Zucchini Canapés

So I went for shopping in my nearby vegetable market last week and saw loads of zucchini piled up on every stall. As expected, I instantly bought one not even knowing what I will be doing with it. Anyways I searched over internet to come up with some ideas of recipe using Zucchini as a main ingredient and majorly found zucchini chips on almost every link I clicked. So I started with slicing zucchini, but while slicing idea of zucchini canapés popped in my mind, and here’s the recipe for the same. J

Ingredients:

For Canapés:

1 Zucchini average size, sliced finely in round shape.

1 tablespoon Maida / refined flour

½ teaspoon Semolina

Salt, red chilli powder to taste

¼ teaspoon each garam masala, aamchoor (dried mango powder)..

Pinch of coriander powder.

½ teaspoon dried oregano.

For Salsa:

½ each Onion and Tomato, finely chopped.

Fresh coriander, more the merrier.

¼ teaspoon chaat masala

Oil for deep frying.

Recipe:

For Canapés:

In a bowl spread zucchini slices.

In another bowl mix all dry ingredients/ spices together except chaat masala.

Sprinkle this dry mixture all over zucchini slices, and mix with spatula or hand so that slices get covered in this powder all over.

For Salsa:

Mix together onion tomato coriander and chaat masala. This salsa will be the topping for canapés.

Method:

Now fry the zucchini slices till they are golden brown in colour and crisp from the outside. Take them out and dry the excess oil on kitchen towel. Spread salsa on fried slices and Zucchini Canapés are ready to eat.

Potato Chips

Potato chips have been my all time favourite. I remember eating them always during my childhood and also fighting over them with my siblings.

Uncle Chips were available everywhere during those days. Lays came much after. Another favourite in my family were Twinkle Chips, especially their mint flavoured chips. They were our favourite also because we got a free comic book with them. :p Anyways we just needed one or the other excuse to eat them.

So here’s the most basic way to make chips, hope you like them.

Ingredients:

Potato

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder to taste

Oil for brushing

Recipe:

Slice potato into chips slices using any slicer you may have. I used slicing blade of my food processor. However, thickness of the slices should around 0.2 – 0.3 cm, as the chips shrink in size when they are baked.

Now lightly brush a plate with oil, avoid this step if you are using non stick microwave safe plate or tray.

Layer the slices of the potato on the plate, and lightly brush them too with the oil.

Sprinkle salt and chilli on the slices.

Method:

Now these will take around 10-12 minutes in total to bake in microwave at 600 degree Celsius. First bake them for 3 minutes then pause the timer, take the plate out and flip all the chips, again sprinkle salt and chilli on them and bake again for 3 – 4 minutes, after which flip them again but don’t sprinkle any spice this time around. Bake again for 2-3 minutes and check again. They will be ready when chips have turned slightly brown and are crispy in texture. Bake for another couple of minutes if they are soggy. Don’t leave microwave unobserved. Serve them with ketchup or tea.

Note:

You can use any other spice or even herb to flavor the chips. Use Chaat masala for a tangy taste. Use salt or Oregano if you like Italian taste. I am planning to make these next time with dried mint and salt. :)

Kesar Jalebi

I have never met anyone who doesn't like jalebis. It’s a favorite mithai / sweet of every Indian I guess. I remember my childhood days when I used to wait for Ahoi Goddess puja, wherein jalebis were served as Prasad. I and my siblings waited from day before till next day’s evening prayer, after which we were allowed to relish jalebis. We still have this puja at home every year and I too still wait for them, longingly.

My grandma also made me eat jalebis whenever I suffered from cold because it is believed that jalebis soaked in milk is homemade medicine for cold and cough. And I never complained, who would have if the medicine is as tasty as Jalebi. In fact I even faked illness sometimes, just to eat delicious sweet jalebis, Best part, my grandma always knew that I was never sick. ;) :p :D J

Here’s the recipe that I use to make them.

Ingredients:

For Batter

2/3 Cup Maida or all purpose flour:

1 Tablespoon semolina

2/3 Cup water

1 ½ Tablespoon curd/ yoghurt

¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds powder

Oil for deep frying.

For sugar syrup

1½ cup water

1 cup sugar

One lime wedge

Few strands of Kesar / Saffron

Recipe:

Batter:

Sift flour and semolina in a bowl. Add water and curd. Whisk well for around 15 – 20 minutes. This will put air in it and little bubbles will start forming in the batter, which means fermentation has begun. At this stage leave the batter aside, in a warm place, for at least 4 hours of fermentation, but overnight is preferred.

Once the batter has nicely fermented, add cardamom powder and mix it using cut and fold method. Do not mix it quickly otherwise the batter will lose its air. Batter is ready.

