Category: Snacks

Baked eggs in Avocado

Since we are on avocado , here is my next love – Eggs! I have never figured out how folks survive without eggs – there are so many ways to make them and have them. So one of my colleagues mentioned to me that she had scrambled eggs and avocado one day for breakfast; and could not stop thinking about me given my love for both these food items. This was stuck in my head and I kept wondering how could I combine the two instead of making separate items. So I thought what if I bake the egg in avocado, and then all I did was checked online if avocados could be baked directly in the oven and viola!

I took 2 avocados (ripe) and cut them in half. Removed the seed and scooped the flesh out leaving a thin layer on the skin. I sliced out a small portion from the oval skin portion from behind so there was a flat base for the halves to stay steady on the tray without the egg mix spilling out. In another bowl, I took 2 eggs, added milk, italian herbs, chilli flakes, coarse black pepper and salt to taste. Mixed well and poured it steadily with a spoon in the split avocado halves.

I had pre-heated the oven at 180 degrees and then put the tray with the avocados inside. I kept them in till the egg mix was well cooked. Once the layer was formed and solid I removed the tray from the oven. Of the scooped out avocado made quick guacamole to serve on the side. The result in 20 minutes preparation time below – another quick fix delicious appetiser for any avocado-egg lovers you know and a good item to convert new folks to avocado-egg lovers !

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P.s: You can also add mozzarella cheese as a topping when the egg is about to be cooked. Melted cheese just adds more yumminess to the already tasty dish!

Roasted Potatoes with Guacamole & Hummus

My latest addiction (ever since I got to London) is Avocado. I love all things avocado and guacamole. In fact, my sister is jokes that I will stuff it into any food item just so that I can make an excuse for a new dish attempted! I also love potatoes – I mean who does not? Roasted, mash, boiled, fried, as a veggie , in biryaani,  in prawns or chicken/mutton/kheema curry – I love potatoes in all forms.  So I was thinking how can I combine these two items and hunted for some recipes online to chance upon the one below with the added delicacy of hummus!

I took 4 medium sized potatoes and semi-boiled them, soft enough to scoop out the insides to form 2 equal hollow portions from each potato. Then rubbed some olive oil, rock salt, coarse pepper and italian herbs (dry mix of basil, oregano and parsley) to them. Then I put them on a baking tray and placed them in a pre-heated oven (180 degree celcius) and kept them in for 20-25 mins till they turned light brown.

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Then I mixed guacamole and hummus (bought the ready mixes available in Marks&Spencer Food). You can even make them at home – recipes easily available online.

Then I stuffed the hollow potatoes with the above mix, topped the stuffing with half sliced cherry tomatoes and some cheese to serve it as a perfect appetizer.

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Try it out – the hot potato + cold guacamole/hummus combination is absolutely delicious and one of the easiest starters to make when hosting a party!

Lemon and Butter Garlic Prawns

Mahesh Lunch Home is the super famous seafood restaurant from Mumbai based in Fort Area and last year opened a branch in Dubai. We moved from Dubai but managed to visit it a couple of times. MDH loves their speciality Crab in Lemon & Butter Garlic sauce while I crave the Prawns with the same mix.

I have been craving this dish for long now and decided to go ahead and use my decent cooking knowledge and try this dish out at home. It wasn’t as picture perfect as the one served in the restaurant but I kid you not it was quite close in taste 🙂

Ingredients
Mid-sized Prawns : 15-20
Garlic cloves medium-sized: 10-12
Crushed Black Pepper : 1 tsp
Lemon : 1 tablespoons
Butter : 2-3 tablespoons
Green Chillies : 3-4 fine chopped
Olive Oil: 1tsp
Salt to taste,
Spring Onion Greens to garnish

Method
Fine chop half the garlic cloves and crush the remaining with a garlic crusher. Heat the butter in a pan, as it starts frothing add olive oil and then add the garlic. Sauté it till they turn slightly light brown, add the fine chopped green chillies , and salt and continue to sauté. After 5 minutes, add the prawns and mix well. Then add crushed pepper, at this point if you feel the butter is drying up you can add some more. Then add lemon juice and stir the mixture till you get your desired thickness. Sprinkle the spring onion greens on top and serve.

