Cauliflower Manchurian / Gobi Manchurian / Gobi 65

Cauliflower Manchurian / Gobi Manchurian / Gobi 65

Ever since i stepped into Bangalore after my college days, I fell in love deeply with this yummy appetizer or snack..Due to my great love towards this manchurian, I tasted this yummy dish in street side, mediocre hotel, good restaurants and in five star hotels. Out of all, my love looks beautiful and tastes terrible in one small fast food joint in Jayanagar, Bangalore. Its my tendency to try out things which I love so much at home since my childhood. Likewise, I tried and made some manchurian in my kitchen too. With trial and error, initial versions were ok...but not satisfactory. After trying out different versions, I arrived at one final recipe which is simpler and tastier. My friends and dear bloggers, try this version in your kitchen and enjoy this mouthwatering appetizer along with some Chinese veg fried rice / noodles and a suitable side dish.

There are two methods to make this Manchurian. You can either fry the Gobi / Cauliflower florets or bake them in the oven. In both the cases, coat every cauliflower florets with the batter and fry or bake them as you like. I made Manchurians using both the methods earlier and they tasted equally good in both the cases. If you are deciding to fry, please follow the method as described below.

I will append the Baking Method version at the end of this post very soon with corresponding pictures.

Ingredients

Gobi / Cauliflower - 1 Big

Oil - To Fry the Manchurian

For the Batter :
All Purpose Flour - 3/4 cup

Corn Flour - 2 tbsp

Salt - Little

Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tsp

Food colour ( Orange or Red Orange) - 1 pinch ( Optional )

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

 

Gobi Manchurian - Final Process

Red Onion shredded - 1/2 cup

Spring Onion - 3

Garlic Pods finely shredded - 5 or 6
Spicy Tomato Ketchup / Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp

Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Black Pepper Powder - 3 tsp

Green Chilli shredded finely - 1 tbsp

 

 Method

 

• Take out the cauliflower florets and wash them thoroughly. Drain the water completely and cook the cauliflower florets in a microwave and keep them ready.
• Meantime, make a batter using the ingredients as mentioned above ( just like bajji batter) and keep the batter ready.
• In a frying pan, add oil and heat the pan. When you see light fumes emerging out of the oil surface, take a cooked cauliflower floret and coat the floret with the manchurian batter on all sides and gently drop the floret into the heated oil.
• Fry them to golden brown and fry all the other florets using the same method and finish the entire process. Keep all the fried cauliflower florets on a flat plate openly.
• In a cooking pan / vessel, add oil first. When its heated, add finely shredded garlic, red onion pieces into the vessel and fry them for a minute.
• Then, add the tomato ketchup, soy sauce, black pepper powder, shredded green chilli, required amount of salt into the cooking vessel / pan and stir them nicely for nearly 3-4 minutes on a medium flame.
• Add all the fried manchurian into the manchurian sauce and fry them gently. Add the spring onion into the vessel and stir them again for a minute and switch off the flame.
• Transfer the Gobi Manchurian into a serving plate and place small toothpicks on the side or on top of the Manchurian pieces individually.

Spinach Chappathi / Spinach Paratha / Palak Paratha / Green Chappathi

Spinach Chappathi / Spinach Paratha / Palak Paratha / Green Chappathi

 

School is getting started and my mind is thinking of various school lunch options, healthy dinners for the kids. Whole bag of spinach was sitting in the refrigerator and I decided to make some different variety out of it. Though Palak Paneer is our all time favourite, spinach paratha won my mind. With a tangy, spicy side dish, its a very good combination for dinner. I made Black eye beans masala in a tangy,spicy tomato gravy which makes the dinner more colourful.

Ingredients

 

For Grinding :

Spinach Leaves - 3 Cups

Green Chili - 1 Medium

Jeera / Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

For the Dough :

Wheat Flour - 4 Cups

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Salt - To Taste

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp

Ajwain Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Thick Curd - 1 tbsp

Grounded Paste - Add fully.

Water - Little as required for making the paratha dough.

