Cheesy brown rice with vegetables

The hubby was away for the day, and I knew the kids wouldn't want to have bhindi. So I rustled up this fried rice, and served it with fried papad.

2 bell peppers (one red, one yellow)
3 pods garlic, chopped
1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 cups brown rice
3 tbsp cheese
1 tsp butter
Salt to taste

Method::
Soak the brown rice for 1 hour and cook it with sufficient salt, till done. Drain water and keep aside.
Add grated cheese to the rice, and mix well.
Heat the butter, add garlic and saute till browned. Add chopped bell peppers and saute for 1 minute. Add peas, and saute for an additional minute.
Pour the fried vegetables over the cooked rice, and mix well.
One dish meal complete!

Omelette with mushrooms and microgreens

One takeaway container yields enough microgreens to stretch to at least three portions, and since I am the only consumer of the stuff, I decided to try out this Martha Stewart recipe. Yummy.

1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced

2 eggs

1 tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

3-4 tbsp microgreens

Method:

Heat half the butter in a pan, and cook the mushrooms, undisturbed, until they begin to release their liquid. Add salt nd pepper, stir, and saute till golden brown. Remove, stir in microgreens and keep aside. 

Whisk eggs in a medium bowl until well combined; season with salt and pepper. Pour eggs into the pan, swirl till well distributed. Allow it to cook till one side is done. Flip over and cook for 30 seconds. Flip over again

Place mushroom filling on 1 side of omelet. Using spatula, gently fold other side of omelet over filling. Serve immediately.

Chicken curry

When you have kids of a dog, you really don't have much choice but to get things sorted really fact. One of the first things I did here was to find a chicken shop, and this simple chicken curry made itself.

1 kg curry cut chicken

For marination:
3 tbsp curds

1 tbdp ginger garlic paste

1/2 tsp haldi powder

1 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste

3 medium onions chopped fine
1 green chilli
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp haldi powder
3 tsp chicken masala powder
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Marinate the chicken pieces, and keep for an hour.
Heat the oil. Saute the onions till well browned.
Add green chillis, ginger garlic paste, and spices, saute for 1 minute
Add the chicken pieces, and the tomatoes, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes
Serve hot with roti or rice.

Dhirde- Maharashtrian dosa

I had this in office, and really loved the mix of flavours. I was told that the flour had to be freshly ground, so put it out of my mind. Coincidentally, a couple of weeks later, I located a grocer who did grind flour to your proportions, so got the flour made. It was one of the best things I did, because now, I can whip up a tasty meal whenever I want, without the need to plan.

1 kg whole wheat
200 gms channa dal
25 gms methi seeds
25 gms jeera seeds

Method:
Roast the methi seeds, jeera seeds and channa dal till fragrant.
Grind with 1 kg wheat, to get the basic flour for dhirde

To make dhirde:
Mix the flour with- 
- Green chilli paste
- Ginger paste
- Onions, chopped fine
- Curds
and make a runny batter. Add some water if required- the consistency should be similar to that of dosa batter.
Heat the tawa, and spread the batter as you would for a dosa. Sprinkle oil along the edges, and allow to cook on a medium flame. Flip over, and cook the other side.

Youghurt chicken

A very quick dry chicken dish based partially on an old favourite.

1 kg curry cut chicken
1/2 cup curds
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp kasoori methi
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Drain the water from the curds by hanging it in a muslin cloth for 30 mins
Make a marinade with the curds, ginger- garlic paste, salt, pepper, kasoori methi.
Wash the chicken, make a few slits, and marinate for 1 hour.
Heat the oil, add the marinated chicken, mix it well, cover, and cook on a low flame till done (about 20 minutes).
Serve with rotis or garlic bread.

Thing Two's cheesy mushroom pasta

After Thing One's success in the kitchen, Thing Two wanted to try his hand at making pasta, and he proved to be as adept.

200 gms pasta
100 gms mushrooms, sliced thinly
4 pods garlic
2 tbsp basil leaves
1/4 cup grated cheese
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornflour powder
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack, drain, wash with cold water and keep aside.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil, add the garlic pods and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushroom, and saute till well browned. Add torn basil leaves and toss for about 30 seconds. Add salt to taste, mix well and keep aside.
To make the white sauce, heat the milk, make a paste of cornflour with milk, mix well, and let it simmer on a low flame till the sauce attains desired consistency. Add salt and red chilli flakes to taste, and mix in the cheese.
Mix the pasta and cooked mushroom well, pour the white sauce, and serve.

Buttery Pepper Chicken

Some dishes grab you. This Buttery-pepper chicken recipe was one of them. When it actually came to making it, I found I didn't have coriander leaves, so I substituted it with kasoori methi, and I think it came out really well. One of those keepers.

900 grams - 4 whole chicken legs, each cut into two pieces 

125 grams butter

2 tablespoons oil

2½ tablespoons black pepper, ground to a coarse texture

2 tbsp kasoori methi

¼ teaspoon salt (optional) 

Method:
Heat butter and oil in a thick bottomed vessel on a medium-low flame. 

Add the chicken pieces and fry the chicken until it turns brown. 

