Onion Kachori - Rajasthani style

Onion kachori is a spicy round flattened ball filled with onions and other Indian spices which originated in Jodhpur and soon became a famous snack item in Rajasthan. It goes very well with hot milk tea, coffee or sweet lassie which is another delicacy of that place. I have tasted this amazing snack for the first time when prepared by a close friend who is a great foodie with great culinary expertise. I want to say a big thanks for introducing this tasty savoury to me. The recipe is quite simple and so I am sharing it here for all of you to enjoy.

Ingredients:

Onion                        1 (chopped)
Cumin  seed              1/2tsp
Coriander seed          1/2tsp
Kasuri methi             1/2tsp
Chilli  powder           1 tsp
Amchour powder      1 tsp
Garam  masala          1/2 tsp
Green chilli               1 slitted
Besan                        1 tsp
Potatoes                    2 (boiled  and smashed)
Sugar                         as per taste
Salt
Plain flour                2 cups
Ajwain                      pinch
Oil

Stuffing:

1. In a grinder add Coriander seed, Cumin seed, Fennel sedans, kasuri methi and grind it to make a coarse spice mixture.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a broad nonstick pan not too hot. Add the freshly made spice mixture asafetida, chilli powder , garam masala and roast the spices for a minutes.
3. Next add in the besan, aamchur powder and black salt and cook in a medium flame for about 2 to 3 minutes and keep stirring.
4. Once the mixer is roasted and gives a nice aroma,  add one chopped onion and two slitted green chilis. Now saute until the onions are soft.
5. In my version of pyaaj kachori i have added smashed potatoes to enhance the taste. Add boiled and mashed potato to the mixture and stirr well to mix together for few minutes
6. Add half tsp of sugar and salt to balance the taste of whole stuffing. Cook for a couple of hours switch off flame and let the filling cool for sometime.

Dough:

1. To make the kachori dough take flat vessel and pour 2 cups of plain flour. Now add pinch of ajwain, salt and 2 tbsp oil. Rub oil with the flour nicely.
2. Add little amount of water at a time and knead a medium soft dough. Dough need to be kneaded for 5 to 8 minutes to get a good texture. Let it cover and stay for half an hour.

Kachori:

1. Once the filling is cooled take small equal portions of it and make ball. similarly divide the dough portions little larger than the filling portions.
2. Take a portion of dough and flatten it with fingers and pressing the edges well. once it is about 3 inches in diameter put the filling portion inside and close the edges and make a large ball. Similarly make balls with other portions and let it covered with damp cloth and rest for 10 minutes.
3. Take each ball and press it with palm to flatten with little concave at center which help the kachori to puff up nicely while frying.
4. In order to make the kachori really hard and crispy, we need to fry it twice , first in high flame for about 10 seconds to ensure the outer layer is cooked and wont absorb much oil. After flash frying all the kachori in high flame reduce the flame and fry the kachori again in medium for about 5 to 6 minutes to make it puffed up well and super crispy.

Serve hot with sweet tamarind chutney enjoy this amazing evening snacks

Cheesy Malai Chicken Tikka

Cheesy malai chicken tikka is a variation of normal chicken tikka. Its basically grilled chicken kebabs with unique combination of spices with cream and cheese and hence the colour is creamy white. Cheese was not something always used in traditional malai tikka but it does take the flavor of cream to whole other level! One will get pure taste of malai and cheese in every bite of it.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast pieces       500 gms
Garlic cloves                     4
Green chillies                    2
Ginger                               1 inch
Lemon juice                      2 tbsp
Heavy cream                     1/4 cup
Thick yogurt                      2 tbs
Corn starch                        1 tsp
Garam masala                    1 tsp
Salt
Coriander leaves
Butter (for basting)
Mozzarella cheese

Method:

1. Wash and cut chicken into kebab size pieces about 2 inches long.
   
   
2. Soak the wooden/skewers in water so that it doesn't burn while grilling.
   
   
3. In a blender add garlic cloves, green chillies, peeled ginger piece, few coriander leaves, yogurt and lemon. Blend the ingredients into a smooth puree.
   
