Parat-e-Subz

A deep fried delicacy, which has seasoned blanched vegetables at its core, covered with mashed potato and finally coated with chips crumbs for spicy crispiness.

The technique for making it is very similar to my other recipe Paneer Recipe that I shared last month. However the inspiration for this recipe is Scotch egg, and I tried to accomplish the same technique of cooking with layering different elements over one another, and successfully achieved it. The difference here is that it is made of ingredients easily available, with cherry on the cake being its super simple to prepare. So do give it a try.

Ingredients: Serves 4

For Potato Mash:

3 medium sized boiled potatoes peeled

Crumbs of 2-3 slices of bread

Salt and red chilli powder to taste

1/8 teaspoon garam masala

1 green chilli chopped

Green coriander as much as you like

For stuffing:

1 cup any mix vegetable. I used Cauliflower, capsicum and carrot, totalling to one cup quantity

1/8 teaspoon Rock salt

1/8 teaspoon Black pepper

1/8 teaspoon Roasted ground cumin seeds

1/8 teaspoon Chaat masala

Water for boiling

For batter:

2 tablespoon corn flour

4-5 tablespoon water

For outer crisp layer:

1 large packet of chips, I like uncle chips so used them, you can try any other as per your preference.

Oil for deep frying

Recipe:

For Mash:

Mash potatoes. Add all dry spices, crumbs, coriander and chilli. Mix together well and refrigerate till further use.

For Stuffing:

In a microwaveable bowl, add all vegetables and water. Water should just cover the vegetables. Microwave this on maximum temperature setting for 3-5 minutes. Check after 3 minutes if still raw microwave for another minute or so. Veggies should be half boiled and not soggy.

Once done take them out and drain water out. Spread the veggies on a half of kitchen towel and dab with the remaining half to absorb the excess water.

Now add veggies back to the bowl, sprinkle all the dry spices together on veggies and mix well.

For batter:

Mix corn flour and water together. It should be of running consistency.

For outer layer:

Grind chips in a food processor, and spread them on a plate.

Method:

Make around 1 inch ball of the mash then spread it on your palm till its ½ cm thick.

Put some stuffing on it and cover it with the mash, beginning with one end and going around till stuffing is fully covered with mash. Again roll it lightly with your hands to make a perfect round.

Dip this ball in the batter from all sides.

Then roll it on the chips crumble. Chips should stick to it completely. Then deep fry it.

Serve hot with coriander chutney.

Note:

You can use maida/ all purpose flour alternatively for batter.

In place of chips, ground corn flakes can also be used.

Paneer Tikka

Every Punjabi, I believe, has a blood relation with paneer tikka. It’s the soul of everything that a Punjabi does, be it a wedding or an escort for their one glass of Patiala peg. ;)

Being a Punjabi myself, I remember indulging paneer tikka ever since the very beginning of my childhood. Dad always ordered it from a local restaurant and then my whole family used to have it together. Now, I make this at home, dad eats all the paneer pieces, mom eats all capsicum and I eat all onion. J

Traditionally, it is made in a cemented tandoor / oven in the bottom of which are bright red burning coal that give it a distinct burnt or charred flavour. With electric ovens the task has become easier however that original taste is always missed. This is what I have tried to achieve in this recipe by charring tikkas on nude flame. This recipe is mine, inspired from many others over the years. Hope you like it. J

Ingredients: Serves 2-3

200 gram cottage cheese or paneer, cut into 1 – 1½ inch pieces

1 medium sized capsicum, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 medium sized onion cut into four pieces

For batter:

4 tablespoon gram flour or besan

1½ tablespoon corn four

 5 tablespoon yogurt

½ tablespoon oil

Paste of 6-7 slices of garlic and 1 inch ginger

Salt and red chilli powder to taste

1/8 teaspoon each of Garam masala, chaat masala, rock salt, coriander powder, turmeric, dried mango powder.

For garnish:

Lime juice and chaat masala

Recipe:

In a microwave friendly bowl, add gram flour and corn flour sieved. To this add all dry ingredients and mix well.

In another bowl add yogurt, garlic, ginger and mix well.

Add this yogurt to dry ingredient along with oil and whisk to make smooth batter.

Now add paneer onion and capsicum to this batter and gently mix so that batter covers vegetables and paneer completely. Now keep this mixture in refrigerator for 15 – 30 minutes. Take the mixture out and let it come to room temperature.

Then microwave it for 4-5 minutes at highest temperature, after which take the bowl out.

Now skewer the veggies alternatively, onion paneer capsicum, and char them above nude flame on the stove. With help of pliers, hold one end of the skewer and roast tikka on the flame from all sides.

Paneer tikka is ready, garnish them with lime juice and chaat masala.

Note:

If you don’t have skewers, try tooth picks they work the same way, however just be cautious not to burn yourself as it’s made of wood and will burn when put on fire.

You can make tikka of any other vegetable in the same way.

Holi Special Dessert

This dessert recipe is created by me; however its inspiration came to me from one of the recent episodes of Masterchef, wherein Chef Ranveer Brar had put an awesome dessert in front of the candidates as pressure test. His dessert had orange jelly as one of the elements and I thought that I should also try something with orange jelly.

Unlike Chef Ranveer’s dessert which was very difficult to make, my dessert is very simple, perfect for home cooking and has four different elements combined to make one dessert. Each element is very easy to prepare and final outcome looks great. Not only kids but adults too will surely crave for it.

