Chlli chinese Idli fry

This weekend, I had some Idlis left over and I was thinking how to get something yummy out of it. Had a look in the fridge and in kitchen cupboards, so here we go -

Ingredients

• Idlis - 6
• Onion - 1 Medium
• Green Capsicum(pepper) - 1/2
• Red Pepper - 1/2
• Soy Sauce 
• Garlic cloves - 2
• Ginger - 1/2 inch 
• Green chilli - optional
• Oil - 1 Tablespoon
• Tomato Ketchup - 1 tablespoon
• Salt

Recipe 
Finely chop the garlic cloves, and ginger. Green chill should be slit into half (that's how I like them to be.)
Cut each Idli into 4 pieces.
Cut the onions, green and red pepper into chunky pieces.
Heat the oil in a pan, add garlic, ginger to it. stir for about 20-30 seconds. Add onions fry for 30 seconds more. Then add green and red pepper and fry for a minute more.
Finally add idli pieces to it. Add soy sauce, tomato ketchup and salt to this. Keep mixing and stirring for a while. 

Serve hot when done !!!!

P.S - If you dont have any idli leftovers and you want some really quick just refer to idli on my blog for instant idlis in cupcake maker.

Poha with peanuts and vegetables

This is a traditional breakfast usually made with poha/chivda with various combinations of vegetables like green peas, capsicum, potatoes, carrots etc. I am making it with carrots, beans, potato and peanuts here.

Ingredients

• Carrots -2
• Green beans -10-12
• Potato-1 medium sized
• Red Peanuts - 
• Poha - washed and drained
• Mustard seeds. - 1 spoonful
• Vegetable oil - 1 table spoon
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - to taste
• Green chillies - 1
• Sugar - 1 teaspoon
• Curry leaves - a few
• Lemon juice - 1 tea spoon

Preparations : Wash poha in a strainer, so the water drains out and let it get soaked (but not lumpy). 

Chop the carrots and beans finely. (I use chopper, my favorite appliance for now  :-D).

Cut potatoes into thin slices.

Recipe

In a pan heat oil, fry peanuts lightly take them out and keep aside. To this oil, add finely chopped green chilies  mustard seeds and curry leaves. As they start crackling add the potato slices fry for about 30 seconds then add the chopped vegetables (Carrots+beans) to it. Cover this with a lid for a while then open and see if its done.

Add salt, turmeric powder and stir it once. Add the soaked, softened poha to it. Keep them turning  and mixing till everything is mixed evenly and has a nice even flavour.

At the end add sugar and lemon juice and mix it well. Now its ready to serve nice and hot with a cup of tea. 

Vegetarian cheesy beans quesadilla

Here, I have something which can be a real quicky and is sure to be delicious. The ingredients are simple and readily available in mostly in our kitchen, so you can please your kids without much a do this time.




Ingredients 

• Tortillas/ chapatis (thin rolled homemade chapati or ready to eat)
• Red capsicum - 1/4
• Green Capsicum - 1/4
• Boiled red kidney beans - 1/2 cup
• Grated Cheddar and mozzarella cheese - 1 cup
• Salt - a pinch
• Optional - Pasta sauce - 2 table spoon

Recipe 

Finely chop the red and green capsicum. 

In a bowl, mix grated cheese, capsicum, beans, pasta sauce together. Add salt to taste to this mixture.

Take a tortilla/ chapati top it up generously with the mixture prepared above. Cover this with another tortilla on the top.

Take a flat pan, grease its surface and put it on the low flame. Transfer the quesadilla to it and carefully keep checking for the cheese to start melting. Make sure to turn the side as the tortilla becomes nice, little crisp and colorful (not burnt). .

Tip : If you want cheese to start melt quickly cover it with a lid like above, your quesadillas will be done much quicker and yummier.

With this recipe kids wouldn't miss guacamole this time, as we have added a flavour of pasta sauce already in it. But very soon I will be adding a quick n easy guacamole recipe to go with it or you may would like to grab some from store. 

Sweet and savory Pretzels

To this series of treats, this one being the 2nd one, let me make a confession - I couldn't stop eating one after another knowing inside that its almost like committing a sin .....

