Tomato Chutney

by Deerga // September 1, 2015 // No Comments

It has been quite a while since I had posted a chutney recipe. Chutneys are a type of accompaniment that is specific to South Asian cuisine. It is similar to relish and mustards in western cuisines. The word chutney is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Catni’ which means to lick (courtesy-Wikipedia). There are literally hundreds of varieties of chutneys made from a wide range of spices, vegetables and fruits. Today I have posted one such chutney variety made from tomato called the Tomato chutney or thakali chutney.

Tomato chutney is one of the most popular chutney varieties in south Indian cuisine. It is most often had for breakfast along with idli and dosa. Tomato chutney is very easy to make and uses very minimum ingredients. One interesting fact about chutneys in general is that they were originally used as a method of preserving food which was later adopted by Roman and British empires during colonization.

Tomato chutney can be stored for three to four days (using the refrigerator). Also, you can customize the chutney to suite your palate by making it spicy or mild. Try this easy yet tasty chutney recipe in your home and have it with hot idlis or ghee roast along with idli podi.

Tomato Chutney

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

To grind:

Grated coconut – 2 tbsp
Shallots – 2 nos
Homemade sambar powder (veettu milagai podi) – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp

other ingredients:

Oil – 1 ½ tbsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Urad dal – ½ tsp
Curry leaves – 5 nos
Shallots, chopped – 9 nos
Green chilli, slit – 1 no
Tomatoes, finely chopped – 2 nos
Salt as required

Instructions

Grind all the ingredients mentioned above to a fine paste and keep it aside.
Heat a pan with oil and add mustard and urad dal. When they start to splutter add curry leaves.
Add chopped shallots and sauté until they turn translucent.
Add slit green chilli and chopped tomatoes. Add enough salt and sauté well.
Finally add the ground paste when the tomatoes turn mushy.
Mix well and bring it to boil.
Cook until the raw smell disappears or cook for one whistle in a pressure cooker. Enjoy tomato chutney with ghee roast and idli podi. 

Boiled Rice

by Deerga // August 30, 2015 // No Comments

Today I am posting an important process that is most often an intermediary step during the preparation of dum biriyani, hyderabadi biriyani, fried rice, etc. Boiling rice is a traditional process of cooking rice that was in existence before the advent of pressure cookers.

Boiling rice is a simple yet an efficient process where even the byproduct, i.e., the water (vadi kanchi) is consumed as well.

The main purpose of boiling rice is to make the rice fluffy when cooked. Make sure to add salt while the water boils. Constant checking of the texture of the rice is necessary.

Boiled Rice

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 2 mins

Total time: 22 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Basmati rice – 1 cup
Water – as required
Salt - ½ to 1 tsp or as required

Instructions

Wash and soak the rice for 25 minutes. Drain the water and keep it aside.
Collect enough water in a wide open, thick bottomed vessel and bring it to boil in a high flame.
When the water starts to boil, simmer the flame to medium low. Add enough salt and again bring it boil. If your making biriyani, add shahi jeera, bay leaf and oil at this stage. Check for the salt. Water has to be salty.
Add the soaked rice to the boiling water and stand aside. Wait until froth is formed and the rice starts to dance on top. At this time rice would have cooked 70%. It takes only a minute so be sure to stand next to it and switch off the flame. Remaining 30% will be cooked in the hot water itself. Leave it for a minute and check if the rice is completely cooked by pressing in between your finger or tasting it.
Meanwhile take a strainer and place it on top of a wide vessel.
Immediately pour the cooked rice into the strainer and completely strain the water.
Leave it for about 5 minutes until all the water is completely strained.
Use this beautifully cooked boiled rice for making fried rice, hyderabadi biriyani, etc.

Dhoodh Shahi Murgh

by Deerga // August 22, 2015 // No Comments

I am always interested in trying out different recipes and am on the lookout for the same. That is how I found today’s recipe, an unique chicken gravy that is a sort of fusion dish (will elaborate on this shortly) I would say. It is called the Doodh Shahi Murg which means chicken cooked with milk. The main ingredients in this recipe, apart from milk are, koya and heavy cream.

Doodh Shahi Murgh is a rich gravy that makes you feel heavy even when had in small servings. The preparation of this dish is unique in the sense that the ingredients used are all Indian but the cooking method closely resembles continental style i.e., similar to pasta or cannelloni. In Doodh Shahi Murgh, the meat (chicken) is first cooked (shallow fried here), then a layering gravy made from milk, khoya and heavy cream is poured over the chicken and then baked. The resulting Doodh Shahi Murgh is a mouth watering, rich chicken gravy.

