Nachos with Corn Salsa Sauce

Nachos are a popular corn-based food of Mexican origin associated with Tex-Mex cuisine that can be either made fast to serve as a snack or prepared with more ingredients to make a full meal. In their simplest form, nachos are tortilla chips or totopos covered in melted cheese. The original nachos consisted of fried corn tortillas covered with melted cheddar cheese and pickled jalapeno peppers.

They are perfect for hectic weeknight meals, late-night snacks, or Friday nights…n that is what I made for dinner on a Friday night….( short cut…you know!!). Deliciously crispy in the oven, they are also microwaveable for 5 minutes cooking. What a treat!

Nacho chips (Corn chips.. readily available in market – can use plain/ cheese/masala nachos) 

For Salsa Sauce:-

Onion , chopped 1 medium

Tomatoes, chopped 2 medium

Carrots chopped – ¼ cup

Yellow, Red, Green Bell Pepper chopped 1 cup

Green Peas – ½ cup (optional)

Corn kernels – ½ cup (boiled)

Jalapeno, chopped 1 small (optional)

Green chillies, chopped 2-3

Garlic, crushed 5-6 cloves

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped 2 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Oil 1 tablespoon
Grated Cheese ½ cup 

Microwave recipe:-

Mix onion, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, green peas, corn, jalapeno, green chillies, coriander, garlic and salt for salsa sauce in a bowl and set aside for some time till all the vegetables get tender and then cook it in microwave for high on 2-3 mins.  Spread the corn chips on a serving plate.  Pour Salsa sauce on the chips and top it up with grated cheese. Again keep it in the microwave for just 1 min. and serve hot.

Note:- Do not make and keep it before hand as the nachos will become soggy.

Sprout Pohe

A combination of sprouts and poha that’s simply brimming with protein, vitamin B3 and iron.

You will need:-

1 cups jada poha (beaten rice flakes)

1/2 cups mixed sprouts (matki, green moong, whole masoor,red chana)- soaked for 7-8 hours and then par-boiled

½ tsp mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 tsp Asafoetida 
1 medium onion finely chopped 

1 to 2 green chillies, chopped

1 tbsp finely chopped ginger-garlic

Fresh Coriander Leaves chopped

Fresh Coconut

1 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 tsp oil

salt to taste

1. Place the poha on a sieve and wash lightly. Drain and leave aside for 10 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and add the mustard seeds. When they crackle, add the asafoetida, onion and green chillies and sauté till the onion turns translucent.Add chopped Ginger-garlic and sauté again for few seconds.

3. Add the mixed sprouts, sugar, salt and sauté for 3 to 4 mins.

4. Add the poha and mix it well. Cover it and cook for 3 to 4 mins

5. Add lemon juice. Serve hot garnished with the chopped coriander and fresh coconut.

Corn Flakes Chaat

This is a very healthy (compared to other Chaat items), quick and easy recipe.  I actually came up with this lip-smacking and very moreish Corn Flakes Chaat when I was making Bhel for my Hubby…and I was not in the mood of having Bhel. Soooo... read on for the simple recipe…

CornFlakes – 1 Cup

Whole Green Moong –  ½  Cup Sprouted

Matki – ½ Cup Sporuted

Chole/Chickpeas – ½ Cup

Onion – 1 Medium Finely Chopped

Tomato – 1 Medium Finely chopped

Fresh Coriander leaves chopped

Green Chutney ( Spicy) – ½ Cup

Tamarind Chutney – ½ Cup

Beaten Curd with sugar – ¾ Cup

Chat Masala as required

Salt to Taste

 

1. Soak Matki, Green Moong for 8-10 hours or till they sprout; also soak chole/chickpeas for 6-7 hours.Pressure cook them separately add salt in the water, but do not cook them so much that they will get mashed; little bit of crunchiness should remain. ( You can also add a pinch of turmeric powder while cooking chole just to get the colour)

2. Now In a serving plate, put corn flakes. Cover them with cooked chole, matki and green moong. Then add finely chopped onion, tomato, coriander. Also add salt if required. 

