Pav Bhaji(Hot toasted buns with a vegetable gravy)

Well what to say ! I have absolutely No words to describe the Pav Bhaji as it is one of my most favorite dish . Whenever I make Pav Bhaji I would love click pictures but the moment it is ready I forget everything and just gobble it up with hot toasted Pav buns! I just love the Bhaji with vegetables well mashed and here goes the recipe of my favorite dish !

Preparation time :25 mins

Serves:4

Ingredients :

Mixed vegetables ( potatoes,carrot,cauliflower,beans,capsicum peas)-2 cups

Big onion chopped-1 no

Chopped tomatoes-2 nos

Ginger garlic paste-2 tsp

Jeera or cumin-2 tsp

Turmeric powder-1 tsp

Chili powder-1 tsp or as desired 

Pav Bhaji masala-1 tbsp

Salt - as needed

Oil-1 tbsp

To garnish:

Butter-1 tbsp

Chopped Coriander leaves-a few

Sliced lemon-1/2 

Chopped raw onion-1 tbsp

Procedure :

1. Heat a wok with 1 tbsp of oil and add the cumin seeds.After it splutters add the chopped onion and sauté well till the onion turns transparent . 

2. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and mix well.After the raw smell goes off add the tomatoes,salt,turmeric powder,chili powder and the Pav Bhaji masala and sauté till the tomatoes are soft .

3. In a pressure cooker add all the vegetables and cook them for 5-6 whistles and mash the vegetables to a semi purée. Add the onion tomato mixture to the mashed vegetables .

4.Mix everything well and add a little water if it's too thick and boil it for 5 mins in low flame.Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves and chopped onion.Serve with hot Pav buns with a dollop of butter on top.Delicious Pav Bhaji is ready !

Tips :

• You can add a slice of lemon along with Bhaji .
• Reduce or add more of chili powder according to your spice level.

Gobi paratha/Cauliflower stuffed flat bread

Cauliflower is one of my family's favourite vegetable .I try to include it in most of my recipes like 

1.Gobi Manchurian 

2. Potato cauliflower Masala Dosa 

3.Gobi Aloo Dum

These Gobi parathas are very yummy when served with a dollop of butter ,a pickle and a raita. I prefer to chop or grate  cauliflower finely to get these parathas perfect otherwise boiling and mashing the cauliflower can sometimes make the stuffing retain too much moisture thus making parathas would be difficult .

Preparation time :40 mins

Makes:15 parathas 

Ingredients:

For the bread:

Whole wheat flour-1 1/2  cups

Salt-to taste 

Water -for kneading 

For the stuffing:

Cauliflower-150 gms

Finely chopped onion-1 no

Jeera or cumin-1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Chilli powder-1 tsp( adjust according to your need)

Ginger garlic paste-1 tsp

Kitchen King masala or garam masala-1 tsp 

Kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves-1 tsp

Salt-to taste

Oil-to toast the parathas

Butter/ghee - to serve 

Procedure :

1.In a large mixing bowl add the flour and reunited salt and add required water little by little and knead in to a soft dough.Cover the bowl with a lid and keep it aside.

2.Heat a wok with a tbsp of oil and add cumin seeds.After it splutters add the chopped onion and saute well.

3.When the onions turn transparent add the salt,turmeric powder and red chilli powder,followed by ginger garlic paste.Mix everything well.

4.Put the cauliflower florets in hot boiling water with a tsp of salt and after a minute refrain them and chop or grate them finely.Add this finely chopped cauliflower to the sautéed onion.then add the kitchen king masala .

5.Simmer the flame and cover the wok with a lid and let the cauliflower cook for few minutes.Then remove the lid and add the kasuri methi and mix well.Switch off the flame .Take a small ball size dough and roll in to a small chappathi and place two spoonfuls of the cauliflower filling inside it and wrap it inside the dough .

