Dhokla - practically in 10 mins.

It is a traditional Gujarati snack, typically a tea time treat. Simple recipe which can be done in few minutes. So when suddenly you know you have guests coming over; do try out this dish. I am sure your guests will love Home made Dhokla.

For this you need:-

1 cup Besan 

1/4 Glass Water

1/4 cup Sour Curd

1 tbsp Sugar

2 cloves Garlic finely crushed

2 Green Chillies finely chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp Eno Fruit Salt (any flavour will do,I had the lemon flavour)

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

salt to taste.

1 tsp. Sugar

For the tempering:- 

1 tbsp Oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 pinch asafoetida

1 pinch Turmeric

For the lemon-sugar syrup:- 

1/8 cup Water

Juice of 1/4 Lemon

1 tsp Sugar. Just mix it all together.

1. Mix the Besan, curds and Water to form a smooth batter.

2. Add the crushed garlic,chillies, turmeric, salt and sugar and give it a good stir. Taste the batter. It should be sweet and sour and hot all at once.

3. Grease the microwave bowl. Just before you pour the batter in to the bowl, add the Eno dissolved in 1 tsp. water to the dhokla batter, stir again quickly, you will immediately see the batter rising.

4. Now quickly pour this into the microwave bowl. Cook it in the microwave at 600 watts for 5-7 mins.

5. Allow to stand for a minute before checking donenes and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into it.

6. When it is warm to touch, mark out the slices with a sharp and well oiled knife. 

7. Spoon the lemon-sugar syrup gradually over the marked slices. The syrup is absorbed by the dhokla making it extremely moist from the inside unlike shop-bought dhoklas which are terribly dry from within.

8. Prepare the tempering by adding the mustard, asafoetida and turmeric to hot oil. Cool it and then spoon this over the dhokla. Garnish with fresh coriander and fresh grated coconut.

The only problem was that initially the Dhokla turned out well; but after an hour or so it became flat. So need to look for a solution before I make it next time.

Sprout Kabab/Sprout Tikki Chat

Before I start with my new recipe....something important about Bean sprouts....

Bean Sprouts are one of the most concentrated natural sources of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, trace elements, amino-acids and proteins on Earth.In addition to being super nutritious, sprouts are one of the most versatile foods in your kitchen. Sprouts can be the main ingredient or a garnish. Sprouts are a great snack - just fill a bowl, have a seat, and start munching. Sprouts - like all vegetables, are much more nutritious when raw. Some people think it is wrong to cook sprouts, but we think all that really matters is that you eat More Sprouts, and if you prefer them cooked then cook them! Sure raw is better, but any sprouts are way better than none, so eat as you wish, cook 'em or don't.......

Now coming back to my recipe; I had prepared Chana kababs before but I did not have photographs to put on the blog. So I decided to prepare them again.But this time I used all the available bean sporuts. By the time I finished frying the kababs; I thought why not turn them into the healthy tikki chat. 

So all my Bloggo-buddies, here is the recipe for both Sporout Kabab as well as Sprout Tikki Chat.

For Kabab:-

Bean sprouts - 1 1/2 Cup

Potato - 1 medium (par-boiled and grated)

Rice Flour/ Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Ginger, Garlic, Green Chillies finely chopped - 1 1/2 tsp.

Coriander finely chopped

Red-chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp.

Garam-masala - 1 tsp

Salt to taste
Sugar - 1 tsp.

oil required for frying.

For Tikki Chat:-
All the above ingredients
chaat-masala - 1 tsp
Beaten Curds- 1/2 Cup
Tamarind Chutney -
Green Chutney

1. Par-Boil the bean sporouts in salted water for 5 mins.

 

2. Grind them coarsely. Mix together Sprouts, grated potato, green chillies-ginger-garlic, red-chilli powder, garam-masala, turmeric, sugar, and salt ( watch the quantity of salt, as you have already added salt in the sprouts while boiling).

