Soya Nugget - Lauki Sabji For the Potluck Party

Soya nuggets is a very rich source of protiens and so often used by vegetarian people to make up for the absence of  fish and eggs from their diet.

Soya nuggets or nutrella is very versatile and can be used as fillings for cutlets or samosas to make delicious snacks too.

Today I have made this healthy and nutritious vegetbale dish prepared by my this months partner  Nupur  from uk-rasoi  as I was paired with her and was supposed to post her recipe for the potluck-party.

I thoroughly enjoyed making it .

Ingredients : 

1 cup ..............Soya nuggets
1 cup..............lauki peeled and cubed ( bottle gourd)
1 ...................onion  ( finely chopped)
1....................tomato ( finely chopped)
2...................green chillies
1 tsp...............cumin seeds
1 tbsp..............oil
salt




Method :

Boil water in a vessel and soak soya nuggets for half an hour.
Squeeze out the water and use these soft nuggets in the vegetable preparations.
Add oil and when hot add cumin .
Add slit chillies and onions and saute till golden.
Add tomatoes and saute for 5 more minutes.
Now add the cubed lauki and soya nuggets and saute.
Add 1 cup water and cook till lauki is soft.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with rotis or it tastes yummy with plain rice too .

Rawa Bharli Bhendi ( Lady fingers stuffed with spicy semolina)

Bhendi or Ladys fingers is a favourite of many including me and I like to make different varieties using this versatile vegetable. But usually I like bhendi in crisp form and so this particular bharli bhendi is my personal favorite.

This is a very simple and interesting recipe where in a mixture of semolina and spices is stuffed in the ladys fingers and then they are arranged in thick flat bottomed pan and cooked till crisp on both sides.

Take care to cook on slow flame and dont turn them again and again as the  stuffing may spill out.

This dish tastes awesome with simple dal rice . This dish is my today's entry for the vegan-thursdays

Ingredients :

1/2 kg .................... Ladys fingers ( Bhendi)
1/2 cup....................Rawa ( Semolina)
2 tsp.......................chilly powder
1/2 tsp...................turmeric powder
1 tsp......................Garam masala
1tsp.......................Dry Mango powder ( Aam choor)
8 to 10.....................garlic cloves (crushed)
1 n 1/2 tsp............salt
1 tsp + 2 tbsp........oil


Method :

Wash and pat dry the Ladys fingers .
Cut the upper end of bhendi and make a slit in it so that you can stuff the rawa.
Take rawa , all the masalas , salt ,1 tsp oil and mix well.
Now stuff this mixture in the Ladys fingers.
Heat oil in a flat bottom pan and add the crushed garlic.
When the garlic becomes golden brown add the ladys fingers and arrange them on the pan.
Cover the lid and cook for 8 to 10 minutes on slow flame.
Now turn them and cook again for 5 to 6 minutes with lid covered.
The ladys fingers should be semi crispy .
Dont turn again and again as this would make the stuffing come out of it.
This dish goes very well with daal rice.

Gajar - Dudhi Icecream ( Carrot - Bottle Gourd Icecream )

We all love ice - creams but at times are hesistant to enjoy it due to its sugary content and high calories . But what if you a get a healthy ice - cream which along with satistying your taste buds , works wonders for your body too. Definitely all will crave for such a treat, and you can give it to your kids also regularly.

In this vegetable  ice - cream I also  havent thickened the milk as thickening milk makes it less nutritious and deprives it of the calcium and protiens which also burn out during the process. Instead I have used milk powder and fresh cream ( not store bought ) but the one which collects over the boiled milk at home.

Also you can try this ice cream with other vegetables like beetroot or pumpkin and let your kids enjoy these vegetables in form of this delicious ice - cream.

So what are you waiting for ??? Go ahead and make this most simple and healthy ice - cream today itself.

Ingredients :

1 cup..................grated gajar ( carrot )
1 cup .................grated dudhi ( bottle gourd )
1 n 1/2 cups ......sugar
1 cup.................milk
1 cup.................milk powder
1cup.................fresh cream
1 tbsp...............gelatine ( soaked in 1/4 cup warm water )
2 tbsp...............cashew and almonds ( coarsely powdered)

Method : 

Steam the grated carrrots and bottlegourd in a pressure cooker just till 2 whistles.
Cool it completely.
Blend milk, milk powder and sugar in a blender.
Add gelatine and blend it well again.
Add whipped fresh cream and keep the mixture in fridge for 1 hour.
Now add the cooled carrot and dudhi and mix well with a fork.
Also add the kaju- badam powder.
Deep freeze it till just hard.
Take it out and beat it with a fork to break the ice crystals formed.
Keep the ice- cream in deep freezer and again after 3 hours beat it with fork to break the ice crystals.
This ensures that the ice cream remains soft .
Enjoy your healthy treat with all.