Oil - As required.

 

 

 

Method 

• Wash the spinach leaves thoroughly and steam cook them along with green chili and cumin seeds in the kadai / pan with the lid on. No need to add water. When it gets cooked and reduced in size, grind them in a mixer grinder smoothly with no water added. Keep the green paste ready.
• In a big mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients for making the dough and the green paste too and make a smooth paste. Knead the dough well with little oil to make it more softer. Keep it aside for few minutes.
• Heat the frying pan on medium flame. Take a small ball of the paratha dough and spread the ball into a thin round paratta.
• Fry them uniformly on the heated frying pan on both sides. Apply little ghee on its top while serving for kids.
• An excellent healthy paratha for breakfast, colourful lunch for kids and delicious dinner along with a good side dish. Can be eaten at all times and loved by all ages.

 

Tips / Variations

• While kneading the dough, care should be taken while adding water. Green paste and curd should be added first while making the dough and then water should be added slowly till you get a desired consistency.
• I prefer not to add so many powders while making the dough as I wish to retain its original flavour and make it more simpler.

Broccoli Cheese Melt

Broccoli Cheese Melt

Broccoli, the green colour cauliflower also called as the "flowering top of a cabbage" is high in Vitamin C and dietary fiber. It also contains multiple nutrients with lots of anti-cancer properties in it. Kids generally refuse this vegetable if given separately or as a curry. Some kids love broccoli in any form you give. My daughter aditi loves this vegetable in any form. But I like to make some delicious dish out of broccoli for her. So, i decided to try this out.
Today I served this side dish with Corn Cheese Quesadilla for lunch.

Ingredients
Broccoli Florets - 20 or 25 small florets.
Salt - 1 pinch
Black Pepper Powder - 1 small pinch
Low fat shredded cheese - 5 tbsp.

Method
1. Wash the broccoli and spread it on a small plate nicely after its dried.
2. Cover the broccoli tray with another plate.
3. Steam or cook the broccoli in the microwave for 4-5 minutes.
4. Take it out of the microwave and sprinkle salt,pepper powder on the broccoli.
5. Finally sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the broccoli florets.
6. Keep the plate in the microwave for 50-60 seconds till the cheese gets
completely melted on the top and look like a broccoli pizza.
7. Let it cool and serve as a healthy side dish to your kids.

Corn Cheese Quesadilla

Corn Cheese Quesadilla

Ingredients
2 Corn Tortillas or 2 Whole wheat chappathis.
4 tbsp low fat shredded chesse ( depending on the size of tortilla/chappathi).

Method
Fry the corn tortillas on both sides. Or make two normal whole wheat chappathis and keep it. On the stove, keep one tortilla/chappathi first. On top of it, spread the shredded cheese uniformly on the surface. Then keep the other tortilla or chappathi and stick the corners of both the tortillas/chappathis together. Naturally the cheese would slightly melt in the corners and get sticked automatically. Turn both sides equally for 1-2 minutes till the cheese inside gets melted. All this process should take place on a very low flame only. Cut the quesadilla into four equal parts and serve it with a healthy vegetable sidedish.

Mexican Taco Salad Bowl

Mexican Taco Salad Bowl

I Love Mexican Taco Salad Bowl all the time and my kids love too...Whenever we go to Bajjio or Costa Vida, without even looking at the menu I would order this taco Salad bowl all the time. Its loaded with lots of fresh veggies, cheese, rice, beans, corn roti and this dish has a perfect combination of carbohydrates, protein, calcium and vitamins in it. With a side of a milkshake or cucumber buttermilk, its an excellent combo for all ages. As its very colourful, kids like this variety a lot. Its a good after school lunch or a quick treat for them. Making this Taco Salad Bowl takes very less time. You just have to keep the ingredients ready before making them in place. Though the number of ingredients make you tensed, making this simple salad bowl is not that difficult at all..

