Paneer tikka with berries smoothie!!!

Paneer Tikka

Paneer has always been a favourite and I do have a couple of paneer dishes in this blog. I got these skewers long back only with the idea of making paneer tikka and finally used them last week. I got the basic idea of the recipe from Divya's blog. We enjoyed them a lot, though my hubby said that I should have used only paneer and avoided the other veges , that would have tasted much better!!!
I will be sending this to Purnima's event called My favourite things-cheese , which was originally started by Bindiya.

Ingredients-

Paneer/cottage cheese- 200gms cut in large cubes
Capsicum- 1 cut in triangles or squares(I used red colured capsicum)
Tomatoes- 1 firm- cut in triangle or square
Thick curd- 3/4 cup
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Red chilly powder- 1tsp
Garam masala/tandoori masala- 1tsp
Salt- 1tsp
Chaat masala- 1tsp

Method-

Add turmeric powder, chilly powder,salt and garam masala in a bowl containing thick curd. Add the chopped paneer , tomatoes and capsicum into the bowl. Mix well. Leave this the refrigerator for around 2-3 hours. Then thread this pieces of paneer and the other veges in a skewer.
Bake this in a preheated oven at 200c for 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle some chaat powder on them. Serve warm with green chutney preferably.


Berries smoothie

I am always tempted to buy the blueberries when I see them in the supermarket. But then its always so expensive that I used to resist my temptation and leave the place quietly. But this time I saw them selling this for almost half the price and bought them immediately. I was really lucky that day, I even chanced upon some juicy Indian mangoes which were being sold at a very reasonable price. So when I got these blueberries ,I have been looking for some recipes to use them. But then I couldn't help , but add a few of them in my smoothie along with some strawberries before popping a few into my mouth!! Smoothie was really delicious.
I am sending this one to Priti of Indian khana who is hosting Festive food- summer treats.

Ingredients-

Strawberries- 3
Bluberries- around 8 to 10
Sugar- 1tbsp
Yogurt- 1 cup

Method-

Chop the strawberries and then blend them in a blender along with the bluberries and sugar to a smooth paste. Them add the curd and blend again. Add little water if its too thick.
Serve chilled.


By the way, I have also updated my craft blog with some work on glass. Do have a look.

Vegetarian Bee hoon - Singaporean's hot favourite

Bee hoon is basically rice noodles. This is a popular delicacy available in vegetarian as well non-vegetarian form in all the foodcourts of Singapore. Though vegetarian do not have many options in the foodcourts, there are few stalls which serve a few veggie delicacies, so this is one of them. I love to make this once in a while at home loaded with vegetables and it makes a one pot meal. So this is how I make.

Ingredients-

Bee hoon/dry rice noodles- 1 packet
Mixed vegetables
I used red capsicum, yellow capsicum,carrots and bean sprouts- 2-3 cups.
You can also use spring onions, mushrooms, tofu as well as spinach. They taste great as well.
Dark Soya sauce-2-3tbsp
Tomato Sauce- 1tbsp
Salt- to taste
Pepper- 1tsp(optional)
Canola oil- 2-3tsp
Lemon cut in wedges
Method
Boil some water in a large pot. Place the beehoon in the pot of hot water for around 20 minutes so that it turns soft and cooked. Drain the water.
Heat oil in a pan. Add the vegetables and saute them till they become soft. Now add the sauces along with salt and pepper. Then add the cooked noodles and mix thoroughly so that everything combines well.
Serve hot with lemon wedges.

In the Singapore food courts, a popular side dish called sambal and chilli vinegar is served along with the noodles though I did not try making them. Sambal is commercially available and you can make chilli vinegar yourself. They make the dish really spicy.

Sweet potato payasam!!Happy b'day sis!!

It was my sister's birthday last week. And though we are a few thousands miles away from each other, the day had to be celebrated from my side. After all she is one of the most important person in my life, my best friend. My kid sister, but has been like my mother. She does everything, what my mom would have done for me. She has a good sense of humour , so keeps everyone near her cheerful always. So this one is for you S. Happy birthday and may you acheive all the best'est' things in life!!!
Coming to the post, actually I was wondering what to make for the special day. S is not too fond of sweets and would have preffered something spicy like samosas or chaat. But will prepare that when you are with me!!Anyways,we thought of celebrating it with some payasam, a typical south Indian way. I had some sweet potatoes and thought of making payasam with it, though I have never heard or tasted it before and was not sure how it would taste. But it came out really good and tasted awesome. I am glad I tried it!!

