Hi All!

Cooking food is all about experimenting with new ingredients and flavors. I’m decently good at mix matching flavors and ingredients. Most of the times the experiments are quite successful and rarely disastrous. A few days back the kids came back after playing soccer and were very hungry. The younger one demanded to make something very interesting and new. 

 

My mom always says that a good cook is a one who is able to cook good and tasty food from the ingredients available. So though my little grey cells were not of much help that day I still did not give up.I quickly rummaged through my fridge and pantry. My fridge was completely out of veggies and had two corn cobs staring at me. In the pantry, I knew I had a few ready to use pastes which were to be finished fast before expiry, amongst that was also the Thai Curry Paste.

I thought of making something using the two. I quickly removed the corn using my corn peeler and crushed it in the mixer.I must say that the corn peeler is one tool which I simply love. I added the Thai curry paste to the corn and tasted the mix, it tasted good so decided to make patty of the mix. I needed a binding agent, so used the potato flakes. I have started loving these flakes, they are so useful when one is  in a hurry. I gradually added the flakes and adjusted the consistency.

The Tikkis turned out tasty and  I kept 2pieces for S to taste. He liked it so much and was  disappointed that I left only two pieces for him to sample. Since the mix of the tikki turned out tasty, I thought of posting it so clicked the pics in a hurry with two children hovering over me with hunger. So, pls do not assess my pics critically.

Thai Corn Tikki

Serves:4

Preparation Time:10-15mins

Cooking Time:15mins

 

Ingredients

2 American corn, grated

2tsp Thai green curry paste

1-1/2cups potato flakes

1tsp red chili flakes

salt to taste

oil for shallow frying

Method

Remove the sweet corn from the cob and grind it coarsely.

To the corn, add the green curry paste and red chili flakes.

Add potato flakes gradually, these will absorb the moisture present in the corn. If required add a little water.

Take ping pong ball size mixture and wet the palm. Flatten it and shape it to like a tikki on the palm.

Smoothen the edges and shallow fry on both the sides till golden in colour.

Remove on a kitchen towel and serve hot with tomato sauce.

These tikkis are perfect finger foods for the kids. They are healthy and tasty too. If required one can omit the addition of chili flakes. I have added it solely because my kids love spice and corn has a sweet taste, the chili flakes balances that.

Sending it to Healthy Foods For Healthy Children- Preschooler snacks guest hosted here and originally the brainchild of Nithu.

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Spinach Blintzes

          I have seen these blintzes only in the frozen section of the grocery store, they have both the sweet and savory versions of it, I had tried the potato blintzes once, long time back and then totally forgot about them. I had stuffed pancakes in my mind when I started making this but finally ended up with these blintzes. They turned out to be extremely delicious, try it for a relaxed weekend breakfast or brunch or also as an evening snack for kids..

Need To Have
For The Outer Layer

• All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
• Whole Wheat Flour - 1/2 cup
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon

For The Filling

• Chopped Spinach - 1 cup
• Onions - 2 chopped
• Potato - 1 medium
• Chilly Flakes - 1/2 teaspoon
• Feta Cheese - 2 oz

Method 
          Mix all the ingredients given for the outer layer with water to form a thin batter, leave it in the fridge  for an hour. Coming to the filling, boil, peel and mash the potato. Then heat some oil, add the onions, saute till they turn pink, then add the spinach and the chilly flakes, cover and cook the spinach for 5 minutes. Add the mashed potatoes, mix well, finally add the feta cheese. This is the same filling that I used for the spinach feta cheese puffs, in fact I made these blintzes from the leftover filling. Now take out the batter from the fridge, heat an omlette pan, pour a small ladle of the batter, swirl the pan to spread it, cook on both sides till light brown spots appear, remove and keep. Now take one crepe, place a little filling on one end, fold the two sides of the crepe slightly, then roll from the end where you have placed the filling. Now grease a pan with a little oil, place these rolls and cook them on all sides till the light brown spots become a little darker. Remove and serve it warm with some tomato sauce.
Sending it to Cooks' Joy for Valli's Kid's Delight - Evening Snacks/Tiffin event.

Note
Refrigerating the batter for an hour before making the crepes, gives non sticky crepes, so don't skip this step.
Also place the filling on the side that you cooked first, so that the side that you cooked second will be the one that shows out after rolling, this is the side that looks good.

