Egg Wrap

Husband and myself have widely different preference in term of food, except for eggs, if there was no cholesterol horror we would happily have eggs everyday for all meals :).

Egg wrap is  something i like to make when i am in hurry to put together a 'meal', whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Quick to make and super tasty

For wrap

Use leftover roti/ tortilla/ any flat bread preferably wheat based

For filling

Eggs - whisk egg with little salt & pepper

Vegetables & salad leaves

I used shredded cabbage, finely chopped bellpeppers, thinly sliced onion.

Mix all vegetables , add salt, pepper and a dash of Tabasco sauce , mix well and keep aside.

 


On a nonstick pan, heat your wrap base (roti / tortilla) for a minute each side

Remove from pan keep aside.

Add little oil, add whisked egg , spread it on pan ( like an omelet ), and let it cook for 30 seconds

Flip the wrap base on top and flip it on other side.

Let it cook for a minute or so

Remove from heat, portion out the vegetable filling in the middle . Roll it out and have it hot.

Nice and filling meal in less than 10 minutes

Puliyodharai Rice

Before moving to Bangalore ‘South Indian’ food for us was the once a week dosa / idli at Sagar Ratna restaurant . Ofcourse we had our occasional order of curd rice or south indian thali but most of it was eating outside. Beside idli sambhar  we hardly attempted cooking this cuisine at home. Once we moved to Bangalore and also because of this blog which has motivated me to try out new things , I am beginning to experiment with the food from the four wonderful south of india.

I have already shared Kaikari Ishtew on this blog, which now is a family favourite and make it atleast once in a week.  Today I am sharing Tamrind rice recipe , a popular tamil dish, i specially love it for its tangy flavors.  There are few variation of this recipe, i followed one from the famous blog Sailu's Kitchen . My family is not very fond of Gingelly oil so i replaced it with sunflower oil and removed peanuts, since i am allergic to the same.

Additionally i also made large batch of Puliyogare Powder Mix (also available in store , but taste infinitely better if you make  at home) and have now stored in a air tight container, it makes the whole process a lot simpler  & faster for next time around.

Ingredients 

For Puliyogare Powder Mix (good for 6-8 portions)

Coriander seeds - 3 tablespoons
Fenugreek seeds - 1 table spoon 
Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon 
Sesame seeds (white) - 2 tablespoon 
Curry leaves - about 20 (better if slightly dried)
Black pepper - 1 tablespoon 
Red chili - 3/4 (more if you prefer spicier)
Split Bengal Gram /Chana Dal - 1 1/2 table spoon 
Split Black Gram (husked) / Urad Dal - 1 table spoon 

Roast all ingredients on medium flame (preferably cast iron skillet) or any heavy bottom pan for 8-10 minutes. Keep checking the temperature to ensure non of these burn.

Transfer it in a blender and once cool enough , blend into fine powder.

You would need about a tablespoon of this powder for 2 people portion, store the rest in airtight container in a cool dry place.



Ingredients for Rice

White rice (cook till almost done)
Tamarind  paste - 1 large teaspoon, I used  Dabur homemade tamarind paste, else you can soak tamarind in warm water for half an hour and extract pulp.
Jaggery / Gur - 1/2 teaspoon (1 small coin shape)
Mustard seeds -1/3 teaspoon
Split Bengal Gram /Chana Dal - 1  tea spoon 
Split Black Gram (husked) / Urad Dal - 1 tea spoon 
Deseeded Red chilli - 1 
Turmeric powder - 1/3 teaspoon
Salt to taste 
roasted groundnuts - 1 tablespoon 
cooking oil - 1 large tablespoon.
Curry leaves - 5-6 leaves 

Method 

Cook rice in plain water till almost done (90-95%), spread rice on a cool surface and mix salt and little bit oil.

Heat cooking oil in the pan,  trun heat to medium , add mustard seeds and curry leaves, let it splutter for 10 seconds

Add chana dal & Urad dal, let it fry for a minute or so till it becomes deep golden.

Add red chillies, tamarind paste, jaggery, turmeric powder and turn heat to low, cook this mix on low heat for about 8 - 10 minutes, add water if the mixture thickens.

Add salt to the mix, at this stage it should be a medium paste like consistency.

Turn off the heat now.