6.Dust some flour on the wrapped filing dough and roll out in to parathas. It should be neither too thick nor too thin.If it sticks to the rolling plate dust some flour and roll it out.Heat a non-stick pan and add a tsp of oil and place the paratha on top of it.Once it gets cooked on the downside ,flip it and add another tsp of oil so that both the sides are evenly cooked golden brown.

7.Serve hot with a pickle or tomato thokku and raita .Optionally you can add a blob of butter on top of the parathas before serving.

Tips:

*Roll out parathas evenly and lightly  otherwise the filling will come out when you roll out.

*Don't avoid kasuri methi as it adds a very nice flour to the paratha and it is healthy too.

*You can also add chopped coriander leaves to the filling.

Palak Paneer Paratha(Spinach Cottage Cheese stuffed flatbread)

Paneer is my son's favorite and we have paneer on the menu at least once a week.Usually I make paneer butter masala or palak paneer.We got bored of it and I wanted to make paratha this time.I also had some spinach left in the refrigerator and got an idea why don't I make palak paneer Paratha(cottage cheese spinach stuffed flatbread) for a change.It came out very tasty and my son loved it very much .I guess this is a great way to make kids eat spinach as it is mixed with their favourite paneer or cottage cheese.It is also very high in protein,calcium and iron.All you need is a blob of butter on the hot Palak Paneer Paratha and then there is no talking only lip smacking .

Preparation time:40 Mins

Makes-12 medium parathas

Ingredients:

For the bread:

Whole wheat flour-1 1/2  cups

Salt-to taste 

Water -for kneading 

For the stuffing:

Spinach or palak leaves-1 cup tightly packed

Paneer -200 gms

Finely chopped onion-1 no

Jeera or cumin-1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Chilli powder-1 tsp( adjust according to your need)

Garam masala-1 tsp 

Chat masala-1/2 tsp(optional)

Kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves-1 tsp

Salt-to taste

Oil-to toast the parathas

Procedure:

1.In a large mixing bowl add the flour and reunited salt and add required water little by little and knead in to a soft dough.Cover the bowl with a lid and keep it aside.

2.Heat a wok with a tbsp of oil and add cumin seeds.After it splutters add the chopped onion and saute well.

3.When the onions turn transparent add the salt,turmeric powder and red chilli powder,followed by finely chopped spinach.(Wash and drain the spinach before chopping.)

4.Once the spinach is cooked add the grated or crumbled paneer ,garam masala,chat masala and kasuri methi.Saute well and switch off the flame.

5.Take a small ball size dough and roll in to a small chappathi and place two spoonfuls of the spinach cottage cheese filling inside it and wrap it inside the dough .

6.Dust some flour on the wrapped filing dough and roll out in to parathas.It should be neither too thick nor too thin.If it sticks to the rolling plate dust some flour and roll it out.

.Heat a non-stick pan and add a tsp of oil and place the paratha on top of it.Once it gets cooked on the downside ,flip it and add another tsp of oil so that both the sides are evenly cooked golden brown.

8.Serve hot with a pickle or tomato thokku and raita .Optionally you can add a blob of butter on top of the parathas before serving.

 Tips:

*You can add ginger garlic paste before sauteing the spinach for the filling.

* grate the paneer for a even rolling of paratha.

*Roll out parathas evenly and lightly  otherwise the filling will come out when you roll out.

*Don't avoid kasuri methi as it adds a very nice flour to the paratha and it is healthy too.

*You can also add chopped coriander leaves to the filling.

* you can substitute Palak or spinach with fresh fenugreek leaves or fresh methi leaves.

Thinai Akki Roti(Quinoa or Foxtail Millet Roti/Pancakes)

Recently I went to a restaurant where they served only millets and my folks were quite unsure whether a health restaurant can satiate their taste buds.But to all our surprise all the items we ordered were too tasty and delicious( ofcourse healthy!!!).One of the items which I liked the most was this akki roti made of millet flour instead of rice flour and it was too good.From that moment I wanted to try it at home and voila the outcome was too delicious for anyone to resist.I made ennai kathrikai kuzhambhu (fried eggplants in a spicy gravy) for lunch and the same kuzhambhu was an awesome sidedish for this Thinai akki roti/Quinoa pancakes.so we all had a scrumptious dinner that day .