Sugar syrup:

Pour water in a bowl on low heat, add sugar and mix nicely. Once sugar has dissolved, put syrup on high heat and add the lemon wedge. Once it has started to boil nicely, check the syrup for any sugar residue or impurities on the surface, and remove it using a spatula. Remove lemon wedge. Add saffron and let it simmer. Syrup is ready when it’s of one string consistency.

Method:

Pour batter in a sauce bottle. In a pan on medium flame add oil. Now squeeze the batter using circular motion in the pan. Fry on both sides till its golden brown. Take it out and dip it and swirl it in the sugar syrup and leave it there few seconds for Jalebi to absorb the syrup. Then take it out and drain the excess syrup. Jalebi is ready to eat. Eat it with a warm glass of milk.

Note:

Semolina is added to make Jalebi crispier. It can be avoided if you don’t like crispier jalebis.

Instead of cardamom, you can use fennel seeds powder or cinnamon powder in the batter.

One string consistency of the syrup is checked by taking a little bit of syrup on the thumb and tapping finger on it, if syrup forms one string it is ready.

Lemon wedge in the syrup ensures that any impurities get concentrated on the surface of syrup.

Paneer Sandwich

This recipe I have learned from my mom. Its a great breakfast or an evening snack, like we eat in my family. It’s very easy to make and cook. Hope you like it.

Ingredients:

100 gm paneer or cottage cheese roughly crushed

1 capsicum finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped

Black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

6 slices of brown bread

Oil for shallow frying.

Recipe:

In a bowl mix together paneer capsicum tomato salt and pepper.

Spread the mixture on one slice of bread and then cover with another slice of bread.

Method:

In a non-stick pan pour oil and keep the flame medium. Now fry the sandwich from both sides and while doing this slightly press the sandwich with the back side of the spatula. It is ready when sandwich is golden brown on both sides. Cut into small pieces and serve with ketchup or green chutney.

Variations:

This sandwich can also be made with different variations. Include chopped onion to add more crunch. Or add grated carrot to make it a little sweet. If using chopped carrot blanch it before using. Use preblanched peas to make sandwich healthier. You can also add any other spice like green chilli or herb, like coriander, in it as preferred by you. And instead of shallow frying the sandwich, you can you any sandwich maker to toast it or use grill if you like grilled sandwich.

Daadi ke Poode

My grandma was a great cook. Especially her pancakes, or like the way she called them “poode”, were everyone’s favorite. I remember her making them during monsoon or whenever it rained and then all of us, me and my siblings ate them together, sitting on the floor in the balcony enjoying rain. I miss those days and poode.

Below recipe is my variation of what my grandma made, and hence I dedicate this to her.

Ingredients: (Makes 6-7 medium sized Pancakes)

6 Tablespoon Wheat Flour

3 Tablespoon Sugar

8 Tablespoon Milk

1 tablespoon desi ghee

6-8 Tablespoon Water, or as needed.

1 teaspoon ground Fennel Seeds.

½ teaspoon Soda Bicarb

Recipe:

In a bowl, sieve flour, then add sugar, ghee, milk and whisk it.

Add water, 6 tablespoon first, and whisk it.

Consistency of the batter should be runny like a cake batter. If you think the batter is thick add more water and balance the consistency.

Add ground fennel seeds and soda bicarb and whisk it again.

Leave it aside for 15 minutes for soda bicarb to work.

Method to make pancake:

In a non stick pan, heated on a low flame, pour enough batter to make 3 inch round pancake. When nice bubbles or holes appear on the pancake all over, flip it and leave it for around another 5 seconds in the pan and then take it out. Drizzle honey all over and have it warm with a nice glass of milk. It’s a perfect comfort food. J

Lime Sponge Cake

Lime cake has always been there in the back of my mind somewhere; I just had this belief that a lime cake would taste great and wanted to try it. However, I was never able to find time to bake it, with my job and other routine. And two days back I just got up and baked it. Don’t remember preparing it, all I remember is that I was doing something and cake was getting baked in the oven next moment. I didn't even care measuring what quantity I was putting in and made it with my rough estimate and as per it tasted. I believe continuous tasting is what prevents a debacle in the kitchen. J

Now let’s go back in the past a little, may be 5 or 6 years ago when I attempted to bake my first cake, a chocolate cake, which was also a complete failure like all my other first attempts. L K

Miraculously the only thing good about it was that it exactly tasted like I wanted it to however as a cake it was a complete failure. And don’t even get me started on the icing and decoration of it, because what I did, thinking it will make it better actually made it look like some cave painting done by an amateur, and it became an eyesore. What was the result? Well, nobody ate it and it too went into the trash bin.

Nevertheless, I kept trying and here I am today sharing my cooking experiences with you all. Without any further ado, below is the recipe for my lime cake, which is very quick to make.