Add 1 table spoon of Puliyogare Powder Mix.  Mix well. 

Now add rice to this mixture, mix well (fold it instead of mixing vigorously so rice doesn't break)

Add roasted peanuts on top.

You can serve it immediately or leave it for half an hour or so for the flavor to develop further.

P.S. Keep tasting on each stage to adjust the 'spiciness' per your preference.

Omelet Curry

As I mentioned before, with mum around we are getting to experiment a bit  in kitchen and also retry old favorites, like this one Omelets curry. Mum used to make this a lot when we were kids but somehow growing up it was quiet forgotten in favor of a simple egg curry. 

Egg is a common favorite in my family so we decided to revisit this.

You need

For Omelets :

Eggs - 4 

Onions- 1 large chopped finely

Green chillies - depending on taste 1 or 2 chopped finely 

Coriander leaves - chopped finely

Salt & pepper to taste

Oil

For Gravy :

Onion - 1 medium , made into paste 

Garlic paste -1/2 teaspoon 

Ginger paste -1/2 teaspoon

Cumin powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder -1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric - 1/3 teaspoon

Garam masala - a pinch 

Water - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 teaspoon 

To Prepare :

Make 3/4 omelets , fold each into four and cut into thick strips.

Leave the omelets aside.

For gravy :

Heat oil, add onion paste , saute for 2 /3 minutes on high heat , till it it turns golden.

Turn heat to medium , add ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder , cook on medium heat for 4-5 minutes.

Turn heat to low, add coriander & cumin powder ,  cook for 4-5 minutes , add a little water if the mixture starts sticking.

Add salt  & water and bring the temperature to medium, cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Turn off the heat.

Before serving , add the omelets strips , add a pinch of garam masala and bring the gravy to boil for a minute.

Serve hot with Roti or plain Rice 

Pan grilled chicken with home made pesto sauce & a side of grated carrot

Its a simple weekday dinner in a  slightly healthy version (subsitute cheese for coconut milk in pesto sauce & instead of mashed potatoes a side of grated carrots) 

For pesto sauce (without cheese)

Fresh basil leaves - 1 bunch 

pine nuts  1/4  cup- toasted slightly
garlic cloves - 3/ 4
olive oil - one generous spoon full
salt to taste 
table spoon of coconut milk

For Chicken 


Make small incision in chicken pieces with knife  (instead of breast , i went for a large thigh piece,more succulent),  rub 3/4 of pesto sauce all over and leave it to marinate for an hour or so

After an hour in a non stick pan ..add a tea spoon of olive oil, add chicken piece and cover and cook each side of 10 mins on medium heat

Remove cover add remaining pesto sauce and cook on high for couple of minutes each side so it browns all over 

After an hour in a non stick pan ..add a tea spoon of olive oil, add chicken piece and cover and cook each side of 10 mins on medium heat 

For Side dish 

I love mashed potatoes with chicken , i mean who doesn't , but mashed potato definitely doesn't fall into the healthy food criteria so instead i used a side of grated carrot. I had it for the first time in one of the tiny restaurant in Auroville and have been making it since then. Not as great as mashed potato, but a close second.

Grate a large carrot  mix salt , a tablespoon of lemon juice & olive oil. Keep aside for 5 mins so all the flavour mix well.


Serve it with chicken once done.

Tasty & healthy weekday dinner ready to be served ! 

From Mum's kitchen - Homestyle Chicken curry

Simple homestyle chicken curry, perfect for weekdays when want you want a recipe high on flavor and low on effort .

You need

Serves 2 

Chicken - 500 gm - medium size
Onion - 4 medium- sliced thinly
Whole Red chilli 2-3 (adjust for taste)
Whole Cumin - 1 teaspoon
Whole coriander - 1 teaspoon
Peppercorns  10-12
ginger - crushed or chopped -1 full teaspoon
garlic - crushed or chopped - 1 full teaspoon
Garam masla - 1/4 teaspoon
mustard oil - 2 table spoon (can substitute for any cooking oil you prefer)
salt - to taste
turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon

Method:

Heat  kadhai (wok) and add cumin, coriander, peppercorn, red chillies and saute for 2 mins. Remove from the kadhai and grind this in a pestle roughly

In a pressure cooker add chicken, half of sliced onions, half tea spoon garlic, half teaspoon ginger and half of the roasted ground masala. Cover and cook for 1 whistle. Turn off the heat and remove from stove.