   
4. Transfer into a bowl add heavy cream, corn starch and garam masala. Mix well and the marinade is ready. Add chicken pieces and coat well. Marinade it for minimum 2 to 3 hours or up to overnight in refrigerator.
   
   
5. Before grilling the chicken add mozzarella cheese and mix well. Now take each pieces of chicken and skew it into skewer..chicken is ready to grill or cook into skillet.
   
   
6. Preheat oven grill at 200 degrees and spray oil on the grill tray and place chicken skewers on it. cook chicken for 30 minutes .best with butter after 15 minutes turn and grill for another 15 minutes.

Take it out and splash some lemon juice
Grilled spicy malai chicken tikka is now ready to serve with Green chutney.

Sweet Sour Bitter Gourd With Mustard

Bitter gourd is one of those extremely healthy vegetables which is  rich all valuable nutrients  like iron, beta Carotene, calcium and potassium but many of us specially kids are  reluctant to eat vegetables due to its unique bitter taste. so if we manage to remove the bitterness by adding spices and sweetness then teaming it with other vegetables like onions, potatoes, brinjal and tomatoes, it turns into a delectable side dish .The recipe shared here is one of those traditional bengali dish which is a combination of sweet, tangy, spicy and a light touch of bitterness. Mustard paste  lends a unique achaari taste to the dish.

Ingredients:

Bitter Gourd Fine 4 medium sized
Onion Finely chopped 1Large
potato Fine cut  1medium
mustard paste 2Tablespoon
paanch phoron (five spices) 1Teaspoon
Red chili whole 2 nos
Turmeric Powder 1Teaspoon
Red Chili Powder 1/2 Teaspoon
Tamarind Paste or juice 1teaspoon
Mustard oil 1 Tablespoo
Salt as per taste
Sugar 1Teaspoon

Method:

1. Wash the bitter gourds well and cut  the vegetable into fine pieces and set aside.

2.Wash potato  and cut into small cubes.

3. Heat mustard oil in a non-stick kadhai. When oil is smoking hot, add paanch phoron and Red chili. when it starts spluttering add chopped onion saute for a minute then add potato slices and chopped bitter gourd. Mix well and set the heat to medium-low. Cook covered for about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.  Add Turmeric powder, Chili powder and salt. saute for a couple of minutes. Cover the pan with a lid and cook it in low flame for 5 to 6 minutes more, till it become tender.

5. Now add Mustard paste, Tamarind paste and sugar and give a good stir and cover it for about 5 minutes till the spices gets cooked nicely spreading the aroma of mustard.Turn off the heat.
Let it cool a bit and serve with warm cooked plain rice.

Cheese Stuffed Honey Glazed Chicken Cutlets

This crispy outside and  moist & tender  inside chicken cutlet is a perfect meal option to have when you need a fast and simple yet an extremely delicious snack or dinner recipe for your family. The recipe makes deep fried  chicken breast fillet with a surprise of cheese filling sealed inside  coated with a  sweet and sour honey garlic sauce. 

Ingredients:

Large boneless chicken breasts- 5 nos
Egg 2 nos
Chilli sauce 2tsp
Milk 2 tbsp
All purpose flour- 1/2 cup
Cajun seasoning ( or mixture of 1/4 tsp  of each Cumin powder, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika, Black pepper and oregano)
Salt
Black pepper- 1 tsp
ground ginger
Chili powder
Cheddar Cheese grated (filling)-100 gms
Oil for frying
Chopped spring onion and sesame seeds for garnishing

 For Honey Garlic sauce

Honey- 2 tablespoons
Garlic- 4 cloves minced
Soy sauce- 1 tablespoons
pepper powder-1/2 teaspoon
Tomato sauce- 1 tablespoon
Cornstarch-1 tablespoon

Method:

1. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Keep it aside for 30 minutes.

