LOW FAT KUNFAH

Hello everyone 

Once again I am here with a low fat but delicious, mouthwatering dessert very popular in Middle East. Though I can't say it is a completely healthy recipe but of course I tried to cut nearly half the calories than traditional one. As this recipe calls for too much butter and sugar, so clearly it's a rich dessert. But I used minimal butter and less sugar to avoid extra calories, without compromising its taste. This is one of the best dessert I had ever. I made it my way with some twists in ingredients, but the end product is total worth to my effort. It's not only tempting but also a treat to eyes too.

Recipe is given below, hope you will definitely love it.

LOW FAT KUNFAH

Serves:5-6

Time: 1 hr 

Ingredients 

300 gms  very thin vermicelli (it requires kataifi dough but I took vermicelli)

2 tsp butter or ghee

1/2 cup milk 

1 cup sugar

1cup water

2tsp lemon juice

1cup grated cottage cheese

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup unsweetened rabdi 

1 tbsp Roasted dry fruits as per ur choice

1/4 tsp orange red food color

1/4 tsp rose or orange essence

Method:

First of all take a baking dish and grease it with some butter and food color. 

Mix 2/3 part of vermicelli with 2 tbsp of milk and 1 tsp butter or ghee, just to make it little moist. Don't add more milk otherwise it will become soggy so adjust milk quantity accordingly.

Now spread this in the baking dish and press with spatula to get a firm base.

Add all the cheese , rabdi and dry fruits together and spread it on the vermicelli base.

Now take the rest 1/3 part of vermicelli and moisten it with milk and cover the cheese layer completely. And again press it firmly.

Bake it in microwave convection mode at 200degree for 25 mins. U can also bake it in regular oven for the same temp and time.

Time also depend on the vermicelli you took. Mine was roasted one , but if you are taking unroasted white vermicelli then bake for long and keep watching till it become nice golden color.

I used this vermicelli.

In the meanwhile make sugar syrup adding sugar and water and boil for 10 mins and add lemon juice . let it cool and then add rose essence or orange essence.

When the kunfah is baked let it rest for 15 mins then pour the sugar syrup all over it and again let it rest for 1/2 hr. Then invert it and decorate .

If you like more crunch then can pour syrup on individual servings also.

To make instant rabdi, boil 1/2 lt milk in a thick bottom pan till it become 3/4 then add 2 bread slices churned with little milk to it. Continue cooking till it become nice thick like rabdi.

If you don't want to use rabdi then can use condensed milk too.

Now enjoy this palatable delicious dessert . This can be served in any dinner party too. Just bake it and get appreciated by all. Hope you will definitely give it a try and please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR DORA CAKES ( DORAYAKIS)

Hello everyone 

My kids are a big fan of doremon cartoon. They often see doremon eating his favorite Dora cakes and they too start drooling over it. I never thought it would be so easy to prepare at home too. Once I came across a post by our CAL friend Garima Sarolia Narera, of Dora cakes. From that day I was thinking of trying it with some healthy twist. So here is mine whole wheat flour Dora cakes. Soon will come up with its eggless version too, but till then enjoy these beauties. My kids got surprised and over excited to see these chocolate oozing soft and fluffy DORAYAKIS .Special thanks to Garima for inspiration. 

Step wise recipe is given below, hope you all will definitely like and try it.

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR DORA CAKES ( DORAYAKIS )

Yield: 8 pan cakes( 4 Dora cakes)

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

2 eggs ( at room temperature)

1 cup + 1 tbsp whole wheat flour 

1/2 cup powdered sugar 

3/4 cup milk (at room temperature)

1 tbsp honey 

1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

1 tsp baking soda

Little oil to drizzle 

Nutella or jam for filling 

Method:

Mix whole wheat flour and baking powder well and keep for later use.

Whisk eggs, sugar and honey together till little frothy . It will take 4-5 mins if you are whisking with hands. So give it time, as more lighter your egg mixture will give you more soft and fluffy pancakes.

Now add milk and vanilla essence in it and mix well. Now add flour to it in batches and mix well by folding, to a lump less smooth batter.

Now heat a nonstick tawa or pan on medium low flame, drizzle some oil on it and wipe excess oil with paper towel. Pour a ladle full of batter on it and let it cook from one side. It will take nearly 1 1/2 - 2 mins.Once you see lots of bubble on it and sides become dry then flip and cook for another one min and done.