Linking this to

SYS-series-5 - carrot / apple

and 

hearth-and-soul-blog-hop-157

Apple Cabbage Salad

I make salads regularly at home and usually prefer mixing some fruit in it for the natural sweet and sour taste. My favourite being pineapple or orange .  But today I used juicy sweet and sour apples in this cabbage salad and it gave a very tasty twist to the ordinary cabbage salad.

Also made a home made curd dressing which turning out to be equally satisfying . This salad was instantly liked by everyone at home and went well with chicken and parathas.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup.........................cubed apples ( take the juicy and sour variety)

1 cups......................roughly shredded cabbage

1/2 cup........................thinly sliced onions

1..............................finely chopped green chilly

2 tbsp......................finely chopped coriander leaves

For the dressing :

1 cup...................thick curd

1 tbsp....................fresh cream

1 tbsp.......................honey

1/2 tsp...................pepper powder

salt 

Method : 

Tie the curd in a muslin cloth for 1 hour to drain out the water.

You can collect this water and use it in other dishes as it is very nutritious , so dont throw it away.

Add honey , pepper powder, salt and fresh cream to this drained curd and mix well.

Add it to the above cut vegetables and chill the salad till serving time.


Sending this to :

SYS-series-5 - carrot / apple

Strawberry Eclairs ( Baking Partners)

Since my childhood days , chocolate eclairs was one of  my most favorite bakery item and I would regularly buy it from Merwans cake shop.

 But as I grew there was a secret desire to try them at least once at home ,but the recipe in some cook books  sounded so complex and tedious I never really gave it a try.

And then Swathi  came up with the recipe of  these eclairs for this months Baking Partners  challenge  and finally I got a chance to make them .

Finally I gave it a try and thank god I did it well in advance , because my first try was a disaster. The batter called for five eggs and I got idly like batter consistency which I was not able to pipe so I baked it in cookie moulds , then I goofed up by over baking them and almost burnt them.

So I had to try the second time , this time I reduced one egg but still the batter was not hard enough to be piped . This time I baked in muffin pan and monitored the baking carefully.

Though what I got could not be called perfect eclairs but I was very close to the original pastry as the insides were soft and outside crispy . But now I think I should have baked them for some more time to get golden color.

Thanks Swathi  for suggesting this recipe and giving me  a chance to try my favorite pastry.

Ingredients : 

For the Choux Pastry :

175 gm ( 1 n 1/4 cup)................ All purpose flour
2 tsbp + 2 tsp ..........................sugar
240 gm ....................................water
120 gm................................... unsalted butter ( used homemade)
4 .............................................eggs
a pinch.......................................salt

Method :

Sift flour and sugar in the mixer.
In a pan heat water, salt and butter till it melts.
Simmer it and remove.
Now add the flour and mix well to form a paste like consistency.
Now again heat and stir this mixture till the dough becomes hard and starts pulling away
from the bottom.
The bottom of the pan should look clean when the dough pull away.
While still hot transfer this dough to the blender and blend for a minute to let some heat away.
Now add one egg at a time to the dough and each time blend very well .
The egg should properly mix with the dough.
At the end of adding all four eggs the dough should be able to hold its shape.
When pulled it should resemble the shape of birds beak .( here is where I went wrong)
Now put this mixture in a pastry bad and let it chill for 4 to 5 hours.
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees .
Pour the mixture in the greased muffin tray and bake.
Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes and at 150 degrees for 10 minutes more.
What I got was very soft inside and little crispy outside round puffs.

For the filling :

5 tbsp...................strawberry crush
3/4 cup.................whipped fresh cream

Method :

Cut the puffs in the middle and spread whipped cream .
Close the puffs and again spread the remaining whipped cream .
Top with the strawberry crush.

Also sending it to :

   Vallis kids-delight   at    sizzlingtastebuds 

Mango Marble Cake Eggless

This month for the  home-bakers-challenge we were given this beautiful Mango Marble Cake by our this months host  Sangee Vijay

 I thoroughly enjoyed baking this beautiful and colourful cake . It was very delicious with our two most favorite flavors mango and chocolate.

When warm the cake was very very soft and spongy though after cooling it sank a bit. But it tasted delicious .
Thanks  priya  and  Sangee   for this beautiful challenge.

Also sending this yummy cake to Jagrutis event  potluck-party-cyber-style  where on 10th of every month  we make and post a dish for the group.

