Spicy Cabbage

This is one of the side dishes which I can prepare in a jiffy with only a few ingredients.
The green chili gives the required spiciness to it.
It goes well both with rice and chapati.















2 tbsp oil
1/2 cabbage shredded
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 green chili, finely chopped
5-6 curry leaves
 salt to taste

Heat oil and add mustard seeds.
Add curry leaves, green chili and turmeric powder, coriander powder and cabbage
Mix in salt. Cover with a lid and pour some water on the lid.(This will prevent the vegetable from burning as we have not added any water to it. The condensed steam from the lid will provide the required moisture to the veg.)
Simmer for 5 min.
I don't like my veg soft I prefer the cabbage to be a little crunchy (for this it is very important that the cabbage you use is fresh). Anyway its one's own wish how they like so the cooking time may vary accordingly.

Choco-chip banana muffins

                                                                                                                                                            

An easy method to convert all those extra ripe bananas, which no one wants to eat into a yummy, tasty and energetic desert for your kids.

Chocolate chips can be substituted by walnuts or any other dry fruits.

You can also some cocoa powder in the batter for a chocolaty taste.

makes 24 muffins

2 cups ripe mashed bananas

2 cups refined flour/maida

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup oil

4 tbsp curd

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup chocolate chips

to serve:
Whipped cream(optional)

1. Whisk sugar, oil and curd until the sugar dissolves.
2. Sieve flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together.
3. Now gently fold this flour mix into the sugar mix.
4. Add chocolate chips and vanilla essence to it.
5. Pour this batter in greased moulds or paper cups. (if using microwave then use microwave safe moulds )

microwave:
 Microwave on high for 2 min.
Allow to stand for one minute and remove from the microwave,

OTG:
Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.
Bake for about 20 min.

my entry for:
http://ammajirecipes.blogspot.in/2013/12/event-holiday-baking-cakes-cupcakes.html

Bharwan Baingan - Stuffed Brinjals

Being a Jain I am not used to cook brinjal as its prohibited in the religion. And since my childhood I haven't seen brinjals being brought and cooked in our kitchens. I don't know why..

But I cook sometimes...lol... two or three recipes that I learnt from here and there. This one with a spicy stuffing is one of them.

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5 small brinjals

3 tbsp oil

for the stuffing:

1 inch piece of ginger

2 inch piece of coconut

1 green chili

6 cloves garlic

1 onion diced

1 tomato diced

few corriander leaves

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powdr

2 tsp corriander powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp dry mango powder

salt

Grind all the ingredients for the stuffing into a thick paste. Use very little water if required while grinding.

Slit the brinjals (make a deep criss cross) and stuff the stuffing tightly inthe slits.

Heat oil in a pan and slowly arrange the stuffed brinjals into it.

Add the leftover stuffing into it and sprinkle a little water. Cover and cook for 5 min. 

Now flip the brinjals bottom side up, Sprinkle some more water. 

Cover and cook again for another few min until the brinjals are properly cooked . 

Serve with chapatis or any rice dish.

Lauki Muthias- Steamed Bottle gourd Dumplings

Food processors have made life easy. Grating , chopping all time consuming jobs can be done in no time especially during early morning rush when you have to get your children ready for school, prepare their breakfast, lunchbox....
Lauki Muthia makes a healthy breakfast and also can be packed in your child's lunch box.
It was a time consuming dish earlier but now thanks to the chopper instead of grating the bottle gourd and chopping or grinding other vegetables I just put them all together in a chopper to do the job for me.

For the muthias:
1 medium sized bottle gourd
1 onion
2 green chilies
1" piece ginger
1 cup whole wheat flour/aata
1/2 cup beasn/gram flour
1/2 cup semolina/suji
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp turmric powder
1/2 tsp sodium bi carbonate
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste

for the tempering
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp white seasame seeds/til

corriander leaves for garnishing
green chutney to serve

for the muthias:
you can either grate the bottle gourd, chop the onion, chilli and ginger finely
or
put all these things together in an electrical chopper and chop.
Usually the liquid from the grated vegetable is sqeezed out while making muthias but I don't want to squeeze out the vitamins so I skip this part.
Add all the other ingredients and mix.
If the mixture is too moist and diificult to handle then you can add some more wheat flour to it.
Just before steaming its better to check the taste for seasonings as per your appetite.
Now shape like small muthiias using your fist, but gently and either steam in a steamer for 10 min. or microwave on high for 2 min. with a standing time of 1 min.
you can check if the muthias are cooked by inserting a toothpick in the centre if it comes out clean it means the muthias are cooked else cook for some more time.

for the tempering:
Heat oil and add mustard seeds and allow to crackle, now add seasame seeds and switch off the gas.
Apply this on each muthia and serve garnished with corriander leaves and green chutney.

