Bread Pakoda (stuffed)

These are very good for a Sunday breakfast. Easy to prepare and easy to gobble down.

What you need:

4 bread slices (brown/white, does not matter)
Green chutney, enough to spread on 4 slices of bread, 4 tbsp
Imli (tamarind) chutney/tomato ketchup, 4 tbsp
Curd, 1 and 1/2 tbsp (should not be sour/tart)
Besan/ gram flour/ chickpea flour, 6 tbsp
Garlic, 4 cloves crushed
Green chillies, 1 crushed with garlic
Red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder, 1 tsp
Garam masala, 1 tsp
Water, 1/2 cup approx
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Mix green chutney and imli chutney in a bowl and spread this mixture on all the four bread slices. Now make 2 sandwiches with those 4 bread slices and cut them into 4 squares. So you should get a total of 8 squares. Refer to the picture below.

Start heating some oil at this point. To make the besan batter you need to mix besan, garlic and green chillies, coriander powder, garam masala, curd, salt, red chilli powder and water in a bowl. Mix it well to make a thick mixture not runny. The mixture should be thick enough to coat bread nicely and evenly. Curd will keep the bread soft and moist from inside.

Dip the bread squares you cut earlier one by one in the batter and fry them in hot oil. The oil should be moderately hot and then you can increase the flame after sometime. You can check if the oil is hot enough by putting a drop of batter in it and if it rises to the top your pakodas are ready for frying. 

Take the pakodas out on a paper napkin lined plate once they are golden brown. Serve them hot with hot tea or coffee or my favorite cold coffee : D And we are done!

Khoya Gaajar ka Halwa (Carrot halwa)

I have always seen my mother make this halwa every winter and it is out of this world. This is my mums recipe and by far the most awesome Gajar ka halwa recipe i have tasted. No words can explain how amazing this halwa is. It takes time but it is worth all the time and effort, really. I feel a good Gajar ka halwa is always nicely caramelized and slowly cooked. You should not feel as if you are eating boiled carrots with sugar. It should get nicely amalgamated with all the other ingredients and that happens only if you slow cook it and stir it vigorously (it a good exercise for your arms too, haha). 

What you need:

Carrots,  1 kg ( Please don't get the orange ones, only red ones. They are more sweeter and juicy )

Full fat milk, 1 ltr 

Sugar, 150 gm aprox.

Fresh Khoya/khoa/mawa, 125 gm 

Milkmaid, 1/2 cup, optional (if you avoid this you should increase the amount of sugar)  

Ghee/clarified butter, 1 cup 

Green cardamom or chotti elaichi powder/freshly crushed , 1 tsp 

Cashews, chopped coarsely 

Almonds, chopped coarsely 

Raisins 

Wash and dry the carrots nicely. Now peel and grate them. Take a clean kadhai/heavy bottomed pot and boil the milk  and add carrots on slow flame for at least 3 hours (lid on) till the time there is no milk in the kadhai.  During this period, occasionally stir in between to avoid the carrots sticking to the bottom of the kadhai. You can increase the flame and stir vigorously in the last stage in order to reduce the milk faster. 

Once the milk reduces add sugar and milkmaid slow flame. Make sure you taste this mixture now because if you like it sweeter you can add more sugar to it. This option is flexible. Once the sugar dissolves (taste again at this point to check if it has enough sugar), it will start leaving water. Make sure you reduce this water. The mixture should be thick once it reduces and caramelized. 

Now add khoya/khoa to the mixture and stir for sometime till the dissolves, dries up and mixes completely with the mixture. Now add pure ghee and stir vigorously till the mixture starts leaving ghee from the sides. In the end add  green cardamom and dry fruits. And we are done! 

Nigella lawson's Chocpots!

These are the same ones which you get these days in the market called "choco lava cakes". It is a Nigella Lawson recipe again. Extremely simple and to the point. This is so gooey in the center. A perfect chocolate dessert for a wintery night. Actually winter/summer/autumn/rainy any night or day or evening!

What you need: 

• 50 grams/3 tablespoons soft unsalted butter (plus more for greasing)
• 350 grams good dark chocolate
• 150 grams/¾ cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 4 large eggs (beaten with pinch of salt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 50 grams/¼ cup plain flour 
• 
  

You will need 6 individual pudding moulds or ramekins, buttered.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6/400ºF, putting in a baking sheet/grease at the same time. 

