Spring roll

Spring rolls!!
When we were young, any visit to the Chinese restaurant was incomplete without Spring rolls.
Crisp on the outside with mouth watering vegetables inside.
Now that spring roll wrappers are available in the market, we can easily make it at home as an evening snack for kids.

I have made a standard filling with loads of vegetables.
The usual filling has onion, cabbage, carrot and capsicum. I had added zucchini and beans. And I cut the vegetables as small cubes, to make cooking easier. You can always 'julienne' them.

Ingredients:

Standard ingredients are onion , carrot, cabbage, capsicum , green chilli, ginger and garlic. My addition is zucchini and beans (not pictured). Feel free to omit. 

For 40 sheets Phyllo / Filo Pastry, I have taken 1 bowl chopped of each vegetable.

(To know how to make Homemade Phyllo Sheets at home, please follow the recipe)

Salt

Pepper

Celery

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Tomato sauce - 1tbsp

Soya sauce - 1 tbsp

Maida / all purpose flour - 1 heaped tbsp mixed with water to make a thick paste

Oil -2 tbsp + extra for deep frying

home made warka sheets

 

Recipe is pretty straight forward.

Heat oil, add in the green chilli, ginger and garlic and fry till golden

Add the onion.

Once it gets translucent add the carrot.

After 2 minutes of frying add the zucchini.

And after 30 seconds add the cabbage and capsicum.

You may add the beans also.

Season with salt and pepper.

Make a well in the middle and add the sugar.

When it caramelises, add the sauces.

Mix well, and keep to cool.

Garnish with celery.

Roll this vegetable mix in the spring roll wrapper and use the thick maida / all purpose flour batter to seal the edge.

Deep fry and enjoy.

Holi color puri

Holi just got over and after playing with colors, what could you cook to make dinner special?

Color puris!!

This is just ordinary puri made with wheat flour, but the process involved is little tedious, but worth the effort.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 4 cups

Oil - 4 tbsp + extra for deep frying

salt - 4 pinches

4 Different colors

Milk - 2 tbsp

Divide the wheat flour into 4 equal parts.

Knead each part with a pinch of salt and different color into a tight dough. Coat with oil to prevent drying.

Spread each ball into disc of equal size.

Place one disc on top of the other and brush milk over each disc to help in sticking together. (sorry, no pictures!!)

I placed yellow first, brushed with milk, then blue, brushed with milk, then green, brushed with milk and last red. Brush milk over the red layer also.

Then roll onto a tight roll.

Keep wrapped in cling film until use.

When you are ready to fry your puri, cut into small discs and shape into puri.

Deep fry and enjoy with chole curry or a simple masala / bhaji

Tawa White Pizza with Mushrooms

All the things in a pizza are here.

A base, sauce and topping.

But unlike a traditional pizza, this has white sauce and is not baked in the oven.

Ingredients for 4 - 5 small 'pizzas':

Base:

Maida / All purpose flour- 1 and 1/2 cups

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp 

Knead all the above ingredients together with ample water to make a smooth dough.

Keep covered and refridgerated until use.

White sauce

Topping:

Mushroom - 200 gms, sliced thin

Onion - 1 medium, chopped fine

Rosemary (optional) - 1 tsp

Garlic (optional) - 1 pod, chopped fine

Salt

Pepper - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Spring onion for garnish

Heat the oil and fry the garlic and onion till translucent. Add the rosemary towards the end.

Add the mushroom and cook covered on low flame for 5 minutes.

When you open the lid, you will find water inside.

Add salt and pepper. Mix well and cook uncovered till all the water evaporates and mushroom starts browning.

Additional ingredients :

Oil for frying

Spring onion for decoration

Assembling :

Divide the base into 4 or 5 equal balls and spread into a thin round, the size of your tawa.

Heat the tawa and add 1 tsp oil.

Put the prepared round on the hot oil and when it starts getting golden brown, flip.

Reduce flame.

Spread the white sauce liberally on top and spread the cooked mushroom over it.

When the bottom gets golden brown, remove carefully to a plate and serve decorated with spring onion.

Green chutney sandwich

A very light healthy snack. Ideal for school and as a midday hunger satisfier.
I have not added any salt as the chutney is present.

Very easy to assemble.