Cut each fillet into two halves.

2. Take egg, chili sauce and milk in a bowl and add a pinch of salt whisk together to make a batter.

3. Hold  the chicken and cut a slit in 1 side of each chicken breast to form a pocket. Spoon 1 table spoon cheddar Cheese into each pocket.

4. In a large bowl, combine flour and Cajun seasoning, salt and mix together.Now Working one at a time, dredge cheese stuffed chicken breast piece into flour mixture and then dip into eggs batter, then dredge in flour mixture again, pressing  is required to get an even coating.

5. Heat oil in a skillet enough for deep frying, add chicken pieces to it, 2 or 3 at a time, and fry until evenly golden and crispy, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

6.To make the sweet and sour sauce, in a medium saucepan  add 1 tablespoon of oil.Turn the heat down to slightly medium. combine honey, crushed garlic, pepper powder and soy sauce and Tomato sauce. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup water and add to the sauce. Stir mixture into the saucepan until thickened.

Add the fried chicken  and turn to coat in the sauce.Remove from stove immediately. Place chicken on plates and drizzle over remaining sauce in order to get a perfect glazed look.

Garnish with sesame seed serve with boiled and stir fried veggies.

Chicken Chop (Cutlet) Bengali style

Chicken Chop (Chicken cutlet) is a very famous street food item which most of the Bengalis miss dearly during evening snack time especially during monsoon and winter season and also when friends make a visit on weekends for pure "Bengali Adda". 

Though chicken chop/cutlet/Croquette are popular in many places but the preparations are different with respect to each place and so is the taste. The recipe I am going to share is one of those inherited recipes from my mother over the years and is very popular in my native place Agartala. It tastes awesome and easy to make too. Let’s go to the recipe.

Ingredients:

For stuffing (Pur)

• Chicken boneless 250 gms
• Onion 3 large (finely chopped)
• Garlic paste 2 tsp
• Ginger pate 2 tsp
• Green Chilli 5 to 6  chopped
• Turmeric powder 1 tsp
• Cumin powder ½ tsp
• Garam masala powder 1 tsp
• Potato Boiled (adding salt) mashed 3 to 4
• Mustard oil  3 tbsp
• Roasted cumin powder 1 tsp
• Cornflour 2 tsp
• Salt as per taste
• Oil for frying

For batter:

• Egg 2 nos
• Corn flour 1 tsp
• Salt one pinch

For coating:

• Bread crumb 1 cup (I have used homemade as I don’t find it more often and making it  at home is very easy. Take 5 to 6 Rusk biscuit/ bread toast and blend it in mixture and you can get freshly made bread crumb)
• Salt one pinch
• Black pepper powder ½ tsp

Method:

1. Clean and washed boneless chicken and cut into very small pieces. Now take it in a pressure cooker and add 1 cup of water and ½ tsp salt. Pressure cook it upto 2 whistles. One the pressure is released pour it in a strainer and strain the excess water.
2. Take a pan and heat 2 tbsp of Mustard oil . Add chopped onion and fried till it turn golden. Now add ginger and garlic paste and chopped green chillis, turmeric powder and cumin powder. Fry the masala for few minutes and add little water while frying.
3. When the masala separates oil after frying, add boiled chicken pieces and  and mix it  nicely. Add salt and garam masala and then fry the whole filling for 6 to 7 minutes till the chicken is cooked properly.  Once cooked shift the chicken mixture in a bowl. And let it cool completely.
4. Heat 1 tbsp of mustard oil in the same pan and add ½ tsp of garlic paste. Now add the mashed potato, roasted cumin powder and 1 tsp of corn flour. Fry the mashed potato for 5 to 6 minutes til it gives a nice aroma. Shift the mixture in a bowl.
5. Take a small portion of mashed potato mixture and make a round ball. Now make small a case and stuff it with little of chicken mixture now carefully cover it to make smooth ball. You can wither shape them as round chop or oblong shaped chop as I have done.
6. Dip each chop in Egg batter and then roll into bread crumb coating. Now it is ready to deep fry.
7. Fry the chop in hot oil til it turns golden brown in color.
8. Remove it with slotted spoon on a tissue paper to drain excess oil.

