Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

• 2 Onions - cut into 4ths
• 2 bunches Palak
• 10-15 Kaju
• Paneer cubes
• Ginger Garlic Paste
• Garam Masala
• Green chilies
• Salt
• Jeera

Procedure:

• In a pot bring water to a boil and boil the onion pieces for 8-10 mins and keep them aside
• In the same water boil the Kaju for 5-7 mins (till soft) and keep them aside
• In the same water boil the spinach for 5 mins and drop them in ice cold water to stop the cooking and to have the bright green color for palak
• Grind the Onion , Kaju (can add water to get smooth paste) and Palak SEPARATELY  to a amooth paste
• In a pan add oil once hot add Jeera, Ginger garlic paste, Onion paste and Garam Masala
• let the onions look only till very ligth brown (not dark brown) and add Kalu paste and let it cook till the paste starts sticking to the pan
• Add the green chilies and Palak paste to this paste and add little water if needed
• Add salt and paneer pieces and let it cook for 5 min Max else you will loose the bright green color
• Remove from heat and Enjoy with Jeera Rice / Naan/ Roti!!

Matri

Ingredients:

• All Purpose flour : 1 cup
• Whole wheat flour : 1/4 cup
• Ajwain/ Carrom seeds: 4tsp
• Warm water : 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Procedure:

• In a bowl mix all purpose flour, wheat flour, ajwain and salt
• Add 4-5 tbsp oil and mix till you are able to make a small pea sizes ball with this dough
• Add water little by little and kneed the dough, the dough should form as a ball but should hard 

• Pinch the dough into small balls like this

• Heat oil in a frying pan, and in the mean while roll the pinched balls into small chapati's with rolling pin

                               

• Using a fork make fer holes in the small chapati's, so the the Matri will not puff up and be crisp

• Once the oil is hot enough, fry all the matri, it takes around 3-4 mins on each side to get a golden brown color

• Matri are ready to eat with Tea!!!!

Mummified Pizza's

Ingredients:

• English muffins - 12
• Marinara Sauce(I used store bought)- 1 bottle
• Sliced Olives- 1 12 ounce can
• Mozzarella cheese slices -12 slices

Procedure:

• Pre- heat the oven to 375 F 
• Open the English muffins  or make them into two
• On each half spread the marinara sauce evenly
• Place two slices of olives as eyes
• Thinly cut strips out of the cheese slices and place them on the muffins to give a mummy's look
• Bake them at 375F for about 10-12 mins
• The Mummified Pizza's are ready to be serve hot Happy Halloween!!!!

White Witch Fingers with blood

Ingredients:

• Puff pastry sheets
• Roasted Almonds
• Parmigiana cheese
• All Purpose flour
• Hot Ketchup

Procedure:

• Thaw the pastry sheets completely
• Dust the work surface with a little all purpose flour
• Spread the pastry sheets and using a rolling pin, stretch the pastry sheet a little bit
• Using a pizza cutter cut the sheet into thin strips and sprinkle with cheese
• Lay them on a baking sheet and bake at 400F for 15 minutes
• When complete cooled insert the roasted almonds, to look like nails
• Serve warm with hot ketchup...for blood
• White witch fingers with blood are ready for munching!!!!

Veg Cutlets

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 3nos boiled
• Carrots- 2nos diced
• Beans- 250gms diced
• Peas- 100gms
• Onions-2nos finely chopped
• Ginger garlic paste-1tspn
• Green chillies-5-8nos made into a paste
• Garam Masala-2tspns
• Coriander
• Bread crumbs
• Corn flour-1/2 cup
• Butter milk
• Oil
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

• Boil all the vegetables in a pressure cooker,I normally let them cook for 3-4 whistles
• In pan add oil, onions, ginger garlic paste and saute till the onions are golden brown 
• Once the pressure is released, squeeze all the water out of the veggies and mash them in a blender
• Add salt, garam masala ,green chilli paste and coriander, make small patties (as bog or small as u like)out of this vegetable mixture and keep them aside
• Now dip the patties in corn flour then in buttermilk and then into the bread crumbs
• Keep a tava on medium high flame and roast these patties by apply a very light coating of oil on the sides and on top of each one
• cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or till you see a golden brown color oh both sides of the patty
• Serve hot with spicy ketchup!!!

Bhindi Masala

Ingredients:

• Binidi / Ladies finger diced -2cups 
• Red bell pepper diced -1nos
• Yellow bell pepper diced-1nos
• Onions diced-1cup
• Ginger garlic paste -2tspns
• Jeera - 3tspns
• Turmeric - 1-2tspns
• Red chilli powder - as per taste
• Salt - as per taste
• Oil

Procedure:

• In a pan add little oil and add jeera seeds to it
• Once the jeera/cumin seeds start to turn little dark in color add the onion and ginger garlic paste and satue till the onions are gloden brown in color
• Add the chopped bhindi/ladies finger to the oinion and cover it with a lid for few minutes, now add the chopped peppers and salt
• Let the mixture cook for some time, keep mixing in between, once the peppers and bhindi are tender add turmeric and red chili powder and again let it cook for 4-5 minutes
• Serve hot with roti or rice!!!

