One can prepare Fruit salad, Juice and also Jams from Oranges. From Orange Zest (Orange Peel), one can prepare Chutney. One can use Orange Zest as a face pack. Dry the Orange Zest, powder the same and mix with water and apply to the face. It gives glow and softness to the skin.

Here I have prepared Orange Juice by removing the pulp from the Orange pieces. One can also squeeze out the Orange Juice after cutting the Orange into two pieces – this method helps if the Oranges are too small. If the Oranges are quite sweet, then it is a good idea to avoid Sugar Powder. Here goes my simple version of preparing Orange Juice.

Fresh Orange Juice

Orange Juice Ingredients:

• Orange – 4-5
• Water – 1 cup
• Powdered Sugar – 2 Tbsp (optional)
• Ice Cubes – 3-4 (optional)

Time to Prepare: 20 min

How to Make Orange Juice:

1. Peel the outer covering of the Orange and seperates the pieces. Remove the seeds and the white covering of each of the Orange pieces and use only the pulp.
2. In a mixer jar or in a blender, add Orange pieces, Sugar Powder and Water and grind them all until you obtain a neatly blended juice.
3. Extract only the Orange Juice from the pulp by filtering it appropriately, depending on your preference.
4. Transfer to a glass and top with Ice cubes. Serve Orange Juice chilled.

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I never imagined a square shaped or a pyramid shaped Watermelon. Japanese grow square shaped Watermelons to save on packing and storage space. Also, don’t miss out on the pyramid and these cute looking human faced Watermelons! You can see heart and star shaped Cucumbers as well in that page. In Japan, price of square shaped Watermelons is almost double that of regular shaped ones. Other cute shapes are difficult to cultivate and are priced many hundred dollars!

Watermelon Juice

Watermelon Juice Ingredients:

• Watermelon pieces deseeded – 2 cups
• Powdered Sugar – 2 Tbsp (Optional)
• Pepper Powder – 1/4 tsp
• Salt – Pinch
• Ice Cubes – 3-4

Time to Prepare : 15 min

How to Make Watermelon Juice:

1. In a mixer Jar, add peeled and deseeded Watermelon pieces, Powdered Sugar, Pepper Powder and Salt.
2. Grind all the above ingredients until you see a nicely blended liquid.
3. Transfer to a glass and top with Ice cubes. Serve Watermelon Juice chilled.

Note:

1. You know that Powdered Sugar should be added only if Watermelon is not sweet enough for you.
2. If needed, you can filter the Watermelon Juice, but Watermelon Juice gives good taste without filtering.

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Like I did for my earlier post on Eggless Vanilla Cake, I have tried baking this cake in my Microwave Oven in Convection mode. When I prepared my first Eggless Cake, I used Glycerin so that the cake comes out fluffy. But here for the Eggless Chocolate Cake, I have tried making the cake without using Glycerin and still the cake came out soft and fluffy. Make sure you never skip the Condensed Milk though. Condensed Milk gives real softness to the cake.

Eggless Chocolate Cake Slice

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Eggless Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

• Maida or All Purpose Flour – 160 gm
• Condensed Milk or Milkmaid – 260 gm
• Baking Powder – 1-1/2 tsp
• Cocoa Powder – 40 gm
• Unsalted Butter or Margarine – 100 Gms (I use Butter)
• Vanilla Essence (dry or liquid) – 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Milk as required – 200 ml

Decoration or Icing Ingredients:

• Butter – 1/2 cup or 150 gm
• Icing Sugar or Normal Sugar Powder – 2-3 Tbsp
• Cocoa Powder – 2 tsp
• Cherries
• Almonds
• Chocolate gratings – as required

Time to Prepare : 1 hr

How to Make Eggless Chocolate Cake:

Beating Process -

1. Mix Maida or All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder and Cocoa Powder. Sieve the mixed ingredients thrice before starting the beating process.

2. Beat the Unsalted Butter or Margarine (I used my own home made Butter) and Condensed Milk in an Egg Beater or with the help of whisk to prepare smooth paste. If you use a whisk or spatula instead of an Egg Beater, you may have to beat lot more than what you would with an Egg Beater – at least for 10 to 15 minutes. The beating process in beater should be in a single direction.

3. Divide the sieved Maida, Baking Powder and Cocoa Powder mixture (from step 1) into 3 proportions and add each one of these proportions slowly, bit by bit, while you keep beating the batter.

5. Now add Milk and Vanilla Essence slowly and beat again. If the batter is too thick, add extra Milk. The batter should come out as thick as an Idly or a Dosa batter.

Eggless Chocolate Cake Batter

Baking Process using Microwave in Convection Mode -

1. Preheat Microwave oven in Convection mode for about 9-10 min.

2. Take the cake tin, grease the tin with butter well. Try to dust a single tsp of Maida all over the tin uniformly. Keep aside.

3. Fill about half or 3/4 of the Cake Tin with the Cake batter from the above by pouring the batter into the tin. Allow the Cake batter to settle in the Cake tin by patting and shaking the Cake tin so that the batter settles well inside the tin. The batter inside the Cake tin this way becomes free of air particles inside itself.

4. In the Microwave Oven, bake the Cake in Convection Mode at 180 Centigrade for about 30-40 minutes until the Cake turns slightly golden brown. It is not possible to bake Cookies and Cakes in Basic or Grill mode of Microwave Oven. The baking time may take a little less or more time and hence keep watching. Remove the baked Cake from Microwave Oven. Once removed, make sure you check with a wooden stick to see if the Cake is baked well by piercing the wooden stick in the middle of the Cake. If the Cake is not baked fully, the Cake tends to stick to the wooden stick. If yet to be baked, heat the Cake in Microwave in Convection Mode for further 15 min or so and bake again.

5. Once the cake is baked, allow the Cake to cool completely in the Cake tin itself for about 2 hrs. With this, the Eggless Chocolate Cake is ready to be served.

6. Once cooled, remove Eggless Chocolate Cake from from the Cake tin and place it on a plate. Now cut the Cake’s top layer carefully with knife, make the top layer as flat and uniform as possible so that the Cake Icing can be spread well on the Eggless Cake.

Eggless Chocolate Cake Baked

Decoration or Icing Process on a Cake -

1. Have a bowl, add Icing sugar, Cocoa Powder and Butter and beat it slowly using whisk or spatual till you get the proper spread and consistency of Icing. For this cake preparation, I have used Chocolate Icing. This Icing goes well with Chocolate Cake.

