Spinach paratha for brunch !

I love the baby spinach which we get here in London,so cute and fresh :-) ,greens were really not one of my favourites when i was young ,but somehow later when i grew i developed the taste and now i love it to the core.Today's dish is a very simple,easy peasy and healthy,prefect for breakfast and the best thing is that we can  have it as a brunch also.I am sure everyone are aware of the high nutritonal value of spinach  ,it is very power-packed and one of the most super power foods.Instead of spinach sometimes i use fresh fenugreek leaves also ( methi leaves ),grated paneer and onions ,which also tastes awesomely yummy as the stuffing.This style of making paratha was taught by my mom and the methi stuffed was one of my regular breakfast before marraige.I was quite happy to make this style as making round paratha was quite tedious for me and all the more my stuffing use to come out when i was just a learner."Practice makes the man perfect ",yeah this is obviously the perfect proverb which applies while making chapatis/parathas,not an easy task man,now after years of cooking finally i manage to make round parathas :-),so if you are not good in making rounds,dont worry try this style ;)

approx will make 6-7 parathas
ingredients :
2 cups fresh chopped spinach leaves
red chilli pwd to taste
salt to taste
oil for frying ( i drizzled some olive oil on the parathas for frying )
1-11/2 cups whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup extra( dry flour for rolling the paratha) ( regular chapati aatta )
water as required
method :
Mix little water,salt in the flour to make a medium soft chapati dough.Cover and keep aside for 5-10 mins.Meanwhile wash spinach leaves thorough under running water .Strain well and chop the leaves finely.Spread the chopped leaves on a fresh dry kitchen towel so that it soaks all the extra water.Grease the dough with few drops of oil and knead once.Pinch a lemon size dough and roll it to a chapati with help of dry flour .Spread some (handful of ) chopped spinach leaves on one side ,sprinkle red chilli pwd and salt on it.Fold the chapati to the other end ,again roll once the semi circle chapati.Carefully put this stuffed spinach paratha on a preheated tava/griddle/pan .Drop few spoons of oil on both sides ,press the paratha evenly with the help of spatula and fry the paratha till it get brown spots and evenly roasted.Remove it from the pan, place it on your serving plate,cut into halves and serve hot with yogurt or pickles.

Linking this super veggie spinach paratha to Jagruti Dhanecha's super power event.

 

Toasted vegetable sandwhich in turkish roll !

This is a very healthy and filling sandwhich,easy to make and tastes wonderful with a cup of hot coffee . Had this sandwhich here in melbourne many a times now in coffee shops and specially luv the one which we get here in gloria jeans coffee shop.A couple of mths ago my hubby was out of the city and i was kinda feeling lazy to cook for myself and for my daughter ,that moment my dear friend took us both out for lunch in a cafeteria below her husband's office and even in sometime her husband joined us ,there i had this sandwhich for the first time,the name given to it was veg foccacia which according to me was quite surprising as foccacia was something else in my mind but whatever the name may be..who cares ...right ? the sandwhich was awesomely delicious ,since then i keep craving for this simple toasted sandwhich ,i found it quite easy to make and so gave it a try.Thanx mamta & dhiraj for the wonderful lunch on that lazy aftnernoon,will surely join u'll again ;).We can even try the same filling in some other breads too .   

makes 2 sandwhich

ingredients :

2 turkish bread /rolls

5-6 thinly sliced eggplant

7-8 thoroughly washed baby spinach leaves

5-6 thinly sliced red bell pepper

2-3 tbsp roughly cubed feta cheese ( optional )

7-8 thinly sliced tomatoes

mayonnaise to taste

tomato ketch up to taste

method :

Preheat the oven at 200c,toast the sliced eggplants and red bell pepper for 10-12 mins.Cut the bread from centre ( just give a slit in between ),spread mayonnaise and ketch up or any of your fav spread on both the sides.Place the toasted eggplants,top it with spinach leaves,tomatoes,red bell pepper and cubed feta cheese on one side of the roll.Toast the sandwhich in the oven for 5-7 mins and serve warm .
Sending this recipe to siri's healing foods event-eggplant ,hosted by kavita of seasoned & dressed for this month.

