CAULIFLOWER MANCHURIAN (GOBI MANCHURIAN)

Hello,

    Cauliflower Manchurian or as it is popularly known Gobi Manchurian is a well-loved Indochinese dish. This dish is very popular amongst Indians specially who are vegetarians. My version of this recipe is a very easy one, although the list of ingredients might look a little bit scary but these are quite easily available and doesnot cost much either. So you can easily prepare this dish with your fresh local produce. This will be much more healthier than buying it from a restaurant.

Since my mom nowadays is not allowed to eat outside food so I am trying to make healthy versions of my mom's favourite dishes. Cauliflower has some great nutritive value - It helps to fight cancer, boosts heart health, it is low in calories etc. So it is a great vegetable to include in your diet. However if your uric acid levels are high or you suffer from any kidney diseases then you should check with you doctor before having cauliflower.


Anyways, I hope you like my recipe and do try it out :)

INGREDIENTS :

• 1 medium cauliflower (gobi) cut into small florets
• 1 medium bell pepper cut into thin strips
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 Tbsp ginger garlic chilli paste
• 1 Tsp Onion Paste
• Chopped Green Chillis as per taste
• 3 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp Cornflour
• 2 Tbsp Rice Flour
• Water as reqd
• 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil + Oil for deep frying
• 2 tbsp Tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp Chilli sauce
• 1 !/2 Tbsp Vinegar
• Pinch of Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Red Chilli Sauce
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Chopped Spring Onions (both white and green parts)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Chopped Chives
• Salt to taste

PROCEDURE :

• Cut the cauliflower into small florets and par-boil it in salted water for about 10-12 minutes.

• Let it cool and they marinate it with onion paste and ginger garlic and chilli paste for half an hour to an hour.
• Prep the other vegetables that are required. Roughly chop the ginger, garlic, spring onions, chives, bell pepper and chillis. You can use onions instead of spring onions.

• Now make a batter using the flour, cornflour and rice flour. Use cold water for the batter and season the batter with salt to taste. 
• Then coat the florets with the batter. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying and once the oil is hot slowly put the florets in the hot oil.

 

• Fry the florets in a low flame and once golden-brown in colour , take them out and with a paper napkin soak off the excess oil.

• For the sauce mix well the tomato sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, sugar, red chilli sauce and the chopped chillis together and keep aside.
• Now in a pan heat about 1/2 tablespoon of oil and add the chopped garlic and ginger once the oil is hot. Once it becomes golden add the white part of the spring onions and the chives (we will add the green part later).

• Then add the bell peppers and the sauce. Add the fried florets and stir well.

• This is a dry dish so once the sauce coats the florets and the veggies then the dish is ready. Serve hot with any sauce of your choice :) :)

Do try this dish and I am sure you will love it. 

Thanks for reading :) :)

For any queries and suggestions please do comment :) :)

Thank You 

PANEER TIKKA (The Healthy Way)

Hi,

I know I promised to be more regular however certain bad things happened as I got delayed in posting my recipes. My mum suffered from a heart attack on 20th of December 2014 which shocked me to the core. Later on as the medical investigations were carried out we found out she had high creatinine and uric acid levels, due to which she had gout attacks. The last gout attack kept her bed ridden for 3 weeks. Now, just as she was improving my maternal grandfather passed away on 23rd January 2015. This was a huge setback for me as he was a father figure to me and had practically raised me and was a huge source of strength and support for me.

So anyways inspite of the bad times life goes on and in order to make my mum's life style healthy I have decided to give some yummy recipes a little healthy twist :) So I decided to make Paneer or cottage cheese Tikkas in the oven in a healthy and less oil method. The key to this recipe is marination, the longer the better.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 LARGE GREEN BELL PEPPER
• 3 RED ONIONS 
• 2 TOMATOES
• 150g FRESH PANEER OR COTTAGE CHEESE 
• 11/2 TBSP OF SHEEKH KEBAB MASALA 
• 2 TBSP YOGURT
• 1/2 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL
• JUICE OF 1 LIME 

PROCEDURE:

• Put the sheekh kebab masala in the yogurt and mix well. as I was pressed for time I used store bought masala. If you are using store bought masala then you will not require any extra salt.
• Dice the vegetables and paneer in to big pieces and put them in a large bowl.
• Now marinate them with the yogurt spice mix, oil and lime jiuce. You can use olive oil instead of vegetable oil.Key to this recipe is marination. Since a tiny amount of oil is used the longer you marinate the better the flavours. You can marinate this overnight if you can or for at least half an hour to an hour.