2. Spread the Icing on all sides of Eggless Chocolate Cake with the help of spatulla and/or knife.

3. Sprinkle grated Chocolate on the Icing and decorate with few Cherries and Almonds.

Keep the Eggless Chocolate Cake prepared in the refrigerator and allow to chill for 1-2 hr. Once chilled, cut the Eggless Chocolate Cake in desired shape.

Your home prepared Eggless Chocolate Cake is now ready to be relished.

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Dum Aloo translates to pressure(Dum) cooked Aloo. Whole Baby Potatoes are pressure cooked by pricking the Baby Aloo (without cutting into pieces). By doing this, the gravy will blend well with the Baby Potatoes.

Some people use Cashew gravy which can give Dum Aloo good taste, but then will result in Subzi carrying high calories. Here goes my version of Dum Aloo.

Dum Aloo

Dum Aloo Ingredients:

• Baby Potatoes or Aloo – 10-12
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Lime Juice – 1 tsp
• Coriander Leaves / Cilantro – 2 Tbsp
• Salt
• Oil – 4 Tbsp
• Fresh Cream – 2 Tbsp
• Jeera/Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp

Dum Aloo Masala Paste Ingredients:

• Onion – 2 chopped
• Big Cardamom – 2
• Black Pepper – 1/2 tsp
• Dhaniya/Coriander Powder – 1 1/2 tsp
• Chilly Powder – 2 tsp
• Jeera/Cumin Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp

Time to Make: 30 min

How to Prepare:

1. Prick the washed Baby Potatoes or Aloo with sharp knife or with a fork. Boil them in a pressure cooker with water till you hear 3-4 whistles. When the pressure eases, remove the boiled Baby Potatoes from the cooker.
2. Carefully peel away the skin of all the boiled Potatoes/Aloo. Heat 2 Tbsp of Oil in a pan. Add all the boiled/peeled Baby Potatoes and shallow fry them till the Potatoes/Aloo turn golden in color. Once fried, remove the fried ingredients from the pan; keep aside.
3. Grind all the Dum Aloo Masala Paste ingredients in a mixer grinder to a fine paste. Keep aside.
4. Heat 2 Tbsp of Oil in a pan. Add Jeera/Cumin Seeds. Once the Jeera seeds splutter, add ground Masala Paste (from Step 3), fried Baby Potatoes/Aloo (from Step 2), Sugar, Salt and 1 cup of water. Stir once and allow the ingredients to cook for 10 minutes.
5. Once cooked, add Lime Juice and mix well with a spoon/spatulla. Finally add Fresh Cream and garnish with Coriander Leaves/Cilantro.

Now Dum Aloo is ready ro serve. Serve Dum Aloo hot with Chapati, Puri/Poori or Roti.

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Those of you who have been visiting my blog, my big THANKS to you. Many of you took the time to comment on my blog. Your comment really mattered to me. In our everyday home or work life, it’s not often that we get a chance to share/receive appreciation and reaching out to you all has helped me experience that every day of my life. A single nice comment in the morning often makes my day.

To celebrate this occasion of my very first blog anniversary, I made dozens of Chocolates by hand AND prepared a nice Eggless Chocolate Cake. These home-made Chocolates and the Cake are dedicated to you all who took time to visit my blog! Thank you.

I plan to post the recipe for this soon.

Update: Do have a look at my new post - Eggless Chocolate Cake Recipe.

Eggless Chocolate Cake with Home Made Chocolates

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With the new year arrival,  I thought it’s a good time to post a Cake recipe. My Eggless Vanilla Cake was prepared using Microwave Oven in convection mode. Most say Cakes and Cookies come out best when prepared with OTG (Oven Toaster Grill), but I should say this Cake, even though Eggless, came out really well with Microwave baking. And this Eggless Cake was quite fluffy and sponge like just like the one prepared using Egg. I am using here Condensed Milk and Glycerin instead of Egg. You can buy Glycerin in Medical shops or in departmental stores. You can perhaps skip Glycerin and still Cake should still come out fine though Glycerin may help achieve softness or fluffiness of regular Cake.

Update: Also have a look at my new post Eggless Chocolate Cake!

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Eggless Vanilla Cake Ingredients:

Maida or All Purpose Flour- 100 gms
Margarine or Unsalted Butter – 50 gms
Regular Milk – 50 ml
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Cashew Nuts – 25 gms
Tutti-frutti – 25 gms
Vanilla Essence – 1/2 tsp
Condensed Milk or Milkmaid – 1/2 cup (125 ml)
Cooking or Baking Soda – Pinch
Glycerin – 5-6 drops
Sugar Powder – 2 tsp (Optional or if needed)

Time to Make : 1 hr

How to Prepare:

Beating Process -

1. Mix Maida, Baking Powder and Soda. Sieve the mixed ingredients thrice before proceeding to next few steps of the beating process.

2. Beat the Margarine or Unsalted Butter (I have used Unsalted Butter, actually my own home made Butter, to prepare Cake) and Condensed Milk in an Egg beater or in a blender to prepare a smooth paste. You may use a spatulla if you cannot find a beater or a blender. Do this for at least 10-12 minutes. Best results are achieved with the Egg beater.

3. Divide the sieved Maida, Baking Powder and Soda mixture from Step 1 into 3 proportions and add each of these proportions slowly bit by bit while you keep beating the batter.

4. Now add regular Milk slowly and beat again. The beating direction in the beater should be in a single direction; do not beat in reverse direction (helps Cake remain soft or sponge like) . If the batter is too thick, add extra Milk. The batter should come as thick as a Idly or a Dosa batter.

5. If you need the Cake to be a little sweeter than normal, add 2 tsp of Sugar Powder while in the beating process.

6. At the very end of the beating process, add Vanilla Essence, Glycerin, Cashew Nuts and Tutti-frutti and mix well with all the other ingredients.

Baking Process using Microwave in Convection Mode -

1. Preheat Microwave oven in Convection mode for 8-10 minutes.

2. Grease the Cake tin with butter properly and dust a tsp of Maida or All Purpose Flour evenly all over the tin. Pour the Cake batter to fill about 1/2 or 3/4 of the tin. Pat the tin containing the batter it so that the batter settles well inside the tin and becomes free of air particles inside the batter.