Crispy Finger Millet Pancakes/ Crispy Ragi Dosa

This is the healthiest dosa of all,perfect for people who have diabetes ,a low calorie and have a high nutritional  value.Ragi/finger millet is very common in southern parts of india and i came across this dosa,seven yrs back ,right after my marraige until then i had never used or consumed ragi flour.I was newly married and was staying in a rented house with my hubby in bangalore and the owner of the house were staying right below my house,the land lady was too good and fortunately a very good cook  but she didnt knew hindi etall and i didnt knew kannada but she could understand a bit of english and so it was little difficult to communicate,once she made these wonderful ragi dosa for us and i was very impressed also my hubby is very fond of ragi dosa and ragi rottis so he told me to take recipe from her,but when i went and asked her she was not able to explain me and so she immediately gave me demo in her kitchen and this is how i learnt from her,on that day itself i had noted the recipe in my book.I am really thankful to mrs somshekhar  for letting me know such healthy and power packed dosas ,its now a regular meal in my kitchen.

makes 8-10 dosas
ingredients :
1/2 cup ragi flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup chopped fresh methi leaves/1 small cube frozen methi ,wash and use after thawing it.
1-2 tbsp chopped corriander leaves
1 small finely chopped onion
1-2 finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp crushed black pepper corns
salt to taste
oil as required
water as required
method :
Mix all the ingredients together except oil with enough water to make a thin ( like buttermilk ) consistency batter.Rest this batter for 10-15 mins.Mix well ,heat a non-stick  pan/tava/griddle on high flame,the tava should be baking hot,sprinkle the batter from little high to form a circular shape,drizzle 1-2 tsps of oil generously,flip over and let it cook for few mins till crisp and serve hot with coconut chutney/tomato chutney.
pls note :
1.you can add 1/2 cup yogurt and rest water to make soft dosas or only water to make crispy like rava dosas.
2.If making crispy dosas the tava should be smoking hot and just spread the batter from little top to get the web like look in your dosas.
3.you can add any greens like corriander leaves,spring onion,spinach leaves ,grated bottle gourd or fenugreek leaves for flavour of your own choice.
Linking this to priya's bookmarked recipes-every tuesday event.

rai aur tamatarwali sandwhich/tomato and seasoned mustard seeds sandwhich

This rai and tamatar wali sandwhich is one of my favourite and the oldest sandwhich of all,it brings back all my good old childhood memories ,when i was a school going kid i use to go and stay at my cousin's place in vacation as her daughters were very close to me and i use to love playing with them and whenever i use to go this sandwhich was fixed and had to be made ,even that time i was small but i would cherish this flavour with (only) tomatoes and seasoned by mustard seeds on top,i still miss her food,after  my mom if i liked somebody's food was then her's only,i still remember few of her famous dishes which i liked very much ,to name are pachmeli ki sabzi,thin and soft white dhoklas,small garma garam mathris fried and served instantly in the early morning during breakfast with  pickle,her kheer churma which she use to make every month for shyaam baba's ( our god krishna ) prasad,i also loved her chapan bhog prasad which she use to offer god and ofcourse how could i forget her homemade pedas,she was very famous in whole house for making them at home everytime on every occassion,the vaieties she use to make were just incredible and i still miss her food,thanx rekha di for this lovely simple and healthy sandwhich,i still njoy eating them :-)

makes 2 sandwhich

ingredients :

1 tbsp mustard seeds/rai

1 tomato thin slices

4 bread slices

salt to taste

black pepper pwd to taste

black salt to taste

oil as required

method :

Place few of the tomato slices between the two breads,sprinkle salt,pepper pwd and black salt .Heat tawa/pan/griddle,put abt half a teaspoon of oil in centre,heat the oil,splutter 1/2 a tsp mustard seeds and put the tomato stuffed sandwhich on the mustard seeds,toast it for few seconds on high flame ,remove the sandwhich and again heat oil and splutter mustard and flip over the sandwhich and toast the other side too,repeat the same with other slices of sandwhich and serve immediately with ketch up or green chutney or just njoy with tea/coffee.