Serve it hot and crisp and enjoy this delicious evening snack with tomato sauce or kasundi.

Achaari chicken ( with Raw mango pickle)

Whenever the question comes across my mind “ what to eat when I am so bored with everything I cook”, I start experimenting tweaking different recipes available in internet and comes out with some innovative variation of that. The recipe shared below is also an outcome of such experiment where I tried my own variation to the traditional “Achaari chicken” and it became a  delightful surprise for me and my friends who are too  hunting  for  a completely different style chicken curry. 

  Traditional Achaari chicken curry is a spicy, tangy and extremely aromatic thick chicken gravy which contains all spices used in Pickle and hence the name Achaari (pickle). My version is little different and simple where I have used Raw Mango Pickle or “Aam ka achar”instead of using much additional spices and that makes it quick and easy to prepare.

 If you are yet to taste this lip smacking ‘chicken curry with pickling spices’, go through the recipe here:

Ingredients:

1.              Chicken- 1 kg (Medium pieces preferably whole leg pieces)

2.              Onion finely chopped 1 large

3.              Onion paste of 2 medium Onions

4.              Tomato puree- of 1 large tomato

5.               Ginger garlic paste-2 tbsp

6.               Green chilly slit-4 nos.

7.               Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

8.               Coriander powder- 1 tsp

9.                Chili powder-1 1/2 tsp (as per spice tolerance)

10.              Raw mango pickle-2 and 1/2 tbsp (Store bought)

11.              Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp

12.              Curd/yogurt- 1/2 cup

13.              Lemon juice-2 tbsp

14.              Dried Fenugreek leaves (optional)

15.              Salt-to taste

16.              Sugar as per taste

For seasoning:

1.              Mustard oil-4 tbsp

2.              Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

3.              Fennel seeds-1/4 tsp

4.              Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp

5.              Fenugreek seeds- 1/4 tsp

6.              Black cumin seed (kalojeera/kalaunji)

                 You can use Paanch phoron (1 tbsp) if you have at home which is the mix of all these five above                          whole spices

7.              Bay leaf-1

Add caption

Method:

1. Marinate the cleaned chicken pieces with lemon juice, Mango pickle (you can use homemade or store-bought pickle and this is not a part of traditional recipe but adding pickle take the dish to a whole new level and give an amazing taste and aroma), Curd, salt and red chili powder. Keep it in refrigeration for at least an hour.
2. Heat mustard oil in a pan, add all the seasoning ingredients one by one or Paanch phoron. Once it starts crackling, add chopped Onion and fry for a minute.
3. Add onion paste and sauté until it turns golden. Now add Ginger and garlic paste and slit green chili. Fry the masala for 4 to 5 minutes on medium flame till raw smell goes off
4.  Add turmeric powder, coriander powder and Tomato puree and sauté the mixture for another 4 to 5 minutes
5.  Add marinated chicken and mix well and cook it on high flame for 4 to 5 minutes with continuous stirring. Cover and reduce the flame and let the chicken cook in its own gravy for 12-15 minutes.
6. Add one cup of hot water and cook it covered for another 12 to 15 minutes until the chicken pieces becomes soft and oil separates and floats on top
7. Adjust salt and sugar as per taste.
8. Finally add garam masala powder and kasuri Methi powder. Switch off the flame and let it cover for few minutes and your lip-smacking Achari chicken is ready!

Loitta Maacher Jhuri ( Bombay Duck Fish Scrambled)

"Loitta fish" as we all know is very popular as Loitta shutki in East Bengal. Its only very recently I was introduced to the real Loitta fish behind the Shutki when my mother prepared this awesome “Loitta maacher Jhuri”.

