Couscous Salad With Grilled Vegetables in Honey Vinaigrette dressing

               

Few years back when my brother stayed in Germany and when i went to visit him, that was the first time I had couscous in a farmer's market.. It had a very soft texture and was subtle in taste.. I loved the taste of it.. And then i started surfing the net on what couscous is and how it is made..

Couscous originated in North Africa, consisting of tiny granules made from steamed semolina.. These tiny white pearls are bland in flavor,  and so they readily soak up the flavor from other ingredients added to it... 

There were many versions available to it with the varying water content to soak couscous and the flavors differing according to the taste and preference.. One thing i could derive was couscous was made with mild flavors and spices keeping it subtle..

From then on I made couscous quite a few time and then settled on this version below.. I like to keep it simple and serve with grilled vegetables on the side..

Ingredients for couscous

1 cup couscous

2cup boiling water + 1tsp salt + 2tsp olive oil

1 tbsp olive oil

3-4tbsp spring oions chopped (white part)

1 medium size tomato deseeded and chopped

3-4 spring greens chopped

Salt

Pepper

For Grilled Vegetables

4-5 french beans blanched

1/2 cup broccoli florets blanched

2-3 babycorn cut length wise

1/2 cup coloured bell peppers cut in chunks

1/2 cup pumpkin cut in chunks

2-3tsp olive oil

5-6 olives chopped

For dressing

1tbsp honey

2tsp balsamic vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Method: To make couscous - Add salt and olive oil in boling water.. Then add couscous and keep it covered for few minutes till it absorbs all the water and swells up.. Heat olive oil in a pan.. Saute spring onions for few minutes.. Meanwhile fluff up the couscous with the help of a fork to separate it.. Add this in the pan and mix well.. Switch off the flame and add in tomatoes, spring greens, salt and pepper.. We donot want to cook the tomatoes and spring greens.. Mix lightly.. Keep aside..

Mix ingredients of dressing and keep aside..

For grilled vegetables - Heat oil in a griller and saute the vegetables one by one except olive.. Remove in a bowl, add olives and pour the dressing over the veggies.. Mix well and keep aside for few minutes..

Serve warm couscous salad with sauted vegetables on the side..

Note - Can even add lemon juice instead of balsamic vinegar in the dressing..

Use vegetables available to you and of your choice..
You can even grill the vegetables and add the couscous in it and mix.. Instead of serving it separately..

Meethi Mirchi

                

               

Everybody at my home loves to have mirchi ka achaar or stuff mirchi or chaunki vi mirchi with our meals.. And this meethi mirchi seemed to be a new entry in our menu.. Perfect taste, perfect blend of flavours and perfect sweetness.. Its going to be on our everyday menu now.. 

              I must mention one thing when it comes to the recipe.. The measurements are very accurate when it comes to making this recipe.. At first i was bit skeptical about the quantity of sugar being added, as my family likes it bit less sweet.. So i added 2tsp of sugar first, but then realised 3tsp was very perfect for the given quantity of mirchies being used... It got out a very precise taste in the dish.. Perfectly sweet, sour and spicy.. All flavours in a bite..
Next time would love to try this with jaggery instead of sugar..

Meethi Mirchi

50 GMs green chillies chopped
3 tbsp sugar
1 /2 tsp red chilli pwd
11/2 tsp coriander pwd 
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp saunf
1/2 tsp cumin
1/3 cup water
2 tsps Amchoor pwd 
1/8 tsp heeng
2 tbsp oil ( any oil)
Heat the oil in a Kadhai. Add the heeng , cumin and saunf. As the cumin starts getting cooked. Add the green chillies n the rest of the masalas. Sauté for 2 mins. Add the sugar. Mix. Add the water n cook on high till the water dries up and a thick syrupy oil starts showing. Take it off the flame. Enjoy with rice , rotis , parathas
Shelf life 2-3 days..

Suji Toasts

                

Making instant suji utthapam at home has been a regular affair.. I  love them the most.. At my home it is made very often atleast once a week, be it for breakfast or quick evening snack.. I have the habit adding some twist each time i repeat the same dish again.. And so came up with this idea of healthy Suji toasts with a punch of chilli sauce and cheese topped on a bread roundel..

                So, how did i come up with this twist.. Everytime my mom makes chilla (besan ka or moong dal ka), dad makes us a chilla toast by dipping bread in the batter and shallow frying it on hot tawa.. I tried to the same thing with instant uthappam batter.. It turned out pretty well.. And yeah, it became a hit in my home..  Filling and lip smaking...