3. Bake the Cake at 180 Centigrade in Convection Mode for 30-40 minutes. The baking may take less or more time and hence be watchful. Remove the baked Cake from the oven once the Cake turns light golden brown. Check with wooden stick to see if the Cake is properly baked. To do this, pierce the stick in the middle of the cake; if not baked properly, the Cake sticks to the wooden stick. If not baked properly, heat in Microwave in Convection Mode for another 15 min or so and bake. You cannot bake Cakes and Cookies in Basic or Grill model of Microwave oven.

Eggless Vanilla Cake with Nuts and Tutti-frutti when prepared

Once the cake is done, allow it to completely cool for at least 15-20 min in the tin and then remove from the tin. Cut the Cake into pieces and serve once it is completely cooled.

Cut Eggless Vanilla Cake

Now the Eggless Vanilla Cake is ready to serve.

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People love it when Paddu is crispy and hot. Add spice/masala to it and you have a winner. Do have a look at Sweet Paddu/Paniyaram recipe posted by me earlier to see a variant of Paddu. Then there is also the regular Paddu/Paniyaram that I more often prepare.

Paddu is known by various names like Appe, Guliappa, Paniyaram, Gulittu, Gundponglu, Gunta Pangana, Gunta Pongadalu etc. in Southern parts of India. In Karnataka, we know it by name Guliappa or Paddu.

Spicy Paddu or Paniyaram

Spicy Paddu/Paniyaram Ingredients:

• Dosa Rice – 1 cup
• Urad Dal / White Lentils – 1/4 cup
• Bengal Gram / Channa Dal – 2 tsp
• Fenugreek Seeds / Methi – 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Seeds / Jeera – 1 tsp
• Coriander Seeds / Dhaniya – 1 tsp
• Red Chillies – 5-6
• Curry Leaves – 8-10
• Finely chopped Onion – 1
• Salt

How to Prepare:

1. Soak Dosa Rice, Urad Dal/White Lentils, Bengal Gram/Channa Dal, Fenugreek Seeds/Methi in water for 4-5 hours.
2. Grind soaked ingredients with Cumin Seeds/Jeera, Coriander Seeds/Dhaniya, Red Chillies, Curry Leaves and Salt with water in a mixer grinder to a smooth paste like you would for Dosa or Paddu batter.
3. Finally add finely chopped Onions to this batter and leave the batter to ferment overnight or atleast for 4-5 hours. Now the Paddu/Paniyaram Batter is ready as in the image below.
   

   Spicy Paddu/Paniyaram Batter

4. Heat the Paddu/Paniyaram Pan and grease all moulds with oil. Now slowly pour the batter into each of the moulds with the help of ladle/table spoon. For best results, the Paddu batter should be filled to almost 3/4 of the mould as shown in image below.
   

   Spicy Paddu or Paniyaram Preparation

5. Reduce the heat to medium and leave the batter to cook well for 3 minutes by closing the lid. Do not close the lid while cooking if you need the Paddu/Paniyaram to be crispy (preferred by many) . Once cooked on one side, flip the Paddu over to the other side and cook the other side in low flame for 2 min while you pour a little oil into the mould again as required. Once cooked on both sides, remove the cooked Paddu/Paniyaram from the pan.

Serve Spicy Paddu/Paniyaram hot with Coconut Chutney or Chutney Powder.

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For Adai, unlike Dosa/Idli, I do not need to wait for the batter to ferment and can be made as soon as the ingredients are ground in the grinder and batter is made ready. Adai recipe is specially handy during cold weather since typically during winter season, Dosa/Idli batter do not ferment well and hence losing taste. In the night if you are thinking of something to make for breakfast the next day, just leave the Dals and Rice soaked in water for 7-8 hrs before and prepare Adai next day morning. Children at times avoid dishes made with Dals. Many children love Adai and can provide them the essential proteins and other nutrients that Dals provide.

Thought of preparing Adai came by glancing at the Adai – The Budding Cook website. Thanks to her. The color and texture of her Adai made it so very tempting.

Adai

Adai Ingredients:

• Dosa Rice or Raw Rice – 1/2 cup
• Pigeon Pea or Toor Dal – 1/2 cup
• White Lentils or Urad Dal – 1/2 cup
• Bengal Gram Dal or Channa Dal – 1/2 cup
• Red Chillies – 4-5
• Curry Leaves – 10-15
• Asafoetida / Hing – pinch
• Salt
• Oil for preparing Adai

Time to Make: 6-7 hr

How to Prepare:

1. Soak Rice and all of Dals/Lentils (Toor Dal, Channa Dal and Toor Dal) along with Red Chillies overnight or at least for 4-5 hrs.
2. Grind soaked ingredients with Curry Leaves like you would for Dosa/Idli batter. Do not grind to too smooth a paste. Add Asafoetida/Hing and Salt to the batter.
3. Heat the non-stick pan or normal Tawa. Pour a ladleful of Adai batter on the middle of heated pan and spread evenly in a circular motion as you would for Dosa. Pour half spoon of Oil all over the Adai and close the lid to bake it properly. Prepare Adai thick or thin depending on your preference. Cook Adai till golden brown in color, then flip over and cook other side.

Adai

Now hot, crispy Adai is ready to serve with Chutney.

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Sapota/Chiku Rolls

Sapota Rolls or Chiku Halwa Ingredients:

• Fully Ripe Sapota or Chiku – 8
• Sugar – 1/2 cup
• Khova or Khoa or Dried Whole Milk – 1/2 cup
• Chiroti Rava or Small Rava/Semolina – 1/2 cup
• Ghee or Clarified Butter – 5-6 Tbsp

Time to Make : 30-40 min

How To Prepare:

1. Peel the outer skin and remove seeds of the Sapota or Chiku/Chikoo. Always use fully ripe Sapota/Chiku. If Sapota is not ripened properly, while preparing Halwa or Rolls the sticky white portion inside the Sapota/Chiku will stick to the vessel and it is very difficult to clean it.
   Cut the fruit into small pieces and transfer them to a mixer jar and grind into a smooth paste by grinding in a mixer grinder.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp of Ghee in a pan, add Chiroti Rava or Small Rava/Semolina to it. Fry for 2-3 minutes until you obtain a good aroma. Transfer the Rava/Semolina to a bowl.
3. Take a steel plate and have it greased all over with Ghee/Clarified Butter.
4. To the same pan used for frying the Rava, add Sapota Paste from Step 1, Khoa/Khova, fried Rava/Semolina from Step 2, Sugar and Ghee/Clarified Butter. Mix all together with the help of a spatulla and cook all the dessert ingredients by stirring continuously until the entire dessert mixture gathers in the center of the vessel or to a Halwa consistency. This typically takes about 20-25 minutes.
5. Remove from the flame, pour all the pan contents into the Ghee greased plate. Spread the Chiku Halwa mixture all over the plate. Else, one can hand roll into a oblong shape as in the image. I have shown both types – the Chiku Halwa and a Sapota/Chiku Roll.

