Vegetable cutlets

Hi Friends!! Am back to blogging after a break! Hope you all had a great festive season! Having a great time and great food! in India with my family and friends. I will be blogging when I have time. Who does not like cutlets and its crispy crust. I never thought making cutlets would be this easy. I got this recipe from my mom which is a keeper. It is great as an appetizer for parties.

Ingredients

Potatoes - 2
Green peas - 1/4 cup
Carrot - 1
Breadcrumbs - 1/2 cup
Ginger-garlic paste 1 teaspoon
Chopped green chilies - 3
Garam masala -1/2 teaspoon
Red chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon
All purpose flour/maida - 2 tablespoons (or) egg white from 1 egg
Salt to taste

Directions

Cook the vegetables in the microwave or in a pressure cooker. You can use any vegetables of your liking. After cooking the vegetables, mash them well.
Mix together the ginger-garlic paste, chopped green chillies, garam masala, red chilli powder and salt. Shape the mixture into desired shapes.
At this point you can freeze the prepared veggie mixture and use them as and when needed.


You can use the store bought bread crumbs. To make breadcrumbs at home, toast or microwave the bread and blend in a mixer/blender to get fine breadcrumbs.
Mix the all purpose flour/ maida in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water. Instead of the flour-water mixture you can also use egg-whites.
Dip the shaped veggie mixture in the flour-water mixture or egg-whites and then coat it with breadcrumbs.
Cook the cutlets in a non-stick pan with little oil. Cook on both sides for a minute unitl it turns golden brown in color.
Serve hot with ketchup.

Lavash falafel wrap

I happened to have this in a Middle Eastern restaurant and I got hooked to its taste. Lavash is an Armenian flatbread which was introduced to me by an Armenian friend in college. It is also known as also known as lahvash or Armenian cracker bread. It is used in several ways and one such way to have this lavash is this recipe. It also comes in the whole wheat version. It is similar to our Indian chapathi but prepared in a different way. This lavash-falafel wrap is just a matter of assembling.

Ingredients

Lavash - 1

Falafels - 3 to 4

Hummus - 3 tablespoons

Onions - chopped 1/4 cup

Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Lettuce 

Tomato - 1 sliced thinly

Directions

Heat a lavash in a tawa and spread the hummus evenly.

Assemble the onions, tomato, lettuce, chilli powder and falafel and wrap it up and enjoy.

I used the classsic version of hummus, any variety of hummus can be used.

Falafel recipe

Hummus recipe

Keerai kootu

This is a healthy way to have spinach. It is both tasty as well as nutritious. It tastes best when accompanied with rice and dhall. Even people who hate spinach tend to like this version of spinach. This can also be prepared with frozen spinach in a matter of minutes. Just squeeze out excess water if using frozen spinach.

Ingredients

Spinach (chopped) - 4 cups

Moong dhall - 1 cup

Ginger - 1 inch grated

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Onion - 1/2 small sized

Green chillies - 3

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Urad dhall - 1 teaspoon

Oil - 1 spoon

Curry leaves - few

Asafoetida - 1 pinch

Salt to taste

Directions

In a pressure cooker, add the moong dhall, turmeric, asafoetida and water and pressure cook for 1 whistle. In another vessel cook the spinach with a little salt until it starts getting wilted.

In a saucepan, add the oil, mustard seeds and urad dhall. Once it starts spluttering add the chopped onion, curry leaves, grated ginger and green chillies. Saute for a while.

Add the cooked spinach and moong dhall and cook in medium low for about 5 minutes.

Adjust salt and remove from heat.

Serve warm with dhall and rice. Just yummy!

Ragi Puttu / Finger Millet Cakes

Ragi (red millet) has many health benefits. It is widely used as red millet flour. Having known the health benefits of ragi, i wanted to make a quick and healthy snack. I tumbled upon a ragi puttu recipe in some website. I tweaked it a bit to suit our palate and created this recipe. It was filling and there was no compromise on the taste part as well.

My other puttu recipe: Sweet Puttu
Ingredients
Ragi (Red Milet) flour - 1 1/2 cups
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Sugar / Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Directions
Dry roast the rice flour for about two minutes. once it turns fragrant, mix it together with the ragi flour, coconut, salt, jaggery/sugar, cardamom powder and mix well.
Sprinkle some water and rub in with fingers so that it forms a crumbly texture.
To check if the right amount of water is added, just take a some mixture in your hand and clasp it within the palm.If the mixture holds together then it is in the right consistency.If it is still powdery and falls off, sprinkle little more water.