Whole Wheat Garlic and Herb Pita Chips

Ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Pita Bread - 2nos
  
• Oilve oil
• Garlic salt
• Italian Seasoning

Procedure:

• Pre-heat the oven to 400deg F
• Cut the whole wheat pita bread into triangles. i.e. by cutting the bread into 1/8th pieces
• Separate the slices so that you have single layer bread

• Spread on a cookie sheet without over lapping and brush very lightly with Olive oil
• Sprinkle the garlic salt and Italian seasoning on top

• Bake them for 6-7 minutes at 400 deg F

• Whole Wheat Garlic and Herb Pita Chips are ready...Serve with any dipping sauce!!!

Vegetable Manchuria...With Gravy

Ingredients: For Manchuria

• 1 cup Cabbage shredded
• 1 nos Capsicum finely chopped
• 1nos Onion finely chopped
• 1nos Carrot grated
• 1tbspn Ginger Garlic paste
• 1cup All Purpose Flour
• Salt to taste
• Oil for Deep Frying

For Gravy

• 1 nos Capsicum finely chopped
• 1nos Onion finely chopped
• Green chillies chopped as per taste
• Spring onions Finely chopped
• 1tbspn Ginger Garlic paste
• 1/2 cup Soy sauce
• 1/2 cup Tomato ketchup
• 1 1/2 cup Water

Method: For Manchuria :

• Mix all the chopped veggies, flour, salt, ginger garlic paste and mix well
• You will mostly not need any water, but if you feel the dough is too tight add just a few drops of water
• Heat the oil for deep frying
• Make small balls out of the dough and deep fry them til they are golden brown and keep aside

For Gravy:

• In a deep wok add little oil, onions, capsicum, ginger garlic paste, green chillies and saute till onion are golden brown
• Add the soy sauce, tomato ketchup, water and let it simmer
• There will be no need of extra salt as soy sauce is salty, but adjust according to your taste
• Once the sauce thickens a little bit add the fried Manchuria balls and switch off the flame
• Add the spring onions and let it sit for some time, till the Manchuria balls absorb some of the sauce
• Serve hot!!!

Eggless Banana Nut Bread

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 bananas
• 4 tbsp melted unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp yogurt
• 1 cup whole wheal flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1tsp cardamom Powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

• Pre Heat oven to 350 F
• Mash the bananas add sugar,milk,yogurt,vanilla essence to it
• Mix salt,flour, cardamom powder, baking soda and chopped nuts
• Add the wet and dry ingredients and mix to combine. Do not over mix them
• Pour this batter in a greased bread tin and bake for about 40-50 minutes or till a tooth pick inserted comes out dry

Chana Chaat

Ingredients:

• Chick peas/Garbanzo beans-2cups
• Onions-1 finely chopped
• Jeera-2tspns
• Ginger Garlic paste-1tspn
• Chana Masala-1tspn
• Garam Masala-1tspn
• Dhaniya Jeera pwdr-1tspn
• Salt to taste
• Red chili pwdr according to taste
• Turmeric pwdr-1tspn
• Oil to saute
• Lemon juice-2tspns
• Coriander for garnish

Procedure:

• Soak the chick peas over night or for minimum 4hrs, and boil them in a pressure cooker
• In a pan add oil and jeera and let the jeera splutter
• Add the onions and ginger garlic paste and saute till the onion turn golden brown in color
• Add the garam masala, chana masala, dhaniya jeera powder and saute on a low flame
• Add the boiled chick peas and add salt , red chili pwdr, turmeric and increase the flame
• Saute this till all the water evaporates
• Turn off the flame, add the lemon juice and garnish with coriander
• Chana Chaat is Ready!!!

Chekara Pongali

Ingredients:

• Rice- 1 cup
• Chana Dal/Senaga pappu- 1/2 cup
• Water-3 cups
• Milk- 1 cup
• Jaggery- 2 cups
• Cardamom powder
• Cashews
• Raisins
• Ghee

Procedure:

• In a pressure cooker cook the rice and dal by adding water and milk
• Cook for 5-6 whistles, this will let the dal cook nicely
• In a deep pot, add little ghee and saute the cashews and raisins till golden brown
• Add the cooked rice and dal mixture, add little water if you feel the rice is too dry
• Add the powdered Jaggery to this mixture and let it cook on a very low flame for 5-7 minutes, you can adjust the jaggery depending on your sweet level
• At this point the rice and dal mixture should be kind of mushy and watery but not runny
• If you feel the Pongal is too runny, continue cooking for some more time on a low flame
• Add the cardamom powder and remove from the flame
• Chekara Pongali is ready to serve hot!!!!

