Veg Hakka Noodles/Kolkata Chowmein

 

Chowmein is a very common street food found in every neighborhood in Kolkata. It is a hot favorite may it be for breakfast/dinner or even lunch.So if you have never tried this chowmein then you are definitely missing something on Earth !! Please try out this hakka noodles/chowmein recipe...loaded with veggies and yes its healthy because its home-made :)

Ingredients -
Hakka noodles
onion
ginger
green chillies
veggies - cauliflower,carrot,beans,capsicum,green peas
oil
salt
sauces - tomato,red chilly,green chilly,soya
sesame oil - 1tspn for tossing

Method -
Heat water in a pot/large vessel.
Once water starts boiling add the noddles.
Make sure they are well cooked,then drain off the water.
Spread the cooked noodles on a wide plate.

Heat a non-stick wok/kadhai.
Add some oil.Once hot fry in the cauliflower florets.You can also use cabbage.It should be very finely chopped lengthwise.
Stir fry for 2-3min on high flame.
Remove the florets and keep aside.
Add some more oil.
Add the chopped onions,ginger.
Fry for for 2min.
Next add all the chopped veggies - carrot,beans,capsicum,green peas,chillies,florets.
Add salt as per taste.
Add the sauces - tomato,red chilly,green chilly,soya.
Make sure the veggies are well cooked/tossed in the sauces for 3-4min.
Next add in the boiled noodles.
Add salt as per the quantity of noodles.
While mixing the noodles add 1 spoon of sesame oil.It gives an authentic Chinese flavour.This step is optional.
Toss the noodles with the veggies on a high flame.
You can also add in scrambled eggs/fried shrimps/prawns as a topping.This is optional.
Thats it - yummy Hakka noodles are ready :-)
You can garnish the noodles with grated cucumber.

Semolina/Sooji/Rava Gulab Jamuns

 

I knew about only the typical gulab jamuns we normally get.The ones which are bought from sweet shops or those made out of the ready-made-mix.But I had never heard of sooji/rava gulab jamuns.These can be made with very few ingredients and time.Please try them out,they are very simple. Believe me ! :)

Ingredients -
semolina/sooji/rava - 0.5 cup
ghee - 1tspn
milk - 1cup
sugar - 1.5cup
water - 1.5cup
cardamon/elaichi
oil for deep frying

Method -
Heat a kadhai/pan.
Add ghee and milk.
Let the milk boil for a while.
Then add semolina/rava slowly batch by batch.
Stir continuously so that there are no lumps.
Cook till entire milk is absorbed in the rava.

Remove from the flame onto a plate/bowl.
Knead the sooji lump mildly.Make small round smooth balls without any cracks.

For the sugar syrup -
Add equal quantities of sugar and water.
Let it boil for 5-7min.
Add 1-2 cardamom/elaichi to it.

Heat oil in a kadhai.
Deep fry the balls on a low-medium flame.
Turn them carefully so that balls get fried light brown on both sides.
Put the fried balls into the sugar syrup.
Let them soak the syrup for 3-4hours.This quantity made 20 jamuns.
Delicious gulab jamuns are ready to serve :-)

 

Mix Dal Uttapam

 This is a dish which is full of protein and no carbohydrates...very easy to prepare.You can go for this even when you have not planned in advance,as traditional uttapams require fermenting the batter etc.They look yummy as they are very colourful..aren't they ? try it out for yourself and do let me know :)


Ingredients -
dals - tur,urad,chana,moong,masur.
onion
green chillies
capsicum
tomato
carrot
coriander leaves
ginger
cumin seeds/jeera
turmeric powder
salt
oil

Method -
I took majorly moong dal(1cup) and the rest were 2tbspn each.
Wash the dals and soak them(together) in water for 6-7hours or overnight.
Grind the dals with very less water, and with a piece of ginger and green chillies in a mixer.
Take care that you do not add more water, or else the batter will become watery.Remember we are preparing an uttapam, so we need the batter a bit thick.
Chop the following finely - onion,tomato,carrot,capsicum,green chillies,corinader leaves.
To the ground batter add whole jeera,pinch of haldi powder and salt as per taste.
Adjust the salt taste in the batter now, as you will not be able to add salt after making the uttapams.
Heat a non-stick tawa.
Drizzle some oil.
Add a laddle full of batter in the center and lightly dab it.
Put in pinch of all veggies over it and adjust salt for the veggies.
I prefer to make small uttapams so that 3-4 can be prepared at a time, to save time :)
Let it cook for 3-4min and then flip it to cook on the other side.
Cook for another 2-3min.
Serve hot uttapams with tomato ketchup or chutney of your choice :)

Chole Bhature

Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year 2018 !!
Bhature chole is a famous Punjabi dish which is a combination of chana masala and bhatura, which is a fried bread made from maida or all purpose flour.I have prepared chole many times and we used to have it with roti.This was the first time that I tried making bhatures and we realized that having chole with bhature-the combination is so delicious that you shall never want to have chole with roti anymore :P My son loved them too and had bhatures as-is just like he eats puris.
 
