Paneer Burger

On our last grocery trip, I saw B pick up two fat buns from our local baker. 
"I want a burger", he said. 

"Great! I have just soaked some soya nuggets ... will make some thick patties." 
He kept quiet. And then I noticed a big pack of paneer too. 

He hates hates soya nuggets while I try to sneak it into his food for the protein boost. 😊

"So how to do plan to add the paneer to the burger? Grate?", I keep on. 
"I haven't decided on it, yet". 

Today, he wanted his burgers for lunch. 

"I want a stir fry with lots of onions and garlic, some tomatoes for moisture and small pieces of paneer. 

And I want  Italian flavours. I will add the olives last. " 

So I made this stir fried Paneer with vegetables for the burger. 

Need : 

Thickly sliced onions 
Sliced capsicums 

Paneer cut into small pieces 
Boiled potato cut into small pieces

Chopped garlic
Mixed Italian herbs - Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Celery etc. 

Olive oil

Red chilli flakes 

Salt

Sugar 

How to : 

Heat a little olive oil and add the garlic and the potatoes. 

Add a little salt and fry on high for a while. 

Now add the paneer and the rest of the ingredients. 
Stir fry on high heat till everything comes together. 

Heat the buns on a flat heavy pan .... I kept the base for a longish while so that it crisped up. 

Cut them in half but not all the way. 
Stuff with the filling and serve immediately. 

We are not eating deep fried right now ... so there was no potatoes chips on the side. 

( Guess it is high time I got that air fryer ..... what say? ) 

And also no soft drinks too. 

But B did make some Pomegranate juice for me. 

Lunch was good. A change from our regular meals was welcome since the weather has started to turn really hot these days. 

Take care all. 

Ps: B forgot to add his favourite olives after all. 😉

Pav Bhaji or Pao bhaji ....... both made at home , from scratch

When I made these beautiful pao breads some time back, B wanted to have Pav  bhaji .
So I made some. .

But with so many chores and other things to deal with, including ‘I don’t feel like doing anything today’ too, I spread out the preparation into a couple of days.
After I made the bread, I had to wait for sometime for the already cooked food in the fridge to get used up.

Meanwhile, I boiled the vegetables ( I used potatoes, cauliflower, green peas, tomatoes, carrots and some frencjh beans .... you can use whatever you have at hand ) and stored them.
I peeled garlic and stored them ( I do that anyway ) .
And then one fine day, brought out everything.

Heated the bread with a smear of butter .... B wanted the inside as is .... soft ... and not fry with butter.
Mashed the vegetables and tempered them with chopped garlic, chopped green chillies, turmeric and red chilli powder and store bought pav bhaji masala 
Added salt and sugar. 
Simmered till the extra moisture dried up and the mash turned thickish. .
.
Served with chopped onions, lemon and coriander leaves sprinkled.
And of course, a big blob of butter. .
Yummm 😋 .
.

Contrary to how rich it looks, homemade pao bhaji is actually very healthy as well as nutritious.
A great way of eating a lot of vegetables together, this bhaji was made with just one teaspoon of cooking oil.
I have eaten pao bhaji outside only once in my life.
One taste and I have never touched it again.
Not when eating out.
For me, the homecooked version is way better, much more tastier. 

Here is a look of the Ladi Pav that I had baked earlier. 

It is super yummyhot,  just out of the oven , with a good smear of butter.

A closer look! 😊
Tempting, eh? 

 

Masala Pav and Misal ..... quick cooking meals during the tough days of lockdown

The one thing that this lockdown has taught us, among others, is the value of time. 
As well as 'me time'. 
Which is possible only when we ration our time in the kitchen, while putting a proper balanced meal on our plates .... a huge necessity these days for good health and immunity. 

Life has been overwhelming of sorts these days. Even if we did not have much of house helps all our married lives, except for when I am down ill, it is with time .... and age .... that I am realising the need for one in our lives now. 

All the following of precautions, loads of laundry every time we go out .... which we have kept to the barest of minimum , not getting to buy the produce and things we are used to and having to make do with whatever is available online or at the nearest shop .... the list is endless, has been eating into my time, leaving me with little left to do what I love to. 
Or even to just plain rest.