Sapota/Chiku Halwa

Now Sapota Rolls or Sapota Halwa is ready to serve.

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I saw its recipe in action in a TV show and seemed like a good try since the effort required for this Dates recipe was quite small.

When I did try, I found that Dates Suprise tasted quite good. It can be quite filling though; sometimes a single Dates Surprise can leave you feeling a little full. Children could love to have this.

Health benefits of Dates are numerous. Whole of Middle East has relied on Dates for centuries due to its nutritional benefits. Dates have high fiber content, rich in minerals and vitamins, recommended for both adults and children. Helpful for constipation and for promoting wellness of heart and intestines, Dates have been found to prevent/cure abdominal cancer.

Dates Surprise

Dates Surprise Ingredients:

• Dates – 5
• Milk Powder – 3 Tbsp
• Icing Sugar – 1 Tbsp
• Desiccated Coconut – 3 Tbsp
• Badam / Almond – 5

Time to Make : 10 min

How to Prepare:

1. De-seed the Dates and place one Badam/Almond each inside the individual Dates (in the place of the seed removed by you).

Dates Surprise Preparation step 1

2. In a bowl, add Milk Powder, Icing Sugar and 1 1/2 Tbsp of Desiccated Coconut. Mix all these ingredients with 1 tsp of water and prepare thick dough. Do not add all the water at once, dough can turn too soft or watery.

Dates Surprise Preparation step 2

3. Divide the dough into 5 equal sized dough balls. Press with hand each of these dough balls to obtain 5 small, Poori/Papad sized dough plates. Position a Date (from Step 1) on one of these Poori/Papad sized dough plates and roll it into oblong shape as shown in the image. Repeat this step for all the remaining four Dates.

Rolling Dates Surprise on Desiccated Coconut

4. Now roll these oblong shaped Dates on remaining Desiccated Coconut.

Now Dates surprise is ready to serve. Hope you liked this simple Dates recipe.

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There are two versions – one with Rice added to this Payasam (called Akki Kadale Bele Payasa which many think tastes better) and the other without Rice. The Chana Dal Payasam recipe I am talking about below does not include Rice.

Popularly known as Senaga Pappu Payasam in Telugu and Kadalai Paruppu Payasam in Tamil.

Chana Dal is high in protein and dietary fiber content and it can act as a good source of carbohydrates for people suffering from diabetes. Chana Dal is low on fat and most of it is polyunsaturated fat which is known to reduce the risk of heart disease.

Chana Dal Payasam or Kadale Bele Payasa

Chana Dal Payasam or Kadale Bele Payasa Ingredients:

• Chana Dal or Kadale Bele – 1 cup
• Jaggery – 3/4 cup to 1 cup
• Grated Coconut – 1/2 cup
• Poppy Seeds/Khus-Khus – 3 tsp
• Ghee – 1 tsp
• Cashew Nuts – 8-10
• Raisins or Kishmish – 8-10
• Cardamom – 2

Time to Make: 30 min

How to Prepare:

1. Wash the Chana Dal or Kadale Bele thoroughly. Soak the Dal/Bele in 2 cups of water for 15 minutes. Then pressure cook Chana Dal in the same water used for soaking, until you hear about 2 whistles.
2. Grind the Poppy Seeds/Khus-Khus, Grated Coconut and Cardamom with little water in a mixer grinder to a smooth paste.
3. In a vessel, add Jaggery and 1 cup of water (you may use the same water used for cooking the Dal/Bele if you like) and heat until the Jaggery melts. Once the Jaggery melts, add ground Coconut paste from Step 2, cooked Chana Dal from Step 1 and again cook all these ingredients for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the flame.
4. Heat Ghee in another frying pan, add Cashew Nuts, Raisins and fry them until the Cashew Nuts turn golden brown in color.
5. Now add fried Cashew Nuts, Raisins to the above Paysam mixture from Step 3 above.

Now the Kadale Bele Payasa or Chana Dal Payasam is ready to serve.

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Chocolate Banana Stick

Chocolate Banana Stick Ingredients:

• Grated Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate – 1/2 cup
• Banana – 3
• Tooth Pick – 6
• Cashew Nuts – 4-5
• Badam / Almond – 2

Time to Make : 5 min

How to Prepare:

1. Cut the Cashew Nuts and Badam / Almond into small pieces. Keep aside.
2. Melt the Grated Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate in microwave oven for 1-1/2 minute. Remove from the microwave oven and stir the Chocolate with the help of spoon until the Chocolate turns to a smooth paste.
3. Peel the Banana and cut into 2 pieces. Prick the other end of the Banana with toothpick or stick of your choice.
4. Dip each of the Banana Pieces into the Chocolate Paste and then garnish with Almond and Cashew Nut pieces as shown.

Now Chocolate Banana Stick is ready to savor/serve.

Chocolate Banana Stick

Tips:

• Serve immediately. Do not store Chocolate Banana Stick as the Banana changes its color and can turn stale.
• Instead of Banana, you can use Apple, Pineapple, Red Grapes, Strawberries, Cherry etc. for Chocolate Banana Stick.

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It is said that Kormas became popular during Mughal period, specially during the Akbar rule. You can make varieties of Korma/Kurma curries – Vegetable Korma/Kurma prepared with multiple vegetables or the popular Navarathan Korma/Kurma which you can prepare with fruits are just two examples.

We had Paneer Korma/Kurma with Chapati for dinner and loved the great taste of this relatively simple dish. Try it out for yourself and let me know how it fares in making a tasty meal.