Loitta fish is famous as Bombil or BombayDuck in Mumbai. It is a very soft and mushy fish with only one singleSpine. It can be cooked without frying it separately though it need a generous amount of oil for cooking and hence not a very healthy option, but this quick and simple dish is a sure shot way to please everyone in the family and guests.

Ingredients: 

• 500 gms Loitta maach cleaned and washed (Without head) 
• 2 Large sized Onion (finely chopped) 
• 12 to 15 clove of Garlic (finely chopped or grated) 
• 10 to 12 green chili’s (need to add more chili to enhance the taste) 
• 1 and ½ tsp Turmeric powder 
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander leaves (chopped) 
• ½ tsp sugar Salt as per taste Mustard oil

Method: 

• Cut the fish into 1-inch long pieces and take in a bowl and mix with turmeric powder and salt. Keep it aside.
• Heat generous amount of mustard oil (around 4 tbsp) in a nonstick pan and add chopped Onion and then Garlic. Fry them in medium heat until golden yellow. 
• Now add chopped green chili and fry them for 3 to 4 minutes and add the marinated fish.
• Stir them very slowly in medium heat and since the fish will release enough water while cooking, it does not need any additional water. Keep frying with stirring slowly in regular interval until the fish cooked properly and the oil separates out from the mixture.
• Now add additional salt if required and sugar and mix it well. Slowly remove the central bone from the fish pieces which is a very easy task.
• Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve with piping hot boiled white rice.

Khowa Paneer Malai Kofta

“Malai Kofta” the name itself reminds us of the restaurant style rich taste of the creamy gravy and the soft and tender kofta that just melt in your mouth. Though it is a very popular North Indian curry, it is visible in all Indian restaurant menus because of its special taste and aroma people prefers to have it during special occasions.

Kofta is basically fried cottage cheese (Paneer) ball and Malai is the thick cream based gravy in which koftas are dipped.

There are lots of variations of kofta, from non-vegetarian meat balls to pure veg versions. My version of kofta is pretty simple yet very smooth, soft and quite rich which are made mostly with paneer and Khoya/Mawa with little mashed veggies like potatoes, peas and stuffed with nuts and raisins. It goes very well with Tandoori Roti, Naan and Jeera Rice.

Ingredients:

For koftas:

• 200 gms Paneer /Cottage cheese (grated)
• 100 gms Khoya/Mawa (solidified Milk)
• 2 Potatoes (boiled and grated)
• ¼ cup frozen green peas (boiled)
• 2 tbsp of  chopped cashewnuts and raisins 
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt as per taste
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander (chopped)
• Oil to fry koftas

For gravy:

• 2 large onion (chopped)
• 1 tbsp gingergarlic paste
• 2 tomatoes ( chopped)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• ½ tsp whole cumin seed
• 3 tbsp cashew paste (Thick)
• 1 cup cream (200 gms)
• 1 bunch fresg coriander leaves
• Sugar as per taste
• Salt as per taste.
• Oil
• 1 tbsp butter

Method:

For making Kofta:

1. Take khoya and grated paneer in a plate and mash it smooth with hand. Add grated boiled veggies like potato and peas (veggies should be well strained so that there is no water left in that else the balls can break while frying).  Now add corn flour, cumin powder, coriander powder, Red chili powder, chopped coriander, salt  and sugar and mix  it well  and knead it  into firm and smooth dough.
2. Pick a small amount of dough and roll it in hand to get round shape of kofta ball. Now press it at the center and place two raisins and a few pieces of broken nuts at the center of flattened ball. Close it and roll it again to make perfect round balls without any crack. Make all the koftas in similar fashion and keep it ready for frying.
3. Heat oils in a pan and deep fry all the koftas in low and then medium flame until they become golden brown in color evenly on all sides. Stir the koftas very slowly while frying otherwise they can break into pieces. Take it out and keep aside. If koftas break while frying add some more corn flour to the mixture. 

