Hit the Lottery with Fries That are Baked!

Yes, I lost the post twice, thanks to the new Blogger interface. And I wasn't alone is a relief to know.

Anyway.

Potatoes, Punjabis and Patels are found in every nook and corner of the world, or so I've been told. Potatoes and Punjabis share a special bond. And I, can eat potatoes in any form, except for a pizza topping. :D

Also, I don't share my fries with anyone. No-no-no-no!

yeah, I know they are not healthy and stuff. So that's why when I came across this healthier option at Purple Foodie's blog, thanks to @pomegrantee , I rushed into the kitchen to make them instantly, only with a little variation to PF's recipe.

What else could have I wished for! Healthy, baked, Potato fries. Thank God for Potatoes and Thank God for Potato Fries. Ultimate comfort food. :D

Here is how I made them.

Ingredients:

4 nos Potatoes- medium size- par boiled;

4-5 tsp Olive Oil;

7-8 garlic Cloves- Minced;

Salt, pepper to taste;

Oregano for seasoning.

Method:

If you're going to use a oven, Preheat it 225 degrees. I own an electric tandoor, which is much quicker and much easier, so I use it more often than an oven. Because it gets preheated quickly. :D

• Cut the potatoes into wedges and keep them aside.
• In a bowl, take olive oil and add the minced garlic. Microwave it for about 1 minute. Use as less olive oil just enough to coat the wedges.
• Now, add the potatoes in the warm oil and garlic mix and the salt pepper and oregano and toss it nicely, so the wedges are coated with the oil and the seasoning.
• Keep aside for a about 10 minutes.
• Now, arrange your wedges on the greased baking tray in a single layer avoiding any overlapping.
• Bake them till crispy Golden brown. In oven, it might take about 40 minutes or more.
• Serve with your choice of dip.

The Outcome:

The Fiasco:

It isn't exactly a fiasco, but I used more oil than needed. It dint make the wedges fried, but were oily-er than I desired.

Crax Crax Chat Chat

Carvings are weird. They do not believe in absoluteness of time or place or even hunger.

So, the craving for Nachos has been knocking in my mind for sometime now and for one reason or other, I wasn't able to get hold of a plate of Nachos at an eating joint nor a pack of nachos from a confectionery store. Somehow, this, Ms Craving visited and refused to go back at a time when I couldn't go out and satisfy her. Therefore, I had to find a way out to kill for the moment and I attacked the confectionery cabinet in the kitchen. A pack of Crax (remember the corn rings?) was spotted. Jaan mei jaan aa gayi bhai sahab! Not that it can replace nachos, but temporary solution mil gaya.

Robbed the condiment section and came up with this Crax Chat :D

Ingredients:

Crax- 1 pack;

Onion- 1 nos (small);

Tomato- 1 nos (small);

Limejuice- 1 teaspoon;

Tomato Chilli Sauce- 1 teaspoon;

Green Chilli- 1 nos (optional);

Salt- a pinch. ( use kala namak if you have it).

Method:

• In a saucer, place the corn rings strategically.
• Chop the onion, tomato and chilli, add the salt and lime juice to it. Mix well to make a nice smelling seasoning.
• Sprinkle the seasoning over the corn rings.
• Pour the tomato ketchup or tomato chilli sauce over it.
• Eat quickly :D

The Outcome:

The Fiasco:

I might very well want to omit this section :D

Pizza? Wo bhi Chinese?

Yes. Chinese Pizza. ever thought of it? I am totally into experiments. Plus when you have guests come over, and they know about your food blog, you have somethings to prove to them. *sigh*

Anyway, people tell me that pizza made at home is not as good as they have int he restaurants. My say is, Get and oven or electric tandoor. Microwave is not meant for Pizza.

So here i bring you the Chinese pizza.

Chinese Pizza:

Ingredients:

1 Pizza base;

Schezwan Sauce;

Finely chopped vegetables- Cabbage, Capsicum, Mushrooms.

1 tsp olives;

Pizza/ Mozarella Cheese.

Method:

• Take the pizza base, apply little olive oil.
• While you cook the schezwan sauce, (Click here for the recipe) keep the consistency thick. When you are about to put the flame off, add the chopped vegetables into the sauce.
• Apply the sauce on the base, spread some olives, shred cheese and keep it in the oven/ tandoor.
• Use as less cheese as you can. 
• Wait until the cheese is Golden brown. and serve hot.

The Outcome:

Chinese Pizza fresh out of the oven

The Fiasco:

None. :D

Restaurant jaisa Chinese Ghar Pe ;)

I can place bets on the Chinese food cooked the Punjabi way. If a Chinese man came over to Punjab and ate what we call Chinese, he would die! or might lose his mind or might fall in love like every other person. :)

There is a new restaurant in the town. Its called Shankh and they serve all kind of yummy food. Indian, Punjabi, Thai, Chinese, Mexican Italian et al cuisine. Only speciality is that the food is all vegetarian and they dont use Onion and Garlic. Yes. You read it right. And yes. The restaurant is the concern of ISKCON. You must have heard that ISKCON temples distribute all kind of fast food and continental food as prasad. They offer the God all yummy food. Isn't it awesome?

