Shahi Paneer

This one is a favourite of Paneer lovers. I am not a fan of Paneer myself, but hubby absolutely loves paneer and can consume it in any form.

This is a rich vegetarian curry and mostly cooked on occasions or parties. Cashewnuts impart a thick texture and distinct sweetness to this curry and one would notice that even though I have not mentioned any sugar in the ingredients, the end result still tastes sweet sour.

I am posting my recipe and hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients:

250 gms paneer chopped in cubes
4 tablespoon tomato puree
300 ml light thickened cream
100 gms cashew nuts
50 gms chopped ginger
100 ml milk
100 ml water
2 tablespoon Shahi paneer masala
1 pinch nutmeg powder (optional)
1 teaspoon crushed black pepper
1 pinch cinnamon (optional)
2 tablespoon light cooking oil
salt to taste

Recipe:
1. Grind Cashew nuts, ginger and milk till it forms a thick paste.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
3. Add cashew paste to oil and cover it.
4. Cook paste till it turns brown.
5. Once paste is cooked, add tomato puree and water to this paste and mix it well.
6. Add to it Shahi paneer masala and mix it well. Let this cook for 2-3 mins till it blends.
7. Now add cream to it and stir it well.
8. Add paneer cubes and rest of ingredients i.e. nutmeg powder, crushed black pepper, salt and cinnamon.
9. Let this cook in low flame till gravy turns darker in colour which means it is cooked.
10. Shahi Paneer is ready to be enjoyed with Naan or pulav.

Bon Apetite. Enjoy Shahi Paneer.

Instant Suji Idlis

These idlis are a instant, healthy idlis made from suji. These days when I'm super occupied, this is what I make to go with green coriander chutney and/or sambhar. The cooking time for these idlis is less then 10 mins. And since they can be made in silicone template for microwave, they can be made without a single drop of oil.

I learnt this recipe from my mum-in-law. She is a super cook herself but with constraints of health she is always on the look out for healthy alternatives.

Ingredients:

2 cups coarse Suji (rawa)
2 tablespoon yogurt (curd)
2 teaspoon ENO Antacid
3/4 cup water

Recipe:
1. Mix all the ingredients together to form thick bater and set it aside for 5-10 mins till it ferments.
2. Use idli template and fill it with bater and microwave for 3 mins.
3. Hot, yummy idlis are ready to be enjoyed with sides of your choice.

Alternatively, dry roasted nuts, mustard seeds and curry leaves can also be added to the bater.

Vada Pav Recipe

Vada Pav is one thing close to my heart as much as Mumbai is. It is one of the things that makes me nostalgic about good old childhood days in Mumbai.
Vada Pav is fast food of Mumbai very similar to Burgers. Mumbaikars can have anything and everything with Pavs. Usal Pav, Misal Pav, Pav Bhaji , Vada Pav.
The preparation for Vada Pav is like any of Chats of North in the sense that it involves lots of small small chutneys and ingredients to make it more spicy and yummy.
The distinct smell of Garlic and other ingredients makes it taste so unique and different.
I hope you will enjoy this recipe as much as I like eating and ofcourse cooking it!

Bon Apetite

Ingredients:

Red Chutney:
100 Grams dessicated Coconut powder
6-7 medium sized cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon red chilli powder
salt according to taste

Green Chutney:

1 bunch cleared coriander
3-4 medium sized cloves of Garlic
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 green chilli sliced
3 tablespoon some water
salt according to taste


Potato Vadas:

5 medium sized boiled and mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
4-5 cloves garlic cloves sliced
(optional) 1 green chilli sliced
2 tablesppon mustard seeds
Salt according to taste
200 gms besan
100 ml water
100 ml cooking Oil to fry vadas

and last but not the least Buns (6)

Recipe:

1. Prepare Red chutney by mixing all ingredients in a grinder and set it aside.
2. Prepare green coriander chutney by mixing ingredients in grinder and set it aside.
3. Prepare potato curry for vadas by heating 1 tablespoon oil in a pan and adding mustard seeds to heated oil.
4. Once the mustard starts to sputter, add mashed potatoes, sliced garlic and sliced green chilli to it.
5. Add Turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt to it and let it cook till it mixes well.
6. Once the curry is ready, set it aside and let it cool.
7. In a bowl mix besan, water and some salt to taste to make a batter for frying vadas.
8. Make balls of (approximately 5 cms each) the curry prepared in step 6 after it cools down a bit.
9. Heat oil in a pan.
10. Roll curry balls prepared in step 8 in besan batter and fry them in hot oil till they turn golden brown.
11. Once the Vadas are ready, slit buns (Pavs) from the middle.
12. Spread Green chutney prepared in step 2 on Pavs.
13. Place a Vada in the middle of the bun and mash it with fingers.
14. Spread Red Chutney prepared in step 1 on the top of mashed Vada.
15. Vada Pav is ready to be enjoyed hot.

Alternatively, for people who cannot do without hot food, pavs can be heated a bit by placing in between a plain sandwich press.
Also, Vada pavs can be enjoyed with hot fried green chillis.

Thin and crispy Puff pizza

I love this pizza not only for it's taste but also for the fact that my hubby is an expert in making this pizza when it is his turn to take the lead and get all geared up with..in kitchen.

It seems all hubbys make the best pizza in the world and my hubby dear is no exception.

This is an easy pizza recipe which is very quick to cook and is healthy because of use of light/fat free mozarella cheese.

The unique ingredient in this recipe is puff pastry sheet as pizza base. Puff pastry sheets lend a thin, crispy texture to the base and is easily available off the shelves in the market.
This recipe has very less cooking time and is easy to cook.

That makes this quick, lean mean and healthy pizza but not to forget equally tasty and crispy.

