DHANIYA LAHSUNI PANEER

Hello everyone

Paneer is my family's all time favorite dish. We generally like paneer dishes with mild curries. But today I have chatpata finger licking but something different curry recipe for paneer. Hope you all will love to try this super tempting delicious paneer dish with distinct flavour of coriander and garlic.

Recipe is given below, hope you will like it.

DHANIYA LAHSUNI PANEER

Serves: 3-4

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

2 cup paneer(cottage cheese)
1 cup curd(yoghurt)
1 tbsp oil
3/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
10-12 finely chopped cloves of garlic
2-3 finely chopped green chilies
3 medium onions finely chopped
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp kasuri methi
1/2 cup cream or evaporated milk
Salt to taste

Method:

Heat  oil in a non stick pan , fry onions in it till golden brown . Then add ginger garlic paste,turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder, saute for a minute then add green chilli, coriander leaves and minced garlic along with one cup of water. Let them boil then add beaten curd and let it boil. Add paneer cubes, salt , garam masala and lemon juice. Finally add cream or milk and kasuri methi and simmer for 5 more mins and done. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Your finger licking super tempting paneer dish is ready to serve with roti, naan or rice. Enjoy this different flavour of paneer with your family and friends . 

Hope you will like this easy and delicious dish, please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

HEALTHY SHELL PASTA IN CREAMY NUTTY AND VEGGIE SAUCE

Hello everyone 

Pasta... I think most of us including kids and elders, love to have pasta ,But at the same time try to avoid it some time due to sauce and creams used to make it delicious. My kids love to have these in their tiffin too,So I thought why not to give it a healthy twist that make people comfortable to have it without any guilt. I just added puréed veggies and nuts to the regular pasta and it turned out super delicious, guilt free healthy breakfast for us. This is best for kids who don't like chunks of veggies and keep removing from their plate and also don't like to munch on healthy nuts. Now they can have it without knowing that they are gobbling all those veggies and nuts , they used to hate😉.

Recipe of the same is given below, just give it a try.

HEALTHY SHELL PASTA IN CREAMY NUTTY AND VEGGIE SAUCE

Ingredients 

2 cup pasta , boiled and drained

8-10 almonds

4-5 walnuts

1 carrot, grated

1 spring onion, finely chopped 

1 big onion, finely chopped 

2 green chillies,finely chopped

2 medium tomatoes,finely chopped 

1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder ( optional)

1/4 tsp black pepper powder 

1/4 cup green coriander leaves,finely chopped ( optional)

1/2 cup milk

Water drained from pasta(as required)

Salt to taste

Method:

Take a wok, add chopped onions,chilies ,grated carrots and spring onions, nuts ,tomatoes , turmeric , Kashmiri red chili powder, black pepper powder and little water .Boil till tomatoes become mushy and nuts are nicely cooked. 

Now let it cool a little and make its smooth paste. 

Now transfer paste to the same wok , add milk let it boil  Then add boiled pasta and salt. let it cook till every thing get nicely coated with saucy consistency. If needed add some water drained from pasta to make sauce of right consistency. Finally add chopped coriander leaves and mix well. 

You can also add some butter for taste while adding sauce to wok. And your guilt free yummy pasta is ready to be served.

You can use any pasta of your choice, I added shell pasta.

You can also add any veggies or nuts of your choice.

This pasta can be served as breakfast or can be a good option for lunch box too. You can have it any time without guilt. Hope you all will like this simple healthy touch to regular pasta. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....

HOW TO MAKE SOFT YET CRISPY POORIS

Hello everyone 

Today I have a very simple recipe of plain poori. But generally we fail to give that crispness and softness at the same time and also it gets flat sometimes. We all love to have our pooris perfectly puffed . So I have some simple yet important thumb rules for perfect whole wheat flour pooris every time. Recipe is given below, hope it will be helpful to you.

