Monday

Shammi Kebab Parathe-- Kale Chane Ke Parathe

Shammi Kebab Parathe-- Kale Chane Ke Parathe
Hello Dearies!!! I had posted Shammi Kebab recipe last week, which was much liked and appreciated by my friends. I had leftover mixture of the kebabs, which I used as a stuffing in this recipe. This makes for a good Kids School Lunch option also.

For the Stuffing;
You will need;
1 cup soaked and boiled black chana

1 boiled potato
1 tspn cayenne pepper powder
1 tspn Garam masala powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder

1 tspn chat masala
2-3 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 inch ginger grated

1 tsp Turmeric
salt to taste

Wash and Soak the kala chana in water for 5-7 hours. Boil the potatoes and the chana for 2 whistles and then 5 mins on low flame in a pressure cooker. Cool for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, mash the potato. In a mixer grind the boiled chana and mix in the potato mixture and add all the spices and mix well. 

For the Paratha Cover;
You will need;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tspn salt
1 tbspn oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough

In a bowl, mix the oil and salt and water and knead into a soft pliable dough. 

Making the parathas,


1. Make equal size balls of the cover and stuffing
2. Roll a small round of the cover and put the stuffing in it and fold from all sides and roll that in some flour, dust the rolling surface with some flour and
3. Roll into a small round roti or paratha.


Heat a pan/skillet/tawa and roast it on both sides applying little oil or ghee on it . When it gets cooked, serve with yogurt/pickle/ketchup or sour cream., salad or just enjoy these with hot chai.

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Tuesday

Shammi Kebab- Kale Chane ke kebab

Shammi Kebab- Chane ke kebab
Hello Sweet Peas!!! My kids love Indian Subway as in the sandwich chain. They love US style subways too, but Indian chains are more customized for Indian spices and tastes. They have a variety to choose from chatpata chana pattie to mexican pattie to paneer tikka.

After returning to US, both kids missed the Indian varieties of patties. Like any good mom, I decided to search the chatpata chana pattie recipe. I had seen Sanjeev Kapoor  make his famous rajma pattie. I substituted rajma to kala chana, they tasted way better and kids gave me a thumbs up.

You will need;
1 cup soaked and boiled black chana

1 boiled potato
1 tspn cayenne pepper powder
1 tspn Garam masala powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder

1 tspn chat masala
2-3 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 inch ginger grated

1 tsp Turmeric
salt to taste
oil or spray to shallow fry the kebabs

Wash and Soak the kala chana in water for 5-7 hours. Boil the potatoes and the chana for 2 whistles and then 5 mins on low flame in a pressure cooker. Cool for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, mash the potato. In a mixer grind the boiled chana and mix in the potato mixture and add all the spices and mix well. 



Heat a skillet and grease the base with oil and drop little coins  of this mixture and spray them with an oil spray and fry till they get cooked. The kebabs are ready to be eaten with some green chutney or in any sandwich as subway does it with the greens and dressings.


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Wednesday

Rasmalai

Rasmalai

Hello Sweeties!!! Yesterday I made herbed paneer, but the joy of being able to make paneer at home is addictive. So today I again made some chenna/paneer, but made it even better by making rasmalai. Rasmalai is melt n the mouth paneer balls dipped in a sweet cream/milk pudding.

You will need;
to make Paneer for Rasgullah 

1 ltrs Full Fat/Whole Milk
3 tbspn White Distilled vinegar
Cloth to strain and tie the milk

Boil 1 ltr milk. When it comes to a slow boil, reduce heat and start adding the vinegar tbspn by tbspn. I needed 3 tbsps to get the milk to tear and the whey to separate.When the whey and the milk solids separate, drain the solids in a cotton cloth and save the whey. 

This whey can be used for other recipes. I will post few as and how I use it.  Wash the milk solids to remove the sourness from the vinegar, squeeze the cloth with the milk solids and remove as much water out as possible. Tie it around the cotton cloth and keep weight over it to form a cheese ball. Once set for 2-3 hrs the paneer is ready to be used.