Ingredients:

1 Chopped Onion
1/2 chopped capsicum
Some Olives (green or red) (chopped or whole) as preferred
Tomato puree or any tomato base ( or even pasta sauce) for pizza base
3-4 Mushrooms
Light shredded mozarella cheese
Cracked black pepper
salt as per taste

Base:

2-3 Puff pastry sheets (we can get Puff pastry sheet pack from Woolworths or coles in frozen food section)

Recipe:

1. Pre heat Oven at 200 degrees Centigrade fan forced.
2. Take a curry puff sheet and let it stay in room temperature for 3-4 mins so it softens a bit.
3. While sheet is warming up, baste a baking tray (or pizza tray) with a bit of olive oil (because olive oil is the lighter and healthier).
4. Place the sheet on the baking tray and smear tomato base or pasta sauce base.
5. Spread vegetables over the sheet, and sprinkle shredded mozarrella cheese, cracked black pepper and salt according to taste.
6. Base is ready to be placed in the oven. Cook the pizza in the oven for about 10 mins.
7. Once pizza starts smelling cooked and turning brown, crispy Puff Pizza is ready to eat.
8. We can make as many pizzas as required by using a puff pastry sheet for each pizza.

Enjoy!!

Tip: We can use any topping of our choice. Any base like BBQ sauce,or any chutney (my favourite is coriander chutney ;)) can be used for variations.
I use light shredded mozarella cheese as a healthy choice option but one could use normal cheese too. Also, this pizza can be enjoyed with hot english mustard sauce or Tomato or BBQ sauce on the top.

Creamy roasted capsicum and pumpkin soup

On a cold winter day, this soup is very tempting and it is wholesome and filling. It is a healthy choice of food. Enjoy this reciipe and let me know about the result.

Ingredients :


250 gms peeled, deseeded, diced in to cubes pumpkin
1 red capsicum (we can use any colour capsicum, red gives a darker colour)
500 ml vegetable stock
100 ml skim thickened cream
Cracked black pepper (according to taste)
Salt (according to taste)
Croutons
Cilantro or parsley for garnish

Recipe:

1. Roast capsicum on gas or oven and let it cool.
2. Boil pumpkin cubes in vegetable stock and let it cool for a while.
3. Peel carbon off capsicum.
4. Crush roasted capsicum and boiled pumpkin and stock in the blender.
5. In a pot add the above crushed vegetables and let it come to boil and let it thicken a bit.
6. Add skim cream, cracked black pepper and salt to taste.
7. Roasted capsicum and pumpkin soup is ready for garnishing with croutons and chopped parsley.

Enjoy!!

This soup can have variations of vegetables like leeks or carrots or tomatoes as preferred.

Vegetable Shashlik Kebab recipe

Vegetable Shashlik is traditional Indian Kebabs recipe which includes Paneer which is Indian cottage cheese with a combination of different vegetables. This recipe is a healthy recipe as it does not involve any oil or high cholesterol ingredients for cooking since it is grilled in oven.

Ingredients:

For Marinade:
2 cups yogurt
2 Tablespoon Tandoori paste (can be bought from Woolworths or Coles)
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon Ginger paste (or as per taste)
1 teaspoon Garlic paste (or as per taste)

Salt according to taste
Optional : red chilli powder according to taste


For skewers:

Capsicums, Mushrooms, Pumpkins, Onions, Paneer (Indian cottage cheese which can be bought in frozen form at an Indian shop or Woolworths or Coles). One can have any veggie of their choice.

Alternatively, one can also use chicken or any other meat or seafood like prawns of their choice.

Recipe:
1. Prepare the marinade by mixing all the ingredients mentioned above in a bowl.
2. Chop the vegetables or meat and mix it in prepared marinade in step 1. Leave this mixture to marinate for couple of hours or overnight.
3. Once the above mixture is marinated, pierce the pieces of vegetables or meat in skewer sticks and place them in a pre heated oven at a temperature of 200 degrees fan forced.
4. Allow the kebabs to cook till they turn golden brown.
5. Kebabs are ready to be had with BBQ sauce or just like that.

Enjoy sizzling hot!!

Tomato Basil Wontonelli

This is a recipe that I invented while trying to use bumper harvest of tomatoes in my backyard.
Fresh home grown tomatoes were my main motivation for this recipe. Freshness is the key to it.

There can be various variations to this recipe like adding pasta or ravioli or fettucini or tortelini. Also, in the sauce we can add capsicums, olives or mushrooms or any kind of meat (chicken, prawns etc.)as preferred. Also, we could use any ready made sauce as well.

This recipe is good for calorie conscious folks out there and is healthy food alternative and completely oil free. After all healthy food doesn’t have to be boring or has to taste bad.

I am sharing the recipe that I tried and the end result is depicted in the picture.

Ingredients:

For Sauce:

20-30 Cheery tomatoes (or 4-5 Gourmet or Roma tomatoes)
2 tablespoon Basil paste (alternatively we could use fresh basil)
salt to taste
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
Cracked Black pepper according to taste

Wontons:

1.5 cups of boiled wontons (you can substitute this with penne, spiral or any other pasta or ravioli, fettucini or tortelini as per your choice)
Also, olives, shallots or capsicum will go really well with this recipe.

Recipe:

1. Boil Wontons and set them aside.
2. Wash and crush tomatoes in a blender.
3. Heat a pan and add crushed tomato paste and let it cook till it thickens a bit.
4. Add Basil paste and all ingredients for sauce and let them simmer.
5. When sauce is ready, add wontons to it. If you are a fan of Parmesan, please feel free to use it.

Tomato Basil Wontonelli is ready to be served steaming hot!!!

Tip: This can also be had with salad on the side!!

Enjoy