Cabbage Parathas

Its impractical to measure the quantity of water to be used while kneading the dough, to measure the salt etc. Likewise for each and every thing we don't use measured quantities of ingredients.  With our experience and practice we know how much of a particular ingredient is to be used in a particular dish . Cabbage Paratha is also one such recipe where I haven't measured anything but just followed my instincts.

I put nearly half of a cabbage along with some green chili, ginger, corriander leaves in an electrical chopper.
Now to this veggie mixture I add salt, turmeric powder, cumin seeds and 2tsp of oil.
Add some whole wheat flour slowly(as much as the veggies could handle) to it and knead into a semi-soft dough. I didn't add any water while kneading as the moisture in the veggies was enough to knead the dough.
Now pinch out  small portion of the dough and roll using some flour into a paratha. Put this on a hot griddle or tava , when the lower side is slightly cooked flip and apply 1tsp of oil, flip again and cook pressing lightly until small brown spots appear on the paratha. once again flip and cook on the other side likewise.
Repeat with the remaining dough and make more parathas.

Serve with any dip or pickle.

Crispy Rice and Corn Balls

An instant snack to go with a cup of tea.
when hunger strikes and dinner time is far away and you have got only some leftover rice in your fridge....

 
1 cup boiled rice
1/4 cup frozen sweet corn(thawed) or boiled corn
1/4 capsicum, finely chopped
1 green chili, finely chopped
4 flakes garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp thick white sauce
 (heat 1tbsp butter add 1 tbsp white flour and saute for 2 min. add 1/4 cup milk stirring continuously)
salt and pepper to taste
corn flour for dusting
oil to deep fry

I have used white sauce here which acts as a binding agent as well as gives a creamy taste to the dish.
Mix all the ingredients except corn flour and oil.
Mash with your hands and Make small balls out of the mixture.

I tried to fry as it is but the corn started popping up, it didn't work.

So I dusted the balls with the cornflour .
Its always a good idea to keep them in the fridge for a few minutes after dusting , if you are not in a hurry so that the flour doesn't spoil your oil.
Deep fry in hot oil .

Crisp golden balls were ready in no time and no one could make out that they were made out of rice.
Serve with ketchup.

Water Melon Rinds curry

This is my another addition in using vegetable and fruit peels. It is a very common practice in Rajasthan to cook watermelon rinds. It is served with bajra roti  and lots of ghee during winter. The rinds can also be dried and stored for upto an year.




for this you need:
2 cups water melon rinds diced
2 tbsp oil
a pinch asfoetida (hing)
1 1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp corriander seeds powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder(haldi)
1/2 tsp onion seeds/ kalounji
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp dry mango powder(amchur)
salt to taste

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add hing.
Add kalaunji, turmeric powder, red chili powder, corriander seeds powder along with the rinds. Saute for one minute.
Add 1tbsp of water and salt. You do not have to add more water to cook as the rinds will release their own juices when cooked.
Pressure cook for one whistle.
Remove the lid after the pressure is released from the cooker and switch on the gas again.
Add amchur and if you want to add sugar add it at this stage, adding sugar is your own choice , some like it sweet but I prefer without sugar.
Bring it to a boil and its done.

Ridge-gourd peels chutney

These days the dishes made out of peels are replacing my vegetable curries and I feel proud of myself for minimizing food wastage in this era of high inflation & food shortage.
The credit for this recipe actually goes to my bhabhi, who taught me this recipe & inspired me to make best out of waste.
Wash The ridge gourds (turai) thoroughly before peeling them. If you do not want to cook the vegetable & peels chutney on the same day then you can preserve the peels in an air-tight box or zipper bag for atleast two days.

Peels of 3 medium sized ridge gourd
4 flakes garlic
2 green chillies
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1" piece of coconut
1/2 tsp tamarid paste(optional)
salt to taste

Heat oil and add cumin seeds.
Add the garlic pods, green chilli broken into 2 to 3 pieces and the peels. Saute until the peels are cooked  and soft for about 5 to 6 min.
Remove from the fire and put all the ingredients into a blender & grind into a smooth chutney.
Taste and check for the seasonings. Its a very spicy chutney for all those spice lovers!
If the green chillies are not hot enough you can even add 1/2 tsp of ground pepper to it.
Serve with hot steamed rice.