Ingredients

Corn Tortilla / Big Tortilla / Wheat Tortilla - 1 ( Of your choice )

Olive Oil - Enough to fry the Tortilla

Mexican Cheese -  3 tbsp

Cooked Sona Masoori Rice - 1/2 Cup

Ripe Tomatoes - Cut into tiny pieces

Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp nicely shredded

Lemon Juice - Few Drops

Cooked or Baked Red Beans or Black Beans - 2 tbsp

Romaine Lettuce or Lettuce of any kind - 2 Handfuls

Cucumbers - 2 tbsp nicely cut into tiny pieces

Onions - 1 tbsp nicely cut into tiny pieces

Avocado Paste -- 1 tbsp

Ranch or Sour Cream or Thick Curd - 1 tbsp

South Western Sauce or Taco Sauce - 1 tsp

Nacho Chips or Corn Tortilla Chips - 2 tbsp Crushed.

Salt - To sprinkle at the end ( optional )

Pepper - To sprinkle at the end ( optional )

Method

Pre-Preparation

         Wash the vegetables and cut the tomato, onion, cucumber, lettuce and coriander leaves into desired shapes and keep them ready.  Take one corn tortilla or wheat tortilla and keep it ready. Take a cup of cooked sona masoori rice. Take 2 tbsp of cooked beans or baked beans and keep it on the side. Take out the sauce, ranch,mexican cheese shredded from the fridge and keep them on the side. Keep the salt, pepper shakers on the side too. If you have a ready made lemon juice available, take it out from the fridge or make 1 tsp of fresh lemon juice and keep it ready.  Take an avocado and scoop the inside flesh,mash and keep it ready too. NOW, everything is kept ready.

Process

Make the Mexican Rice first.

              On a pan, add 1 tsp of Olive Oil. When its heated, add the cooked sona masoori rice, 1 tsp of coriander leaves, little  mexican seasoning powder ( if you have ), pinch of salt and fry them on low heat for just 2 minutes.

Make the Avocado paste next.

            Scoop the inside part of the Avocado and mash it to a fine paste. Add 1 tsp of coriander leaves, pinch of salt and 2   drops of lemon juice to it.

Make a simple, quick tomato salsa kind next.

            On a small bowl, add tiny pieces of tomato, 1 tbsp of coriander leaves, 1 tsp of lemon juice, pinch of salt and pepper  and mix them well and mash it little bit.

Fry the Tortilla on both sides with little oil on its sides. Take a sound shaped vessel or any medium size bowl. Insert the fried tortilla on it and make it hollow inside the bowl.

Add shredded mexican cheese on the tortilla while its hot. Chesse would melt nicely on the Top Layer.

Add the 1/2 cup of  Mexican Rice on top of the melted cheese.

Add 2 tbsp of cooked / baked beans on top of the rice.

Spread 1 tbsp or more of the tomato salsa made on top of the beans layer. On top of it, add 1 tbsp of tiny cucumber pieces, 1 tbsp of tiny onion pieces. Spread them uniformly on its layer. Add 2 tbsp of Avocado Paste we made on it and spread it across..

Now the cut lettuce leaves and some shredded nacho chips or corn tortilla chips on top of the leaves layer. Add 1 tsp of Taco Sauce or South Western Sauce and spread it across. Add some salt and pepper a little bit using the shakers.

Finally decorate the Taco Salad with few beans, ranch and little shredded cheese and serve it to the kids.

Variations

For more spiciness while serving to elder people, you can add taco hot sauce into it.

You can choose any type of Beans you like and add that into the bowl.

If you don't have sour cream or ranch, you can add 1 tbsp of thick fresh curd on top of the Salad Bowl.

You can add corn, small ripe mango pieces into the salad too. It adds more Mexican flavour and taste to the salad bowl. ( As i don't have them right now, i have not added ).

Tips

Choose a crunchy lettuce which makes the salad bowl more fresh and it does not get soggy quickly.

Try to fry the tortilla to the correct level and not deep fried.

If you have the right ingredients for this recipe,the taste will be amazing.