The taste is amazing , try it and let me know how it turns out. The dish takes only 15-20 minutes of your time.

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Dory Fish Fillet

It’s been a long time since I blogged about food. So here goes a quick fix delicious snack for all you sea-food lovers. I learnt this dish from a family friend who had moved to Dubai for a couple of years. The Dory fish does not stink and the fillets are easily available in the supermarkets. When guests come over expecting the typical “fried fish” from a Goan-Maharashtrian household, this dish serves as a pleasant surprise for many.

So here goes.

Ingredients:

Dori Fish Fillet (2), Bread Crumbs, Eggs (2)

Filling: Ricotta Cheese or Cottage Cheese(100 gms), Fresh Parsley Leaves(15-20 sticks), Green Chilly(4-5), Salt ( To Taste)

Method:

Grind coarse the ingredients of the filling to get the paste

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Cut the fillet into medium rectangular pieces and put the filling in between the 2 pieces like a sandwich

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Take table spoon of milk, beat the eggs in the milk and add salt as per taste

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Dip the fillet sandwich pieces in the egg mixture and then apply bread crumbs.

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Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry in minimal oil on medium flame for 2-3 minutes and then let the pieces cook well on low flame.

Serve with ketchup or chilly sauce and enjoy some scrumptious starters

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Veggie Cutlets in 30 minutes

I’ve said often on this blog I’m not a veggie fan – I am very finicky about what I like and in which form. Many a times fed up with my stubborness my mother saw only one way to ensure I ate most veggies without making faces or cribbimg about the look of the food. Later on when I started managing my own kitchen I realised I was often left with some small portions of veggies lying around in the fridge. The quantity used to be too small to be made into a proper dish and too much to waste it.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of cooked carrot or cabbage vegetables – prefer them in salad or along with mayonnaise. Yam I love but boiled not in a vegetable form. So I was left wondering what do I do with these veggies. I realised that my mom’s method would prove very handy in finishing off the leftover veggies in my fridge. 

So out came the veggie cutlets. They seem very unhealthy but then that is why the non-stick pans were discovered. Minimum oil and keep the gas on low flame and let the cutlets cook.

Here go 2 quick recipes for vegeterian cutlets. These have been tried and tested with my circle of friends here who have loved them to the hilt

 Beetroot cutlets: – 15 nos.

1) Boil 2 medium sized potatoes, 1/2 carrot, 1/2 beetroot. 150 gms Yam, and 1/2 cup green peas.

2) Mash the boiled ingredients and add 1 tb sp red chilli powder, 2 finely chopped green chillies, 1/2 tb sp garam masala powder, 1 tea sp. turmeric, 1/2 t sp.coriander-cumin powder, 1/2 tb sp. ginger garlic paste, finely chopped coriander. lemon juice( to taste), sugar, salt to taste, cornstarch for binding

3)Mix well and make flat round pattice, smear pattice with bread crumbs and shallow fry!

Above proportion suffices for 15-16 pieces.

Serve with hot spicy sauce…

Mix Vegetarian Cutlets:

1) Take carrot( 1nos), cabbage(100 gms), yam(100 gms), add some green peas(1 cup) and potatoes(2-3 medium sized.

2) Boil all of them together and mash them

3) Add to the mixture – ginger garlic paste(1.5 tsp), turmeric powder(1 tsp), red chilly powder ( 2 tsp), garam masala (1 tsp), cornflour ( for binding), green chillies ( 2 finely chopped), coriander leaves finely chopped, salt to taste, lemon juice ( 2tsp) 

4) Mix well. Make small pattice and apply some bread crumbs or rice flour and shallow fry with minimal oil in non-stick pans. They make for some quick & delicious snacks – heavy enough to suffice for a dinner.

Above proportion suffices for 10-12 pieces.

Enjoy these and let me know how they turn out

Recipe: Misal Paav

When you grow up in Mumbai there are 2 things that become your absolute favourites – Vada Paav and Misal. If a person claims to be a true Mumbaiite and has not heard about these two items, be rest assured he/she will get condescending looks from the rest!

