Paratha Recipe

Paratha

This one is a very simple recipe. Just combine everything together and roll out! 🙂

Recently, I heard a friend mentioning, how her parathas don’t turn out well. How I do it is – I heat my pan real hot while I roll out the paratha.. Add the rolled out dough, to the hot pan, and simmer the gas. Increase the heat as I flip it over. Repeat the flip, while keeping the flame constant. I add the ghee / oil second time around (flip).

If you do it differently, do leave it as a feedback 🙂 Meanwhile, here’s a paratha recipe using 3 different flours…

 

Wheat flour – 2 cups

Maize flour – 1 cup

Gram flour – 1 cup (besan)

Salt – 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Green chili – 1 tbsp

Fresh coriander – 1 and half tbsp

Ginger – 1 tsp (minced)

Onions – 1 medium ( finely chopped)

Clarified butter – 2 tbsp (ghee)

Water

1. Mix all the above ingredients by adding water little by little
2. You should have a hard ball of dough. (do not add too much water)
3. Make balls of dough of equal proportions
4. Roll them out thick with the help of wheat flour (for dusting)
5. Fry them on a hot pan both sides twice. Apply ghee on your second time flip.
6. Serve hot with mint chutney / pickle / plain yogurt / dal

 

*if the pan is too hot simmer the gas

* instead of onions, you can add chopped spinach / fenugreek leaves

 

Till next time…. happy cooking! 🙂 

 

Bean Salad

Bean Salad Pic: Priya Q

 

To make my experience with salad making interesting, I experiment. This is one such experiment which turned out well and I thought of sharing this with you 🙂

Beans – 100 gms (boiled with little salt) – I used broad beans

Red bell pepper – 1 no ( chopped into small chunks)

Processed Cheese cube / any hard cheese of your choice – cut into chunks

Mixed herbs – 1/2 to 1 tsp  (I used Russian spice which was a mix of oregano, thyme, parsley and fenugreek leaves)

1. Toss everything together and your delicious salad is ready.
2. Serve warm or cold!

Till next time….happy cooking!

 

Shahi Paneer

Shahi Paneer (white gravy) Pic: Priya Q

My old diary is a treasure trove of recipes I jotted down way back when I was a teenager – some from television, some from mom / aunts. Whether it was then or now, my interest in cooking still lies in making something unusual; something one doesn’t make it on a daily basis. Here is one such recipe for Paneer / cottage cheese. The gravy is white and smells & tastes great!

Paneer / Cottage Chesse – 200 gms (cut into triangles)

Cashew – 8 to 10 nos (broken into pieces)

Green chilli – 3 nos (finely chopped)

Onions – 2-3 nos (medium sized) – chopped into big chunks

Garlic – 5-6 flakes

Ginger – 4 tbsp or roughly a 12 mm piece

Cardamom – 2-3 nos

Cloves – 2 nos

Cinnamon stick – about 1 inch

Bay leaf – 1 no

Dry red chilli – 1 no

Dry coriander seeds – 1 tsp

Curd / Plain Yogurt – 1 cup

Sugar – 1/2 tsp

Ghee / Clarified Butter – 2 Tbsp

Coriander – for garnish

Salt to taste

 

1. Make ginger garlic paste adding little bit of water. Keep aside
2. Roughly / coarsely grind coriander seeds and red chilli. Keep aside
3. Boil onions in 3/4 cup of water. When cooked and trasparent; drain
4. Blend drained onions and cashew into fine paste in a mixer
5. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan and add – cardamom, cloves, bay leaf, cinnamon and fry for few seconds
6. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for few minutes
7. Now add the onion and cashew paste and fry well
8. Add chopped green chilli and fry well
9. Add the ground coriander and chilli powder and continue frying
10. Simmer gas flame. Now add beaten curd and salt. Continue cooking on low flame till curd gets cooked and incorporated
11. Add chopped fresh coriader
12. Finally add paneer and suagr
13. Serve with chappatis (Indian bread) / parathas

 

Till next time … have fun cooking 🙂

Mushroom Rice

Mushroom Rice Pic: Priya Q

From time and again, I try to include as many quick and easy recipes on my blog as possible. In this fast age when time has become luxury, such quick healthy recipes often comes to our rescue…Try the Mushroom rice or pulao/pilaf out.