3. Now take a small proportion of the whole mixture and give the desired shape to it.

4. Deep-fry/Shallow-fry in hot oil till golden brown.

5. Serve with Tomato Ketchup or Green Chutney. Sprout Kabab is ready.

For Tikki:-

1. In addition to the above procedure, add chat masala to the mixture.

2. Deep-fry/ Shallow-fry them till golden brown and drain the excess oil.

3. Serve tikkies with beaten curd, tamarind chutney, green chutney.

Tamatar Dhaniya Shorba

3 F's restaurant In Galleria, Gurgaon serves the best Tamatar Dhaniye ka Shorba.  I gradually developed a taste for it. I got so addicted at one time that almost every week, we use to visit 3 F's just for the shorba. One of my friend-follower would know it best. But this was 3-4 years back, since then I have never had that type of shorba.

So, this was my attempt of making it , matching the taste of 3 F's. It turned out nicely except it was a bit more spicy, so watch out when you add chilli powder/green chillies. Another important thing here is, this does not have coconut as most of the tomato shorba recipes on Internet. So here it goes:-

Tomatoes 2 roughly chopped

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 4 tablespoons

oil 1 tablespoons

Bay leaf 1

Onion , roughly chopped 1 small

Garlic, roughly chopped 1/4 inch

Garlic, roughly chopped 1 cloves

Green chillies chopped 1 tsp. (optional)

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp.

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp.

Salt to taste

Black peppercorns , freshly crushed 3-4

1. Heat oil in a deep pan. Add bay leaf, onion, garlic, ginger and sauté till well browned so as to give a burnt flavour and taste.

2. Add tomatoes and stir. Add a pinch of salt, crushed black peppercorns, coriander powder, red chilli powder, good amount of chopped coriander and mix. Stir in one and a half cups of water and let it cook for three to four minutes.

3. Discard the bay leaf. Cool it down and blend to make a fine puree. Strain it properly and transfer it back into the pan.

4. Adjust the consistency if required, add salt and the remaining chopped coriander. Simmer for two minutes. Pour the Shorba in a serving bowl. Garnish with a small sprig of coriander and serve piping hot.

Ginger Cake

I love ginger biscuits! Simple, tasty biscuits. I love ginger as a flavour in cakes and biscuits. I wanted to try and make my own ginger biscuits. I have to be honest here that I was suppose to make biscuits, but the batter or rather the dough that I prepared for biscuits was very loose; so I could not make them. Instead I baked the batter in cake tin and guess what, the cake turned out very nice. :-)
Ginger cake has a different taste compared to other cakes. The otherwise plain simple cake has an after-effect of the ginger flavour, which is awesome.

For this you need:-

1 cup - Refined Flour

1 1/2 tsp.-Baking powder

3/4 cup - Sugar

1 Egg

2 tsp. Grated Ginger

1 tsp. Vanilla essence

1/2 cup Milk

Sliced almonds for crunchiness (optional)

1 tsp ( yes 1 tsp.)- Butter

1. Pre-heat the oven at 160 o C. Grease and dust baking dish with butter and flour respectively.

2. Mix together flour, baking powder, ginger, sugar and sliced almonds.

3. Now add egg, vanilla essence and milk to adjust the consistency of the batter.

4. Mix it well. Take care while mixing so as to avoid lumps.

5. Pour the prepared mix in the baking dish. Bake the batter for approximately 35 minutes at 160 0 c .

6. Once done, remove, let it cool. The tasty Ginger cake is ready.

Masaledar Egg Roll

The best Egg roll/paratha that I have ever had is around 3-4 years back; in Gurgaon alongside Convergys.( also the Maggi that you get here is out of this world). I am not very fond of eating egg preparations; my husband loves it, though. The other day; I was not in a mood to cook full meal; so I made these rolls which were practically made in few minutes.   :-)
There are several ways of making egg roll/paratha like stuffed egg paratha etc.; I chose the simple way to prepare it. 

For this you need:-
Basic Chapati/Paratha Dough
Eggs - 1 for every 2 Parathas
Onions - Finely chopped
Capsicum – Finely chopped
Coriander - Finely chopped
Giner- Garlic – Finely chopped
Green Chilies - Finely chopped (Optional) 
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Garam Masala powder – 1 tsp.
Shredded cheese (optional)

1. Beat Eggs and mix all of the above ingredients (except dough) together with the beaten eggs. Keep aside.

2. Roll out a medium size paratha. Place onto a hot non-stick pan/tava.
3. Spread the egg mixture on paratha while on the gas. Cover it and allow the egg and paratha to cook from one side.

4. After 2-3 mins. Gently flip it and let the other side of paratha and egg to cook properly; pressing slightly until all of the raw egg is cooked.