Doodh Shahi Murgh is an excellent accompaniment for naan, chappathi, parotta etc. It has a slight sweetness to it because of the milk and koya. I admit that the time taken to prepare Doodh Shahi Murgh is a bit longer than most other gravies but do believe me when I say that the taste is worth all the time spent. Try this exotic, rich Doodh Shahi Murgh in your kitchen and do let me know your favorite accompaniment to it.

Chicken Dhoodh Shahi Murgh

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Fushion

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

To marinate:

Chicken – 1 cup
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Lemon juice – from 1 lemon
Cumin powder – a generous pinch
Salt as required
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Hung yoghurt, beaten – ½ cup

For the gravy:

Ghee – 1 tbsp
Green chilli slits – 2 nos
Onion, medium, finely chopped – 1 no
Cashew paste – 2 tbsp
Sweetened khoya – 1 to 1 ½ tbsp
Milk – 1 cup
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Cardamom powder – a pinch
White pepper powder – ½ tsp
Black pepper powder, freshly ground – ½ tsp
Salt – a generous pinch
Fresh cream – 1 tbsp
Grated cheddar cheese – for garnishing

Instructions

Wash the chicken pieces and drain all the excess water. Add in ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, lemon juice and mix well.
Now add cumin powder, salt and garam masala powder. And again mix well.
Finally add the beaten hung yoghurt, mix well and leave it for at least 20 minutes.
Heat a wide pan with oil and add green chillies. Sauté well until the outer layer turn white.
Add in finely chopped onions and sauté until they turn translucent or golden brown.
Meanwhile heat a flat skillet with 2 tbsp of oil and add marinated chicken one by one onto the skillet. Shallow fry the chicken pieces until one side is done.
Now in a low flame add in cashew paste and mix well. Cook until the raw smell disappears stirring constantly. Cashew paste tends to stick to the bottom. So constant stirring is required.
Meanwhile check if the chicken pieces are cooked on one side and flip them to cook on the other side.
Add in sweetened khoya when the raw smell of cashew disappears. Mix well.
Now add a cup of milk and mix well. Cook for a minute.
Add cumin powder, cardamom powder, pepper powder and salt. Mix well and cook until the sauce is semi thick and well cooked. Switch off the flame.
Add a tbsp of fresh cream to the sauce and mix it well.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit or 320 degrees Celsius.
By the time your chicken will be well cooked on both sides. Take out the chickens using tongs and place them on a oven safe flat bowl.
Pour the sauce on top of the chicken pieces and make a layer.
Grate the cheddar cheese on top of the sauce.
Place the bowl inside the oven and leave for 10 minutes or until you see the cheese melt and turns golden brown on top. Enjoy this creamy chicken dhoodh shahi murgh with parotta or romali roti! 

Notes

To make hung yoghurt, place your strainer lined with muslin cloth or paper towel inside of a bowl. Pour enough amount of yoghurt in. place it in the refrigerator for an hour. Or just rotate the muslin cloth and gently squeeze the excess water (i.e. Whey) using your hand.

Sothi

by Deerga // August 19, 2015 // No Comments

There are so many different dishes in Tamilian cuisine that they can be categorized based on the locality. One such cuisine is that of Tirunelveli, whose dishes are very popular and known for their unique taste and recipes. Here I have given a very popular dish from Tirunelveli called as Sothi. I also learnt recently that it is a popular dish in Srilankan cuisine as well. Sothi is a coconut milk based dish that has a creamy texture (somewhat like alfredo sauce, texture only not the taste) and a mild taste.

Whenever I cook Sothi, my dear friend’s mom come to my mind because she is the one who taught me to cook this dish and she is from Tirunelveli (no wonder :)). She always prepares Sothi when we visit their home for holidays. Compared to many other dishes from Tirunelveli, the number of ingredients used to prepare this dish is less. Coconut milk is the main ingredient and that gives a richness and thick consistency to Sothi.

