Pyaz ka Parantha

We Indians can have all sorts of paranthas in whatever meals you may name! These go perfectly well for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
Parantha is an Indian flatbread with or without stuffing, which is toasted with ghee/butter/oil on a stove griddle. Here is Pyaz ka Parantha, which is a flatbread with a spicy onion stuffing that makes it moreish! 😛
It can be enjoyed with a couple of condiments like a chutney, sauce, pickle or just plain curd.
We enjoyed these with Aam ka Chundo (sweet mango marmalade), Green chutney Green Chutney (Cilantro Peanut Pesto) & homemade mango pickle Kairi ka Achaar/Mango Pickle . If you like cheese, just top a hot parantha right off the griddle and sprinkle some shredded mozarella

Pyaz ka Parantha

When I can’t think of a breakfast option, this is my handy go to recipe.
Do try it for yourself and thank me later. 😀 So without much ado, let’s proceed to the recipe.

Serves: 4-5 paranthas

Recipe:

Ingredients:

For dough:
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
water as required

For Stuffing:
2 big onions, finely chopped
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chaat masala
1/4 tsp Amchur powder (Dry Mango powder)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp coriander powder
generous pinch of hing (asafoetida)
3 tbsp roasted besan (gram flour)
salt as per taste
2 green chillies, finely chopped
handful of fresh cilantro, finely chopped

oil/ghee for toasting

Stuffing For the Parantha

Method:
Knead a soft dough for rolling out the paranthas and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile prepare the stuffing by mixing all the ingredients given under stuffing except for salt.
When you are ready to make the paranthas, add salt to the stuffing and mix well. Doing this ensures that onions don’t sweat and go mushy.
Heat up a pan or griddle, roll out a ball sized dough keeping the edges thin and the centre a bit thick.
Put enough stuffing in the centre and seal the edges to make it into a ball, now flatten the ball with light hands and dust some dry flour, roll out again. See that the filling is spread evenly.
Toast the parantha on hot griddle from both the sides with ghee or oil of your choice.
Enjoy immediately! 🙂

Look at that crisp

I love this one, it makes for a super yumm recipe with just a handful of ingredients, all easily available in your pantry.
Do try it out and your feedback is awaited!
Happy Cooking
xoxo

Half & Half Bhatura

Chhola-Bhatura doesn’t need any introduction! It is one of the most rejoiced platter in any north indian household. Infact I believe most people are truly fond of this soul-saitiating food! Because this will transport you straight to food coma! 😀

Chhola-Bhatura

I look forward to days when I can cook it!
Bhatura is essentially a deep fried leavened indian bread, usually made with All purpose flour/Maida and uses yeast or baking soda as a leavening agent. The dough is then rested to rise and is further deep fried and served with spicy chickpea gravy (chhola).

This time though I gave it a little twist. Instead of using Maida entirely, I used half whole wheat flour and half Maida. Also this recipe doesn’t use either yeast or Baking Soda for leavening, curd will do the magic for you.

Fluffy Half & Half Bhatura

So let’s go to the recipe without much ado,

Half & half Bhatura
Recipe:Serves- 12 Bhaturas, medium sized

Ingredients:
For dough
1 cup Maida/APF
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup fine sooji
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 cup fresh curd
1/4 cup warm water (Approx)
Enough Oil for frying


Method:
For dough-
In a mixing bowl, add Maida, whole wheat flour, sooji, salt and sugar. Give it a good mix.
Then add the curd and knead the dough.
Add warm water as required and knead it till the dough doesn’t stick to your palms.
Make a soft-smooth dough just like needed for parantha.
Now let the dough rest in a covered container for about 3-4 hours in a warm place.
I put the dough in the oven with the bulb on.

For frying–
After the dough has fermented , make small equal sized balls and keep them covered with a damp cloth so as not to let it dry.
Roll out the bhatura with the help of a rolling pin. and meanwhile let the oil heat up on high flame.
Now fry the bhaturas keeping the flame high throughout. Enjoy!