Anyhow. We visited the restaurant to check it out and the garlic onion flavor was missing. Which brings me to key down this post. Yes, I decided to cook Chinese at home. :D

The menu I decided was Hakka Noodles, Crispy Veg, Chili Cheese.

For now, I am here with my Crispy Veg recipe.

Crispy Veg

Ingredients:

For The Batter

5 tbsp cornflour;

5 tbsp flour (maida);

1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste;

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper powder;

1 tsp lemon juice;

salt to taste;

1 tbsp oil

Other Ingredients:

2 cups mixed vegetables (baby corn , capsicum and cauliflower) , cut into long strips;

oil for deep-frying;

For Schezwan Sauce:

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup sesame oil;

3-4 whole red peppers;

3/4 onions-chopped fine;

1 tbsp garlic;

1 tbsp ginger;

1/2 tsp chilli powder;

1 tsp sesame seeds;

2 tbsp corn flour mixed in a cup of water;

1 tbsp vinegar;

1 tsp soya sauce;

1 tsp chilli sauce;

1 tsp salt

Method:

• Combine Cornflour, Flour, Ginger garlic paste, black pepper, salt, lemon juice, oil and water and make a smooth batter. 
• Dip the vegetables in the batter and deep fry once, keeping scope for frying them again. Keep aside.

Now, make the Schezwan sauce.

• Grind together the onions, garlic and ginger.
• Heat the oil in a wok add the whole red peppers and saute over high heat till they darken a bit. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and stir-fry over high heat till glossy.
• Add the corn flour mixture and bring to a boil.
• Lower the heat and add the chilli powder, vinegar, soya sauce, chilli sauce and salt and mix well
• Cook till well blended (1/2 minute) and use.

Now, Deep fry the vegetables once again, and add them to the sauce directly. Toss lightly.

Garnish with fried noodles, and serve.

The Outcome:

Crispy veg

The Fiasco:

None :D

Idli-Doodlie Dooo

In North India, our staple food is wheat. Also rice. but more of wheat. And rice, we more or less enjoy with raajmah or kadhi or daal or chane and also stand alone Pulaavs. Idlies, dosa are still delicacies for us. 

Idli making involves a lot of patience and the soaking thing is kind of a mess. So, we have mastered the art of making instant idlies. Of course not from the instant idli mixies available in the market, but at home. Just bringing you a quick recipe of instant idlies my style. Since, this is absolutely my recipe, I do not know how to quantify the ingredients. Please make use of your gut feelings :D

Instant Idlies

Ingredients: 

1 cup Rava/ sooji;

1/2 cup Curd;

Salt to taste;

1-2 tsp Refined oil;

1 tsp Eno

Method:

1. Sieve the rava/sooji in a bowl.
2. Add salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric powder (optional), oil.
3. Add curd. Make a paste, keep it a little thicker than smooth.
4. Beat fro 4-5 minutes.
5. Add Eno. beat for less than 2 minutes.
6. Pour the paste into greased idli maker, and steam or Microwave for about 5 minutes.
7. Serve with sambhar.
8. You can also garnish the idlies with a Punjabi tadka.
9. For tadka, Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, finely chopped onion, curry leaves. Stir until onion is golden brown and add roll the idlies in the tadka. Serve with green chutney.

The Outcome: 

The Fiasco:

NONE :D

Corn Momos Door ke, Ghar Pe Pakayein, Zaroor Se.

Momos/ Dumplings. Who doesn't like. I love them very much. yes. Not that it is hard to find them where I live, just I wanted to cook them at home.

Internet was surfed. recipe was found. Kitchen was approached and everything was messed up in there. A little 'my-tpuch' was added to the recipe, and Corn Momos were cooked. How they turned out, scroll down to find. :D

Corn Momos:

Ingredients:

1 cup White Flour (maida);

1/2 cup Boiled Corn (I used frozen corn);

1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste;

1 nos Finely chopped Onion;

2 nos Finely chopped Green Chillies;

Some Finely chopped Green coriander;

Salt to taste;

Black Pepper to taste;

2 tsp oil;

Method:

1. Knead smooth and soft dough with flour adding a little salt and some oil. Keep aside for 25-30 mins, Make sure, the dough is little gooey.
2. In a pan, heat oil, add ginger garlic paste, chopped onion, chillies, coriander and stir fry. add corns, salt and pepper. Stir fry.
3. Take the dough, make small balls and roll out very thinly.
4. Now, add the filling and close the dumpling giving them as fine shape as you can. (It is going to need a LOT of practice.)
5. Steam the momos. I used the idli stand and microwaved for about 6-7 minutes.
6. Serve with Schezwan sauce. You can cook it by stir frying tomoato ketchup in a little oil and ginger- garlic, a little salt and chilli flakes.

The Outcome:

The Fiasco:

The cover of my momos was thicker than it should have been and therefore they turned out a little hard. Somehow, tolerable.