All through the summer and the monsoons, I had to rack my brains to be able to put a full meal on the table using a limited number of vegetables. We had no options other than the bottle gourd, the okra, eggplants once in a while and potatoes. 

Monsoons, we avoid all leafy vegetables, and so were again confined to the above few and then some more. 

So I turned to legumes. 
Soaked, un soaked, sprouted, ground into a batter, fried dumplings, dosas / pancakes ..... numerous ways to use them. And way more healthy too. 
Sprouted Moong beans are a favourite of mine.
I use  them in salads, in stir fries, in khichadis, .... in almost everything. 

And since we both love Maharashtrian food, the Misal is also a regular at home. 
Usually B makes the misal .... see my insta stories. 
But this time I made it .... albeit using the same masala that he had used ( I had frozen the extra ). 

And paired it with some gorgeous Masala Pav .... the recipe I got from a friend.  The masala is so good ... I have already made it thrice ... and tastes great when paired with bread. Especially a day old bread, crisped up in the oven. 

Since I made a lot of changes to the original recipe ..... purely based on the availabilty of things in my pantry, I am writing down the recipe here. 

Also, although I have been baking a lot of bread and Pao during this lockdown ( again on my insta feed ), I have never got around to posting any here on the blog .... something I am going to correct soon, .... I have used store bought pavs this time. 

The Masala : 

Need : 

Tomatoes  - 3 medium sized 

Onions - 1 medium sized 

Garlic - 10 to 15 cloves 

Green chillies - 5 to 6 

Toasted Peanuts - half a cup 

Ginger - 1" 

Curry leaves 

Red chilli powder 

Turmeric powder

Jeera powder 

Salt - to taste 

Sugar - to taste 
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp 

How to : 

Make a coarse paste of everything except the powders and oil. 

Heat oil. 

Add the paste and cook till all moisture dries up. 

Store in an airtight bottle in the fridge. 

To assemble .... 

Heat butter in a flat pan. 

Slather the pavs with the masala and fry them on the pan till crisp on both sides. 

These are great as is with tea or with some bhaji on the side. 

The Misal : 

Need : 

Mung bean sprouts - 1 cup 

Chopped potatoes - half cup 

Chopped onions - 2 tbsp 

Ginger garlic paste - I used one cube of my homemade ones 

Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder

Cumin / Jeera seeds - 1 pinch 

Salt - to taste 

Cooking oil - 1 tbsp 

How to : 

Heat oil. 

Add the jeera. 
Once it starts to splutter, add the  onions. 

Fry well and then add the ginger garlic paste. 

Add the powder masalas and the chopped potatoes and moong sprouts. 

Mix well and add enough water for a gravy. 

Cover and cook till done. 

Serve hot. 

Ideally it should be served with a topping of chopped onions, green chillies , any farsan or mixture, chopped coriander leaves and a good squeeze of lime juice. 


Like this one that B had made. 😊

He declared that his was better than mine. 
Well .... if one can judge by the looks, what do you think??  😉

Enjoy!! 

Stay home. Stay safe. 

Egg stuffed sandwich

 Or not.
Technically, I mean.
A proper egg sandwich will have boiled eggs. With or without spices.
Like my Ma makes.
But not me. I make my egg sandwiches with already cooked eggs.
And sometimes I stuff parathas with them too. Complete with whatever I want in them ... vegetables, spices, etc. etc.
And then again, there is the real Dim porota or Egg parathas.

But these sandwiches I make are to bring back those days when I was very new in the kitchen.
We had just moved into our flat after our marraige and the lady staying in the flat in front of us was a half Parsi.
She would make all kinds of good food and share with me.
Most days, we would have breakfast and lunch together. Lunch would be leftovers ... both of us would clean out our fridge.
But breakfasts on some days, we would make together.
Some days she would make the eggs and I would have bread and vice versa.
The tea, some days she would make and on some days I. 
And we would sit out on our big terraces and enjoy the food as well as each other's company.

It was she who made these sandwiches and I fell in love with them.
While she kept the eggs half cooked and with just freshly ground black pepper, I love to add vegetables and green chillies to mine.
And a dash of garam masala for the man.
These sandwiches are extra crisp and golden on the outside and soft inside.
I make them often, reminiscing the old days.
These make great snacks too on a winter evening or on a rainy day.