At the same time in the kadhai, heat oil, add onion fry for 3-4 minutes, add remaining ginger, garlic, ground masala, turmeric ands saute for 4-5 mins.

Turn the flame to lowest and cover and cook till the time your chicken is cooked in pressure cooker, keep checking the masala mixture in case its sticking to  wok adjust water .

Once the steam releases from the cooker , add the mix to kadhai, add salt, mix well turn the heat to medium and cook for 5 mins, adjust for water as required.

Chicken should be almost done (90-95%) by now.

Add garam masla, mix well  and cover and cook on low flame till done (another 5 mins)

That's it home style chicken curry ready to eat .

Best served with hot rotis

Red cabbage soup

Its been raining continuously for the last 2 days and if you step out early in morning or late night you can feel a slight nip in the air. With this weather  I wanted to have soup for dinner and made myself red cabbage soup.

This is my sister's recipe and honestly when she offered me first time I was very skeptical, Purple food really?? But after my first taste I was hooked on to its earthy , hearty flavor and its my go to soup all the time .


You need
Serves 2 

Red cabbage - 1 medium size
Potato - 1/ 2 medium size
Cumin - half tea spoon
Garlic - 2/3 cloves
Salt to taste
Water - 1/2 ltr
Oil/ butter  - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Clean and cut cabbage into 6/8 pieces

Cut potato into 4 pieces

Heat a pressure cooker , add oil and cumin , cumin will splutter in 30 seconds in hot oil.
Add garlic cloves, potatoes, cabbage, and water .

Let it cook on medium heat for 2/3 whistle, in case you are cooking in a pot on stove cover and cook on medium heat for 30-40 minutes,  adjust water accordingly.

Once its cooked completely and slightly cool , blend this mixture completely (if you are using hand blender you can blend directly in cooker , just make sure its cool enough) , adjust water so it has a thick soup consistency.

Put it back on heat, add salt and bring it to boil.

Remove from heat and serve hot with garlic bread ....

For dinner today

Simply tossed up some mushroom chopped garlic, parsley and spicy Cajun mix with spaghetti , yummy dinner done ! 

From mum's kitchen - Kele ka kofta

I had some family members coming over lunch this sunday. There was a quiet a bit of spread, chicken pepper fry, chana dal, chicken tikka curry, pualo and kele ka kofta. Since i learnt to make kele ka kofta from mum very recently and is quiet a hit with husband, thought will share with you all.

Ingredients :

For kofta  

Raw bananas - 3/4

Garam masala powder 

salt to taste 

finely chopped green chillies (quantity depends on tolerance of heat, if you serving to kids, skip this)

finely chopped 1/2 inch ginger 

1/2 tbs amchoor or chat masala powder 

posto dana (optional) 

oil for frying

For curry 

Bay leaves -2/3

Cardamom -1 crushed

2 medium size onion, finely chopped or roughly grounded 

ginger garlic paste - 1 tbps 

Cumin powder -1 teaspoon

Dhaniya powder -1.5 teaspoon

Turmeric 

red chilli powder 

Salt to taste 

2 tbps Oil 

Preparation:

• For kofta, using a large pressure cooker , cook raw bananas (with skin on) for 2 whistles. Take off from heat, let it cool (10-15 mins)
• Once cool, peel the bananas, mash properly , add  chillies, ginger, salt, chaat powder, garam masala and roll into small balls.
• Spread posto dana on to a small plate and roll these koftas on to it, remove excess.
• Heat oil in kadahi and fry these koftas till they nicely browned all over.
• Remove and keep aside on a kitchen towel to drain extra oil.

For gravy.

• In hot oil   bay leaves and single crushed cardamom.
• Add onion, fry for 2-3 mins till it becomes slightly brown / golden.
• Add ginger - garlic paste and fry for 3-4 minute till it mixes well
• Add cumin, coriander, red chilli and turmeric powder , fry for 2-3 mins , add water if this masala sticks.
• Cover and let it cook for 5 mins on low heat.
• remover cover, add salt (be careful, as there is salt in koftas too) and water to form the gravy base.
• Let it come to boil
• Add half tea spoon of garam masla
• Cover and cook till gravy cooks completely(3-4 minutes) , turn off the heat

For serving 

Couple of minutes before serving layer koftas in the serving bowl , add gravy on top , check for salt, serve piping hot with rice / pulao.