This is made with besan chilla batter..

Ingredients:

6-8 bread roundels

1 cup thick curd

3/4 cup semolina

4tbsp onion chopped

4tbsp tomato chopped without pulp

4tbsp capsicum chopped

Salt

Pepper

Red chilli flakes

Chilli garlic sauce / tomato sauce

Butter

3 cube cheese grated

Method: Mix semolina, curd and salt. Leave aside for 10minutes till semolina absorbs the curd.. Keep 1tbsp each of onion, tomato and capsicum aside and add the rest in the curd mixture along with pepper, red chilli flakes and 2 cubes grated cheese.. Mix well.. If you find it very thick can add in a tablespoon of water and not more.. Now take bread roundels and apply butter on one side and chilli garlic sauce on the other.. Top it with 1tbsp of the mixture on the side where you applied chilli garlic sauce.... Level it.. Now heat a tawa and grease it with butter.. Place the bread with mixture side down.. Cook on low flame for a minute.. Flip it and now top with more cheese and bit of reserved veggies.. Cover and cook on low flame till cheese melts and the bread is crisp from below.. Serve hot..

Note - you can add any herbs and also toppings of your choice..

Incase you want to serve it to large number of guests, what you can do is, cook only the mixture side on tawa, then top it with cheese and more veggies and bake all at once in the oven at 180c till the bottom of bread is crisp and also the cheese melts..

I made the same toasts with a batter of chickpea flour (besan) and also moongdal batter.. Here you can dip the bread in batter and roast .. It turned out awesome each time.. 

French Toast

               

I love eggs.. I used to eat eggs when i was a child.. But later, stopped getting eggs at home as my dad became very pious.. But we were still given the liberty to eat eggs outside once in a while.. What i really missed about the eggy dishes was french toast.. I loved the texture of this toast a lot.. Crunchy and crispy from outside, soft and chewy from inside.. And mildly sweet.. As i write this post, it makes me salivate.. :P .. Its eggless, but trust me, the taste has been all the more same, with just the eggy smell on the miss.. Taste wise it has been very satisfying.. I served these toasts with a drizzle of hazelnut chocolate, white chocolate and some bananas on the side.. This dessert is perfect to feed my inner child, and revive childhood memories..

Ingredients:

5-6 white bread slice

4-5tsp butter

For mixture

1/2 cup milk

2tbsp custard powder

1tbsp honey

1tbsp sugar

1/4tsp vanilla extract

For garnish:

Any fruit you like

Chocolate spread

Method: Mix all ingredients of mixture.. Dip in a bread from both sides for few seconds and roast on a skillet using butter on medium flame from both sides till it browns and becomes crisp.. Make all toasts similar way.. Drizzle chocolate spread and serve with fruits..

Note - I used milky white bread as it is bit more sweet than regular bread and fits the dish perfectly..

Before you dip the bread in custard mixture, whisk the mixture once, as the custard powder tends to settle down..

All ingredients of custard mix

 Dip in bread from both sides

 Roast on skillets from both sides

Roast all breads similar way

Drizzle chocolate spread and serve with fruits

Chinese Corn Croquettes

             

Chinese Corn Croquettes can be served as an amazing party snack or a perfect rainy day snack.. This finger snack is tangy and spicy balanced with the sweetness of corn.. I made this appetizer on a sunday evening for my family who munched on it while watching tv (it did not rain though :P).. If i plan to make a dish, it needs to be made irrespective of everything else.. And so absence of rain was not a hindrance for my family to enjoy this fried snack..

                "Croquer" is a French word meaning "to crunch", and so the name croquette which are generally oval shaped fried rolls made of breadcrumbs, potato mash, stuffed with a filling of choice.. Here i made a filling of sweet corn with the chinese flavours..  So sit back errr no,, gear up to make this dish in your kitchenette and enjoy it the most..

