LAUKI KI SABJI (BOTTLE GOURD SABJI)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 kg Bottle Gourd

1 Onion

8 Green chilli

2 Tomato

1 bunch Coriander leaves

Salt to taste

2 teaspoon oil

10 cloves Garlic

Method:

1. Wash and peel the skin of bottle gourd and cut into small pieces as shown below in picture. Chop onion and garlic.

2. Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and fry the onions and garlic till light golden brown. Add Chopped bottle gourd and fry for about 5 minutes.

3. Chop green chilli, tomato and coriander leaves. Add into pressure cooker and salt. Mix well and pressure cook on slow heat for about10 minutes.

4. Vegetable is ready, Serve with chapatti and rice.

GARLIC BREAD ON TAWA

How to make garlic bread recipe without oven

Ingredients

• half a loaf of bread or 8 slices each of 0.75 inches, any bread of your choice
• 2 tbsp butter, salted or unsalted
• 3 to 4 medium sized garlic, minced or grated
• red chili flakes as required
• dry oregano as required or your favorite herbs
• black pepper as required, optional
• salt as required, to be added if using unsalted butter

Method:-

1. slice the loaf of bread in slices having 0.75 inches width.
2. then halve each slice.
3. take 2 tbsp softened butter (butter at room temperature) in a bowl. i used salted butter (amul butter). if using unsalted butter, then add a bit of salt.
4. grate or mince 3 to 4 medium garlic directly into the butter. instead of garlic, you can also add garlic chives.
5. mix the grated garlic very well with the butter.
6. now spread the garlic butter evenly on all the slices. you can be more generous with the butter if you want.
7. heat a griddle or tava on a high flame.
8. when the tawa becomes hot, reduce the flame to a low or medium. then place the bread slices.
9. cover the bread slices with a lid.
10. keeping the slices covered, roast till light golden and a bit toasted at the edges. if you want a more crisp toasted texture, then you can toast the bread slices for some more minutes.
11. once the bread has got lightly toasted from the edges, sprinkle your favorite herb or spice from top. i added red chili flakes and some dried oregano.
12. for baking in the oven - preheat oven at 200 degrees celsius. keep on top rack. bake for 4 to 6 minutes. no need to brown or toast the bread.
13. serve garlic bread hot or warm.

Veg Frankie ( Mumbai Roadside Recipes )

Ingredients

For The Rotis

1/2 cup plain flour (maida)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
1 tsp oil
salt to taste
1/4 tsp oil for kneading
butter for cooking

For The Stuffing1 1/2 tbsp oil or butter
1 tsp ginger-garlic (adrak-lehsun) paste
1 3/4 cups boiled , peeled and mashed potatoes
3/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chaat masala (optional)
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander (dhania)
salt to taste

(makes Approx 1/3 Cup)1 1/2 tsp dried mango powder (amchur)
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1/3 cup of water

Other Ingredients4 tsp butter for cooking
1 cup finely chopped onions
4 tsp frankie masala (readily available in the market) or chaat masala

For Servingtomato sauce

Method 
For the rotis

1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and knead into a soft and pliable dough using enough water. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 10 minutes.
2. Cover the dough with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 10 minutes.
3. Knead again using ¼ tsp of oil till it is smooth and elastic.
4. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and roll out each into approx. 200 mm. (8") diameter thin circle.
5. Heat a tava (griddle) and cook each roti lightly on a medium flame and keep aside.

For the stuffing

1. Heat the oil/butter in a kadhai, add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds.
2. Add the potatoes, chilli powder, garam masala, chaat masala, coriander and salt, mix well and sauté on a medium flame for another minute. Keep aside.

How to proceed

1. Heat ½ tsp butter on a tava (griddle), place ¼ th of the stuffing and cook on a medium flame till both sides turn light brown in colour. Keep aside.
2. Place a roti on the tava (griddle) and cook on a medium flame using ½ tsp butter till both sides turn light brown in colour.
3. Place the stuffing on one end of the roti, spread it lightly and remove from the tava.
4. Place it on a clean, dry surface and top with ¼ cup of onions, sprinkle 1½ tsp of masala water and ½ tsp of chaat masala evenly over it and roll it up tightly.
5. Fold the edges at one end and wrap in an aluminium foil/tissue paper and serve immediately with tomato sauce.
6. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 3 more frankies.

Variation:

1. Cheese frankie: sprinkle 1/3 cup of grated cooking cheese over the stuffing (at step no. 4 in the above recipe) and proceed as per the recipe.
2. Schezuan frankie: simply smear 1½ tbsp of schezuan sauce, page… evenly on the roti (at step no. 3) and proceed as per the recipe.
3. Paneer frankie: for the stuffing, replace ¾ cup of potatoes with ¾ cup of chopped paneer and proceed as per the recipe.
4. Jain frankie: replace potatoes with equal quantities of raw banana for the stuffing and replace onions with equal quantities of cabbage in the recipe given above. You can add grated cheese over the stuffing to make it more flavourful.