 Need :

Eggs
Bread
Butter
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped Vegetables of your choice ( I used green peas, sweet corn and carrots )
Chopped Onion
Chopped Green chillies
Salt

How to :

Heat a little butter in a pan.

Add the onion + chillies. Fry till onions turn translucent.

Add the vegetables, salt and black pepper.

Add the eggs and fry well.

Remove and cool.

Take sandwich bread and apply butter on both sides.

Place them on the sandwich maker and put some of the scrambled egg in it.

Place another bread on it and close.


Toast till golden brown on the top.

Serve hot with ketchup or any dip.

If you do not have a sandwich maker, you can toast it on a flat pan too.
Keep something heavy on the sandwiches and they will easily turn crisp and golden.

Enjoy with your favourite cuppa tea or coffee or even hot chocolate!!

Tried and loved No Knead Bread

Here I am ... trying my hand at baking ... again. This time it is bread. When I saw Soma's No Knead Bread, I was tempted to try it.

It was actually her little daughter who had made it. Knowing I will not have the time in the immediate future for such a beautiful project, I did not dilly dally and set about making it the very next day.

And as anybody, whose baking recipe I choose to try, knows ... I was a real pain in the neck with lots of questions. Hats off to Soma for explaining with patience. :-)
Thank you Soma! :-)


I followed her recipe ... made no changes at all.
And what a bread it turned out to be ... perfect! Had a crusty top ... and a tough bottom ... and slightly chewy texture. I think it would be perfect to soak up gravy with.
We loved it! The plate looked like this after I brought out the first one .... hold your breath .... in 5 mins. :-)

I made two small balls from the dough .... the first one is the first snap. And the second one is below ... which turned out even better .... I guess because the oven was already so properly hot.
And yes, I made it in a small sized heavy iron kadhai / wok ..... as I did not have any ovenproof pot. It worked very well .... as you can see.
And yes, follow her instructions ... when she says it has to be covered ... it has to be covered.
Here's the second one ... which I decided we will have in a more civilised way.

Civilised? Ruthless, barbaric ... was the way we both fell on it. I was weilding the camera too ... so got a far lesser share.

I had tried out Soma's Roasted Garlic too. Had some cloves left .... so grated them into the butter. Tasted awesome!

Thanks again Soma ... for such wonderful recipes ... and this wonderful breakfast. :-)

( See the garlic in the butter? )

Enjoy all !! :-)

Onion & Chilli Corn Bread

Bharti has tagged me for a good cause and I have never been happier with a tag .... and am so glad I have it ready for my 100th post. Thank you Bharti! :-)

But first things first.
A big round of heartfelt thanks to everybody !!
To everybody who has visited my blog .. some of you I know ... some new to me.

To everybody who cared to leave encouraging comments.
To everybody who has encouraged me on, guiding & passing awards.
More importantly, to everybody who has stuck by .... I am not on any aggregator .... so all of you who keep visiting my blog/s regularly mean a lot to me. :-)

And to all of you who have found my blog worthy of being added to your lists / to follow. :-)

Thank you all for being such wonderful people !!

Now to my baking for this good cause .... Breadline Africa.

Breadline Africa is a charity based in South Africa works towards ending poverty in Africa by helping communities achieve long-term self-sustainability.
Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by a group of community and social workers in South Africa and like-minded colleagues in Europe. Together they have raised funds in Europe and identified small, ground-level projects in Africa that are most likely to succeed with a financial boost.If you would like to join The Blogger Bake-Off, details can be found at their site. These are some of the ways in which you could be a part of the campaign.

* Join the campaign.
* Submit your bread baking recipe.
* Make a donation to Breadline Africa.
* Vote for your favorite recipe.
* Bake a loaf of bread and blog about it.
* Bake many loaves of bread and host a bake sale.
Bloggers who would like to bake for this cause may use the widget on their blogs and tag 5 other bloggers to Bake Bread, Give Dough and Feed Africa.
The rules for bloggers are outlined below:
1. If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
2. Bake bread, do something you wouldn’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
3. Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
4. Tag five bloggers, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.
The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers. There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories: Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.