Paneer Korma/Kurma

Paneer Korma/Kurma Ingredients:

• Paneer or Cottage Cheese – 100 gms
• Onion – 1
• Tomato – 1
• Green Chillies – 2
• Ginger + Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
• Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Kitchen King Masala Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves – 7-8
• Coriander Leaves/Cilantro – 1/4 cup
• Fresh Cream – 2 Tbsp
• Oil – 2 Tbsp
• Salt

Korma Paste Ingredients:

• Grated Coconut – 1/4 cup or Kaju/Cashew Nuts – 9-10
• Poppy Seeds/Khus-Khus – 1 tsp

Time to Make: 30 min

How to Prepare:

1. Chop the Onion into small pieces and Tomato into cube sized pieces. Cut the Paneer also into small cube sized pieces.
2. Grind the Grated Coconut or Cashew Nuts with Poppy seeds with 1/4 cup of water in a mixer grinder to a smooth paste. As I said earlier, Coconut paste is a regular ingredient for Korma/Kurma and if you like, you can replace Coconut with Kaju/Cashew Nut paste to prepare the Korma/Kurma.
3. Heat Oil in a pan. Add Green Chillies, Curry Leaves, chopped Onion, Ginger + Garlic Paste and fry for 2-3 minutes or until the Onion pieces start to look transparent.
4. Then add Turmeric Powder, chopped Tomato, Red Chilli Powder, Paneer and Salt and cook them all for approximately 4 minutes. Keep stirring all the ingredients so that the Masala ingredients blend well with Paneer/Cottage Cheese and the Paneer pieces acquire the spicy taste.
5. Now add the ground Coconut or Kaju paste from step 2 to the pan with 1/2 cup of water and cook the pan contents for 5 minutes.
6. At this stage, add Garam Masala and Kitchen King Masala Powder to the above mixture and cook Korma/Kurma gravy for 2 more minutes.
7. Now finally add Fresh Cream to the pan and stir once. Remove from the flame.
8. Garnish with Coriander Leaves/Cilantro.

Now Paneer Korma or Paneer Kurma is ready. Serve the Korma/Kurma hot with Chapati, Roti, Naan or Kulcha.

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Depending on the amount of calories you need to stay active during the morning hours, you can add or let go of certain dry fruits or the fresh fruits that I am suggesting to go with the Oats breakfast. For example, you can avoid Banana if you feel it is high in calories and you need the breakfast to stay light. Oats is a great breakfast recipe to fall back on if you have had a heavy meal the previous night, say, in a restaurant or a friend’s house. Also, we go for a quick and healthy oats breakfast when I have a larger menu to target for lunch on a festival day or when I have some visitors at home; when it is expected that we will have a heavier lunch. This saves some work for me for breakfast and jump straight into preparing the dishes for lunch.

One can prepare quite a few dishes from Oats like Oats Upma, Cookies, Soups etc. Will explore some of these oats recipes and post them in coming days.

Oats Breakfast

Oats Breakfast Ingredients:

• Quaker Oats – 1/2 cup (or White Oats)
• Milk – 1-1/2 to 2 cups
• Sugar – 1 Tbsp
• Walnuts – 7-8
• Fig or Anjeer or Anjoor – 1-2
• Dates or Kajoor – 2
• Apple – 1/2
• Banana – 1 small sized (Optional)

Time to Make: 10 min

How To Prepare:

1. Cut all the dry fruits like Walnuts, Fig and Dates into small pieces. Cut the fresh fruits you want to go with Oats like Apple, Banana, Chikoo etc. into cubed sized pieces.
2. Cook the Oats with 1 cup of Milk and Sugar in a microwave for about 2-3 minutes or cook them in a vessel for about 5 minutes.
3. Transfer the above cooked Oats with Milk to a serving bowl. Leave the mixture to cool for 2-3 minutes.
4. Now add all the cut Fruits, Dry fruits and remaining Milk to the serving bowl with cooked Oats. Mix all the ingredients well.

Now your fresh healthy Oats breakfast is ready to savoured.

Health Notes:

• Oats contain Wheat, Barley and Corn. Oats have lots of fiber content and is high in Protein and Iron. I hear that it has very low or zero cholesterol, zero fatty acid and is heart friendly.
• Dry fruits like Walnuts promote good cholesterol, have lots of Proteins and unsaturated fat.
• Dried Figs are highly nutritious and contains high calories, but it helps to fight anemia and protect against cancer.
• Dates are high in Sugar but have no cholesterol and they are high in dietary fiber too.

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I tried little extra hard this time to capture in my photograph some of the grandeur that this Palak dish enjoys among the multitude of choices available to a guest visiting an Indian restaurant. At the end, I guess I did ok with this photo of our favorite Palak recipe. Palak Paneer prepared by me tasted great too and this is my modest presentation of this Palak/Spinach curry to help you recreate some of that magic at home for your loved ones and for yourself.

If you do not prefer Paneer, I have noted below how you can replace Paneer with some of the vegetables and still have a great tasting Palak curry prepared.

Palak Paneer or Spinach Curry

Palak Paneer or Spinach Curry Ingredients:

• Paneer or Cottage Cheese – 300 gms
• Palak or Spinach – 3/4 kg or 6 big bunches
• Chopped Green Chillies – 3
• Ginger – 1/2 inch
• Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Medium Sized Onion – 2
• Tomato Puree – 1 cup
• Jeera/Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
• Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp
• Dhaniya Powder or Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp
• Oil – 2 Tbsp
• Fresh Cream – 1/4 cup
• Salt
• Oil for frying Paneer

Time To Make: 40 min

How To Prepare:

1. Clean the Palak or Spinach properly. Cook the Palak/Spinach leaves with chopped Green Chillies, Ginger in a pressure cooker with 1/4 cup of water until you hear a single whistle. Else, cook all these ingredients in Microwave on high setting for 3 minutes. Retain the water used for cooking. Later one can use this water when cooking the Palak Paneer as described in Step 6 below.
2. Once the Palak/Spinach leaves turn cool, transfer all the cooked ingredients to a mixer jar and grind it in a mixer grinder to obtain smooth Palak paste. Keep aside.
3. Finely chop one of the Onions. Cut the other Onion and prepare a smooth Onion paste by grinding the cut Onion in a mixer grinder. Keep aside.
4. Heat Oil in a fairly large pan. Add Jeera/Cumin seeds. Once the Jeera seeds splutter, add finely chopped Onions (from Step 3) and fry until the Onions look transparent. Then add smooth Onion Paste and fry till the raw smell of Onion disappears. It takes almost 2 minutes for the Onions to be cooked.
5. Now add Tomato Puree, Turmeric, Red Chilli Powder, Dhaniya/Coriander Powder and allow the ingredients in the frying pan to cook for 5 minutes.
6. Then add Palak paste from step 2 to the above mixture with 1/4 cup of water (for better results, you may use the water used for cooking Palak, retained in Step 1) and Salt. Cook for 10 more minutes.
7. Now cut the Paneer into cube sized pieces and deep fry in Oil until the Paneer pieces turn golden brown. Remove from the Oil and immediately add the fried Paneer to the Palak/Spinach curry preparation from above steps.
8. Next add Garam Masala Powder to the Palak Paneer mixture and cook the entire gravy for 3-4 minutes. Finally add Fresh Cream to the mixture.