HOW TO MAKE CRISPY YET SOFT POORIS

Serves: 3-4

Time: 30 mins

Ingredients 

2 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup warm milk

2 tbsp oil

Warm water to knead dough

Method:

Mix oil in flour, then add milk and using sufficient water make dough. After mixing everything knead the dough atleast for 4-5 mins to get nice dough. Dough should be little harder than chapatti dough but smooth .Let it rest covered for 10-15 mins. 

Now take small balls of dough using some dry flour roll desired size pooris. It should be little thicker than chapatti. Also take care while rolling, always roll with light hand. 

Heat sufficient oil in a wok at medium to high flame, to check whether it's done or not, put small ball of dough in hot oil if it comes immediately on the surface of oil then it's ready to fry pooris.

Put one poori at a time and press it lightly with ladle to puff it perfectly, let it get crisp from one side the flip it to other side and let it cook . Now drain it on a kitchen towel . Similarly fry all the pooris and your crispy puffed pooris are ready to serve with your choice of curry or fries.

Keep an eye on hotness of oil, if you find your pooris are getting darker fast then decrease the flame to maintain temperature of oil.

If you like more crispy pooris then can add 2tbsp of semolina (sooji or rava ) while kneading dough.

This is the simplest poori recipe you can make any time and serve it on any special occasion or for kids tiffin. Kids always love to relish on poori halwa or poori bhaji, so give this special treat to them any time.

http://sonicuisine.blogspot.ae/2015/10/atte-ka-halwa-whole-wheat-flour-halwa.html

Hope this recipe is helpful to those who fail to get perfect pooris, so please try it and pour your valuable comments and suggestions here they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

EGGLESS RAINBOW MARBLE CAKE

Hello everyone

Cakes are generally loved by all sweet tooth ones but if it comes to colorful soft and moist cake, then who can deny to atleast one bite. Yesterday my daughter, after coming from her school announced that she wants to carry something yummy for her friends to share as they want to celebrate Independence Day ...😳😳.. I started to scratch my head to get any clue of Independence Day on 22nd October, but failed 😐. So to satisfy my curiosity, I asked her about the celebration and what she told was really funny and nostalgic too😊. As their exams were finished yesterday and they got independence from exams so they are celebrating 🎉🎊 😃😃.

But the main problem was, what to make for her and after rejecting nearly a dozen of options she agreed for a rainbow cake. I never made this cake before but what to do, gathered all my courage and jumped in the battle field😁😁. And to my surprise and good luck the cake came out so soft, moist and most importantly eye treat to everyone. 

The step wise recipe of this cake is given below, hope you all will definitely like it.

EGGLESS RAINBOW MARBLE CAKE

Serves: 15-20

Time: 1:20 hrs

Ingredients        * I made big cake for sharing but if you want smaller one then half the quantity used.

4 cups all purpose flour ( maida)

2 cups powder sugar

1 cup oil ( any without flavour)

2 cup yogurt (curd)

1 cup warm milk

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder 

2 tsp vanilla essence

Food colors 

Method:

First of all grease a big baking tray and dust some flour on it evenly. Remove extra flour by tapping and keep it aside .

Seive flour, baking powder and baking soda together so that they will get mixed uniformly. Then add powdered sugar to flour and again mix well. 

Now in another bowl mix yogurt, oil and vanilla essence together well. 

Add flour mix in yogurt mix in batches and keep folding. Now add milk and make a smooth batter neither too thick nor runny. If needed add more milk to get idli batter like consistency.

 Now divide batter in equal quantity , desired number of colors i.e. 6-7 equal parts of batter. Now add color to each batter and mix well. Don't over mix otherwise you will end up with dense cake.

 Now place a butter paper in the baking tray and pour one batter . Tap the tray to spread one batter then pour other, similarly pour all batters one by one followed by tapping every time. 

Now take a skewer and make lines on cake (optional) . 