Gobi Manchuria

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower-1 big flower
• Rice flour- 2 cups
• Maida/All purpose flour- 1 cup
• Ginger garlic paste
• Green chilies- as per taste
• Onions - 3 nos
• Garlic- 6-7 pods
• Tomato Ketchup - 4 cups
• Soy sauce - 1 cup
• Cilantro - 1 bunch
• Salt
• Water
• Oil

Procedure:

• Cut the florets(big size) from the cauliflower, and wash and dry them completely
• To these florets, add the rice flour, maida, ginger garlic paste, green chillies (cut length wise), salt. Mix these to form a thick batter using water
• You can adjust the quantity of flour and water so that all the florets are covered in the batter, but it should not be runny
• Let it marinade for 2-4hrs
• Once the florets are well marinated, deep fry them and keep them aside
• In a deep pan add oil, onions and chopped garlic and saute till the onions turn golden brown
• Add the tomato ketchup and soy sauce and simmer for 5-6 minutes, you can add some water if you feel the ketchup is too thick(the soy sauce takes care of salt, so do not add extra salt in sauce)
• Right before serving, add the fried florets into the sauce, mix well to combine and garnish with cilantro
• Gobi Manchuria is ready to be served HOT !!!

Mixed Veg Curry

Ingredients:

• Capsicum- Green, Red, Orange, Yellow 1 each
• Carrot - 2nos
• Potato - 1nos
• Peas- As per taste
• Paneer- 1 block
• Onions- 2nos
• Tomato paste- 1 small can
• Ginger garlic paste
• Garam Masala Pwdr- 2 tbspns
• Milk
• Oil
• Kasuri Methi- Few
• Cilantro
• Jeera- 2 tbspns
• Turmeric powder
• Red chillie Powder

Procedure:

• In a deep pan add oil and Jeera seeds, saute for 1-2 minutes
• Now add the ginger garlic paste and once the raw smell of ginger is gone add the onions
• Once the onions are golden brown in color add the tomato paste and saute for 1-2 minutes
• Add the garam masala powder, and let the mixture cook
• Now add all the vegetables and salt and let the vegetables cook on low flame, covering with a lid
• In the mean while take an other small pan and slightly saute the paneer cubes just to remove the raw taste..this is optional, if u like raw paneer thats fine too
• keep the paneer pieces aside
• To the vegetables, add milk,kauturi methi, red chille powder, turmeric and let it continue to cook on low flame
• Once the vegetables are totally cooked add the paneer peices and continue the cooking for 5-6 mintues
• Garnish with cilantro ...Mixed veg curry is ready!!!

Bruchetta

Ingredients:

• French Bread-1 loaf
• Tomatoes- 2 nos
• Cilantro- 1/2 bunch
• Balsamic Vinegar- 2 tbspns
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil

Procedure:

• Slice the French loaf at an angle
• Toast the slices in a toaster or on a grill until golden brown
• Cut the tomatoes into small cubes
• In a small bowl mix together oilve oil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar
• Mix together the tomatoes and the oilve oil mixture
• Add cilantro to the above mixture
• Cover each slice of bread with the tomatoes mixture
• Enjoy the Bruchetta with hot and spicy salsa

Three Bean Salad

Ingredients:

• Kidney Beans - 1can
• Chick Peas-1can
• Black Eye Beans-1can
• Red Bell Pepper-1nos
• Yellow Bell Pepper-1nos
• Green Bell Pepper-1nos
• Orange Bell Pepper-1nos
• Tomatoes-1nos
• Onions-1nos
• Cilantro-1/2 Bunch
• Salt- to taste
• Pepper- to taste
• Olive oil- 6 Tbspns
• Balsamic Vinegar- 2 Tbspns
• Oregano leaves(dried)- 2 Tspns

Procedure:

• Drain and wash the three beans from the cans
• Cut the bell peppers, tomatoes, onions into small cubes
• In a small bowl mix the Olive oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Salt, Pepper and oregano leaves
• In a large bowl mix together all the beans, bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and the oil mixture
• Garnish with cilantro

Punjabi Chole

Ingredients:

• Kabuli Chana/ Garbanzo Beans
• Onions-2
• Tomatoes-2
• Ginger Garlic paste-1Tspn
• Elaichie/Cardamom-2
• Chakka/Cinamon
• Lavanga/Cloves-3
• Jeera-2Tspns
• Red Chillie Powder
• Turmeric
• Salt
• Garam Masala
• Tea Powder

Procedure:

• Soak the chana over night and boil them in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles and let it simmer for 30 mins on a very low flame--this will make the chana soft and not mushy
• In a pan take some oil add jeera and onions--cut into thin slices not a paste
• once the onions turn gloden brown add ginger garlic paste and let it fry for some time
• Add the tomato peices and fry till the tomato pieces are well cooked..the colore should become deep red
• Add salt,red chillie powder , turmeric and Garam masala
• Now add the boiled Chana along with the water
• in an other pot add a cup of water and 5-6 tspns of tea powder and make a de-caution
• Add this de-caution to the chana and let it simmer for 10-15 mins or till the deep brown color is seen
• Punjabi Chole is ready to eat along with Lacha Paratha!!!!