Ingredients:
Bread
Green chutney
Butter
Cucumber slices

Method:
Spread butter on 1 slice and green chutney on the other.
Arrange the cucumber slices on one and cover with the other.
Slice and pack / enjoy.

Cheese vegetable sandwich

School is open. Morning rush is back!

A healthy and easy snack for school with vegetables and cheese.

Recipe courtesy: Leena Balasubramaniam 

Ingredients for 4 sets:

Tomato - 1 small

Capsicum - 1/2 medium

Onion - 1/2 small

Cheese spread 

Bread - 8 slices

Butter / olive oil for toasting

Salt

Pepper

Chop the onion, capsicum and tomato finely. Then mix in salt and pepper.

Divide the vegetables into 4 portions.

Spread the cheese spread ( I have used pepper flavored cheese spread) on each slice and place 1 portion of vegetable on 1 slice of bread.

Cover and grill in a sandwich maker.

OR...

Heat 1/2 tsp olive oil / butter in a tava.

Place 1 prepared sandwich on top of the oil.

Press down with a broad spatula.

After 30 seconds, grease the top and carefully flip.

Once the other side also becomes golden brown, make the rest of the sandwiches.

The cheese would melt inside and prevent the vegetables from falling out.

Cool , slice into triangles and pack your kid's lunchbox.

Apple Betty

Am I getting obsessed with dessert? Or is it that we are getting 'sophisticated' and wanting desserts during dinner?

I seem to be baking every other day!

But this dessert is egg-less and EASY to bake. By the time the oven heats up, the mix is done.
Tastes best when warm from the oven.

Last Sunday, my elder daughter who is writing her XII boards would not accompany us for a family reunion, but around 9 pm the 'creeps' set in. It would subside only if she had dessert from a family favorite eatery - avenue centre!

One taste and I was transported to a time when I had made this dish, around 3 years ago. 

A simple apple crumb! I recreated it at home!

Anyway this dish is called Apple 'Brown' Betty and has an interesting history.

Read about it here.

Use a 9 inch pan

Preheat Oven - 190 C

Ingredients:

Apple - peeled, cored and chopped - 2 cups

Flour / Maida - 3/4 cup

Sugar - powdered - 1 cup

Cinnamon + clove - powdered - 1 tbsp

Orange / lime juice - 1/4 cup

Butter - cut into 1cm cubes and frozen - 1/2 cup

Method:

Arrange the apple on the pan and pour the orange juice over the top to prevent dis-colouration.

Place the flour, spices, sugar together and mix well.

Pour this into a mixie bowl / chopper / mincer.

Add the frozen cut butter and run the mixer in short bursts till the mix looks like bread crumbs. Do not over beat.

Pour this mix over the apple.

There is no need to press.

Place this in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Done.

Serve with ice cream / whipped cream.

Strawberry Cake

Strawberry is in season and this cake highlights this seasonal fruit in full glory.

My family fell in love with this cake. And I thoroughly enjoyed baking it as all the ingredients are measured in cups and not in grams. It is easy to assembly. 

Must I add how beautiful it looks?!

This is a Martha Stewart recipe.

I have followed the recipe to the 'T' but have not used 1 pound of strawberry.

Grease a 9 inch cake tin

Preheat oven at 180 C for 10 minutes.

There are 2 different temperature settings used in this recipe, so be aware.

Ingredients:

Maida / all purpose flour - 1 and 1/2 cups

Baking powder - 1 and 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Sugar powdered - 1 cup + 2 tbsp

Butter / oil / margarine - 6 tbsp

Egg - 1 large (or 1 medium and 1/2 of another mixed egg)

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

Strawberry - 1 packet, washed and cut into 1/2 ( if some strawberries don't look good, then chop them up)

Method:

Sieve the maida / flour, baking powder and salt together. Keep aside.

Beat the butter and 1 cup sugar until fluffy.

Add in the egg and vanilla essence beat well.

Add the milk and flour mixture in batches and fold (not beat) into the egg mixture.

The batter will be very thick.

Add in the chopped berries and fold it in.

Now pour into the greased cake tin and flatten the top. Make a slight well in the middle (so that when it bakes, it gets an even top).

Arrange the halved strawberry on top. No need to press down.

Dust with the 2 tbsp sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes at 170 C.

Then lower oven temperature to 160 C and bake for 1 hour / 60 minutes.