Ingredients:

For Schezwan corn

1 cup corn kernels boiled

2tbsp schezwan paste

2tbsp onion

Salt

For Croquettes

2 potatoes boiled

2tbsp bread crumbs

Salt

Red chilli powder

Dhaniya

Green chilli

For sauce:

1tsp oil

1tbsp onion chopped

2tbsp tomato sauce

2tsp chilli sauce

Method: For schezwan corn: Heat oil. Saute onions and add schezwaan paste. Cook for a min. Add corn and mix and keep aside. Mix all ingredients of croquette and make it cylinder shape with schezwaan corn stuffed in between. Deep fry. For sauce: heat oil. Saute onions and add sauces. Mix and cook for a min. Keep aside. Take short glasses. Pour 1tbsp of prepared sauce each. And put cylinder shaped croquette on top.  In few short glasses serve only schezwaan corn as well.
Note - You can make your own schezwan sauce at home or use store bought ones. I used home made, the recipe of which is given here..
Can experiment with filling of your choice.

Process of Schezwan Corn

Process of dipping sauce

Process of making croquettes

Serve croquettes in shot glasses with some sauce and some more schezwan corn

An inside view of the croquette

Tortellini In Spinach Tomato Sauce

                

Tortellinis are stuffed ring shaped pasta with a hole in between.. There is no much difference between tortellinis and ravioli except for the shape.. Both are stuffed pastas coated in thick italian gravy.. Many a times before, I have made spinach and cheese raviolis but not tortellinis.. Making tortellinis are not hard but definitely takes ample time in shaping.. Shaping these cute little pastas was fun though.. I made these tortellinis from scratch using a homemade pasta dough and stuffed with just plain cheese, which can't get any better.. Pastas or for that matter the dough tends to dry out quickly if left uncovered, which makes it difficult to work with and also prone to tearing.. So keep both the dough and already made tortellinis covered with a plastic wrap or a wet cloth while you are working with them..

                There is something unique about making pastas from scratch.. It gives me a feeling of pride and achievement for making a dish all by myself, and also the taste is superior compared to readymade ones.. The cheese which melts inside the pasta gives it an awesome texture.. You can make this pastas with any sauce of your choice, be it white sauce, pesto sauce or just plain aglio olio.. It is sure to entice your taste buds..

 Recipe source - here

Ingredients:

For the pasta dough

1 cup flour

1tsp salt

1tbsp oil

1/2 cup grated cheese for stuffing

For the sauce

5-6 ripe tomatoes

1 onion finely chopped

2 bunches spinach chopped

5-6 garlic cloves crushed

Salt

Pepper

Red chilli flakes

2tbsp tomato ketchup

1tbsp chilli sauce

1/4 cup cream

1/2 cup grated cheese

Method: Mix all the ingredients of pasta dough except cheese and knead into a semi soft dough with water (Making a hard dough will tend to dry out the pastas quickly).. Roll it into 1/4inch thickness and cut into roundels (I used a 2inch radius bowl to cut my roundels).. Apply water on the outside of the rounds.. Place a tsp of cheese on it and fold in half..Seal it well with the help of a fork.. Pull the sides behind and stick with little water.. Make all the pastas similar way..Make sure you seal the pastas really well for the stuffing to stay intact.. Boil water in a large pan with some oil and salt in it.. The pan should be large enough for all the pastas to float in the water easily.. Once boiled, add in the tortellinis and let it cook for about 7-10mins till it floats on top.. Meanwhile make sauce.. Heat 2tbsp oil and saute onions and garlic till soft.. Add in all other ingredients except cream and cheese and cook for few minutes till the sauce boils and becomes thick.. Add in cream and cook for another 2 minutes.. Remove tortellini from the water and add directly into the sauce.. Mix lightly.. Cover and let the tortellinis absorb some sauce.. Garnish with cheese and serve..

Process of making tortellinis

Process of making sauce

Add tortellinis once the sauce is ready.

Serve hot..

40 Minutes Burger Buns

All Purpose Flour Buns

                When I first learned how to bake breads, it seemed to be a very time taking process, (not in a protesting manner, but the planning required before hand to bake a bread), albeit the outcome has always been satisfying.. I always wondered if there was a way out to bake the breads instantly when in need.. One of the ways was using fresh yeast, which was not a feasible option as fresh yeast had a very small shelf life.. And so, i always went with the long procedure of baking breads, which took around 4hrs in all.. Cooling time extra.. Next, what i resorted to was kneading the dough a day before and refrigerating it.. There were two positive outcomes of this, one - half of the procedure was done very well in advance and two - it helped the flavors and textures to develop better... But still, my purpose of baking fresh breads when in need on the spur of the moment was not resolved completely, until i came across this recipe of "40 Minutes Burger Buns" in one of the food blogs.. And boyyy! It was like a solace to my heart and mind.. And with my glittering eyes and grinning mouth I just couldnt stop looking at this recipe for long..  I knew, this was the therapy to most of my worry..