Since I do not know too many people ... and since the few I know are already tagged .... I'm taging the following for this worthy cause. Am short of one .... so anyone who wants to do this is most welcome. Do let me know ... I'll declare your name here.
Pragyan
Jaya
Priyanka
Deesha

Now to my baking bread. Inspite of having baked cakes, I have always shied away from baking bread. The thing that deters me most is the time needed .... not to mention my aversion to yeast ( I do not know why).
But for this I did get yeast .... but did not end up using it. It is still waiting on my kitchen shelf.
I wanted to bake a corn bread ... having seeing Shibani's Corn bread. I just can't get that beautiful piece of bread out of my mind still. :-) And I do always have cornmeal at home for hubby's favorite snack/breakfast.
Searched a lot on cornbread recipes and finally settled on an Old Fashioned Corn Bread ...... by Cyndi Allison. Looked easy ... and yes, no yeast. I followed the recipe as it is .... complete with the measurements. Only added a few other stuff on my own.
I had no idea how plain corn bread would taste ... so wanted to make it a little spicy. So added fried onions and green chillies to the batter. Picked up the idea of adding herbs from Shibani again. So the mixed herbs that I use for making pizza went into it.
And it tasted good. :-) Sorry Bharti ... for adding the egg ... but will make an eggless one the next time. And with yeast. :-)
As I was busy arranging and clicking, the morning sun shifted on my window ... and gave me a great snap.

We had it for breakfast on Sunday morning, with tea.
Here's hoping that every plate has enough food on it ... so that in this world of many pains ... at least the pain of hunger is not felt by anybody .... especially .... children.

Bread Upma

I do not know why I get affected by things so easily (see previous post) ... but it is true that the zing has gone out my enthusiasm to post.

The weather could not have been lovelier .... dark, wet days with the light consistent rain this city is so famous for. And am rustling up some real hot delicacies in the kitchen.
Am happy to share these with hubby ... and sometimes close friends ..... cozying up in my crocheted throws .... (aaahhh .... got to add them too in my handiwork blog) .... watching across the huge bay windows of our flat ... which gives an excellent view of as far as eyes can see ..... we can see the rain approaching from the far off hills .... and with a hot cuppa .... and some good music ..... am in heaven. :-)
But much as I enjoy these snacks and meals ... I do not feel like sharing them anymore. Maybe I'll recover my trust again soon. Till then let this stay for posterity.
So am starting off again with a common breakfast dish. The bread upma is made in my house only to use up left over bread. Earlier I used make a sweet dish like shahi bread .... but since that takes a lot of deep frying .... and also uses a lot of sugar ... have completely stopped making it.
Need : Crumbled bread pieces, sliced onions,mustard seeds, curry leaves, a pinch of haldi powder, juice of half a lemon, a pinch of sugar, 1 tbsp cooking oil and salt to taste.
Whenever possible (read available in the fridge) I add vegetables like green peas, carrots, cauliflower, etc etc.
How to: Heat oil in a kadhai. Add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter add the curry leaves and the onions. Fry well.
If adding vegetables add them now. Fry them well ... if needed cover and cook.
Now add the bread and haldi powder and salt. Keep tossing and add the sugar and lemon juice.
If needed sprinkle some water ... just to make the whole thing mix well.
Serve hot.

Savoury French toast (the way I like it)

These Moong sprouts are my all time favourite .... and are omnipresent in my home. Even before I finish one batch I set the next to sprout. And these are a huge help ... not to mention the healthy part too.
Munch them raw, add them to a salad, to any dish, just saute them with butter and black pepper powder, add them to a raita, to a stir fry, a noodles dish or fried rice or to a masala muri ...... the choice is yours.
You add these, you are adding a handful of health to your dishes.

I love to munch these with a little piece of jaggery. :-)

When I made the French toasts I dunked in a few of these. As I do not like anything sweet, I often make these savoury French toasts for myself.



Need :

Eggs,
Finely chopped onion,
Finely chopped green chillies,
Bread pieces,
Oil / butter to cook,
Salt to taste.
Can add any chopped veggies or green peas too.

How to :

Beat the eggs with the rest of the ingredients except bread and oil.

Cut the bread pieces to desired size/shape.

Dip them into the egg mixture.

Heat a pan/tawa and smear some butter/oil. Place the bread peices with some mixture and fry both sides till golden brown. If needed add oil / butter.