Ingredients-
Sweet potato-2 cups grated
Sugar- 1cup
Milk- 2cups
Cashew- few broken to small pieces
Ghee- 1tsp

Method-
Heat ghee in a pan. Add the cashews and saute till they turn golden brown in colour. Now add the grated sweet potato and keep stirring till it cooks well. Add the sugar and mix well. Stir for another 2 to 3 minutes. Now add the milk and stir till the mixture thickens and is uniform.
Serve warm or chilled.

Chapati laddoo- A leftover delicacy

My sister had this at her friend's place and she loved it. She told me about this , but did not know the exact recipe. As I tried searching through the net , I found the recipe in Aayis recipes. Incidently I had a few left over chapatis of the previous day and I made this yesterday. I followed almost the same procedure. It tasted really good.
Ingredients-

Chapatis- 5

Jaggery- 1/3 cup

Ghee- 2tsp

Milk- 1tbsp

Cashews- few broken into pieces

Cardamom powder- 1tsp

Method-

Tear the chapatis into small pieces. Place in a hot oven(around 200c) for 15 to 20 minutes
till they turn a little crisp. Now grind them to a fine powder. Combine this with jaggery
and mix well. Now heat the ghee in a pan. Add the cashews. Now add the mixture of chapati and jaggery along with the cardamom powder. Keep stirring for sometime. Remove from flame. Place the contents on the plate. Add little milk in it and ensure that there are no lumps. Take some mixture on your palm and knead them into small balls(laddoos).

My friend gave me another suggestion. Instead of heating them to make them crisper, you could just grind the fresh chapatis to a fine powder. Combine ghee and powdered jaggery in it and knead into laddoos. Heat if necessary.This is quite healthy and filling for kids too.

Methi parathas

I buy methi /fenugreek leaves whenever I go to mustafa (Indian stores) and certainly parathas and methi pulao is in the menu and the rest of the leaves is used for some kind of side dish with chapati, usually in combination with peas and potatoes.
Methi parathas is a favourite at home and we all usually love it with carrot raitha. So as fenugreek or methi is a a very healthy green , this is my entry for SWC- cooking with greens , an event going on in my blog which was originally started by Lakshmi. You can/should read everything about fenugreek here.
I have seen different ways of making these parathas. I make it this way. But you can saute the methi leaves before adding to the wheat flour. I prefer to add it as it is to the flour.

Ingredients-
Fenugreek leaves/methi leaves- 1 cup leaves chopped
Wheat flour- 1cup
besan- 1tbsp
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Salt- 1tsp
Ajwain/carom seeds- 1tsp(optional)
Green chillies- 1 chopped very fine(optional)
Oil- 1 to 2tsp
ghee to brush on the parathas

Method
Add the finely chopped fenugreek,besan and other spices with salt in the wheat flour. Knead a very soft dough using water. Add little oil in the end to make the dough softer and non sticky. Make lemon sized balls with dough. Roll them into a thick circle.
Heat a tava. Place the rolled circle of dough on the tava. Cook both the sides till dark brown spots appear on them. Brush ghee on the parathas.

Coffee Walnut Cake

It felt so good baking a cake almost after a gap of two months. Yes, we have restricted cakes and other desserts only for special occasions and festivals. It was our wedding anniversary yesterday. As few cakes are baked at home nowadays, I had so many of them in my mind and was wondering which one to make. But I was craving for the coffee flavoured one for a very long time. So It was decided to bake a coffee cake. And about the walnuts, I just love to bite into them. So I added a handful of them in the cake. It was a lovely surprise for my hubby. The cake was a huge success and of course the coffee flavour did satisfy my taste buds.

