Vegetable Puffs

Ingredients:

Puff Pastries - 1 packet

All purpose flour - 1 tsp mixed with water

For the filling:

Mixed vegetables - 1 cup (chopped and boiled)

Potatoes - 3 (boiled)

Onion - 2 (chopped)

Tomatoes - 1 (chopped) (optional)

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
Chaat Masala – 1/4 tsp
Dry Mango Powder (Amchur) – 1/4 tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste

Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

Remove the puff pasties sheet and follow as per the instructions given. Preheat the oven at 400 degrees F.

Now lets go for the stuffing. Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and saute until they turn brown. Add tomatoes and ginger garlic paste and mix well. After they are done, add all the remaining masala powders, salt  and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the mixed vegetables and mashed potatoes. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes. 

Spread the puff pastries sheet using a rolling pin. Cut into desired shape. Put 1 tsp of the filling at the center and seal them by pressing the edges using maida paste. Place the puffs in the pre-heated oven  for 15-20 min or until the top becomes golden brown and crispy. Your delicious Vegetable Puffs are ready. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Channa Sundal - A healthy and delicious snack

Ingredients:

Kabul Channa - 1 cup (soaked overnight)

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Channa dal - 2 tsp

Curry leaves -  a few

Red Chillies - 2

Coconut scrap - 2-3 tablespoons

Hing  - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Method:

Pressure cook the soaked channa until soft. Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds and when it crackles, add  urad dal, channa dal and curry leaves. Add a pinch of hing. Fry till the dal becomes golden brown. Add coconut and fry well. Now add the cooked channa and fry for a minute. Add required salt. Stir for another 2- 3 minutes on medium flame. Your sundal is ready.

Vada Pav

Ingredients:

Pav buns - 2

Mint chutney - as required

Grind:

Pudina leaves - a bunch
Corriander leaves - a few
Green chillies - 3-4
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt

Sweet tamarind chutney - as required

(Soak a few dates, dry grapes, a bit of tamarind for 1/2 an hr. Grind it along with some jaggery and a bit of red chilli powder. Strain and boil for few min till the chutney thickens.)

For the vadas:

Stuffing ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 (boiled , peeled and mashed)

Onion - 2 (chopped)

Green chillies - 3 (chopped)

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp

Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Urad dal - 1/4 tsp

Channa dal - 1/4 tsp

Hing

Salt - to taste

Corriander leaves - a few

Batter ingredients:

Besan - 1 cup

Rice flour - 1/2 cup

Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp or more if required

Salt to taste

Oil - to deep fry

Method:

Mix all the ingredients of the batter with water. The batter should of thick consistency like we do for bajji. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, hing and green chillies. Add onions, ginger garlic paste and fry till golden colour. Add the masalas and salt. Add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Lastly add corriander leaves and fry for another 5 minutes. The stuffing is ready.

Divide the potato mix into small balls. Heat the oil for deep frying on medium flame. When the oil is hot, dip one potato ball at a time into the besan flour to coat well and then deep fry them till golden brown. Drain on paper towel to remove excess oil.

Arranging the Vada pav:

Slit the pav buns in the middle. Slightly roast them. Spread some green chutney and sweet chutney to the pav as desired. Place a vada in the middle. Close them by slightly pressing it. Serve immediately when the vadas are hot. 

Refreshing Mixed Fruit Chat!!

This is a simple, refreshing and a healthy snack. I used the fruits which was available with me. You can add more fruits of your choice. This is one of the best option for beating the scorching summer heat. What do you say? Anyways this is my way of preparing this snack. You can alter the ingredients of your choice. Suggestions are most welcomed.

Ingredients: (This measurement is for 1 bowl of fruits)

Fruits of your choice (apple, mango, grapes, banana, pomegranate etc...)

Lemon juice - 1 tsp or more if needed

Chat masala powder - 1 tsp or more if needed

Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

Wash all the fruits and chop it into cubes. Mix all the chopped fruits into a bowl. You can either remove the skin of fruits such as apple etc or add it as it is.

Add salt, pepper powder, chat masala and mix well. Add lemon juice if necessary. Refrigerate for 10 min. Serve chilled.

VEGETABLE MINT SANDWICH....

Ingredients:

Bread (white or brown) - 4

Margarine / Ghee - for spreading

For the fillings:

Chopped vegetables (carrot, peas, beans etc) - 1 cup (boiled)

Potato - 1 (boiled and mashed)

Onion - 2 - chopped

Tomatoes - 1 - chopped

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Tomato sauce , chilli sauce - as per taste

To grind:

Mint leaves - 1 cup

Green chillies - 3-4

Salt

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add onions, tomatoes and ginger garlic paste. Fry for around 5 min or more till the tomatoes soften. Add the vegetables, potato, tomato sauce, chilli sauce and 1-2 tbsp of mint paste. Add required amount of salt and mix well. Lower the flame and allow it to cook for few minutes. Check for the salt and spice. Remove from flame.

Preparing the sandwich :

Spread margarine / ghee on bread. Fill in the above mixture. Top with some more tomato sauce. Cover with another piece of bread. Prepare sandwich and enjoy with juice / coffee / tea....

Kuzhi Paniyaram

This a simple and yummy recipe which is prepared using dosa batter along with seasonings.This can be had as an evening snack or dinner.

Ingredients:

Dosa Batter - 1 cup

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Green chillies - 2 (chopped)

Mustard seed  -1/4 tsp

Urad dal - 1/4 tsp

Hing - a pinch

Channa dal - 1/4 tsp

Oil

Salt - as per taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, urad dal, hing and channa dal. Add chopped onions and green chillies. Mix the above to the dosa batter. Add salt if required. Mix well.