 In the same manner, make all the pancakes. 

Be careful while cooking, to get nice brown cakes ,always use medium to low flame and flip pancake immediately once it's sides are getting dry and having lots of bubbles on top. Otherwise you will get blackish pancakes with burnt flavour. And always use same amount of batter for each pancake to get even size Dora cakes.

Now take one pancake with nice brown side down, keep 1 tbsp Nutella or jam in middle and cover it with another pancake with its brown side up. Lightly press it with palm and pinch its edges to seal.

Your soft fluffy and yummy Dora cakes are ready to serve.

For eggless version you can substitute 2 eggs by 1 fully ripe medium size banana. Whisk banana till fluffy then follow the same procedure as above.

Make these easy fancy cakes for your kids and see their glittering eyes with happiness. Hope you all will definitely try this simple delight and pour your precious comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

EGGLESS LOW FAT GARLIC MAYONNAISE

Hello everyone 

Now a days, not only kids but elders too gone mad over burgers, sandwich,pizza etc loaded with high calorie , high fat mayonnaise. But by health point of view these are not good at all. So I thought why not try some low fat, low calorie version of mayonnaise to go with these traditional fast food items  to avoid some extra calories without punishing our taste buds. This can be also used on simple whole meal or brown bread as spread, if you are health conscious fellow but can't leave the love of having yummy finger licking mayonnaise. I came across this recipe accidentally, as I was trying to make some different dip for my snacks and to my surprise it came out as super smooth silky shiny mayonnaise.

Recipe is given below, hope you all will definitely love to try it.

EGGLESS LOW FAT GARLIC MAYONNAISE

Serves: 5-6

Time: 10 mins

Ingredients 

1 cup cottage cheese (soft creamy paneer) 

1/2 cup fresh thick yoghurt,curd ( low fat can be used)

1 tsp corn flour

1/2 tsp white pepper( I used black pepper) 

2 tsp garlic powder ( u can go with fresh Garlic cloves too)

Salt to taste

Method:

Add all the above ingredients in a mixer jar and blend till it become creamy batter like.

Then put it in a microwave safe bowl n cook for 2-3 min stirring every 30 sec to avoid lump formation and even texture till it acquire the consistency of mayonnaise. 

If u find it little thinner then don't worry it will thicken after cooling.

Always use soft cheese otherwise u will get grainy texture.

For different flavor u can add 1/2 cup of chilli sauce to it to make chilli mayonnaise.

You can add different herbs like oregano, thyme, basil etc to get herbed mayonnaise 

It's so quick n easy recipe that u can make daily n enjoy different flavours without any guilt.

It can be kept in tight covered jar for 1 week to 10 days in refrigerator .

It goes well with any snacks as dip or use in burgers, sandwich etc.

Hope you all will like this simplest and easiest recipe ever with handy ingredients. So please give it a try and pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking...

    

LOW CALORIE CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Hello everyone

Today I have recipe of a very popular chicken dish among chicken lovers. Though this is usually very rich and calorie loaded dish which we get in maximum hotels and dhabas , but I tried to give it a healthy touch by adding almonds and omitting cream , even then it came out so tempting and finger licking that you can't say it's low calorie and something is missing from traditional one. And the overnight marination of chicken gave it so tender and juicy texture that you can't deny for more and more pieces. Even my daughter, who is not very fond of chicken pieces, took more pieces and saying it's the best chicken I had ever.

Stepwise recipe is given below, hope you all will definitely love to try this.

LOW CALORIE CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA

Serves: 3-4

Time: 1:30 hr 

Ingredients 

1/2 kg skinless chicken breast, cubed

1 cup colored capsicum, cubed

2 medium onions, cubed

For marination:

3/4cup thick yoghurt( curd)

1 1/2 tbsp corn flour 

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp tandoori masala 

1/2 tsp black pepper powder 

1/2 tsp chaat masala powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp red chilli powder 

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

1/2 tsp chicken masala

1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

1 tsp oil

1 pinch orange red edible color(optional)

Salt to taste

For gravy:

1 pinch orange red color 

1 tbsp kasoori methi

2/3 cup thick yoghurt, beaten

1 1/2 tsp tandoori masala

1/2 tsp chicken masala

1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder 

2 green chillies, broken in halves

1/2 tsp sugar( completely optional)

Salt to taste

For paste

15 almonds

4 cloves

4 green cardamom 

2 inch piece cinnamon 

10-12 black pepper corns

4 medium tomatoes 

2 medium onions, sliced

5-6 cloves garlic

1 inch piece ginger

Method:

First of all marinate cubed chicken,capsicum and onions in paste of marination section ingredients and keep in fridge for at least 4-5 hr, but for best result,keep it overnight.

