well.

Take pieces of chicken and coat them with the spiced flours, remove and shift them into a colander and toss them to remove the excess flour. (you can refrigerate this for 30 mts)

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and when the oil gets hot, add the chicken pieces and deep fry till they get nice and crispy. The chicken pieces should get slight golden in color. Remove, drain oil.

In a bowl, add some chaat masala, parmesan cheese (optional), marjoram spice(I skipped this), and mix the ingredients well. Sprinkle some of the masala powder over the chicken, toss and serve

 

 

Watermelon milk shake

 

 

I am having busy time these days and so couldn't post any. Just thought of setting me back onto my posts with this simple Watermelon milk shake perfect for a hot summer day!!

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

Watermelon flesh - 1 cup (seedless)

Milk - 1 cup

Sugar - 2 tbsp.

Vanilla icecream - a scoop (optional)

 

 

Method:

 

Put watermelon and sugar in a blender and grind it to a smooth paste (relatively...)

Add milk and icecream to this and run the blender again.

Pour in a glass with some cold ice chips on top.

 

I served it with breakfast along with a bread toast topped with red kidney bean/rajma gravy and some fresh vegetables.

Tofu vegetable Kofta

Koftas, as we all know are cooked veggie balls fried in oil. These are then dropped in gravy which makes a great accopaniment for rotis. This time I made healthy koftas by adding tofu and these are cooked without deep frying. It turned out well and everyone in my family enjoyed.

Ingredients

Kofta
Medium Tofu (mashed and squeezed) - 1/2 cup
Boiled and mashed potatoes - 1 small one
Boiled and mashed plantain - 1/2
Chopped Carrot, cabbage  - 1/2 cup
Salt
Chilli powder
oil

Gravy
Onion - 1
Tomatoes - 1
Ginger & garlic
Chilli powder
salt
oil

Procedure

Kofta:
Boil and mash potatoes and plantain together
Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped vegeables. Saute them till they get cooked. Sprinkle little water if needed. Add required salt and chilli powder. After it get cooked, add the mashed potatoes and pantain and tofu and mix everything together.
Turn off the flame when the mix is dried without water
Make kofta balls out of this and cook them in 'kuzhi paniyaram' pans with little oil.

Gravy
Heat oil in a pan and add garam masala, ginger garlic and onions to it. Saute them well and grind this to a paste
Grind the tomatoes to a paste.
Heat oil in the pan and add the ground onion paste. Then add the tomato paste and saute well. To this add salt and chilli powder and mix till it gets blended well
Add 2 tbsp of tomato ketchup to this and add 1 cup of water. Let it boil until you get a gravy consistency. Add water according the consistency you prefer
Turn of the flame

Arrange the koftas in serving dish. On top of this pour the prepared gravy. Decorate with chopped coriander leaves.





 

Vegetable Sevai

Sevai is a traditional south indian rice noodles. This is usually made with steamed rice flour using idiyappam press. But I got some instant rice noodles from a chinese store and it tastes the same as sevai and its easy to prepare too (just have to soak it in warm water for 10 mts). This time I added some vegetables to this and made a nice breakfast. This is great for evening snack too.

Ingredients:

Instant Rice noodles - 2 cups
Finely chopped onions - 1 tbsp
Chopped vegetables (carrot, beans, peas) - 1/4 cup
Red/Green chilli - 1
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Curry and Coriander leaves
Salt

Method

1. Cook and keep the instant noodles ready as per the instructions in the packet. Or you can use homemade sevai

2. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, chilli and curry leaves.

3. To this add onions and saute till light pink. To this add chopped vegeables and saute on a low flame till half cooked. Add salt and mix well.

4. To this add the cooked sevai/noodles and mix gently and thoroughly. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve warm.

Pumpkin cake

Pumpkin desserts are especially popular during the fall and winter months. Of course, pumpkin pie is America's favorite pumpkin dessert, but this lovely orange colored Pumpkin Cake, is sure to please. I made it with home made pumpkin puree. You can always go for store brought cans to make this delightful desert for a sweet surprise.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups (270 grams) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (240 ml) fresh or canned pure pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce can)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (200 grams) sifted all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350F

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes for an electric mixer). 
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin batter.

Pour the batter into the greased pans.  Bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert and remove the cakes from their pans

Alternatively you can fill this batter in cupcake pans to make pumpkin cupcakes.

Enjoy the lovely desert with your family and friends.

Masala Bread Toast

Bread is always a super easy fix for breakfast. It also an quick fix for the lunch box. The masala version adds some spice to our Indian taste. Give this a try and you will love it. Egg does makes it filling and remains soft even for lunch box.

Ingredients:

• Egg – 4
• Bread – 6
• Garam masala powder- 1/4 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 1/4 tsp
• Chili powder – 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric – a pinch
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Onion – 2 tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – to toast

Recipe:

1. Grind Onion and Garlic as paste.
2. Apart from Bread and Oil, mix all the ingredients with Egg and beat it well.
3. Heat Oil in a pan, dip the bread slices in egg mix and place it on pan, apply oil on all sides of bread.
4. Toast the Bread on both sides and remove from heat.

 

Oven roasted Chana Dal

Chana dal that is deep fried was a great snack for me when I was little. That too the added spice and garlic flavor really enticed me. I wanted to try that recipe for a ling time but was hesitant to deep fry. Luckily I got this recipe of oven roasting the dal which is a healthy alternative to that. And believe me you still get the crunchy and crispy texture of deep fried ones. As this greatly impressed me, I'm planing to oven roast some soy nuts too for a healthy protein rich snack. Now on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

Chana Dal - 1 cup
Olive oil - 1tbsp
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Garlic cloves - 2-3

Preparation:

• Wash the dal and soak it for at least 4 hours.
• Drain the water and transfer the dal to a sauce pan. Fill the pan with water, about ½ – 1” above the dal. Cook it on high for 3 minutes. You will see foam forming on the top. We don’t want to cook the dal for too long. Turn of the heat, drain it and run the dal under cold water to bring it back to room temperature. 
• Transfer dal to a paper towels or a kitchen towel and pat dry it. Leave it on the towel to dry, for about 5 minutes until the oven is preheated.
• Preheat the oven to 350F. 
• Line a baking tray or cookie sheet with aluminum foil.
• Transfer chana dal to bowl and mix it well with oil, ½ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. chili powder & turmeric. You can also do this directly on the lined baking sheet.
• Spread seasoned chana dal on the baking sheet and bake it for 10 minutes in a preheated oven.
• Remove from the over, shake the tray properly or with a spoon mix the dal and spread it evenly on the tray. Put it back in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Pull it out and repeat the above step. Bake for another 5 minutes or until chana dal turns brown. The total bake time is 20 minutes. However, I felt I should have pulled it out of the oven a minute earlier. Do keep an eye on the dal after 18 minutes into baking.
• Crush together garlic, ¼ tsp. salt & 1 tsp. of chili powder. Sprinkle it on the baked dal and mix it well. Add the garlic immediately after removing the dal from the over. 
• Once the dal is cooled, store in an air tight container