Ingredients: (It’s for a small cake, serves around 2-3 people)

Around 4 tablespoons of maida or all purpose flour

1 whole egg

2 ½ tablespoon sugar. Add more if you like more sweet.

1 tablespoon oil.

Zest of two lime.

1 tablespoon lime juice.

Around 1 teaspoon baking powder.

3 tablespoon water.

Method:

Begin with whisking egg and sugar together till the time air bubbles form on the surface. It needs to be done nicely as it will help make cake airy and spongy.

To this stage add zest, lime juice, oil and whisk again.

Now add dry ingredients sieved. And mix the batter gently using cut and fold technique. It will come together eventually. Do not rush into mixing it as the air put into the egg will collapse otherwise.

Add water and keep mixing the batter using cut fold technique till it is a smooth batter.

Preparing baking dish:

Grease the insides of the dish and then dust it with flour.

Baking:

Pour batter into the dish. I used microwave to bake it. Bake it for 10 minutes at 300 degree Celsius, then another 3-5 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Keep checking it in between and don’t leave it unobserved in the oven. It is ready when it feels spongy and when a knife inserted comes out clean.

Kitchannel Revolution

Okay, so I haven’t shared anything for past two days. And that’s because I was thinking on what I should next write about. And while writing my other blog “When did I start cooking” I realized a major part of me getting passionate about cooking was also Television, or more specifically Cookery shows that I grew up watching. Hence, thought of paying a tribute to them with this blog of mine.

There was once a time when Khana Khazana was just a half an hour show, and now it’s a whole 24X7 channel. I remember watching Chef Sanjeev kapoor cooking while I remained glued to the seat for that half an hour. Then another prevalent show from my childhood was Mirch Masala wherein Chef Rakesh Sethi prepared different cuisines and I was left spell bound by all of them. For me it was all magic, how simple things got turned into beautiful and delicious dishes.

Indeed these shows and now whole loads of channels have motivated many people like me to take up cooking seriously. And just not just passionate about cooking, these channels like Food Food, NDTV Good Times have made people more health conscious and made them aware all about healthy food habits. Health bhi taste bhi where Chef Ranveer Brar teaches how different meals of the day can be made healthier is one such show.

They do not cater to housewives any more, but target a whole more lot of population form different ethnicity with shows like Jain Jalsa, Turban Tadka and even different age groups with our own little Masterchef Manuel giving cooking tips in Eat Manuel. Now who wouldn’t like their kids to assist them in preparing meals when it also allows them spending precious time together out of their busy schedules.

Shows like Kifayati Kitchen also keep in mind the fact that everyone doesn’t live lavishly and not have every ingredient available with them all the time. Chef Pankaj comes to rescue and teaches to prepare easy meals with easily available ingredients in the most cost effective way.

I am not at all surprised seeing a sudden increase in cooks everywhere because of this huge inclination towards food channels and have named all of this as Kitchannel Revolution. J

Paneer Rolls

Paneer roll is a recipe that I learned just a month back and that too out of a taste competition between me and my dad. To be honest, it was more of a “trying to prove each other wrong” kind of a competition wherein nobody competes to win but to have fun, which me and my dad always have whenever we cook together.

Anyways, my aunt had cooked these huge cutlets for us and my mom had brought them from her home. My dad, upon tasting it, asked me in a very challenging, confident yet subtle tone, to guess what all was put into it and how it was made. After making a couple of guesses we both started discussing the cutlet as if it was a matter of life and death and continued this for at least next 5 minutes. My mom overlooking us from the kitchen came towards us smiling devilishly and said that we both were wrong, told us the recipe and went back into the kitchen now laughing, leaving both of us shameful. And that’s how I came across this snack.

The only amendment that I made in the recipe was the size of cutlets and chose to make them small round shaped, as then they become easier to fry and eat. I believe that is how a snack should be.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

For Mash:

300 grams Paneer / Cottage cheese

1 medium sized onion

Salt to taste

½ teaspoon red chilli and garam masala.

4-5 Tablespoon Green chilli sauce. Add more if you like it spicier.

Lots of fresh coriander leaves.

For Batter:

2 ½ Tablespoon maida or all purpose flour.

4-5 Table spoon water.

Bread Crumbs of 4 Breads.

Oil for deep frying.

Recipe:

For mash:

Crush paneer finely with hands.

Chop onion in small pieces.

Add onion, salt, red chilli, garam masala, fresh coriander and chilli sauce to paneer and mash them together nicely. Kneading helps it get together.

For batter, mix maida and water together nicely. It will be runny in consistency.

Spread the bread crumbs in a large plate.