Ingredients-
all purpose flour/maida
curd
salt
sugar
oil
lukewarm water
chickpeas/kabuli chana
tea bags
water
onion
ginger
garlic
green chillies
tomatoes
turmeric/haldi powder
red chilly/mirchi powder
coriander/dhaniya powder
cumin/jeera powder
chole masala powder
coriander leaves/dhaniya patta

Method -
First prepare the dough for the bhature as per the below steps.
Take maida in a large bowl.
Make a well-like in the center of the maida.
Add curd,salt and sugar in that well.
Mix it with a spoon.
Now add some oil and mix.
Add little warm water and knead the dough.
Knead the dough really well.
It should be a soft and smooth dough.
Keep it covered with a wet muslin cloth.

In the meanwhile the bhature dough is kept covered, prepare the chana masala as below.
Wash the chana and soak it in water for 7-8hours or overnight.
Boil the chana with water and 2-3tea bags.
The tea bags give a nice brown colour to the chick peas.
Roughly chop the onion,tomatoes,green chillies and coriander leaves.
Make a paste of ginger and garlic.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan/kadhai.
Put in the onions and fry till light brown.
Add in the ginger-garlic paste.
Fry it for a while.
Add the chopped tomatoes,salt,haldi,mirchi,dhaniya,jeera powder.
Let it cook till the oil separates out.
Now add the boiled chanas.
Add sufficient water as the gravy.
Put in the chole masala powder and cook for 5min.
Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Now to fry the bhatures -
Prepare round balls out of the dough.
With some maida roll with a rolling pin into an oval shaped puri.
Heat oil in a deep pan.
Fry the bhatures till light brown on both sides.
Chole bhature is ready to serve.

Banana Cake - Christmas Special

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and here goes my cake recipe which I prepared on Xmas.I used half wheat flour and half all purpose flour so that the cake gets a bit more healthy.I tried to include bananas so that my fussy kid can get the fruit through the cake..just a medium to feed fruits.A simple and yummy home made cake which am sure all of you will like.

Ingredients-
wheat flour/atta(2cups)
all purpose flour/maida(2cups)
baking soda(1tspn)
baking powder(1tbspn)
eggs(4)
sugar(3cups)
melted butter(1cup)
vanilla essence(1tspn)
banana(2)

Method-
Beat the eggs together.Add sugar to the eggs and mix well.
You can also blend the egg-sugar mixture.
While blending chop the bananas and add to this mixture and blend.
Mix the atta, maida,baking soda and baking powder.
Start adding butter little by little and knead the dough simultaneously.
Now add this dough to the egg-sugar-banana mix.
Sprinkle some drops of vanilla and mix well so that the batter is consistent and smooth.
Preheat the oven.
Grease a baking dish and bake it in microwave(convection option) for 40min.
If you are using a cake pan,grease the pan and bake it for around 40min.
Yummy banana cake is ready :)

Dum Aloo/Alu Dum

Dum aloo is a potato based dish which is a part of Kashmiri cuisine.In Bengal it is typically known as Aloor Dum and served as a hot accompaniment with pooris or luchis as they are called in bengali .The recipe I have posted below is obviously the bengali version which has certain differences with the kashmiri one.So please do give it a try..


Ingredients-
potatoes
onion
ginger
garlic
tomato
green chillies
red chilly powder
turmeric powder
coriander powder
cumin powder
garam masala powder
salt
coriander leaves
water
oil

