Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Vegetable and Cheese Parathas (Stuffed Flatbread)


Parathas have been a traditional Indian breakfast in many north and west-indian households for as long as I can remember, and the versatility of the recipes is what makes it so attractive. Not to mention that they are healthy and filling at the same time. "Stuffed Parathas" are basically nothing but "Stuffed Flatbreads", filled with your choice of boiled and mashed veggies, rolled into a disc and cooked on a "tava" (cast-iron pan), greased with oil or ghee on both sides. Aloo or Paneer parathas are eternal favorites, but I was looking for something more nutritious, so I decided to make these Vegetable and Cheese Parathas, which are stuffed with a lot of mixed veggies and cheese; delicately flavored with indian spices, these parathas serve to be a perfect meal anytime of the day. What's more, you can even cook them and store them for a couple of days so you just need to reheat them before serving!

Method
Knead the dough with water Take the flour and add 2 tbsp oil. Mix well, then keep adding a little water at a time to knead the dough, just as you would for a regular paratha or bread. The emphasis here is to keep the dough soft but not too sticky, leaning more towards tough than soft, say a little harder than cookie dough. Cover and keep it aside for 15-20 mins.

Boil all the vegetables (except onions, green chillies and coriander) together in a pressure cooker or microwave. Take a frying pan, add 2 tsp oil to it, add the cumin seeds, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste, then saute the chopped onions until light pink and cooked. Add all the spices and the boiled vegetables to this and cook for another 2-3mins.

Remove from flame, then mash everything together with your hand or use a masher as it might be hot. Finally add the cheese and chopped coriander to the mixture and again mix everything well till it becomes soft and maleable, without any hard lumps. Now divide it into equal portions to use as filling for the parathas.

Take a small part of the dough. Roll it out into a small circle, then put the filling mixture in the center. Roll over the dough edges over the filling to cover it completely and make into a ball. Then flatten it between your palms, roll in plain flour and use a rolling pin to gently shape it into a thick round paratha. Remember to apply gentle pressure else the paratha would break and the filling would pop out. (Don't worry, its not as hard as it sounds!)

Put a griddle over medium heat and cook the parathas on both sides over the griddle. Apply light oil or butter on each side while on the griddle to make it puffy and soft. Cook till you see small brown spots appear on both sides and the outer layer looks evenly cooked (as shown in the picture)

Once these are a little cool, you can wrap them in an aluminium foil and refrigerate them for a couple of days. Alternately, you can also freeze them and preserve for at least a week. But there's nothing like enjoying fresh hot parathas straight off the griddle with a cup of coffee or tea. You can even serve these delicious Cheese Parathas with any curry for lunch or dinner!

SOURCEfunnfud.blogspot.com

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Beetroot-Carrot-Peas Curry over Steamed Rice


With new gadgets and appliances filling our lives each day, we have almost forgotten the older methods of cooking that involved almost no appliances and very less energy! Sometimes, getting back to the "raw foods" concept can be inviting and nutritious! I bought a huge red beetroot last week, just to catch up on some most-needed antioxidants, and after making beetroot cutlets and beetroot juice, I still had some left to try this simple Beetroot, Carrot and Peas Curry served over plain Steamed Rice. It not only tasted great, it was actually very good-looking, extremely healthy, and made me feel good that I had saved some power that evening!!

Ingredients
1/2 beetroot - boiled and chopped into small pieces
2 carrots - boiled and chopped
1 cup peas - boiled
1/2 cup tomatoes - chopped
salt - to taste
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water
chopped coriander for garnish

Method
Boil all the vegetables first and keep aside.

Take a pan, add 1 tbsp oil to it, sprinkle some cumin seeds, and when they start spluttering, add the boiled vegetables. Add the water, salt, lemon juice and mix well.

Then add the chopped tomatoes and allow to cook, covered with a lid for 5-8 mins. When all the veggies look well-cooked, and the curry taken a deep pinkish-beet-red color, add the black pepper and garam masala powder to it. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Make some plain or Jeera Rice in a pressure cooker.

Take a serving dish, layer it with cooked rice, then top it with the sauteed beetroot-carrot stew. Serve hot and fresh!

This dish is full of tonnes of anti-oxidants, vitamins and fiber. Enjoy it for a healthy meal, with the satisfaction that you did something good for your body today! I'm sending this over to sweetnicks Antioxidant-rich-food event!