Method of making paneer rolls:

Make around one inch ball of the mash, dip them or coat it with the batter from all sides generously and then run it over the bread crumbs in plate. The batter will help crumbs stick to the rolls. Bread crumbs should cover the roll completely. Then deep fry it. Roll is ready when it’s Golden brown in colour. A point of caution, bread cooks quickly and paneer is eaten in its natural form, hence it does not take much cooking time. Few seconds in oil and it is ready.

Vada Pav

Vada Pav:

Now there are many stories that come to my mind when i think of vada pav. Earliest one being from my childhood, when i first saw this hilarious song in a Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit movie Hifazat, sung in an even more funny south Indian accent, lyrics are "Batata Vada, dil nahi dena tha dena padaaaa...." :D :D. The Video is also as funny as the song itself comprising of extra large sized batata wadas. 

The second story that i am going to share is the first time i had a vada pav. It was in Mumbai, on a street near Haji Ali Dargah along with a friend of mine, and I instantly fell in love with it. Though normally I refrain myself from eating any thing street side but I guess I was hungry and tired from sightseeing that day and ate whatever I saw first, and truth be told , i don't regret eating it. :D

Another memory that comes to my mind is from my last office, my whole team used to order loads of vada pav and have it together in our free time from work along with a nice cup of tea and tease each other in a friendly way. It was actually this vada pav that persuaded me to try it myself. Which i did and result was awesome. Here is the recipe that i tried. Hope you like the outcome too. :)

Ingredients:

For Potato Mash:

4 Medium Sized boiled potato nicely mashed.

Fresh coriander.

1 teaspoon red chilli powder. Reduce the quantity if you don’t like it very spicy.

1 teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon coriander powder.

Salt to taste.

1 Teaspoon lime juice.

Masala for Mashed potato:

1 tablespoon Oil.

1 teaspoon mustard seeds.

6-7 curry leaves

Paste of green chilli, ginger and garlic, about two tablespoon. All used in equal quantity to make the paste.

Pinch of Asafotida and Turmeric.

Salt to taste

For Batter:

3 Tablespoon Besan / Gram Flour.

Salt to taste.

Pinch of Asafotida /  heeng.

1 teaspoon chilli.

½ teaspoon turmeric.

Water to make the batter.

½ teaspoon soda bicarb.

And oil for deep frying.

Recipe:

To make the batter:

Mix besan, turmeric, chilli, salt, asafoetida and soda together. Add water to make a batter of it. It should be of liquid consistency but thick enough to coat potato balls or batata wada. Whisk it nicely.

To make Masala:

Heat oil, add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Then add curry leaves and saute for few seconds, be cautious to not let it burn. Add ginger garlic and chilli paste and saute it. Add salt turmeric and asafoetida and mix nicely. Masala is ready.

Potato Mash:

Mix the masala, fresh coriander along with all the spices with the potato and mash them together with a masher. When everything has come together nicely , mash is ready.

Making Vada:

Heat oil in a wok for frying. Make smalls balls of potato mash and dip them in besan batter and fry them till golden brown in color. Have it sandwiched between bread slices or with a pav. 

Bread Keema Kebab.

Bread Keema Kebab.

So this is one recipe that I learned from my mom recently, and became fond of it immediately. Its quick and easy to cook. One moment you put everything in the chopper and grind it into a fine paste and next moment - "abracadabra" - ITS READY. 

Its name has also a story behind it. My mom didn't know what to name it and called it a bread cutlet. But then one day I cooked it and asked my dad to taste it. After which he said that its tastes like some keema he eats at one of his favorite non veg points. The only difference is that this is a pure vegetarian starter made up of ingredients easily available in every home. Hence I named it Bread Keema Kebab.

Hope u like it too. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

8-9 slices of brown bread.

1 inch ginger.

2 green chillies

2 medium sized onions.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon garam masala, red chilli powder, rock salt, coriander powder, chaat masala. (you can add more or less as per your own taste buds.)

Salt to taste.

Lots of fresh coriander

Oil for deep frying.

Recipe:

Grind Bread into fine crumbs.

Grind onion, ginger, green chillies together into a paste, add a little bit of water to help the grinding.

Add this paste into bread crumbs along with fresh coriander and all the dry spices.

Mix nicely until whole mixture comes together or the bread crumbs has absorbed all the moisture into it. Add a little water if needed, mixture has to be nicely moist, otherwise the final outcome will hard in chew. It will look like mashed potatoes when its ready.

Make balls out of it and deep fry it. It is ready when its golden brown in color. It gets fried very quickly as bread does not take long to cook, hence caution needs to be given while frying otherwise it may burn, happened to me on my first frying attempt. :)

Hey All,

So I have created this blog to share my cooking experiences and stories with you, along with some recipes that I learned or have tried over the years from different sources, some from my family and some from TV and so on. In some I made my own changes, others I copied exactly the way they were taught to me. Hoping you like my posts.

Cooking with me.