Method -
Cut the potatoes into medium size cubes.
Chop the onions,ginger,garlic,green chillies,tomatoes roughly.
To prepare the garam masala, dry roast the following ingredients and then make a paste out of it - dhaniya,jeera,sukhi laal mirch,elaichi(choti and badi),dalchini,laung,kaali mirch,khuskhus.This powder remains good for many days or months when kept in an air-tight container.
To reiterate the masala names in english - coriander seeds, cumin seeds, red chilly,cardamom,cinnamon,cloves,black pepper,poppy seeds.
Now heat oil in a non-stick pan/kadhai.
Put in the potato cubes and chopped onion and fry till light brown.
Make a paste of the ginger and garlic which you chopped.
Add the paste and fry.
After 5min add the chopped tomatoes and gren chillies.
Let it cook until the raw smell of ginger-garlic goes away.
It will take about 5-7min on medium flame.
Now add the salt,red chilly powder,haldi powder,dhaniya jeera powder.
Let all the masalas cook for another 2-3min.
Now add water and let the potatoes get cooked well.
You can adjust the amount of water as per the amount of gravy you require.
Once the potatoes are cooked, add finely chopped coriander leaves and the garam masala powder which we just prepared.
Thats it..the garam masala aroma will make the magic:)
Serve delicious aloo dum with phulkas/parathas/pooris.

Uttapam/Savoury Pancake

This is a very famous breakfast/snack dish from South India.It is healthy no doubt as it contains the dals plus the fermentation process.Nowadays you get the ready made batter mix in the market but the taste of home made fermented batter has no match!So go ahead for these delicious home made uttapams..

Ingredients-
rice(2cups)
urad dal(1cup)
chana dal(2tbspn)
fenugreek seeds/methi(1tbspn)
salt
oil/ghee
baking soda
water for soaking,grinding
veggies - onion,tomatoes,green chillies,coriander leaves.

Method -
Wash and soak the rice and dals for 6-7hours.
Grind the mixture to a fine paste by adding little water at a time.
Keep the batter covered outside the fridge overnight for fermentation.
Next day morning add salt and baking soda and mix well.
Chop the onions,tomatoes,chillies and coriander leaves finely.
Heat a non-stick tava.
Drizzle one tspn of oil or ghee.
Pour a laddle full of batter and let it spread(on its own).
Add some chopped veggies over it and salt as per taste.
Cover and cook.
Serve hot uttapam with sambar and chutney of your choice :)

Coconut Ladoo/Narkel Naru/Nariyal Laddu - Durga Puja Special

Coconut/nariyal as in hindi/narkel as in bengali/naal as in konkani is a fruit/nut which is used in every Indian and typical Goan homes in some form or the other.It has a lot of medicinal benefits but today I shall not go into those details and restrict my post to coconut ladoos.These ladoos are a hot favourite in our home and they just disappear in no time.A very good alternative to sweet if you dont want to have those ready-made sweets/mithais.These are a must-have ladoos in every bengali home during Durga Puja.They are called as "narkel narus" in bengali.We love to have it in any season..:)So here goes the recipe.. 

Ingredients-
coconut
sugar
jaggery/gur
kalakand/sandesh(optional)

Method -
Grate the coconut.
Adjust the amount of sweet as per your preference.Typically same amount of sugar/jaggery as the amount of grated coconut.
Generally we use half sugar and half jaggery.
This is how we love it in our house.
You can use only sugar or only jaggery.
Mix the mixture of coconut,sugar and jaggery with your hand well.
You can also add some mashed sweets like kalakand or sandesh if you wish.This is optional.
Now transfer this mixture into a kadai and put it on sim flame.
Stir it continuously till a whole lump is formed.
Remember this step is really important so that you can make perfect ladoos.
Once done, remove the mixture from flame and make round ladoos.
Thats it..lovely delicious ladoos are ready to be had anytime:)

Tomato-Carrot Soup

With the onset of winter who would not love to have a bowl of healthy yummy hot soup!! This soup is really simple and easy to prepare.It can be done in a very short time.In the steps below I have fried the veggies in oil, but this step can be skipped and you can directly pressure cook.I have not included any spice/chillies in the preparation so that it can be comfortably served to kids with no worries..and my fellow simply loved it :P
 
Ingredients-
tomato (500gm)
carrot (2medium)
onion (1big)
garlic (5-6cloves)
salt
oil
butter
black pepper powder
water

Method -
Roughly chop the onions and garlic cloves.
Chop the tomatoes and carrots in cubes.
Heat 1 table spoon oil in a non-stick pan.
Fry the onion and garlic for 2min.
Next put in the chopped tomatoes and carrots.
Add salt as per taste.
After another 5min, add sufficient water and transfer the stuff into a pressure cooker and cook till the veggies get soft.
Once done, strain the soup with the help of a strainer.
Now add the seasoning before serving.
Add salt, butter and black pepper powder.
Serve this yummy hot tomato-carrot soup with bread toast or sip it as is.. :)

Banana Malpua

This dish gives a lovely banana flavor to the typical malpuas.The preparation is simple, but frying takes time as you have to be patient to fry the malpuas one by one so that they get soft from inside and crispy from outside.The banana malpuas come out so delicious that you will worth the time spent on them.. :)