Now boil or pressure cook all ingredients given under, for paste section, let it cool and make smooth paste in grinder. 

After marination is done, arrange chicken, capsicum and onions in skewer as per your choice and grill till it get nice tender,smoky and little charred from all sides. You can also do it on direct flame for more smoky effect.

 Your tender chicken tikka is ready to serve as starter, just sprinkle some chaat masala and squeeze little lime juice on it and serve.

Now to serve it in main dish lets start making its gravy. Heat oil in a wok , add prepared paste and broken green chillies, fry for 5 mins now add turmeric powder, chilli powder, chicken masala and tandoori masala. Fry till it starts leaving sides of the wok and makes lump. Add beaten curd ,add rest of marination, if any , stirring constantly to get smooth gravy.  Add pinch of colour mix well , cook for 2 mins .

Add water to adjust gravy consistency as per your like. Let it boil then add grilled chicken and veggies.

Add salt ,sugar and kasoori methi. Simmer for 5 more mins and done.

Chicken tikka masala is ready to serve.

Soak skewer in water for at least 1 hr to avoid its burning while grilling.

It didn't use sugar , but if you find your curry a bit sour then can add it to balance the sourness.

Add water generously as the curry will thicken after cooling.

Always use fresh yoghurt and nice ripen red tomatoes to get nice red color and less sour gravy.

Your smoky tempting and tender chicken tikka masala is ready to go well with naan, roti or any rice. It can be included in any party menu. So cook and get everyone's praise with this guilt free yummy side dish cum starter. 

Hope you all will like this super yummy and healthy version of most adorable chicken dish. Pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

UMM ALI WITH TWIST

Hello everyone 

Today I have a very popular dessert recipe of Egypt with my twist. Though I am too fond of sweets and can have anytime but also love to try different flavours, so always try to experiment something new in traditional recipes.  Recently I tasted umm Ali and from that day I was dying to try it at home but I didn't have puff pastry sheets and cream at home , so here came a chance to experiment. And luckily the final result was equally sinful and tempting, though the texture was slightly changed but the taste was really ummmmmm......just like its name.

Step wise recipe is given below and hope you all will definitely like it.

UMM ALI WITH A TWIST

Serves: 7-8

Time: 1 hr 

Ingredients 

250 gms puff pastry sheets ( I used readymade samosa leaves)

300 ml condensed milk

2 cup water

1/2 tsp vanilla essence 

2 cup mixed dry fruits, chopped ( cashew, almonds, walnuts, raisins, pistachio)

1 handful raisins

1 1/2 cup rabdi * or 1/2 cup cream

*for instant rabdi

1/2 lt milk 

2 slices bread

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

First of all arrange pastry sheets in a greased baking dish and bake at 210 degree C for 15-20 mins or till it become nice golden and crisp. If using samosa leaves then It may needs to be flipped once or twice to get evenly baked.

In meanwhile boil milk in a wok till it remain 3/4th. Now grind bread pieces with some milk in smooth paste. Add paste to boiling milk stirring constantly to avoid sticking to bottom. Now add sugar and Vanilla essence. Cook for 5 more mins and switch off the flame.

Now in a separate vessel add condensed milk, 2 cup water ( 3 cups if using samosa leaves), I used beetroot stock but you can use plain water, and let it boil then add vanilla essence and switch off the flame.

When puff pastry sheets are baked then break them in 1 inch pieces. Now add 3/4 part of dry fruits in it and mix well. 

Arrange it evenly in the baking tray then pour condensed milk mixture all over it and sprinkle rest 1/4 part of dry fruits all over it. 

Now pour prepared rabdi all over it and sprinkle handful of raisins on it.

Now bake it at 210 C for 15 mins and done. 

Your sinful dessert is ready to serve.

If you want to make it quite traditional way then skip rabdi and add cream all over it and bake for same time.

But in my view , it tastes best in both ways. So try this simple yet flavourful dessert at least once. If you don't have either of puff pastry sheets or samosa leaves then just toast some bread slices and use. But then it will be called bread pudding . Believe me it will also taste heavenly, naam me kya rakha hai, taste matters.