Ingredients :

2 cups........................ All Purpose Flour
1 n 1/2 tsp...................Baking Powder
1/4 tsp.........................baking soda
3/4 cup.......................sugar (powdered)
1/4 tsp.........................vanilla essence
1/4 cup......................cocoa powder (dissolved in 2tsbp warm water)
5 tsbp.........................oil
1 cup.........................mango pulp( used fresh alphonso mangoes)
1/4 cup.....................milk
2 tbsp.......................curds (dilute in 2tsbp water)

Method :

In a mixer blend all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda well and keep aside.
Now blend oil and sugar in the blender till mixed well.
Now add the mango pulp, diluted curds, milk and vanilla essence and again blend till smooth.
Now add the blended maida little at a time and mix well till all the maida is over.
Divide the dough into two parts .
Add cocoa powder dissolved in warm water to one part and mix.
Now spoon the mango and cocoa cirlces alternately in cake tin .
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes and bake the cake at 180degrees for 35 to 40 minutes.
Check by inserting a knife , if it comes out clean the cake is baked properly.

Methi Wadi ( Fenugreek and lentil squares)

Methi is one of the leafy greens which can be used in many ways . Methi muthias. pakodas, parathas, puries and last but not the least various sabjis which we can make with this vegetable.

Today I have make a very simple but nutritious and tasty dish which can be had for breakfast as well as a starter or a side dish for meal or a n ideal snack for afternoon teatime.

It needs few basic ingredients and gets prepared in not time. You can steam the mixture in advance and cut into desired shapes and keep and then at the time of serving deep fry or shallow fry them.

This is my entry for this months vegan-thursdays  an event started by priya suresh  in which we post vegan dishes on first and last thursday of the month.

Ingredients :

1 bunch...................methi leaves ( fenugreek)
2 cups ....................besan ( chick pea flour)
1 tbsp.....................green chilly n ginger paste
1tsp........................turmeric powder
salt
oil for shallow frying

Method :

Pick the leaves of methi and wash them thoroughly.
Finely chop the leaves.
Grease a plate with oil and keep ready.
Now mix all the things given above except oil and make a batter .
The consistency of the batter should be thinner than that of bhajia ( fritters ) batter.
Now in a non stick pan add 1 tbsp oil and pour this batter.
Keep on stirring continuously on a medium to low flame till the mixture starts leaves the sides.
Now remove the mixture from the gas and spread it on the greased plate.
When it cools ( say about 1/2 an hour ) cut into desired shape.
Now shallow fry these methi squares on a non stick tawa .
You can also deep fry them . ( Deep fried ones are tastier)
Serve with chutney or ketchup .

You can check what the other members of the group made . The members are  1) Sangee 2) Manjula 3) Nalini 4) Vardhini 5) Viji 6) Divya 7) Priya 8)Nayana 9)Suji

Dahi Wada

Dahi wada is one of my favorite snacks. Chilled wadas soaked in dahi and sprinkled with chilly powder or imli chutney remind me of those carefree happy days when I had the liberty of just coming home tired from school or college , opening the fridge and taking the wadas on plate to savour them lazily on a coach with T.V on . Those were the real days .......

Though now also I can do that but the carefree nature has been lost forever with the growing years.

I usually make the wadas only with urad daal but today I have added moong daal and cashew, ginger, and raisins to it thanks to a lovely blog by Anjana Bhabhi called maayeka which is the recipe source of this dish.

These wadas  can also be prepared in advance and hence it saves a  lot of your time when you make them for guests.

If you want a healthier version just omit the frying part and make erappe (paniyarams or appams )in the appam mould by smearing little oil and your low calorie dahi wadas are ready. They are just as yummy as the fried variety.

Ingredients :

1 cup.................Urad daal
1/4 cup.............moong daal
1tbsp................ginger and green chilly (very finely chopped)
1tbsp................cashews and raisins ( finely chopped)
1/2 tsp.................salt
oil to fry
1 Kg ................Thick Curds
4 to 5 tbsp.........Sugar


Garnish :

sweet-tamarind-chutney
dhana jeera powder
chilly powder
fresh chopped coriander leaves
salt

Method :

Soad urad daal in water for at least 5 to 6 hours.
Whisk the curds with sugar and salt and chill it in fridge for further use.
Grind urad daal it to a smooth paste adding very little or no water at all.
Add 1/2 tsp salt and mix well.
Take a vessel and fill half of it with water and mix 1 tbsp curds or 1/2 cup sour buttermilk in it.
Now heat the oil and fry the wadas by dropping lemon sized balls in hot oil.
Fry on medium flame till the wadas are golden brown.
After removing them from oil add them in vessel with water till the next batch of wadas are fried.
Before adding the next batch of fried wadas remove these soaked wadas by gently squeezing
the water out of them .
Keep them in a separate vessel and soak them in half of prepared curds.
In this way fry all the wadas.
Keep the remaining half of curd in the fridge to be chilled till the time of serving.
While serving arrange the wadas in a bowl , top with chilled curds and add the
garnishes according to your choice.


