Vegetable Jalfrezz

Take:
French beans: 4-5 (Cut it diagonally into oblique slices)
carrots (Orange): 2 medium sized (Cut it diagonally into oblique slices)
capsicum: 1/2 large, cut 1" square pieces.
Peas: 1/2 cup
Onion: 1 medium sized (cut into four pieces from top and then remove each layer)
mushrooms: 6-7 (cut into four longitudinally)
baby corn: 3-4 (Cut it diagonally into oblique slices)
Onion paste:  Take 1 medium sized onion and grind it with 1 green chilly.
1/2 " shoot of ginger, 3-4 garlic cloves: chop into fine pieces
Pepper: 1 tspn
Subji masala: 1 tbspn (I use MDH kitchen king). Alternately you can use 1 tspn garam masala.
Tomato: 1 medium sized pureed
Tomato sauce: (3-4 tbspn)
salt to taste
cheddar cheese/ cottage cheese and coriander leaves for garnishing.
Oil: 5 tbspn

• Boil 800 ml water with 1 tspn salt and 1 tspn sugar. Remove from burner and add beans, carrots, peas and baby corn to blanch.
• After 3-4 minutes, take off the vegetables from water, leaving the water in vessel.
• Heat the same water for 2-3 minutes and then add mushrooms to blanch for 3-4 minutes. Remove mushrooms from water.
• Heat 2 tbspn oil in a pan, and add chopped ginger and garlic and saute for a minute.
• Add onion and capsicum. Saute on high flame for 3-4 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute again till all water is drained. Add the remaining vegetables and saute it again for 2-3 minutes.
• On another stove heat 3 tb spn oil and roast onion paste till golden brown. 
• Add tomato paste and roast it till for 4-5 minutes stirring continuously.
• Add the sauted vegetables to this masala. 
• Add pepper powder and subji masala and mix it on high flame for 1-2 minutes.
• Add tomato sauce and mix it well.
• To give the burnt tandoori flavour to the curry, slightly displace the kadhai/pan from heat, take a spoonful of vegetable in porous/slited steel laddle and keep it on flame for 30 seconds. Mix this back in kadhai and take another spoonful of jalfrezzi. Do this 3-4 times.
• Mix the jalfrezzi again, transfer it in a serving dish.
• Garnish it with grated cheese, paneer and serve hot.
•  

Sewai Halwa/ Semolina Pudding

I was craving for sweet sewai the other day specially  made on the occasion of Id and I came across this recipe on internet (ifoodtv). Adapted it to Indian style as the flavour of cardamom should be prominent for me in halwa. I tried it though now sure how it will come out because of egg as an ingredient which I had never tried with semolina. But to my surprise it turned out well..liked by Sanjeev and Toshini both. I am putting it down, I need to try it again without egg, I will share the subsequent adaptations as well.

You need:
Semolina (sewai) : 1 3/4 cups
ghee: 2 tspn
sugar: 1 1/2 cups (grind it)
egg: 1 (well beaten)
coconut milk: 2 cups (I took half of a big raw coconut and grinded it with two cups water and then sieved the milk)
cardomon (Elaichi): 2 pieces
Cloves (Laung): 2 pieces
salt: 1/2 tspn
water: 1 1/2 cup
vegetable oil: 3 tbspn
poppy seeds (khus khus): 2 tspn
Mewa katran (kaju, badaam, kishmish): 3-4 tbspn (optional) [thin long slits of almonds, and cashew nuts; some raisins]

• Coarsely grind cardamom and cloves in a stone crusher.
• Roast semolina in ghee till golden brown in a thick bottomed pan.
• Beat egg in a bowl, add sugar, vegetable oil, coconut milk, salt, water and mix well using a beater. 
• Add this mixture to  semolina and cook on high flame stirring continuously till you see the first signs of bubbles. 
• Reduce the flame and the mixture will also start thickening. Cook on low flame, stirring continously till the mixture thickens and starts leaving the surface.
• Mix the mewa katran and cardamon-clove powder.
• Transfer this in a greased baking dish and layer it with poppy seeds.
• Put this in convection 200 degrees for 10 minutes. This will make the top layer crispy. (incase you do not prefer to have some crispy semolina you can avoid this and can directly grill the semolina).
• Then grill it for 8-10 minutes till golden brown on surface.
• Serve hot.