A bite of Bombay imitated in Punjab

I have never been to Bombay. Yes. Kill me for that. But, it is on my #2doBeforeIdie list. And hence, never had an original Vada Pao. With a lot of people from Bombay I interact with on Twitter are from Bombay, I have been hearing about this great roadside delicacy (of course delicacy I treated it as because it was out of my reach :D). Because, I have no plans as such to visit Bombay in near future, I thought to imitate it at home. Therefore, Tarla Dalal website was surfed and recipe was taken. :) Since I don't know the original flavor, The outcome was treated as recipe successful.

Since this recipe has been picked from a website, I decided to not copy-paste it here on the blog. the recipe can be found here.

The Outcome: 

Vada pao

The Fiasco: I burnt the Dry Garlic Chutney =\ and had to make it all over again.

Tikka Chalta hai

So winters are setting in and the laziness is finding its way back. Not that I don't want to cook, I am just being lazy. Trying quick recipe is the key. :D Where I don't have to dedicate a lot of time and where I don't have stay standing in the kitchen :D Also, I have been wanting to try something with Mushroom so getting back to my good Old recipe. The Mushroom Tikka.

Mushroom Tikka

Ingredients:
Mushrooms- 200gms,
Fresh Cream- 50gms,
Gram Flour- 50gms,
Ginger Garlic Paste- 50gms,
Red Chillie Powder,
Garam Masala,
Haldi(Turmeric) Powder,
Cumin Powder,

Chaat Masala.
Salt to taste.

Method:

• Dice and wash Mushrooms and keep separate.
• Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
• Add Mushrooms, let them marinate for about 20 Mins.
• Bake till crisp in a pre-heated oven at 240 degrees for about 20 mins.
• Sprinkle Chaat Masala.
• Serve with mint/ Corriander Chutney.

TheOutcome:

The Fiasco: I forgot taking the picture when I took them out of the oven. :D

Corn Aaya ke Nigaahon Mein Chamak Jaag Uthhi

Being a Punjabi, I love Makki ki roti. Also, I love masala corn. I love corn in every thing. Baby corn is one of my favorite-st topping on Pizza and other continental dishes. I was just wondering that India produces corn on herself and still, we use corn only for either makki ki roti or at the most eating roasted corn from roadside. And then, somehow, this idea flashed into the scene. Honestly, this idea is inspired somewhat from a recipe they showed in Masterchef India. But, its mostly my own. 

Corn Idlies. 

Ingredients:
1 cup Corn kennels- I used frozen corn;
1 tbsp Gram flour;
1 -2 tbsp curd;
Salt, Chilly powder to taste;
2 tsp Roast Cumin seeds;
few drops of lime juice;


Method:

• Boil or Microwave (3 mins) frozen corn. Keep aside to cool it. Grind coarsely in mixer.
• In a bowl, mix gram flour and curd and make a fine paste. Be sure there are no lumps of gram flour.
• Mix the ground corns into the gram flour- curd paste.
• Add few drops of refined/ olive oil to cut the dryness of gram flour and corn.
• Add salt and chilly powder.
• Beat for a few minutes to make sure that the paste is mixed well.
• Steam the mix in idli maker on the gas or in the microwave (6-7 minutes).
• Let the idlies stand for a few minutes to let them cool down before you take them out of the idli maker. that way, the idlies come out smoothly.
• On a non-stick pan, shallow fry the idlies.
• Pour the lime juice.
• Garnish with roast cumin seeds and serve with ketchup.

The Outcome: 

Corn Idlies

The Fiasco: I opened a new pack of the frozen corn and it turned out to be extra sweet which I only discovered after the idlies were served. :D

Mausam Kebabi hai

Winter evening, clean home, glasses of wine, a romantic novel, the company of the beloved. And Kebabs. Sounds romantic no?

You think making kebabs is a tedious job or not healthy? I tries making kebabs out of Soy chunks. Yep you read it right. Soy. Healthy and easy to cook.

Ingredients:

1 cup Soy chunks;

2 nos Boiled Potatoes;

2 tsp All purpose Flour;

2 tsp Ginger Garlic paste;

1 tsp Coriander Paste;

Few drops of lime juice

Spices to taste:

Salt, Chilly powder, Cumin seeds, Coriander powder

Method:

• Boil Soy Chunks, drain thoroughly and keep aside to cool.
• Grate boiled potatoes.
• Mash the soy chunks and potatoes together.
• Add ginger garlic paste, coriander paste, lime juice, salt, chilly powder, cumin seeds, and coriander powder.
• mash together to make a fine batter.
• Add flour to get desired consistency.
• Make balls out of the batter, flatten them a little.
• Keep in fridge for 2 hours at least so they get set.
• When ready, roll the kebabs in the flour and shallow fry in a non stick pan.
• Serve with chutney, ketchup of your choice.

The Outcome:

Soy Kebabs

The Fiasco: I dint drain the soy chunks through enough, so the kebabs were crisp on the outside but a little slick from the inside. Just make sure to drain the soy thorough.

P.S. Do drop in comments if you try this recipe. also, let me know, if you do any variation in the recipe :)