For making Gravy:

1. Take flat bottomed pan and add 2 tbsp of oil. Add chopped onion and fry until it turns golden in color. Now add Ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Now add chopped tomatoes, stir well and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
2. When the tomatoes  becomes soft add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder and mix well all the spices with Onion and Tomatoes and cook till oil gets separated from the spices. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.
3. Take the cooked mixture in a blender and make a smooth paste.
4. Heat 2 tbsp butter in the same pan and add whole cumin seeds when the cumin seeds starts spluttering, add the blended mixture paste. Add little water and bring it to boil. Once the mixture starts boiling add cashew paste . Now add salt and little sugar. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes and then reduce the flame and add fresh cream or Malai and you can see the light golden color the gravy has achieved.
5. Stir the mixture and let it cook for another 2 to 3 minutes in medium flame until one boil so that the gravy become rich and creamy.  Add prepared koftas into it cover each kofta nicely with gravy. switch off the flame and finally add garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Cover it for some time so that flavor of garam masala and coriander leaves mix well in the gravy which gives a nice aroma to the dish.  

Take it out in a bowl and garnish with some cream and coriander leaves and your scrumptious Malai Kofta is ready to serve with hot naan .

Healthy Oats Upma

It’s been more than 45 days since I had uploaded my last blog post. And, what a terribly hectic period this has been! There was immense work pressure in the office. To add to the woes, my elder daughter’s school too scheduled their exams in this period.

Well, daughter’s exams have got finished and work pressure in the office, too has kind of eased off. The biggest casualty in this period was cooking. I would virtually fix dinner with whatever I could get near me at that time.

And for the breakfast, it was Oats, Oats & Oats. Blame it on the quick & non-fussy way it gets cooked or the healthy-lots of fibre-low calorie tag associated with that. The last Sunday, I said enough is enough. I need to make a breakfast which my kids & hubby would love to have.

For some reasons, my mind was so clouded with Oats, I wondered if I could make something interesting out of Oats only. Thus was born Oats Upma. Try this out, I bet you’ll love it.

Ingredients

Oats – 200 gms

Onion – 1 Large, chopped

Carrot – 1 medium, grated

Green peas – ¼ cup (optional)

Green chilli –  3 to 4, chopped

Peanut – 2 Tbsp

Chana daal – 1 Tbsp

Curry leaves – 8 to 10

Mustard – ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Coriander leaves – 1 bunch, chopped

Sugar – ½ tsp

Salt as per taste

Method

Heat a pan and dry roast the oats for 3 to 4 minutes with constant stirring so as to avoid burning of the oats. Remove it and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add peanut and fry for 2 minutes. Add Chana daal in that and stir fry for half a minute. Add Mustard and Curry leaves. When it starts spluttering, add onion & green chili and fry for some time. 

Add grated carrot and peas and fry for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt and mix well.

Now add roasted oats and mix well. Reduce the flame and sprinkle  water slowly, little at a time so that it doesn't become sticky. Cover with a lid and cook it for a minute and   then add some more water continue to stir with spatual till the oats become soft but not sticky. Add 1/2 tsp of Sugar, fried peanuts & roasted chana daal and mix well

Finally add chopped coriander. Switch off the flame and keep it covered for few minutes.

Oats Upma is ready to serve for a healthy yet tasty breakfast.

Chhanar Jilipi / Chhena Jalebi - Fried sweetmeat made of cottage cheese drunken with sugar syrup

This post is late by more than a week. It was supposed to be uploaded immediately after 14^th June’13, the day of Jamai Shoshthi. I had made this quintessential Bengali sweet for the first time that day and had dared to try because the day was so special to my hubby.

Jamai Shoshthi is a traditional Bengali ritual with a slight religious touch where the son-in-law is pampered and fed by his mother-in-law. In our decade long married life, my mother has managed to be with us during this occasion a couple of times. Needless to say, both the times, she took excellent care of my hubby.