Ingredients: Serves one

For Orange Jelly:

One cup fresh orange juice

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoon agar-agar flakes

For Choclate Cake:

1 tablespoon maida

1 tablespoon Butter

1 tablespoon sugar.

3-4 tablespoon milk.

1/4 teaspoon or a pinch of baking powder

1/8 teaspoon or a pinch of baking soda

½ tablespoon cocoa powder

For Sugar Hokey Pokey Candy:

2 Tablespoon sugar

3-4 Tablespoon water

Pinch of soda bicarb

For Milk Sauce:

3 tablespoon sugar

1½ tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon water

5-6 tablespoon milk

Recipe:

For orange jelly

Pour juice in a pan and put on low flame, add sugar, and stir till sugar dissolves. Add agar-agar, put on high flame and bring a boil. Then leave it to simmer for 4-5 minutes. Remove from flame and leave to cool down a little. Then divide the juice in two containers equally, shape of container is your choice. I used round ones. Juice will set into jelly at room temperature. Once it has started to settle move containers into refrigerator, and leave there till final presentation.

For Cake

Mix together all dry ingredients maida cocoa powder baking powder baking soda (sieved) and sugar. Add butter, milk and whisk nicely. When all lumps have disappeared, grease a microwave friendly bowl, pour batter in it. And microwave it for one minute at highest temperature, microwave for another minute if not set.

For Hokey Pokey Candy:

Mix together sugar and water, put on high flame. Let the water boil and bubble nicely, after around 4 minutes on flame it would have changed into thick syrup and will just begin to caramelise. Its colour will be slightly changing to golden brown, right then remove it from flame, add soda bicarb and whisk quickly, golden froth will start forming. Immediately empty the contents on a greased foil or parchment paper. Leave it set for couple of minutes.

For Milk Sauce:

In a pan mix together water sugar and butter and put on low flame. When butter has melted and sugar has dissolved put on high flame. Once it has boiled once, add half milk and keep stirring on high flame, it will start to thicken then add remaining half of milk, stir again till it has turned slightly thick. Perfect consistency would be when it is thick yet of pouring consistency, because when it cools down it will turn solid like a milk candy.

Presentation:

Take out jelly from the container. On one jelly in the center of the plate, place chocolate cake and then place another jelly on it, like cake is sandwiched between jellies. Crush hokey pokey candy roughly and place few pieces on top of the dessert. Then drizzle generously with milk sauce. Dessert is ready to be served.

Vegetable Garlic Bread

A delicious Italian inspired side dish for pasta, pizza or anything Italian. This is a very easy and quick recipe. Hungry at 2 am, chop some veggies spread them on bread along with butter and its ready under 5 minutes, or may be quicker depending upon your knife skills. Mine are pathetic. It takes me an hour to chop just one onion, capsicum and tomato each. But I do have persuading or convincing skills coz I always end up convincing somebody else to chop vegetables for me, like I did today. ;)

Anyways, coming back to Garlic Bread, here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized onion chopped

½ Tomato and Capsicum each, chopped.

5-6 Garlic slices chopped

1 ½ Tablespoon Butter.

4 Bread Slices.

Salt and Chilli each to taste.

1 teaspoon Dried Oregano.

Recipe:

In a microwaveable bowl, mix onion, tomato, capsicum and garlic together.

Add butter and microwave it for 20-30 seconds maximum at maximum temperature. Butter will just start to melt. Take the bowl and give it nice stir and incorporate everything together. Microwave it again for 10-20 seconds at max temperature. Butter would have completely melted by now.

Add spices and give it a nice mix.

Spread it generously on each bread slice, dividing mixture equally into 4 parts.

Now microwave the bread slices. Duration will depend upon how you prefer your bread. I like it little soggy with all butter absorbed into it, which I get after toasting it for one minute on max temperature. Increase the duration if you prefer crispy base and slightly burnt topping, as that in pizza. Alternatively, you can first toast the bread and then spread the buttered veggies on it and eat it. Choice is yours.

Try it and tell me how you like it. J

Black Currant Pudding

I prepared this pudding keeping in mind how kids love anything sweet, and also how they stay away from anything healthy like vegetables and fruits. So I thought and made this pudding from nothing but fresh juice, and added more fruits in it to make it healthier. I am sure kids will love this because it is everything they like: Sweet, colorful, jelly like and parents will love it because it’s easy to make, can be preserved in refridgerator for 2-3 days and did I mention that it’s healthy?? ;) J

Ingredients: Serves 3

1 ½ Cup fresh Black Currant juice

2 tablespoon sugar

4-5 tablespoon water

A little more than 1 tablespoon agar-agar flakes

Garnish:

6 Green Grapes

6 Black Currants

Recipe:

In a sauce pan pour juice and water together. Turn heat on at low.

Add sugar and stir till it dissolves.

Add agar-agar flakes, and bring the juice to boil. Then skim the impurities.

Simmer for 8-9 minutes. Meanwhile prepare three bowls by dividing grapes and currants equally in them.

After 8-9 minutes, turn the heat off. And let the juice cool down a little. Then divide juice equally in three bowls and leave it to cool down completely. It will start to set when at room temperature. Shift bowls in refrigerator. And pudding will be ready to eat when it’s completely chilled. Texture will be a little somewhere between liquid and jelly. You can make it a complete jelly by adding more agar-agar before boiling process.

Note:

This pudding can also be made with any other kind of juice.

If making fresh juice at home, strain it nicely.