 

Basmati Rice – 1 cup (cleaned, soaked for 20 minutes)

Mushrooms – 100 gms

Onions – 1/2 cup (finely chopped)

Fresh Coriander – 2-3 tbsp (finely chopped)

Clarified butter / ghee – 2-3 tbsp

Cumin – 1/4 tsp

Cardamom (green / black ) – 1 to 2 nos

Cinammon stick – 1

Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Water – 2 cups

 

1. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed vessel and add cumin, cinnamon stick, cardamom and onions. Saute till onions are slightly brown
2. Drain rice and add it to the vessel and fry
3. Add Mushroom and turmeric powder and fry for 2 minutes
4. Add water and bring to a boil
5. Add salt, mix, close the vessel and simmer the gas
6. Cook till the water is absorbed and the rice is done
7. Add coriander leaves and gently stir withou breaking the rice grains. If the need be use a fork
8. Serve hot with raita / plain yogurt and pickle

 

till next time…have fun cooking!

For that quiet evening…Simply and Yummy Carrot Soup

Carrot Soup Pic: Priya Q

It was raining, the breeze was cool and I had a sudden desire to have hot soup. Guess what I made…tada! Carrot soup..thick, full of flavor…its divine…check out the recipe! 🙂

 

Carrot – 4 nos (large sized)

Onion – 1 no (medium sized)

Split red lentils – 1/2 cup

Vegetable or chicken stock – 4-5 cups

Fresh coriander – few tsp

Fresh cream or bread cubes(fried in butter) – few tsp (for garnish)

Salt & pepper for seasoning

 

1. Peel and cube the carrots and roughly chop the onions
2. Wash and soak lentils in water for minimum 1/2 hour
3. Heat oil and saute onions in it for about 5 minutes
4. Add carrots and cook for few minutes until they get soft
5. Add lentils to the carrot
6. Add stock to above and bring to boil
7. Simmer the heat, cover vessel and cook till lentils are cooked
8. Add 1-2 tsp of fresh coriander and set the mixture aside to cool
9. Blend this mixture into fine puree (do this in two batches if required)
10. Return the puree to the pan and bring it a boil
11. Spoon it into bowls, garnish with with fresh cream /bread cubes and fresh coriander
12. Serve

 

till next time…have fun cooking!

(is there any recipe you would specifically want to know? …do let me know! :))

(follow Akshayapatram on Facebook)

 

 

 

 

Potato Soup

Potato Soup Pic: Priya Q

Here’s yet another simple and yummy soup that you can try at home..

Potato – 3 nos (big sized)

Onion – 1 no (roughly chopped)

Garlic – 3-4 flakes (roughly chopped)

Green / black peppercorn – 3-4 nos

Oregano- 2 tsp

Vegetable/chicken stock – 3 cups

Milk – 1 cup

Salt

Oil

Fresh or dry chives – for garnish

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add onions, garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes
2. Add potato, green pepper, oregano and cook till potato is done
3. Add a little water if required
4. Once the potato is cooked. Keep aside and let it cool
5. Add milk to above and puree
6. Add stock to the puree and bring it to boil
7. Season with salt and pepper (if required)
8. Spoon it into soup bowls, garnish with chives and serve

 

In my next post will share recipe for carrot soup…

 

till next time…have fun cooking!

(is there any recipe you would specifically want to know? …do let me know! )

(follow Akshayapatram on Facebook)

 

Easy Dessert

Milk Cake Pic: Amberish R Sarang

 

Amberish aka “accidental cook” shares yet another of his favorite recipe of Kalakand or Indian Milk Cake

Cottage cheese (Paneer) – 250 gms
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Cardamom/almonds – 1 tbsp (crushed)
Ghee or unsalted butter – 2 tablespoons
Sliced pistachios for garnish

1. Take a deep pan (non stick) and add 2 table spoon of ghee and heat it
2. Add paneer (cottage cheese) crumpled into small pieces into the pan
3. Add sugar and cardamom and keep stirring until the mixture starts coming together. This should take approximately 5 minutes
4. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 4-5 minutes until mixture changes to a slightly golden brown color
5. Transfer mixture to the greased plate (with ghee) and press firmly into a square shape, approximately 1 inch high.
6. Sprinkle sliced pistachios/almonds on top
7. Let sit for at least an hour before slicing into individual pieces
8. Serve

thanks for the recipe! Amberish 🙂

 

till next time…. happy cooking!

 

Pie Crust

 

Pie Crust (in the making)

 

This can be the base for many savory and dessert dishes… I use it to make vegetable pies / fruit pies etc. I will share the recipe for it in the days to come….