Onion Pakoda - With Wheat Rava Leftover Idly batter

It was very breezy, cloudy and slightly drizzling since afternoon. Its a perfect weather in all aspects to have some crunchy pakodas on the side of hot chai. We have been avoiding oil fried pakoda or any snacks as we have been trying to lose weight and be more conscious about what we eat. But today we have got a nice excuse. Yes.!!! Our friends family was visiting us this evening, and I decided to make crunchy pakodas with my leftover wheat rava idly batter. I added few extra ingredients to the leftover batter and finally the pakodas came out well.

Ingredients

Wheat Rava Idly Batter ( Leftover ) - 3 Cups

Besan \ Kadalai Maavu \ Senaga Pindi - 3 tbsp

Rice Flour \ Biyam Pindi \ Arisi Maavu - 3 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 3 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing \ Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Green chilli - 3 Medium finely cut into tiny pieces

Sombu \ Fennel - 1 tbsp

Coriander Leaves chopped - 2 tbsp

Curry Leaves - 5 or 6 crushed into tiny pieces

Red Onion - 1 medium cut into small pieces

Method

1. Take the left over wheat rava idly batter in a big bowl. Add the other ingredients as mentioned above to the left over idly batter and mix everything in the bowl thoroughly without adding any water.
2. Heat oil in a small pan. When you start noticing flames coming out of the oil, simmer the heat and small dropping the pakoda batter by hand into different small shapes. 
3. Now increase the heat to medium level and allow the pakodas to get fried uniformly.
4. When its golden brown, take out the pakodas and spread them on a plate covered with a tissue paper.
5. As noticed, there is not much oil in these type of pakodas. Unnoticed extra oil from the pakodas would be absorbed in the tissue paper.
6. Continue the process till you finish the whole pakoda batter.

Tips

Try to make the pakodas into very smaller shapes to get more crunchy ones.

Try to use red onion instead of yellow or white onions in this batter as its more tastier with red onions.

Roti \ Chappati Roll with Veggie Paneer Fry

Hi Friends....after a long break. !!!!! Summer vacation got over in homeland and back home.  Have so many traditional recipes in store to post...So you will be seeing those slowly in our blog this month.. Well, cooking has slowly started  at home here and made a quick chappathi \ roti roll for us on a lazy Friday night. It was delicious, filling, tastier with a side of greek yogurt cup. This time, I used the ready made chappathis available at our local Indian store

Lots of  home grown tomatoes, zucchinis, squash were given to us by our kind neighbours. To make use of those ones with some extra veggies and paneer , I decided to make this easier roll..

You can add any vegetables of your choice to this simple fry...With some mild seasoning, this veggie paneer fry is definitely a kids choice..for any time of the day.

Ingredients

Chappathi \ Roti -  Few

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Turmeric Powder - 2 teaspoon

Jeera ( Cumin) - 2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1\2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 teaspoon

Salt - To Taste

Sugar - a small pinch

Coriander Leaves  -  1 Handful

Vegetables

Tomato - 1

Potato - 1

Beans - 8 or 10 big ones

Carrot - 1 medium

Peas  - 1 Handful

Cauliflower -  12 small florets

White Onion - 1 Medium

Capsicum - 1\2  medium

Zucchini - 1 medium

Paneer Cubes - 15 to 20 medium cubes.

Procedure

1. Wash all the vegetables thoroughly and cut them into medium cubes and keep aside. Cut the panner into medium cubes and keep them ready.
2. On medium heat, add olive oil into the thick bottomed kadai. When oil gets heated up, add jeera first. When it sputters, then add onions, capsicum one by one and shallow fry them. Add turmeric powder and a pinch of sugar and little salt for them to cook quickly.
3. Slowly add all other veggies into the kadai and stir them nicely. Sprinkle some water and let them cook on low flame for few minutes.
4. After its cooked to a desired level, open the lid and all other seasoning powders to the kadai. Add required amount of salt to the mixture and stir the veggie mix thoroughly.
5. Add the paneer cubes into the kadai now and stir carefully without breaking the paneer cubes.
6. Keep the lid open and let the veggie paneer mix coated with the seasoned powders get fried on medium flame for few minutes.
7. Occasionally stir the contents so that they get fried uniformly.
8. After its done, switch off the flame. Garnish the dish with the crushed coriander leaves..Now the veggie paneer mix is ready.

