Bread Poha

Its been two weeks since I have been trying to lead a disciplined life, waking up at 6, cooking breakfast, packing our lunch and even cooking enough for dinner so don't have to cook twice. Whew! Never ever imagined that I would be cooking this much but then guess the craving for good food and lack of good cooks around gives way to all this hard work in the kitchen. :) Well, guess my experiments in the kitchen will continue till I find another cook.

The recipe today is a quick and easy snack I used to see my Mom cooking. I usually pack it as a mid-meal snack to take care of any hunger pangs sometime between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and tea when you get the craving to munch something. Yeah, yeah I know I eat too much but atleast this is a filling and tasty alternative to snacking on chips and other junk food at work.

Ingredients:

8 slices of bread cut into squares (you can use smaller quantities but I make enough to share at work) :P
2 potatoes cut into squares (you can even use carrots)
1 cup of peas
1-2 green chillis depending on your preference
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 chopped onions
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
A handful of chopped coriander
Salt to taste
Oil

- Boil the veggies (potatoes, peas) in a pressure cooker.
- Heat oil in a separate pan and add cumin and the mustard seeds.
- Add onions, chillies and the ginger paste and fry till onions turn brownish
- Add the boiled veggies and stir for 2 minutes.
- Add the bread squares and stir some more
- Add turmeric, salt and coriander and fry for 2 minutes.

You can even add a dash of lemon if you want some zest. The bread poha is ready to be eaten or packed as a mid-meal snack or even lunch if you wish.

Eggless Milkmaid Cake

This is an eggless milkmaid cake that I baked the other day. I have used milkmaid for the first time while baking and decided that henceforth will use milkmaid as it adds a delicious flavor to the baking. I also added Quaker oats that I bought recently but didn't quite like it for breakfast so decided to use it in my baking instead.

You can also add cocoa for a chocolatey taste. In my version didn't add as Joy is not too fond of chocolate but for all chocoholics this is a good option. Here goes:

Milkmaid - 1 tin of 400 gm
Butter - 100 gm (I use Amul but you can use the unsalted variety)
Flour - 2 cups
Aerated drink - 100 gm (Thums Up, Pepsi or even plain soda)
Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Vanilla essence
Oats - 1 cup

- Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl
- Mix the milkmaid and the butter in another bowl till the butter dissolves completely.
- Fold in the dry mixture and the soda bit by bit until its completely mixed with the milkmaid and butter.
- Add the vanilla essence.
- Add the mixture to the mixie and run it for about 2 minutes.
- Add the oats and mix some more.
- Grease a baking dish with butter and add the cake mixture to it. Sprinkle some oats on top for a crunchy taste.
- Heat the oven to 200 degree and bake for about 35-40 minutes.
- Keep checking with a fork to check if it completely baked. If the fork comes out clean, the cake is ready.



Forgot to click a pic immediately after it was baked but did have some crumbs left. Agree, it doesn't look that good but those who tasted it know that appearances can be deceitful. :))

Simple Mutton Biryani

This is something that I cook quickly when I am in a hurry. No frills, no fuss mutton biryani! Here goes:

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Mutton pcs (I usually buy boneless mutton cubes)
Bay Leaf - 2-3
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Cardamom - 4-5 pods
Onions - 2
Ginger garlic paste
Green chillies - 3-4 chopped
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Tomatoes - 2
Jeera, dhania and haldi powder - 1 tsp each
Salt to taste
Mutton stock and water if required - 4 to 4 and a half cups (varies depending on the cooker)

- Boil mutton with bayleaf, 2-3 cardamom pods, one cinammon stick and salt
- Heat some oil in a separate pan and brown the onions
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 2-3 mins
- Add chopped green chillies, pepper powder, the remaining cinammon sticks and cloves
- Add grated tomatoes and let it fry for around 5 minutes
- Add jeera, dhania and haldi powder
- Add the boiled mutton pieces and keep the mutton stock in another bowl for use later
- Add chilli powder and salt and fry some more
- Take the required quantity of rice in the rice cooker.
- Add the fried mutton to the rice.
- Add the mutton stock to the rice. If required, add some water and cook till it is ready

Rajma Curry

Deb and I are fed up of the same old veggies for lunch. In our earlier location, we used to have a large gang of folks to lunch with so always had variety. However, since we moved to a different location we have been eating the same old veggies n non veggies day after day. So decided to cook some rajma. Didn't follow any recipe...just the usual ingredients.