 If you wish to have the best Misal in Mumbai you must visit the Dadar area and head over to “Prakash” or “Aaswad” hotels in Shivaji Park area. They have been there for ages and are the typical Maharashtrian food joints you must visit to enjoy the authentic taste. But if you are not able to visit these places, do visit Sango’s Kitchen in Dubai or my mom’s home in Worli, just give 2 days advance notice please.

Misal originated from the other side of the Sahayadri Mountains, famously known as the “GHAT” or “DESH”. My mom’s side is from the Ghats while my papa’s family is from the Konkan side. My grandmother, an excellent cook herself passed on this amazing recipe to her daughter which has come to me. So here goes the next one in the list of “patented” recipes :

Misal Paav
Following combination serves 4 plates (I cannot say 4 people because it depends on how many plates one can have:-))

a) Matki Usal
Ingredients:

  • Matki  – 1 cup soaked
  • Green Chillies – 2-3 finely chopped
  • Mustard Seeds – 1 tea spoon
  • Asafoetida – 1/2 tea spoon
  • Onion – 1 medium-sized finely chopped
  • Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 tea spoon
  • Turmeric Powder – 1 tea spoon
  • Red Chilly Powder – 2-3 table spoons
  • Salt – To Taste
  • Tamarind-Jaggery Mix – 1-2 table spoons
  • Goda Masala – ! table spoon
  • Coriander Leaves – finely chopped
  • Lemon

Method:
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Soak one cup matki pulse to sprout. Matki takes atleast 2 days to sprout well. Soak overnight in water. Then remove all the water, wrap it in a cloth and leave it in refrigerator for one more day, even if you leave it in a vessel it will sprout.

Heat oil – 2 tb sp in a pressure pan. Add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Add 2-3 finely chopped green chillies. Stir for 1-2 minutes. Add the onion. Once the onion turns light brown add turmeric powder and ginger-garlic paste. Stir well for 2-3 minutes. Add red chilly powder. Add salt to taste. Boil the mixture in a pressure pan until 2 whistles. Let it cool then add ‘goda masala’. (This is readily available in all shops in mumbai, if not search for “misal masala” in any Indian store and that will do to)
Boil the mixture and add the tamarind-jaggery water (Soak tamarind and jaggery in 2-3 tablespoons of water for 10-15 mins)
Bring to boil for 5 mins. Matki usal is ready

b) Potato Vegetable

Ingredients:

  • Potatoes – 3 medium sized
  • Mustard seeds – 1 tea spoon
  • Asafoetida – , ½ tea sp.
  • Curry leaves – 5-6
  • Green Chillies – 3-4 finely chopped
  • Turmeric Powder – 1 tea spoon
  • Salt – To taste

 Method:
Boil the potatoes. Heat oil in kadhai/vessel. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, curry leaves, green chillies and turmeric powder. Cut the boiled potatoes in small pieces and add to the above seasoning in the kadhai. Add salt to taste, sugar and lemon juice. Stir well till it cooks.

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c) Farsan
Pick a packet that is readily available in all stores.

d)Misal
Take a plate, first place the potato vegetable , then add the matki usal to it, then add the farsan (as much as you like), add chopped onions, chopped coriander leaves, and add little lemon. Serve hot. You may also eat this along with same bun bread as the one used for vada paav or have it plain. You can also have it with curd and then it is known as “Dahi Misal”

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Enjoy and do let me know how it turns out!

Recipe: Bread Poha

Have you ever given it a thought that mothers ought to be given the award for being the best inventors. The reason is the food items they come up with so as to ensure their kids have some novelty to look forward to in their meal items every time. Tough task on hand but they make it look so easy. 

I loved restaurant food as a kid and was very finicky at home with regards to my eating habits. How my mom managed to please me every time with homemade stuff only she knows and which is why in my books she is a genius.

Tandalachi Bhakri was presented as Butter Naan; I hated leafy vegetables so off they went into cutlets and parathas. I get bored easily, so chicken curries underwent a million modifications to make them look different everytime. Phew! Thanks to her I’ll be better prepared if my little one turns out as finicky as I was!

I will share her “patented” recipes through this section. Let’s begin with a quick single.