In her absence, this great responsibility, very naturally comes upon me. I, being a passionately-foodie and love-to-cook type person, welcome this opportunity to cook up a delectable spread, which my whole family relish.

This time, though I had cooked a range of mutton, fish and typical Bengali shaak-shukto, I wanted to make something sweet for him and zeroed in on Chhanar Jilipi or Chhena Jalebi.  This is a jalebi, but unlike the traditional fermented besan made one, it is made with Chhana (cottage cheese) mixed with Khoya (dried up milk).

Ingredients

For Jilipis:

Paneer(Chana) – freshly prepared  from 2 litres of milk
Khoya – ½ cup
Maida – 4 tbsp
Sooji (semolina) – 2 tbsp

Baking powder – ½ tsp
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Oil for frying

For sugar syrup:

Sugar 3 cup
Water 3 cup

Cardamom powder – 1tsp

Method

Prepare chhana freshly at  home adding a Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar in boiling milk. Drain the excess water and run tap water through the chhana to get the smell of lemon/vinegar from it. Try to get out all excess water out of it.

Take chhana and khoya in a flat bottomed vessel and mix well. Rub it continuously with your palm and knead it for quite sometime till it becomes a soft & smooth dough without any lump and doesn’t stick in hand.

Add maida , semolina and cardamom powder and baking powder and knead it well to form a soft and smooth dough.

Keep the dough  in a bowl covered by a moist cloth or cling film. Put the bowl in room temperature for 1 ½ - 2 hours.

Divide the dough into  equal sized round balls . Now roll each balls with your palm into a long thick  rope. Coil the rope into  one and half turn leaving small space in between, as shown in the picture.

Heat oil in a pan and when it’s smoking hot, put the flame in low. Slowly drop the jilipis in oil and deep fry till they turn golden yellow.

Prepare the sugar syrup with putting sugar and water in given ratio and by boiling the syrup till the sugar gets melted completely with the consistency is near to one string. Put some crushed cardamom in the syrup.

Take out the fried jilipis from the pan and drop into the warm syrup and keep them fully immersed in it for 3 to 4 hours.

Juicy Chhanar Jilipis are ready to be served as sweet ending to a sumptuous meal.

Chicken Bharta Roll – deep fried shredded chicken pancake roll

As I was mentioning in my last blog post, children become hyper active during summer vacation. They would be running, jumping and playing all day, as a result of which they would feel hungry every now and then.

The most common request my daughters would put to me as soon as I return from office in the evening, is to make some snacks for them. It’s a challenge for me to think out something new and innovative every time.

That day, confronted with a similar request, I was at my wit’s end to make something attractively delicious. Then I remembered that I had got some boneless chicken in my freezer, which I had got last night. It was meant for making something for the dinner but for some reason, I couldn’t make it.

Like a lightning bolt, this idea came to my mind. It’s a fusion of Chinese Spring Roll and typical Bong chops. I must say, the end result came out to be so crisp and yummy that the plate was finished within a little time. As I had to shred the chicken to make this dish, I named it Chicken Bharta Roll.

Ingredients

Filling:

Chicken Boneless – 250 gms

Onion – 2 Large, finely chopped

Ginger – 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Garlic – 6 cloves, finely chopped

Green chilli – 3 to 4, finely chopped

Green peas – ¼ cup, boiled

Garam Masala powder – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Chopped coriander leaves

Coating & batter:

Flour – 1 cup

Egg – 2 nos

Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Cumin powder – ½ tsp

Corn flour – 2 Tbsp

Salt as per taste

Bread crumbs for coating

Method

Wash the chicken pieces and boil them in a pressure cooker with little salt. Take the pieces in a mixing bowl and shred them into fine pieces. Keep the bowl aside.

Heat  little oil in a pan, add chopped onion and fry them until they become softer. Add grated ginger, garlic and chopped green chilli. Fry them in high flame for 2–3 minutes and then add turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt.