Melt the chocolate and let it cool slightly. Cream together the butter and sugar, and gradually beat in the eggs and salt, then the vanilla. Now add the flour, and when all is smoothly combined scrape in the cooled chocolate, blending it to a smooth batter.

Divide the batter between the 6 moulds.

Cook for 10-12 minutes (the extra 2 minutes will be needed if the puddings are fridge-cold when you start). You would know they are ready when there is a think brown paper like layer on top. As soon as you take them out of the oven, tip out these luscious chocpots onto small plates or shallow bowls.
Serve these with whipped double cream, or ice cream. 

Creamy mushroom, green olives pasta with garlic bread

Okay, i have to admit this - I love mushrooms. If mushrooms were a man i would marry them. Okay that just sounds crazy! But yeah, I don't know why but i just love mushrooms and i keep on trying various combinations. Something about their softness and chewiness. Mushrooms are very nutritious too, often called nature's super food. This pasta is so good, vegetarian and gets prepared in a jiffy. Do try it!

What you need:

Durum wheat ready-made pasta or any other pasta of your preference, 3-4 handful
1 big or 2 small onions, chopped
1 capsicum, cut into small squares
Button mushrooms, 200 gm, cut into 4s, make sure the mushrooms are white and fresh
10 cloves of garlic, crushed
Some green olives
Flour/maida, 4 tbsp
Milk, 3 cups
Butter
Mixed dried herbs, 2 tsp
fresh basil or dried, 3-4
chilli flakes, 2 tsp
pepper, 2 tsp
Ketchup, optional
White bread
salt to taste

Prepare some white sauce first by heating some butter (2 tbsp) and then add 4 tbsp flour. Stir it till you feel the flour is cooked then add the milk and as soon as you add milk start whisking the mixture with a whisk vigorously on slow flame. Keep on whisking in order to prevent lumps. If you feel the mixture isn't getting thick add some more flour to it and keep on whisking. Whisk on high flame till it starts getting thick and creamy. What you need is a spoon coating consistency. All this takes 5-10 minutes. At the same time start boiling your pasta with some good amount of salt and water. We put salt because pasta is usually bland. Add heaped 2-3 tsp of salt to the water and then add your pasta.

Once you get that consistency you can stop whisking and switch off the gas. Now add some salt, pepper, chilli flakes, mixed herbs and some fresh basil leaves. Just tear the basil leaves with hand and put it in. Now i personally don't enjoy the milky taste of white sauce so i add some ketchup (3 tbsp) for a little tangy-ness. You can avoid it if you want to. Keep the sauce aside. Keep on checking your boiling pasta too.

Now saute all the veggies with little salt and pepper in some butter, Heat some butter, add half of your crushed garlic to this and let it brown, then add the chopped onions with some salt. Once the onions are translucent add the capsicum to it and once the capsicum softens a little add the mushrooms. Sweat the mushrooms nicely and let them cook. Once the mushrooms are cooked put in your green olives. Switch off the gas and keep this aside.

Drain your pasta if cooked. You can taste one to see if it is thoroughly cooked. NEVER boil pasta beforehand like 2-3 hours in advance before you actually start cooking. It tends to get sticky and would break. Add it hot and right off the gas. Heat the white sauce you made earlier and add the sauteed veggies and pasta to it and mix nicely. Do taste your pasta and check for a balance of flavors. You can more chilli flakes if you like it hot or some more herbs. Do taste! Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

How i make my garlic bread- I take some soft butter mix some fresh crushed garlic to it. Spread this butter on both sides of my bread and put it on a hot tawa/pan. Let it brown and take it off. Its that simple. And we are done!

Nigella lawson's instant chocolate mousse.

This recipe is so effortless yet successful in every manner. I am a HUGE fan of Nigella Lawson. She is a great cook and a wonderful host. I have tried a lot of  her recipes and can say without a doubt they are the best. You can be sure to yield the exact same result as shown in the pictures or described in the recipe. 

What you need :

• 50 grams ( ½ stick ) soft butter
• 250 grams good dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
• 60 ml hot water ( ¼ cup ), make sure it is hot
• 284 ml ( 1cup ) double cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 150  grams ( 1 ½ cups ) mini marshmallows

Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.
Put the saucepan on the gas, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth mixture.
Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml / ¾ cup each in capacity, or 6 smaller (125ml / ½ cup) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better!