Rajma - 1 cup (soaked overnight)
Aloo - 2-3 (I didn't use any as Deb is diabetic but you can)
Onions - 2
Chillies - 2
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Coriander - a handful
Butter - a spoonful
Water - as per preference

- Boil the rajma in a pressure cooker with a little salt, turmeric and chilli powder.
- Heat some oil in a non-stick pan and once the oil is hot add the cumin seeds till it splutters.
- Add the chillies, chopped garlic and onions and let it cook till onions have browned
- Add the tomatoes and stir some more for 3-4 min
- Add the turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala and mix thoroughly.
- Sprinkle the chopped coriander
- Add this mix to the Rajma in the pressure cooker and stir thoroughly
- Add a little water, depending on the gravy consistency that you prefer
- Add salt to taste and a dollop of butter
- Pressure cook the rajma again

Voila! The Rajma curry is ready.

Aloo Paneer

Woke up late this morning and was in a rush. But still needed to pack my lunch. So made this quick dish. Luckily, had a pack of Heritage paneer in the fridge. Chopped it into squares and kept it in a bowl. Since I had run out of peas and didn't want to go through the tedious task of chopping spinach, decided to go with Aloo Paneer. Psst. Still had time to spare to write the recipe. :)

So here goes:

Ingredients:

Aloo - 2-3 (chopped into squares)
Paneer - 1 pkt (I use Heritage or Amul, but you can use any brand or even homemade paneer)
Mustard Oil - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Bay Leaf - 2-3
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Haldi powder - 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies - 2-3 whole
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Milk - 2-3 tbsp
Ghee (preferred) or butter - 1 tbsp ( it gives a nice flavor)
Coriander Leaves - for garnish

- Heat some oil and fry the potato cubes lightly and remove from heat. You can also fry paneer lightly but I prefer not to.
- In the same oil, add 2-3 bayleaves and cumin seeds and wait till it splutters.
- Add the ginger paste.
- Mix the cumin powder with water and add till you see the water drying up.
- Pour in the fried potatoes along with one cup of water and wait for the potatoes to soften.
- Add the paneer and mix thoroughly and let it cook for around 5 min.
- Add the whole green chilies, garam masala, sugar, milk and lastly add salt.
- Cook for around 5 min and remove from heat.
- Garnish with coriander before serving if you wish.

Mutton Vindaloo

Now that I am back to cooking as the cook got married for the second time and went off to Orissa, back to shortcuts, home deliveries and cooking in bulk. This is one recipe that I got from a dear friend of mine but did customize it as I didn't have many ingredients. I also added potatoes coz for hubby, mutton is incomplete without extra large potatoes.

So here goes:

Mutton - 1 kg
Potatoes - 3 large
Onions - 5
Chillies - 12
Garlic - 15 pods
Ginger Paste - 2 tsp
Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Cumin - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Water - 1-2 cups
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves

-Marinate the mutton with turmeric and salt and keep aside for atleast half an hour
-Grind the garlic, ginger, chillies, cumin, mustard, pepper, turmeric to a paste.
-Add the vinegar to the paste and mix thoroughly.
-Grind the onions to a paste and keep aside
-Heat some oil and fry the ground onions till it turns brownish
-Add the paste and fry for another 10 minutes
-Add the mutton pieces and continue frying till the water starts evaporating.
-Add the potatoes and mix thoroughly.
-Add the required quantity of water depending on your preference for the gravy.
-Add the sugar and salt to taste and pressure cook till meat is tender (I generally wait for around 10-12 whistles)
-Garnish with coriander before serving

Maachher Jhol

Well, this is an awesome fish curry that Shayeri got to work the other day.

Ingredients:

Fish (Rohu or Katla) -8-10 pieces
Red Chilli Powder – 1tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Onions - 2 (chopped)
Tomato – 2 (chopped)
Coconut Powder – ½ tsp
Green Chillies - 2
Salt - to taste
Coriander leaves – 1/2bunch (chopped)
Tomato puree (optional)
Mustard oil – 4-5 table spoons

Recipe:

-Marinate the fish with turmeric powder, salt, red chili powder and one spoon of mustard oil. -Keep aside for 10 minutes.
-Heat mustard oil in a pan and fry the fish pieces till golden brown. Ensure that the oil is properly heated before frying to avoid stickiness.
-Take out the fried fish pieces.
-In the remaining oil, add the chopped onions and stir till they are golden brown and translucent.
-Add the chopped tomatoes and continue stirring to ensure an equal fry.
-Add salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder.
-Add green chilies and pour two table spoons of tomato puree.
-When the oil starts separating, add 1 cup of water. Add 2 cups of water in case you want to keep thinner gravy.
-Add coconut powder and mix with the gravy.
-Add the fried fish pieces in the gravy and let it boil for 5minutes till the gravy becomes thick.
-Add chopped coriander leaves, keep the burner in high flame for two minutes and switch off the gas.

Now pack the fish curry in a tiffin box and get it to office for all folks who left a comment. :)