Sending this my fav sandwhich to apy for her my favourite recipe event.

strawberry pancakes with icecream

This is my 150th post , i am very excited as i never ever thought that  i would get so much of appreciation from people around the world,yes ,im feeling as if im on cloud nine today , trust me for me this was not an easy task,food blogging is ain't that easy,it requires lot of patience,time , concentration and above all interest in cooking,one should be creative and innovative at the same time and this is what im learning from my fellow bloggers and friends,cooking is an art and at times it is  fun too,the process of learning here is never ending and so i will keep learning more and more .Today it is a very special day as im writing my 150th recipe and  i never thought in my dreams also that i would every blog or rather i should say i could cook so many variety of indian as well as international dishes,i really want to thank you for all the support which i have been getting and encouragement from all my near and dear ones .Coming to this recipe ,this is quite simple and our family favourite,my daughter simply loves the pancake in combination with vanilla  icecream and ofcourse strawberries are her favourite fruit,so this time i added some chunks of strawberries in pancake batter ,any fruit and any flavoured icecream can be used according to your taste.
Sending this to pari for"only" -kids delight event and sanyukta for her color your palate- a visual treat event.

makes approx 6-8 pancakes
ingredients :
1 cup wheat flour (regular aata ,i used  annapurna )
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup strawberry (cut into small chunks)
maple syrup
any flavour icecream ( i used vanilla )
oil
method :
Mix flour,soda,sugar and salt all togther,add buttermilk (adjust more or less to make a thick yet pourable batter ) ,fold in strawberry chunks and mix well,keep aside for 10 mins.Heat pan/griddle/tava,spread a laddle full of batter in the centre,drizzle oil all around the sides of pancakes,flip over and cook for few seconds and remove from the pan,serve immediately with your favourite scoop of icecream and drizzle some maple syrup with loads of strawberries .

chuda-chola

Chuda chola (chola stands for kala chana and chuda means poha ),is popular cusine of bihar,basically its a combination of black chickpea and flattened rice flakes which is normally a staple breakfast for the localites.This is the yummiest breakfast i ever had at my in laws place long back,my co-sister's native is from bihar and she makes this wonderful bihari vegeterian cuisine with grounding all fresh masalas in the pestle everytime and even she makes chokha,litti,sattu ka paratha and many more to name and that too in mustard oil ,still cant forget this flavour and unique combo of poha and kala chana gravy,it surely tastes beautiful.Here in australia i dont have pestle at my home but in bangalore i use to pound the spices whenever i made this dish as it gave a gorgeous aroma and fresh flavour to the chana.It is quite healthy and nutritious and definately a must try dish friends.I usually make more roasted poha and keep in airtight containers,it even tastes good as a snack with a cup of coffee and also i make more chana so that we can have it with rice/roti in our lunch :P.Sending this to pari for her kids delight event.

