Showing posts with label Snacks. Show all posts

Pesto-Cottage Cheese Sandwich | Quick Bite

Hi All!!!

I’m here with yet another easy to make, quick fix sandwich which I personally love a lot. There’s a tea bar named kettle close to my home, apart from the various flavours of tea they also serve sandwiches, muffins and a few desserts. I love this place and whenever possible, me and the kid hang out there.

Amongst the variety of the sandwiches that Kettle serves, is also the Pesto-Paneer Sandwich and I order it most of the times when I visit the place. I normally stock up Basil leaves in my refrigerator and use it largely for flavouring. But this time I took some time out and made some fresh Basil pesto. It’s not that I’ve not made pesto earlier but in the last few months the leaves would finish before I could think of grinding them.

I love the freshness of the Basil leaves, it just refreshes my mind. I love to play around with this herb creatively and innovatively in my dishes. Have posted a few recipes earlier using this herb and my favourite amongst them is the bruschetta!!

This time I spent a good time peeling the pine nuts which gives an authentic taste to the pesto but I excused myself from adding the parmesan cheese as I was planning to use the Cottage Cheese. This sandwich is ready to eat in flat ten minutes if you have a pesto made in advance and there’s no big recipe behind the filling, it can be quite a flexible mix based on your taste buds..

Pesto-Cottage Cheese Sandwich

Preparation Time:5mins | Cooking Time: 3mins/ sandwich | Serves:3-4 | Difficulty Level:Easy

Ingredients

6-8 bread slices (I used whole wheat)

2-3tbsp Home made basil pesto

chilli flakes ( as required)

Italian seasoning (as required)

Freshly ground pepper (as required)

salt (if required)

olive oil (if required)

150gms soft cottage cheese/ paneer

Method

Cube the cottage cheese into small cubes and mix it with the pesto, chilli flakes, Italian seasoning, black pepper and salt. After mixing if you find that the stuffing is dry, mix a little olive oil.

Meanwhile preheat the sandwich maker or the panini grill. Spread the mix evenly on a bread slice and then cover it with the second slice of bread.

Apply oil or use oil spray on the grill and place the sandwich. Grill for 2-3mins.

Remove the sandwich from the grill, cut the sandwich into halves and serve hot with some tomato sauce.

Sending this to my event ‘ONLY’ Sandwiches, burgers and Panini, guest hosted by Savi-Ruchi.

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Chickpeas in Pickled Spices & Pickled Chickpeas Sandwich Too | Achari Chana | Step Wise Cooking | Vegan | Gluten Free

Hi All!!

I’ve been away from blogging for about two weeks, but it feels like ages. People might guess that I was mopey and I didn’t have anything to post but that was not the case friends (pun intended). In the last fortnight on and off I could see the fluctuations in the temperature here which I could also compare with my health, which was also going up and down but was largely down with the virus having fun in my body. Also, the younger kid was writing his first term papers and the house had become quiet to let him study. Being the mother I could feel the pressure of his studies hitting me as well. He needed me to be around all the time and help him with his difficulties and doubts. Fortunately he has his last exam today and I’m already elated that I can relax now…what a sense of relief!!!

While the kid studied, I would read a lot of books; fiction, romance and obviously cookbooks. The other day I had run out of the veggies and I had no mood to go out and shop. The lazy me soaked some chickpeas with no clarity or vision in my mind, of how I would cook it. I wanted to cook something different but had no idea how..

So after soaking the chickpeas I came and sat with the kid, flipping through the books as I couldn’t watch TV too Sad smile . After flipping through some old Good food magazines, I picked up Camellia Panjabi’s 50 Great Curries Of India and I was so happy reading all of them, all over again. While I read, I landed on a recipe of lamb cooked in Pickled spices. After reading the recipe I was too tempted to try it in a vegetarian way. I asked myself, people make achaari paneer, achaari aloo, achaari bhindi, why can’t I try the spices with chickpeas? The thought itself exhilarated me and believe me friends I needed that sense of elation desperately, with all the pressure around. The thought was so intoxicating that I immediately went ahead and searched for all the spices and other ingredients. I realized that a skerrick of an ingredient was not available in the desired amount required for the recipe; I was short of yogurt, so I immediately searched for tomatoes and was happy to see a few of them sitting pretty in the refrigerator.

Bit by bit I garnered all the ingredients and laid them on the kitchen platform and geared myself to cook. Fortunately, I always have ginger, garlic and onion in the pantry no matter what else finishes, so I was kind of sorted with the recipe. The curry turned out superb, perfect to inebriate my spirits. It was well spiced, tangy and perfect to tickle the taste buds.

