Crispy Rice Bars

A very healthy snack on the go.. A classic old recipe in a new way.. You can devour this at any time of the day.. Eat this as a small snack or as a dessert after meal, it satisfies your taste buds anytime.. You can substitute the nuts and seeds as per your taste and availability.. Jaggery needs to be cooked for 3-5 mins so that the bars are crispy.. So, here's the recipe for a perfect crunchy and crispy rice bars..

Ingredients:

1 cup puffed rice

1/2 cup jaggery

2 tbsp chopped almonds

2tbsp chopped pista

2tbsp melon seeds

Method: Grease a dish with butter in which you want to set the whole bar and keep aside.. Melt jaggery in a pan and cook over low flame for 5-7mins..  Add in puffed rice, almonds, pistas and melon seeds.. Mix well and remove in the greased dish.. Set it with the help of a knife dipped in water.. When it is half set around 5mins later cut it in bars or squares with the help of a greased knife and serve.. Can store it in an airtight container also.. 

Gouda Cheese Sticks

The easiest cheese sticks i have ever made.. And that too with a different kind of cheese ie gouda cheese.. Gouda cheese is know to be one of the oldest forms of cheese available in the market and also the most nutritive cheese.. Its the first time I have been working with gouda cheese apart from using it in sandwich... It was fun seeing these cheese sticks fluff in the in the oven while they bake, without the use of any baking powder or soda.. They turned to be so light, crispy on the outside and soft in the inside, just melt in the mouth.. Next time I would be trying it with wheat flour rather than all purpose flour.. Serve it with soup or just as a snack to munch on,, its sure to be gone in no time...

Recipe Source: feastie.com

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shredded gouda cheese

1tbsp + 1tsp unsalted buttersoftened and cut in cubes

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp red chilli flakes

1tsp fresh malai ( can use heavy cream also)

Method: Preheat oven at 180c. In a food processor, pulse cheese, butter, flour, salt and red chilli flakes together for around 30secs till it resembles a coarse mixture bread crumbs. Add in malai and pulse again for 10-20 secs till it forms into a dough.. Remove from the food processor and roll it in 1/4 inch thickness rectangle on your table top dusted with flour.. Cut in long strips and put them in a baking tray lined with butter paper and then bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 12- 15mins till it fluffs up and is slightly brown at the edges.. Remove from oven, let it cool and serve..
Note: You can even use cheddar cheese instead of gouda..
And incase you donot have unsalted butter, use salted butter and omit the salt in the recipe..

Quesadillas

A mexican version of our very own Indian stuff paranthas, served in a mexican style with a dip.. Its generally a tortilla which is made of all purpose flour / corn flour / wheat flour and stuffed with a cheese based filling, grilled and served with a sweet and spicy dip.. Its a complete meal in itself.. Roti sabzi is a staple food in my house.. Its cooked everyday without being asked about it.. Eating this everyday can get boring at times, and so i love to switch over to these quesadillas, which is a better alternative to the regular sabzi roti and also makes the meal all the more exciting..

Ingredients:

For dough

1 cup maida

1tbsp oil

Pinch salt

For filling

1tsp oil

1 medium capsicum chopped lengthwise

1 cup paneer grated

1/2 cup processed cheese grated

Salt

1tsp mixed herbs

1tsp red chilli flakes

For dip

2-3 tomatoes boiled, peeled and chopped

1 cube cheese grated

1tsp red chilli flakes

Salt

Method: mix ingredients of dough and make soft dough with water and keep aside. For the filling: Heat oil in a pan and saute capsicum for 2mins.. Cool and then mix in all other ingredients of filling and keep aside. For the dip: Heat 1tsp oil in a pan and add tomatoes. Once they are semi dry add salt, red chilli flakes and cheese. Mix well and remove in a bowl and keep aside. Now make small balls of dough and roll it. Heat a pan and cook lightly from one side.. Make all the tortillas same way.. Then spread the filling in half of it on the side which is cooked  and cover with the other half. Seal with a paste made with 1tbsp maida and little water.. Shallow fry on tawa using butter. Cut in wedges and serve with dip.

Variations: can use guacamole spread inside for filling, or even  rajma filling.. can also serve it with sour cream...

Chilli Babycorn / Paneer

Babycorn is one of my favourite vegetables.. And chinese one of my favourite cuisines..  Chilli Babycorn serves as a perfect appetizer, given the fact that it suits my palate on any given day.. Crispy on the outside and soft and moist on the inside, its a comprehensive blend of texture as well as the flavours..

                The way chilli babycorn is made, the same way even chilli paneer can be made.. Just the difference being , paneer is cut in cubes and deep fried till light brown in color.. There is no need to fry it twice.. I made both babycorn and paneer at the same time as i had limited  babycorn at hand.  It was loved and savoured by all my family members...

Ingredients:

1 pack babycorn cut length wise and blanched in hot salted water

1tbsp oil

1 bunch spring onion chopped seperately

5-6 flakes Garlic chopped

2tsp Cornflour as desired

2tbsp Tomato sauce

2tsp Soya Sauce

2tsp Vinegar

1tsp Honey

2tbsp red chilli Sauce

2tbsp Toasted sesame seeds for garnishing

Method: Pat dry babycorns completely. Coat nicely with cornflour. Deep fry half. Remove. Let it rest for half hr. Again coat with cornflour nicely and deep fry. In a pan heat oil. Fry onions and garlic for a min. Onions should be crisp. Mix all the sauces in a bowl and add little water. Put this in pan and add babycorn. Mix well. It should coat well. Add honey and mix again.. Sprinkle with spring greens and toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.