Bread is a must have item in our kitchens –especially for women who start their cooking heroics after marriage or are too tired to make the effort to make rotis (I’m tired all the time). Not the best substitute for rotis but we can live with it. Bread is also a relief when deciding breakfast items – quick sandwiches make the best breakfast when you have come dead tired the previous night!
But how often have you got bored with the routine bread stuff and wished you could innovate with it and make a tasty quick dish. Presenting my mom’s bread poha

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Ingredients:
8-10 Slices of bread
1 tomato medium-sized
1 onion medium-sized
6-7 curry leaves
2-3 green chillies
Mustard Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Cumin Seeds – 1 tea spoon
Asafoetida – 1/4 th tea spoon
Turmeric powder – 1 tes spoon
Salt – To taste
Sugar – 1/2 tea spoon
Lemon Juice – 1 tea spoon
Oil – 1 table spoon
Coriander Leaves – 6-7 sticks

Method:
Heat oil in a pan , add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and finely chopped onion. Sauté well till light brown, add finely chopped tomato and sauté till the tomato cooks well, add finely chopped green chillies, curry leaves,turmeric powder, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to mix the masala well.
Chop the bread slices into small pieces. You can just break the slices into pieces by hand no need to use a knife. Add these uneven pieces to the above masala and mix well.
Stir well for 3-4 mins and then garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
A yummy breakfast is ready in 10-12 mins max!

Recipe: Thalipith

 

I have often mentioned on this blog that I love cooking but hate spending too much time in the kitchen. This was ingrained in me since childhood as I observed my mother – a working woman and a fantastic cook. So through this space  will share some quick fix recipes for snacks and main course.

 

We all rave about everything homemade – spend time and effort in getting things right when some of them might be readily available in the market and could save you truckloads of time in the kitchen. My mother is not too fond of food items in stores but she is also a practical woman. She does not shy away from trying the new instant world that is hitting our generation. If the items available are of good quality from reliable source and could save her time in the kitchen, she will definitely give it a shot. The two things she has got used to is readymade Idli-Dosa Dough and Thalipith Bhajni. I share her quick recipe for thalipith.

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(Image courtsey: http://www.indianetzone.com/17/thalipith.htm)

 

Ask any Maharastrian about thalipit and I guarantee that their mouth will water at the mere mention of that word. Not only is it a tasty dish but it is an extremely healthy one too. The Bhajni or flour is a mixture of different flours-  rice, wheat,bajra,besan and ground pulses.

This fine mixture is readily available in stores and I suggest you pick yours from Sarvodaya stores on Ranade Road in Dadar,Mumbai. I carry 6-7 250 gm packets on my bi-annual trips from India that suffice me for 3-4 months till then next lot arrives. So here goes the recipe for this awesome quick snack – serves as tea-time snack or a nice healthy breakfast.

Ingredients:

Talipith Bhajni -  250 gms
Green chillies  – 3-4
Onion – 1 medium size
Salt – To taste
Red chilly powder – 1 tea spoon
Coriander leaves – 10-12 stalks
Turmeric – ½ tea spoon

If you wish to make it more healthy – you can add methi/palak/carrot shredded/cabbage shredded etc

 

Method:

Add the following ingredients to the Bhajni- Green chillies finely chopped, Turmeric powder, Onion finely chopped, Salt, Red Chilly powder, Coriander leaves finely chopped.
Add water to the mixture and knead the dough like chapatti – but keep the mixture moist.
Take a pan – apply drop of oil and pat the ball of the mixture flat with your palm- giving round shape like a roti. Pour little oil from the sides, keep it on medium flame and let it cook till it becomes light brown – then flip the side and cook it for 3-4 mins till the other side  turns light brown. To make the second one – take the pan and turn it reverse and hold the bottom of the pan under cold water. The pan will cool down immediately and you can repeat the above process again. Add ghee/ butter on the Thalipith and serve with curd.

 

My mom makes the pancake on a piece of muslin cloth and slides it delicately onto the pan – I could never manage that – hence figured out the above way thanks to a friend. Those who are artistically challenged as I’m can go my way; the rest are welcome to use my mom’s method.

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