Grilled Paneer Tikka

Grilled Paneer Tikka

Just imagine, chatting with friends in an open garden, and enjoying the taste of Paneer Tikka on Tandoor in middle. We always want to have a wonderful time along with such a wonderful dish. I have tried this Paneer Tikka at home to give almost the same experience to my family members. Although, we don't have an open space and Tandoor, I prepared this dish on my grilling pan and believe me it was as good as Tandoor, and everyone in family enjoyed it. This dish is full of different flavors, it has a nice aroma of ginger-garlic paste along with sweet and sour flavor of Chaat Masala. It is hot, spicy and colorful dish. Here is the recipe of Paneer Tikka.

Khandvi Sev

Khandvi Sev

Evening snacks is a daily headache for all moms. They always have to search different snacks to fulfill their children demands. Generally, moms have to look for such snacks which are easily made and at the same time  they are healthy too. Khandvi sev is one of such option, it is a good combination of Besan and curd along with aromatic seasoning of cumin and mustard seeds. Once you have made the besan paste correctly, it is very simple after that. Here is the recipe to try this at home.

Shahi palak curry

Shahi Palak Curry

Everyone in the family avoids spinach, specially kids. Cooking same kind of curry every time will definitely not work. We have to think different ways of preparing these veggies. This time I have tried spinach by giving a flavor of cashew nuts. This curry  is little creamy with roughly chopped cashew nuts in each byte. Along with it, it has spicy and little tangy flavor too. Here is the recipe - shahi palak curry, and believe me no one is going to avoid this curry at home.

Preparation time : 15 mins
Cooking time : 25 mins
Servings :4

 

Ingredients(for 3-4 people)

Spinach(palak)(Boiled)	2 cups
Onion(chopped)	1
Tomato(chopped)	1
Cashew nuts(roughly chopped)	1/4 cup
Garlic(chopped)	1tbsp
Green chillies(roughly chopped)	2
Salt	as per taste
Turmeric powder	1/2tsp
Cashew nut(paste)	1/4 cup
Red chilly powder	as per taste
Oil	for frying
Cloves	2-3
Indian bay leaf	1

Method : How to prepare Shahi Palak Curry

• Boil spinach for about 15-20 mins in small amount of water.
• Saute cloves, bay leaf, garlic and green chillies in a pan.
• Now, add onions and tomatoes and saute for 4-5 mins more.
• Add cashew nut paste and all spices. Stir continuously for a minute.
• Add boiled spinach and cashew nuts and cook again for 3-4 minutes.
• Garnish with few cashew nuts and serve hot. 

It will create a great combination with Naan or Parathas.

Gujarati Chhavda

Gujarati chhavda

Kids always want to eat such food which looks good and attractive to them. Moms have to find new ways to make their food better, but at the same time healthy too. This snack is yet another option you can serve to kids and avoid 'fussy eating' at home. Chhavda can be prepared with a mixture of many ingredients, but best combination I like is with khichdi. It is little tangy, little spicy, little crispy in taste. I am sharing the recipe below, do try this at home. I am sure the whole bowl of batter, is going to be finished.

Preparation time : 15 mins
Cooking time : 30 mins
Servings : 4

Ingredients(for 3-4 people)

Rice	1/2 cup
Green gram split(green moong dal)	1/2 cup
Onions(chopped)	1
Potatoes(grated)	1
Tomatoes(chopped)	1
Green chilly paste	as per taste
Bengal gram flour(besan)	1 cup
Salt	as per taste
Red chilly powder	1/2 tbsp
Turmeric powder	1/2 tbsp
Oil	for frying

Method : How to prepare Gujarati chhavda

For khichdi

1. Mix rice, green moong dal, salt and water in a pressure cooker.
2. Cook it till 5-6 whistle and let it cool. 
3. Khichdi is ready.

For chhavda

• Mix all the ingredients: khichdi, potatoes, tomatoes, green chilly paste, besan, salt, red chilly and turmeric powder.

Chhavda Mixture

• Heat a pan and grease it with oil for shallow fry.

• Spread the mixture on pan as shown in picture.

Chhavda mixture on pan

 

• Fry on both the sides till they turn crispy on each side.
• Drain excess oil from it and keep them on paper napkins.
• Serve it with green chilly chutney or tomato sauce.

Whenever I cook khichdi at my home, I always prepare little more to make chhavda from this leftover khichdi. It can be a good option for kids breakfast or for their lunch box.

Dal Pakwan

Dal Pakwan

Almost every mom have a common headache, of feeding their kids with a healthy and nutritional food for their better development. Every mom has to find new ways for their kids to make them eat healthy food. Kids always run away from vegetables, milk or all sort of nutritional food. Here is the possible solution which will attract kids and their friends to have more of pulses(dal) which contains lots of protein.