Cauliflower Stem Cutlets

Cutlets made out of the Cauliflower stems (middle part of green leaves)

1 cup boiled cauliflower stems, mashed
1 potato, mashed
5 to 6 spinach leaves, chopped
1 green chili chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 tsp ginger chopped finely
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp bread crumbs
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil to shallow fry

Mix all the ingredients to form a stiff dough. Use more cornflour if too moist. Shape into cutlets and shallow fry in moderately hot oil.

Other related recipes:
Cauliflower leaves curry
Beetroot Cutlets

Cauliflower leaves curry

In the process of minimizing food wastage, I am learning to re-use left-overs, syrups, sauces, chutneys into another recipe and the best part of all this is to use vegetable peels, stems and seeds and make an interesting & tasty dish out of it. This time when I bought a Cauliflower,I used leaves(only the green part torn from the stem in between)  to make a spicy side dish for my plain dal chawal, which everyone loved. I cut the stems into pieces & boiled in a pressure cooker for one whistle with the intention of making vegetable stock, but ended up using the liquid & some of the stems for my sambhar & remaining for cauliflower stem cutlets.

1 cup chopped cauliflower leaves
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp corriander seeds powder
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan, add onions, green chilli and saute until soft, add ginger garlic paste and saute again.
Add all the dry spices and cook for a minute. Now add tomatoes, greens, salt and 1/2 a cup of water
and cook covered for 10 minutes.

serve as a side dish with dal chawal.

Related Recipes:
Cauliflower stem Cutlets

piplipak- khatta made out of indian long pepper

Pipli(Indian long pepper) is known for its numerous medicinal values, in curing fever, cold, nausea......
the list is perhaps endless.

In rajasthan, it is consumed very often or almost everyday in different forms of khatta. In a marwadi home You will always find atleast 3 to 4 varieties of khatta ready to serve in a dryfruit box or airtight containers any time of the day. It is a practice to eat in small quantities after meals. Now a days these are so popular that you can even find them at the entrance of most of the shopping malls.
Many ladies make khatta at home out of preserved lemon peels or  dates, but pipli is the most important ingredient in all of them. It tastes like pepper but is much more pungent & leaves a tingling feeling on your tongue.
I had some leftover rasgulla syrup with me so I thought of utilizing that to make piplipak. This was my first trial, I was scared that it might turn out hard, but it came out perfect and disappeared in a single day.

1 cup rasgulla syrup or  sugar syrup(1/2 cup sugar+1/4 cup water boil until sugar dissolves)
1/2 tsp pipli powder
1/2 tsp rock salt
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 tsp clove powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Boil the syrup stirring in one direction continuously until its frothy & almost ready to set. You can check its consistency by taking a drop between two fingers, press & release a few times if you see atleast two prominent threads in between your fingers its ready. Add all the dry ingredients and switch of the flame.
At this point you can check the taste & can add more salt or pepper as per your choice. Continue stirring until it starts hardening. (stirring will make the piplipak softer to melt in mouth)
Immediately pour it into a greased metal plate. when it slightly hardens cut into squares or diamonds(just the knife marks) & release the pieces only after it hardens.
Store in an airtight container.

Beetroot Cutlets

I saw this recipe on a food channel & wanted to try it immediately as beet is one of the most common vegetables disliked by children and another reason is a rare combination of addition of amla(goose berries) to it .It is fried yet a healthier option for a snack as we all know the benefits of both beetroot & amla. Here I've changed the proportions of ingredients as I too don't prefer beetroot taste much so I have used potato & beetroot equally.

makes :6 cutlets
1 small beetroot boiled, grated
1 small potato boiled or baked in microwave, mashed
1 green chilli(finely chopped), optional
2 amla grated
1/2 onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp rock salt
salt as per taste(if required)
1/2tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp corn flour
bread crumbs for coating
oil for shallow frying

Combine all the ingredients and shape them into cutlets. If the mixture is too moist then add extra bread crumbs.
Coat cutlets with bread crumbs & shallow fry on both sides until golden brown.

gharkirasoi tip: instead of grating & chopping the ingredient put them all together in an electrical chopper.

Serve immediately with green chutney.

My entry for
Foodabulous Fest Event organized by Simply Tadka