Somewhere I read that it tastes best when served warm but I think desserts always tastes best to a sweet tooth☺️☺️.

Hope you will like this sinful dessert which can be served at any occasion and will be center of attraction for sure. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....

BOTTLE GOURD (LAUKI) BEETROOT RICE

Hello everyone 

Bottle gourd (lauki) is a vegetable, which is hated by many of kids and elders too. Though I love lauki but have above category members in my house too 😊 i.e. my kids. So always tried to feed them this veggie by making lauki halwa, plain lauki , lauki in gravy but all are just one time wonders and eaten with frowned faces. But today I tried to make a one pot meal with this unwanted veggie with a healthy touch of beetroot in it to make it even more healthier. And to my surprise it came out super delicious without too much fuss and effort, and the main thing is my fussy eaters too loved it.

I just like to thank one of my friend , who introduced me to her MIL's traditional recipe of lauki rice which inspired me to try this combo in my ways. So a big thanks to you Kavi, Kavita Maurya .

It is so healthy and easy recipe that anyone can try without fail, at the same time super yummy too. You should must give it a try if you too have fussy eaters like mine, believe me you will never regret.

Stepwise recipe is given below, hope you will like it and definitely try too.

BOTTLE GOURD( LAUKI) BEETROOT RICE

Serves: 3-4

Time: 45 mins

Ingredients 

2 cup grated bottle gourd (lauki)

1 1/2 cup rice (preferably basmati or old variety)

1 medium beetroot, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped  

1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

2-3 green chillies, slitted 

8-10 cashews, broken in half ( lengthwise)

1 tsp ghee or butter

1 1/2 tsp oil

1/2 lemon

Salt to taste

For tempering:

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 cloves

2 green cardamom 

1/2 inch piece cinnamon stick

3-4 whole dry red chillies 

Method:

First of all wash rice and soak it in 1 cup water for 20 mins. 

Meanwhile boil beetroot with at least 3 cups of water, till tender. We will need this water for cooking rice.

Now Heat ghee and oil in a thick bottomed vessel, add cashews and fry till little golden and keep it aside for later use.

 Now add all spices of tempering section in the same oil and saute till everything crackled and become aromatic. Be careful while sautéing so not to burn spices. Now add green chillies and chopped onions, saute till nice golden then add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins. 

Add grated lauki and cook on high flame stirring occasionally till its water gets evaporated and it become nice dry lump. Now add rice and fry for 2-3 mins .

Then add remaining water of rice and 2 cups of beetroot stock. Add salt and squeeze juice of 1/2 lemon in it. Let it cook at high flame, when it starts looking little dry on top then lower the flame and cover with lid. Let it simmer for 5 mins. Then switch of the flame.

 Let it sit for 5- 10 mins covered, then open the lid and add fried cashews to it and mix with light hand gently. Again rest it for 10 mins then serve.

 Your easy, yummy and super healthy rice is ready to be served with gravy dish or with simple raita. It taste best even if taken as it is, it doesn't need any thing else to go with. A simple one pot meal loved by everyone.

I soaked rice in exact 1 cup of water to spare me with any indecision of how much water to be added for cooking rice. As we know 2:1 water rice ratio is needed to cook nice fluffy rice, but when we soak it then it already absorb some water and then our ratio gets disturb. So avoid this situation I soaked in exact amount of water and then used the same in cooking too. This will ensure you to get nicely cooked fluffy rice. 

If you don't want to add beetroot stock then add plain water in same amount, and can also add 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder while adding ginger garlic paste if not using beetroot stock, to give nice golden color to your rice.

Hope you all will like this super healthy and yummy rice dish, so please drop down your valuable comments and suggestions, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....

SOUTH EAST PANEER

Hello everyone 

I know you must be wondering that what type of name is this, south east paneer. Actually we returned from an awesome trip , which rejuvenated my imagination to next level😃😃 and so to serve something special but easy in dinner, I invented this fusion of south and East Indian flavour in one dish. As panchforan is a mix of whole spices generally used in maximum of Bengali cuisine (east) in different ways and similarly sambhar masala and coconut milk is well known for its wide use in South Indian cuisine(south) . And I used all these spices in my today's dish that's why gave this unique name to it, South East Paneer. 

Sorry for not giving stepwise pictorial recipe as I was not so sure for such an awesome outcome, but promise to update it with stepwise pics too as soon as I try it again.