Garnish Palak Paneer with a little Fresh Cream.

Now Palak Paneer/Spinach Curry is ready to serve with Roti, Chapati, Naan or Kulcha.

Note:

• You can try out variations of Palak Paneer recipe by replacing the Paneer with Tofu or Boiled Potato pieces, Green Peas or with Okra/Bhindi. Palak/Spinach curry tastes great with any of these vegetables. One can have Palak Paneer with Plain Rice or with Roties. I prepared Palak Panner to go with Pulka/Chapati.
• Spinach/Palak is considered rich source of Iron and Calcium and Paneer is rich in Protein.

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Bisi Bele Bath Powder

Bisi Bele Bath Powder Ingredients:

• Bengal Gram / Channa Dal – 1/2 cup
• Urad Dal / White Lenthils – 1/2 cup
• Dhaniya / Coriander Seeds – 2 tsp
• Jeera / Cumin Seeds – 2 tsp
• Methi / Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp
• Dalchini / Cinnamon – 3 inch
• Shalmali/ Kopak Buds or Marathi Moggu – 5 buds
• Elachi / Cardamom – 2
• Laung / Cloves – 2
• Red Chillies – 15-18
• Oil – 1 Tbsp

Time To Make: 15 min

How to Prepare:

1. Heat Oil in a pan, add Bengal Gram/Channa Dal and fry for 2 minutes. Then add Urad Dal / White Lenthils and fry until both Dals turn golden brown in color.
2. Now add all the other ingredients like Coriander Seeds, Cumin Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds, Cinnamon, Kopak Buds, Cardamom, Cloves and Red Chillies and fry for 5 minutes or until the Red chillies change the color. Then remove from the flame and let it cool.
3. Once all the fried ingredients are cooled, transfer them to a mixer jar and grind them in the mixer grinder until you obtain smooth powder as shown.

Bisi Bele Bath Powder is now ready. When preparing Bisi Bele Bath, you can add 2-3 tsp of Bisi Bele Bath Powder (as per your taste) directly to the cooked vegetables. Or if you need Bisi Bele Bath to be a little tastier, then grind 2-3 tsp of Bisi Bele Bath Powder with 1 cup of grated Coconut in a mixer grinder to a smooth paste and then mix it with other ingredients.

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Also check out Poha recipes posted my me earlier if you have not seen them – Tamarind Poha/Huli Avalakki, Curd Poha and Avalakki Upkari. Most of these can be prepared on a festival day which involves some fasting but they also make a great breakfast or evening snack.

Sweet Poha or Sweet Avalakki/Aval

Sweet Poha/Avalakki/Aval Ingredients:

Thin Poha/Avalakki/Aval/Atukulu or Thin Beaten Rice – 2 cups
Fresh Grated Coconut – 3/4 cup
Jaggery – 3/4 to 1 cup
Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp (optional)

Time to Make: 10 min

How to Prepare:

In a bowl, hand mix grated Coconut and Jaggery. Ensure that the Jaggery is mixed really well with grated Coconut.

Now add Thin Poha/Avalakki and Cardamom Powder to the Coconut-Jaggery mixture and mix them all together properly.

Sweet Poha/Avalakki/Aval is ready to serve.

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Vegetable Pulav/Pulao using MTR powder

Vegetable Pulao/Vegetable Pulav Ingredients:

MTR Pulav/Pulao Powder – 2 tsp
Rice – 1 cup
Beans – 15 pieces
Carrot – 2
Potato – 1 big sized
Peas – 1/2 cup
Cauliflower – 10 florets (optional)
Chopped Green Chillies – 2
Onions – 1 medium sized chopped
Ginger + Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Cashew Nuts – 10-12
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Jeera or Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves – 5-8
Salt
Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
Ghee or Clarified Butter – 1 tsp
Oil – 3 tsp
Water – 2 cup
Coriander Leaves / Cilantro

Raita Ingredients:

Curd – 1 cup
Cucumber – 1
Onion – 1 big sized
Tomato – 1 big sized
Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
Salt

Time to Make:30 min

How to Prepare:

1. Wash the Vegetables thoroughly. If you purchase dry peas, keep them soaked for at least 12 hours before use.

Cut the Vegetables and keep aside.

2. Wash Rice well with water and drain out the water completely since rice should stay as dry as possible.

3. Take the pressure cooker container (the outer container itself and not the inside vessel). Heat Oil and Ghee in the cooker container until the Ghee melts. Add Mustard Seeds, Jeera and fry for a min until Mustard Seeds splutter.

Now add Curry Leaves, chopped Green Chillies, chopped Onions (cut length-wise) and Ginger + Garlic paste fry until the Onions appear transparent. At this stage, add Cashew Nuts and fry till it turns golden brown.

3. Then add cut Vegetables and soaked Peas from Step 1 to the cooker container. Mix the contents well. Add Sugar now; Sugar helps to retain the color of the Vegetables.

4. Add washed Rice from Step 2 and fry Rice well for about 2 min.

5. At this stage, add MTR Pulav/Pulao Powder, Salt and stir once. Finally add 2 cups of water, close the cooker lid and allow the contents to cook.

For best results, when you hear the 3 whistle of the cooker, switch off the flame and allow the cooker pressure to ease.

Once you open the cooker lid, you can add Lemon Juice and Cilantro/Coriander leaves and mix it well with Pulav/Pulao.

MTR powder based Vegetable Pulav/Pulao is now ready to be served.

Vegetable Pulao/Pulav can be had with Raita (see recipe below).