Do give this recipe a try. Serve Bhaturas hot with a nice chickpea gravy (Pindi Chhola/Amritsari Chhola/Punjabi Chhola)

Note:
Here I made Pindi Chhole. Linking up the recipe for Punjabi Chhole.
Punjabi Chhole

Happy Cooking 🙂
xoxo

Schezwan Pepper Paneer

Schezwan Pepper Paneer

This is one of my go to recipes whenever I’m in a hurry and still want to have something yummy. With minimum at hand pantry staples, this gets done in no time. Schezwan Pepper Paneer recipes uses onion, garlic, bell peppers/capsicum, paneer and minimum spices, the main magic potion being the schezwan sauce.

I love eating it with garam ghee wala fulka(Indian Flatbread) but you can even have it as is.
So let’s quickly get to this recipe.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
200 gms block of Paneer, cut into even sized cubes
1 small onion, widely diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced in similar size
1/2 red bell pepper, diced in similar size
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
3 tbsp schezwan sauce
1/4 tsp red chilli flakes (adjust as per the spice level you like)
salt to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it crackle.
Add garlic and stir.
Once the garlic browns a bit, add diced onion and little salt.
Let it cook for a minute, do not completely cook the onions as though in a gravy. Then add the bell peppers.
Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes till the bell peppers soften slightly.
Add tomato ketchup, schezwan sauce, black pepper, chilli flakes and stir.
Add in the paneer and season it with salt as per taste.
Cover and cook for a minute.
Your Schezwan Pepper Paneer is ready!
😀

Serve it with a bread of your choice or relish as is. 🙂

Note:
Make sure that onion, peppers and paneer are all diced in the same size.
This recipe needs to be cooked on medium to high flame.

Happy Cooking
xoxo

Corn Capsicum Stir-fry

Corn Capsicum Stir-fry veggie is an instant dish that can be made in very little time and tastes delicious. It’s only all the time that chopping takes, stir-frying is easy peasy. It often comes in handy when I you don’t want to cook something elaborate but yummy at the same time.

Lunch today looked like this – Masoor Makhni, Corn-Capsicum stir-fry, Fulka and some cucumber slices on the side. 🙂

So let’s head to the recipe :

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
1 medium sized capsicum, chopped into small dices
1 cup fresh/frozen sweet corn kernels
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 green chili, finely chopped
2 tsp Cooking oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds(Jeera)
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
2 tsp tomato ketchup
fresh chopped coriander to garnish

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter.
Add in the onions and green chili and sauté lightly till translucent.
Add corn and capsicum, give it a quick stir.
Add salt and cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
Now remove the lid and add all the spices. Stir them well.
Add chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce and cover to cook for another minute.
Lastly add lemon juice and turn off the flame.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with hot fulkas.

🙂

Corn-Capsicum Stir Fry

The veggie is ready to be consumed. Enjoy your meal!
Happy Cooking

xoxo

Street Style Aloo Chaat Rolls

Street Style Aloo Chaat Rolls

Wondering what to cook for today’s meal? Bored of the same old Roti-Sabji, don’t wanna eat anything fried but still want to eat something delicious and chatpata! Also filling!
I got you covered. 😀

You’d be amazed to find how simple everyday meals can be given a twisty makeover and that keeps each one at home happy. 🙂

I am sure most of you all have a “Kolkata roll wala” in your city that sells like hot cakes. How about creating your own street style wrap/roll? 🙂
Here in this recipe, all we will use is aloo bhujia style chaat, roti/parantha, salad, chutneys, curd.

Okay so let the fun begin, let’s get to the recipe.

Let’s take the recipe step by step.

For Aloo Bhujia Chaat (Crisp Potato Chaat)
2-3 Potatoes cut into thin wedges
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp chaat masala
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Amchur Powder (dry mango powder)
a pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 tsp jeeravan (optional)
salt to taste

Method –
Heat oil in a pan, add jeera and let it splutter.
Add potato wedges and salt. Cover and cook till it softens about more than half.
Add all the other spices now, give a quick stir.
Cover and cook till done.
Now on high flame, let them get a little toasty.
Turn off the flame. Aloo Bhujia Chaat is ready.

For spread–
Green cilantro Chutney
Check the recipe here – Green Chutney (Cilantro Peanut Pesto)

For the dressing–
1 cup fresh thick curd, whisked well
2 tbsp sweet tamarind chutney
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber
freshly chopped cilantro
salt to taste
1/4 tsp chaat masala
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder

To make the dressing-
Mix curd, chopped veggies, sweet tamarind chutney and all the spices together.