5. Remove from tava and roll the paratha immediately and serve hot.Tastes great with Ketchup or chutney.

P.S. You can add or omit vegetables in this as per you taste.

Zatpat Vegetable Pasta

There's something about Pasta that makes it a anytime favorite food - Yes, the ease to prepare it, and the vast variety of sauces that one can conjure to make any Pasta recipe a different-than-last-time one. Not to mention that its a hit with kids and parents alike! But what I like about it is the fact that I can easily sneak in some healthy ingredients into the sauce or the recipe. When I make pasta just for me and my hubby, I try to make it healthy by adding as much vegetables as I can, and by using wheat pasta.

For this you need:-

250gms Pasta of any shape ( I used Penne) 
2 medium sized Onions finely chopped
1 cup of Tomato Ketchup
Chopped & par-boiled Vegetable(Corns, carrot, frenchbeans, peas, caulifower)
1/4 Capsicum finely chopped
1 tsp.finely chopped Garlic
2 tsp. Red chilli powder
Salt as per taste
1 tbsp.Butter
1/2 cup Processed / Mozerella cheese
2 tbsp. Oil
1 teaspoon of Oregano  leaves(dry)(optional)
1 teaspoon of Basil leaves(dry)(optional)
1 tsp. Black Pepper Powder

1. In a boiling water add salt & oil. Boil pasta for about 5-10 min. till it becomes soft.  Drain in a seive and pass it through cold running water. Apply little oil on it so that they do not stick with each other.
2. In a frying pan take butter, add onions and gralic; saute till translucent.
3. Now one by one add vegetable ( Carrots, Peas, Cauliflower, French Beans, Corns).  Add capsicum saute for a minute or two.
4. Add tomato ketchup, salt, pepper powder and then Pasta. Saute for few seconds. You can also add Oregano and Basil leaves at this time.
5. Lastly grate cheese over it & cook on slowe flame for about 2 min.keeping it covered so that the cheese melts. The Yummy and delicious Zatpat Pasta is ready.

Hara Bhara Kabab

Hara Bhara Kabab is not only one of the most famous and delicious Kababs but they are also very easy to prepare; as they were practically prepared in minutes. One of the best starters to serve for a party at home  :-)

For this you need:-
Spinach 10-12 leaves
Green peas boiled and mashed 3/4 cup
Potatoes, boiled ,peeled and grated 3-4 medium
Green chillies, chopped 3
Ginger- Garlic Paste 2 tsp.
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tablespoons
Chaat masala 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Rice Flour/ Corn Flour 2 tablespoons ( i used rice flour)
Oil to deep fry


1. Blanch spinach leaves boiling salted water for five minutes. Drain, refresh and squeeze out excess water.
2.  Finely chop. Mix spinach, peas and potatoes.
3. Add green chillies, ginger-garlic paste, coriander leaves, chaat masala and salt to taste.
4. Add rice flour for binding. Divide the mixture into equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball and then press it between your palms to give it a flat tikki shape.

5. Heat oil in a kadai. Deep-fry the tikkis on medium heat for three to four minutes. Drain onto an absorbent paper. Serve hot with Tomato ketchup/Tamarind Chutney.

Coconut Cake ( Eggless)

My favorite coconut cake?

Probably the best coconut cake I’ve ever tasted is actually not coconut cake..we call it a "Khobra cake" ...the one which you get in New Poona Bakery, Pune. Plain sponge cake coated with jam and desicated coconut is what they call a " Khobra cake".
I made this by adding the desicated cocout in the cake mixture and not New Poona Bakery style.
It has distinctive flavor, the coconut gives wonderful texture to the cake which is usually not in regular spongy cakes.



for this you need:-
Refined Flour 1 cup
Desiccated coconut 1 cup
Butter 1/2 cup
Condensed milk 1 tube ( 170 ml)
Vanilla essence ½ tsp (optional)
Baking powder 2 1/2 tsp
Milk 1/2 cup


1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 0 c. Grease and dust the baking dish with butter and refied flour respectively. Sprinkle some desicated coconut as well to get brownish colour to the cake when you turn the cake upside down.
2. Mix 3/4 cup desiccated coconut, baking powder and sieved refined flour in a mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl beat butter, condensed milk along with essence (optional) till light.
4. To this gently add the flour mix, fold it gently, and take care while beating so as to avoid lumps.
5. Once the flour is mixed;  add milk to adjust the consistency and beat for another 2 minute.
6. Pour the prepared mix in the prepared baking dish. Bake the batter for approximately 25 minutes at 180 0 c .
7. Once done, remove, let it cool. Garnish it with the remaining desicated coconut for better taste and serve.