Raita

Raita preparation:

Finely chop the Cucumber, Tomato and Onion. Add these finely chopped vegetables to Curd along with Salt, Cilantro/Coriander leaves and mix well.

Vegetable Pulav/Pulao with Raita

Now Raita is ready to be serve with Vegetable Pulav/Pulao.

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Bhindi Fry or Bhindi Masala or Okra Fry

Okra/Bhindi Fry or Bhindi Masala Ingredients:

Ladies Finger or Okra or Bhindi – 1/4 kg
Ginger + Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
Jeera / Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1 tsp
Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
Dhaniya/Coriander Powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
Tomato – 1
Onion – 1
Oil – 2 Tbsp
Curd – 2 Tbsp
Fresh Cream – 1 Tbsp
Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
Salt

Time to Make: 30 min

How to Prepare:

1. Cut the Bhindi/Okra into 2 inch pieces. Chop the Tomatoes and Onions into cube size pieces. Keep aside.

2. In a frying pan, add Bhindi/Okra pieces, pour Curd and fry well until the stickiness of the Bhindi/Okra disappears. Then add 1 Tbsp of Oil and fry the Bhindi until it turns soft. Transfer the fried Bhindi/Ladies Finger to a bowl.

3. In the same pan used for frying Bhindi/Okra, heat 1 Tbsp of Oil. Add Onions and fry for a minute. Then add Ginger+Garlic paste, chopped Tomatoes and cook for nearly about 3-4 min until Tomatoes turn soft.

4. At this stage, add all the dry powders – Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder, Dhaniya/Coriander Powder and Garam Masala Powder to the pan. Ensure that these powders blend well with the ingredients in the pan by mixing the contents well for a min.

5. Now add fried Bhindi/Okra from Step 2. Add Salt and fry for 8-10 minutes by closing the lid of the pan.

6. Remove from the flame. Garnish with Fresh Cream and Coriander Leaves/Cilantro.

Okra Fry/Bhindi Fry/Bhindi Masala is now ready to serve with Chapati or Roti.

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Semiya Payasam or Vermicelli Kheer or Shavige Payasa

Semiya Payasam/Vermicelli Kheer Ingredients:

Vermicelli or Semiya or Shavige – 1 cup
Sugar or Almond Powder or Badam Feast (MTR) – 1 cup
Milk – 6 cups
Ghee or Clarified Butter – 3 tsp
Raisins or Kishmish – 10-15
Cashew nuts – 10-15
Almond or Badam – 5-6
Cardamom Powder – 1/2 tsp
Kesar or Saffron – 5-6 strands

Time to Make: 20 min

How to Prepare:

1. Soak Kesar or Saffron in 2 tsp of Milk (not required if you are using Badam Feast). Boil the remaining Milk. Cut the Almonds lengthwise. Keep aside all these 3 things separately.

2. Melt 1 tsp Ghee/Clarified Butter in a pan, add Vermicelli/Semiya and fry until Vermicelli turns golden brown.

3. Take 2 cups of boiled Milk from Step 1 in a vessel. Add fried Vermicelli/Shavige to it and cook until the Semiya/Vermicelli turns soft.

4. Once the Vermicelli/Semiya turned soft, add remaining boiled Milk and boil for 2-3 more minutes. Then add Sugar or Badam feast/Powder (which already contains Sugar) and boil for 5 more minutes.

Only if you are NOT using Badam Feast, now add Cardamom Powder and soaked Saffron (from Step 1) and mix well. Badam Feast comes ready with Cardamom Powder and Saffron.

5. Heat Ghee or Clarified Butter in another frying pan. Fry Raisins, Cashew Nuts and Almonds until Cashews turn golden brown. Mix these fried ingredients to the above Semiya Payasam mixture and stir once.

Now Vermicelli Kheer or Semiya Payasam or Shavige Payasa is ready to serve. Serve hot. Else, allow the Payasam to cool to room temperature, refrigerate for few hours and serve chilled.

Note: Ensure that ratio of Milk to Vermicelli/Semiya is quite high since the Payasam thickens substantially upon cooling.

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Aloo Sabzi/Sabji or Potato Sabzi/Sabji

Aloo Sabzi/Sabji Ingredients:

Big sized Potatoes or Aloo – 2
Onions – 2 Medium sized
Green Chillies – 3
Turmeric Powder – 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
White Lentils or Urad Dal – 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves – 7-8
Lemon Juice – 1/2 tsp or Dry Mango Powder/Amchur Powder – 1/4 tsp
Coriander Leaves or Cilantro
Oil – 3 tsp
Salt
Sugar – 1/2 tsp

How to Prepare:

1) Boil the Potatoes/Aloo in a pressure cooker until you hear 4 whistles or cook them in a microwave on high setting for 12 minutes. Let the cooker pressure to ease.

2) Chop the Green Chillies and Onions. Keep aside.

3) Take out the Potatoes/Aloo from the cooker, remove the skin of the Potatoes. Cut them into cubes or mash them. Keep aside.

4) Heat Oil in a pan, add Mustard seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add White Lentils/Urad Dal and add Curry Leaves and Green chillies and fry for a minute.

5) Now add the Onions and Turmeric Powder and cook until the Onions start to look transparent. Add the boiled Potatoes/Aloo from Step 3 and mix well.

Then add Salt, Sugar and Lime Juice or Dry Mango Powder and mix properly. Cook it for 2-3 minutes by closing the lid.

Garnish with Coriander Leaves.

Now Potato or Aloo Sabzi/Sabji is ready to serve with Chapati or Poori/Puri.

Note: Aloo Sabji/Sabzi or Potato Palya tastes better when you make it using Dry Mango Powder instead of Lemon Juice.

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If you have some Pavs left over, try the popular Pav Bhaji recipe.

Vada Pav

Vada Pav Ingredients:

Pav – 7-8
Potatoes – 3 big sized
Finely chopped Green Chillies – 2
Chilli Powder – 1-1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder – 1/2 tsp
Hing Drops or Asefotida – 3 drops
Besan or Bengal Gram Flour – 1 cup
Lemon Juice – 1/2 tsp
Finely chopped Coriander Leaves
Salt
Oil to deep fry
Pudina Chutney (Optional)
Sweet Tamarind Chutney (Optional)

Tampering Ingredients:

Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 6-7
Oil – 1 tsp

How to Prepare:

1) Wash the Potatoes and pressure cook the Potatoes for 3-4 whistles. When the pressure eases, remove Potatoes from the cooker, peel the skin of the Potatoes. Mash or grate them (to get rid of lumps we can grate it). Keep aside.

