Hara Bhara Kabab

by Deerga // July 19, 2016 // No Comments

It has been quite some time since my last post. How you guys doing? Sorry folks, I don’t get time to post regularly like before. It is summer break here in the US and school year starting back home. Different parts of the world and different routines 🙂 Coming back to the recipe for today, I have posted a snack food for a change. It is really healthy and you would be surprised, especially children if they come to know about the ingredients. It is called as the Hara Bhara Kabab.

Kabab in general refers to a variety of snack foods cooked mostly in skewers and made of meat. It originated in the Mediterranean and is widely popular all over the world. India too has its own share of kabab varieties. Since more than half the population is vegetarian and us being the innovators :), we have vegetarian kabab varieties. Hara Bhara Kabab is one such variety made using spinach and peas. I came across this recipe a while ago and have made it quite a few times since then. It is one of my favorite snacks and my HB loves it too.

The main ingredients of Hara Bhara Kababs are, as mentioned earlier, spinach and peas. These are very easy to make and uses minimal ingredients. Hara Bhara Kababs can either be pan fried or baked in the oven. I am yet to try the latter and so the cooking method followed in this recipe is pan frying. Having hot Hara Bhara Kababs with ketchup in the evenings is one way to experience culinary nirvana :). Try it out and enjoy!

Hara Bhara Kabab

Recipe type: Snack

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 2 mins

Total time: 7 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Spinach – 2 cups
Potato, medium – 1
Green Peas, boiled – 2 tbsp
Green chilli – 2 nos
Ginger – small piece
Chat masala – 1 tsp
Amchur powder – ¾ tsp
Gram flour – 1 ¼ tbsp.
Salt as required
Oil – to smear around kababs

Instructions

Pressure cook the potato for 2 whistles.
Blanch the spinach in boiling water for a minute or two without covering and strain and wash them immediately with cold water – to retain the color. Completely drain the water and keep it aside.
Grind the spinach along with green chilli, ginger and boiled green peas (I used frozen) and grind them to coarse paste without adding any water.
Meanwhile drain and peel the potato.
Add the peeled potatoes to the spinach puree and mash it together.
Add amchur powder, chat masala, salt and gram flour. Mix well and make tikki shapes.
Cook it in the flat pan drizzling very little oil. Cook for a few minutes. Flip and cook until golden brown on both sides. Enjoy the yummy hara bhara kabab with ketchup! 

Notes

1.Do not add too much gram flour. It might change the flavor.
2.Don’t overcook the potatoes.
3.Kabab has to be like cotton soft when cut. That’s the right texture.

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.

KAARA PANIYARAM | KUZHI PANIYARAM

by Deerga // April 5, 2014 // No Comments

I have already given you the recipe for sweet paniyaram and here is the hot version of it. If you are bored of regular breakfast items like idli or dosa, you can make these. It is easier than making the sweet ones.

Resembles fluffy cotton balls, right? But these can be eaten. 🙂
My HB gets excited whenever I make this dish and hope you too enjoy it with your loved ones!

HOT PANIYARAM

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 4

Kuzhi paniyaram is a quick south indian breakfast recipe easily made with idli batter.

Ingredients

Split bengal gram (Kadalai paruppu ) - soaked for 5 to 6 hrs
Idli batter - 2 cups
Coconut pieces(optional) - 1 tbs
For the seasoning:
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dal – 1 tsp
Shallots (chopped) - 3
Red chilli – 2
Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Instructions

Add the split Bengal gram and coconut pieces into the idly batter.
Season the batter with above given ingredients and mix it well.
Heat the paniyaram pan and add a few drops of oil in each mould. Pour the batter with the help of a small ladle or spoon in each mould till they are ¾th full. Close the pan with a lid and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
Turn the paniyaram in each mould upside down with the help of a stick and let the other side also cook for 2-3 minutes. Add few more drops of oil if needed. No need to close the pan with the lid this time.
Once cooked till a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, shake off the paniyarams onto a plate and repeat with the rest of the batter.
Serve hot with onion chutney or any chutney of your choice.