EGGLESS BANANA BREAD

Eggless banana bread, a delicious and healthy banana bread recipe made eggless with some added walnuts

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups of pureed ripe banana
• 1.5 cups of plain flour
• ½ cup of melted butter
• ¾ cup of brown sugar
• ½ cup of milk
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• ½ cup of chopped raw walnuts

METHOD:-

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C
2. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with butter or cooking spray
3. Puree bananas to a smooth pulp. Measure out 4 cups after pureeing and transfer to a wide bowl
4. Add melted butter. Mix well
5. Now add milk and vanilla to the above and mix again
6. Now add sugar, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined
7. Finally add the flour in 3-4 additions, gently folding it in. Do not over mix once the flour is added to the batter
8. Now thrown in the chopped walnuts and give everything one or two final stirs
9. Transfer to the greased pan and tap once on the kitchen counter to get rid of air bubbles
10. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45-50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out with moist crumbs. If you feel like the top of the banana bread is browning too quickly, loosely cover the pan with some aluminium foil and continue to bake. I add a couple of slits in there so the hot air can escape
11. Once done, leave it in the pan for about 15 mins and then gently invert onto a wire rack to cool completely
12. Slice and serve toasted with some salted butter to enjoy it best

DAHI BHALLA

Ingredients:-

for vadas:

• ½ cup urad dal or 125 grams
• 4 tbsp moong dal
• 1.25 to 1.5 cups water for soaking
• 6 to 7 tbsp water for grinding or add as required
• ½ tsp cumin seeds/jeera
• a generous pinch of asafoetida/hing
• salt as required
• oil for frying
• enough water for soaking the dals

other ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh curd or curd made from 500 ml milk
• ⅓ cup pomegranate arils
• ⅓ cup sweet chutney
• ⅓ cup green chutney
• 20 to 25 papdis
• ½ cup cooked chana or white chickpeas or ¼ cup chana, pressure cooked till done
• 1 large potato, boiled, peeled and chopped
• chaat masala as required
• roasted cumin powder as required
• red chili powder as required
• black salt as required
• 2.5 cups water for soaking vadas

for green chutney:

• 1 cup coriander leaves
• 1 or 2 green chilies
• ½ inch ginger/adrak, chopped
• ½ tsp lemon or lime juice
• salt as required
• 1 to 2 tsp water for grinding chutney

for sweet tamarind chutney:

• ½ cup seedless tamarind, tightly packed
• 1 and ¾ cups water
• ½ tsp ginger powder
• a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• ¼ tsp red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
• 7 to 8 tbsp jaggery or as required - adjust as per your taste (gur)
• rock salt or black salt or regular salt as required
• 1 tsp oil

METHOD:-

preparing the saunth or sweet tamarind chutney:

1. soak tamarind in water overnight or for 4-5 hours in a small bowl or pan.
2. with your hands, squeeze the pulp from the tamarind in the same bowl or pan.
3. strain the pulp and keep aside.
4. heat oil in a small pan.
5. lower the flame & add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
6. add ginger powder, red chili powder, asafoetida.
7. stir and add the strained tamarind pulp
8. cook for 2-3 mins.
9. add the jaggery and salt and cook for 4-5 mins more.
10. the mixture would thicken.
11. let the saunth chutney mixture cool.
12. when cooled, store the saunth chutney in an air-tight dry jar or container.

preparing the green chutney:

1. grind all the ingredients mentioned under the green chutney list with little water.
2. remove and keep aside in a small bowl.

soaking & preparing batter:

1. rinse ½ cup urad dal and 4 tbsp moong dal in water a couple of times. then soak both the lentils overnight or for at least 4-5 hours.
2. drain them very well. add the lentils to a grinder jar along with ½ tsp cumin seeds and a generous pinch of asafoetida. you can also add 1 tsp of roughly chopped ginger if you want.
3. add water in parts and grind all the ingredients to a smooth fluffy batter. on touching the batter, it should not feel grainy. i added 6 to 7 tbsp water. depending on the quality of lentils and the capacity-volume of grinder, you can add less or more water. don't add too much water as then the vadas become too crispy and soak a lot of oil.
4. take the ground batter in a bowl and add salt.
5. stir the batter briskly for a couple of minutes. this brisk stirring makes the batter more light and fluffy.
6. the test to a correct consistency of this batter is the floating test. take some water in a small bowl. add 1 tsp of a batter in the water. the batter should float. if it does not float, this means the consistency is thin. add some sooji or rice flour to the batter to thicken it.

frying vadas and soaking them in water:

1. heat a kadai or pan with oil for deep frying.
2. when the oil becomes medium hot, add a small amount of batter in the oil. it should come steadily and quickly on the surface. this means it is the right temperature to fry. too cold oil will make the vadas soggy with oil and too high will brown them faster from outside, leaving the center uncooked.
3. add spoonfuls of the batter in the oil.
4. add according to the capacity of the pan or kadai.
5. when they become pale golden, then turn them.
6. fry the vadas till they become golden and crisp.
7. turn them a couple of times for even frying.
8. fry till golden and crisp. remove with a slotted spoon.
9. drain on paper towels. fry all the vadas in the same way.
10. once all the vadas are done with frying, then take 2.5 cups water in a wide bowl or pan.
11. and add the vadas to the water.
12. soak them for 20 to 25 minutes.
13. take each vada and flatten and press between your palms to remove excess water. do this with all the vadas.

assembling and serving dahi bhalla:

1. take 2 cups fresh chilled curd in a bowl and beat it till smooth.
2. now gently place these vadas in the curd.
3. gently mix if you have used medium sized bowl, like how i have used. now you can keep the vadas with the curd in the fridge and assemble when you want to serve. or use them right away as the curd is chilled.
4. gather and assemble all your other ingredients like - boiled potato cubes, boiled white chickpeas, green chutney, tamarind chutney, pomegranate arils and the spice powders.
5. to make individual portions of dahi bhalla, place 4 to 5 papdis in a plate.
6. place 2 to 3 dahi vadas in a plate. add more curd or dahi if required.
7. top up with some boiled potatoes and chickpeas.
8. now add the green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney as required
9. sprinkle red chili powder, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala and black salt as per taste.
10. serve dahi bhalla immediately garnished with some chopped coriander leaves. you can also garnish with fine sev.

notes

to veganize, use cashew curd.
the recipe can be halved. 
you can add finely chopped onions as a topping, if you want.