For Ennai Kathrikai Kuzhambhu recipe click below:

Ennai kathrikai kuzhambhu

Preparation time :30 mins

Serves:2

Ingredients :

Thinai flour/Quinoa flour -1 cup( i powdered thinai/quinoa is my mixer but you can use the store brought flour too)

Rice flour-1/4 cup

Grated carrot-1 no (big )

Finely chopped onion-1 no

Finely chopped coriander leaves-1/4 cup

Curry leaves-15

Finely chopped green chillies-3 no(change according to your need)

Asafoetida/Hing -1 tsp

Salt-to taste

Oil-to roast them on pan 

Procedure:

1.Grind thinai/quinoa to a fine powder.Skip this step if you have quinoa/thinai flour from store.

2.Heat  1 and 1/2 cups of water in a wok.add the thinai/quinoa flour and rice flour to it and mix well with a ladle.

3.Add salt,hing ,carrot,onions,curry leaves,coriander leaves and green chillies to it and mix well till all the water is absorbed and you get a pila le dough .Allow it cool .

4.Once it has cooled down take a small size dough and apply oil on a plastic sheet/plantain leaf and place the ball on it and press it to get a roti.

5.Transfer this roti to a heated tawa and apply around it to roast it and after few mins turn it and allow it to cook on the other side as well.Apply oil after turning the roti as well.

6.Serve hot with Ennai Kathrikai Kuzhambhu or tomato onion chutney.

 Tips:

* As I grinded thinai to get flour I got a coarse powder but if you buy ready made thinai /quinoa flour then the texture will be more smooth.

*You can also add shredded cabbage or capsicum to this recipe while adding carrots.

* You can try the same recipe with other millet flours also.

Bread upma

I am not a great fan of bread generally and if given bread I would like to make it 

spicy so even I could have it .Long back I made bread upma with normal white bread and somehow I felt the bread still tasted sweet even after onions and tadka were added to it .Then a neighbour of mine suggested to add milk so that the salt and spices get in to the bread also .After I tried it ,it was super delicious and spicy.From that time bread upma is quite regular on our family menu.To make it quite healthy it can be made with whole wheat bread or multigrain bread too. I added few veggies to this upma to make it colorful and healthy and it makes an ideal lunchbox recipe.

Serves:2

Preparation time:15 minutes 

Ingredients:

Bread slices-6 or 7

Diced carrot-1 no

Chopped onion-1 no

Chopped tomato-1 no

Peas-50gm

Ginger garlic paste-1 tsp

Chilli powder -1 tsp

Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp

Salt-to taste

Asafetida or Hing-1/2tsp

Coriander powder-1 tsp

Jeera or cumin powder-1 tsp 

Milk-3 tbsp

Coriander leaves-to garnish

Oil-2 tbsp

Lemon juice-1 tsp(optional)

To temper:

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Jeera or cumin seeds-1 tsp

Slit Green chillies-1

Urad dal-1 tsp

Curry leaves -few

Procedure:

1.Cut the bread slices in to equal sized squares . 

2.Heat a wok with oil and add the tempering ingredients given above.Once the mustard and cumin splutter add the onions and saute well.

3.Add salt,hing,turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste after the onions turn transparent .Once the raw smell goes off add the boiled carrot and peas.

4.Then add the chopped tomatoes,chilli powder and coriander powder and saute well till the tomatoes are done.

5.Now add milk to the above mixture and mix the bread pieces immediately so that the flavours get infused with the bread slices.

6.Once it's mixed switch off the flame and add lemon juice and coriander leaves and serve hot.

Tips:

*You can use any type of bread like whole wheat or multigrain to make it healthy.

*You can use butter instead of oil for rich taste.

*Garam masala can be added in the end for an additional flavor.