Weekday dinner - Spaghetti with yellow pepper sauce

Work has been so crazy lately that all i do is go to office, come back home eat and sleep and then repeat. In times like this dinner for me have to be super simple and quick so sharing my recipe for Spaghetti with yellow pepper sauce

Things you need

Pasta - Spaghetti , actually almost any pasta that is handy
Yellow pepper - de seeded and roughly sliced
Half of onion
2-3  cloves of garlic
olive oil
Salt
Chicken / Veg stock ( can skip if you dont have)
Cheese - any


Okay so now the cooking

Step 1  Cook Pasta to al dente in salted water or stock if available ( stock adds flavor)
Step 2  Heat one spoon olive oil in a deep pan, add chopped onion , yellow pepper, garlic, fry for 3-4 minutes. Add salt ( be mindful of salt in boiling water  & or stock) Turn off the heat and let the mix cool
Step 3   In a blender blend the mix to sauce consistency
Step 4  drain pasta
Step 5 put the sauce back in pan , add pasta  & grated cheese
Step 6 toss for a min , check for salt & turn off the heat

All done !

Trust me it tastes so much more delicious than it sounds. Super simple, filling and yummy for crazy weekdays

(P.S. so crazy that i didn't even have energy to take photo)

adraki gobhi

I was in rush to finish off lunch yesterday to attend the HP indiblogger meet , so  was looking for a easy and quick to make recipe for cauliflower.

As always saneev kapoor to rescue. It's deceptively simple (so simple that you might be tempted to tweak / add ingredients... please don't , it taste great as it is !)

Here is what you need.

Cauliflower - cut into medium size florets
Cumin - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric - powder / paste - turmeric is in season these days , got some from my local super market, now i am using the paste, somehow feels better :)
Red chilli powder / paste
Ginger - paste and few thin slices cut
Tomato - one medium size, chopped roughly
Vinegar - 1 teaspoon  - soak some thinly sliced ginger in it.
Lemon - half
Salt


Now the process

soak the cauliflower in water , add a little salt and turmeric powder / paste

Heat oil in non stick shallow pan (i used normal kadhai  but the masala tends to stick since there is no water, so better to use non stick pan)

add cumin to splutter

add ginger, red chilli paste

saute for couple of  minutes

drain cauliflower , add this to the pan

add salt &  half of vinegar soaked ginger

mix well,

cover and cook on low heat till cauliflower is half done

add roughly chopped tomatoes,

cover and cook till done

add remaining vinegar soaked ginger and juice of half lemon just before removing from fire

serve hot.

I served with matar jeera rice pulao and tadka chana dal,Sure it will taste great with roti / paratha

Total time taken : 20 minutes  and tastes amazing!!

P.S. Finally didnt attend the meet :( blame it on sheer laziness & crying my eyes out while watching Stepmom for the nth time

Quicky lunch for one - Chicken Tikka Masala

I know chicken tikka curry doesnt  exactly sound like a quick and easy meal, but if you have been entertaining like crazy for last few days and now have refrigerator full of tupperware boxes with leftovers just sufficient for one/ two  person, this could be a easy meal.

What you need

Few pieces of left over chicken tikka ( super easy , will share recipe in next post )

Onions - roughly chopped or if you are using smaller onions like  i did , just cut in halves.

Tomatoes (2, preferably pureed - boil in water for couple of minutes, remove skin , blend )

Chicken curry masala (i usually perfer making my own masalas for gravies but for a working day these can be real life savers)

And ofcorse, oil, salt & turmeric


Now the easy part.

Step 1 :

Heat oil in kadhai, add chopped onions, fry for few minutes. Once onion become slighly translucent add pureed tomatoes, cook for few minutes on medium heat (no need for continuous stirring , just make sure it doesn't stick to pan, add water if required . This whole process should take about 5-7 minutes.