I garnished with some chocolate chips and grated white chocolate. And we are done! 

2 - way masaledaar paneer/cottage cheese mixture!

I do believe in simple yet tasty food. This is one sandwich which would be different from the usual cheese and veggies sandwich which we often prepare. It has a lot of veggies so it is best for kids, if your kid is a fussy eater. I can gobble down these just roaming around in the house. This mixture could be eaten in sandwiches, with a roti making a kaathi roll and you'd be amazed at how well it goes with bitter gourd (karela in hindi) too. I peel some bitter gourd, shallow fry them and fill them with this masala and keep them on a medium flame, some oil, lid covered, to brown them slightly. Do give it a try.

What you need : 

(To make sandwich from 6 bread pieces)

Paneer/ cottage cheese, 150 gm, mashed with hands

Oil, 2-3 tbsp

1 carrot, chopped in small pieces NOT finely chopped

1 capsicum, chopped in small pieces

1 onion, chopped 

Peas, a big handful, boiled separately with some salt

1 big red tomato

1 inch ginger, pounded

Cumin/ jeera seeds, 1 tsp

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala 

salt to taste

1 tsp jeera powder

coriander leaves, chopped

1 tsp turmeric/haldi powder

1 tsp, kashmiri masala (optional)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder, according to your chilly preference

First boil some peas (i boil in the microwave with some water and salt in a microwave safe dish). While they are boiling start making your paneer spread. Heat some oil on a pan and add cumin seeds to it. Let them crackle. 

Add the ginger paste and onions, carrots and salt to the oil now. Saute till you feel the carrot is soft and onions slightly golden. Now add the turmeric powder. Saute for a while. Now add the tomatoes, and the coriander powder, kashmiri masala (optional) and chilli powder.

Once the masala starts leaving oil, add the boiled peas. It is now that you put Garam masala and jeera powder. If you add garam masala in the beginning the masala would lose its color and become a little dark. You don't want that, trust me. Always add garam masala in the end. 

Now add the crushed paneer to the masala and let the it coat the paneer nicely. At this point paneer might lose some water. Let the water evaporate a little. This hardly takes 2 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. And we are done! 

To assemble the sandwich:

Some mayonnaise, ready made or home made, any would do

Some green chutney

Spread some mayo on one side of the bread and green chutney on another. Spread the paneer mixture in between and toast the SW on a hot pan with some oil until golden brown.  

You can even add some cheese if you wish. 

I have spilled some boiled american corn to make it look fancy since i am not so big on plating and "Beautifying food". You could do the same and if you wish add some to the Paneer mixture too. 

Bharwaan karele with the some achaari mixture (in the left one, the recipe not given here) and some paneer mixture (in the right one) with roti and raita (not in the picture).

Scrambled eggs with mushrooms and cold coffee!

We all usually wonder what to cook different for breakfast. So this is slightly different and yum. Do try it!

What you need :

Scrambled eggs-
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
Freshly ground pepper, 1 tsp
Chilli flakes, 1 tsp
Olive oil or normal refined oil, 2 tbsp
1 onion, chopped
6-7 button mushrooms, cut into 4
salt to taste
Butter to spread on the toasted bread
2 slices of bread, toasted

Take a whisking bowl and crack your eggs, milk, salt, pepper and chilli flakes in it. Whisk the same nicely till it is nice and fluffy. Keep aside.

Heat some oil in a pan and put your chopped onions and mushrooms into it. Make them sweat (saute them) with some salt, remember you have put some in the whisked eggs too, so be careful. Add the whisked eggs once the onions are translucent and mushrooms have shrunk. Now add the eggs and start scrambling them very slowly. This will help maintain the fluffiness. Make sure you don't overcook. The eggs should still be moist and fluffy.

Serve with hot toasted bread and butter and cold coffee!

Cold coffee-
Milk, 300 ml
Sugar to taste (you can put powdered too)
Your preferred powdered coffee, 2 tsp or more if you like it stronger
Ice cubes and a mixer grinder
Some chocolate sauce

Pour some chocolate sauce into your empty coffee glass and spread it randomly around the exteriors of the glass. Yes it is that simple to give that fancy effect!

Put everything in a mixer-grinder and blitz to make a nice creamy cold coffee!

And we are done~