serves for 2 ppl
ingredients for chuda :
250 gms poha (medium/thin )
2 tbsp ghee
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
method :
Heat ghee in a wide deep bottom pan /kadai,add poha and continuosly roast on high flame till crisp or till light brown in colour.Switch off the flame ,sprinkle pepper and salt and mix well.This can be cooled down and stored in air tight containers for a couple of days.
ingredients for chola :
1 cup kala chana/black chickpea
1 onion finely chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
2 tsp ginger-garlic green chilli pounded in pestle or paste
1-2 tsp red chilli pwd ( adjust acc to your taste )
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
2 tsp corriander pwd
1-2 cloves,1 cardomon,2-3 black pepper corns,a small stick of cinamon to be pounded in pestle (if not pestle can be pwd in mixer too )
1/2 tsp amchur pwd
salt to taste
2-3 tsps oil
chopped cilantro
method :
Soak chana overnight,pressure cook with little salt and turmeric the next day.Heat oil,saute onions,add ground ginger,garlic,green chilli paste,fry for a while,add tomatoes and cook till pulpy.Add spices,salt,amchur pwd  and cooked chana.Mix well ,add some water and adjust according to the gravy (it should be little thin ,so that can be easily mixed with poha ) and simmer for a while.Garnish with cilantro.Serve hot with chuda (roasted poha )or also can be served with hot phulkas or steamed rice.

cheese toast sandwhich

This is one of my personal favourites as i like cheese very much and this is my mom's recipe,infact we all siblings luv cheese very much and i still remember  years back my mom use to buy the amul cubes which we get in india ,she used to grate them and make this toast sandwhich ,we use to luv those cubes very much and while grating i use to tell my mom to make only plain cheese sandwhich without any vegetables even that tastes yum with little black pepper pwd  in it ,this is perfect breakfast for kids also,my daughter too loves it .Now that im here ,outside india i have used store bought shredded cheese which is quite handy though i still miss the taste of those amul cubes :),after toasting them in sandwhich maker ,it becomes crisp from outside but creamy and mouth melting from inside,thats what i like about it.Wish i could take the pictures of inside of the sandwhich part, after these two clicks my camera battery was over,but atleast i managed to take these pics,it was showing low battery sign that time but i wanted to somehow take few pics  of them and damn.... these low battery things :( and by the time i charged my camera it was very obvious ........

 Approx : makes 4 sandwhiches
ingredients :
1-11/2 cup shredded  cheese ( i used mozerella )
1 small finely chopped onion
1 small finely chopped tomato
2 tbsp finely chopped capsicum
salt to taste
black pepper pwd to taste
kala namak ( black salt ) to taste
8 any sandwhich size bread slices
salt to taste
butter
green corrainder chutney
method :
Mix cheese,onion,tomato,capsicum,salt,pepper and kala namak together and keep aside.Take 2 bread slices and spread chutney on one side  of the bread and butter on the other side,spread around 2-3 tbsp of cheese filling between the two breads  on the chutney side and the butter side should be on top.Preheat the sandwhich maker,place the cheese sandwhich and  toast till crisp from outer side and cheese is melted in between,make the same with the remaining breads and fillings..Serve hot with tomato ketchup.
pls note : if you dont have the sandwhich maker,you can try toasting it on a preheated nonstick tawa/griddle on a medium flame also.

paneer toast

Paneer in any form is accepted by me and my family,just cant avoid anything with paneer :) , i usally make this toast in my b/f ,also i make the filling more and the leftover i use it sometimes to make parathas also, we all like this indianized french toast very much ,my daughter loves this with butter and tomato kethcup.This toast is my all time favourite,even we can have it for light dinners.This toast is on its way to priya's global kadai - indianized french toast event started by cilantro.

ingredients :
1 cup grated paneer
1 small chopped tomato
1 small chopped onion
1-2 finely chopped green chillies ( pls adjust acc to your hotness )
2 tbsp rava
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
5-6 bread slices ( i used sliced white sandwhich bread ,any bread is fine )
butter for frying

method :
Mix all the above ingredients except bread and butter,take some mixture ,say about 2-3 tbsp,apply on one side of the bread and slap that side on a preheated non stick tawa,greased with little butter,just press the bread gently with spatula, toast for 5-6 mins on medium flame till the paneer filling sticks to the bread and is easily flipped over by a spatula.Spread little butter on top of bread too,then flip over the plain side of bread on the tawa  and fry till it turns to a crisp toast.Serve hot with green chutney and tomato ketch up or butter.

