Rasedar Aloo Tamatar (Pressure Cooker)

This sabji is usually children's favourite.

At my home, its like my last-minute saviour. when i dont want to spend much time in kitchen, i opt for this sabji.

Usually people don't use kasoori methi in this sabji but adding it gives this sabji a feeling and taste of 'poori wali aloo ki sabji'.

Serves - 4
Cooking time - 13 min
Preparation time - 5 min

Ingredients :

Potatoes (peeled, diced and washed) - 4 cups
Tomato - 4 (it should yield 1 1/2 cup puree)
Water - 3 cups
Oil- 1 tbsp
Cumin Seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing) - a pinch
Turmeric Powder (Haldi) - 3/4 tsp
Coriander Powder (dhaniya powder) - 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp
Kasoori Methi - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Procedure - 

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker.
2. Crackle the cumon seeds and asafoetida.
3. Add all the spices.
4. Add fresh tomato puree.
5. Let it cook for 3-4 min on medium flame.
6. Add potatoes and water.
7. Close the lid properly.
8. Wait for first whistle and slow down the heat to lowest.
9. After 8 min, turn off the flame.
10. Open the pressure cooker and mash some of the potato pieces with the back of a spoon. (This makes the gravy thick) 
11. Garnish with coriander (optional)
12. Rasedar aloo tamatar is ready to serve. 

Lauki Ka Halwa (Low fat)

Made up of bottle-gourd and milk, this dessert is a traditional dish of North India. Many people also call it 'Ghiya ki Lauz' or 'Lauki ki lauz'.
It is very easy to prepare, even beginners can make it with perfection, though cooking time is a bit long.
Lauki ki barfi is also prepared the same way, the only difference is that the final product of barfi is drier than halwa. I find halwa tastier than barfi.. may be because of its juicy, wet texture.
This dessert can be served warm or cold, both ways it tastes ultimately delicious!!
Tip -  If anyone in your family doesnt like bottlegourd, then instead of green colour, put red colour and tell them its gajar ka halwa.. no-one will get to know 

Preparation time - 15 min
Cooking time - 45 min
Makes - 6 servings

Ingredients - 

Bottlegourd (Lauki/Doodhi) - 500 gm
Toned Milk - 1 Litre
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Colour - 5-6 drops

Procedure -

1. Peel and grate bottlegourd.
2. In a deep, heavy bottom pan, heat milk. Bring it to boil. Lower the flame. Let the milk reduce for 10 min.
3. Add grated bottle gourd and cardamom powder.
4. Cook till the mixture gets thick, stirring occasionally. Make sure your spatula reaches the bottom of the pan while stirring, otherwise the food content may stick to the bottom and get butrnt, spoiling the whole recipe.
5. Add sugar and green colour, mix thoroghly.
6. Cook till all the liquid evaporates.
7. Serve hot or cold.
8. Refrigerate when it has cooled down completely.

Tip - 

1. Garnish with dry-fruits or nuts like raisins, almonds and cashew nuts.
2. If making for kids, use full-fat milk.
3. Rose water can also be used as a flavouring agent instead of cardamom. Add it in the last.

Capsicum Stir-fry (Quick recipe)

This sabji is prepared using very little spices. Everytime i make this dish, i get amazed by its taste and texture. I get delighted by the feeling that how can so simple ingredients result in such a relishing dish. Aloo-simla mirch is common in indian cuisine, this time when you buy capsicum, try this recipe and trust me you wont be disappointed.

Preparation time - 5 min
Cooking time - 10 min

Ingredients -

Capsicum (diced into 1" cubes) - 1 1/2  cups
Onion  (diced into 1" cubes) -  1 cup
Tomatoes (pureed) - 1/2 cup [2 tomatoes pureed in a mixer]
Tomatoes (cut into 1" cubes) - 1/2 cup
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Procedure - 

1. Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
2. Saute onions till translucent pink.
3. Add capsicum, pureed tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder and sugar. Cook till capsicum is tender but should not loose its crunch.
4. Add tomato ketchup. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if required.
5. Turn off the flame then add tomato cubes.
6. Leave the pan uncovered for 10 min, as covering it with a lid will further soften the capsicum to spoil its crunchiness.
7. Capsicum stir-fry is ready to serve!

Tips -

• If you like spicy food, you can add 1 tsp chilli sauce in addition to tomato ketchup.
• Paneer cubes, if added, gives an exotic appeal to this recipe.

       

Pyaz kachori

Makes - 12 kachoris

Ingredients :

For the dough -

Maida (All purpose flour) - 2 cups
Refined oil - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 tsp

For the onion filling -

Onions (thinly sliced) - 3 cups
Potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed) - 1-1/4 cup
Cumin Seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
Corriander (dhaniya) powder - 1/2 tsp
Fennel (saunf) powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder - 1/4 tsp
Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Oil to deep fry

Procedure -
1. Sieve Maida. Put salt and pour oil over maida and rub the flour between your palms to mix the oil into the maida. Use water to make a soft dough. Knead for 2 min. Cover the dough with an inverted bowl and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
3. Crackle the cumin seeds.
4. Saute onions till translucent pink.

5. Turn off the flame.

6. Add rest of the ingredients. Mix very well. Filling looks like like the pic below.

7. Divide the filling and dough into 12 equal portions.
8. Using a little dry all purpose flour (maida), roll out one ball of maida-dough into a thin circle like we roll out a thin chapati.
9. Place one portion of filling in the centre of chapati.

10. Lift the edges of the chapati and fold them towards centre over the filling.
11. Seal the edges thoroughly. Make sure, there are no crevices while folding.

