Chickpeas, Rajma & Paneer Burgers

Ingredients (for burger patty)

1. ½ cup Chickpeas (Chole) soaked and cooked
2. ½ cup kidney beans (Rajma) soaked and cooked
3. 250 gms paneer
4. 1 medium size potato (boiled)
5. 3 tsp fresh ginger garlic paste
6. 2 green chillies very finely chopped (use more if needed)
7. juice of 1 lemon
8. 2 tsp chaat masala
9. **Salt as per taste
10. 2 tsp fresh coriander (very finely chopped) 
11. 4 slices of bread
12. small bowl of water to dip the bread slices
13. 5-6 tsp rava (semolina) before flying
14. oil for deep frying

Ingredients (for making a burger)

1. burger breads
2. Mayonnaise & tomato ketchup 
3. lettuce leaves
4. sliced capsicum
5. cheese slices
6. onion slices

Method

1. In a bowl add together the cooked rajma, chole, grated paneer, grated potato, ginger garlic paste, green chillies, lemon juice chaat masala, coriander. Mix it thoroughly. 
2. take the bread slices and dip them into the bowlful of water, press the slice between your palms to remove all the excess water.
3. Add these slices to the above mixture. 
4. **note:- taste the mixture before you add the salt, as chaat masala has salt in it. The patty shouldn't become salty, according to the taste add salt. 
5. and roll them into a burger patty.
6. Keep the patty aside before frying.
7. Spread the rava on a tray, roll these burger patty on it so that the rava is evenly coated on it.
8. In a deep bottom vessel heat oil. Deep fry the patty until golden brown. Keep aside on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.
9. Take the burger bread, spread the mayonnaise & tomato ketchup, arrange onion & capsicum slices. over it arrange the burger patty and the lettuce & cheese slice
10. Close the burger and enjoy!!

Nutella Crepes with Strawberries (Eggless)

I'd promised M&m I'll treat them with Nutella pancakes this weekend. It was long overdue. Once you get the hang of it- the flipping part & tilting the pan to spread the batter to make thin crepes you'll get hooked on to making crepes. Trust me they are not difficult as they appear. I used Nutella & strawberries to make the crepes, but you can use banana's or any other fruit.
A big thank you to M&m for patiently waiting for their crepes while I was taking these pictures :-*

Ingredients

1. 1 cup all purpose flour
2.  ¾ cup low fat milk
3. ¼ cup water
4. 1 tsp sugar
5. few drops of vanilla essence
6. 2 tsp melted butter
7. Nutella
8. 8-10 strawberries

 Method

1. In a deep bowl mix the flour, milk, water, sugar, vanilla essence & the melted butter. Using a whisk remove the lumps.beat until you get a smooth batter
2. Keep a frying pan on medium flame, pour the batter in the center of the pan & tilt the pan in circular motion so that the batter coats evenly on the surface of the pan.
3. Cook the crepes for 2 minutes or until the crepes turn light brown. Carefully lift the edge of the crepe to see if its done, turn over the crepe and cook the other side for another minute.
4. Spread a generous amount of nutella on the inner side of the crepe, fold it or roll it, garnish with roughly chopped strawberries & serve immediately.

Note: 

1. I used the blender to make a smooth & lumpless batter.
2. I used the baking paper to prevent the crepes from sticking together
3. The above quantity yields 10 crepes.

Pizza Base (Wheat)

As a foodie I'm always on the look out for new recipe & inspired by my family members, friends or food bloggers around me. The other day I was chatting with my cousin who inspired me to make pizza base at home. She mentioned she always makes pizza base at home & it doesn't take much time to make them as its an easy process. I was always reluctant in giving it a try as I was quite skeptical about working with yeast. Finally I decided to give it a try & bake pizza base at home but I was running out of self raising flour, so I decided to make the base with wheat flour.