Making Rasgullah

You will need;
Paneer from 1 ltr Milk-As Above
5 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tspn kewra Water-Optional

Take the paneer and crumble it and knead it. The paneer should be kneaded till there are no wrinkles in it and it is so soft that the balls are markfree. I kneaded the paneer for 3-5 mins. I got around 9 medium  balls.

In a wide mouth pan take 5 cups water and add 1 cup sugar to make syrup. When the syrup comes to a rapid boil, start adding the rolled paneer balls over the boil, take care that the pan is big enough and they have enough room to swim and not break. The balls will grow bigger a sand how they cook. Cover and let cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes. The ras gullahs are ready. Add in a tspn of kewra water to the syrup for essence.

Making Rabdi
3/4 ltr Whole Milk
1 cup Sugar
2tbspn rice flour
1 tspn Cardamom powder
Nuts Powdered, or Everest Milk masala.-Optional

In a pan take 1/2 ltr milk and boil it on slow heat. In anr bowl take the 1/4 ltr milk, add in the rice flour and the sugar and stir well, till the rice flour and the milk mixture are lumpfree. Add this to the 1/2 ltr milk and mix well. 

Stir continuously, burnt milk is a disaster to clean and make the rabdi smell bad. The rice flour is  a cheat to make the rabdi, but in this fast paced life, little cheat is doable. The Milk will thicken in about 10-12 mins. Switch off the flame and stir for another 5 mins. 

The Rabdi is ready. I flavored it with kewra water to tie the Rasgullah and the rabdi together.

Assembling
In a serving dish, take rasgullah; squeeze out as much sugar syrup out as possible, Pour the rabdi till the rasgullah are well coated. Chill for 2-3 hrs. The colder they get better they taste. Or Alternatively add in the rasgullahs to the rabdi and chill the entire bowl.

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Tuesday

Homemade Herbed Paneer


Hello Sweeties!!! In this age of food contamination, nothing is safe anymore. I have started making yogurt and paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) at home now days.

Few years ago, I had met master chef Vikas Khanna at a blogger meet in his  Junoon restaurant. He had shared his famous recipe of making herbed paneer and used it in his pakodas. I have been meaning to make it ever since. I know pondering over the thoughts for few years, but there I made it and kids loved it, so its all worth it now.

You will need;
Milk 4 cups
Distilled White Vinegar- 2 Tbspn
Herbs--Powder the indian herbs like saunf, kalonji, cumin and coriander seeds, black pepper, few leaves of mint.

Boil milk  on low heat and add the vinegar. The whey will separate from milk and the milk solids will curdle. Add all the herbs powdered and mint leaves and drain the whey. Tie up paneer in a muslin cloth and hang it up a few hours to allow excess water to drain. 

Place the muslin with the paneer under a heavy weight to ensure that all the moisture is squeezed out. This will flatten the paneer into a flat round cake when removed from the muslin. 

Cut the paneer into strips or cubes. Save in an air tight glass bowl with lid and store in the fridge. I am not sure how long it stays as we use it in a day or so.


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Thursday

Eggless Beetroot Cake

Eggless Beetroot Cake

Hello Sweeties!!! If you are wondering if you read the header correct, do not worry!! This is indeed a beetroot cake, but you can bet my last penny, no one can tell and hence, no one needs to know.


If I try and make my kids eat beets in traditional ways, I am inviting a huge fight with lots of tears( mine off-course) and lots of beets being cooked that I will eat over a period of time.



My kids love the date nutella cake all the time, they still don't know there is date in that cake, likewise they ate this cake never suspecting the beets in the cake. Munchkin even said I made the best red velvet cake.


You will need;
1 Cup Beetroot Pulp
* boil beetroot with 1/2 cup water in a pressure cooker and once cool, grind it into a pulp 
1 Cup Sugar
1/2  Cup Oil
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Organic All Purpose Flour
2 Tbspn cocoa powder
1 tspn ENO-(Fruit Salt)
In a bowl , mix the beet pulp, sugar, cocoa powder and oil, and whisk well till sugar melts.Then add the flour  one big spoon at a time. Keep whisking it till all the flour and the wet mix gets incorporated, and lastly ENO. Stir the batter lightly.

In a well greased loaf pan, pour the mix and bake in a pre-heated oven @ 350.. for about 35-40 mins or till the knife comes out clean.

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