2) Tampering Method: Heat Oil in a frying pan, add Mustard Seeds. Once the seeds splutter, add Curry Leaves. Fry them well. Keep aside.

3) Transfer the mashed or grated Potatoes (from Step 1) to a bowl. Add finely chopped Green Chillies, chopped Coriander Leaves, Garam Masala, Hing drops and Salt. Mix them well. Add Lemon Juice and Tampered mixture from Step 2 to this mixture and prepare dough.

Divide the dough into 7-8 balls and press it and prepare like patties by pressing in the middle of the balls with the help of palm.

4) Add Besan to a bowl. Add Chilli powder and little Hing and Water and prepare thick batter like Dosa batter.

Dip each patties from Step 3 into this batter and deep fry all the patties.

Now hot Vada is ready.

Potato Vada for Vada Pav

Applying Chutney on both sides of Pav

5) Cut the Pav in the middle. If you have Pudina Chutney and Sweet Tamarind Chutney at home, apply 1/2 tsp of Pudina chutney to one side and 1/2 tsp of Sweet Tamarind chutney to the other side of the Pav. Keep the hot Vada in the middle of the Pav. Vada Pav is now ready.

Serve hot Vada-Pav with Chutney of your liking.

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Sandesh

Sandesh Ingredients:

Paneer – 200 gms
Fine Sugar or Powdered Sugar – 100 gm
Unsweetened Khoya/Khoa or Dried Whole Milk – 100 gm
Milk Powder – 2 Tbsp
Rose Water – 1-2 tsp
Any food color – Orange, Green, Yellow
Moulds – of your choice (optional)

How to Prepare:

Smoothen the Paneer by hand well at least for 10 minutes. You can purchase Paneer from the stores or else I will have a post which will describe its preparation.

Add Khoya/Khoa, Powdered Sugar, Milk Powder and your preferred Color. Cook till the whole mixture starts collecting in the center. Take out and allow to cool.

Transfer into moulds to shape it in any form of your choice or create a round shape by hand. If needed, smoothen the mixture by just whipping in a mixer grinder or in a blender and obtain the right shape. You can give any shape to Sandesh like the Laddu, or oblong shape, or any shape created by the moulds.

Now Sandesh is ready to serve.

Chocolate Sandesh:  Instead of adding Rose water add 2 tsp of Cocoa Powder while cooking. Again, you can use any other flavor of your choice for Sandesh.

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I have always use MDH Pav Bhaji Masala available in the retail stores to prepare Bhaji and it has worked out quite well for me.

Also check my Vada Pav recipe.

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji Ingredients:

Pav – 8 ( 2 Pav in a single row)
Potatoes big sized – 2
Onions medium sized – 2
Tomatoes big sized – 2
Dry Peas or Frozen Peas – 3/4 cup
Ginger + Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Red Chilli Powder – 2 tsp
Pav Bhaji Masala powder – 2 tsp
Salt
Sugar – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 2 Tbsp
Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Cumin Seeds or Jeera – 1/2 tsp
Coriander Leaves
Lemon – 1
Butter – 4 tsp

How to Prepare:

1) Soak the dry Peas in a water overnight. Next day pressure cook the soaked Peas and Potatoes in a cooker for 3-4 whistles with a pinch of Salt.

2) Mash the cooked Peas and keep aside. Remove the skin of the Potatoes and mash it when it is hot and keep aside.  Note: If you are using frozen Peas just soak it in a hot water for 5 min and then mash it.

3) Chop one of the two Onions and one Tomato into cube sized slices.

Cut other Tomato and blend it in a mixer grinder and prepare Tomato puree.

4) Chop the other onion into small pieces. Chop Coriander leaves and mix it with chopped Onion. Keep aside.

5) Heat Oil in a frying pan, add Mustard Seeds. Once the seeds  splutter, add Cumin seeds. Then add chopped Onions and fry for a minute.

Once the Onion starts to look a bit transparent, add Ginger + Garlic paste and fry for a minute more. Now add chopped Tomatoes and fry until the Tomatoes are done.

6) At this stage, add Tomato puree and cook all together for 2-3 min. Then add mashed Potatoes and Peas from Step 2 and mix them properly. Add half cup of water to it and cook for another 5 min.

Then add Red Chilli Powder, Pav Bhaji Masala, Salt and Sugar. Cook for 5 min and remove from the flame. If you find the Gravy to be thicker than usual, then you can add half cup of water when the Bhaji is boiling.

Now the Bhaji is ready.

7) Heat Tawa, cut the Pav into 2 pieces. Spread 1 tsp of butter to each Pav. Roast the Pav both the sides on the heated Tawa.

How to serve:

In a serving plate, have 2 roasted Pavs with about 3 Tbsp of Bhaji on the side. Sprinkle some chopped Onions mixed with Coriander leaves (from Step 4 above) on Bhaji and keep 1/4 cut Lemon to be used with Bhaji.

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Filled Canapes

Filled Canapes Ingredients:

Canapes – 10-15 (DIP Canapes)
Butter – 2 Tbsp
Capsicum chopped – 1
American Corn – 1/2 cup
Finely chopped Green Chillies – 2
Salt
Pepper – 1/4 cup
Chopped Coriander Leaves – 1/4 cup
Oil to deep fry

How to Prepare:

1) Purchase the DIP Canapes or other Canapes of your choice from the market. My favorite is DIP Canapes available in retail stores.

You can use the Canapees directly if you are health concious. Else, deep fry the Canapes in Oil just like you would for normal papad. Deep frying Canapes helps obtain extra taste.

2) Heat the butter in a pan. Add the chopped Green Chillies and fry for a min. Add Capsicum bits to this and fry until the Capsicum pieces turn soft.
Then add American Corn and fry for 2-3 min. Now add Salt and Pepper and cook till dry. Finally add Coriander leaves.

Filled Canapes

How to serve:

Keep the fried Canapes (Step 1) on a plate. Fill the fried Canapes with Capsicum-Corn filling(from Step 2). Serve immediately to avoid Canapes turning soft. One can have Filled Canapes as evening snacks.

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