Recipe is given below, hope you all will like this awesome fusion of south and east.

SOUTH EAST PANEER

Serves: 3-4

Time: 25 mins

Ingredients 

2 cups cottage cheese (paneer)

3/4 cup mixed colored capsicum, diced

1 medium carrot, diced and boiled

2 medium onions, diced in size of capsicum 

1 medium onion, finely chopped 

2-3 green chillies, slitted

1 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

1/2 tsp panchforan*

1 1/2 tsp sambhar masala

1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp garam masala 

1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder 

2 tbsp green coriander leaves, finely chopped 

1 cup thick coconut milk

1/2 tsp corn flour(optional)

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, add panchforan and saute till aromatic, nearly 2 mins , then add chopped onions and green chillies. Fry till they get nice golden then add ginger garlic paste, saute for 2 mins and add sambhar masala, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder and garam masala , saute for 1/2 min then add chopped tomatoes . Fry till it starts leaving edges of the wok and is nicely done. Now add capsicum, onions and boiled carrots, saute for 5 mins . Add coconut milk and let it boil stirring constantly to avoid cuddling. Now add water and salt as per your consistency preference. If you find it little runny the add corn flour diluted in 1/2 cup of water and let it boil. Then simmer for 5 more mins. Now garnish with chopped coriander leaves and done. 

Your yummy easy fusion paneer dish is ready to go with naan, roti and rice. 

If you don't want to add corn flour then use purried tomatoes and onions paste instead of finely chopped ones to get nice thick gravy.

* Panchforan is a mix of five different whole spices i.e. Cumin seeds (jeera) , nigella seeds ( mangrail), carom seeds ( ajwain), fennel seeds (saunf) and mustard seeds mixed in equal quantities. You can also add a sixth ingredient too , fenugreek seeds( methi) , it gives a distinct flavor to your dish.

Hope you all will like this simple yummy dish to try at least once. Your valuable comments and suggestions meant a lot to me so please keep pouring.

Happy cooking....

CHANA PANEER IN PALAK GRAVY

Hello everyone 

As we all know that spinach is a good source of iron and many more vital nutrients but at the same time it's also true that spinach hardly makes its place in kids plate. Then it's always a big riddle that how to feed them spinach without fuss. Today I am here with answer to the same riddle as this healthy and yummy recipe of spinach. Maximum kids love paneer , so I added paneer and to fulfill the protein requirement, added chickpeas too in this dish, in order to make it protein and iron packed healthy dish for everyone. Its recipe is given below, hope you all will like it.

CHANA PANEER IN PALAK GRAVY

Serves: 3-4

Time: 45 mins 

Ingredients 

2 bunches spinach (palak), thick stems removed 

1 1/2 cup cottage cheese (paneer)

1 1/2 cup boiled chickpeas 

1 medium onion, finely chopped 

1 tsp ginger garlic paste 

2-3 green chillies 

1 cup thick or normal milk

1 tsp kitchen king masala

1 tsp Chana masala

1/2 tsp garam masala 

1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

1 tbsp kasoori methi

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp asafetida (heeng)

Salt to taste 

1/2 tsp sugar ( optional)

Water reserved from boiled chickpeas 

Method:

Blanch spinach i.e. Boil water in a big vessel to rolling hot then add little salt and sugar to it and add spinach in it for 3-4 mins. Then drain it and wash under tap water to avoid further cooking of spinach. This will retain its green color even after boiling.

Now grind blanched spinach and green chillies together to a smooth paste. Avoid adding extra water while grinding otherwise it will splutter a lot while cooking.

Heat oil in a wok, add heeng followed by cumin seeds, let it crackle then add chopped onions. Fry till golden brown then add ginger garlic paste, saute for two mins then add prepared paste. Fry for 2 mins at medium flame then add turmeric powder, kitchen king masala and Chana masala. Fry till it starts leaving edges of the wok. Now add chickpeas and saute for 2 more mins. 

Add milk little by little, stirring constantly to avoid formation of lump. Let it boil then add water from chickpeas according to your preference of gravy consistency. Again boil it and add paneer cubes, salt , sugar, garam masala and kasoori methi . 

Let it simmer for 5 mins and done.

Your easy, healthy protein iron rich side dish is ready to go with roti, rice, naan or paratha. Not only kids, even elders too are going to love this.

Hope you all will like this simple yet flavour full dish and will definitely give it a try. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....