For the roll –
Use thick rolled out Chapatti/Parantha.
(I have used Chapatti thicker than the usual)

Assemble –
Take a parantha/Thick chapatti, as you like and spread the green chutney on it evenly.
In the center spread the aloo chaat.
On top of it spread the dressing, sprinkle a little more chaat masala over it.
Now cover it like a roll and put a toothpick in the centre so as to keep it intact.
Enjoy as is. :))

Enjoy this street style roll, absolutely homecooked. :))

Happy Cooking
xoxo

Mix Veg (Restaurant Style)

While dining out, a typical north Indian vegetarian would pick one Paneer curry, a Dal and then more often than not it would be Mix-veg! 😀
Just a general observation!!

How about replicating the same style mix-veg that you’d order in a restaurant? 🙂
Sounds like a good idea?
Let’s do it then.

What’s the best part about a mix-veg!!
It lets a picky eater eat ample veggies in one dish. I like adding a variety to mine. So shall we head to the recipe without much ado. 🙂

Recipe:
Serves – 4

Ingredients:

Veggies-
15-18 medium sized cauliflower florets
1/2 cup french beans (diagonally cut, lengthwise)
1/2 cup carrot (cut into roundels)
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
1 medium sized potato (cut into wedges)
1 cup paneer (small cubes)
2 green chillies slit
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 medium sized tomatoes (finely chopped)
2-3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 inch ginger grated
handful of fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Spices-
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala
1/4 tsp vegetable masala
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp amchur powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 tbsp kasuri methi (crush it in your palms)
3 tbsp oil

Method:
Take a heavy bottom wok.
Heat oil in it, add hing and cumin seeds
Add garlic, onion and ginger. Saute them on high flame till they brown.
Add all the dry spices. Make sure you add salt only a little bit for now.
Roast all the spices well for about 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
Add tomatoes and green chillies. Saute till the oil leaves the sides of the wok.
Now add in all the other veggies and add salt , give them a quick stir.
Cover the wok with a lid and put it to low-medium flame.
Let the veggies cook till tender, keep checking in between.
When you see all the veggies have softened and are well cooked, uncover the wok and set the flame to high.
Saute all the veggies for about 2-3 minutes on high.
Turn off the flame, transfer them to your serving bowl/platter and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
Serve with a bread of your choice.
🙂




Do try out this recipe and keep me posted.
Happy Cooking ya’ll! :))

xoxo

Punjabi Chhole

Whether you are a Punjabi or non Punjabi, the love of chhole surpasses it all. A typical north indian household has one favourite of all times, Chhole. I love savoring a delicious bowl of chhola with garma-garam paranthe! 🙂

There are many variants of chhole like Chana Masala, Amritsari Chhole, Punjabi Chhole. I’m making Punjabi Chhole, my way.

Punjabi Chhole

Let's not wait further and get to the recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup kabuli chana (Chickpeas)
2 medium sized onions
2 tomatoes
1 inch ginger julienned 
3-4 garlic pods
2-3 green chillies
1 bay leaf
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
1 Black cardamom
2 cloves
2-3 whole black peppercorns
1 whole dry red chilli
2-3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp jeera
3/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/3 tsp amchur powder
2 tsp chhola masala
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp chaat masala
1 tbsp kasuri methi 
salt to taste

Method:
Wash and soak the chickpeas for 5-6 hours or overnight.



Add water till an inch above the chhole, add salt and pressure cook the chhole for 3-4 whistles on medium flame.
Let the pressure cooker release its pressure on its own to cool down.
Finely chop one onion and thinly slice the other one.



Take a wok, heat up oil and add jeera to splutter.
Add bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, crushed black cardamom, dry red chilli. Stir.
Now add onions and finely chopped garlic.



Add julienned ginger and chopped green chillies.
Saute them till pinkish brown.



Add pureed tomato.



Add salt, red chilli powder, chaat masala, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chhola masala,1/4 tsp garam masala and amchur powder.



Roast the mix with all the spices well and make sure that the oil leaves the sides of the pan.



Add about 1 & 1/2 cups of water and let it simmer for 5-7 mins.
Add in the boiled chhole , cover the wok with a lid and cook on medium flame for 15 mins.