Step 2 : 

Now add turmeric powder, salt (be mindful, tikka would have salt of its own so adjust accordingly) and chicken masala powder, mix well and stir for couple of minutes, add water , turn the heat to simmer and cover and cook for 5-7 minute ( this is when you answer few calls, reply to emails :) ) 

Step 3  ( you can skip if you want , in that case leave it on heat for few more minutes so onion and tomato gets a right gravy consistency) 

Once gravy cooks thoroughly, turn off the heat, using a hand blender ( in case you dont have one wait for it to cool a little before transferring it in blender jar ) , mix this in kadhai itself for  a minute. 

Step 4 : 

Turn on the heat , add your chicken tikkas, cook for couple of minutes on high heat. Check salt 

And serve with rice / chappati ...comforting meal for one is ready ! 

Kitchen adventure - Malai kofta

It's been all about food & family last couple of weeks, while we revisited some old recipes, also tried hand at few new and pleasently they all turned out nice and easy to cook.

This one is from Sanjeev Kapoor's cook book and like i said earlier super simple and extremely yummy :)

Ingredients

For kofta

• Paneer - I used Nilgiris Malai paneer - super soft 
• Green cardamom powder - 10 -12 pods, remove skin and grind it into a powder
• Refined flour - 1 spoon with malai panner , 2 if you are using normal paneer (essentially sufficient enough to bind the paneer into balls for frying)
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste 

For curry

• Tomatoes - 3 medium  (chopped roughly) 
• Cashewnuts - 10, mixed in some almonds as well
• Melon Seeds- didnt have, so could not add
• Poppy seed - 1 tablespoon (best if soaked in slightly warm water for couple of hours)
• Ginger - 2 inches 
• Green cardamoms - 2-3 
• Red chilli powder - slightly more than what you use normally, otherwise the dish would become too sweet 
• Oil - One teaspoon (you can skip also)
• Yougurt - 3-4 table spoon 
• Salt to taste 

For serving

• Fresh cream - 2 table spoon 
• Garam masala powder - 1/4 spoon 

Step 1 : 

Heat a pressure cooker, add all Ingredients   for curry , add a cup of water. Close the lid and leave it on medium heat for 3-4 whistles.

Step 2 :

Grate paneer, mix cardamom powder, salt & required refined flour and shape in small balls (200gm of malai paneer pack gives can be made into 8-10 koftas)

Step 3 : 

Heat oil, fry these paneer koftas  till golden, leave it aside to drain on kitchen towel.

Step 4 : 

Once the pressure cooker  steam goes off, open the cooker, let it cool for few minutes and use a hand blender to mix the cooked 'curry' well to reach the right creamy consistency, add water if required. 

Step 5

Arrange koftas in the serving ball, pour the curry on top, garnish with fresh cream and garam masala powder.

Serve hot with chappati or partha 

(P.S. mix the kofas and curry just minutes before serving , else koftas will get too soggy) 

Photo from Sanjeev kapoor site 

P.P.S , was so busy trying this and playing with my nephew , forgot to click photographs :D, but trust me it looks as good as the picture above ! 

From Grandma's kitchen- 'Baghia'

So today i am sharing a super simple, healthy & tasty recipe that i learnt from my grand mother 'Baghia' - Indian version of Ravioli in simple terms. it makes for a healthy breakfast or evening snacks.

Ingredients
For filling :
Chana dal / Bengal gram : soaked overnight or for 4-5 hours, drained
few cloves of garlic
green chilli (2-3 as per taste)
Salt to taste


Outer casing

2 cups wheat flour, knead into a dough with  water

Step 1 : grind  all these ingredient (except for dough) into a coarse paste, adding as little water as possible

Step 2 : fill a wok / heavy bottom pan,  half with water and put it on burner to boil while we prep the baghia

Step 3 : divide dough in small balls

Step 4: roll out dough into a flat chapati shape 

Step 5 : Now place one spoonful of mixture in the centre of chapati

Step 6 : roll over half and make into a semi crescent shape. flatten out the centre ensure the mixture doesn't spill out.

Step 7 : use a fork to press the edge together.

Step 8 : carefully lift this and slip in the kadhai with boiling water

Step 9 : let this cook over for about 20 mins ( 10 mins each side )

Step 10: once done  it will become light and come on float on top of kadhai

Step 11 : take out the cooked baghia from kadhai, leave it on absorbing towel for few mintues, till it drains out.


Serve hot with chutney . Super tasty & healthy !!

P.S. - You can also fry or bake  with butter once removed from kadhai.