Mixed Platter Of Fritters

What could be better than a platter of fritters on a cold rainy day. That's just how the weather was yesterday. So I made the most common recipe associated with such weathers. Also, I made it in a very simple manner. You can add the masala's to the batter. However, I prefer to avoid making it spicy as my kiddo relishes them too.
Fritters can be made with loads of veggies depending on your choice or preferences or
as in my case, availability of veggies in the fridge.

Ingredients for Batter :
Gram flour : 1 cup
Rice Flour : 2 tbsp
Ajwain : 1 Heaped tbsp
Green Chillies : 2 Chopped
Chopped Coriander : 2-3 tbsp
Salt : To Taste
Water : As Required
Oil for Deep Frying

Veggies in my fridge :
Potatoes
Eggplant
Bottlegourd (Dudhi)
Onion



Recipe :
Take a large bowl. Mix all the ingredients of the batter except water. Now add around 3-4 tbsp of water and whisk it with your fingers. Whisk it in a circular motion following the same direction. Add some more water to form a consistency of thick cream. The batter should stick to the spoon. If you want to be absolutely sure, then take a glass of water and then put a drop of batter in it. It should settle in bottom of glass. If the batter dissolves then you have added too much water in the batter.

Heat oil for deep frying in a wok. Add a drop of batter in oil to see if its the right temperature. The batter should float. If it settles in bottom of wok, then oil isn't hot enough. If it burns instantly, then oil is too hot. You should reduce flame and try again after some time.

Dip one veggie at a time in the batter and coat it from all sides. Drop it in the wok. Drop softly or the oil will spill. Repeat the process and add more veggies till wok is filled. Fry them till its golden brown on all sides. Drain them with a strainer and remove and keep on kitchen tissue.

Repeat the whole process till all veggies are done.

Serve hot with a dip of your choice. We like it with ketchup and coriander chutney.




Sending this to the following events :

1) Healing foods - Eggplant started by Siri and hosted this month by me.



2) Veggie / Fruit a Month - Potatoes started by Priya and hosted this month by Divya.



3) Deep Fried Snacks by Radhika.

Cheese & Onion Pasty

All my blogger pals who stay in UK must have had these at Greggs. I go out to the High Street almost everyday and land up eating them also, esp in this cold weather. Hot pasty tastes just yummy and makes me warm and with cheese oozing out, its just irresistible. So today I decided to make these at home for my family to enjoy as well. My daughter eats with me on the HS but hubby dear more often than not is left out.
So here it goes.

Ingredients For Pasty Dough :
All Purpose Flour (Maida) : 1 Cup
Butter : 1/2 Cup
Salt : 1 tsp
Water : To Knead
Egg Wash

Ingredients For Filling :
Onions : 2
Cheddar Cheese : 100 grams Grated
Salt : To Taste
Freshly Grounded Black Pepper : To Taste
Oil : 2 tsp

Recipe For Pasty Dough :
We require butter to be cold for this dough. If you already keep butter in the fridge then you are ready to go. Otherwise cool the butter for atleast 30 minutes before starting. Also cool an empty bowl in the fridge in which you are going to make the dough.





Now take out the empty bowl from fridge. Add the flour, salt and the the cold butter. Mix all of it vigorously with your fingers. Do it quickly or the butter will start to melt with the touch of your fingers.

Mix till the flour takes on a breadcrumb like consistency. Its better if you do it in a food processor (If using food processor, you should be done in 15 seconds. Remove it in a cold bowl now).



Now make a well in between and pour little water in it.



Now using your hands like a whisk, knead the dough. Knead a dough till its on a soft consistency.



Spread flour on the platform and knead the dough some more.



Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate it for a minimum of 15 minutes and maximum of 30 minutes.



Recipe for Filling :
Chop the onions very finely.



Heat oil in a pan. Add onions. Saute till onions are translucent. Remove from flame. Cool it. Add grated cheese, salt and black pepper. Mix well.



Recipe For Pasty :
Preheat oven for 190C for 15 minutes.

Take the dough out from fridge. Take a ball sized dough. Roll it in round shape.



Cut a square from that round. Repeat the process and make same sized squares.




Place the fillings in between the square.



Cover with another square. Seal edges with a fork.