Sochi is a pretty heavy dish in the sense that you feel the fullness even when had in small servings. Back home, Sothi is the main accompaniment for Idiyappam (string hoppers) along with diluted coconut milk with sugar. It can also be had with rice along with any spicy curry like Crunchy cauliflower. Try this ethnic dish from Tirunelveli right in your home and let me know if you like it with Idiyappam or rice. FYI, I love to have it with both 🙂

Sothi

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 5

Ingredients

To grind:

Green chilli – 1
Ginger - 1 “

Other ingredients:

Fenugreek Seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic - 5 cloves
Onion, medium, finely chopped - 1 no
Green chilli, finely chopped – 2 nos
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Drumstick - 1
Potato - 1
Beans-1
Carrot -1
Moong dal - 100 grams
Salt as required
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - for garnishing
Lemon juice- 1 spoon (optional)

Instructions

Grate the coconut and pulse them adding some water. Strain the milk using strainer. This is first (thick) milk. Add some water to the extracted coconut and pulse them again for couple of seconds and strain the milk. This is second (thin) milk. Repeat this process and extract third milk as well.
Pressure cook the dal for 1 whistle.
Grind ginger and chilli in a blender to a fine paste and keep it aside.
Chop all the vegetables and keep it ready.
In a kadai add a tsp of oil and season it with fenugreek seeds.
Add in onions, garlic and green chillies.
When the onions turn golden brown add the second and third extracted coconut milk.
Then add all the vegetables and bring them to boil. I used drumstick and carrots today. I added drumstick first as it takes lots of time to cook. After 10 minutes I added carrots.
Add the cooked dal to the vegetables and again bring it to boil.
Now add the ground mixture (ginger and chillies) along with salt.
When the gravy becomes thick, add cumin and coriander leaves.
When the mixture comes to boil for the last time add the first extracted coconut milk to it and immediately switch off the stove.
You can sprinkle lemon juice after 10 minutes(optional).

Sweetened Khoya or Paalkova

by Deerga // August 12, 2015 // No Comments

After quite sometime, I am posting an Indian sweet variety that is called as Paalkova or Sweetened Khoya. It is a milk based sweet which also serves as a base ingredient for many other sweet varieties. Back home, the town of Srivilliputtur, which also happens to be my dad’s hometown, is famous for Paalkova. In ancient period, Srivilliputtur was a settlement of Yadava people, who in turn are descendants of Lord Krishna. Yadavas were cow herders by occupation and their settlement was called as Ayarpadi. So it is only fitting that Paalkova originated in this town that is known for the abundance of milk and cows. You literally can find a Paalkova shop at every other corner in the town. Since 1970s, the co-operative milk producers society and other vendors in Srivilliputtur started the production of Paalkova in a large scale and they still serve as the whole sale producers for other retailers throughout Tamilnadu.

Paalkova reminds me of so many sweet memories from my childhood. When I was little, me and my cousins go to Srivilliputtur to visit my grandma for the holidays. And every time we return home, there will always be a big pack of Paalkova amongst the luggage. That continued well in to my college days too. I had a standing request from my friends to bring back Paalkova after every holiday break :).

Preparation of Paalkova is a time consuming process and requires your attention often throughout the process. But it is worth the time and money when considering the end result – a creamy, rich and sweet Paalkova.I would suggest you continue with cooking other dishes (if any) as well, with one eye on Paalkova preparation too or else you will easily get bored and distracted. Since milk is the main ingredient here and you add sugar as well, you get satisfied very easily. Paalkova can also be served as a dessert after lunch or dinner. Try this tasty treat from my home town and enjoy its sweetness with your near and dear.

Sweetened Khoya or Paalkova

Cook time: 65 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Full fat milk – 3 cups
Sugar – ¾ cup

Instructions

Add milk in a wide open heavy bottomed pan (preferably non stick) and bring it to boil.
Reduce the flame to medium-low and add sugar. Stir and scrape the sides.
After 20 minutes, milk is reduced to half. Keep stiring and scraping the sides of the vessel from time to time.
This is how the milk looks like after 30 minutes.
Milk is now turned to rabdi consistency. You can serve it just like that by adding saffron to it. This rabdi can be used in many desserts like Shahi Tukda, Rasmalai, Malpua, Basunthi, and so on.
After 50 minutes, milk has slowly evaporated and khoya is almost done. The color of the milk will be turned to slight yellow at this stage. Keep string and scraping in a low flame.
After a good 60 to 65 minutes, milk evaporates all the moisture and start producing bubbles. Keep stirring and switch off the flame. Sweetened khoya or Paalkova is now ready. Transfer it to a container and bring it to room temperature. Khoya gets thicken when it reaches room temperature.

