BAKED FALAFEL

Hello everyone

Middle East is not only known for its oil reserves but also for its richness in cuisines. In middle eastern cuisine not only non vegetarians but vegetarian section also attains a wide range of delicacies. From chatpata starters to tempting mains, from delicious snacks to sinful desserts  you have countless varieties to choose from .And one of them is falafel , you can either have it with sauce and dips as snack or pair it with pita bread , hummus and salads to have as mains. It's equally delicious in either ways and can be prepared in little time. Recipe is given below , do try and let me know too how's it turned out for you.

BAKED FALAFEL

Serves: 2-3

Time : 30 mins

Ingredients 

2 cups boiled chickpeas

2 tbsp besan(chickpea flour)

1 big onion finely chopped

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 green chilies finely chopped

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder 

1 tsp chat masala

2tbsp chopped green coriander leaves

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp baking powder

Salt to taste

Method

First of all coarsly grind boiled chickpeas. 

Mix all the ingredients together and make tikki shapes .

 Arrange them on a baking tray lined with butter paper. Brush some oil on each falafel .

 Bake at 230 degree C in a preheated oven or grill them in oven till golden on both sides. It may take 10 - 15 mins each sides depending on oven. 

If you are not comfortable with baking option then can deep fry it at medium heat and enjoy hot. In both ways it tastes delicious, choose whatever suits you. I served it with mint dip and tomato sauce, you can have it as per your preference.

Make these easy peasy healthy yet tasty snacks and enjoy with any chutney or sauce. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

DRY CHANA MASALA

Hello everyone

Today I have a very simple yet delicious protein packed breakfast cum snacks recipe . It's just perfect for lunch box ,breakfast or evening snacks. A delicious way to indulge protein in your diet . As we all know chickpeas are full of protein and other nutrients so helps you to shed those extra pounds you don't need . It's helpful to those who are on diet and want different delicious options to include protein in their diet. Recipe is given below, do try and let me know too how's it turned out for you. Hope you will like this delicious healthy treat.

DRY CHANA MASALA

Serves: 3-4 

Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

3 cups boiled chickpeas

3 -4 medium onions ( half finely chopped and half sliced)

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

3-4 green chilies

1/4 tsp asafetida ( heeng)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp Chana or chhole masala

1/4 tsp chaat masala

1 big tomato , finely chopped or pureed

1/4 cup green coriander leaves, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Method:

First of all make puree of sliced onions and green chilies, keep aside. Now heat some oil in a wok, add asafetida and cumin seeds. Let them crackle, then add chopped onions. Fry till little golden, now add ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 min. Now add turmeric powder and Chana masala , saute for a min.  Always saute dry masalas at low flame to avoid burning it. Now add pureed onion and chillies. Fry till it starts making a lump and leaves oil. Now add chopped or pureed tomatoes and salt.Again fry till it starts leaving edges of wok. Now add boiled chickpeas and saute for 3-4 mins. Add 1/4 cup water and cover it. Let it cook for another 5 mins on medium flame. Adjust salt , add chaat masala. Finally add chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and switch off the flame. Your lip smacking dish is ready to serve.

Serve it either as it is or sprinkle some chopped onions and garnish with some sev and sweet tangy sauce or chutney, it will give you taste of chaat....ummmmmm I can feel the blast of flavours in my mouth. Do try for sure, it worth😊.

You can also add some crushed kasoori methi at last to enhance its flavour to next level. It can also be served as a side dish for poori , paratha, naan or rice with some curry dish. Try it atleast once, I can bet you will love it . Pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot .

Happy cooking....

SESAME SEEEDS JAGGERY SPICED BANANA WALNUT LOAF

Hello everyone 

My sweet tooth daughter always used to ask why healthy stuffs are not yummy and what we like to eat are always comes under unhealthy category 😕😕. Actually my whole family is sweet tooth and also having great tendency to get fat too easily😭 , so to avoid extra calories in our diet we have to make a reasonable distance with sugary and fatty stuffs😰. 

But this is also like a boon too me, so that I can experiment with healthy stuffs and turn them to interesting healthy cum yummy dishes. I made this on the occasion of makar sankranti that's why added sesame seeds to it and it was total worth , just created an awesome combination of rustic memories in a new look.

