Cheese and Cheese Croquettes

Hi friends!

Today’s post is my last entry to my event ‘Only’- Kids delight hosted by me which ends today at 11:59 PM IST, so you also rush your entries and be a runner for a giveaway by www.tarladalal.com. Since Kids love finger foods so this time I have really over boded myself on my limits to fried foods so that I could provide a second entry on fried foods as all my two entries of snacks were baked.  I have observed kids love fried foods  and this preparation is simply adored by any kid or as a matter of fact by every one.

Croquettes pronounced as ‘kroke’ is derived from a French word ‘croquer’ which means to crunch. These are normally made either in cylindrical or disc shape and can be made with many ingredients like potato, cottage cheese, meat etc. They might be made with or without filling, are rolled in bread crumbs and deep fried. These are extremely crunchy externally and soft inside. They have gained a huge popularity throughout world as a fast food and also as a delicacy.

This time I used cottage cheese and a combination of Cheddar- Mozzarella to make these croquettes. I did not add many flavorings and kept the spice level suitable to my kids and I can assure you that they are lip smacking tasty. The only precaution one needs to take in  making this croquette is that it can be  challenging for beginners and they need to be handled gently as both the cheeses are not so firm and get de-shaped  easily. If you find making cylindrical shape difficult just make disc shaped croquettes as taste wise there’s no change.

Both the cheese provide high protein content and mozzarella is a good source of carbohydrates and fats. These are perfect for growing kids especially the fussy ones as no one can say ‘NO’ to these…

Ingredients

200 gm Cottage Cheese/ Paneer

100 gm Cheese (cheddar-mozzarella)

3 green chilies finely chopped

2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped

1/2 tsp white pepper pwd

1/2 tsp oregano

3 tbsp corn starch

bread crumbs

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

corn starch and water slurry

Method

Grate both the cheeses and mix all the ingredients except the oil and bread crumbs.

Mix properly and take small portions and shape them cylindrically.

Deep fry on a medium flame immediately. Take precaution during frying as these get burnt easily.

Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Sending it to

Let's Relish: Paneer

 

to Neha’s Kids Menu Event

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The Giveaway Of ‘Only’- Low Oil/ Low Calorie Event For The Month Of September

Hi Friends!

I take great pleasure in informing you that we are getting into the second month of the ‘Only’ Series and this month’s theme is Low Oil/ Low Calorie Preparations and for the month of September it will be hosted by Priya Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan’s Recipes. She has  announced the event today and also the rules to enter the event, check here.

As you know that the cookbook giveaway to the winner is  sponsored by www.tarladalal.com  and it is based on the theme of the month. Since this month we indulge into a health conscious food indulge, the offered giveaway is 100 Calorie Snacks. Do visit the space for many more recipes and if you are a member of the space,  there are many health recipes offered.

The book is filled with 30 scrumptious recipes that have been classified under 6 different categories of Chatpata Chaat, Waffles & Pancakes, Instant Dishes, Dry Snacks, Wraps & Kebabs and Multi-Cuisine Snacks. The recipes have been designed by her team of nutritionists and chefs in a manner that they are filling as well nutritious.

This giveaway will be couriered anywhere in India. So do participate.

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Bohri Paneer and Stuffed Onion Kulcha

Hi again!

Continuing to post the recipes of my Rakhi preparations I share today two extremely tasty recipes. Bohri Paneer and Stuffed Onion Kulcha. The two together make an excellent combo. My kids loved the mild cottage cheese gravy with the amazingly soft kulchas.

I had seen the  Bohri ( a Muslim community from Gujarat) preparation in a cookery show and it originally is a non-veg preparation so non vegetarians can try their version. I personally liked the ingredients going into it and thought that the mix will surely taste good and hence attempted  trying it with cottage cheese (paneer) and I must say it’s worth trying and tastes good. The preparation is surely rich and creamy and high on calories but perfect for festive occasion or a celebratory lunch/dinner. The recipe does not need many ingredients and has a subtle taste, I am sure all kids would love it,  just like my kids did.

During our stay in Goa we used to visit Fidalgo on 18th June road in Panjim and I used to love their onion kulcha. My love for kulchas surely had begun there. I would prefer a kulcha over the Naan any day. I just love this soft Indian bread, it’s truly amazing!!! Ever since then I had been wanting to try it and I do not know why I never tried it till now. Glad I did as we fell in love with it. I tried making it on the griddle as well as baking it and either way it was successful and tasted superb. The Kulcha by itself can also be eaten as it is soft, stuffed and is quite flavorful.

Ingredients for Bohri Paneer

400 gms cottage cheese cubed

2 onions chopped

5-6 garlic pods

3-4 green chilies

1/4 tsp white pepper (optional)

an inch of ginger chopped

about 1/2 cup curds

15 almonds blanched

5-6 tbsp coriander

a small handful of mint leaves

1/2 tsp garam masala

salt to taste

and ghee/clarified butter for cooking

Method for Cooking Bohri Paneer

Heat a tsp of oil and saute the onions followed by the ginger and garlic. Cool it.

