CABBAGE WRAPS

I have always liked the 'Lettuce wraps' at P.F.Chang's. Inspired by that, I tried 'Cabbage wraps'. Well, I din't have Tofu and instead used Paneer and it turned out to be really good. This is a very easy and no fail recipe.

Ingredients 

serves 2

- 1 medium sized onion

- 2 small sized tomatoes

- 1 big sized potato

- Paneer (I took about 20 pieces)

- 3 tbsp of Soy syrup

- 3 tbsp of green chillies paste

- 1 garlic pod

- 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder

- Crushed black pepper to taste

- Salt to taste

- 2 tsp of oil

How to make it

- Heat oil in a wok.

- Put finely cut onions, garlic and saute.

- Once onions become transparent, add finely cut tomatoes.

- Then add finely cut potatoes and Paneer pieces.

- Let the vegetables cook completely and slightly get brownish.

- Now add red chilli powder, add soy syrup and green chilli paste. Mix well.

- Add black pepper and salt. These syrups have salt in them. So taste before you add extra salt.

- Serve with Cabbage leaves.

Notes

- The amount of paneer can be added more or less according to your liking for paneer.

- I guess finely chopped green bell peppers gives a super taste to this.

- The Ingredients mentioned above is just my imagination. You can improvise as usual.

- Cabbage leaves are different from Lettuce leaves. Both don't taste the same. 

KADAI PANEER

My DH and I love paneer in almost any form and taste. In fact, we loved it when we found it in our pasta :) ( I will post that recipe later). Now, the recipe for the addictive Kadai paneer. Before that, the word 'Kadai' means wok or pan, in case you are wondering.

Ingredients

serves 2-3

2 cups paneer, cubed

1 medium sized capsicum / green bell pepper, cubed

1 large onion

2 green chillies

2-3pods of garlic, crushed

1 piece of ginger, crushed (or 1tsp ginger paste)

2 medium sized tomato, pureed

A pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves

1 tsp red chilli powder

A pinch of turmeric powder

1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander powder / dhania powder / malli podi

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp oil

1 tsp of Lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh curd

Salt to taste

How to make it

- Deep Fry the Paneer cubes in Oil, until they turn to golden brown in color.( I generally don't fry paneer for other recipes, but for this one, I have tried both and they have a taste of their own. So, frying is purely optional. If you don't fry paneer, you can skip the next part. It might turn too soggy or even break.)

- Remove from the Oil and transfer them to a bowl containing 1/2 cup of Fresh Curd and keep them together for 10 min. Mix the Paneer cubes well with curd, so that the Paneer turns soft and fluffy. Keep aside.

- Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a Pan, add Chopped Onions and Turmeric Powder and fry until the Onions slices turn transparent. Then add Ginger and Garlic and fry for a minute.

- Now add chopped Green Chillies, Chopped Tomatoes and fry until the Tomatoes turns soft and are cooked properly. It might take nearly 5 minutes to have the Tomatoes cooked.

- At this stage, add all the powders listed in the ingredients box above – Chilli Powder, Coriander or Dhaniya Powder, Cumin or Jeera Powder and Garam Masala Powder to the pan.

- Add Salt and half cup of Water to this mixture and cook for 5 minutes.

- Now add Green Capsicum (Bell Pepper) to the pan and cook for 5 min by closing the lid. Ensure that the Capsicum or Bell Pepper pieces do not turn too soft.

- Add fried and soaked Paneer or Cottage Cheese with Curd to the above mixture along with dried Fenugreek leaves or Kasuri Methi and cook for 2-3 minutes so that the aroma of the Kasuri Methi spreads into the Curry.

- Next add Lemon Juice and mix well.

- Once done, garnish with cilantro and serve hot with naan/kulcha/chapathis

SHEERANAM (SWEET MILK PONGAL)

This is very similar to Akkaravadisal, another sweet pongal recipe. Though I am not much of a sweet lover, there are certain sweets to which I will never say no. This is one such. Very easy to make and tasty to eat recipe.

Ingredients

serves 2-3

Rice - 1/2 cup

Milk - 5 cups (3 low fat milk + 2 half and half - my proportion)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Cashew nuts - 1 tsp

Cardamom crushed - 1/2 tsp

Raisins - 1 tsp

Almonds(cut) - 1 tsp

Ghee - 2.5 tsp

How to make it

- Wash rice and add 5 cups of milk and pressure cook for 10 mins. (I did like this to save time but you can also do the same in open flame and it might take some time to cook completely).

- Transfer to another container. Once the rice is cooked, reduce flame and add sugar little by little and mix well till it is dissolved.

- Remove from fire and add fried cashewnuts, raisins, almonds. Heat rest of the ghee, pour on the top and serve.

