Semiya Pulav / Upma

This is something which I wanted to try for a long time. I had tasted Semiya Biriyani once, when my aunt made it and it was awesome. So I thought I'll just follow my chicken biriyani recipe partially for this. Since I didnt do the garnishing part and made less rich, thought of calling it Pulav or upma. We had it for breakfast, but I think this would make a wonderful dinner since its so filling and mild. My kids loved every bit of it.

Ingredients

Semiya - 3 cups
Water - 6-8 cups
Salt -  as needed

For the masala (mine was mild, you can increase chilly, ginger, masala quantity if you want it spicy)

Big onion - 1 big, thinly sliced
Green chilly - 1
Garlic - 2 cloves
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Mint leaves - 5-6 leaves
Coriander leaves - 5-6 strands
Carrot (cut to 2 inch long strands) - 1 cup
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

1. Heat a wide mouthed pan, add enough water. Let it come to boil. When it starts to boil, add enough salt and add the semiya. Add a drop of oil, to avoid semiya sticking to each other. Let it cook well. You can add the green peas as well to the boiling semiya so that both will get cooked together. Once semiya is cooked, strain them, sprinkle some cold water on it (to stop the cooking process and to avoid the strands sticking to each other). Keep it aside.
2. In the same pan, add oil. When its hot enough, add the sliced onions and saute them well.
3. Meanwhile, grind together (in a mixer) ginger, garlic, green chilly, mint leaves and coriander leaves.
4. Once the onions are sauteed well, add the ground paste to this mixture and saute till the raw smell goes.
5. Add in the coriander and turmeric powder, and saute for 5 seconds.
6. Add the carrots and saute till its cooked. Sprinkle some water if the masala is bit dry.
7. Now add the cooked semiya & green peas and mix well. Adjust the salt.
8. Garnish with some chopped coriander leaves, server warm!

Loaf Bread

This is my first successful loaf...perfect & tasty!

Ingredients

For the water roux/tangzong

All purpose / Bread flour - 1/3 cups

Water - 1 cup

Method : Place the flour & water in a pan. Mix the flour well with water. Turn on the heat (low flame) and keep stirring till the mixture reaches 65C or it starts forming lines. The moisture should not be dried up completely. Keep it aside to cool.

For the Bread

Bread / All Purpose Flour - 2 1/2 - 3 cups

Milk - 1/2 cup

Instant yeast - 2 tsp

Egg - 1

Sugar - 2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Water roux - approx 3 tbsp

Butter (at room temp) - 3 tbsp

White sesame seeds - 1 tsp

Method

1. Warm milk till its very warm (approx 80C). Dissolve the sugar in it. Sprinkle the instant yeast on top of it. Keep it aside for approx 10 min for the yeast to get activated and the mixture to become frothy.

2. In the food processor bowl, measure and add the bread flour and salt. Now add in the frothy yeast mixture (wait till the mixture is really frothy), water roux and egg (keep aside a tbsp for brushing later). Keep kneading at medium speed till everything comes together. Add flour if its too sticky. Keep kneading atleast for 5 minutes.

3. Now add in the softened butter and knead for another 10 min till you get an elastic, soft, non-sticky dough.

4. Dab the dough with some oil and keep it aside for atleast an hour for it to double in size. Make sure you cover it with a damp cloth.

5. Once doubled, punch down the dough to remove the air. Shape it to a loaf and place in the loaf tin. Cover with damp cloth, and keep aside for another half hour for the dough to rise again.

6. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 180 deg celsius. Brush the top of the dough with egg (mixed with some water) and sprinkle sesame seeds. Place the loaf tin (with dough in) to the oven and bake for approx 25 min (baking time will depend on your oven type).

7. Once baked, take out the loaf and run a stick of butter over the top of the loaf to give a shiny texture. Keep it covered if not using immediately. Cut the bread with a serrated knife, only once its cooled completely.

Party Sandwiches

This is definitely a party pleaser..easy to make and stores well too. You can make the chutneys ahead and can be stored in the fridge.

Ingredients

Bread - 3 slices
Green chutney - 1 tbsp
Red chutney - 1 tbsp
Any cheese or mayonnaise - 1 tsp (I used Kiri spread)

Red Chutney (I have used carrot chutney here)

Carrot  - 2, grated
Small onions - 4, sliced
Green chilly - 2, chopped
Ginger  -1 inch piece, chopped
Garlic - 1 small clove, chopped
Tomato - 1 small, chopped
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method : Heat a pan, add some oil. Add sliced onions. Saute them for a minute. Add green chilly, ginger and garlic. Saute for another minute. Add the grated carrot. Saute well till they are half cooked. Add chopped tomatoes. Let them cook for about 5 minutes, till everything is soft. Add required salt. Switch off the stove and allow the mixture to cool. Then grind it in mixer till its smooth. You can use it at this stage or freeze it till you need it,

Green chutney
Coriander leaves - 2 hands full
Mint leaves - handful
Small onion - 3
Green chilly - 1
Ginger - half inch piece
Curry leaves - 1 sprig, optional
Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt - as needed
Lime juice - from half a lemon

Method - Grind everything till it forms a smooth paste.