Heat oil in kuzhi paniyaram pan. Make paniyarams and serve hot with chutney. Simple na...Try it out..

Hot...Crispy Vegetable Pakodas..

Ingredients:

Mixed Vegetables of your choice (cabbage, potatoes, peas, capsicum etc..) chopped- 1 cup

Onion - 1

Green chilli - 2 chopped

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - as per taste

Besan - 1-2 tbsp

Rice powder - 1 tbsp

Oil - to deep fry

Method:

Mix all the vegetables along with chilli, red chilli powder, salt and onion. Mix well. Sprinkle besan and rice powder on the veggies. No need to add water as cabbage itself has lot of water content. If you require you can just sprinkle some water.  The mix should not be too dry also. Check for the spices. Take a small portion of the mix and deep fry them. Enjoy hot pakodas with tomato sauce or chutney. Such an easy and tasty snack...

Pasta Treat

I am sending this recipe for the following event :

Cooking with Pasta by Sowmya - Creative Saga.

Ingredients:

Pasta (any shape) - 1 cup

Onion - 2

Tomato - 1

Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Green peas - a handful (add other vegetables of your choice)

Pasta Sauce - 1 tbsp (optional)

Tomato sauce - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

Boil the pasta with a pinch of salt till it becomes soft. In a pan, heat oil, add onion, tomato, green peas, ginger garlic paste, garam masala, red chilli powder and salt. Fry well. Add little water and allow it to boil. Add tomato sauce and pasta sauce. Mix well. Lastly add the pasta and fry for sometime in low heat. Serve hot.

Paruppu Vadai

Ingredients:

Channa dal / Yellow split dal - 1 cup

Green chillies - 3-4

Small onions - 1 cup

Curry leaves - a few

Corriander leaves - a few

Hing - a pinch

Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the dal for 1/2 hr. Grind the dal coarsely along with a few small onions, salt, hing and 2 green chillies. Transfer the grounded dal in a bowl. Add chopped small onion, chopped green chillies, curry leaves and corriander leaves. Mix well. Make crispy vadas. Serve as an evening snack along with tea.

Nb: Yellow split dal / patani parupu gives more crispiness.

Masala Idli Fry!!!

Wondering what to do with leftover food? Especially idlis? No worries..There are n number of dishes which can be prepared using leftover idlis. Here is one of the dishes which I prepared using the leftover idlis. This was my first trial and it came out very well with a different taste. Here goes my recipe.

Ingredients:

Left over Idlis - 5-6 (each cubed into 4 pieces)

Potato - 1 (boiled and cubed)

Onion - 1

Tomato - 1

Green peas - 1/2 cup

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Chat masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt as per taste e

Garlic sauce - available in stores(optional)

To Grind:

Pudina + Green Chilli + Corriander leaves - in a small quantity

Method:

Fry the idlis till golden brown. Keep it aside. In a tawa, heat oil, add onion, tomato and all the masala items. Add the grinded paste. Fry well. Add the green peas. Fry till the oil seperates. Lastly add the potato and mix well. Cook on low flame for sometime.

Remove from heat.

Just before serving, arrange the idlis in a plate, top it with the above masala. Pour some garlic sauce and sprinkle some chat masala. Serve immediately.

Pav Bhaji

Ingredients:

10 to 12 - pavs
butter to shallow fry

For Bhaji:
2 - onions, finely chopped
2 - green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp - ginger-garlic paste
2 - capsicum, chopped fine
2 - tomatoes, chopped fine
3 cups - chopped mixed vegetables (beans, carrots, cauliflower, potato, beans, etc.)
1 cup - frozen/fresh peas
4 tsp - butter
4 tsp - Pav bhaji masala
1 tsp - Red chilli powder
1 tsp - Black pepper
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1 tsp - sugar
5 to 6 tsp - lemon juice
salt to taste
1 cup - water

To Garnish:
1 tbsp - coriander chopped
1 - onion chopped
small pieces of lemon

Method
Pressure cook mixed vegetables. Grind them coarsely after draining (except peas, cabbage and capsicum)
Heat butter in a pan. Add ginger-garlic paste and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add peas and capsicum and mix well.

Fry for 2-3 minutes till very soft. Add tomatoes and saute it for another 1 minutes. Add pavbhaji masala, red chilli powder, turmeric powder , black pepper powder, salt, sugar and fry for a further 2-3 minutes.
Add the water and mix well. Bring it to boil.
Allow the gravy to simmer till thicken, stirring in between. Switch off the gas.
Add lemon juice, stir.
Garnish with chopped coriander and some butter. You can also top it with chopped onions.

Gobi Manchurian - Dry

This is my special preparation......

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 1 big

Spring onions- 1 bunch

Onions - 1 big ( chopped)

Capsicum - 1 big (chopped)

Soya sauce, Chilli sauce, Tomato sauce - 1 tbsp each

Liquid Paste:

Cornflour - 3 tbsp

red chilli powder -1 tbsp

salt - as needed

ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp

ginger, garlic - minced

Green chilli - 1-2 sliced

Method:

Boil the cauliflower in boiling water for few minutes. Drain and keep aside. Mix cornflour, salt, red chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and a few drops of soya sauce. Mix well. Let it be in liquid form. Soak cauliflower in the mixture and marinate it for 1/2 hr. Then fry the cauliflower till crispy.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry onions till it becomes translucent. Add capsicum, ginger and garlic. Fry well. Mix in all the sauces and salt. Add green chilli and little water. Mix well.

Add the fried cauliflower to the mixture. Mix well. Add spring onions. Serve hot with fried rice / pulav.