Masala Pav - Street Food

The other day; i said to Ketan that the worst part of staying abroad   ( especially in a country like Germany, where you hardly get any Indian food ; forget street food), he got angry with me. But this is the fact; that everytime you say ; you want to eat this and that......there is no option but to prepare it at home or just ignore that craving. Another hitch here is that; even if you prepare it at home; it may not get that street food wala taste.
Anyway I had this craving for Masala Pav from a long time ( the Masala pav that you get in the restaurant called Relax in Sahakarnagar,Pune is really amazingggggggggg.....mmmm...muh me pani aa gaya ); so i decided to prepare it at home and guess what; they turned out really tasty except the taste of pav, beacuse you don't get Pav here; so instead I used burger buns to prepare them....


you will need:-

4 ladi pavs / Buns ( i used burger Buns)
2 tbsp butter


for the masala:-
1 cup onions, finely chopped
1 cup tomatoes, finely chopped
¼ cup capsicum, finely chopped
2 tsp finely chopped ginger-garlic ( you can use the paste as well) 
1 tsp finely chopped green chilli  (optional)
a pinch turmeric powder 
2 tsp. Pav bhaji masala
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
Sugar a pinch2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

To garnish:-
2 tbsp chopped coriander
lemon wedges


1. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and saute them.
2. Then add ginger garlic paste and fry well.
3. When the onions are cooked, add capsicum and cook till capsicum becomes little soft, then add tomatoes, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and pavbhaji masala and cook till the tomatoes become soft.
4. When the oil starts coming up, sprinkle coriander, mix it properly and switch off the gas.
5. At the time of serving, cut the bread into halves and lightly roast them with lots of butter. Heat the gravy once again and put it in the bread pieces. Garnish with some coriander, lemon wedge and little butter and serve immediately.

Choco Coconut Delights

The name itself makes my mouth water… I am one of those numerous people in this world who go weak in their knees at the first mention of the word ‘chocolate’.

 … well its so easy and quick to make these ladoos,  I bet every kid wouldn’t mind doing it on their own!

For this you Need:-

Chocolate, grated 1 cup

Condensed milk 2-3 tablespoons

Cashewnuts, crushed 1/4 cup

Desiccated coconut 2 1/2 cups

Almonds, coarsely ground 1/2 cup

This is how you do it:-

 

1. Melt grated chocolate in a Microwave oven  for one minute.

2. Take two cups of desiccated coconut in a bowl and keep the remaining in plate.

3.  Add almond powder and cashewnut  powder and mix.

4.  Take chocolate out of the microwave oven and whisk with a spoon till smooth.

5.  Add it to the desiccated coconut mixture. Add two tablespoons of condensed milk and mix well. 

6.  If required add one more tablespoon of condensed milk and mix. Shape into small laddoos. 

7.  Roll them in the remaining desiccated coconut and arrange on a plate. 

Pulao Masala

( This one is Specially for my Best friend.....Sheetal ) I don't know how many times I have told this recipe to her; but everytime she tell me to write it down and give it to her. So here's the recipe for you dear........... 

For this you need:- 
Coriander seeds 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds 1 tbsp.
Cloves 6-7
Cinnamon 2″ piece
Pepper 5-6
Bay Leaf 3-4

This is how you make Masala:- 
1. Just Dry roast all the ingredients separately for about 3-4 minutes each. Put them all together in blender and blend it coarsly.
2. Store this masala in a dry place.

Khandavi (Suralichi Wadi-as we call it in Marathi)

Well ...I dared to make it and I didn't find it hard at all expect when spreading the batter,you should do it quickly before batter gets cold and lumpy.If you have somebody to help you,that would be great.I cook alone,so such luck for me.I had to discard the last two spoonfuls.The rest came well as you can see and tasted so yummy. They make a wonderful snack.It's definitely worth the effort I say!    :-)


You will need:-

1 cup besan/gram flour

1 tsp salt

a pinch of turmeric

Small green chilly crushed

1 clove of garlic crushed ( I did not use )

1 cup buttermilk (sour )

1 cup water
1 tsp Sugar

For tadka:-

2-3 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Sesame seeds ( I did not use )

prepare this tadka and keep it ready beforehand.