DOZZA

A traditional uttapam with a cheesy touch to make it look like pizza from the toping and having a base of dosa- is what this recipe is all about. Both of us -me and Sanjeev  just love this, and I have to make this whenever I make dosa.

Try this as it tastes different from pizza or uttapam.

Dosa batter (Makes 10-12 dozzas) (To prepare dosa batter, soak 2 1/2 cups of boiled rice, 1/2 cup raw rice and 1 cup urad dal for 7-8 hours. Grind rice and dal separately, Mix after grinding , add salt and enough water to get the pouring consistency. Keep it in warm place overnight, or for 8-10 hours for the batter to ferment).


For dozza topping: (5-6 dozza)
Potato boiled: 3-4  medium sized (Meshed, add salt, 1/2 tspn black pepper powder)
capcisum (chopped): 1 large
onion (Chopped): 2 medium
Tomato sauce: 1/2 cup diluted with 2-3 tspn water
butter: 50 gms
cheddar cheese (Grated): 40 grams
Oil: 3-4 tb spn

• Heat a flat pan/ non stick tawa.
• Reduce the flame, put one cup batter and spread it evenly into a thick dosa.
• Top it with two tbspn potato masala, two tbspns capsicum, two tbspn onions.
• Put some butter at 2-3 places, tomato sauce in circles or drops, and top it with grated cheese.
• Circle the dosa with oil, so that it is cooked on edges and can be removed easily later.
• Cover the dozza and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes. The dozza will be cooked and cheese melts like pizza.
• Remove the cover, increase the flame for a minute. This makes the bottom of dozza crispy.
• Nudge at the edges and remove carefully, tranfer to a serving dish and serve hot.

Methi ke paranthe

Methi paratha is a favourite in winters...made it yesterday...missed to take a picture, but thought of posting the recipe...

Take:
Wheat floor: 4 cups
Gram floor: 3/4 cups
3 cups of chopped methi bhaji (fenugreek leaves)
Oil: 3 tbspn
Green chilly: 1
Ginger: 1/2 inch shoot
Coriander powder: 1 tspn
Garam masala: 1/2 tspn
Rai (mustard seeds): 1/2 tspn
Salt

• Crush ginger and green chilly in stone crusher to make a paste, or finely chop them.
• Heat oil, add rai to splutter.
• Add  ginger chilly paste, coriander powder and then washed fenugreek leaves.
• Add salt and cook for 5-6 minutes till cooked. Add garam masala and remove it from fire.
• Mix both wheat and gram floor, add cooked fenugreek  leaves. Knead it with warm water and make 10 balls from the dough.
• Roll a ball into a 4 inch dia roti, layer it with a coat of oil and then make it into a ball folding the edges in the center.
• Roll this ball into a 8 inch paratha after coating it with wheat floor (palethan).
• Put it on a hot tawa (flat pan) on high flame, roast both the sides on high flame.
• Reduce the flame and layer both the sides with oil . Make it crisp by cooking it on low flame.
• Serve hot with curd chutney. 
• 
  Make rest of the parathas similarly.

Creamy Pasta

After a good break at Andaman and Nicobar islands and defending my PhD thesis proposal, I was back in kitchen today...made creamy pasta, tangy pasta, salad and garlic bread in dinner ....Here is the creamy pasta recipe.

Onion : 1 (medium sized)
ginger: 1/2 tspn
butter: 2tbspn
maida (white floor): 2 tspn
oil: 1 tbspn
farfalle pasta: 1 1/2 cup
black pepper powder: 1 tspn
oregano: 1 tspn
sugar: 1/2 tspn
salt:  to taste

• Boil pasta in water with salt and a little oil. Strain and wash with cold water.
• Make paste of onion with ginger.
• Heat oil, and saute onion paste till it is golden brown.
• Heat butter in a thick bottomed pan, add maida and roast till golden brown.
• Add a little warm milk and mix it well with floor, see that no lumps are formed.
• Add remaining milk, sugar, salt, black pepper, cooked onion paste and mix well.
• Add pasta in this mixture and mix well. 
• Transfer in serving dish and serve hot with garlic bread.