Give it an egg wash and place it in oven. Cook for 20-25 minutes. The pasty should be golden brown and crispy.

Serve Hot.




Sending this as my entry for the event "Winter Warmers" by Jyoti of The Veggie Hut.

Pasta Salad

An easy to make salad. Serves as starter or evening snack. I like to use varied shapes of pasta. However, you can make it with 1 particular shape also. Tastes juz yummyyyy ....

Ingredients :
Fusilli Pasta : 1 cup
Conchiglie Pasta : 1 cup
Red Onions : 1 Thinly Sliced
Capsicum : 1/4 Sliced
Corn : 3/4 Cup Boiled
Salt : To Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper : 2 tsp
Sugar : 2 tsp
Vinegar : 2 tsp
Mayonnaise : 1 Cup



Recipe :
Take a bowl. Add the mayo. Add the vinegar and beat the mayo till its smooth. Add the
salt, black pepper and sugar. Mix it up well. Add the onions, capsicum and corn. Mix it up and keep in refrigerator.

Boil a pan full of water. Add salt. When the water starts boiling, add the pasta. Boil the pasta till its cooked. It should take approx 15-20 minutes. You can check with a fork or knife. Drain the pasta on a strainer. Add a tbsp spoon of oil an stir it up. Cool it completely.

Add the pasta into the mayo. Mix it well. Serve Chilled.

Sending it to Akheela's "Food Palette White"

Stuffed Braided Bread

I came across this recipe on Pari's blog Foodilicious. She had done a wonderful job of explaining the process in great detail. Also the bread looked just wonderful and terribly tempting. I had bookmarked it that very moment. I have practically no experience in baking. Very recently I had started with cakes and the initial few were a disaster. So I was putting off baking this bread. However last week, I managed to make a successful batch of muffins and it enhanced my confidence. I knew that time only that the next thing I would bake would be this bread. So I gave it a shot and it turned out just well. The big thanks for the success goes to Pari for giving such detailed instructions on the dough making and braiding. I have modified the filling a bit to suit my needs.

Ingredients For Dough :
Maida (All Purpose Flour) : 2 cups
Butter : 3 tbsp Melted & Cooled
Dry Active Yeast (Fast Action) : 3/4 tbsp
Salt : 1 tsp
Sugar : 1 tsp
Egg : 1
Warm Water To Knead
Egg White for Egg wash

Ingredients For Filling :
Red Onion: 1 Chopped
Tomato : 1 Chopped
Capsicum : 1/4 Cup
Paneer : 200 grams
Corn : 1/2 Cup
Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce : 3-4 tbsp
Black Pepper Powder : Freshly ground 2 tsp
Salt : To Taste
Grated Cheese

Recipe For Filling :
Heat oil in a wok. Add onions. Saute till translucent. Add the capsicum and paneer. Saute some more till onions and paneer are golden brown. Add the chopped tomatoes and the corn. Stir well. Add the salt, black pepper and sweet chilli sauce. Cook till the corn is cooked and soft. I was using frozen corn and so I had boiled it previously. Remove from flame. Cool this filling.





Recipe For Dough :
I was using fast action dried yeast and the packet said that it didn't need proofing and I could directly use it in the recipe.
Sift flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Take another bowl. Beat the egg. Add the butter. Now add the flour and the yeast. Stir it well. Now add little warm water at a time and knead the dough.

Now sprinkle little flour on the platform and knead the dough again for 8-10 minutes. It has to be kneaded to a consistency where dough is not sticking to hands.




Grease a bowl and the dough mildly. Keep the dough in the bowl and cover it with a cling film. Leave it aside for a hour or so to rise. The dough should double in volume.



To check if the dough the risen to its full capacity, press the dough. If it doesnt rebound, then it is done.



Recipe for Braided Bread :
Take a portion from the dough. Around 1/2 of the dough. Roll it out into a rectangular shape. Mine didn't turn out perfect rectangle.



Put the stuffing in the centre of the rectangle. Leave few centimetres from all sides.



Sprinkle cheese on the stuffing.



Leave an inch from the top. Make slanting cuts on both sides at equal distance.




Cover the top rectangular over the filling. Cross the sides like a braid.



Continue braiding till the last cut.



Keep it aside to rise again. For approx half hour more. Cover with a wet cloth to avoid drying.