Now bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 50 -55 mins. Keep an eye on it after 40 mins as different oven takes different time to bake. Mine took exactly 50 mins. For doneness checking, insert a tooth pick or skewer in middle of cake , if it comes out clean with some crumbles on it then it's ready otherwise bake for some more time.

After done let the cake rest in baking tray for 8-10 mins then invert on a wire rack and let it cool completely before slicing to get clean slices.

Your colorful, soft and moist cake is ready to serve on any occasion as kids will always be ready to gobble it up. Even there is no need of any frosting or icing on it as its so beautiful that you don't want to hide.

You can also make it in microwave at high for 10-12 mins. But keep checking after 10 mins as over microwaved cakes become chewy and hard.

If you want to bake a small cake then can easily half all the ingredients and don't forget to half the baking time too and keep checking for doneness 😊.

This is so simple yet delicious cake with easily available and only few ingredients. Hope you all will definitely going to give it a try and please give your suggestions and comments here so that I can improve my way of sharing recipes with you all.

Happy cooking....

NO OIL , NO CREAM PASTA IN HEALTHY WHITE CREAMY SAUCE

Hello everyone 

Pasta... I think most of us including kids and elders, love to have pasta ,But at the same time try to avoid it some time due to sauce and creams used to make it delicious. My kids love to have these in their tiffin too,So I thought why not to give it a healthy twist that make people comfortable to have it without any guilt. I just added puréed onions, paneer and oats to the regular pasta and it turned out super delicious, guilt free healthy breakfast for us. 

Recipe of the same is given below, just give it a try.

NO OIL, NO CREAM PASTA IN HEALTHY WHITE CREAMY SAUCE

Ingredients 

2 cup pasta , boiled and drained

1/3 cup oats

2 big onion, sliced

3-4 garlic cloves

2 green chillies,slit

1/4 cup paneer ( cottage cheese)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp white /black pepper powder 

1/2 tsp garlic powder ( optional)

1/2 cup water

Salt to taste

Method:

First of all boil sliced onions, garlic cloves, green chilies and oats in 1/2 cup water, add more if needed. Let it cool and grind to a smooth creamy paste along with paneer. 

Now transfer paste to the same wok , add milk and let it boil.  Then add white /black pepper powder, garlic powder  and salt.

 Now add boiled pasta, mix well . let it cook till every thing get nicely coated with saucy consistency. If needed add some water drained from pasta to make sauce of right consistency. 

You can also add some butter for taste while adding sauce to wok. And your guilt free yummy pasta is ready to be served.

You can use any pasta of your choice, I added corni pasta.

You can also garnish it as you like , I sprinkled chilli flakes and dried oregano.

This pasta can be served as breakfast or can be a good option for lunch box too. You can have it any time without guilt. Hope you all will like this simple healthy touch to regular pasta. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....

HEALTHY AND LIGHT POHA IDLI

Hello everyone

I always found South Indian foods a real comforting food. Everyone likes idlis, doses, uttapams, sambhar etc  and I too a big fan of these soothing and light comforting food. As I always try to make little healthy changes in my regular cooking, in my previous idli recipe I used Dalia and then used oats but this time going to introduce you with poha idlis but made in traditional way as soaking and fermentation is included in whole process. These idlis are even more softer and moist than regular ones and I bet you are definitely going to love this recipe.So why not give it a try, recipe is given below.

Idea borrowed from Chef Sanjeev Kapoor .

HEALTHY AND LIGHT POHA IDLI

Serves: 4-5

Time: 2 hrs( excluding soaking and fermentation time)

Ingredients 

1/2 cup split urad dal

1/2 cup poha ( flattened rice)

2 cup idli rava or idli rice  

1 tsp fenugreek seeds( methi)

1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Soak poha, rice or rava+fenugreek seeds and dal separately for 3-4 hrs. Then grind dal using little water till light and tiny bubbles are visible in it. It will take nearly 15-20 mins for grinding each batch of dal, so have patience, as it's needed for good soft and spongy idlis. Now grind poha and rice or rava + methi to a smooth paste. Now mix all together well. Give it a good stir and let it ferment overnight at warm place ,in a quit big vessel to avoid overflow of batter.