Add chicken and boiled green peas. Mix them well, sauté on high flame for 3–4 minutes. Add chopped coriander and mix well. Filling is ready. Take it in a bowl and let it cool.

Now take a mixing bowl and add flour, salt, chilli powder, cumin powder and 1 egg and finally add some water. Beat the mixture nicely to make a thin batter.

Take and flat bottom nonstick pan and heat it.   Pour some batter and spread it over the surface. Once it is cooked it will look like a thin pancake. Take it out and keep in a plate. 

Pour some chicken filling over the pancake and roll it in the way shown in the photo. Repeat the process to make more rolls.

In a bowl, beat another egg and mix with 2 tbsp of cornflour and salt. Dip the rolls in the  batter and coat them evenly with bread crumb spread on a plate. Once they are coated well, they would be ready to fry.

Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the rolls till they turn golden brown in color and crispy.

Take them out in paper towel to remove the excess oil. Chicken Bharta rolls are now ready to be served with your choice of sauce.

Cheesy Veggie Quesadillas - as easy as a child's play

All through the year, kids look forward to their summer vacation. When it comes, they become so happy that they become hyper active and tend to go out of bounds. As a working mom, my job to keep them engaged with studies, activities & games, is getting tougher day by day.

My elder daughter Kuhu, who is normally a well-behaved 8 year old, keeps on jumping on her toes during these days, as if her feet are tied on spring boards. One of her new found passion this vacation has been spending time in kitchen with me. She would watch me intently and try to help me by running errands.

The other day, she came running to me saying that she had just watched a cookery program in TV where they showed how to cook Quesadillas. She was very excited and almost forced me to agree to her demand that we would prepare Quesadillas at home and …………….………she would help me in cooking actively.

Well, it turned out to be a really enjoyable experience. Except for cutting and frying, she did all the hard work including kneading dough, cutting in shapes, making the parcels and sealing them at the ends. The Quesadillas were fabulous and both my daughters enjoyed eating them as evening snacks.

Ingredients

Onion (finely chopped) – 1 no

Tomato (finely chopped) – 1 no

Capsicum (finely diced) – 1 no

Corn kernel (boiled) – ½ cup

Green chili (chopped) – 1 no

All purpose flour – 1 ½  cup

Shredded mozzarella cheese – 1 cup

Coriander leaves (chopped) – 1 sprig

Crushed black pepper – ½ tsp

Cooking oil – 2 Tbsp

Salt – as per taste

Method

Wash vegetables separately and keep them in a strainer so that water drains off completely.

Mix together Flour, salt and 1 tbsp of oil in a large bowl. Add water slowly, mixing with hand to make a soft dough. 

Knead a few minutes on floured surface until smooth and elastic. Lubricate top with oil, put back in bowl and let it rest, covered for 10 minutes.

Spread the dough on a floured surface and roll it out into a big size and thickness you prefer. Take a cookie cutter or a stainless steel bowl with sharp edges and cut out small tortillas out of it (as shown in the photo).

Take one tortilla and spread 1 tsp shredded cheese on it and then add chopped onion, tomato, coriander leaves and diced capsicum on top of that and finally, sprinkle some salt and pepper.

Take another tortilla. Wet the edges with water and cover the tortilla with vegetable with it. Seal the edges by pressing with a fork. Repeat the process with some more tortillas. Your Quesadillas are ready to fry.

Heat oil in a pan with around ½ inch depth.  Fry the Quesadillas, turning over occasionally, until they turn golden yellow. Transfer with slotted spoon to paper towel to drain off extra oil.

To make Salsa, take the left over chopped onion, tomato & coriander leaves in a mixing bowl and add one chopped green chili. Add little bit chilli sauce (I didn’t add much as I was making them for my kids), tomato ketchup and sprinkle a little pepper powder and salt to taste. Mix it well. You can make this beforehand and refrigerate for an hour.

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Enjoy your evening with smoking hot Quesadilla served with Salsa.