3.Top it up with Green chutney ( watch out for spicyness), Tamarind chutney and beaten curds. Sprinkle Chat Masala and serve immediately. The Corn Flakes Chat is ready. 

Note:- Do not make and keep it before hand as the corn flakes become soggy.

Hot n Sour Soup

A Chinese soup. Well, Indo-chinese to be specific. Chinese was the first international cuisine to crop up in India with the ever famous hakka-noodles, manchurians and chow-meins. They have the same chinese names, but the flavour is suited to the typical Indian tongue – hot and spicy and this is one of them…

Carrot, chopped 1/2 medium

Cabbage, chopped 1/4 small

French beans, chopped 4-6

Green capsicum, chopped 1/2 medium

Cornflour/ corn starch 2 tablespoons

Oil 1 tbsp

Garlic, chopped 6-7 cloves ( I like lots of garlic in my soup)

Onion , chopped 1 medium

Green chillies chopped 2 nos.

Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece

Dark Soy sauce 2 tbsp.

Sugar 1/2 tsp.

Vegetable stock/Water 4-5 cups

Green chilli sauce 1 tbsp.

Salt to taste

Vinegar 1 tbsp.

White pepper powder1/2 tsp

Spring onion greens, chopped 1 stalk

1. Dissolve cornflour in water.

2.Heat oil in wok. Add garlic, onion and ginger, chopped green chillies and stir-fry briefly.Add chopped French beans, carrot, cabbage and green capsicum and stir fry.

3.Add soy sauce, sugar, vegetable stock/water and mix.Add green chilli sauce and continue to cook.

4.Just stir the cornflour water mixture (as the cornflour gets set at the bottom) and add it into the soup and let the soup thicken.

5.Add salt to taste, vinegar and white pepper powder. Sprinkle finely chopped spring onion greens and take off the heat. Serve hot.

Coming Up..................Methi Matar Malai ( Restaurant Style)

Masoor Rice

Masoor Rice is something that I had at one of my maternal relatives and absolutely loved it ; since then I have been making it again and again. Masoor Rice or Masoor Biryani ? I am not sure what to call it. Ideally I would love to call it Masoor Biryani because it sounds so exotic , but then a Biryani is no ordinary dish. It requires a good amount of organised preparation with multiple ingredients and the cooking also is a specialised. Contrary to that; this is a quick post about a quick dish. And one, that is loaded with flavours and nutritions.

you will need:-

Raw Basmati Rice( or any long grained rice) -- One cup

Raw Whole Masoor  – ½ cup

Oil - 1 tbsp

Onion -1 medium (chopped/sliced)

Tomato – 1 medium (chopped/sliced)

Green chilli, Garlic and Ginger paste – 1 tbsp.

Cumin seeds -1 tsp. (optional)

Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

Red chilli Powder – ¼ tsp.

Garam Masala/ kala Masala – 1 tsp.

Salt - to taste

Sugar a pinch

Ghee – 1 tbsp.

1. Wash both the rice and the whole masoor (brown lentils) and soak them about 4 hrs.

2. Heat oil directly in the pressure cooker pan and start by frying the onions ,garlic and ginger paste until lightly browned. You can also add Cumin seeds at this time.

3. Next add the tomatoes and continue frying on medium heat until they lose all the moisture,

4. Add the Garam masala/Kala masala, chilly powder, turmeric powder , salt, pinch of sugar and the soaked masoor dal and rice and give it a good stir. Keep the heat moderate.

5. Now add 2 cups and a little more water. Close the pressure cooker and cook as you would for any rice. I cooked it for just 1whistle and turned down the heat for one minute before switching off the gas.

6. Take it out in a serving bowl and pour a tbsp of ghee while the rice is hot. Serve hot.

Note:- Instead of Garam Masala/ Kala Masala you can also use Meat Masala or Biryani Masala.