• Preheat the oven for 10 mins. Line a baking pan with aluminium foil. this eases the process of cleaning. Then put the vegetables and paneer in wooden skewers and put them in the pan.
• Put it in the oven at 200 degree centigrade for 25 -30 mins, do check in between to achieve the amount of char you desire. 

• Remove them gently from the skewers when done and garnish them with onion rings and slit green chillis. Serve with mint chutney :)

Do try this recipe , as its a healthy alternative to the kebabs we get from restaurants. 

P.S. Sorry for the quality of the pictures as they were taken by my phone camera :)

ESPECIAL DE DURGA PUJA (DURGA PUJA SPECIAL) : CHATURTHI

RUSSIAN SALAD

This Durga Puja I am trying to cook a new dish everyday and post the recipe in the blog

This is one of my most favourite salads. It is a refreshing yet healthy and a very simple salad. I hope you try this out and do give me feedback :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Carrots chopped 
• Few french beans chopped
• 1 large potato boiled and chopped
• 2 slices of pineapple
• 1 cup peas
• Black Pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
•  4 tbsp mayonnaise 
• 1/2 tsp sugar

PROCEDURE:

• Boil the carrots, beans and peas for about two mins and immediately put them in ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Make sure not to overcook them.

• In a separate boil mix together mayonnaise, black pepper, salt, vinegar, olive oil and sugar till you achieve a smooth consistency. You caan use any type of mayonnaise you like eggles, low-fat, with eggs etc. I used an eggless one :)

• Russian salad is usually a tad bit sweet so I added a bit of sugar. Adjust the salt according to the type of mayonnaise you use :)
• Cut the pineapples into small pieces (I used tinned pineapples since I did not have any fresh ones).
• Let the vegetables cool down and then add them to the mayonnaise mixture. Then add the pineapples and mix well.

• Now put the salad in another bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

• Serve chilled :)

Enjoy!!!!! Adios

Happy Puja to All :)

TOMATO AND LENTIL SOUP

I love making soups at home from scratch instead of cooking soups using soup packets. When we soups from fresh ingredients it is much more healthier (without preservatives and MSG), tastier and quite easy to make :) Earlier I used to make simple tomato soups (since tomato is my favourite vegetable) but this time I decided to add lentils (Dal) to the soup for a different taste :) It turned out to be delicious and super tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

• 7-8 large ripe tomatoes
• 1 medium carrot (optional)
• 5-6 cloves of garlic(optional)
• 1 large onion
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp butter  (optional)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 bay leafs
• 1 cup masoor dal
• 2 green chillis
• 3 cups water
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

PROCEDURE:

• Roughly chop the tomatoes. carrot, onion, garlic cloves and keep aside. Wash the masoor dal very well. As i didnot have carrots at home this time I did not use them :)

• I use a pressure cooker to make this soup, however if you want you can use a large pan. Put butter and olive oil in the pressure cooker and add the chopped onions and garlic and bay leaves. Cook till the onions are translucent. If you want you can skip the butter or instead of oil use only butter the taste remains same, I use olive oil to make it healthy :D

• Now add the carrot and the lentils and stir well. You can use any lentils you want, personally masoor dal is my favourite :)

• Then add the tomatoes, the basil, the oregano, salt, pepper,chillis and mix well. You can use any other seasoning you want, I am a big fan of basil and oregano. However I would advice to add less amount of salt here and you can adjust later on. Then add the water.

• I usually let it cook for 3-4 whistles and then cool it for a whlie.
• I do not have a hand blender so I cool the soup before I blend it, however if you have a hand blender you should blend it while it is hot.

• Strain the soup well in order to get a smooth soup. I do not add any flour or cornflour as I always get a very good consistency, but if you wish you can if your soup is too runny.
• Once the soup is blended then adjust the seasonings. 

This recipe can be modified as you wish by adding other vegetables or you can make it non-veg by adding chicken etc. I hope you will try it out and please do tell me how it went.

VERMICELLI KHEER (SEMIYA PAYEESH)

A simple yet traditional sweet dish. This is an easy to make Indian dessert which requires a few steps and produces a lip-smacking result. :) :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2  Tsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 250 grams vermicelli
• 500 ml milk (you can use double toned milk )
• 200 grams sugar 
• 2-3 cardamom pods
• Raisins
• Chopped cashew nuts 

PROCEDURE:

• Put the clarified butter (ghee) in a pan and add the vermicelli once the ghee is slightly hot. Fry the vermicelli on a low flame till it turns golden brown.