Method

1. Take one slice of bread. Spread some red chutney over.
2. Cover with second slice. Spread some cheese over the second slice. Top it with a tbsp of green chutney. Cover it third slice.
3. Remove the crusts and slice it diagonally to et 4 equal triangles. Arrange them on a tray

Barbie Doll cake

You might be wondering..where I went hiding for the past 2-3 weeks. I just started working again. So my daily cooking and all the experiments with food has come to a standstill. But last weekend, I had no choice but to get into the kitchen..it was my lil princess' bday and she had ordered a Barbie Doll cake way back in January when I was making birthday cake for my son. So there was no going back..I cannot disappoint her. I just had one day to make the cake, decorate it, make some party foodies like party sandwiches (recipe to follow), chicken roll, veg rolls, bruschettas, cupcakes etc etc...I was tired by end of the day..Nevertheless, a happy mom at the end of the day when I see my girl beam with pride, standing near her Barbie cake..



The cake is the simple "Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake, layered up with Hershey's chocolate sauce and topped with buttercream icing. The Barbie's top dress was made with fondant!

Ridge Gourd / Peechinga Subzi

A beautiful accompaniment for chapathis. They are mild, juicy and tasty. I like such juicy subzis for chapathi so that I needn't worry about another gravy.



Ingredients

Ridge Gourd - 1 medium, cleaned and chopped to small cubes
Big onion - 1 medium, chopped
Green chilly - 1, chopped
Ginger - half inch piece, crushed
Garlic - 2 medium cloves, crushed
Tomato - 1 medium, chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Urid dal - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - as needed

Method

1. Heat a kadai, add oil. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add urid dal and saute till they turn brown and crisp.
2. Add the chopped onions, green chilly, ginger and garlic. Saute till raw smell is gone (do not saute for more than a minute, you need all those juices in there).
3. Add in the tomatoes and saute for 30s. Sprinkle chilly and turmeric powder, saute for another 10 seconds and then add in the cubed ridge gourd. Add salt. Give a good stir and cover and cook till the gourd is cooked well.
4. Once cooked, open the lid, stir well and serve hot with chapathis

Easy - Peasy Beef Samosa

I never thought making samosas were this easy! Do you have some left-over beef fry /curry and chapathi dough? Then please roll out the dough, fill in some shredded beef fry, tuck them in and deep fry! Your kids will love..we actually fought for that last one!!

The only problem with atta being used as the wrapper is that the samosas should be consumed immediately. As it sits, they lose their crispness. But I am sure there wouldn't be any left. If at all you want the crispness to last longer, please use a maida dough instead of atta.

You can follow the same recipe for chicken samosas too, if you have some leftover chicken curry. Easy - peasy..aint it?

Ingredients

Left-over beef curry or fry - around 2 cups (if there is too much gravy, just cook them for some more time so that the moisture dries up. You do not want it to be too dry, something like wet will be perfect)

Chapathi dough - as needed

Oil - for frying

Method

1. Shred the beef in a food processor.

2. Roll out a small ball of chapathi dough. Cut them in half as shown. Twist them to make a cone and fill in a tbsp of beef. 

3. Tuck them in, press tightly to close

4. Deep fry in oil

Enjoy with some tomato ketchup.

Chicken Cutlets

Another childhood favorite of mine. During school days, we used to have this everyday for lunch (we used to have beef cutlets more than the chicken version) mostly because it stores well in fridge. During those days, every day mom had to pack 5 lunches plus the elaborate breakfast. So making cutlets for the week was like a Sunday ritual and would make a quick dish for lunch. They got made on Sunday evenings and would go in the freezer. They would last till Thursday, as Fridays were non-meat days. Shaping the cutlets was my duty, so I am kinda expert at it now!

I mostly make the cutlets mild (I like it that way). So if you want to spice them up just adjust the green chillies or chilly powder as per your taste or add some pepper powder.



Ingredients

Boneless chicken - 500g, cooked with some salt and pepper powder
Big onion - 1 big
Green chilly - 2
Garlic - 2 cloves
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Oil - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt - to taste

Boiled potato - 1 medium, mashed

For coating
Egg - 1, beaten
Rusk / Bread powdered - 1 cup

Method

1. Place the big onion, green chilly, garlic and curry leaves in the food processor. Pulse them 3-4 times, till finely chopped. Do not pulse for too long in one stretch since the onions will start releasing the juices.
2. Heat a kadai and add oil. Once hot, add the chopped onion mixture on medium heat. Make sure heat is never too low as then the onion juices will start oozing out. You do not need that, you need your mixture to be dry.
3. While onion mixture is being sauteed, place the cooked chicken pieces in the same food processor bowl and pulse 3-4 time. Again you just want them shredded, and not ground. If its ground (which happens if you try to do it in a mixie), it will be more like a paste and will not get the taste of chicken.
4. Saute the onions till they are dry and almost brown. Add in the turmeric and chilly powders and saute till raw smell disappears.
5. Add the shredded chicken and mix well. Adjust salt. Sprinkle the garam masala. Saute till the chicken mixture is combined well and semi-dry. Switch off the stove. Allow it to cool a bit.
6. Mash the potatoes and add to the chicken mixture (you need to be careful not to add too much potatoes. If there is too much potatoes, it will become mushy and will be difficult to shape. Plus the taste of potatoes will overpower the chicken taste). Mix well.
7. When the heat is bearable, start shaping the cutlets.
8. Dip them in beaten egg and then in the rusk/bread crumbs. Store in freezer or deep fry in oil.

Challas tastes best with these cutlets.