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Beets And Soy Briyani

          Beets And Soy Briyani, this is again an one pot meal, with all your veggies and protein in one, you get them from the beets and the soy chunks that's added to the rice. I love the color of beets, in fact kids would like to have this dish just for that. Serve it with some cucumber raitha and pappads or chips for a complete meal, also a good lunch box idea..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup
• Soy Chunks - 11/2 to 2 cups
• Beets - 1 cup chopped
• Onion - 1 big chopped
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Mint Leaves - a handful
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cinnamon Stick - 1" piece
• Cloves - 2
• Star Anise - 1
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Cardamom - 2

Method
           Soak the basmati rice for 1/2 an hour. Boil water, add the soy chunks, till immersed, switch off and cover and keep it for half an hour, then squeeze the excess water and chop them if too big. Heat some oil, add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cardamom and bay leaves, when the cardamom starts spluttering, add the onions, saute till they turn pink, then add the ginger and garlic, saute for 3 or 4 minutes till the raw smell goes away. Then add the tomatoes, saute for 2 more minutes, add the turmeric, chilli and coriander powders, mix well, then add the beets, soy chunks, salt, garam masala and the mint leaves, give one final mix. Add 3 cups of water, when it starts to boil, reduce the heat and cover and cook. When almost all the water is gone, switch off and leave it covered and undisturbed for at least half an hour. Serve it warm with some raitha and chips.
Sending it to Cooks' Joy for Kalyani's Kitchen Chronicles - Only Vegan event

Note
Can add some peppercorns along with cardamom, if you want it to be more spicy. 
Taste the water added to the rice for the salt level, it should be a little salty, that way once cooked the briyani will be perfect, if you try mixing salt to the cooked rice, then it will become mushy.

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Event Announcement: ‘Healthy Food For Healthy Kids’-Preschooler Snacks

Hi All!

I’m on a event hosting spree as I’m announcing the second event which I’m hosting this month, I’ve already announced ‘Only’ Event of this month here.The new event that I’m guest hosting is called Healthy Food For Healthy Kids and is the brain child of Nithu of Nithu’s Kitchen.

When Nithu asked blogger’s to guest host her event few month’s back, I readily jumped to grab the opportunity as cooking for kids is something I love to do and also that, I rarely get a chance and time to host other events. Thanks so much Nithu for trusting me with your event.

Preschooler children lie in the age group of 2.5-3.5years. This age group children at times are  fussy eaters, parents really have to cajole them to eat food. This is the age when the children have just begun to explore the use of their fingers to eat food and hence they can be messy eaters.They are best at eating finger foods especially the dry kind. Small bites of food which they can hold and eat easily are the best for these children.

Parents to this age group children have to be extra careful with their diet as the kids grow very fast at this age. They need a diet rich in Calcium and Iron for proper growth.So, snacks or finger foods play an important role in providing them proper nutrition. Snacks which are small in size, easy to hold, tasty and rich in nutrients are the best for the preschoolers. Such snacks when given in their snack box can be easily eaten by them at the preschool or playgroup too.

The snack could be sweet or savory based on your kid’s liking but it has to be healthy and tasty which is a pre-requisite making this event very challenging.So don your chef’s cap and work with your grey cells tuned ‘ON’ and innovate healthy snacks for the preschoolers.

Rules  For the Event:
1. Post a vegetarian (eggs are allowed) healthy preschooler snacks recipe suitable for children between 2.5 years to 3.5 years of age between 10th July and 10th August-2012.
2. Give a link to my event announcement and Nithu's event announcement in your post. Logo is mandatory  as it helps spread word.
3. Don't worry if you have your recipes in your archives. Just update any post of this month with a link to your archived recipe and then link your post to this announcement and Nithu's event announcement page.

4. Link your entries to the linky tool provided below. In case you are not able to link your entries, mail me your entries to cookingoodfood@gmail.com with the subject line as ‘Healthy Food for Healthy Kids-Preschooler Snacks' with the following details.
Name :
Blog’s Name :
Recipe Name :
Recipe URL :
5. Non-bloggers are also welcome to send the recipes. Send recipe in full with the picture and the same subject line as above to the above mentioned email id.
6. Person who sends highest number of entries will be declared as the Winner of the Month. A Personalized winner badge will be awarded to you by Nithu, which you can proudly post in your blog.
7. I'll acknowledge your entries within 3 days (unless there’s an emergency) else will leave a comment in this announcement.

Good luck to all and Happy Cooking.

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Oats Upma

         As I have already said, oats is " no, no " food at my home, both the husband and daughter can't have it in the porridge form, but give it to them in the form of this oats upma or the pancakes that I have posted here, they are fine. In fact, my daughter always asks me whether it is scrambled eggs, I think because of the texture or also from the flavor of the red capsicum that I add to this, whatever it is, this makes up for a healthy breakfast..

Need To Have

• Quick Cooking Oats - 3 cups
• Onion - 1 big chopped
• Red Capsicum - 1 chopped
• Tomatoes - 2 chopped
• Grated Ginger - 1 tablespoon
• Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Or Black Gram Dal - 1 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 1/4 cup

Method
          Sprinkle some water on the oats and mix it, it should be like wet bread crumbs like texture. This I learnt from  Sashiga's blog. Now heat some oil, add the mustard, cumin and urad dal, once it starts spluttering, start adding the onions, saute till they turn pink. Then add the tomatoes, red capsicum, red chilli powder, salt  and the ginger, saute them well for 2 to 3 minutes. Then mix in the oats, sprinkle some water, cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, but checking after every 2 or 3 minutes. If it seems dry, sprinkle some more water, cover and cook. Finally, add the chopped coriander, mix and serve warm.