For garnishing:-

Shredded coconut

Finely chopped Coriander/ cilantro

This is how you do it:-

1. Mix besan, salt, sugar, turmeric and crushed chilly.
2. Mix water, sour buttermilk and all the mixture in the step 1 . Mix everything well so that no lumps are formed.
3. After everything gets mixed up well, place the mixture in a Non-Stick pan on the heat. Keep the heat medium flame for 7-8 minutes .
4. Stir everything continuously to avoid any lump formation while it is on the heat. Continuous stiring is the key here.  
5. Cover it with the lid with very low heat for about a minute. Mix again and repeat 2-3 times.
6. Now its time to spread the dough. Keep the greased plates ready. 
7. Keeping the pan on the stove top, take a little part of dough and spread it on to the baking pan with your hands. Try to spread it evenly, and in thin layers.
8. Similarly spread the rest of the dough on to the plates while the dough is hot. Once the dough gets cold, you won't be able to spread the dough. It's critical to spread when it's hot.

9. Once you coat every plate with the dough it's time to make 2-inch wide vertical lines on the spreaded dough, so that you can roll the wadi's.

10. Sprinkle the coriander and  shredded coconut on to the plates before you start rolling the wadi's 
11. Arrange them all nicely and top them off with extra coriander and coconut. Finish it off with tadka that you made and kept ready beforehand.

   

Semolina Cake

It's a great Tea Time snack or even a lunch box treat for kids. Store it in the fridge  and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds every time you serve it. Tastes even better after a day or two.
The only hitch here is that the cake is made with semolina and not flour so it has a grainier texture than an ordinary cake. But believe me it tastes awesome. So do try it out.

For this you need :-
1/4 Cup wheat flour
1 Cup Semolina (Fine)
1/2 cup of cream ( I used 30 %)
1 cup of yogurt
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/4 cup of milk (I used 3.5%)
1 tbsp. baking powder
Almonds,raisins for crunchiness


This is how you do it :-
1. Mix the sugar and yogurt thoroughly so that the sugar completely dissolves.
2. Then add all the other ingredients to the yogurt. Add raisins into the batter and mix it well. Now let this batter stand for an hour. Keep it covered . This enables the semolina to soften completely before baking.
3. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 200 0 C and grease and dust the Baking Tray.
4. After one hour pour the batter into the prepared tray and sprinkle the sliced almonds all over the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it is golden in colour and a knife inserted comes out clean .

 

5.Wait for it to cool before slicing it. If it does not easily come off the tray do not force it out but slice it in the tray itself and remove the slices carefully with a knife.

Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake

Here's my bake for the past week...a Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake. This is something which I have made twice, and have since been wanting to bake again and again, and yet, every time, I would put the thought aside; because of the quantity of butter! Yet, it is such a delicious cake that I have to fight off my constant craving for it! 

Here is the list of ingredients I used:
1 Cup Maida / Refined Flour

170 ml Condensed Milk ( Milkmaid)
1/2 Cup melted butter
1 tsp. Vanilla essence ( optional)
2 tbsp. (yes tbsp.) Baking Powder
1/2 cup Milk
6-7 tbsp Tutti Frutti ( i used lemon and orange flavoured tutti frutti)


Here is how you make the batter:
1. Preheat the oven at 180 0 C.
2. Grease and dust baking dish with butter and refined flour respectively.
3. Sieve flour with baking powder 3 times ( for better air circulation). Keep Aside
4. Cream together butter and milkmaid. When it becomes light and soft; add vanilla essence ( optional).
5. Then add the sieved flour in the mixture and mix the batter properly in one direction. Add milk as per the requirement ( 1/2 cup milk is enough) to adjust the consistency of the batter.
6. Just before you transfer the batter into the baking mould; add tutti frutti and mix lightly. Pour Batter into the Baking dish, and bake it for about 35-40 mins at 180 0 C.
7. Test by pricking the cake with a clean Knife and if it comes out clean then the cake is done.
8.Let it cool before unmoulding and cutting.
Your eggless tutti frutti cake is ready.