mini uttappams

Uttapams are very common and famous south indian cuisine and perfect dish for breakfast or for that matter any of your meals,i usually like to add vegetables in my uttapam so that it becomes quite healthy and filling and whenever i make my dosa batter i surely make uttapam once with that batter and we all are happy to have it.I usually make uttapa pikelets as my daughter loves this size and is easily attracted towards it :)

ingredients :
2 cups dosa batter
1 grated carrot
1 tomato finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbsp spring onions chopped/finely sliced
finely chopped corriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp red chilli pwd
salt to taste
oil

method :
Mix all the vegetables together,add green chillies,chilli pwd ,salt,cumin seeds and mix well.Take about 1-2 tbsp of batter and spread on a preheated non stick pan/tava/griddle in a circular way ( like a  small puri size ) and spread around a tbsp of mix veggies on top,drizzle some oil all over ,cook for a while and gently flip over with a spatula and cook for few mins.Serve hot with ketch up/green chutney/coconut chutney.

green split mung dal chilla

Green split mung dal is very nutritious and healthy ,though when i was a kid i was not etall fond of this dal and i had to eat forcibily but sometimes when my mom used to make this green dosa/chilla i would love to have it ,she also uses lauki everytime in this dish as even lauki was not favourite amongst all our siblings ,and my mom's this lovely and unique combo of lauki and green dal chillas were our all time favourite snack/breakfast dish which we always cherish till date,and is also appreciated at my inlaw's place.Today i made these chillas for our breakfast and  being mother's day i am very happy to post this recipe which is one of my favourites mom's recipe .Sending this to jyoti of panchpakwan for her mother's day cooking celeberation event and preeti's green gourmet event.

ingredients :
1 cup split green mung dal ( chilka dal /split  mung bean )
1/4 cup lauki / ghia / bottle gourd/dudhi grated
2-3 green chillies
1 small pc ginger
14 tsp turmeric pwd
1-2 tsp red chilli pwd -optional( if using adjust to your taste buds )
salt to taste
oil for frying

method :
wash & soak dal for 2-3 hrs.Grind dal,green chillies and ginger coarsely using very little water,the batter consistency should be like dosa.Add grated lauki,red chilli pwd,salt and turmeric into this batter and mix well.Heat non stick pan/tava/griddle and grease it with little oil,spread a laddle full of batter in circular way just like dosa and drizzle some oil all over it,carefully with spatula turn over and fry till evenly cooked.Serve hot with   green chutney and ketch up.

vegetable daliya / broken wheat upma

This recipe is very healthy and delicious,we usually make daliya when we want to have light food and if somebody is not keeping well,specially that time daliya makes wonders,but now a days trying and adding vegetables to all possible dishes is become must.My husbands's naani ( grand mom ) makes simple daliya with broken wheat adding moong dal everytime so that it becomes more healthy and the consistency gets little thick,so i adapted her method of daliya adding vegetables to it and the results are just mind blowing,we have this in our breakfast and sometimes for dinner as well.One of my friend had never made daliya and she always wanted this recipe and when i made this yesterday for our dinner i remembered her and so just for her i have posted this recipe so soon .
ingredients :
1 cup broken wheat/daliya
2 tbsp split moong dal (yellow moong dal ),optional
1 cup mix vegetables chopped( carrot,peas,french beans,potato,onions )
1 tbsp ground nuts
1 green chilli chopped
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1/2 tsp turmeric pwd
2-3 curry leaves chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
salt to taste
lemon juice to taste
chopped corriander leaves
1 tbsp oil/ghee.
method :
Wash moong dal and keep aside.Heat oil in pressure cooker,add mustard seeds,curry leaves,green chillies,ground nuts,mixed vegetables and fry for a while.Add broken wheat and fry till reddish brown in colour,add all the dry masalas and moon dal,fry for a while.Add 4-5 cups of water and pressure cook on medium flame till done ( i take around 3-4 whistles ).Serve hot adding little ghee over it and garnish with corriander leaves and lemon juice.