SOURCEfunnfud.blogspot.com
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Sunday, July 13, 2008

Eggless Wheat Flour Sponge Cake - Needs 15 mins to Cook!

Eggless Wheat Flour Sponge Cake
Mondays are really busy days, and as you try juggling between tasks and shuffling your priorities, you are all the more entitled to a break, and what better way to take a break than eat a healthy and absolutely delicious cake!!! Well, I know most of you would be watching what you eat, especially on a Monday, after all the binging during the weekend, but what if I told you I have a Wheat cake that you can make in a microwave and it would take you less than 15 mins to do it!! Yup, that got you interested, right?! So check out this really simple, healthy and wholesome Eggless Wheat Spongecake recipe that was sent to me by my sister-in-law Minal. She's a mother of 2 pre-teenagers who wreak havoc day in and day out! But they love her cake, and so do I!!! I've just changed the original recipe a bit to reflect my love for chocolate and chocolate chip cookies :) (image courtesy of godiva.com)

Ingredients
2 cups Wheat Flour
1 and 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
2 tbsp Milk powder
2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
4-5 medium-sized chocolate chip cookies
1/2-1 tsp Baking Soda
1 and 1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup White Unsalted Butter (you can use regular yellow butter too if you don't mind the salt) 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1/2 cup grated semi-sweet chocolate

Method
Take a bowl and mix half of the milk, butter and essence properly. Seive the wheat flour, sugar, milk powder,cocoa powder and baking soda. Now add this to the milk and butter mixture and beat properly in one direction. Whisk continuously for 5-7 mins till the mixture starts to fold and form peaks. If it's too thick, add the reamaining of the milk slowly while stirring till desired consistency is achieved. Take a microwaveable dish and grease it with oil or non-stick spray. Dust it with some flour and pour the mixture into it. Bake in the microwave oven for about 8 mins, or until done. You can test this by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake and see that it comes out clean. Remove from the microwave, let it cool for some time. Meanwhile, crush the cookies in a grinder. Then garnish the cake with the crushed chocolate chip cookies and the fresh shredded chocolate. You can also use dessicated coconut shavings. They go well with chocolate too.

There, in less than 15 mins, your delicious (eggless) sponge cake is ready. Oh, and let's not forget how healthy it is too!! That's all I could wait before biting into my cake, but if you have more patience, be creative! You can use strawberries and cool whip to kick it up a notch. In any case, it's going to be delicious!

If you have a recipe locked in your brain, please feel free to send me an email and share it with all of us here at Fun and Food.

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Whole Wheat Chocolate-Chip Pancakes


This is an extra-special post, because it marks the first milestone in my blogging career. The 100th post on Fun and Food!! yippee...I take this moment to thank all my friends and readers for their constant support in the form of feedback, comments and emails. I share this success with all of you, and I hope to keep bringing more such delectable recipes and fun yet informative posts to your attention! Let's celebrate this moment with one of my favourites - Pancakes!! I love IHOP and always keep pestering my husband to take me there:) But it's become less often now after I decided to get conscious about health and weight loss. So not compromising on either the taste, or the healthy aspect, here's presenting Whole Wheat Chocolate-chip Pancakes.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 1/2 cups plain milk or buttermilk
2 egg whites
2 tbsp margarine (or low-fat butter)
1/2 cup mini semisweet dark chocolate chips
Honey (or maple syrup) - for topping

Method
Pass the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl through a fine seive. Now whisk together the egg whites, milk or buttermilk, margarine and sugar in another bowl until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture and mix together to combine well. Finally add the chocolate chips. do not beat more lest the chocolate gets dissolved.

Heat a griddle or a pan over medium heat. Grease with non-stick cooking spray or a spoonful of oil. Now take a large ladleful of batter and drop it gently in the centre of the griddle to form a medium-sized pancake. Let it cook till it becomes swollen, edges get dry and bubbles begin to form (about 1-2 mins.) Now flip it around and cook the other side the same way until light golden brown in color. Repeat with the remaining batter.

if you are not comfortable with mixing choco-chips in the batter, and may fear that it will stik to the griddle, you can also sprinkle them once you have poured the batter and you see that the pancake is partially cooked.

Serve hot with a cup of coffee. Drizzle with powdered sugar, a dollop of margarine and honey or maple syrup. You can even use light chocolate syrup- works great with kids!! Indulge into a healthy yet sweet and heavenly delight. What a perfect way, to start your day!!


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