9. Make a hot chappathi \ roti and keep 3-4 tbsp of the veggie paneer dish into the center of the chappathi, roll it perfectly and serve with a side of greek yogurt. A complete healthy meal is done very quickly with less efforts.

Variations

You can add any vegetables of your choice but not watery ones as they might spoil the fry.

Tips

Don't fry the paneer separately.  Add them to the veggie mix and coat them with the seasoning. Let the paneer get fried along with the veggies in the kadai itself.

Green Cutlet - Spinach Potato Cutlet

Really got bored with the regular spinach pappu or Palak Paneer , wanted to try out something different with the Spinach..Spinach with some potatoes, peas, yellow corn powder and with some spices, the appetizer was made with less effort and time. We can even substitute this Cutlet as Spinach pattie in burger and could even be used in the preparation of Cutlet chat or a pattie in our regular Ragada Patties.

Ingredients

Potatoes Boiled - 6 or 7 Medium Sized

Frozen Peas or cooked peas - 1 Handful

Spinach finely chopped - 2 cups

Yellow Corn Flour - 2 tbsp

Salt - To Taste

Jeera Powder - 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp

Green Chilli Paste - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp ( optional )

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 Pinch

Oil - To Shallow fry the Cutlets

Method

• Cook the Potatoes, Peas and mash them and keep it ready.
• Cut the Spinach leaves and keep it ready too...
• In the kadai on medium heat, add 2 tsp of oil first. Then, add the spinach leaves and fry them till they get soggy and half cooked. Then, add all the powders and fry them for few seconds.
• Finally add the mashed potatoes, peas and the yellow corn flour. Add required amount of salt and a pinch of sugar and mix them thoroughly.
• Fry them for a minute and switch off the flame.
• After it gets cooled, take a ball size of the mix from the kadai. With little oil in hand, make a small flat pattie. Similarly make other patties too with the kadai mix and keep it ready.
• In a non stick pan or dosa pan, add little oil and shallow fry them at one shot with very less oil. Turn them both sides and fry every pattie / cutlet uniformly.
• Keep the fried cutlets on a plate and serve with a side of Tomato Ketchup.

Tips

Don't mash the potatoes and peas too much. Leave few small potato pieces so that the cutlet tastes good.

Variations

You can customize the spice level according to your taste..I prefer this to be milder as i made it for my kids.

Healthy Multigrain Bread Puttu



Since few days, I have been thinking of making something different with the big loaf of Multigrain bread remaining in the bread basket. Really bored of the regular Bread Jam, Bread Peanut butter, Bread with Nutella. Though I heard of this bread puttu from one of my friends, I never get a chance either to make it  or taste it before. I followed the regular procedure for making this puttu without a traditional puttu maker. It came out decently and it could be served with some uppuma ( with rava, semiya ) as a combo for breakfast. It will definitely be an ideal and healthy breakfast for kids. Preparation time for this puttu is also very less...So, don't get scared with the second loaf of any bread variety which you buy from the wholesale stores ( like Costco, BJs)...The second loaf can easily be consumed by making this variety too....

Ingredients

Multigrain Bread - 1 full loaf

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Cardamom Powder - 2 tsp

Cashew Nuts - 2 tbsp

Fresh Coconut flakes - 1/2 a cup

Sugar - Between 1/4 to 3/4th of a cup ( depending upon the sweetness of the bread )

Method

• Grind the remaining loaf of the Multigrain bread in a mixer grinder.
• Mix the bread puttu powder with the fresh coconut flakes and steam them together in a vessel for 5 -10 minutes. As I don't have the puttu maker, I steamed them by keeping the puttu vessel inside a big kadai and covered the kadai with the lid. After its steam cooked completely, keep the steamed puttu ready.
• On medium heat, add ghee into the kadai. When its heated, add the cashew nuts and fry them for few minutes till they get golden brown.
• Add the steamed puttu mix to the kadai.
• Add the cardamom powder and sugar to the puttu now.
• Mix them all well for few minutes and switch off the flame.
• Now the healthy puttu is ready with rich taste and good flavour.