Apply egg wash or milk wash. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 15-20 minutes. The crust should be golden brown. Do not over bake as it will become hard.

Remove it and cool.




Cut into slices and serve.

Sending it to :

1) Priya Mitharwal's Event "Bookmarked Tuesdays"



2) Priya Mahadevan's event "Fast Food NOT Fat Food"

Orange Muffins

I had bookmarked this recipe few days back from www.muffinrecipes.net .... But my confidence in baking a cake and alike is very poor. Finally over the weekend I decided to give it a shot. The major reason was my kiddo who suddenly wanted to eat a cake and just wouldn't stop demanding even after I told her that I had no cake or muffins (readymade) at home. So I decided to gather my guts and after a silent prayer, got on the job. Surprisingly, the muffins came out quite good. So, I am happy to present it.

Also, I would like to send it to a few events :

1) Bookmarked Recipes Volume 20 by Priya Mitharwal of Mharo Rajasthan.

2) Cakes & Cookies for Xmas by Dr. Sameena of My Culinary Creations.

3) Bake Off by Champa of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen.

4) Vegetarian Foodie Fridays by Melodie

Ingredients :
All Purpose flour : 1 1/2 Cup
Sugar : 1/2 Cup
Melted Butter : 1/2 Cup
Egg : 1
Milk : 1/4 Cup
Baking powder : 1 3/4 tsp
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg Powder : 1/4 tsp
Oranges : 4



Recipe :
Preheat oven to 175 C for 20 minutes.

Peel the oranges. We will use just the pulp. I cut each slice into half and then peeled it. Keep aside.

Take a large bowl. Sift Flour, salt and baking powder in it. Do it from a bit of height for it to get an airing. Add sugar.

Melt the butter and cool it. Add it to the flour.

Beat the egg slightly. Add milk in ti and stir it well.

Pour this into the flour and mix it well. Add the oranges and mix again.



Fill this mixture in greased muffin tins till 3/4 capacity. I used paper cases for muffins and filled them with this mixture.

Keep the muffin tray in upper shelf of oven.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve as desired.

Ginger Chicken - Dry

Ingredients :
Ginger : 4 inch cut into Juliennes - Length wise
Ginger Garlic Paste : 1 tbsp
Black Peppercorns : Freshly Crushed - 2 tsp
Oil : 5-6 tbsp
Coriander Leaves : For garnishing
Lime Juice : For garnishing

For The Marinade :
Boneless Chicken : 300 grams
Soya Sauce : 1 tbsp
White Vinegar : 1 tbsp
Cornflour : 1 tbsp
Salt : To Taste

To be ground into a Paste :
Onion : 1
Stems of coriander leaves : 50 grams
Curry Leaves : 8-10
Green Chillies : 2-3




Recipe :
Take a bowl. Mix all the marinade items in it. Make sure that the chicken is well coated. Keep it aside to marinate for atleast 30 minutes.

Make a fine paste of all the items to be ground. Keep it aside.

Take a wide big mouthed pan. It should be big enough to shallow fry the chicken. Heat the oil in that pan. Add the marinated chicken. Make sure that it is widespread and each piece of chicken is touching the bottom of pan. It shouldn't over lap. Fry till all the moisture from chicken evaporates and the chicken turns golden brown.

Now add the ginger to the chicken. Mix well. Add the ginger garlic paste and mix. Now add the onion paste. Stir well. Cook till the onion paste sticks to the chicken. Now add the salt and black pepper. Stir well. Remove from flame.

Garnish with coriander leaves n lime juice. Serve hot.

Vegetable Rings

It has snowed today. First snow of the season. The weather calls for a nice cuppa coffee and something hot and spicy. So here it goes.

Ingredients :
For the Dough :
All Purpose Flour (Maida) : 1 cup
Salt : 1 tsp
Oil : 1 tbsp
Warm Water : As required

For the Filling :
Boiled Potatoes : 1 medium
Carrot : 1/2 Finely Chopped
Corn : 4 tbsp Boiled
Green Chilli : 1
Coriander leaves : 2 tbsp
Dry Mango Powder : 1 tsp
Fennel Powder : 1 tsp
Onion Seeds (Kalonji) Powder : 1 tsp
Black Pepper Powder : 1 tsp
Salt : To Taste

Recipe :
Gather all the ingredients for the dough in a bowl, except water. Mix it well. Add little water at a time and knead a stiff dough. Cover it with a wet cloth and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Take another bowl and gather all the ingredients for the filling. Mash it well. The potatoes should be well mashed and the masala should be well spread.