 

Grind together the blanched almonds, green chilies, coriander, mint, curds and the cooled onion mix.

Marinate the cubed paneer in the ground paste with some salt for half an hour.

Heat some ghee in a pan and add the paneer (cottage cheese) and cook well till the paste coats the paneer nicely then add some garam masala to it.

Now add the milk followed by the cream. Bring it to a boil and switch off the flame else the cream curdles.

Ingredients For the Kulcha Dough

3 cups APF

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1-1/4 tsp sugar

1/2 cup milk

about 1/4 cup curds

salt to taste

3 tbsp oil

ghee or butter for application

some APF for rolling

For the onion stuffing

onions finely chopped

some cilantro chopped

2 chilies finely chopped

a tsp of caraway seeds (shahjeera)

a little salt

Method for the Kulcha dough

Mix all the ingredients of the dough except the oil and ghee and knead a firm but soft dough and cover it with a damp cloth for 10 mins.

After 10 mins knead the dough again with the oil and let it to rest for an hour.

Take a small dumpling of the dough and using some APF roll it. Put the stuffing in it, spread, press it and spread a little flour over it. I realised  after making a few kulchas that pressing the onions helps as they do not come out while rolling.

 

Fold it from the edges again and make a ball then roll it into a 6”-7” disc using APF.

 

Now either you bake it at 250C or cook on the griddle, either way they turned out well, and you get soft and fluffy kulchas. Finally smear it with some butter or ghee and serve hot.

   

 

The combo together.

A quick reminder that the ‘Only’- Kids Delight gets over by month end so  rush in your entries and get a chance to win a cookbook by Tarla Dalal. Also US/UK/Canada residents can participate in the CSN Giveaway.

Sending it to

Let's Relish: Paneer and Show Me Your Curries events.

to Neha’s Kids Menu Event

also reposting Cottage Cheese – Sago Corn Cobs for Let’s Relish.

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Creamy Coffee Trifle For Raksha-Bandhan

 

Hi Friends!

Today is big day for brothers and sisters as they celebrate Raksha bandhan or Rakhi. I miss my brother a lot today, as it’s been ages that I have tied him my Rakhi in person. Me and my brother surely hold an unspoken bond. I might not call him regularly or he may not be able to contact me that regularly but he knows and I know that we are there for each other when we need.

His life has changed a lot after he became a father this year and I see a more mature and fatherly side of him these days. I have sent him my Rakhi and  for my kids their cousin  sisters had sent  Rakhis, of which one is not even an year old, surely it was a day to celebrate. So for them and for my brother P, I made the coffee trifle as dessert to go along with Bohri Paneer and Stuffed Onion Kulcha (recipes will follow) to celebrate this day. To know more about Rakhi and what I made last year click here.

I started making the trifle with great excitement a day in advance so that the dessert could be served nicely chilled. I made the eggless sponge cake first, while the cake baked I made thick vanilla custard and stewed the apples. All this went on very smoothly, the cake turned out good, the custard had perfect consistency and stewing was easy. My patience really got tested when the cream refused to get whipped. I had kept the cream in the fridge for about 2 hours so that it gets chilled and started whipping it on a bowl of ice, but it refused to thicken. I opened another pack and thought let me try again but the end result was same. Finally, I mixed the coffee decoction in the cream and mixed china grass solution to thicken it and that just worked.

Assembled the glasses of trifle and left  them  to chill overnight. The trifle turned out excellent in taste and kids relished it a lot. Sending this coffee trifle to my event ‘Only’- Kids delight.

Ingredients

For Custard

500 ml milk

4 tbsp sugar

2-1/2 tbsp custard powder

Method to Make Custard

Set aside a few tbsp of milk and put the remaining milk for boiling and add sugar. Mix the custard powder in cold milk, add this gradually stirring continuously till the milk thickens. Cook the custard   for a minute. Cool it.

Ingredients

For stewed apples

2 apples cored and cubed

3/4 cup water

2 tbsp sugar

a few drops lemon juice.

Method

Mix all the ingredients and cook till the apples are done. Cool.

Other Ingredients

a sponge cake

200ml cream

4 tbsp powdered sugar

black coffee (2 tbsp water+1-1/2 tsp coffee+2tbsp sugar)

Method for Coffee Cream

Beat the cream with sugar till the soft peaks are formed and fold in the coffee decoction. (My cream did not whip so I added china grass about 7gms dissolved in water and strained). I was not able to click pics at this point as my entire focus was to get the cream set in some way. Will try to add the clicks later.

Assembling the Trifle

Take a transparent glass and add crumbled sponge cake at the base.

Soak the  sponge cake with the juice of stewed apple.

Pour custard over it and place a few pieces of stewed apples over it.

 

Now pour the coffee cream and let it set in the refrigerator for 6 hrs. In case the cream has got whipped then just chill and serve after 2 hrs.

Garnish with some chocolate vermicelli and whipped cream ( some cream got whipped the next day) and serve.

 

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