Tofu in Sweet and Sour Sauce

I know tofu is good for health. But i don't know, somehow my family is not a big fan of either tofu or paneer esp. my husband. But he likes paneer tikka which i make using soft paneer. That's the only dish he loves with paneer. 

My daughter's and my mom-in-law like paneer in any form, but even they are not a big fan of it. So i buy paneer or tofu very rare. Recently, i bought a pack of tofu, just to try a dish with it and check whether my family will like it or not.

This dish was a hit with my daughters, but again....my husband didn't like it :( I am sure, those who love paneer or tofu will definitely like this dish. You can enjoy a unique sweet and sour taste in every bite. Try it out....its simple to make and of course tasty one.

Recipe source : Manjula's Kitchen

Ingredients

1 Capsicum (thinly sliced)
3 cups Cabbage (thinly sliced)
200 gms Tofu (use firm ones)
3 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin powder (from roasted cumin seeds)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Black pepper powder
1/4 tsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Ginger (grated)
1/4 cup Brown sugar (or normal sugar)
3 tbsp Tamarind pulp (adjust as per your taste)


Method

• Take the tamarind pulp in a small bowl. Add black pepper powder, salt, red chilli powder, ginger, turmeric powder, cumin powder and sugar. Mix well to make a smooth paste. Keep this aside.
• Wash and pat dry the tofu and cut it into small cubes.
• Heat oil in a wide non stick pan. Put the tofu pieces in the oil when it is medium hot. Fry the tofu pieces till all the sides turn golden brown colour.
• Once fried, transfer the tofu pieces on to a tissue paper or on a kitchen towel. Keep this aside.
• In the remaining oil (in the same pan), add capsicum and stir fry for a minute. 
• Now add cabbage and let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes or till the vegetables are tender but still crispy.
• Add fried tofu pieces into it and mix well.
• Now add the tamarind sauce and mix well so that the sauce gets nicely coated with all the vegetables and tofu. Keep the flame on low.
• Cover and let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes on low heat.
• Once done, serve it hot with fried rice.

* I usually take the quantity of the ingredients as per my taste. So you can always adjust the spices as per your taste*


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Mint Rice

This is a flavourful rice which can be served as a lunch or dinner. The fresh aroma of mint, fills through the whole rice and you can enjoy the taste of it in every bite.

Some days back, when i was not in a mood to cook, i was lazily browsing through some of my friends blog and suddenly my eyes got stuck on this simple and exotic dish from Jeyashri's blog. I had some fresh mint in my fridge and more over, mint is my husband's favourite. So everything was in favour of me. Thought to give it a try at once, as it was very easy to prepare. 

You can never go wrong when the ingredients are simple and preparation is not complex. Yes!!! the rice tasted awesome. 

What are you guys waiting for... oh the recipe? It's here friends, try it out today!!!


Recipe source: Jeyashriskitchen

Ingredients

1 cup Basmati Rice
2 cups Water
2 Onion (medium, thinly sliced)
2 cups Mint leaves
1/4 cup Coriander leaves
10 Curry leaves
2 Green chilli
1 Green Cardamom
2 Cloves
1 Star Anise
1 tbsp Oil
1/2 tbsp Ghee
Salt to taste


Method

• Wash and soak basmati rice for about 25 - 30 minutes
• Grind mint leaves, curry leaves, coriander leaves and green chilli into a fine paste by adding little water. Keep this aside.
• Heat oil and ghee in a big non stick pan. Add green cardamom, cloves and star anise in it. When it changes its colour, add onion. Saute till the onion turns golden brown colour.
• Now add the mint paste into it. Saute till the raw smell of the mint goes off.
• Add the soaked basmati rice. Mix well and fry for a minute.
• Now add 2 cups of water, adjust salt and let it boil.
• Once it starts boiling, cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer till all the water is absorbed by the rice and it is nicely cooked.
• Don't over mix the rice. Gently fluff it up with a fork.
• Keep it covered till you serve.
• Serve it hot with a cup of curd or any raita of your choice.

 

* I usually take the quantity of the ingredients as per my taste. So you can always adjust the spices as per your taste*


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Vegetable Fries

Yesterday, my daughter was after me to make some french fries for her. I was adamant not to make it as she had poori the same day. Lot of fried food on the same day is not good, right. After a lot of No's and Yes's, i gave in and thought to make fries with some veggies.

Quickly grabbed some vegetables from the fridge and made these easy and quick fries. She was expecting french fries and when i told her i have made something different, at first she was not that happy (i could make out from her face). But when she tasted these vegetable fries, she was very happy and told "these are tasting awesome amma...". Mommy happy!!!  :)

Friends....Surprise your kids with this simple fries....You can serve it along with curd rice or as a snack.