Laccha Paratha

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour
• Shah Jeera
• Cilantro
• Red Chille Powder
• Salt
• Water
• Oil

Procedure:

• knead the wheat flour into a soft dough, as we do for the chapati's
• Divide the flour into equal parts
• Roll out the dough ball into a small chapati
• sprinkle red chillie powder, salt,ciltantro and jeera
• Fold this Chapati n a fan shape--up and down and then roll this fan into a round again it looks like the pic below

• Let these rolls rest for 15-20 mins
• Roll out these rolls into a chapati shape...roll them only in one direction, without flipping them
• Now roast the lacha paratha on a tava using oil till its done on both sides
• Lacha paratha is ready to eat with Punjabi Chole!!!!

Pizza at Home

Ingredients:

   For the Base

• Active Dry yeast 1 packet
• Warm water 1/2 cup
• All purpose flour-4 cups
• Sugar-2 tea spoons
• Salt to taste
• Olive oil

  For the Toppings

• Pasta Sauce or tomato ketchup
• Onions- 1 thinly sliced
• Tomatoes- 1 sliced
• BellPeppers- 1/2 cup sliced
• Baby Corn- Sliced
• Zuccini- 1/2 sliced
• Cheese of your choice

Procedure:

• Take one full packet of Active dry yeast and add warm water to it
• let it sit for 20-30 mins so that the yeast is really active and we can see the volume of the mixture double in quantity
• Take 3 cups of All purpose flour in a big bowl and add couple of table spoons of olive oil and this yeast mixture and mix it well with a spoon or fork initially
• sprinkle some flour on the board and start kenading this dough with hands for aound 15-20 mins, by adding little flour at a time onto the board
• Now let this dough mixture sit for around 2-3 hrs, or till the dough raises, make sure that the dough raises atleast 3 times to its original volume
• Now divide the Dough into parts, depending on the size of pizza youwant to make
• Grease a cookie sheet(which I used) or a pizza stone and spread the dough ballon it evenly with a roller pin
• It need not be in a perfect round shape,
• Then add the pasta sauce or tomato sauce on the base of the pizza and start adding your own toppings, then finally add cheese(I made mine without any cheese at all , and it was perfect...unbeliveble right???)
• preheat the oven for 10 mins at 375F and bake this pizza for 20-25 mins, or till the pizza crust start to turn golden brown from the sides
• Cut the Pizza intlo slices when hot
• Your Home made pizza is ready to eat!!!!

Cinamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2-Puff pastry sheets
• 3 tbsps Powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsps Cinnamon Powder

Procedure:

• Thaw the puff pastry sheets according to the instructions
• Roll out the sheets and make sure that the edges are trimmed, you can do this by cutting out the edges using a sharp knife or a pizza cutter
• Mix the sugar and cinnamon powder in a bowl and sprinkle it evenly over the puff pastry sheet
• Roll the sheet very gently, making sure you don't roll it too tight
• cut the rilled sheet into small pieces and place them on a greased baking tray
• bake them at 350F for 20-25 minutes or according to the instructions
• The Cinnamon rolls are ready to eat!!!

Cauliflower & Carrot Pickle

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Cauliflower Florets
• 1 cup Diced carrots
• 1 ½ cups Red chilie powder
• ½ cup Salt
• 5-10 tbsps Mustard seeds
• 4-5 tbsps Methi seeds
• 3-4 Red chilies
• 5-10 tbsps Jeera
• 1-2 tbsps asafetida
• 1-2 cups Oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice

Procedure:

• Dry roast the 4-5 tbsps mustard seeds and methi seeds together and grind them to a powder
• In a pan heat the oil and once the oil is hot add the remaining mustard seeds, Jeera, red chilies and asafetida
• Once the mustard seeds start to splutter turn off the heat and let it cool down
• In a large mixing bowl take the cauliflower florets, diced carrots, red chilie powder, salt and the mustard & methi seeds powder and mix well
• Once the oil is completely cooled down add the oil and the lemon juice to the cauliflower mixture and mix well
• let the oil blend well for 1-2 hrs
• the cauliflower & Carrot pickle is ready to eat!!!

Tip:

• Let the oil cool down completely before mixing it with cauliflower mixture else the pickle will turn dark in color than the bright red
• Adjust the quantity of oil depending of the amount of oil absorbed by the pickle