Ingredients-

For the sponge
Self raising flour- 200g
Butter-180g
Granulated sugar- 180g
Eggs- 4
Coffee decoction - 50ml
Walnuts- 1/2 cup broken to small pieces

For frosting
Butter- 1/2cup
Sugar- 1/2cup
Cocoa powder-1tbsp
Coffee decoction- 20ml
Cherries and walnuts for decoration

Method-
Combine the butter and sugar and beat them well. Then add the eggs and beat again to a smooth mixture. Add the flour gradually and mix well. Then add the coffee decoction and mix well. Now fold in the walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter in a well greased cake tin. Bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180c for 45 minutes. Cool and invert the cake on a plate.
Combine the butter, sugar and decoction to a smooth paste. Refrigerate this for 30 minutes. Apply it on the cake. Decorate with cherries and walnuts.

My son was so excited to see the cake and sang the happy birthday song and it was he who cut the cake too!!! This is the picture after we cut the cake and I was too lazy to take a neat picture.

Happy Mothers day with a cake.

A very happy mother's day to all the beautiful moms!!

"Mum is a rose whose petals are soft,

A lily whose stem is tall and strong,

A person who is never wrong,

A person who loves and is loved forever,

Trust her, believe her and never doubt her."

Though I have never mentioned about my mom or my feelings about her neither in my blog nor to anyone, today being the mother's day I decided to write something for my mother. I miss her so much ,especially today. I lost my mom few years ago.Sometimes I desperately wish my mom to be near me, I want to see her, touch her,talk to her, embrace her. But still ,though not physically,I know she is and has always been there with me in every moment of my life. She is there to guide me in whatever I do. I can feel her prescence when I am lying down alone, she sits besides me ,everything is so calm, but still I can hear her lullaby. She gives me all the energy to carry out all the chores during the day. She gives me the strength to overcome all the obstacles coming my way. I will always cherish the first twenty five years of my life when I shared all my happiness and sorrows of my life with my mother. I love you always ,Miss you,Amma!!!

Now, today as a mom, I decided to post a recipe of a nice delicious pomegranate cake for all the pretty moms. And also for my son laksh who has just begun speaking a few words now and wished me a happy mothers day in his own way:))Eggless Pomegranate yogurt cake-

Ingredients-

Self raising flour- 2 1/2 cups

Baking soda- A pinch

Pomegrante seeds- 1cup

Canola oil- 1/2cup

Yogurt- 1cup

Condensed milk- 3/4cup

Granulated sugar- 1/4 cup

Method-

Combine yogurt,condensed milk,canola oil and sugar and beat well. Then add the flour slowly to the mixture mixing well. Then fold in the pomegranate seeds and stir. Pour the cake batter in a tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180c for 50 minutes. Test with a skewer.

Cool and the slice the cake.

I am sending this post to

1. Ivy of Kopiaste who is celebrating mothers day in her blog

2.Shama nagarajan of easy2cook recipes who is hosting an event called mothers day special.

Wheat wraps with vegetable filling - healthy and quick snack

My friend got lot of these wheat wraps from Mustafa and distributed it among all our friends.Few ideas were given on the packet of the wraps on how to use them. It said that it could be used directly as it was slightly precooked. It could be even be torn to small pieces and added to milk and taken like cereals. I was wondering how to use them and it was nearing the expiry date. One day , my hubby came home early and was hungry and wanted some quick snack. An idea struck me and I made a filling with a mixture of vegetables and stuffed them inside the wraps.Look for the detailed recipe below. It was quite filling and was made in few minutes. So I thought of sending them to Maahima of spices etc who is hosting the cooking in 15 minutes event.

Ingredients-
Wheat wraps- 2 to 3
Mixed vegetables- 1 cup( You can use frozen ones too)(I used carrots, paneer, peas,corn and broccoli)
Salt to taste
Oil- 1tsp
Red chilly powder- 1tsp
Garam masala- 1tsp
Cheese grated- to top the wraps
Tomato sauce for serving.

Method-
Heat oil in a pan. Add the mixed vegetables along with salt, red chilly powder and garam masala. Saute for sometime till it gets cooked. Place the vegetable stuffing on one end of wheat wrap and roll it. Place this on a microwavable tray. Add some cheese on the top. Microwave at 100 percent for 2 minutes.
Serve hot with tomato sauce on the top.