Preparation time : 10mins
Cooking time : 30mins
Servings : 3

Ingredients: (for 2-3 people)

All purpose flour/Maida	1cup
Sooji(Semoline)	1/2cup
Oil	for dry frying
Bengal gram spilt and skinned(Chana Dal)(Boiled)	2cups
Garlic(paste)	1tsp
Ginger(paste)	1tsp
Onions(chopped)	1
Green chilly (paste)	as required
Sev(or any namkeen)	for garnish
Salt	as required
Garam masala(Mixture of spices)	1/2tsp
Aamchur powder(Sour dried mango powder)	a pinch
Red chilly powder	as required

Method : How to prepare Dal Pakwan

For Pakwan:
Mix maida and sooji to form a stiff dough. Divide it into equal parts and roll it with the help of rolling pin. Prick them uniformly with the help of a fork, so that they do not swell up during deep fry.
It should be 2-3 mm thick and size as shown in picture.
Deep fry each sheet till it turns golden brown.

Pakwans

For Dal:
Saute garlic and ginger in a pan.
Now add onions and again saute for 3-4 mins.
Add dal, salt, garam masala, red chilly powder, aamchur powder and a half cup of water.
Cook for 5-6 mins.
Garnish with sev and green chilly chutney and serve hot with pakwan.

A proteinious spicy dal served with crunchy pakwans will definitely be a mouth-watering dish for all kids. They will enjoy this unique combination of dal and will ask you again and again for this dal pakwan.

Katori Shots

Katori's Shots

One day, few of my friends decided to have dinner at my place. In any country, dinner is incomplete without starters. So, for starter I decided to have something which can be easily served in minutes. In India, chaat is all time favorite snacks for everyone, so I thought lets make it in a different form. These 'Katori shots' are small eatable cups filled with traditional chaat ingredients, we can eat this in one shot, this reminded me of 'Tequila Shots' so I named it as 'Katori Shots'. It is very easy to prepare and can also be stored for a week.

Preparation time : 10mins
Cooking time : 30mins
Servings : 4

Ingredients:(for 6 Katori shots)

For Katori's (Base):

All purpose flour/Maida	1 cup
Oil	for deep fry
Green Peas paste	3/4cup
Salt	as per taste
Semolina(sooji)	1/2cup

Katori's sample

For Filling's:

Boiled potatoes	1(chopped)
Black chickpeas(kala chana)	1/2cups(soaked and boiled)
Onions	1(chopped)
Curd	1 cup
Red chilly powder	as required
Green chilli paste(green chutney)	1 tbsp
Sweet Tamarind paste(Imli chutney)	1 tbsp
Sev(namkeen)	for garnish
Salt	as required
Coriander leaves	for garnish

Method : How to prepare Katori Shots

1. Mix maida, sooji, green peas pasta, oil and salt to form a stiff dough.
2. Divide the dough into small pieces. Roll each part with the help of rolling pin for about 5 mm thick sheet.
3. Take one very small bowl/cup(deep round utensil) and grease its outer surface with butter.
4. Now, cover the outer surface of the bowl with this sheet, gently giving it the same shape as the bowl(make sure you prick the sheet all over with the fork).
5. In a deep frying pan, heat oil and slide the bowl(which has the maida sheet sticking around it). Once it is fried, the sheet will leave the bowl surface, and will take shape of the bowl. Now, remove the bowl from oil and let these katori's fry till they are golden brown in color.

To make is easy, fry one Katori at a time.

For Filling:

Mix curd, potatoes, black chickpeas, onions, red chilly powder and salt in a bowl.

Fill each katori with this filling.

Top it with green chilli chutney and sweet imli chutney.

Finally, garnish this 'Katori Shots' with sev and coriander leaves.

Give it a try, you will definitely get a unique eating experience, than traditional chaats. Twist it the way you like, make it spicy, sweet or sour according to your taste!

Spring onions with Boondi

Spring onions with boondi

Generally Spring Onions are used for garnishing, specially in all Chinese cuisines. One day I thought, I should use these spring onions in some different way rather than just garnishing. Everyday, I have to think of some different curry for my hubby's lunch box. So, I decide to make this spring onions curry with boondi. Believe me, it was so delicious and yummy that everyone in my family loved it.

Shahi Paneer Rolls

Shahi Paneer Rolls

In India, any feast or any special lunch/dinner is incomplete without paneer(cottage cheese). Generally vegetarians replace chicken, mutton, fish with paneer in most of the curries. In my family, we have a habit of having evening snacks, so one day I found the left over paneer in my refrigerator. With this paneer, I thought of making something which can be served within 15-20mins. These 'Shahi Paneer Rolls' are very delicious and easy to cook in minutes.