Add the ground pepper and salt (optional) and stir well.

Reduce heat to low and cook till water from the chicken evaporates. 

Add 1 cup water and cook till chicken is tender. 

Add the kasoori methi and stir fry for a minute.
Serve as a side dish.

Cucumber-bajra dosa

Thanks to their erratic timings, I end up having to make dosas of some kind or the other for lunch almost every weekday. My mother is a great fan of bajra, and the inspiration for this recipe comes from her.
While you are at it, please admire the table decoration- I was told my cucumber plant needed pruning, and guess what I did with the pruned leaves!

1cup bajra flour
1 cucumber grated
A pinch of baking soda
Salt to taste
Whey or water to make the batter.

Method:
Mix the bajra, salt and soda together.
Add whey/ water gradually, till you get a thick batter. Allow it to stand for 30 minutes
Meanwhile, grate the cucumber, squeeze the water into the batter, add the cucumber to the batter and mix well. Add more water if required to get the proper consistency.
Make dosas, and serve.

Indianised beans on toast- a.k.a what to do with leftover rajma

I was in no mood to make lunch today, and the kids drew the line at leftover rajma chawal, and rajma roti. Innovation to the rescue. I slathered the rajma on pieces of toast, dumped a whole lot of cheese on it, grilled for a couple of minutes, and passed it off as beans on toast.
Though neither of them was fooled beyond the second bite, they ate it without complaint!

Veg biryani

When you want to rustle up a quick meal with looks more exotic than it actually is, this soya nugget biryani will qualify.

1 1/2 cups basmati rice, soaked for 1 hour

2 bay leaves

1 badi elaichi

 

1/2 cup soya nuggets

1 medium onion chopped fine

1 medium tomato chopped fine

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp dhania powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

salt to taste

cooking oil

1 medium onion cut into long slices

Method:

Cook the rice with the whole spices till 75% done. Discard the spices

Soak the soya nuggets in boiling water for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute the onions till they turn transparent. Add tomatoes, ginger garlic paste and ground spices, and saute till they turn mushy. Add the soya nuggets and mix well.

Grease the bottom of a non-stick pan, then put a layer of rice, and a layer of soya curry. Keep alternating the layers, ending with a layer of rice. Close the pan, and cook on low heat till the rice is well done.

Meanwhile, heat some cooking oil, and deep fry the sliced onions till well browned.

Garnish the biryani with onion slices and serve with curds.

Calcutta style rassa aloo

I am constantly on the lookout for easy recipes with potatoes, because that is one of the few vegetables that everyone in my family relishes. When I read about this recipe, I was transplanted back to my Calcutta days, and I tweaked the ingredients so it matched with what I remember of the rassa aloo that I used to have there.

4 large potatoes
2 green chillis
1/2 tsp jeera
1/2 inch piece ginger, chopped fine
A pinch of hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
1 tbsp mustard oil


Method:
Boil potatoes and mash slightly to make small pieces.
Heat the mustard oil, and temper with green chilli, jeera, ginger and hing.
When the jeera stops spluttering and starts browning, add the potatoes and turmeric powder. Mix well and add water and salt.
Bring it to boil, lower heat and keep stirring. The gravy will start thickening, as the potatoes mash and start getting mixed. Add amchur powder and mix well. When the gravy looks nice, take off the fire, and serve with rotis, puris or luchis.

Dosas in a Jiffy

I am not particularly good at meal planning, and when I found myself stuck for a "meal" to rustle up for the kids, my mother suggested I try this out. It worked better than I expected, and I am definitely making it at least once a week from now on.

1 measure rice flour
1 measure whole-wheat flour
A pinch of baking soda
Salt to taste
Water to make a batter
Cooking oil

Method:
Mix the dry ingredients well. Add water, and keep mixing it slowly till you get a batter of consistency similar to that of dosa batter.
Keep aside for 15 minutes, and make dosas in the regular way. Serve with any regular chutney.

Aloo dum, without onions or garlic

This is my mother's tried and tested aloo dum, using tomato purée. I think she learnt it in Calcutta, but I really cannot be sure. All I know is it is super easy to prepare, and packs a lot of taste.

500 gm baby potatoes

1 pack tomato purée 

1 bay leaf

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp dhania

1 inch piece ginger

1 red chilli

1/2 tsp haldi powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

Oil

Method

Boil and peel the potatoes, and sauté lightly in oil till golden

Grind bay leaf, jeera, ginger, dhania and red chilli to paste with a little water

Fry the ground masala, once the oil releases, add tomato purée, salt and haldi powder. Sauté for a minute, then add potatoes and garam masala, mix, cover and cook for 5 mins. Add sugar if required.

Serve hot with parathas or puri.

Baked frittata muffins

When it is just the kids and me for dinner, we tend to experiment a lot more than we would otherwise. This recipe was adapted from my mother's recipe for baked vegetables, and since it is so much like frittatas, I call it 'corn frittatas baked in muffin tin'.

2 packets of corn removed from the husk

1/2 each of red and yellow bell pepper

2 tbsp walnuts

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for drizzling

Method

Roughly chop the bell peppers.