Notes

1.Always be very watchful while making khoya or Paalkova. And patience is required in making this dish.
2.Keep the flame in low once when the milk is reduced to half.
3.Keep stirring from time to time otherwise it will get burnt at the bottom.
4. You can also make unsweetened Khoya without adding sugar using the method described in the recipe.

Dosa Kuzhambu

by Deerga // August 9, 2015 // No Comments

Today I am posting an interesting recipe from Chettinad cuisine. Chettinad refers to a locality in my home state in India, Tamilnadu (the most famous town being Karaikudi) The name Chettinad derives its origin from the phrase, the country of chettiars, a community in Tamilnadu known for their business acumen. Chettinad cuisine is very popular in south Indian diaspora around the world and there are dedicated restaurants catering to this particular cuisine. The dish I have posted here is called the Dosai Kuzhambu (Dosa gravy). Interesting name, right?

Dosai Kuzhambu is a gravy comprised of dosa, not the regular dosa but from the one made specifically for this dish. In Chettinad weddings you are always served with three distinct varieties of Kuzhambu (gravy), a thick one, a thin (watery) one and one more that I could not remember. Dosai kuzhambu comes under the thick variety. It is a very easy recipe to prepare and tastes similar to tomato gravy a.k.a Thakkali Kuzhambu.

As with all dishes in Chettinad cuisine, Dosai kuzhambu is made from a wide variety of ingredients. And I believe each one of them contributes to the taste. Try this authentic Chettinad recipe in your home and let me know how it goes. Also, don’t forget to suggest a complimenting side dish for this gravy in the comments section 🙂

Dosa Kuzhambu

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Oil – 1 ½ tbsp
Bay leaf – ½
Fenugreek seeds – 7 nos
Fennel seeds – 5 nos
Shallots, cut to thin round slices- ½ cup
Garlic, whole – 7 nos
Tomato, small, finely chopped – 1 no
Red chilli powder – 3 tsp
Coriander powder – 5 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Tamarind – medium gooseberry size
Crystal salt – as required
Coconut milk – 1 tbsp

For dosa batter

Gram flour - 5 tbsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Red chilli powder – ¼ tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Cumin seeds – a generous pinch
Crystal salt – a pinch
Water as required

Instructions

Heat oil in a wide pan and add bay leaf, fenugreek and fennel seeds and allow them to sizzle.
Add garlic and chopped shallots and sauté until they turn translucent.
Next add in chopped tomatoes and sauté until they turn mushy.
Now add in all the masala powders (chilli, coriander, turmeric) and give a quick stir. Add very little water like ½ a cup and sauté until the raw smell of the masalas disappear and oil separates.
Make a juice of tamarind and add it to the gravy. Add a cup of water and salt and bring the gravy to boil.
Meanwhile, make a thin (not so thin) batter of gram flour and all the above mentioned ingredients.
Heat a dosa pan and make a medium thin dosa. Smear few drops of oil around the dosa.
Flip the dosa cook for a very few seconds and take it out – make sure the dosa(s) are half done so that the remaining will be cooked when added to the gravy.
Role the dosa and apply little more batter on the end and make the roll stick together without coming apart.
Cut the rolls to thin slices and keep it ready.
Now when the gravy starts to boil, add a tbsp of coconut milk and mix well.
Add the dosa roll slices carefully into the gravy. Do not use spatulas at this time. If you want to mix the gravy, just hold two ends of the pan and tilt them slightly without using spatulas. Cook for another five minutes and switch off the flame. Serve the yummy dosa kuzhambu along with hot rice and some fryams. Enjoy! 🙂

Soya Chunks Gravy

by Deerga // August 6, 2015 // No Comments

Soya beans are a popular legume variety that is known for its protein content. South Indian cuisine has a variety of dishes made with soya beans. Here I have given you a type of gravy made from soya chunks called the Soya chunks gravy. It is very tasty gravy that goes well with chappati, naan, pulav etc.

Soya chunks gravy is a very easy dish to prepare. I literally use all types of masalas, mutton masala powder, chicken 65 powder, biriyani powder and madras curry powder as ingredients. Soya beans are used to make all those meat substitutes like tempeh, tofu etc. I would say dishes made using soya chunks are the closest to regular non vegetarian dishes in taste.