So here I am with the recipe for all of you -

For the pretzel dough -

• Self raising flour - 3 cups
• Self raising wholemeal flour - 1 cup
• Active Yeast - 1 tablespoon
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Salt - 1 spoonful
• Vegetable oil - 1 Tablespoon
• Warm water - 1 1/2 cup

For Baking Soda Mix -

• Hot Water - 1 1/2 cups
• Baking Soda 1/2 cup

For real professional flavours

• Butter - 1 cup melted
• Salt - crusher mill (for salted ones)

First, In water add a spoonful of sugar and then add active dried yeast in the warm water and leave it aside for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix self raising flour, wholemeal flour, vegetable oil, sugar and salt together. Now start kneading the dough with the warm water mixture prepared. Keep kneading till 5-6 minutes and then cover it with a lid or plastic film and leave it to raise double for an hour.

Now, divide the dough in equal parts,  dust the surface with flour . Start rolling them like a rope and give the rope a shape like above.

The most important part -  Prepare the baking soda mix by mixing the baking soda and hot water together. Take a much larger bowl as baking soda rises with a fizz when you mix it with hot water first.

 These pretzels have to be dipped in the baking soda mixture before putting into the baking tray.

Preheat the oven at 230 degrees and oil the surface of the baking tray.

For the salted pretzels -  while you dip them in baking soda mix. Keep in the baking tray and sprinkle the Kosher salt (I used my salt mill and that worked just fine)

Put them on the baking try for 7-8 minutes or till they turn golden brown in colour (not too brown though).

As you start taking them out, give a dip in the melted butter and now you can enjoy the salted ones.

Variation - 2

For vanilla sugar pretzels

Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tea spoon

Mix sugar and vanilla essence together well, may be give them a little grind (please do not powder them).

Now, its time for the unsalted baked buttery pretzels to take a bath in this mixture while they are hot. Enjoy these for a heavenly taste as a treat for family and friends.

(Easy variations to the flavours mentioned here are the cheesy salted pretzels, cinnamon sugar pretzels, sesame seeded salted pretzels etc.)

Lastly, would like to tell you that the next to put here on my list is - Donuts... yummmmmmm

Vegetable Paneer Roll

Every morning when we are ever so busy getting ready to reach in time to school or work. While we are looking at the time ticking away we are struggling find what to put in the lunchboxes. Sandwiches !!! quick and easy but have you looked at the faces... then..

So here we have something very quick and easy and which can have variations according to the adults and kids taste and health.

Ingredients - 

• Green Capsicum 1/4
• Red Capsicum1/4
• Spinach leaves a few
• Paneer chunks (Indian Cottage Cheese)
• Grated Mozarella
• Tortilla wrap

 Flavour -

•  Chat Masala
•  Ketchup
•  Green Chilly - 1 finely chopped (not necessary)
•  Oil to fry - 1 spoonful

Recipe - Finely chop all the vegetables (i.e capsicum and spinach). Dice paneer also in small chunks which are easier to get mixed and fill up.

In a pan take some oil, add vegetables to it. Fry for 1 minute then add paneer cubes to it.

Add 1/2 tea spoon of chat masala, chilles and keep frying for another minute.

Now, take the tortilla wrap, put this mixture in the middle. Top it up with grated mozzarella and ketchup to it.

Now the tricky bit, wrap it up or fold it, nice and tight.

Put this wrap in the grill for about 1 minute (mine does it in that time but if you are doing it for the first time please keep checking). We want it to come out nice and stripy - we love stripes, don't we ;-)

Instant vegetable idli in cupcake maker

Well, I have no problems in saying that this recipe can be done the traditional way steaming the idlis in pressure and getting the instant idlis out. But didnt want to take that pain of cleaning and washing up the utensils which come out afterwards. So, this one invention is the outcome of me trying to find a quicker and less messier way.

And this is how it goes -

Ingredients - Samolina - 1 cup

                   yoghurt - 1/2 up

                   carrot/ beans/ cabbage - finely chopped 1/2 cup

                   water - just for the desired consistency

                   Salt - to taste

                   fruit salt/ eno - 1 spoon

Recipe - In a bowl mix all the ingredients except salt and eno/fruit salt. leave the mixture aside for 20-30 minutes.

Just before you are going to start add salt and eno/ fruit salt to this mixture.

Connect the cupcake maker to the main grease the moulds and start putting the mixture. Do not fill them till the top, I would say about 3/4th of the cups.