During the course of cooking I got a thought that the chickpeas with pickled spice blend might taste great with the paav, the thought led me to remove a portion of the dry chickpea achaari, with which I intended to make a sandwich later on. The Achaari Chickpea Sandwich was quite different & innovative. It turned out very tasty and the kid loved it.

CHICKPEAS IN PICKLED SPICES | ACHAARI CHANA

Soaking Time:4-6hrs | Preparation Time: 1hour | Cooking Time: 30mins | Serves: 6-8 | Difficulty Level: Moderate

Ingredients

3-1/2cups Cooked Chickpeas

4 medium sized tomatoes/ 250gms yogurt

8-10 baby potatoes (optional)

2 medium size red onions

a large handful of fresh coriander

6-8 green chilies (spicy version)

1/4tsp red chili powder (optional)

4-5 garlic flakes

2” piece ginger

salt to taste

about 1/2cup oil

1/2tsp dry mango powder (optional)

Pickle Spices

1-1/2tsp Fennel seeds

1tsp cumin seeds

1tsp onion seeds (kalounji)

3/4tsp mustard seeds

3/4tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)

Method

Wash the dry chickpeas (about 1-3/4cups) and soak them in water for 4-6 hours. Pressure cook them with some salt to taste and a pinch of soda bicarbonate, till tender. This takes about 25mins. What I normally do is that I let the cooker attain full pressure on high flam, then reduce the flame and cook it on low flame for about 15-20mins.

Dry roast the pickle spices on a low flame for 5mins, cool and grind them together. I have powdered here but one can keep it coarse too. Fill the spice mix in slit green chilies and the spice mix left after filling be kept aside to be used later.

Roughly chop the onion, tomatoes and coriander.

Grind together onion, garlic and cleaned ginger to a paste.

Similarly grind together tomatoes and coriander.

Heat oil and tip in the stuffed green chilies and sauté lightly for a few seconds.

Add the onion-ginger-garlic paste and sauté properly on low flame till oil separates.

Add turmeric, chili powder and the remaining spice mix and cook for a minute. Add the chili powder only if you believe that the green chilies are not spicy enough. Sauté for a few minutes.

Add the tomato-coriander paste and cook till done. Add salt to taste and dry mango powder. Cook till oil separates.

Tip in the boiled and drained chickpeas. The drained water should not be thrown as it is used later to make the gravy. Mix thoroughly and cook under cover for a few minutes. At this stage when the curry was dry, I removed a small portion to make the Achaari Chana Sandwich.

Add the halved potatoes (this is completely optional) and about 2cups of the drained chickpea water. Bring the gravy to a boil and cook after covering with a lid for about 15-20mins. One can keep the gravy thick or thin as per their choice.

For The Achaari Chana Sandwich

Take two whole wheat bread slices and spread a thick layer of achaari chana on one bread slice. Top the chana with sliced onions and carrot juliennes. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Cover it with the second bread slice. Heat a panini grill and apply some olive spray. Grill the sandwich. Serve with some sauce/ green chutney and salad.

Sending the sandwich to my event ‘Only’ Sandwiches, burgers & Panini, guest hosted by Savi-Ruchi.

A few chickpeas recipes that you can try ..

Green Chickpeas Biryani

Hariyali Chana Masala

Garbanzo & Paneer Curry

*No Oil Chana & Instant Whole Wheat Bread Bhatura

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Red Beaten Rice & Potato Cutlets | Vegan | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

Hi All!!

A lot of thought process goes into creating a recipe and then a lot of creativity is involved in clicking the pictures. If you notice in all food magazines, food channels, food blogs or any food related websites, a lot of attention is give to food styling and food presentation. As it’s said, that you eat first with your eyes and then with the mouth, so it’s important that the food looks appealing and attracts you to try it. This is especially important when the food is presented in the virtual world where you can not really taste the food!!

One recipe rather one picture which was on the cover page of Good Food Magazine made me drool over it and I was so tempted to create a recipe similar to that and style it in a similar way, And finally after many months of postponing I’ve created a similar recipe in my style and made it more healthier. The original recipe was of a poha cutlet with a rasam dip. I’ve also made a poha cutlet only but instead of using the white version of poha (beaten rice) I opted for red, the more healthier one. Similarly, instead of the rasam dip, I made a tangy Mint chutney.

It was a recipe created for the kid’s lunch box. I need to make healthy and tasty food for the kid which would guarantee that he would finish it without making a fuss. It might sound funny but being a food blogger’s Mom brings in a lot of challenges too especially on deciding what goes into the lunch box, the food going into it can’t be compromised. To my delight, the kid’s lunch box is quite popular amongst his friends and they would demand to eat his lunch box most of the times, leaving him hungry. He would come home famished with a headache. Finally the kid acted smart and gave his classmates my blog id so that their Moms could cook recipes for them from my blog and they could also carry that in their lunch box. This has helped him to a certain extent.