As I had mentioned earlier, soy is rich in protein, amounting to 40% of its composition. Soya chunks gravy is a very healthy dish and a perfect alternative to meat. Try this healthy and tasty dish in your kitchen and let me know your awesome experiences.

Soya Chunks Gravy

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Oil – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Onions, small, finely chopped – 1 no
Curry leaves – a sprig
Ginger garlic paste, freshly ground – 1 tbsp
Tomato, medium, finely chopped – 1 no
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Mutton masala – ½ tsp (I used sakthi brand)
Chicken masala – ½ tsp
Madras curry powder – ¾ tsp
Soya chunks or meal maker – 1 cup
Biriyani masala – ½ tsp (I used sakthi brand)
Salt as required

To grind:

Grated coconut – 1 tbsp

Instructions

Heat enough water in a pan and bring them to boil. Switch off the flame and soak the soya chunks in hot water for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes drain the water and keep the soya chunks aside.
Grind grated coconut to fine paste and set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.
When they start to sizzle, add in finely chopped onions and curry leaves. Sauté until onions turn translucent.
Add in freshly ground ginger garlic paste and sauté until the raw smell disappears.
Add in finely chopped tomatoes and sauté until oil separates or until they turn mushy.
Add in all the above mentioned masala powders and give a quick stir. Add very little water and sauté for a minute until the raw smell disappears.
Now add in the soaked and drained soya chunks into the masala and mix well. add enough salt and water. Cover and cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
Finally add in the coconut paste, mix well and cook for another 10 minutes. Enjoy the tasty soya chunk gravy

Spicy Bread Toast

by Deerga // August 4, 2015 // No Comments

Bread is a staple food for most of the population in the world. It is one of those food items that you can find anywhere. Irrespective of the country, people or its culture. Also, there are hundreds of varieties to it, from normal white bread to rye, sesame, cauliflower etc. There are countless varieties of dishes that you can prepare from bread. One such variety is the Spicy Bread toast. It is a very simple and tasty dish made from a minimum number of ingredients.

Spicy bread toast is made from egg, cilantro, turmeric, pepper, green chillies and ginger garlic paste. It literally takes 15 minutes to prepare this dish, right from preparing the egg mixture to toasting the bread dipped in that mixture. Spicy bread toast is an excellent dish for kids and it’s healthy as well, with the absence of jam or spread to have it being the main reason. It is a pretty heavy (I know, it doesn’t look like it but trust me 🙂 ) dish and breakfast is the right time to have calorie rich food to get you through the day!

I must give a special shout out to my HB here because he is the one who prepared Spicy bread toast the first time we tried (but I was the one who found the recipe 🙂 ) and it turned out to be excellent. Try this simple and tasty dish and enjoy it for breakfast or dinner.

Spicy Bread Toast

Recipe type: Breakfast

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 10 bread slices

Ingredients

Eggs – 2
Milk – ½ cup
Salt – ½ tsp or as required
Black pepper powder – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Ginger garlic paste – ½ tsp
Green chilli, finely chopped – 2 nos
Cilantro, finely chopped – 1 tbsp
Breads – 10 slices

Instructions

Beat all the above ingredients except bread in a medium bowl and leave it for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, cut the edges of the bread slices and cut the breads diagonally.
Heat a flat pan, dip a bread piece into the beaten egg mixture and toast them. Smear very few drops of oil around the toast. Flip them and toast the other side of the bread until golden brown.
Repeat the above step for the rest of the bread pieces. Enjoy the hot and spicy bread toast along with tomato chilli sauce as a snack or breakfast or dinner. 

Notes

1.Leave the beaten egg mixture to rest for at least 20 minutes before making the toast. So that all the ingredients are well set and combined.
2.Carefully cut the sides of the bread without pressing the breads too hard at the center.
3.Dip the bread just for a second and tost them on the pan. Do not dip the bread slices too much or your toast becomes soggy.
4.Same way smear few drops of oil while toasting the bread to avoid sogginess.

Pav Bhaji

by Deerga // July 30, 2015 // No Comments

Pav Bhaji is synonymous to Mumbai, next only to Bollywood. It is a type of street food that is sold in road side eateries in India just like gyros in New York City. Pav Bhaji is made of toasted bread roll and spicy vegetable curry usually made of potatoes, green peas and onions.