My verdict- The pizza base turned out exactly similar to the one we buy it from local bakeries or shops. My son who loves cooking helped me in making the base, it was a fun activity for him.
As per the measurements mentioned below you can make 10 mini pizza base of ¼" thickness 

Home made mini Pizza with Wheat flour

Ingredients

1. ¾ cup warm water

2. 2 tsp active dry yeast
3. 1½ cup wheat flour + some more for kneading & rolling the base
4. 1 tbsp olive oil
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 2 tsp sugar

Method

1. In the large bowl add the warm water, add the yeast & sugar, give it a quick stir and let it sit aside for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is activated & turns into a foam on the top of the water. then add the salt & oil. 
2. Gradually add the wheat flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously, when the mixture becomes too thick to stir you will know you have added enough flour.
3. Knead the dough- sprinkle some flour over the kitchen top & knead the flour by adding more flour to make a dough which is not very moist or sticky. Gather the dough, press it with the help of the heels of your hands firmly, pushing forward lightly, the dough should resemble a chappati dough.
4. Cover the dough with cling film and let it rise up for 1 hour at room temperature. After an hour the dough must have doubled in size. punch down the dough to remove air and knead it well.
5. sprinkle some flour on the kitchen top & using a rolling pin form a circle of ¼" thickness. I used a circular bowl with sharp edge to make mini pizza base. Prick each pizza base with a fork
6. preheat the microwave at 180°C and bake the base for 8-10 minutes
   
   
   
   
   
   
   How to prepare Pizza Sauce & toppings?
   

   1. 4 medium size tomatoes (roughly chopped)
   2. 2 small onions (roughly chopped)
   3. 5 cloves of garlic (crushed)
   4. 1 tsp oil
   5. 1 tsp pepper
   6. salt as per taste
   7. 1 tsp oregano
   8. For toppings-
      chopped Mushrooms, onions, capcisum & grated cheese

   
   

   

   Method
   1. Heat oil in  a pan, add garlic, onion & tomatoes. When the onions turn transparent, turn off the gas and add pepper, salt & oregano. Grind the vegetables to a smooth paste to make pizza sauce.Adjust the salt & pepper as per your liking.
   2. You can add the pizza sauce & toppings along with the cheese over the mini pizza base (Refer to Method no 5 above) & bake it in the microwave at 180°C and bake the base for 15 minutes
      OR
   3. Prepare the pizza base, add the pizza sauce, toppings & cheese & grill it until cheese melts.

Mango Muffin with Mango frosting

These gorgeously looking Mango muffins with a little crunch of walnuts are to die for. The mango frosting will add extra richness & creamy taste for this mango dessert. To add more vibrant orange colour I added the mango pulp with the batter; you can try different variations like adding mango pieces instead of the pulp- Surely they will be delicious & full of flavour.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup walnuts
2. 1¾  cups cake flour (I used wheat flour)
3. ¾  cup powdered sugar
4. 1 teaspoons baking powder
5. ¼  teaspoon baking soda
6. ¼  teaspoon salt
7. 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
8. ½ cup unsalted butter
9. 1½ cups fresh mango puree (i.e "Amras")
10. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
11. 1-2 spoon of milk if the batter becomes very thick

for frosting

1. ½ cup butter (room temperature)
2. 4 tablespoon mango puree
3. 2 cups icing sugar
4. few drops of vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
2. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet & bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop roughly
3. In a medium-sized bowl beat eggs until light and fluffy, combine the mango puree, melted butter, and vanilla with spatula. In another large bowl combine the wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, & walnuts.
4. Now lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (Do not to over mix the batter. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery muffin.) Add milk as required if the batter becomes too thick.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
6. Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature. Prepare the mango frosting by mixing all the ingredients, pipe it with a regular mango flavoured buttercream frosting using the star tip.  

the batter looked yummy, i felt like eating it raw :-)

 

Yields- 20 medium sized muffins. 

Mushroom & Cheese Sandwich

Ingredients

1. 2 tsp butter
2. 1 small onion, sliced
3. 10 button mushrooms sliced
4. 2 cloves garlic, chopped
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. 4 slices bread
7. 2 tablespoon butter
8. 2 cubes cheddar cheese (Grated)
9. cucumber & lettuce for serving

Method

1. Melt the butter and heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic, onion and saute until onion is tender, will take about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the mushrooms and saute until the start to caramelized and turn golden brown, about 10 minutes.Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat and let cool a bit.
4. Mix the cheese into the mushrooms.
5. Butter one side of each slice of bread, top each slice with mushrooms mix, place them in a sandwich griller
6. Grill until the cheese has melted and the bread is golden brown, about 2-4 minutes 
7. Serve with cucumber & lettuce.