Always use little water at a time for grinding other wise you may end with runny batter. Idli batter should be as thick to be fall as a blob.

When it get nicely fermented it will become frothy, now add salt in it and mix well. Ready your steamer or cooker with rolling boil water .Now grease idli molds and fill 2 tbsp batter in each of them and steam for 8-10 mins. Let it rest for 2 mins after done ,then scoop out warm idlis with wet spoon. Serve with your choice of chutneys and sambhar.

If you find your batter is not much fermented as needed then don't be disappointed just stir 1 tsp of fruit salt or eno in every batch of batter you are going to steam at a time. And you will get nice soft and fluffy idlis every time. But remember after adding fruit salt just give a quick stir, don't over mix and immediately pour in idly stand and steam.

This idli comes out so soft and moist that you will fall in love with these beauties. Hope you will enjoy this super soft and yummy idli . Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here ,they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR CUSTARD BANANA CAKE

Hello everyone

Who don't like cakes..... It a very silly question for sweet lovers as the answer is well known, of course die for cake. But when question comes for health then we come on our backfoot with sad expression like no I can't have cakes. If you are also a die for cake person then weight ... Why are you getting sad, I have a better option for you like a healthy cum yummy cake. Today I have whole wheat flour custard banana cake, full of goodness of whole wheat and banana with minimum sugar and oil, what else you want 😊. Recipe is given below, hope you will like and definitely give it a try.

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR CUSTARD BANANA CAKE

Serves: 4-5

Time: 45 mins

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup custard powder or corn flour

2 bananas, over ripe

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup oil

1 tbsp curd( yogurt) (optional)

1/3 cup milk, at room temp

1/3 cup milk powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder ( optional)

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla essence 

2 tbsp dates syrup or dates puree( optional)

10-12 walnuts, roughly chopped ( optional)

Method:

First of all grease a baking pan and dust it with some flour, keep it aside.

Mix well whole wheat flour, custard powder, milk powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon powder, walnuts and salt together, keep it aside for later use.

Now mash bananas with a fork till they become a lump less puree. Add sugar,vanilla essence , curd and dates syrup in it and mix well till sugar gets dissolve. Now add oil , again mix well. 

Add flour mixture and fold it to make a lump less smooth batter. Pour in greased baking pan.

 Bake in a preheated oven at 180degree C for 30 mins, or till tooth pick inserted in it comes out clean. Mine took exact 30 mins, so keep an eye on it after 25mins as different oven take different time. Time also depends on baking pans, size and shape.

Let it cool for 5 mins then invert on a wire rack.

 Let it cool completely before slicing, to get neat slices.

Your super yummy and healthy cake slices are ready to go with your cup of tea.

Enjoy these guilt free scrumptious sweet treat any time. It's good for kids tiffin and mid meal hunger sprang.

You can use any spices and any dry fruits of your choice. 

You can increase or decrease the quantity of sugar as per your taste and sweetness of bananas, but this one is for perfect sweetness😊.

You can also use any shape of baking pan, but then baking time may change, so be cautious while baking and keep checking in between.

Hope you all will definitely try this guilt free yummy cake and please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

HEALTHY PASTA IN CREAMY OATS AND VEGGIE SAUCE

Hello everyone 

Pasta... I think most of us including kids and elders, love to have pasta ,But at the same time try to avoid it some time due to sauce and creams used to make it delicious. My kids love to have these in their tiffin too,So I thought why not to give it a healthy twist that make people comfortable to have it without any guilt. I just added puréed veggies and oats to the regular pasta and it turned out super delicious, guilt free healthy breakfast for us. This is best for kids who don't like chunks of veggies and keep removing from their plate. Now they can have it without knowing that they are gobbling all those veggies , they used to hate😉.