Now take a large portion (approx thrice the size of portion you use to make chappati). Roll a large chappati from that dough. Spread the potato mix on that chappati.






Roll the chappati tightly. Seal the ends. Now cut it into 1 inch size pieces.




Preheat Oven. Place these pieces on the baking try and bake it at 180C for 10 minutes. Now turn over the rolls. Place a small piece of cheese on each roll. Bake again for 10 minutes.




Serve hot with a dip of your choice. I have served it with Green Apple Chutney.

Grilled Masala Chicken

An easy recipe to make Chicken Tikka without prior preparation. I didn't have time to marinate the chicken. So I decided to cook the chicken for a bit in the marinade.

Ingredients :
Chicken : 500 grams
Onions : 3 Medium
Ginger : 1 inch
Garlic : 5 Cloves
Green Chilli : 4
Almonds : 8-10
Cashew Nuts : 8-10
Cumin Seeds : 1 tsp
Dhaniya Powder : 1 tbsp
Garam Masala : 1 tbsp
Tandoori Masala : 1 tbsp
Yogurt : 3-4 tbsp
Salt : To taste
Oil : 2 tbsp



Recipe :

Soak almonds and cashews for 15 minutes in warm water.

Grind onion, green chilli, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, almonds and cashews in a paste.

Heat oil in a wok. Add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add the onion paste and saute till the paste turns light brown. Now put the salt, coriander powder, garam masala and tandoori masala. Saute till the oil leaves the side. Add the yogurt and saute for 2-3 minutes more. Now add the chicken and stir well till all the chicken is coated with the masala. Cook for another 4-5 minutes or till the masala is completely dry and sticks to the chicken. Remove from flame.

Preheat oven. Place the Chicken coated with the masala on the baking tray. Grill on 220C for 15 minutes. Now turn the chicken pieces over and grill for another 15 minutes. the chicken should be grilled to brown on both sides. Remove from oven.

Garnish with onions, lemons and coriander leaves and serve hot.

Cup Chaat

Its weekend and the weather is cold. My Taste buds are on a high. Pari had recently posted those yummy corn chaat. That inspired me to make these simple and yummy Cup chaat. Thanks a lot to Pari for tempting and inspiring me.

Ingredients :
For the Cup
Semolina : 1 Cup
Oil : 2-3 tbsp
Salt : To Taste
Water

For the Chaat Filing
Potatoes : 2 Boiled
Boondi : 4 tbsp
Onion : 1 Chopped
Green Chilli : 1
Coriander Leaves : 2 tbsp
Cumin Powder : 2 tsp
Dry Mango Powder : 1 tsp
Salt : To taste

For Garnishing :
Curd : 1/2 cup Well Beaten
Coriander Chutney
Tamarind Chutney
Sev




Recipe :
For Making the Cups
Take a bowl. Gather semolina, oil and salt. Mix it well. Add just about 2-3 tbsp of water and make a dough. Add more water if necessary but just a spoon at a time. Make a stiff dough. Cover with a wet cloth and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven for 15 minutes.

Now take a small portion of that dough. Grease it mildly. Roll it like a poori. Make it very thin. Smooth the edges if necessary.

Grease the muffin moulds. Put that poori in a muffin mould and make sure to press it properly on the bottom and the sides. Bake it in that preheated oven at 180C for 20-25 mintues or till they turn golden brown in colour. Let them cool completely before using them. You can also store them in an airtight container for further use.



For Making The Chaat filing
Soak boondi for 5 minutes in half cup water. After 5 min squeeze out the excess water from the boondi. Keep aside.

Take a Bowl. Add the boiled potatoes and mash them. Add the boondi, green chilli, coriander, onion, salt, dry mango powder, cumin powder. Mix them all well.

Take a cup and stuff it with this potato mash. top it with a spoonful of curd. Add the tamarind chutney and coriander chutney as per your liking. Topple with sev and serve immediately.