                Now that i found the recipe, I couldnt find a perfect time to bake these buns.. As most of the time I was either held up with some other work or had some other culinary plans.. This recipe lied in my bookmark list for long.. And then one day, my brother out of the blue voiced his desire to have burgers for dinner.. It made me so excited hearing this.. I knew this was the time for me to try out these instant burger buns.. I got home early from office that day in my excitement to bake these round fluffed beauties.. And only to hear my mom ringing an alarming bell, "the powercuts have been frequent today.. So be careful with your bake".. But I just ignored the warning and started gathering the ingredients.. And alas, lights out.. It just took life out of me.. As if my world has come to an end.. Left the ingredients wherever they were and walked out of the kitchen with a long face.. My mom looked at me feeling dejected.. She asked me to get the burger buns from the bakery.. And i wudnt listen to her.. The lights were back in 10mins sharp.. And again i started looking towards the kitchen and then towards my mom, would she warn me again..She looked at me with the corner of her eyes, knowing that i cudnt be stopped what so ever and warning me again would be a waste of energy.. I waited for few minutes to see if the power cut would happen again, but it didnt.. And then, in the name of God, i started my work back.. This time a bit quickly.. Gathered all the ingredients, set the oven in preheating mode, kneaded the dough, made balls, set to rise and in the oven.. My heart pacing fast, and praying God, please take care of our dinner tonight.. And yayy,, God was so kind to me, my buns were baked perfectly, without any powercuts.. I was jumping around seeing these beautifully risen golden buns.. Perfect to be made into burgers..

All purpose Flour Laadi Pav

Coming to the recipe - Seeing the pictures of the bun and the comments and compliments, it seemed to be a perfect recipe.. But still, i was dubious of the quantity of yeast mentioned in the recipe.. I generally use around 1/2 tsp of yeast for every cup of flour, and this recipe called for 1tbsp of yeast for 1 3/4 cup of flour, which was way too much for me.. And the water content less than i normally use.. What if the buns dont turn out the way it should be, what will our dinner be.. I had this habit of experiment with food recipes right at the time in need, and never in advance.. This was another concern my mom always had with me.. She always advised me to carry out my experiments atleast once before making it for the actual meal.. I told mom, we either eat the buns the way they are, straight out of the oven or make burgers with the leftover bread lying in a box on the kitchen counter.. My mom knew I failed many times in my first times before, so to be on safe side, she asked my sis-in-law to get a pack of buns from outside and keep it away from me without knowing about it (which were not put to use :P).. I went ahead with the recipe, using the same quantity of ingredients mentioned in the recipe.. Oh, im so proud to have done that and not altered it a bit.. The buns were truly a thing of delicacy.. I had a sigh of relief , and yeah my mom too, more than me, on seeing the flawless buns.. A tough exterior with soft and chewy interior.. May be that's the reason the quantity of yeast was so much so that it could rise well without any time for fermentation..  My brother, couldn't make out these were homemade till the time my mom revealed it to him.. And indeed, it is a recipe without any room for errors..

Whole Wheat Flour Buns

                I have made whole wheat buns, pav buns out of the same recipe.. I was flabbergasted by the result each time.. You can even make stuff buns out of these, or mix herbs and spices for an added flavor and zing.. The variations are endless.. Its your play dough.. Imagine and create..

Recipe Source - here

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1tbsp instant yeast

1/2 tsp salt

2tbsp sugar

2tbsp vegetable oil / olive oil

1/2 cup + 1tbsp water

Method: In a bowl add all purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar.. Mix lightly.. Add in oil and water and knead into a smooth dough.. Knead for around 5-7 mins.. In the mean time preheat oven at 200c.. Make 6 balls out of the dough and place it in a greased baking tray.. Cover and let it rise for 10mins.. Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.. Bake at 200c for around 20mins till the buns are nice golden in color..

Note:

If using whole wheat flour, use 1/2 cup + 3tbsp of water as whole wheat flour needs more water than all purpose flour..

Original recipe called for baking temperature of 225c. My oven heats up pretty fast.. So 200c was perfect for me..

