Jain Tomato Sauce for Pizza

There are some days of the week when we follow stictly vegetarian diet and even avoid eating onions or garlic. On such days my meals are very simple rice,  curry, phodi and a simple vegetable stir fry . But many people observe such diet during the hindu month's of Shravan and Margashirsha and it becomes rather difficult for people to stay on simple meals for the whole month .


 So for such occasions I am giving the recipe of  tomato sauce which is without onion and garlic and can be used as a base sauce on Pizza . Will soon try to post the recipe for Jain Pizza too .

Ingredients :


250 gm ....................tomatoes ( chopped)
1/2 tsp....................chilly powder
1/2 tsp...................pepper powder
1 tsp ...................salt
1 tsp..................sugar
2 tbsp...............oil



Method :



Add 2 tbsp oil and saute tomatoes .

Cook till you get a thick chunky sauce like consistency.

Add chilly powder, tsp pepper powder ,sugar and salt.

Cook further for 2 more minutes and remove from fire.

Linking this to Viji 's SYS - March Hidden Ingredient  where my ingredient was to cook with a red colored fruit or a veggie.

Cocktail Canapes - For SYS

Parties and get togethers always form an important part of our social life. We love to give and take parties and a true party is incomplete without drinks and starters. This cocktail canape is one such easy starter which you will love to make for your party . It will hardly take 5 to 10 minutes to get this starter ready if you chop the fruits and veggies in advance.

The filling can vary as per your liking and you can even add some more veggies like carrot and peas if you want. Pineapple is a must as it gives the much needed tanginess to the canapes. These cheesy canapes taste very delcious . Tarts can be replaced with salty biscuits like monaco or crackers. In that case you don't need to bake them.

I am sending this entry for  sys-w-series-february an event by a dear friend  Viji   as my secret ingredient is pineapple.

Ingredients :

5 tbsp....................pinapple ( finely chopped )
5 tbsp.....................capsicum ( finely chopped )
5 tbsp.....................white sauce ( recipe here )
5 tbsp.................... grated cheddar cheese
15 to 20 ...............tart cases





Method :

Mix first three ingredients .

Fill each tart case with a tablespoon of the mixture.

Sprinkle some grated cheese on top.

Bake in an oven for 5 minutes at 180 degrees.

Top with chopped cherries.

Rasgullas ( Bengali Sweet )

I am very very happy to post this recipe of rasgullas today. Because after many attempts of trial and error I finally managed to make these spongy rasgullas exactly the way I love them.

 Actually I am a die hard fan of bengali sweets . And rasgullas being the base of many bengali sweets like chum chum, rasmalai , malai sandwich etc wanted to make them desperately.

For this recipe I surfed the net and went through  so many different  recipes with so many tips . Then finally gathered all the information and gave it a try once again keeping my fingers crossed this time and here I was with these soft juicy cuties.

 I have given each step in detail keeping in mind all my failed attempts. Hope the tips and details help you all and you succeed in making them in the first attempt itself.

Sending this entry to Viji's    sys-w-series-december  where my ingredient for this month is sugar .

Also sending it for lets-brunch-on-sundays-event by priya and veena  as they are a perfect low calorie dessert for sundays.

Ingredients :

1 litre ......................full fat cow's milk
1/2 tsp......................citric acid ( can use 2 tbsp lemon juice instead )
1 cup ...................sugar
4 cups ................water
1/2 tsp................cardamom powder
2 to 3 drops ......rose essence ( optional)

Method :

Dissolve the citric acid crystals in 1/4 cup water.

Boil the milk and when it starts boiling add the citric acid solution 1 spoon at a time.

After adding each spoon stir the milk properly.

When the milk starts curdling immediately stop adding the citric acid solution.





It hardly took me 2 spoons of diluted citric acid solution for the milk to curdle.

Switch off the gas and immediately add lots of ice cube in the vessel. (15 to 20 )

This brings down the temperature of milk immiediately  and  stops the further curdling .






This makes the rasgullas spongy and prevents them from becoming rubbery on cooling .

Now take a muslin cloth and pour this curdled mixture in it along with ice cubes.

Let the water drain out and also wash the mixture thoroughly with fresh cold water.






This removes the sourness of citric acid or lemon juice if any.

Now tie the muslin cloth and hang it for 2 hours to drain out all the water.

Take the curdled mixture which now should resemble a white soft ball .






Knead it with your hands for almost 8 to 10 minutes till it becomes very soft.

The mixture should become soft and fluffy like butter.

This is again very important for the sponginess .






Now make small balls of the mixture ensuring that there are no cracks.