Notes
Don't add all the water at once to the oats, only sprinkle.
Cook it on low heat, so that the oats doen't stick to the pan.

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Jain Style, Stuffed Eggplant-Version IV, Step Wise

Hi All!!

I’m so glad that I announced ‘Only’ Microwave Cooking as the theme of this month, as it is giving me a platform to explore my culinary skills using the Microwave, which otherwise I would have conveniently avoided or postponed since I’m so much comfortable cooking on the gas stove.

I used to cook very frequently in the Microwave while I was working, as I found that the cooking was fast and I could keep the vegetables to cook in the Microwave and finish other chores at the same time. There was no fear that I might burn the veggies in that rush hour due to my negligence..

During chaturmasa i.e the four months of monsoon, onions were avoided at my granny’s place. Yesterday, while speaking with my cousin P, she mentioned that at her In Law’s place too they follow Chaturmasa rules, so onion, garlic and she also mentioned that she was going to try the Delicious Cucumber-Tomato Raita, that I posted recently, as it has no onion or garlic. Then, while discussing food recipes, I mentioned to her that I made Stuffed Eggplant without any ginger-garlic-onion, in the microwave and it was ready in 15mins. I alo mentioned to her that it would be perfect for her family to try during these months of Chaturmasa...

So, dear P, here’s the recipe and I also want to wish my dear little Sis Puja on her birthday today, I know Puja would like this preparation too for it has no garlic or onion..

Jain Style Stuffed Eggplant

Preparation Time:15mins

Cooking Time:10mins

Serves:4

Ingredients

For Stuffing

8tbsp roasted peanuts
2tbsp whole coriander seeds
1tsp cumin
1tbsp roasted cumin pwd
2tsp red chili pwd
1/2tsp turmeric pwd
2tsp amchoor pwd
3/4tsp goda masala
1tbsp jaggery
salt to taste
a pinch of heeng
2tsp oil

Others

350-400gms small eggplants
2-3tsp oil for cooking
1/2tsp mustard seeds

Method

Grind together coriander seeds and cumin, coarsely. Add peanuts and grind coarsely.

Mix all ingredients except eggplants to make the stuffing. Adding Jaggery is optional, but I prefer adding it as it mellows down the strong flavor of eggplant. This was a my granny’s tip and I always use it.

Give a ‘X’ cut on the eggplants and stuff them properly with the stuffing mix. While giving a cut on the eggplants, check for any cavities inside in the flesh. While buying small eggplants, always buy them of the same size, as they get cooked evenly.

Put oil in a microwave safe bowl and heat it on 100% microwave for a minute. I’ve used little oil while cooking as peanuts which are used to make the stuffing, also release their oil while cooking.

Add mustard seeds and microwave again for a minute on 100% microwave. Please remember, mustard seeds do not splutter in the microwave.

Tip in the stuffed eggplants and the remaining stuffing mix into the oil, mix thoroughly.

Cover the container and cook it covered for 4mins on 100%microwave.

Add half cup water and mix thoroughly.

Cook covered on 100%microwave for 4-5minutes and let the vegetable stand covered for 10minutes. Standing time is important in microwave cooking as the food continues to cook under steam and heat.

Serve hot with phulka.
Sending this to
1. Show me your Curry hosted by Divya of Dil Se..


2. Spotlight" "Curries/Gravies" { Recipe Junction }

3. "Let's Party - Fusion Food"

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Capsicum Tofu

          I don't know how long it's going to take for me to really get used to my new kitchen, I miss my old one, it's been so long since I have cooked something interesting, miss my cooking and clicking. Hope I'll settle down soon, I know everything is in the mind and takes some time. Coming to today's dish, Capsicum Tofu, again it's something that I had made long time back, a very easy and nutritious dish, goes very well with rotis or with some Chinese fried rice or even with any pilaf..

Need To Have

• Extra Firm Tofu cubes - 1 cup
• Capsicum - 1 big chopped
• Onions - 2 medium chopped
• Chilli Powder - 3/4 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Method
          Heat some oil and saute the tofu cubes till they are turn golden, remove and drain. Again heat some oil, add the chopped onions, saute for a few minutes till they turn transparent, then add the chopped capsicum, saute for 2 more minutes. Now add the turmeric and chilli powders and salt, mix cover and cook for 5 mins. Finally, add the fried tofu cubes, give one last mix, remove and serve it warm.
Sending it to Cuisine Delights for the Spotlight - Curries/Gravies event.

Note
You can toast a big piece of tofu in a little oil and then cube it, it'll be easier this way to flip it to cook it on both sides. 

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