Life is in the doldrums these days ... life ... not me. :-(
It is raining and I should be happy. I love rains. But coping with unending power cuts and the cold , damp weather ( yes ... I shiver in 20 degrees ... so go on .... laugh ) has succeeded in killing my spirit.

Inspite of having good fried stuff I hate the snaps for lack of natural light ... so don't feel like posting them.

So am spending the days hogging on calories and the printed stuff ... just read Hosseini's "The Kite Runner" ... (hubby took pity on me finally and got it from a friend). And cursing nobody in particular.

And if you think am looking for sympathy writing this boring god-knows-what .... you are right. And I know I deserve that kick. :-)

Cheese garlic toast

A rainy evening ... felt like munching on something . And did not feel like counting calories. So just let go and grabbed whatever was at hand. And am sure it was enough to raise my LDL to levels that would have taken at least six months to get to.

Anyway ... by the time this snack was done the whole house was filled with the aroma of garlic in butter. :-)




Need :

A few bread slices,
butter,
grated cheese,

a couple of cloves of garlic, paprika / chilli flakes.

A little oregano / thyme can be crushed in too .... I do not as the aroma of the herbs overwhelm the delicate aroma of butter.

How to :

Butter the bread slices.

Grate in the garlic into the cheese.

Add the chilli flakes and mix well.

Spread on the bread slices and grill for around 7-10 mins (better if oven is preheated for 5 mins).

Enjoy with hot tea / coffee / cocoa. :-) Will go very well with any heavy soup too ... will make for a complete meal.

I used very little butter. And since was in a hurry did not wait for the cheese to melt properly ... which shows in the snap. But tasted like heaven.

French Toast

French Toast has always been a favourite breakfast from childhood. As almost all the ingredients are found in the kitchen anyday, this gets done real quick. Am sending this for WBB Express Breakfast being hosted by Raaga.

Need :
2 eggs
A quarter cup of cold milk
2 slices of bread (cut diagnonally to make 4 pieces)
3-4 tbsp sugar (can use honey instead too)
1 tsp vanilla essence
A little butter.

How to :

Beat the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla essence together.

Dip the slices of bread in it and let them soak up a little.

Heat a non stick pan and spread the butter on it ( take care not to brown or burn the butter ).

Place the slices in the pan and wait till one side is brown.

Flip and cook the other side too.

Drizzle with honey and serve hot.

Instant Dosa

Learnt this from a tv show.

Need :

Bread slices - 5 to 6 pieces
Rawa ( sooji / semolina ) - 2 cups
Cornflour 1 tbsp
Dahi / curd / yogurt - 2-3 tbsp
Garlic - 1 or 2 cloves
Salt - to taste
Fresh green chilles 1 or 2 pieces
Water - enough to make a batter
Cooking oil - to fry.

How to :

Soak the bread slices and rawa together in water till well soaked.

Add into it salt, dahi, garlic, green chillies and grind to a paste.

Add water to adjust consistency of dosa batter - it should fall easily when poured.

Add cornflour to it and mix well.

Heat a tawa / gridle.

Smear a little oil and pour in a big spoonful of batter and spread into a round shape.

Let it cook till the sides leave. Flip it over and brown the other side also.

Serve the crisp dosas hot with sambar and coconut chutney.


Sambar
I make it directly in the pressure cooker.
You can add vegetables to it too.

Need :

Toor dal - 1 cup , washed and soaked
Sambar powder - 2 to 3 tbsp ( I use Everest Sambar powder )
Sliced onions - 1 medium sized
Whole dry red chillies - 1 to 2 pieces
Curry leaves - a few
Tamarind pulp - 4 to 5 tbsp
( soak the tamarind in water for about an hour and extract the pulp )
Haldi / turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Cooking oil - 1 tsp
Rai / whole black mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Water - around 4 cups

How to :

Heat oil in a pressure cooker.

Add the mustard seeds. When they start to splutter add the chillies and the curry leaves.

Now add the sliced onions and fry well.

Add the dal, haldi, salt and sambar powder and stir well.

Add water and the tamarind pulp.

Close cooker and cook on low heat till 3 whistles.

Cool and remove cover.

Adjust water, check seasoning and simmer for a few more minutes or till desired consistency.

Serve hot with dosas.