Announcing SWC- Cooking with greens event

Cooking with greens
As I had mentioned in my post,that I have to get serious about blogging and it was high time to do something , I decided to host an event in my blog,my first event. My special thanks to lakshmi, who gave me a chance to host the SWC this month. As lakshmi has already been concenterating on healthy foods in her past few food blog events , I decided to carry on the same tradition.
As greens are an essential part of our diet, it would be nice to know not only the various preperation methods ,but also the various kinds of green leafy vegetables.

Why greens?
Green leafy vegetables are a great source of many essential vitamins and minerals our body needs to keep healthy. It includes vitamin A,C,K,folate, iron and calcium. They are great sources of fiber too. It also contains some nutrients to prevent certain types of cancer and good for heart too. Its recommended to eat 3 cups of green leafy vegetables per week or half a cup everyday.
They also provide varieties of phytonutrients including beta carotene and lutiene and zeaxanthene which protects our cells from damage and eye related problems.They also contain small amounts of omega-3-fats.
Greens have very little carbohydrates content in them and they are packed in layers of fibers which make them very slow to digest. Therefore greens have very little impact on blood glucose. Some green contains oxalates which may bind some calcium in the greens.Indeed they are nutritional powerhouses.
Source-www.youngwomenshealth.org
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/

What all can you include?
You can use any green leafy vegetables in your preparation. You can refer here for the list of green leafy vegetables.
A small common list of greens is mentioned below-
Spinach, fenugreek,coriander,mint,amaranth,beet greens,brussels sprouts, cabbage,brocolli,collard green,lettuce,mustard greens,sorrel ,kailan,chye sim and many more.

What can you do with them?
Thats completely your choice. You can whip up any vegetarian dish with your choice of green. It can be a snack, salad,bread,rice, or maybe a dessert too!!!Just dont forget to add lots of greens in them. Post the recipe with photo of your dish in your blog before 6th of june and do mention the health benefits.

Some rules for participation-
*Make any vegetarian dish using greens as the star ingredient. Using eggs is allowed.
*Please send me your entries to creativesaga(at)gmail(dot)com.
Entries should include the name of your blog with the url, the name of your dish with the entry url and an photo of the dish.
*The last date for sending in your entries is June 6th 2009'.
*Multiple entries are most welcome.
* Non bloggers can send me the recipe and photo of the dish to the above mentioned e-mail address. I will include it in the round up.
*Linkback to the announcment when you post the entry.
*Please include the logo if you wish to.

Logo image courtesy- www.lifeinitaly.com

*Dont forget to have your daily cup of greens!!

Update- You can send entry from your archives. But do mention about it with the link to the event in your new post.

Tendli baath or ivygourd rice

Again, this one has been in my drafts for a long time and when I write this I feel I really have to gear up myself and come back to serious blogging. There has been no proper cooking (only the usual routine food) , no baking and no taking pictures for a while now. I got a new camera and I still have to learn and experiment with it. First having guests was an excuse (well , that is true), but now its laziness or I do need a break now. But now its high time I do something about it. I hope you encourage me with your inspiring comments.
Ok now coming back to this recipe for today. I had this dish at a Maharashtrian friends place. I was invited for a small party before my wedding. Maharashrian's call it "Kelvan" if I am right. Well I really loved this one, but never tried making it. One fine day I was reminded of it and decided to make. It tasted really good though am not sure I followed the exact recipe as my friends. But definitely a good one if you are bored of having the usual rice or pulao.

Ingredients-
Tendli/tondli/ivygourd- 250g(chopped lengthwise)
Onion- 1 chopped fine
Garlic cloves- 2 cut and crushed
Ginger garlic paste- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1tsp
Green chillies- 2-3 slit lengthwise
Dessicated coconut (grated)- 1tbsp
Basmati rice- 1cup
Curry leaves- few
Coriander powder- 1tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil- 1tsp
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Jeera- 1tsp

Method-
Cook the rice , taking care each grain is seperate. You can add little lime juice and salt before cooking it. Keep it seperate.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, jeera, green chilies garlic ,Ginger garlic paste and curry leaves. Saute for a minute. Then add the onion and fry till translucent. Now add the ivygourd. Add all the spices and salt. Mix well. Add a few drops of water. Cover with a lid and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in between. Now add the dessicated coconut and saute for further 5 minutes. When the ivygourd is cooked well, add the rice and mix well.
Serve hot with raitha.