Lastly add a tbsp of ghee (or more if you like), kasuri methi and 1/4 tsp of remaining garam masala. 
Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.



Relish this Punjabi Chhole curry with Roti/rice/Puri or Parantha.
If you give it a try, do keep me posted. Will look forward to all your feedback. 😀


 
xoxo. 
🙂

Image

Khatta Meetha Karela (Sweet and Tangy Bitter Gourd)

Like I mentioned in the last blog post, I love anything and everything from the gourd family. So here I am with another though ‘not-so-very- liked-by-many’; “Bitter Gourd”.
Maybe as a child I wasn’t too fond of it either and didn’t really like eating it. But I remember once during summer vacations, when I must have been 5 or 6 years old, my nani (Maternal Grandma) told me to atleast give it a try. From that day on, I guess this has been on my list of favourite veggies. 😀
As the name suggets, it is certainly bitter in taste but then looking at the nutritional benefits of this vegetable, one can totally let go off that! If you are not a keen eater of this one, try out the way i made it and maybe you will start liking it too. 🙂

A little about the ‘Nutrional Benefits’ of Bitter Gourd
Bitter Gourd is an extremely rich source of Vitamin C which helps in boosting immunity and keeps a check on your regular health. It is essentially a store house of dietary fibre that aid in proper digestion and good bowel movement.
Also it has as less as only 17 calories per 100 gms which makes it a good food to be included in your weight loss diet. And an extremely diabetic friendly vegetable, it is advisable to have a glass of Bitter gourd juice every morning on an empty stomach.
So have I given you enough reasons to incoroporate Karela in your diet.  🙂

While Karela is cooked in a number of ways, here I made a khatta meetha karela, i.e. sweet and tangy and yet not losing on the healt aspects! Check out the recipe and make it soonest.

Recipe for Khatta Meetha Karela
Serves : 4

Ingredients :

250 gms Bitter Gourd/ Karela
4 tbsp oil
2 tsp + 1 &1/4 tsp salt
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1 tsp red chilli powder
3/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi powder)
2 & 1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhaniya powder)
1 tsp coarsely ground fennel powder (saunf powder)
1 small raw mango, grated
2-3 tbsp grated jaggery (Gur)
Enough water to wash the vegetable

Preparation :
Firstly wash the karela well in running water so that it is all clean.
Take a bowl, put your vegetable in here and sprinkle 2 tsp salt over it. Cover with a lid and give it a topsy-turvey shake so that salt mixes with all the karelas.
Keep them like this for an hour and a half.
Now wash them again twice and drain all the water.
Salt is completely washed. This method of first putting them in salt is done to remove the bitterness of the vegetable. Now cut them into slices just as given in the second picture above. 🙂
There is no need to peel it.

Method :
1.Take a wok, heat oil and add hing, jeera and rai and let them crackle.
2.Add sliced karela and stir. Cover with a lid and cook till they are soft for about 8-10 minutes. Give a stir or two in between so that they do not stick to the bottom.
3.Uncover the lid, check that they’re cooked and add all the spices, salt,red chilli powder, dhaniya powder, saunf powder,haldi powder and stir.
4. Add grated raw mango and grated jaggery and stir well again.
5. Cook for another 2 minutes and your khatta meetha style karela is ready to eat.

Best eaten with phulka/roti/chappati or mixed with dal and rice. 🙂

Notes :
Bitter gourd uses more oil for cooking lest it’ll be too dry.
If raw mango is not available, you may use 1/2 tsp dry mango powder (amchur) and there won’t be any difference in the taste.
Also sugar can be substituted for jaggery but I personally prefer Jaggery.

Awaiting your feedback. 🙂
Thank for stopping by, Happy Cooking. ❤

Bharwan Tinde (Stuffed Apple Gourd)

How can you not love greens?? They look gorgeous, don’t they! 🙂 Well, i love everything from the “gourd” famliy. Be it bottle gourd (Lauki), Bitter gourd (Karela), Ridge gourd (Taurai), Sponge gourd (gilki), apple gourd (Tinda) to name a few!! The list is endless.
In india, usually all these are summer vegetables however today you get everything throughout the year. But I am still a firm believer of eating seasonal and fresh produce, nothing beats that! Right? 🙂

I might just do different post on all these vegetables belonging to the gourd family and in what variations are these eaten in my family. So thought why not start with an ever favourite “Bharwan Tinde”.
Bharwan tinde ki sabji is nothing but apple gourds stuffed with an indian spice filling and cooked till tender and flavourful! You ought to make this, if you haven’t yet.