Recipe of the same is given below, just give it a try.

HEALTHY PASTA IN CREAMY OATS AND VEGGIE SAUCE

Ingredients 

2 cup pasta , boiled and drained

1/3 cup oats

1 carrot, grated

1 spring onion, finely chopped 

1 big onion, finely chopped 

2 green chillies,finely chopped 

1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste 

2 medium tomatoes,finely chopped 

1/4 tsp turmeric powder 

1/4 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder ( optional)

1/4 tsp black pepper powder 

1/4 tsp chaat masala 

1/4 cup green coriander leaves,finely chopped ( optional)

1/2 cup water

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, add chopped onions and chilies. Fry till golden,then add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2 mins. Then add grated carrots and spring onions, saute for 4 mins . Now add oats and saute for a min. 

Add tomatoes , turmeric , Kashmiri red chili powder, black pepper powder and little salt. Saute till tomatoes become mushy and nicely cooked. Add water and let it cook till done. 

Now let it cool a little and make its smooth paste. 

Now transfer paste to the same wok let it boil  Then add boiled pasta, chaat masala and salt. let it cook till every thing get nicely coated with saucy consistency. If needed add some water drained from pasta to make sauce of right consistency. Finally add chopped coriander leaves and mix well. 

You can also add some butter for taste while adding sauce to wok. And your guilt free yummy pasta is ready to be served.

You can use any pasta of your choice, I added tricolor spiral pasta.

You can also add any veggies of your choice.

This pasta can be served as breakfast or can be a good option for lunch box too. You can have it any time without guilt. Hope you all will like this simple healthy touch to regular pasta. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR PANEER ROLLS

Hello everyone

Why kids don't like any thing we used to prepare in our daily routine is really a big question for every mother. But if the same thing is served in some different and interesting way then not only kids but elders too gobble even more. So today I am having a very simple yet healthy and tempting snacks made of whole wheat flour and paneer, which is a kids friendly ingredient and healthy too. You can prepare these a day before to give in kids tiffin or pack for traveling time as it will remain fresh for minimum two days on room temperature. Recipe is given below, hope you all will like it.

whole wheat flour paneer rolls

Serves: 4-5

Time: 1:30 hrs ( leaving proofing and resting time)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp active yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tsp thyme leaves(optional)
1/2 tsp rosemary leaves ( optional)
2-3 tsp oil 
Water to knead

For filling
1 cup crumbled cottage cheese
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 tsp chat masala
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 cup finely chopped capsicum
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped green coriander
Salt to taste

Method: 

Add sugar in warm water and then mix yeast in it and let it rest for 10-15 mins or till it become frothy.

Add salt, milk powder, thyme , rosemary leaves and oil in flour and knead with yeast , milk and warm water till it become soft, shiny and nonsticky dough. It will take 8 to 10 mins. apply some oil on it and cover with damp cloth, let it rest for 2 hrs in a warm place like in closed microwave/oven or till it doubles it volume. 

Till then mix all the filling ingredients together .

Now punch the dough and cut in two halves. Make a thick roti (1/2 cm) of it and spread the filling on it and roll it in a  log. then cut in desired thickness rolls ( mine is 1 1/2 inch thick) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on it, press a little to stick seeds firmly ). Arrange in a baking tray lined with butter paper . Keep some distance between two rolls as it will increase in size while second proof and while baking too. Now let it rest for another 30 mins on warm place then bake in a preheated oven at 190°C for 20 mins and if you don't get desired colour then increase the oven temperature to 230°C and bake for another 4-5 mins or till it become golden brown. 

Similarly do the other half of dough. 

Now enjoy these super yum golden beauties with any sauce or chutney or as it is, in every form it will leave you drooling for another piece.

Hope you all will like these yummy cum healthy snacks and give it a try. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot

    Happy cooking....