Orange Delight or Oranges - Two Ways

As a child I remember helping Aai, to peel the oranges, set the jelly & help her to make this dessert during orange season. We used to call it Orange "souffle" then (back in early '90s when we had no internet, no masterchef on the telly), now when I think of the name I feel quite silly about calling it "souffle", so I decided to call it Orange delight or Orange-Two ways ( that surely sound gourmet-ish). So here's the recipe of Orange Delight or Orange-Two ways.

Orange Delight Or Orange two ways

Ingredients

1. 6 fresh oranges (peel them, remove skin of each piece, remove seeds. its quite a process but worth it)
2. 1 pack Ready made orange jelly
3. 2-3 powdered sugar (add more if oranges are sour)
4. 1 bar of chocolate (roughly chopped) OR 5 tbsp chocochips
5. 2 tsp fresh cream

Method

1. Make orange jelly as per instructions on the pack. Keep in fridge to set.
2. remove the skin of each oranges segments, remove seeds, add in a bowl.
3. Roughly cut the jelly & add in the oranges, add sugar & fresh cream and chopped chocolate (or chocochips)
4. Set in fridge before serving.
5. Dont mix the jelly as it may become too watery if you stir it. also set the jelly as per the instruction on the pack, if it says use 500mls of water use 400ml because the jelly should be thick and not too watery.
6. Serve cold with  roughly chopped chocolate pieces.

Oats & Banana Loaf (Eggless)

Ingredients
1 cup oats
 ½ cup honey
½  cup ripe banana (mashed)
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup milk
½  cup buttermilk or curd
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
Method
Grease a baking tray or line it with a baking paper.
preheat it at 180°C.
In a mixing bowl mix the dry ingredients i.e. (oats, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda & a pinch of salt). Keep aside.
In a separate bowl add the mashed banana, curd or buttermilk, vegetable oil, milk & honey. mix well until all are incorporated.

Now mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and with the help of a wooden spatula gently mix it.
Pour the batter into a baking tray and sprinkle some oats on the top.
Bake for 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
When the loaf comes to room temperature remove it and serve with coffee or tea.

Batata Wada

Batata Wada needs no introduction, its a popular roadside snack eaten all across Maharashtra. First time I must have had batata wada was during my school days in our school canteen, then it used to be a 'must have' snack during our college days. This was probably more than 15 yrs back when they used to sell batata wada for 5 bucks (those were the days!!). Our girl gang used to literally attack the college canteen, every single day- land up eating batata wada & never got bored of eating it.
The Wada is made with boiled potatoes with added spices, coated with besan & deep fried. Batata Wada  is sandwiched between soft bun which is called Wada Pav.

Batata Wada

Ingredients
For the Wada

1. 8 medium size potatoes (boiled & mashed)
2. 2 onions (finely chopped)
3. 3 green chillies(if using spicy variety)
4. 2 " ginger
5. 6 cloves of garlic
6. handful of coriander leaves (finely chopped)
7. 3 tbsp lemon juice
8. Salt as needed
9. 2 tbsp oil for tempering
10. 2 tsp mustard seeds
11. 1 pinch of turmeric
12. 1 pinch of hing  
13. 2 stems of curry leaves
14. oil for frying

For the Batter

1. 1 cup besan (gram flour)
2. 1 tsp red chilly powder 
3. 1 tsp turmeric powder
4. salt to taste
5. pinch of baking soda
6. water as needed
7. 1 tsp hot oil

Method

1. Boil the potatoes, keep them aside to cool, mash/grate the potatoes when they come to room temperature,  
2. Grind the green chillies, ginger & garlic, add this to the mashed potatoes.
3. In a pan add oil, when it becomes hot add the mustard seeds, turmeric, hing, curry leaves & onions. fry until the onions turn transparent. keep it aside to cool.
4. Add the lemon juice & chopped coriander to the mashes potatoes, the onion mixture and mix well.
5. To make the batter mix the besan, red chilly powder, turmeric, salt & baking soda & hot oil. Add water as needed. mix it with the help of a whisk. See to it that there are no lumps in the batter. The batter should be thick but not very watery. Similar to a thick dosa batter.
6. Make flat patty of the potato mixture, dip it into the batter and deep fry until golden brown. Drain excess oil on kitchen towel.
7. Serve immediately with soft buns (pav).Batata Wada can be served with tomato ketchup, garlic chutney or fried green chillies. 
   To make the fried chillies, make a slit into the chilly, fry it on the gas stove, add salt serve immediately.