For the pie crust

All purpose flour (Maida) – 250 gms

Butter – 200 gms (at room temperature)

Salt – 1 tsp

Water

 

1. Sieve the flour and Salt together
2. Chop butter into tiny cubes
3. Combine the butter into the flour gently with soft hands till you get a crumbly texture (you can see the butter chunks)
4. Add little water and mix gently. Keep repeating till you get a sift ball. The key is to be gentle and soft while forming the dough to get crisp and flakier pie base
5. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 20 min
6. Flour the kitchen platform and very gently roll the into an elongated shape
7. You will still be seeing bits of butter chunks giving it a marbled effect
8. Fold the dough from one side till half and repeat with the other side to cover the just folded side. Flour both the sides and roll
9. Repeat this process atleast 4-6 times to ensure you get multiple layers. Refrigerate overnight
10. Next day roll the dough into a circle. Be gentle
11. Grease the pie dish
12. Gently place the rolled out dough over the pie dish
13. Don’t pull the dough out; instead ease out the dough into the tray and it shrinks during the baking process
14. Using a fork puncture the dough at various places and cover it with plain raw beans / lentils…etc and put the pie dish into the pre heated oven to BLIND BAKE* the pie crust at 185 degree C for 30-40 minutes
15. Once the crust is crisp and brown. Take out all the beans
16. Your pie crust is ready

 

Pie Crust (post baking)

 

*Blind Baking means where you are baking the crust without any filling. You use the raw beans and puncture the dough, so that the dough doesn’t puff and cave up.

**check out the Quiche recipe where the pie crust recipe is relatively simple and less time consuming

 

Till next time…. have fun cooking! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Homemade Pizza

Homemade Pizza Pic: Shweta Arora

This is a guest post by Shweta Arora. Shweta is an entrepreneur running noir desire- Designer Boutique in Melbourne, Australia. With work taking most of her time she indulges in easy and fast albeit healthy cooking… here’s a quick pizza recipe for you by her…

1. Take a base of multigrain or wholemeal bread thins or a wholemeal Lebanese pita bread
2. Layer it with Basil Pesto sauce tomato base pizza sauce
3. Take your favorite toppings  like Cherry tomatoes, onion, capsicum, mushroom
4. Sprinkle fetta cheese (or goat cheese)
5. Sprinkle coarse pepper and some Olive oil (I avoid Salt!)
6. Toast it in the oven for 10- 15 mins at high heat till base is crispy
7. Garnish with lettuce or Spinach leaves

Your guilt-free healthy pizza is ready to eat!! 🙂

*In non-Veg options..ppl can try with Seafood like Prawns etc.

The beauty of this recipe is that it can be had anytime during the day…a healthy lunch / healthy dinner or a healthy snack..Thanks Shweta for sharing this quick and healthy recipe!

=========================================================================

for homemade pesto sauce grind together

• Basil, leaves only, washed and dried – 1 large bunch
• cloves of garlic – 3 medium
• Raw pine nuts / any nuts – one small handful
• Parmesan – 3/4 cups
• Extra-virgin olive oil – a few tablespoons

 

till next time…..have fun cooking!

 

 

Leftover Recipe

 

Leftover Recipe Pic: Pooja

 

Chappati Upma

After healthy snack recipe that was shared by Pooja this is yet another recipe using leftover chappatis shared by Suchi Ravindran Menon, a traveler and foodie by heart & soul!

Leftover Chappatis -3 to 5
Oil – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin(Jeera) – 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida(heeng) – a pinch
Split Black Dal (Urad dal) – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red Chili powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Onion – 1 no. big (finely chopped)
Curry leaves – 4-5 leaves
Whole dry red chillies – 2-3 nos
Green chillies – 1-2 nos
Coconut – 1/2 cup
Lemon juice – to sprinkle
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Sugar if needed

1. Cut chappatis into small pieces, not fine chopped. If the chappatis are very hard since its leftover, you can microwave it for 10-20 seconds and it will become semi-soft. (If you don’t have a microwave, sprinkle water while cooking the pieces and cover the pan)
2. Heat oil in a kadai (a small wok) and add mustard seeds. When mustard starts popping, add cumin,urad daal, curry leaves, green chillies and asafoetida. Saute for few seconds and add whole red chillies, onion, turmeric and red chilli powder. Fry till onions turn pink
3. Add chappati pieces, salt and sugar if needed. Keep frying till the chappatis are coated with the masala and the pieces are slightly crispy.
4. Make sure you don’t over fry it, it might become hard. After its done add Lemon juice and turn off the burner
5. Garnish with coconut and chopped coriander leaves