12. Again roll it out 2-3 times using a very little pressure (otherwise the filling will peep out) to get the shape and size of a kachori.
13. Repeat steps 8 to 12 to make 11 more kachoris.
14. Heat oil on high flame in a deep kadhai and then on sim flame deep fry the kachoris. Turn the kachori upside down after every 3-4 min. Each kachori takes about 15 min to get golden-brown and crisp.

15. Serve immediately. 

Tip : You can prepare the kachoris before hand and re-heat on a low convection mode at the time of serving.

Tutti Frutti Cake (Microwave & Eggless)

This cake is an all-time favorite dish for all the age groups. You can prepare it on any ocassion without giving any second thought.

The tutty-fruity on the icing was so eye-catching and attractive that my three-year old daughter didnt want the cake to be cut :) Another snap-shot of the cake is :

 Ingredients -

Maida (all purpose flour) –  2 cups

Sugar – 1 cup

Butter – 1 cup

Baking Powder – ½ tsp

Soda-bi-carb – ½ tsp

Honey – 2 tsp

Curd – 2 tsp

Milk – 1 cup

Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Green color – 5-6 drops

Tutti - Frutti (red & green) – 2 tbsp

Icing –

Whipped cream – 4 cups

Tutty – Fruity – 2 tbsp

Soaking Syrup ( 2 tsp powder sugar dissolved completely in 1/2 cup water)

Procedure –

• Mix and sieve the maida, soda bicarb, and baking powder thrice.
• In the big mixer jar, put butter, sugar and milk and pulse it for 20 seconds.
• Now add the sift flour to the mixer jar and pulse it for next 30 seconds. Using a Spatula try to reach the corners of the jar and release the dry flour (unmixed) sticking there.
• Add honey and curd, pulse for 5 seconds.
• Add essence and color, pulse again for 15 seconds.
• Add tutty-fruity and mix using spatula. Do not pulse this time.
• Grease and dust a microwave safe dish with 7" diameter.
• Pour batter in the dish.
• Microwave on 60% power for 10 min.
• Check if the cake is sooked completely by inserting a tooth-pick in the centre of the cake. If the tooth-pick comes out clean, it means cake is done. If not, then microwave for 1 minute more at 60% power. (Time varies from machine to machine)
• Allow to stand-by for 10 min.
• Unmold the cake sponge on a wire rack and leave it to cool down completely.
• Slice the cake sponge horizontally into 2 equal parts.
• Pour the half the soaking syrup on the bottom layer of the cake sponge.
• Spread 1 cup cream over it.
• Pour the remaining soaking syrup on the top layer of cake sponge and place it carefully on the other layer.
• Spread all the remaining cream on the sides and top of the cake sponge using a spatula.
• Be creative and use piping bag to decorate your cake with some nice design and at last sprinkle some tutty-fruity to add a pop of colour to the cake.
• Keep refrigerated till use.

 

Paneer Wraps - Low Fat & Healthy Breakfast

Paneer Wrap

These wraps are so tempting and irresistible that you would like to add it to your weekly breakfast plan. The plus point here is that the recipe is very easy and quick. You can do most of the preparation a night before.

When I make this recipe, I always prefer to make this sabji- chinese style cabbage stir-fry for the dinner with some extra cabbage so that I can use the leftover sabji for 'paneer wrap' in the break-fast. Dough and Low fat paneer can also be prepared a night before and keep in the refrigerator. So, on a hurried morning I just need to cook the chapati and assemble the wrap.

To keep the fat-content in check, I've use home made low fat paneer. Also I've used whole wheat chapati, unlike the street food where they use oily lachha paranthas to make this wrap. So the overall outcome is a good deal of healthy and yummy break fast.

Makes : 1 Paneer wrap
Preparation Time : 5 min
Cooking Time : 2 min

Things Required :

things required for paneer wrap

As the above image clearly shows, we'll need

• 1 tsp tomato ketchup
• 1/2 tsp chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp 1 inch long, thin strips of low fat paneer
• 2 tbsp Chinese style cabbage stir fry
• 1/2 tsp fresh coriander (finely chopped)
• Whole wheat dough for 1 chapati
• Aluminium foil

Procedure -

1. Roll out a chapati using the whole wheat dough and cook on both the sides on a hot griddle/tawa using a cotton handkerchief.

2. Place the cooked chapati on a plate. Spread tomato ketchup and chilli sauce and then put chinese style cabbage stir-fry and fresh coriander across the centre of the chapati. Like this :

3. Over this arrange the low fat paneer slices side by side in a queue.

4. Fold over both the sides and wrap half the roll with aluminium foil.

5. Serve immediately.

Tip : Assemble the wrap just before serving as it may turn soggy becuase of the layer of sauces inside.

Chinese style Cabbage Stir-fry

Add caption

A very quick recipe. Just takes about 7-8 minutes to get cooked and preparation time is as much as you spend in shredding your cabbage. I never opt for cutting the cabbage, rather I prefer to use a slicer to get fine and equal shreds and the job is done in barely 2 minutes.

This sabji can be served as a side dish with whole wheat parathas. I use the left-over sabji to make paneer wraps for a healthy breakfast.

Preparation Time : 2 min
Cooking Time : 2 min
Serves : 2

Ingredients -

Cabbage (shredded) - 4 cups
Oil - 1 tsp
Soy Sauce - 1 tsp
Tomato Ketchup - 1 tbsp
Chilli Sauce/red chilli powder/green chilies (finely chopped)- to taste
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Fresh Coriander (finely chopped) - 1 tbsp (for the garnish)

Procedure -

1. Heat oil in a non-stick deep pan.
2. Add cabbage and salt. Saute for 5 min on medium-high flame. Keep stirring continuously.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix and Saute for 2 minutes more.
4. Taste the veggie and adjust the seasoning.
5. Garnish with coriander and serve.

Tip - The end result should not be completely cooked cabbage, rather it should be crunchy (semi-cooked) and spicy.