Here’s the recipe you are looking for.

Bharwan Tinde ki Sabji :
Serves  : 4-6

Ingredients :

500 gms Apple Gourd/Tinda
2-3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp rai (Mustard seeds)
a generous pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1 & 1/2 tsp salt (Adjust as per taste)
1 & 1/4 tsp red chilli powder (Adjust as per taste)
1/2 tsp haldi powder (Turmeric powder)
2 & 1/2 tsp dhaniya powder (Coriander powder)
1 tsp saunf (fennel seeds)
1/4 tsp amchur (Dry mango Powder)
7-8 garlic cloves
a bunch of  fresh coriander leaves (washed and chopped)

Method :
Wash and peel the apple gourds. Put a cross slit in between ensuring that it does not cut the end, so as to fill it nicely.
Take your spices, salt, red chilli powder, haldi powder, dhaniya powder, saunf, amchur and chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well (Filling is ready).
Now stuff each tinda.

Take a wok, heat oil and add hing, jeera and rai till they spultter.
Put the stuffed tindas one by one into the wok so that the stuffing doesn’t spill out.
Cover the wok with a plate and pour some water on top of it so that it cooks well and softens nicely. Let it cook on low-medium flame and stir twice or thrice in between.
Add 2-3 tsp water and cook for another 5-7 minutes till they are moist and soft.
Add all the remaining masala mix. Give it a stir.
Now dig in the center of the wok, add minced garlic cloves and saute. Now stir again and cook for 2 more minutes.

Bharwan tinda is ready to eat! Best enjoyed with garma garam fulka/roti.

So now that you have the perfect recipe for it, go make it in your kitchen and don’t forget to keep me posted with the feedback. I bet you’ll love it. 😀

Paneer Jalfrezi

Sudden guests at home and you obviously want to cook something super delish, this quick restaurant style Paneer Zalfrezi is good enough to impress your guests and have them wanting for more! 🙂
Paneer Zalfrezi is such a favourite, cottage cheese cubes cooked with other vegetables in a tomato based gravy. What makes it even more to savour onto is the fact that it’s not cooked in an overly rich gravy. Light on the tummy and lipsmacking to taste.

Usually capsicum and onions are used with cottage cheese for Paneer Jalfrezi but i used carrots also along with others. It goes perfect with roti, parantha or rice! We relished it with Laccha parantha though. 😉
Aren’t the pictures tempting you to make your own? 😛
Let’s get to the recipe, and when you try, don’t forget to keep me posted with the feedback and pictures. 🙂

Recipe :

Serves 4-6

Ingredients :
200 gms Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
2 medium sized onions
1 capsicum
2-3 large tomatoes
1 carrot
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
2 tbsp oil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp kitchen king masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 & 1/4 tsp salt (adjust as per taste)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
2 tbsp fresh cream
handful of coriander leaves, for garnishing

Preparation :

1.Wash and peel the carrot, julienne them.
2.Wash and cut the capsicum lenght wise.
3.Peel and slice the onions.
4.Cut one tomato into small dices and puree the other two tomatoes.
5.Cut the cottage cheese length wise into batons. Add these batons to warm water for a minute just to soften them.

Method :
Take a pan and heat the oil, add cumin seeds and bay leaf. Now saute onions and add ginger-garlic paste when the onions turn rosy pink. Add capsicum and carrot and cook for 2-3 minutes till soft, cover the pan with a lid. Give it a quick stir and add chopped tomatoes and the puree and stir again. Add all the spices, chilli powder, garam masala, kitchen king masala, salt, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Cook the veggies with spices for another 2-3 minutes. Add sugar and stir. Add paneer batons and fresh cream and stir very gently so as to not break the paneer pieces. Cover and let it simmer for a minute. Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve it with your favourite bread or rice! ❤

Cook it for your friends and family or for yourself 😉 and tell me how many compliments did you get in turn! Happy Cooking. xoxo

Thank you for stopping by 🙂