 Process of making buns

Buns straight out of the oven

 Cross Section of bun

Happy Meal.. :)

Pizza Cups

               

 Pizza Cups are nothing but pizza in a twisted form which can serve  as a great evening appetizer for kids as well as adults.. When i first saw these cups in one of the forums, i was smitten by the idea of baking pizza in a unique form.. It seemed very exhilarating  to me baking pizza in an unprecedented way..  You can serve individual portions and yeah,  customize the toppings too, according to the choice of your family and friends... All you need is pizza dough, chunky pizza sauce, cheese and some toppings of your choice.. It can be made well in advance and reheated at the time of serving..

I made these pizza cups using muffin moulds(which were deep enough) and also mini tart moulds (which were shallow), to see which served the purpose better for baking the perfect pizza cups.. Both were equally good, with just the difference in size.. Mini ones looked really cute and were the perfect size for kids..

Ingredients:

For the dough

1 cup flour ( I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour)

1/2tsp yeast

1/2tsp salt

1tbsp sugar

1/2tsp mixed herbs              

1/2 cup water and milk mixed and warm

For the filling

1/2 cup chunky pizza sauce 

1/2 cup grated cheese of your choice ( i used amul pizza cheese)

Handful of olives to top

Method: In a bowl mix flour, yeast, salt, sugar and herbs.. Make dough with water and milk mixture and knead for about 10mins using stretch and fold method.. Place it in a greased bowl and cover with cling film.. Leave it to rise till it doubles in size for almost an hour.. Meanwhile keep other ingredients ready.. Grease and dust whichever mould you are using.. Preheat oven at 200c.. Once the dough is doubled in size, punch it back and knead for a minute or two.. Roll it to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into rounds and place it in the greased moulds.. (You can see here that the dough roundels have not covered the moulds fully.. They are only 3/4th way up.. Its ok.. It rose to the top ehile baking giving it the perfect mould shape..) Fill it with chunky pizza sauce, layer with cheese and top it with olives.. Bake at 200c for around 25mins till the cheese melts and top is golden brown.. Remove from oven, leave for 5mins and demould the pizza cups.. Serve warm..

Note - You can either use store bought pizza sauce or make one at home.. Your choice..

Top it with toppings of your choice ie olives, corn, pepper, jalapenos et al.

Roll the dough and cur roundels

 Place it in greased muffin moulds

 Fill it with chunky pizza sauce

Top it with cheese and olives

The same thing in tart mould..

Baked pizza cups

Macaroni & Cottage Cheese Casserole

             

Macroni and Cottage Cheese Casserole is one of the easiest and yummiest Italian dish you wil ever have.. Layers of cottage cheese, marinara sauce and macroni makes it very enticing and drool worthy.. I have always made mac and cheese, slow cooker macroni and my mom's instant no bake macroni with veggies and cheese (this being one of the favourites in my home, recipes of which i would be sharing shortly in future), I was skeptikal if this version of macroni would be attested by my family or not, but as i loved cottage cheese, macroni and also the cheese, all three equally, I had to try this out atleast for my sake.. And im glad I did.. This MCCC didnt let me down.. In one bite, I could feel the firmness of macroni, the softness of cottage cheese and juicy marinara sauce imparting flavors to the dish overall, this has become a hit with my family..

Ingredients:

200gms cottage cheese sliced thin

1 cup macroni boiled in salted water

2-3 cubes cheese

For marinara sauce:

2tbsp olive oil

6-7 tomatoes blanched and peeled

1 onion chopped

1/2 capsicum chopped

3-4 cloves garlic chopped

Salt

1tbsp ketchup

2tsp red chilli powder / chilli flakes

1tsp mixed herbs

Method: Heat olive oil in a pan.. Add onion and garlic and saute till translucent.. Add in capsicum and saute for another minute.. Meanwhile puree the tomatoes coarsely.. Add this to the pan along with all the spices.. Cook on low flame for about 5-7 minutes till you achieve a thick consistency of the sauce.. Remove from flame and keep aside.. Now take a baking dish and spread some marinara sauce at the bottom.. Spread a layer of cottage cheese.. Top it with marinara sauce.. Arrange a layer of macroni and again cover with marinara sauce... Add another layer of cottage cheese and spread the leftover marinara sauce.. Grate cheese on top and bake in preheated oven at 180c for around 20-25mins till cheese melts and starts browning.. Serve hot..

 After this add a layer of macroni and the sauce again.. Forgot to click a picture of the same.. Would upload it next time..