Ingredients

2 Carrots
2 Beetroot
2 Potato
2 Sweet Potato
4 tbsp Cornflour
Salt to taste
Pepper powder
Oregano powder
Oil for deep frying


Method

• Wash and remove the skin of all the vegetables. Pat it dry.
• Thinly slice these vegetables using a vegetable peeler or vegetable grater.
• Add cornflour on the sliced vegetables and mix gently. This is done so that the extra moisture will be absorbed by the cornflour.
• Heat oil in a kadai. Deep fry the vegetable slices till golden colour. Transfer them on to a tissue paper or kitchen towel.
• Sprinkle salt, pepper powder and oregano powder when it is still hot. Give a gentle mix.
• Serve it hot.

Hot Chocolate

This recipe is said to be a replicate of Starbucks Hot Chocolate. I have not tasted the original one, but i liked the taste of this hot chocolate. It is really soothing to have a cup of this hot chocolate on a rainy and cool whether. mmmm...yummy :)

Its very easy to prepare. The only difficulty is the stirring part to make the chocolate syrup. Rest of the work is like breeze...Add sugar as per your taste. I used Cadbury's Cocoa powder for this recipe. You can use any brand. As i didn't have whipped cream, i topped it up with some fresh cream :)

The taste of this drink is very chocolatey and heavenly. I would suggest you all to try it at least once and you won't stop by drinking just one cup.

 

Ingredients

2 tbsp Cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/4 cup Water
2 tbsp Sugar (granulated)
1 and 1/2 cup Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
Whipped cream as needed


Method

• In a microwave safe bowl, add cocoa powder, water and sugar. Mix well and place it in an oven microwave mode HIGH for 30 seconds or till the mixture gets hot.
• Take out the bowl and stir well till you get the consistency of a chocolate syrup. (pouring consistency but little thick)
• Add milk to this chocolate syrup and microwave on HIGH for 1 - 1 and 1/2 minutes or until hot.
• Add vanilla extract to the hot chocolate. Mix well.
• Serve it hot by adding whipped cream on top.

 

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Unniyappam

Unniyappam is a sweet dumpling made using a paniyaram pan.These sweet dumplings are crispy outside and pillowy soft inside. This is one of the dish made on Gokulashtami / Krishna Jayanthi.

When we were young, my mother used to make unniyappam very often. I loved it a lot. She had a normal paniyaram pan and so used to deep fry them. I just like its texture. Though it is not a healthy treat, once in a while you can enjoy these traditional appams. 

I can still feel the taste of my mother's unniyappam. Always wanted to try it out, but i didn't have a paniyaram pan. Recently bought one and couldn't wait for long. Called up amma and took the recipe from her. Tried it out and yes it tasted simply great. We all loved it a lot.

Try it out on this Gokulashtami and enjoy the festival.

Ingredients

1 cup Raw rice (soaked for 3 - 4 hours)
1/2 - 1 cup Jaggery (as per your taste)
1 tsp Cumin seed (dry roast and powdered)
1 tsp Cardamom powder
3 pinch Cooking Soda
2 tbsp Coconut (cut into small pieces and fry in a little ghee)
1 pinch Salt
Ghee or Oil for frying
Water as required


Method

• Soak raw rice for 3 - 4 hours and grind it into a smooth paste by adding very little water.
• Melt jaggery by adding little water and strain the impurities from it.
• Add it to the ground raw rice batter. Mix well. It should have a consistency of idli batter.
• Keep this aside for about 2 - 3 hours. When it is time for making appams, add powdered cumin seed, cardamom powder, cooking soda, fried coconut and salt. Mix well.
• Heat paniyaram pan with little ghee or oil in each hole. Pour batter in each hole to fill it up.
• Cover and let it cook for 1 - 2 minutes.
• Flip it over and let the other side also cook for another minute. If you see that the ghee is less, add a bit more.
• When both the sides are golden brown colour, take out the unniyappams.
• Serve it hot or at room temperature.

Note: 

1. Always keep in mind that while grinding the raw rice, add very little water, just enough to make a smooth paste. The batter should not be runny. It should be very thick.
2. While melting jaggery, add little water.
3. As mine is a non stick paniyaram pan, i added very little ghee. Traditionally, in olden days, my mother used to have a normal paniyaram pan, so she used to fill the whole pan with ghee, to fry the unniyappam.
4. Some people add mashed banana to the batter, to make soft unniyappams. 
5. I have added cooking soda, so that the unniyappam will be soft and nicely cooked.

My non stick paniyaram pan

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Sweet Lime Juice | Mosambi Juice

Sweet lime is a fruit that is rich in Vitamin C and is very good for people who are not well or tired. It is an instant energy booster. Very good for children and adults too. 

This is a simple juice which i make every now and then for my kids. Yesterday, when i made this juice, my daughter asked me whether i have posted this in my blog or not. Then i realised that i have not posted it... May be it just slipped off from my mind or may be i thought its very simple and everyone know how to make it....Nothing innovative has to be done with this juice, it tastes awesome in its own. 