Ingredients-
banana
all purpose fluor/maida(1/4cup)
wheat fluor/atta(1/2cup)
sooji(1/2cup)
sugar(1/4cup)
salt
freshly grated coconut
milk
fennel seeds/saunf
black pepper
oil/ghee for frying

Method -
Mash a banana into a large bowl.
Add atta,maida,sooji,pinch of salt,sugar,coconut to it.
Mix well.
Then add milk to make a consistent batter.
The quantity of milk can vary, as you can add more as and when it gets soaked.
The quantity of sugar can also be adjusted.The measure given here doesn't make it too sweet.
Once the batter is ready add half table spoon saunf and 4-5 crushed black peppercorns.
You must be wondering why black pepper in this sweet dish, but believe me it tastes amazing.
Heat some oil in a kadhai. I mixed some 3-4table spoon ghee with the oil.
Pour a laddle full of batter into the oil.
Fry on medium heat on both sides till brownish.
The above quantity made around 20-22 malpuas and got vanished in a couple of days :)

Bread Roll

This is a very simple dish which can be had as a quick snack.The beauty of it is it requires bare minimum ingredients which are almost always part of your pantry(bread and potatoes).So please go ahead and try these bread rolls at home.. :)


Ingredients-
potatoes
onion
ginger
garlic
bread
green chillies
turmeric/haldi powder
red chilli/mirchi powder
cumin/jeera powder
coriander leaves/dhaniya patta
salt
bread slices
water
oil

Method -
Boil the potatoes with skin till soft.
Peel off the skin and mash them.Add salt.
Make a paste of ginger and garlic.
Chop the onions,green chillies and coriander leaves.
Heat oil in a non stick pan.
Put in the ginger and garlic.
Fry for a while and then add chopped onions.
Let it fry for sometime.Add the chillies.
Add salt,haldi,red chilli and jeera powder.
Mix well and add freshly chopped coriander leaves.
Spread out this mixture on a plate to cool down.
Take a slice of bread.Cut off the edges.
Dip it lightly in water.
Squeeze out the water from it as much as possible.
Now take some potato mixture and place it in the center of the bread.
Fold the edges of the bread to make a roll.
Cover it as much as possible and give the shape.
Heat oil for frying.
Once the oil is hot, deep fry the roll into it.
Fry it on a medium flame on both sides till light brown.
Similarly make rolls out of other bread slices.
Crispy bread rolls are ready to serve with ketchup and salad :)

Note-If you wish to have pure veg rolls, just avoid the onion and garlic in the above process.

Kasturi Methi Chicken

This chicken dish is very simple in the literal sense.There is no much hazard in the cooking process and gets done within no time actually :P It is cooked with very less oil, as the curd marination helps.So there is no much oil or masala,which in turn makes it very healthy too.Do give it a try.. 


Ingredients-
chicken
curd
ginger garlic paste
black pepper powder
onion
green chillies
kasturi methi leaves
salt
oil

Method -
Wash the chicken well and marinate it for 1-2 hours with the following -curd,ginger-garlic paste,salt and black pepper powder.
I generally make fresh paste of ginger-garlic,but you can use the ready made ones also.
Wash the methi leaves and soak them in water for around 15-20min.
Heat little oil in a pan.
Put in the chopped onion and chillies.
Saute for a while.
Add the marinated chicken.
Adjust salt as per taste.
Sprinkle in the methi leaves and let it cook till the chicken gets tender.
Serve hot kasturi chicken with roti/phulkas :)

Masala Idly

This dish is generally prepared with left over idlis.Whenever I prepare idlis I make a huge batch so that the first day we have it with sambhar and the next day is masala idly.. :)This is a very quick and delicious recipe..worth giving it a try.


Ingredients-
idly
onion
tomato
green chillies
mustard seeds/sarson
curry leaves/kadi patta
sambhar masala/sambhar
water
salt
coriander leaves
oil

Method -
Heat a non-stick pan and fry the left over idlis in some ghee.
Once they turn light brown on both sides,chop them roughly into big cubes.
Chop the onion, chillies and tomato finely.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan.
Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.Let them splutter.
Add the chopped onion and chillies.
Once onion gets fried add tomatoes.
Let it cook for sometime.Add salt as per taste.
Put in the fried idly pieces.
Mix well.
Add some sambar powder,sprinkle little water and cook.
You can also add left over sambhar if there is any.
Adjust the salt as per taste.
Add freshly chopped coriander leaves.
Delicious masala idly is ready to serve.