Sauté the bell peppers and corn till lightly browned.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

Whisk the eggs, milk and salt and pepper till nicely aerated 

Grease the muffin tin, and divide the sautéed vegetables among them

Pour the egg mixture on top of the veggies, and bake for 20-25 minutes till done (you know it is done, when a skewer inserted into the frittata comes out clean)

Rawa paniyaram

Rawa dosa used to be a regular feature in our house when I was growing up, but for some reason, it is only the regular dosa (and idli and paniyaram) that has found a place on my dining table. And then a day came, when there was no dosa batter in the fridge, and the kids demanded paniyarams for lunch. Not wanting to go out in the winter, I came up with the idea of rawa paniyarams.
Kids loved it so much, I am planning to follow up with rawa dosa this weekend.

1 measure rawa/ sooji

2 tbsp sour curds

Whey to make batter

Rock salt to taste 

1/2 onion chopped

Dhania patta

Oil


Method
 Mix the rawa, curds and whey into a smooth batter and keep aside for about 30 minutes.
Add rock salt, chopped onions and chopped dhania patta, and mix well.
Cook in a paniyaram pan till done.
Serve with coconut chutney or mint chutney, or green-coconut chutney

Soya Fried Rice

It is during the holidays that feeding my kids becomes such a challenge. While on normal school days, I can do the best I can and justify not doing more, there are no such excuses available when they are home for the holidays. Which is why I have to improvise to ensure they get a reasonably balanced diet.
Soya Fried Rice is one of the recipes I keep falling back on- not only does it have proteins, it uses up leftover rice which I always have too much of.

1/2 cup soya nuggets
1 onion
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt, pepper, oregano to taste
1 cup leftover riceButter

Method
Cook the nuggets as per the directions on the packet. Drain and keep aside.
Heat some butter in a pan, and saute the onions till they turn transparent. Add ginger-garlic paste and tomato puree and fry till for 1-2 minutes. Add salt, pepper and oregano to taste
Add the cooked rice, and mix well.

Raw mango poha

It started out as Mona's pulao, but since I didn't have cooked rice, and was too lazy to make any, it ended up becoming a poha instead.

 
Wash 1 cup poha, and keep aside the washed poha
Heat 1 tsp oil, temper jeera.
Add 1/2 raw mango, 1 medium onion, 1 green chilli all chopped small, and a handfull of peanuts, and fry till the onion turns transparent.
Add the poha, some mint and dhania patta chopped fine, salt and rock salt to taste and mix well.
Serve hot.

Quick trifle

Always loved trifle puddings - and my mother makes the best ones- but rarely make it myself. But when I saw a packet of sliced cake going stale, and a whole bunch of strawberries going very squashy, I thought of throwing together an improvised trifle. Kids helped, in making it, and in finishing it off. Best way to use up all that stuff that was going bad.

Cut slice cake pieces into quarters, and line the bottom of a dish.
Cut, slice, mash the strawberries- basically do whatever the strawberry lets you do, and place a layer on the cake slices.
Make slightly, but not to runny, custard (1 tbsp custard powder for 1 cup milk worked for me), and pour it over the cake and fruit.
Let it set in the fridge. Drizzle chocolate sauce on it before serving.

Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese was one of my favourite dishes when I was a kid, and it is a favourite with my kids too. It is an easy one to make too, which means I end up making it pretty often when the maid is not around.

 
Cook 250 gms macaroni following the instructions on the packet. Drain and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a kadhai. Add 1 garlic pots, and 1/2 small onion (both chopped fine), and saute till the onion turns transparent. Add 1 medium tomatoe chopped into small bits, and cook on low with a cover on, till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add red chilli powder, salt and sugar to taste, and take off the fire. Bash it a bit to get a smooth consistency. Keep aside.
Make a smooth paste of 3 tbsp cornflour and water, keep aside.
Grate cheese,LOTS, and keep aside.
Heat 2 1/2 cups of milk, add the cornflour paste with constant stirring ensuring that no lumps are formed. Bring to boil, reduce the flame to low, add the tomato paste, and salt pepper to taste, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the grated cheese, and turn off the flame.

Steam 100 gms American corn and keep aside.

Grease a baking dish. Arrange the macaroni and corn in layers, and pour the sauce over it. Grate cheese on top, cover with a cling foil, and bake in oven at 200 for 5 mins (or in the microwave for 90 seconds).

Add chilli flakes and oregano before serving.

Kiddy pizza (with ready made base)

With kids at home for the entire week, the sensible thing would have been to just order their favourite takeaways. But I took it on as a challenge to see if I could satisfy them with home cooked food, and this was what they had for lunch on the first day.

For pizza sauce
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a kadhai. Add 4 garlic pots, and 1 medium onion (both chopped fine), and saute till the onion turns transparent. Add 4 medium tomatoes chopped into small bits, and cook on low with a cover on, till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add red chilli powder, salt and sugar to taste, and take off the fire. When cool, blend in the mixer till it gets a smooth consistency.

Method:
Spread pizza sauce on a store bought pizza base, top with lots of grated cheese (my kids dislike veggies, so I don't add it), and pop it into the oven till the cheese melts. Sprinkle oregano and chilli flakes before serving.