This cake is the best example of taste with health. I used all healthy alternatives to usual ingredients of a cake, which lead to this super yummy healthy sweet treat. Now no need to take just one bite of your sweet crush to satisfy your craving. And the second best thing is , it's best and yummy way to use your over ripe bananas. Spices added in this cake,  boosted its flavor to another level. You can say it a perfect combo for your cup of tea. A happy dessert to health conscious fellows.

Step wise recipe is given below, hope you will enjoy this tasty, yummy and healthy treat. sure give it a try , you will never regret.

SESAME SEEDS JAGGERY SPICED BANANA WALNUT LOAF

Serves: 5-6

Time: 1: 15 hrs

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour/ all purpose flour 

2 big bananas, ripe

1/2 cup jaggery, grated

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup thick yogurt( curd)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder 

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds ( black and white)

1 inch ginger, grated

1 tsp vanilla essence 

10-12 walnuts, roughly chopped 

Method:

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

Mix well  flour, 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 grated jaggery , vanilla essence and curd in it and mix well till jaggery gets dissolve. Now add grated ginger and oil , again mix well. 

Add flour mixture and fold it to make a lump less smooth batter. Finally add sesame seeds and fold in. Pour in greased loaf pan. Sprinkle some sesame seeds all over the batter.

 Bake in a preheated oven at 180degree C for 40 - 50 mins, or till tooth pick inserted in it comes out clean. Mine took 50 mins, so keep an eye on it after 45 mins 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. But surely try this combo too as ginger , sesame seeds and cinnamon let this cake to another level.

You can increase or decrease the quantity of jaggery 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 loaf and please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

NO GRIND PALAK PANEER

Hello everyone

Serving new dishes daily on your dinner table is really a challenging job for anyone. Specially when you have fussy eaters at home. Yesterday I had spinach in bulk sitting in my fridge but not willing to have it as normal aaloo palak or palak dal. So scratching my head for almost half an hour , decided to go for corn palak but in half way of preparing my dish , I discovered that I ran out of my corn stock😱 now what to do what to do....... Thought to replace corn by cottage cheese ( paneer) as my kids and even we two are also fan of paneer dishes. So in this way , new avataar of palak paneer got discovered😂😜. But it was really worth this experiment, we just loved each and every bit of the dish . It came out delicious and definitely a pleasant new taste than regular palak paneer. I suggest you to atleast try it once you will definitely fall in love with it.

Excuse me for not giving stepwise pictorial recipe as it was not pre planned and just an experiment. But be sure to get detailed and explained written one as it's so easy and quick to prepare that you will not miss pictures here any more☺️

NO GRIND PALAK PANEER

Serves: 3-4

Time: 25-30 mins

Ingredients

2 cups spinach, finely chopped

1 cup cottage cheese( paneer), cubed

2 medium size onions, finely chopped

2-3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

4-5 green chilies, finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp asafetida (heeng)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp chicken masala( optional)

1 tsp kitchen King masala

2 tsp kasoori methi, crushed in between palms

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a wok, add asafetida and cumin seeds. Let it crackle then add chopped onion and green chilies. When onions get golden then add ginger garlic paste and saute for 2-3 mins then add all dry masala powders except kasoori methi. Saute for 1 min then add chopped tomatoes and little salt. Let it cook till nice mushy and cooked well. Now add chopped spinach and let it cook for 4-5 mins or till it shrinks properly. Now add milk, slowly and stirring constantly to avoid cuddling. Let it boil then add some water ,if needed, to achieve your choice of curry consistency. Let it boil, add paneer cubes and salt. Let it simmer for 5 more mins and add crushed kasoori methi, mix well and switch of the flame. 

Your super yum , no fuss healthy side dish is ready to serve with roti , naan,rice or pulao . 

You can also replace paneer with corn or peas but then it will be called corn or peas palak and definitely taste will also suffer. But be sure in each way it will taste delicious.

Just prepare whenever you want to make something different but without much effort and gadgets. Can be served to guests too , and believe they will definitely love this.

Hope you all will love this easy peasy healthy yet yummy side 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....