I don't prefer adding ice cubes and soda while making this juice. But its your choice, if you like the juice, fizzy and chilled, you can add it. By adding mint leaves to it, the juice gets a minty lemony flavour, which tastes very nice. Try it out friends and let me know....

Ingredients

2 Sweet Lime/Mosambi
2 - 3 tbsp Sugar (as per your taste)
1 pinch Salt
4 - 5 Mint leaves (optional)
Ice cubes (optional)
Soda (optional)
Water


Method

• Squeeze out the juice from the sweet lime. Pour it in a blender.
• Add sugar, salt and mint leaves.
• Add ice cubes and little water.
• Blend it for 30 - 40 seconds or more, till the sugar is completely dissolved and the juice is frothy.
• Strain and add water to adjust the consistency. Pour it in glasses.
• If using soda, add it instead of water. Give a quick mix.
• Serve it chilled.

Doodhi Muthia | Lauki Muthia | Bottle gourd Muthia

This is a Gujarati dish, served either as a breakfast or as a snack. This dish is very healthy and tasty too. They are steamed dumplings with vegetables in it.

I have made some slight changes and so this is not the traditional ones. The muthias which i have made here is with bottle gourd. If you wish, you can add carrot, radish, onions and coriander leaves to it. Muthias can be made with fenugreek leaves also. Normally, gram flour is added in the recipe. But instead of gram flour, i added a bit of oats.

This is definitely a low fat snack, so you can have it at any time. Try this version of muthias and i am sure you will love this one too.


Ingredients

1 and 1/2 cup Bottle gourd
1/4 cup Whole wheat flour
2 - 3 tbsp Oats
1 - 2 tbsp Yogurt/Curd
1/2 tsp Cumin seed
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 pinch Asafoetida
Salt to taste
2 tsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Sesame seeds
10 Curry leaves
2 - 3 Red chilli


Method

• Grate bottle gourd using a grater and squeeze out the water from it. Don't discard the water. Keep it aside.
• Put the grated bottle gourd in a bowl. Add whole wheat flour, oats, turmeric powder, yogurt, 1 tsp oil, cumin seed and salt. Mix well and make a soft sticky dough. Add the squeezed out water from the bottle gourd if needed.
• Divide the dough into small portions and roll them into cylindrical shape.
• Place them on a steamer and steam them for about 15 - 20 minutes, till they are nicely cooked. Insert a toothpick to check whether it is cooked or not.
• Once done, transfer them on a plate and keep aside to cool.
• Cut them into small roundels.
• Heat the remaining oil in a non stick pan. Add mustard seeds. When they splutter add sesame seeds, red chilli, asafoetida and curry leaves.
• Add the cut muthias into the pan and mix well. Let it simmer for some time till the muthias slightly change its colour.
• Serve it hot.

* I usually take the quantity of the ingredients as per my taste. So you can always adjust the spices as per your taste*


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Uppu Seedai

This is a traditional snack made on Gokulashtami. It is salty and there is another sweet version of this. I will be posting it soon.

My husband likes this snack a lot and i was searching for a nice and easy recipe for this snack. Recently, i saw this in Jeyashri's Blog and didn't give a second thought. Gave it a try and it was really great. Thanks to Jeyashri for the recipe.

By tasting them my husband's verdict was "it is very nice and crispy". My little daughter didn't like it much, as it was bit hard for her to bite :) But we all enjoyed it. Will be making it again as the first batch is already finished :)

Very crispy and tasty snack. Try out friends and you will know how easy and simple it is.

Recipe Source: Jeyashriskitchen

Ingredients

1 cup Rice flour
1 tbsp Urad dal flour
2 tbsp Coconut (grated)
2 tbsp Butter
1/2 tsp Sesame seeds
1/2 tsp Jeera/cumin seeds
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Water as required


Method to make urad dal flour: Dry roast urad dal till golden colour. Cool and grind it into fine powder.


Method

• Dry roast rice flour for 1 - 2 minutes on medium flame. Make sure that it doesn't change colour.
• Take off from heat and sieve it. Again dry roast the sieved rice flour for 1 - 2 minutes and sieve it again. Keep this aside to cool.
• Put the urad dal flour into the roasted rice flour and sieve it again. Transfer it into a bowl.
• Dry roast grated coconut till it slightly changes its colour. Put it into the bowl along with the rice and urad flour.
• Dry roast sesame seeds and cumin seeds. When it slightly changes its colour, transfer it into the bowl.
• Add salt and butter to the bowl. Mix well.
• Add water little by little and knead it into a smooth and soft dough. It should not be too thick or too soft.
• Grease your hands with little oil. Take small portions from the dough and roll it between your palms to form small balls. Place them on a newspaper.
• Heat oil in a kadai on medium flame. When the oil is hot, drop the balls into it. Fry them till they turn golden colour. Do the same procedure with the rest of the balls.
• Transfer them on a tissue paper or kitchen towel.
• Serve or store it in an airtight container. It will stay fresh for a long time.