Anyways, I had shaped the cutlets and refrigerated them so that in the morning I didn’t have to rush since I wanted to send them in kid’s lunch box. The kid happily carried this in his lunch box and he came back complaining again that he got only two pieces to eat and he wanted to eat more. He also said that it is one of the best cutlets that I have made and I should make them more regularly. I was more than happy to hear that, as my purpose was solved.. Thumbs up

Red Beaten Rice & Potato Cutlets

Preparation Time: 1hr | Cooking Time: 8mins/batch | Makes: 16 | Serves: 4 | Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients

1-1/2cups soaked thick red beaten rice

3 large potatoes

4-5 green chilies

4-5 garlic cloves

1inch piece ginger

salt to taste

handful of chopped coriander leaves

oil for shallow frying

Method

Wash the beaten rice several times with water and drain the water completely. Soak it for an hour.

Boil, peel and grate the potatoes.

Finely chop green chilies and coriander and grind ginger and garlic.

Crush the beaten rice with the fingers and add salt to taste. Also add the chili, ginger, garlic and coriander.

Mix together properly. Divide the mix into 16-18 portions. If you feel that the mix is too wet, you can add bread crumbs too.

Shape them into a ball and then flatten. Smoothen the edges.

Take a non stick pan and sprinkle a tea spoon of oil and heat it. Place 5-6 cutlets at a time and cook on a medium flame on both the sides till crisp and golden in color.

Serve with ketch up or Mint chutney.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy, hosted here.

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Tandoori Bhein Kebab (Lotus Stem Kebab) | Gluten Free | Vegan | Pregnancy Recipes | Step Wise |

Hi All!!

Ever since I’ve announced the current event in my blog, I’m nostalgic about my pregnancy days, so many memories but what I remember the most is my stay at Mom’s place..As a custom I had gone to stay with my parents by the end of 7th month. And friends custom or no custom, I personally feel that there can be no other place more comforting than parents home. Living your entire life with them, the ease and comfort one experiences that can’t be replaced by any other person or place especially when one is going through so many internal changes, one needs emotional support. The love, the attention parents shower on their daughter and the baby is unimaginable.

My parents were so excited to have me and tried all means to keep me happy. My happiness did manifold, when my Grandmother and my youngest first cousin R came down to stay with us. My Grandmother wanted to be there to enjoy my pregnancy and be there to guide me. Every day after my dad came back from office he would ask me what I would like to eat, and if I had any food cravings (which I normally never had) were fulfilled immediately. I was a pampered daughter for those two months of pregnancy..

One day I told my mom that I felt like eating Chirote. My Mom was a bit surprised with my demand, as I had avoided eating that dish for so many years and now in my pregnancy I was craving to eat it. Now, making Chirote was not an easy task but she made them for me. Then another day, I felt like eating dhirade (kind of pancakes) and my grandmother pampered me by making them for me. It was a delight to watch my Grandmother cook as she hardly cooked in those days.

But pregnancy was not only eating and hogging… I was quite particular about myself in those days. My day would start with a boiled egg and a glass of milk. Then I would eat a fruit around 10am (no papaya). Have proper lunch of rice, dal, sabzi , roti with salad & curds. Eat an apple and a glass of milk around 5pm and then have roti, curry and salad for dinner.

Till the end of my sixth month of pregnancy I would do sweeping and mopping regularly at home. All household chores were done by me. It was at the onset of my seventh month of pregnancy that I stopped mopping but sweeping continued. And from my eighth month I would walk 3kms everyday and even after moving with my Mum, my cousin R would accompany me for my walks. She was a friend to me that time though she is younger than me by 9yrs, but we hold a special bond. We would play cards, chat and watch TV together.

R is the youngest of all the siblings and had written her X boards and was awaiting her result. She had come to spend the summer vacation with me and in her was a caring sweet little sister. After the kid was born she would help me so much with the kid. She would love playing with him. I still can’t believe that she is married now and is on a family way. I promised her that I would post healthy and yet tasty dishes and that’s when I thought that I should help many more pregnant women by reaching out to them with my preparations and my experiences. So, I came up with this theme of ‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy..