Banana Toffee

A classic chinese dessert..

This is my first attempt to making a chinese dessert.. I saw this dessert on a tv channel and was so tempted that i had to make this straight away.. Looks easy but the workstation gets kind of messy while trying to make it.. Specially the 2nd part ie coating with sugar and dipping it in ice cold water.. It needs to be acted upon quite fast otherwise the caramalised sugar tends to thicken.. If this happens, reheat the sugar again on low flame taking care the caramel doesnt burn.. Coming to the taste, it was crispy on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside..  Tastes best when served immediately after making it..  Overall it was an amazing experience making this chinese dessert.. Would love to try it with other fruit next time..

Banana Toffee

Ingredients:

2 bananas ripe but firm

2tbsp cornflour

Oil for frying

For batter:

2tbsp maida

1tbsp cornflour

4tbsp water

1tsp oil

For coating:

3/4 cup sugar

Method: Peel bananas and cut diagonally in 1 inch cube.. Mix all the ingredients of batter.. The batter should be thick enough to coat the bananas well.. So the water content specified in the ingredients is perfect for this..  Heat oil in a pan for frying.. Take banana cubes and coat it in cornflour. Then dip in the batter and put in the hot oil with the help of a fork.. Using fork makes it easy to handle coated bananas.. Deep fry till golden brown on medium flame.. Remove on a tissue paper.. Fry all the banana cubes same way.. Take a bowl and fill half with water and add ice cubes in it.. Keep it aside... Now take the sugar in another pan and melt it on low flame till it caramalise and turn golden brown in color.. Take care that sugar doesn't burn.. Off the gas.. With the help of spoon coat bananas in the caramalised sugar and dip it in the ice cold water the very next moment for 30 secs.. This helps the caramel to harden and give a crispy texture outside.. Remove in a plate.. Do this way with all the fried bananas.. Arrange in a plate and sprinkle sesame seeds on top and serve as it is or with a scoop of vanilla icecream..

variations: apple, pineapple

Grilled Stuff Mushrooms

Mushrooms are known to be one of the most versatile and healthiest vegetable.. errr.. no.. .fruit... no no...  Mushroom is a fungus which is supposed to be very healthy and also delicious... I know it sounds very bizzare, to call mushroom a fungus.. I too got to know about it just before i started writing this post and had a doubt as to is mushroom classified as a vegetable or not.. Nyways, im happy to know about this only after i have tasted mushroom, otherwise i would have second thoughts about trying this out..  Trust me, once u get a taste of this u will never want to exclude this from your diet ever.. And it can be eaten in any form.. raw, steamed, stir fired, grilled etc etc..

                This recipe which im posting today is my favourite when it comes to cooking mushrooms.. Healthy yet tasty and full of nutritional value.. No compromise on anything.. And i can dig in it anytime even if im not hungry.. A perfect appetizer which can be cooked in a jiffy..

Ingredients:

10-12 white button mushrooms

1tbsp oil

3 flakes garlic chopped

1 small onion chopped

4tbsp cottage cheese grated

4tbsp processed cheese grated

Salt

1 tsp red chilli flakes

4-5 leaves basil torn with hand or any other herb available

For marination:

3tbsp thick curd

Salt

1/4tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder

Method: Clean the mushrooms and remove the stem, taking care that mushrooms donot break.. Mix all the ingredients of marination and toss mushrooms in it.. Leave it for an hr.. To make the filling, chop the mushroom stems finely.. In a pan heat oil. Saute garlic and onion till translucent.. Add in chopped mushroom stems and stir fry on high for 2-3 mins.. Off gas and let it cool.. Add in cottage cheese, processed cheese, salt, red chilli flakes and basil leaves.. Mix well.. Stuff this filling in marinated mushrooms and grill for 12mins till cheese melts and it turns slightly brown on top.. Serve hot..

Crispy Corn Spinach Discs

Crispy Discs.. A different presentation of the classic spinach and corn sandwich... Easy to make and a quick snack on the go... Incase your even more short of time make the discs in advance, cover them with foil and refrigerate it..  Just grill before you want to serve.. Its sure to impress everybody around with just the look of it..

Recipe Source: New Woman Magzine

Ingredients:

16 bread slices

For filling:

1 cup sweet corn boiled

1 cup spinach blanched and chopped

3/4 cup processed cheese grated

Salt and pepper as per taste

For the spread

1tbsp garlic chilli sauce

2tbsp butter softened

2tbsp processed cheese grated

Method: Mix ingredients of filling and spread separately and keep aside.. Take bread slices and cut out 16 circles.. From this take 8 circles and cut out even smaller circles from them.. Now you have 8 big circles, 8 small circles and 8 circle rings.. Keep the small circles away.. Take a bigger circle and apply the spread.. Put a circle ring on top.. You can see a hollow space now.. Fill the filling in the hollow space.. Make all the discs same way.. You will have 8 discs.. Grill at high for 8-10 mins till crisp.. Serve hot..

                You can even make these with smaller discs to have bite sized portions for kids..

Note: add enough cheese to give it a creamy texture.. otherwise the discs may seem dry..

variation: can make other filling with cottage cheese, bell pepper, cheese and herbs too..