Note:

1. While rolling into small balls, don't roll them too hard. Roll them gently.
2. While frying the balls, don't fry them on high heat as the inside will remain raw. So keep the flame in low and let it fry till the insides are also nicely done.

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Corn Capsicum Sabzi

Corn is one of our favourite. I try to make different types of dishes using them. This time, made a curry out of it and it was a great hit in my family. 

My daughter is crazy about corns and of course, she enjoyed this sabzi with roti. I was happy to see her finish off the rotis within no time... :) What more should a mother want, isn't it? 

I am a big fan of sanjeev kapoor's recipes...I try out many recipes from his website or books and always i am sure that it will come out great. This recipe is one among them. Try out and let me know how you liked it.

Recipe Source: Sanjeev kapoors Kitchen

Ingredients

300 gms Corn Kernels (boiled)
2 Onion (medium, finely chopped)
2 Capsicum (medium, chopped)
2 Tomato (medium, pureed)
Salt to taste
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Garam masala powder
1 tbsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 cup Mawa/Khoya (optional)
1/4 cup Fresh Cream (optional)
3 tbsp Oil
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) for garnish


Method

• Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add cumin seeds and when they start to splutter, add onion.
• Saute till onion turns translucent. Now add ginger garlic paste.
• When the onion turns golden brown colour, add tomato puree. Mix well.
• Now add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder and cumin powder. Let it simmer for about 3 minutes.
• Add capsicum and mix well. If you are adding mawa, add it now. 
• Also add little water and let it simmer for about 2 - 3 minutes.
• When the gravy starts to thicken add the corn. Cover and let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes.
• Now add garam masala powder and fresh cream. Mix well.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve it hot with roti or naan.

Note:

1. I did not add mawa while preparing this dish. Still it tasted excellent.
2. After boiling corn kernels, i crushed it a bit in a mixer and added it to the dish. If you like the corn kernels whole, you can add directly after boiling or just give a pulse in mixer and add to the dish.
3. Adjust gravy by adding water.

* I usually take the quantity of the ingredients as per my taste. So you can always adjust the spices as per your taste*


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Nutella Caterpillar Bun

I was attracted to the caterpillar shape of these buns, that i was so eager to try it at least once. The bun tasted awesome as usual with the nutella in it. The shape of the bun was the main attraction. My kids were amazed to see it and enjoyed eating it. Its true that i couldn't get the exact shape of caterpillar, but was satisfied with my first attempt.

More than the caterpillar shape, i liked the texture when it was cut into pieces. The nutella which was seen from the inside of the bun pieces gave a nice pattern to it. I loved it very much.

If you are not a nutella fan, you can replace it with any jam of your choice. This is a good treat for kids. They will love it.

I wanted to take the step by step pictures, but forgot about it 'as i was fully engrossed in making it right'. So i will try to explain it in words. If you find difficulty in understanding any particular step, please put in a comment so that i can help you further. So here goes the recipe........


Ingredients

2 cups Maida/All purpose flour
1 tsp Instant Yeast
3/4 cup Milk
1 Egg
8 gm Sugar
2 gm Salt
Butter as required
Nutella or Jam as required


Method

• In a bowl, add maida and yeast. Mix well.
• Add egg and give a quick mix. Then add salt and sugar. Mix well.
• Now add milk, little by little and knead it to get a sticky dough.
• Knead it for about 10 minutes. Later add 2 - 3 tsp butter.
• Knead it again for 10 minutes, till it becomes a soft and smooth dough.
• Cover it with a towel and keep it in a warm area in your kitchen.
• Once it is doubled, knead once again using your hands for about 2 - 3 minutes.
• Cut the dough into half and roll one half, just like you roll for chappati. Keep the other half covered.
• Roll it into a rectangular shape. Cut one side (longer side) lengthwise into 1 inch thick strips.
• Spread nutella or jam on the other side. (spread as much as you want)
• Fold the side on which we have spread the nutella inwards, till you reach the slits.
• Place the slitted strips on top of the folded bun and bend it a little.
• Insert two cloves on one end (to represent the eyes of the caterpillar).
• Place it on the baking tray, cover it and let it rest for about 30 minutes or till it becomes double in size.
• Pre heat oven in convection mode at 175 degree Celsius.
• Once it is doubled, give an egg wash on top of it and place it in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
• Once done, take off from the oven and let it cool.
• Serve and Enjoy!!

 Note:

1. If you are using dry yeast, put them in little luke warm water and add little sugar, keep aside for sometime and then add it to the dry ingredients.
2. Replace maida with whole wheat flour for a healthier version.

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