I got hold of lotus stem recently during my Veggie shopping. I love the lotus stem and have posted a few recipes with it earlier too but for those who are not aware of it’s Health Benefits, they are:
· They are very rich in iron, which is required for RBC formation in blood.
· There is good amount of calcium also present, required for maintenance and repair of bones and teeth.
· Lotus stem is high in dietary fiber. It is highly recommended for pregnant women and people with chronic complain of constipation.
· The chlorophyll present in the stack acts as active anti oxidant to fight against cancer producing free radicals.

I thought of making a kebab with it. Ground lotus stem has a meaty texture, makes it perfect for making kebab. I used my tandoor to make the kebab but one can make them on a pan or oven too.

Tandoori Bhein (Lotus Stem) Kebab

Preparation Time: 1hour | Cooking Time: 5mins per batch | Makes: 16-18 | Serves: 4-5 | Difficulty Level: Moderate

Ingredients
3-4 lotus stems, peeled, sliced and boiled
1green chili
4-5garlic flakes
an inch piece ginger
1/2cup chutney dal/ puttani dal
3-4tbsp chopped mint
3/4cup fried onion
salt to taste
1/2tsp garam masala
3-4tbsp oil
2tsp lemon juice or amchoor (dry mango pwd) or any sour taste of your choice
Dry Spices:
1tbsp coriander pwd
1tsp cumin pwd
1tsp red chili pwd
Method

Pressure cook the lotus stem along with few slices of lemon for up to 5-6 whistles or after the pressure has set, cook on slow flame for 20mins. Adding lemon prevents discoloration of the stem.

Cool the stem, drain and grind it smooth.

Finely chop ginger, garlic and green chili (I used my hand mixer).

Heat 2tsp oil and sauté the ginger-garlic-chili mix. Add the dry spices,chutney dal and roast the mix lightly.

Grind the dal-spice mix along with fried onions and add it to the lotus stem.

Add garam masala, lemon juice, salt to taste, a tablespoon oil and chopped mint. Mix thoroughly.
Take large marble size portion, make a ball, flatten and shape the kebab.

Preheat the tandoor or griddle. Brush oil on both the sides of the kebab and place it in the tandoor or roast on the griddle on both the sides, till you see dark spots. This kebab looks darker as the color of the stem itself after boiling is brownish plus the fried onions add the dark color.
Sprinkle chaat masala. Serve hot with salad and green chutney.

Sending this to my event ‘Only’ Food For Pregnancy, hosted here.
Tips
If you find that the kebab mix is very moist then add more of ground chutney dal or add some bread. But moist mix give succulent kebabs.
While frying onions be careful that you don’t burn them else it will spoil the taste with the bitterness.

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Banana Rings | Monsoon Special | Gluten Free | Shravan Special | Tea Time Snacks | Dairy Free | Step Wise Tutorial

Hi All!!

It’s been about two years now that I’m off a full time job. At times I do feel that my monetary contribution to the family is very less as compared to my husband, who works really hard to run this family but when I see that I’m able to feed the family with a variety of food, take care of house hold chores, paying all the bills and many more things which are not even noticed, all those negative thoughts are thrown out of the mind. And the most important contribution which I feel is, that I’m able to connect with the kid, give him time.

My younger kid who has just entered his teens is a lonely kid these days, with no company for him in the society we live… I’m his person. The minute he enters home after the school, he wants to be with me. He has to tell me what happened in the school, which friend did what, what subjects they studied, which movie they watched during break, who ate his lunch box and the comments his friends gave for the lunch box..

Apparently the kid’s lunch box is quite popular amongst his friends and they look forward to eat his food. My kid told me that his friends say that ‘your Mom makes excellent food dude’. He feels proud of his Mom and is glad that I cook good food and give him tasty lunch box. All these small compliments that I receive, they keep me going and I thrive to try new varieties and improve my culinary skills.

With the onset of teenage, the kid has his mood swings and is turning to be a fussy eater. Unlike earlier, he is more fond of Pizza, burger, nachos and all kinds of fast food and my attempt is to sneak in nutritive food in the so called junk food.. But I’m glad he is fond of parathas, so end up making a variety of those, these days. In one of his demands he said that you don’t make anything fried these days…Hmm, I agree to that, I thought…So, today it’s been cloudy mostly and it was a perfect weather to eat fried. Every time it has rained, I’ve been mentioning to S that it’s perfect weather to make fritters. Finally, today I made a fritter, the recipe of which has been adapted from a book called Indian Home style Cooking by Sushma KK. Again, it’s a rarely seen book these days, which again, I had picked at Reliance Time Out, Gurgaon. The pictures are not so great in the book but the recipes are..

This particular recipe is again without any ginger, garlic or onion. Perfect for Chaturmaas. It can be good tea time snack, a good starter for parties and even for lunch box too (sometimes)..