TRISCUITS WITH A TWIST

It was a sunday evening. Here-ends-the-weekend depression was about to set in. I wanted to eat something but din't want to strain too much and in fact din't have the motivation to do anything. But I had to make something to feed another hungry soul, my DH Srik. That's when I got the idea for this recipe. All you need is Triscuit crackers. It is a whole wheat snack cracker in a square shape and comes in a variety of flavors. If you are looking for something different to pop into your mouth and make it in a jiffy, this is the one.

Ingredients

No of crackers per choice ( I used cracked pepper and olive oil flavor)

Shredded cheese of your choice ( I used Monterey jack)

2 tsp of mint chutney

How to make it

- Arrange the crackers.

- Make tiny patties of the shredded cheese and place it on the top of each cracker.

- a small amount of mint chutney on top of cheese on each cracker.

This is not a much of a recipe-kind. But if you are clueless as to what to do for a fresh flavor, this might help as an idea. And as always, you can experiment with your creativity. And when you do, don't forget to let me know the recipe ;)

SPICY STUFFED ZUCCHINI BOATS

If you are looking for a spicy and a refreshing recipe ..this is definitely the one. This recipe was adapted from chow.com. This recipe is just to give an idea but regarding the ingredients you can let your imaginations run wild.

Ingredients

serves 2

2 medium sized zucchinis

2 small sized tomatoes finely chopped (not the tiny ones)

1 medium sized onions

1 clove of garlic minced

a handful of green bell peppers, carrots, beans finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

2 green chillies finely chopped (according to taste levels)

2 tsp Garam masala (for a stronger flavor)

2 tsp Pav Bhaji masala

1 tsp red chilli powder (to taste)

Salt to taste

How to make it

- Sauté the onions in oil until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté.

- Add the tomatoes and the remaining vegetables. Add a little amount of water so that it doesn't get burned. Cover the pan and bring to a boil.

- Meanwhile slice zucchini in half lengthwise. Place in a large pan, cut side down, and fill the pan with enough water to cover the zucchini halfway. Cover the pan, bring to a boil; once boiling, let cook for 5 minutes. Remove the zucchini from the water and place on a plate to cool.

- Once cool enough to handle, use a tablespoon to remove pulp, leaving about 1/4 inch of pulp in the zucchini. You can either use the pulp in the spicy mixture or leave it.

- Pre heat oven to 350 F for 6-8 mins.

- Stuff each zucchini half with some of the mixture. Place in a baking dish (cover the base with aluminium foil) and bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

BAKED NATURAL CUT FRIES

Potatoes are irresistible..and potato fries are sinfully delicious. I sincerely believe 'potatoes' can bring world peace. Well! Even you will talk about the blissfulness of crispy on the outside and super soft on the inside potatoes once you try this out. This is a no-strain easy-breezy recipe that will definitely work like a charm. Are you ready to experience the taste?

Ingredients

serves 2 (for one serving)

2 large potatoes (any type of potato you have)

6 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp cornstarch/cornflour

1 tsp regular salt

1 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp garlic powder (optional)

How to make it

- Bring a saucepan with 4 cups water to a boil. Scrub the potatoes clean (don't peel) and insert into the boiling water. Or, cut the potatoes into wedges without peeling the skin and put them in the boiling water(This is what I did). Simmer and let the potatoes par-boil. It usually takes me 10-12 mins. When a knife is inserted it should go in without effort but make sure the potatoes don't become cooked soft or mushy. Remove from water and let it cool on a plate.

- Transfer the potato wedges into a large bowl. Pour in the olive oil and add all other ingredients into the bowl. Mix gently until well combines. I did this step by hand, rubbing all the ingredients gently into the potato pieces. Crack some pepper on top again if you'd like once you are done mixing.

- Lay the pieces on a baking tray (I used aluminum foil to line the baking tray) without overlapping. If your baking tray is small, bake in two batches but make sure that you line the potato wedges in a single layer.

- Bake in the pre-heated oven(200C/390F) for 30-40 mins until the wedges are golden brown and crisp on the outside. It may be a good idea to turn the baking tray around once during baking so that all the pieces get uniform heat, more or less.

Serve it with hot ketchup.

CARROT HALWA

I am not much of a sweet-eating person. But recently I had this extreme craving for Carrot Halwa and incidentally, today being Vijayadasami (10th day of Navrathri) I made it and couldn't resist the taste. Why don't you try too?

Ingredients

serves 2

3/4 cup of ghee melted (I used unsalted butter of the same quantity)

3 large or 3 cup of carrots grated

1.5 cups of milk

1 cup sugar

a handful of cashews, raisins (to taste)

How to make it

- Pressure cook the grated carrots and milk for 1 whistle.

- Heat ghee in a pan, fry cashews and raisins.

- Strain milk from the carrots and keep it aside.

- Add the cooked carrots to the pan and add some milk if you find it quite dry.

- Cook for 5-6 minutes and add sugar.

- Sugar will turn it watery but don't mind and continuously stir it until you get the halwa texture or till the excess water evaporates.

Enjoy it immediately :)