As with most street foods, the ease of making is one of the pluses here, apart from the taste. Unlike most Indian dishes, you don’t have to follow a specific sequence while adding the spices or take care when slicing the onions (there are specific ways to cut the onions depending on the dish you are making in Indian cuisine). I would call the making of Pav Bhaji an orderly messiness :), where you know what ingredients to add and when but you don’t care about the way you add them.

Pav Bhaji is very easy to make. You can customize the bhaji (vegetable curry) to suit your taste, like the vegetables you want to use and the spice level in the curry. Having hot Pav Bhaji with a cup of tea or coffee on a rainy evening is an experience to live for 🙂

Pav Bhaji

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 3

Ingredients

Unsalted butter – 3 to 4 tbsp, divided
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Onion, slits – 1 no , divided
Potato, medium – 3 nos
Tomato, big, slits – 1 no
Green peas, cooked – ¼ cup (I used frozen peas)
Pav bhaji masala – 1 to 1 1 ½ tsp ( I used sakthi brand )
Salt as required
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder – ¼ tsp (optional)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cilantro, finley chopped – 3 tbsp

Instructions

Add enough water in a pressure cooker just to sink the potatoes and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Allow it to cool. Peel the skin and mash them using your clean hand or with a potato masher.
Heat a flat pan and add 2 tbsp of butter. Add in cumin seeds when the butter starts to melt.
Add ¾th of the thin sliced onions and sauté for few seconds until they turn translucent.
Add the mashed potato and mix well. Add little salt at this stage.
Now add thin sliced tomato into the mixture and saute well for couple of minutes or until well blended with potatoes.
Add in cooked green peas and mix well.
Add in pav bhaji masala and mix well. Saute them for a minute.
And finally add in the rest of the masalas. Mix well until all the masalas are well coated. At this stage you could add some more butter if needed. Sauté and cook for another 5 minutes.
Switch off the flame and garnish with finely chopped cilantro.
Heat a small skillet and add very little butter. When the butter starts to melt, toast the pav ( I used Pepperidge wheat bread slider) on one side until they turn slightly brown.
Serve the pav along with bhaji with a thin slice of butter on top. I like to have it with some onions on the side as well. Enjoy! 

Notes

1.You do not need to finely chop the onions and tomatoes for this recipe.
2.I used kashmiri chilli powder just for the color. You can totally skip that.
3.You can just have them by filling the bhaji on the middle of the sliders with some onions. I like to have them by just taking a piece of pav/bread and scoop some bhaji with some onions.

Zucchini Bread

by Deerga // July 28, 2015 // No Comments

Today, I have posted a kind of healthy dessert variety that you don’t find normally in restaurants or bakeries. It is called as the Zucchini bread. As the name suggests it is made from zucchini, a relative to pumpkins 🙂 Zucchini is also called as summer squash and is of European origin, mainly from Italy. You can make a number of dishes from zucchini like fritters, fries, as a topping in pizzas (it tastes yummy 🙂 ) etc.

Zucchini bread is a very easy to make bread variety and can be had as snack and for breakfast as well. Zucchini, as with all vegetables, is rich in nutrients especially vitamin A and very low in calories. I first had zucchini bread in a vegan restaurant and liked the taste so much. Believe me, you cannot identify that it is zucchini bread unless someone tells you that 🙂

Zucchini bread, as said above, is a very good breakfast dish, especially for children who normally do not like to eat vegetables (which covers 95% of them :)). Try this tasty bread variety and let me know your comments.

Zucchini Bread

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 65 mins

Total time: 1 hour 20 mins

Serves: 1 9x5x3 inch loaf

Ingredients

1 ½ cups bread flour or all purpose flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini
½ cup chopped walnuts (or any nuts of your choice)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius.
Grease a loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3 inches) with butter or oil on the bottom and all four sides and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Sieve all the dry ingredients together into a small bowl.
Combine oil and sugars to the large bowl. Mix well until well combined.
Add in the eggs and beat well until creamy consistency.
Add and beat the vanilla extract.
Now combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix well without any lumps.
Finally add in the grated zucchini and chopped walnuts into the mixture and mix well.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Shake the pan and even the batter on top using spatula.
Bake in oven (preferably in the middle rack) for 55 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean – I covered the pan with aluminum foil after 35 minutes when it starts to brown on top.
Turn out onto a wire rack and allow them to cool. Serve the yummy zucchini bread as hot or cold for a breakfast or brunch or as evening snack. Enjoy! 