Now shape the mixture using any mould.I used a small bowl.Take the mixture in whatever mould you have and just press it with your hand,so that the particles are held tightly.Invert the bowl and tap it slightly.The mixture comes out easily.With care, transfer the shaped puttu to the steamer.
Steam cook for about 8 to 10 minutes.
Serve warm!

Sending this to JFI:Ragi hosted by Madhuram and started by Indira.

Spinach Pastry

This is similar to the greek pastry Spanakopita. This is nowhere close to the authentic recipe but this combination of pastry was born as a result of me finishing up all items in my fridge. It is made with puff pastry with a filling of spinach, cottage cheese and onions. The cottage cheese can be replaced with feta cheese, ricotta cheese etc.

Ingredients

Puff pastry - 3 sheets

Spinach - 1 cup

Cottage cheese - 1/2 cup

Onion - 1 small sized

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Oil - 2 teaspoons

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Thaw the puff pastry as per the manufacturer's directions.

If using frozen spinach, sqeeze out all water and chop spinach. 

In a saucepan, heat oil and add the cumin seeds. once they start spluttering, add the chopped onions and saute till translucent. Add the spinach and saute until it just gets wilted. Remove from heat and stir in the cottage cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

           

Cut the puff pastry to the required shape. Roll out a wee bit with the help of a rolling pin. Add a spoonful of mixture and seal the edges together with a fork.

Brush the top with some butter or with an eggwash to get a nice crust.

Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degree F for about 20 minutes until the pastry turns golden brown.

Serve warm!

A Date to remember - Dates Milkshake

This is one drink which I am having for breakfast every other day. i saw the recipe in Mahimaa's blog and got hooked to its taste the moment I tried it. It tastes heavenly and you ought to try it. It is healthy and nutritious combining the goodness of almonds and dates. Banana gives a rich consistency to the drink. Just blend a glass for yourself and enjoy!

Ingredients (Makes 2 tall glasses)

Dates - 5 pits removed

Almonds - 10

Banana - 1

Cold Milk - 2 cups

Cardamom powder - 1 pinch (optional)

Directions

Soak the almonds overnight. In the morning peel the almonds. You can use the almonds with the skin too. Slice the banana. Blend together the dates, almonds, cardamom powder, banana, cold milk until a smooth consistency. If you find it to be too thick, add a little water.

Serve chilled.

Sending this to FIL:fruits

Fruit Cake

This fruity cake is generally associated with the festival season. We used to get this cake especially during Christmas. I loved each bite which had the juiciness of the raisins and dry fruits and the goodness of the nuts. I always wanted to try this cake and I never knew it was this simple. I made this for a potluck party and it was a big hit!

Here comes the recipe right in time for the festive season! The dry fruits and nuts I have used are my own measurements. If there are certain fruits or nuts you don't like, you can always include more of another, or some of your own favorites.

Ingredients

All-Purpose flour - 2 cups
Brown Sugar - 1 cup packed
Milk - 1 cup
Butter - 1 stick
Baking powder - 1 tablespoon
Baking soda - 1 teaspoon
Eggs - 2
Cinnamon powder - 1 teaspoon
Nutmeg powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped
Cashews - 1/4 cup chopped
Almonds - 1/4 cup chopped
Prunes - 1/4 cup chopped
Golden raisins - 1/4 cup chopped
Currants - 1/4 cup chopped
Cherries - 1/4 cup chopped

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring together the brown sugar, butter and milk. Keep it on medium heat for 5 minutes until the sugar carmelises. Bring it to a boil. Add all the dry fruits, nuts, cinnamon, cardamom powder and nutmeg. Give it a stir and keep on medium low for 3 more minutes. Allow it to cool.

Beat the two eggs together. In another vessel, whisk the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Once the mixture has cooled completely, add the eggs and mix well. Finally add in the flour mixture. Stir all the ingredients so that there are no lumps. The batter will be of a thin consistency.

Grease and flour a cake pan. Line with aluminium foil and pour the batter and spread evenly.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degree F for about 45 minutes until a fork inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the pan. Cool in a wire rack.

This cake can be wrapped in aluminium foil and stored for about 4 to 5 days. It tastes even better the second day because the spices might have infused well with the other ingredients.

Some tips that might be useful while baking this cake:

To prevent overbrowning, line the bottom and sides of the pan with foil. Leave extra foil overlapping the sides so that it is easier to remove the cake from the pan.

When baking, set the fruitcake pan in a baking pan half-filled with water to prevent burning around the edges. however, be careful while removing the pan from the oven as the water might be boiling and extremely hot!

Let fruitcake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

For long-term storage, bury the linen and foil wrapped fruitcake in a tin filled with powdered sugar.

Sending this Fruity Nutty Cake to Vegetarian Thanksgiving and Children's Day Event and to FIL:Fruits