Close the lid and wait for it till it gets done. For me the time taken for each set was approx 10 minutes but may vary with the different makes of cupcake maker being used.

Can be eaten hot or cold with tomato ketchup or some dip/ chutney.

Vegetarian Sausages

So here I am after a while now and I am sure that you are going to like this one for the Lunchboxes. Can't say if they taste exactly like the sausages available in the superstores but my son said that they taste even better.... ;-)

As in the lunchboxes kids normally have the sausages and I have been listening to my son saying "can I taste the sausage, did get some the Quorn ones but then decided to try it myself.

Felt really good about this one especially -

Ingredients

• Soya chunks - 60 grams or a cup
• Bread  - 1 1/2 medium slices (crumbed)
• Ground black pepper
• Mixed herbs
• Salt to taste
• For Shallow fry - olive oil

The recipe goes like this -

Firstly you need to soak soya chunks in boiled water for half an hour or boil it in pressure cooker for just one whisle. Take them out and squeeze the water out. Grind it in a mixer grinder.

In a bowl take the soya chunks out, add the bread crumbs, mixed herbs, pepper and salt and mix them well.

Now, give them the shape of sausages and shallow fry/  them in a pan. You will need to keep turning as they need to be roasted on all sides evenly.

Veggie Rich rice in microwave

Ingredients -

• Basmati Rice - 1 cup soaked for about 15 minutes
• Oil - 1 Tablespoon

Vegetables 

• Carrots, Green beans, Green peas, Corn, Potato
• Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon                  
• Bay leaves - 2
• Cloves - 5-6, 
• Cinnamon- 1/2 inch small
• Salt - to taste
• Paneer (Indian Cottage cheese) - optional but preferred especially if being prepared for kids)

                   

              

Take all the vegetables cut them into chunky pieces. Paneer also needs to be diced into pieces.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a nonstick pan. Fry paneer cubes and till they are golden and take them out.

Now, Put all the spices in together. Add all the vegetables and fry for about 2 minutes (as you do for stir fried vegetable).

Take rice in a microwave safe bowl with about 2 cups of water and put inside for 18 minutes. (Times may vary for different brands and power settings). Add salt.

Take it out after 10 minutes add the stir fried mix vegetables and paneer and keep inside microwave and wait till it gets done.

Veggie Cutlet

 Ingredients

Vegetables 

• Carrots
• Beans
• Cabbage
• Boiled Potatoes

Other - Bread
Cornflour
Bread Crumbs
To Taste - Salt, Pepper, soy sauce, garlic crushed, green chillis (if you prefer)

Recipe

Take equal amount of cabbage/ beans / carrots chop them finely ( chopper does great job n quicker too).
Boil potatoes n mash them. Remember just enough potatoes to bind veggies and add some bread ( fresh bread doesn't do the job, have to be 2-3 days old). You may want to add whole meal bread as healthier option.

 Mix it all together and give the cutlets shape as you want. Add salt n pepper just before you are going to fry as veggies start leaving water. In a separate bowl take some corn flour and add water. Coat the cutlets with corn flour n then with some bread crumbs.

 Deep fry them on medium flame as we have used raw vegetables.

Its a much loved recipe by all ages.

Banana Walnut muffins

 Ingredients

• Self Raising Flour - 2 cups
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Butter - 1 cups
• Baking Powder - 1 tea spoon
• Vanilla essence - 1 tea spoon
• Ripe Banana - 1 (mashed using fork)
• Walnuts - crushed (just crushed not powdered)

Desired 

• cupcake cases/ molds               
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Butter - 1 cups
• Baking Powder - 1 tea spoon
• Vanilla essence - 1 tea spoon
• Ripe Banana - 1 (mashed using fork)
• Walnuts - crushed (just crushed not powdered)

Recipe - Two cups self raising flour and baking powder in a bowl, sift them together and put aside.

 In another bowl take butter at room temperature, sugar, vanilla essence mix well using whisk (electric or hand).

Now, add the sifted flour to this mixture slowly and keep folding. Add crushed walnuts and mashed ripe banana and keep mixing them together slowly.

Prepare oven at 160 degrees and put them inside. They slowly start raising and  till you can see some browning to the top. (About 25 minute). Timings' may vary according to the different types of oven being used.

Take them out and wait for them to cool down.