Sending these dahi wadas to : 

dish-it-out-lentilslegumes-and-vegetables 

my-bowl-of-snack  

cws-urad dal  at nivedhanams 

tried-tasted-event  at  sweettoothraf    

walk-through-memory-lane   at shrutisrasoi 

sheelu and pallavis  - explore-food-lentils

Sunshine Pizza

When you say pizza kids and adults both are very happy because it is one of the most popular and mess free snack or lunch to have. For this months Groovy Gourmets  decided to make two varieties of pizza , paratha-pizza   and sunshine pizza . Loved and enjoyed making both the varieties.

 But this pizza though is eqally tasty is with a unique twist in the sense this is a grain less , gluten free pizza with aloo methi sabji as a base and eggs are used  for toppings.

Surprised ?? But believe me this pizza was one of the most delicious and healty version of pizza that I have recently made. A very unique way to include methi and eggs in you diet isnt it ?






Ingredients :

4 .........................Potatoes ( chopped)
1 small bunch.......Methi leaves ( picked , washed and chopped fine)
4 ..........................eggs
1/2 cup ...............grated cheese ( mixture of mozarella and cheddar)
fistful...................coriander leaves ( chopped)
1 tsbp..................oil
1tsp....................chilly powder
1/2 tsp................dhana jeera powder ( cumin coriander powder
1/2 tsp.................turmeric powder
salt


Method :

Heat oil in the pan and add the chopped potatoes .
When they are almost cooked add all the masalas salt and chopped methi leaves.
Mix well and cook covered with a lid for 5 more minutes.
Your aloo methi i.e the base for your grain free pizza is ready.

When the aloo methi cools down just mash it roughly with a masher or even hands are fine.
Now smear a non stick tawa with little oil and spread a thick layer of this mixture on it.

Make four depressions and break the eggs taking care to keep the yolk intact.
Arrange the grated cheese on the base .

Now cook this for 5 mintues or till the egg yolks are firmly cooked.
Garnish with coriander.

Aloo Paratha Pizza Wtih Aubergines and Tahini ( For the Groovy Gourmets)

 Since a long time I had been eyeing various pizza varieties made with a grain free crust but did not get a chance to make it. Thanks to  Groovy Gourmets   I got a chance to make it this month. I actually made two varieties . I saw a lot of varieties on the net which used cauliflower mince as a base for the pizza and so decided to use potatoes instead.

I made one with aloo paratha as a base with brinjal slices and tahini sauce . Where as for the other one I used aloo methi base and topped the base with eggs  ( sunshine-pizza ). The recipe of which I will post next. Both the pizza were truly yummy .The results were stunning with two very healthy and  unique pizzas at home.

Though the name pizza sounds sinful and snack full of guilt you can safely have this  any time of day as it is full of nutrition and if you reduce the quantity of cheese that gives you one of the healthiest options of one meal dish to have on week ends.


Everyone at home was equally eager to eat a gluten free pizza and the wait was really worth it. This was one of the best pizzas in taste that we had.

So the recipe is here for all of you to enjoy :

 

Ingredients :

1...................aloo paratha
1/2 cup...........Tahini sauce
2 tbsp..............Green Coriander chutney ( see recipe here)
1 small ............Brinjal (the one used for Baingan bharta)
2 tsbp...........grated cheese ( mozarella )
2 ................cheese slices ( Britannia)
few.................coriander leaves for garnish
salt

For the paratha base :

2 ......................potatoes ( boiled and mashed)
1 1/2 cups ........wheat flour
a fistful ............coriander leaves (chopped)
1tsp.................cumin-corainder powder
1/2 tsp.............turmeric powder
1 tsp................ginger chilly paste

Mix everything and knead a firm dough.
Roll it into a disc of 1/4 inch thickness .
Cook one side of the paratha properly till cooked.
Whereas half cook the other side of the paratha.

For the Tahini Sauce :

1/4 cup...............sesame seeds ( soak in warm water for 15 minutes)
2tbsp....................olive oil
2..........................garlic cloves
1/2 tsp.................pepper powder
2 tsbp..................very thick curd ( or strain it for 15 minutes and drain excess water)
1/2 tsp.................sugar
1tsbp..................vinegar
salt

Grind everythin in a mixer to form a smooth paste.

Arranging the pizza : 

Now apply chutney on the properly cooked side of the paratha.
Arrange the pieces of cheese slices.



This will make the half cooked side face the tawa and will get cooked .
Grill the brinjal slices on a tawa till they are cooked and become soft.
Arrange the grilled aubergine slices as shown .



Liberally apply  tahini paste on each aubergine slice .
Sprinkle the grated cheese on the remaining part of the paratha .





Garnish each slice with coriander .
Now heat a non stick tawa and when hot smear little oil and keep the paratha.
Cover the paratha with a hollow lid and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on slow flame or till the cheese melts.
Cut into slices and serve hot.



Sending this off to     The Groovy Gourmets

And also to :

only-event-for-june-potato   at   nivedhanams