The Fried Vermicelli

• In a separate pan bring the milk to a boil and add the sugar and add the cardamom pods. Then on a low flame slowly boil the milk till it reduces to half its volume. (You can use artificial sweeteners if you want to substitute the sugar)
• Let the cool down to room temperature. Then add the fried vermicelli and cook on a low flame for 6-7 minutes. Add the raisins and cashew nuts but keep aside a few for garnish.
• Do not dry the milk out completely because as the dish cools down it will soak up the milk.

 

Add caption

• Serve in a bowl (I tried to serve it in a different way - in a glass).
• Garnish with raisins and cashews :)

Vermicelli Kheer

The Final Product :) :)

GAZPACHO

I have been studying Spanish for the last one and a half years and it is from there that the inspiration for my blog’s name came from. 

Gazpacho is a tomato-based, vegetable soup which is traditionally served cold. It originates from, Andalucia, a region in southern Spain. Gazpacho is a favourite in Spanish cuisine. It is a refreshing, healthy cold soup which is usually consumed during the summer months. I hope you try this one out and do tell me how it goes :) :)

Ingredients:

For  Soup:

• 4 medium ripe tomatoes

• 1/2 large green bell pepper (you can use red or yellow if you want)

• 1 onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1/2 large cucumber

• 2 slices of bread

• 2 Tbsp Olive oil

• Salt to taste

• Black Pepper to taste

• 1 Tsp vinegar

For Garnish:

• Cucumber finely diced
• Onion finely diced
• Tomato finely diced
• Green Bell Pepper finely diced

Procedure:

• Cut the vegetables roughly. Since we are going to blend the soup there is no need to chop the vegetables finely.
• Put the tomatoes in a blender and blend for 2mins.

• Now add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, cucumber, bread, oil and vineger to the tomato mixture. Blend for 3-4 mins. (It is preferable if the bread is a day or two old)

• Than add salt and pepper as per your taste.
• Pour the soup in a container (i used a microwave friendly container) and chill for at least 2 hours. (if you have time you can refrigerate it longer.)

• Before serving garnish with the diced vegetables. You can also garnish with croutons. 

A Delicious Breakfast Recipe :)

Aloo Parathas

HELLO,

My family simply loves aloo parathas. I am sure people who have tried this love this :)

However I made these yesterday for lunch. I didn't have a lot of stuff at home but in every Indian household, I'm sure you will find a handful of potatoes :)

So I decided to make aloo parathas. Hope you will like my version of aloo parathas :) :)

Ingredients:- (Makes 3)

Dough

• 5 Tbsp Flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 Tsp oil for dough
• Water as per requirement

Filing

• 1 medium potato
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 tomato finely chopped
• 1 green chilli finely chopped
• 1 Tsp coriander leaves
• 1/2 Tsp chat masala
• 1/2 Tsp red chilli powder
• 1/2 Tsp lime juice (Optional)
• 1/2 Tsp cumin seeds dry roasted and powderes
• Salt to taste

3 Tbsp oil for frying the parathas

Procedure:-

 Dough

• Sift the flour into a bowl and add 1/2 tsp of oil. We add a little oil in our doughs while making parathas or puris, it is called "Moyan" in Bengali, it makes the dough softer. (You may skip this step)
• Then add water little at a time and mix well to form a soft, firm dough. Knead thoroughly and keep aside.
• Then divide the dough into 3 balls.

Dough divided into 3 medium balls

   Filing

• Boil, cool and peel the potato. Mash it well, make sure there are no uncooked bits.
• Now add the chopped onions, tomatoes, green chilli, coriander leaves, red chilli powder, chat masala, cumin powder,lemon juice and salt. Mix well.
• I cooked my filing in a little bit oil about 1/2 tsp you may skip this step, the filing tastes just as delicious :)

  Assembly

• Roll a ball of dough out a little bit on a lightly floured surface and put some of the filing in the centre. (Do not put too much mixture else you would not be able to roll out the paratha)
• Now bring the edges of the dough over the filing to cover it.
• Shape into a ball again and press the top firmly to seal it.
• Gently roll the paratha out taking care that the filing doesn't leak.

The dough with the filling rolled out

Cooking the paratha (pic with flash)

• Finally heat a pan and add a little oil, and carefully put the paratha on it. 
• When this side starts to brown carefully flip it and add a little more oil.
• Cook till done.
• Serve with plain yogurt or raita or pickles :)

Served them with yogurt quenelles and the remaining filling :)

ENJOY :) :)

Do give me feedback :)

NOTE-

 To make more parathas just increase the quantity of the ingredients. Just keep in mind that the balls should be larger than the ones made for rotis or plain parathas.