Take sugar ,water and cardamom powder in a pressure cooker and let it boil.

When the water starts boiling add the balls very gently and pressure cook the rasgullas for 1 whistle.







Let the pressure drop by itself and then only open the cooker.

The rasgullas would have swollen to almost double the size.







Take them in a vessel add rose essence and chill them till you serve.

Capsicum and Onion Parathas

 When for the  sys-w-series-november event  Viji  revealed the ingredients as capsicum and onions for me I decided to make these capsicum onion parathas.

 Parathas or Indian breads are very important part of our meals . They are a rich source of protiens and carbohydrates. The parathas turned out simply delicious and adding potato mash made them soft and fluffy . 

This is also my entry for the  lets-brunch-on-sundays started by  priya and veena as these are  perfect to have for sunday brunch .








Ingredients :

2 capsicums.....................chopped very finely
2 onion...........................chopped finely
4 cups............................wheat flour
2 boiled potatoes..............peel the skin and mash well
1 tbsp..............................cumin coriander powder
1 tbsp..............................ginger garlic paste
1 tsp................................chilly paste
1 tsp................................turmeric powder
salt
ghee

Method :

Add all the ingredients except ghee and knead a firm dough with just enough water.

Once you make the dough don't keep it for long.

Due to the addition of onions the dough starts becoming soft and loose.

So immediately role into thick parathas and cook them on non stick pan.

While cooking apply ghee and cook on both sides till they are golden in colour.

Serve with pickle and raita.

linking it to :

 sys-w-series-november by Viji 

 health-diet-indian breads  @ accessiblediary  

 cooking with seeds - wheat  @ priyas-virundhu  












  

Papad Canapes

Right now Diwali the most popular festival is being celebrated all over India as well as in the world with full excitement and vigour and so the days of feasting and partying are still not over.  For one such party at my place I made these papad canapes ( we call them masala papad and they are very popular in all restaurants in India ).

This time I planned to make them for the Groovy Gourmets as for this month we had decided to make any variety of canapes.

 Canapes are actually small bite sized food. The base can be anything from toasted bread  or cut cucumbers or tomatoes or salty biscuits . This base is then topped with any interesting topping like cream cheese, cut veggies or fruits , chutneys or sauces. These canapes are served with drinks as starters or they will also go very well as snacks during tea party  and will be a hit due to there tastyness and ease to make. 

Since I was making papad canapes , I decided to cut the papads into bite sized squares . They are yummy and tasty and the crunchy papads go very well with almost any topping. So go ahead and try many more exciting combinations during this Diwali.

Ingredients :

5 to 6 ......................Papads ( preferably frying variety)
1.............................onion ( finely chopped )
4 tbsp...................capsicum ( finely chopped )
4 tbsp................... paneer crumbled ( cottage cheese )
1 ........................green chilly ( finly chopped)
tomato ketchup
salt
sugar
pepper powder


Method :

Crumble the paneer roughly and add chopped chilly.

Add sugar , salt and pepper powder as per your liking.

Mix well and keep aside.

Now cut the papads into small bite size pieces .

Deep fry them till they puff up.

Arrange them on a plate and put a tsp of paneer crumble on each fried piece.

Also put some onion and capsicum .

Put a dot of tomato ketchup.

Your easy, delicious canapes are ready for the party.




Also linking this to 


 sys-w-series-november by Viji 

Brinjal & Peas Uttapizza

Ingredients :

2 cups .................... Uttappa batter (see recipe here)

1 ...........................brinjal ( preferably big sized )

1 cup.....................fresh green peas

1 tbsp....................oil

1 small...................onion ( finely chopped)

1/2 tsp...................turmeric powder

salt

2 tbsp....................red chilly sauce

2 tbsp....................green chutney

1 cup....................mozarella cheese ( shredded)

Method :

Wash and slice the brinjal into thick rounds.
Apply some salt to the slices and keep for half an hour.
Then wash them and shallow fry them on a non stick pan.
Now apply some red chilly sauce to the slices and keep them aside.
Now add oil to the pan and saute the onions for 5 minutes.
Add the shelled and washed peas and saute .
Add green chutney, salt if needed and turmeric powder and cook the peas.
Now on a tawa make a small uttappa , the size of brinjal slice.
Before the batter sets keep one brinjal slice on it and spread spoonful of peas mixture.
Top with grated cheese and cook covered with a hollow lid.
Now carefully turn the uttappa and cook the other side too.
This ensures that the peas are set along with cheese and they don't fall while eating.
Your very own Indian uttappizza is ready to be served.

This is my entry to Viji's SYS-series-october