Tips

Any variety of excess bread loaf can be converted into puttu form.!!! Though its a healthy option, multigrain puttu variety would be little heavy, so its difficult to eat more quantity whereas the wheat bread puttu is softer and can be eaten easily by kids.

HOW TO MAKE Semiya Payasam / Vermicelli Payasam

Semiya Payasam / Vermicelli Payasam

Semiya Payasam / Vermicelli Payasam in one of the favourites in my family. Though we all mostly make this sweet during festivals and special occasions, the preparation itself makes a normal day so special.!! Semiya Payasam is made by roasting the vermicelli with ghee, slowly cooked and simmered in milk and sugar, flavoured with crushed cardamom powder and little saffron and garnished with ghee roasted cashew nuts. It tastes heavenly if made using whole milk. As the process is simpler, its easy to make a normal day into a very special day....Its all in our hands!!! Have a beautiful day with a cup of sweet semiya payasam.

Ingredients

Semiya / Vermicelli - 1 cups

Milk - 4-5 cups ( Used 2% Milk )

Sugar - 3/4 th of a cup

Cardamom Powder - 1 tsp

Saffron - 1 pinch ( Optional )

Ghee - 2 tsp

Cashew nuts - 8-10 ghee roasted

Method

• In a kadai / cooking vessel, add a tsp of ghee and roast the cashew nuts first and keep them aside. Then add another tsp of ghee and roast the vermicelli till it turns golden colour.
• When you get a nice aroma, add enough water to cook the vermicelli.
• When its well cooked, add milk,saffron and sugar and allow them to cook for another 5-6 minutes.
• Don't forget to stir the payasam once a while.
• Add cardamom powder and roasted cashew nuts to the Payasam.
• You can have this Payasam either warm or chilled.
• Finally add the roasted cashew nuts to the Payasam and enjoy.

Tips / Note

Vermicelli payasam thickens after a while as the vermicelli absorbs most of the milk. Also, it gets thickened when its refrigerated. So, just before serving add warm milk to the Payasam and mix them well and serve.

You can add roasted raisins to the Payasam along with cashew nuts.

HOW TO MAKE Paneer Veggie Roti RECIPE

Paneer Veggie Roti

Wanted to give chappathi / Roti to my son with good protein and vegetables. Same way, we wanted to have spicy Capsicum Paneer Fry ( which he cannot have at his age), I decided to make his chappathi loaded with paneer and veggies instead.  So I transformed the normal chappathi / Roti by mixing few cubes of fresh paneer, grated carrots, peas, little omum powder, jeera powder. We were so satisfied that he also had some good healthy meal along with us. Because of  fresh paneer, the rotis came out softly and it was colourful with different veggies too.

Ingredients

Chappathi / Roti Dough - Tennis Ball Size

Grated Carrots - 1/4 cup

Frozen Peas ( cooked )- 1 Handful

Fresh Paneer Cubes - 2 Cubes medium size

Jeera Powder - 1 pinch

Omum / Ajwain powder - 1 pinch

Ghee - For frying the chappathi / Roti

Method

1. Take the chappathi dough which you prepare for making regular chappathis / Rotis.
2. To that, add grated carrots, cooked peas, fresh paneer cubes, jeera powder, Omum powder and crush everything and mix it thoroughly with the dough.
3. Make a small chappathi / Roti into a round shape and fry it on medium flame both sides with little ghee.
4. Serve it with fresh curd. Healthy evening snack or morning breakfast for the kids who refuse to eat veggies separately sometime.

Tips

Avoid mashed potatos in this dough as it does not go well with paneer and makes it too heavy.