Herbed Cream cheese

Are you really busy this evening?  Or too tired?  But you are hungry.  There’s not much in the fridge.  Oh no!  What to do now?

Here’s what I did.  I took a bit of creamy cheese and added a few herbs and…

Ingredients:

1 bowl                  Fresh creamy cheese

2-3 Tsp.                Chives (finely chopped)

1 Tsp.                    Parsley (finely chopped)

1 small                  Spring onion (preferably)/ Onion/ shallot (finely chopped)

Salt (optional) (according to taste)

Pepper (optional) (according to taste)

Procedure:

1.                   Take a bowl of Fresh creamy cheese.

2.                   Add salt and pepper (optional) (I don’t and it is still perfect but it is a matter of taste)

3.                   Add finely chopped chives, parsley and spring onion.

4.                   Mix well.

Let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour for better results.  This gives the cheese the time to take the aroma of herbs.

You can have these as dip with boiled potatoes or vegetables or French fries or country potatoes or simply as a cheese spread for bread.

This is how I had it... the choice is yours :-)

Simply yummy! 

I love it.  Just try it out and tell me if you like it or not.

Aaloo wadiyaan (Potatoes with spicy nuggets made of lentils)

Here's another yummy potato recipe for those of you who are potato lovers.  A tasty yet healthy potato recipe thanks to the wholesome wadi.  Yes, you guessed it right, I am from Punjab and grew up with Papads and Wadis.  Those of you who are not aware of it, in fact, we Punjabis believe that the best wadis and papads are those from our own Amritsar.

Ingredients:

1                             Wadi

4-5 medium            Potatoes (peeled and cut into big pieces)



½ medium              Onion/ shallot (cut lengthwise)

Salt (according to taste)
2-3                          Whole red chillies
1 pinch                    Red chilli powder (according to taste)
¼ Tsp.                     Turmeric powder
1 Tb. Sp.                 Sunflower Oil
1 Tsp.                     Cumin (jeera) 
½ Tsp.                    Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
¼ Tsp.                    Garam masala

Procedure:

1.                   Heat oil and add wadi to it. 

2.                   Heat till it is light brown.  Add cumin and whole red chillies.

3.                   When they start spluttering, add onions.

4.                   When the onions are semi-cooked add salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix 

               well.

5.                   Add potatoes and some water.

6.                   Cover and let it cook on low flame.  Keep stirring from time to time.

7.                   When the potatoes are cooked take off the flame.

8.                   Break the wadi.

Serve hot as a side dish with chapattis, rice or poories.

AaTey ka pooDaa (Pancakes made of wheat-flour)

When I was younger, everytime it rained we had two types of poodas as a sort of snack and we called the combo monsoon special.  It’s a quick and healthy meal when you don’t have a lot of time or no veggies at home.

Ingredients:

1 cup             Wheat flour

1 Tsp              Ajwain (bishop’s weed)

Salt

Red chilli powder

1 small          Onion/ shallot (finely cut)

1 or 2            Green chillies (finely cut)

Water

Sunflower oil or any other cooking oil

Procedure:

Mix wheat flour, ajwain, salt and red chilli powder. 

Add onion, green chillies and water to it and mix well.

Heat a pan, oil it and pour the mix in it.

When the liquid starts drying turn it over.

Pour oil on all sides.  Let it cook.

Once it is done.  Serve it with tomato chutney or sauce.

So here’s to monsoons and rain God!

Baingan Bhaja (Fried Aubergines)

Actually, even though some people would like us to believe that Baingan doesn’t have any guna (a tongue in cheek reference to its name in Hindi) it is not true.

Aubergine is a rich source of fibre and has low saturated fat content as well as cholesterol.  It is diuretic and a rich source of potassium, iodine, sodium and magnesium.  It also has antioxidant properties.    

So today, I am going to share a simple recipe with you today.  Though it has some fat but as aubergines have little fat, so it balances out all right.  But I won’t advise it to you if you have health problems.

Ingredients:

1         Aubergine    (baingan)

Salt

Red chilli powder

Turmeric powder

Mustard or sunflower Oil

Procedure:

Cut big, round pieces of aubergine.

Sprinkle some salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder on the aubergines and tilt the plate so that the water released by aubergines is collected on one side.

Let them lie for at least half an hour.

Heat some oil in a pan.

Fry the aubergines.

Serve with daal and rice or khichadi or chapattis or any other way you want.  I even love having them as snacks with tea though that’s not how one is supposed to have them.

Quinoa - A simple recipe

Are you looking for a healthy meal to prepare which you won’t spend hours in the kitchen?  So here’s a quick and simple recipe for you. 

Quinoa or, as some people call it, `Rice of Incas’ is a very healthy option for those who want to avoid rice for one reason or another.  There are several ways of making it but one of the easiest and still tasty ways is to serve it with red Kidney Beans (or Raajmaanh) or simply boiled chick peas (Kabuli Chaney).

Ingredients:

1 Tb. Sp.              Olive Oil/ Colza oil

1 cup                     Quinoa

Kelpamar (according to taste)

Water

Preparation:

Boil water.

Add quinoa grains.

Let it boil for about 5 - 10 minutes.

When it is done you’ll see that the grains haver germinated.

Once the grains are well cooked, lower the flame and let the water dry.

Serve in a dish with kelpamar and olive oil or colza oil dressing.  You can add some boiled chickpeas or red kidney beans (rajma) to it. 

It is a healthy and complete meal.  Personally I love it as main course of my meal.  If you are looking for a healthy

Health Benefits:

Quinoa has a very high nutritional value and its high protein content (18%) makes it ideal for those looking for protein rich diet.

Colza or Rapeseed oil is a rich source of Omega 3, 6 and 9 and an excellent source of these Omega elements for vegetarians.

And if you don’t get Colza oil, you can use Olive oil, which, too, has several health benefits.

Namak-ajwain wala parantha ((Fried flat Indian Bread with bishop weed)

As I’ve already explained how much I love paranthas and a bit of history, I won’t go into the whole story all over again.  Paranthas have several varieties and today I’m going to share one with ajwain or bishop’s weed as it is called in the Anglophone world.  I’ve already discussed the benefits of this medicinal plant in Masala Puri recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Cup    Wheat flour

1 Tsp     Ajwain (bishop’s weed)

1 Tsp     Salt

Water

Ghee (clarified butter) or Oil


Procedure:

Mix ajwain and salt.

Knead flour so that when you make a hole in it with your finger, it doesn’t stick to your finger.

Take a small part of it and roll it into a small ball and ensure that there’s no crack in the ball.

Roll this ball in dry flour and flatten it.

Use rolling-pin and flatten the circle further till it is around 4-5 inches in diameter.

Take ½ tea spoon oil and oil the flattened dough.

Sprinkle the ajwain and salt mix on it.

Fold it four times as shown in images.

Roll it in some dry flour and flatten it upside down i.e. the last fold should face the plate.

Use rolling pin to further flatten it and make it into a bigger square.

Put the girdle on fire.

When it is hot, put the flattened square dough on the girdle.

Once it is cooked on one side (it will become somewhat yellowish brown), turn it over and put oil on the cooked side.

After some time, turn it over again and if the other side is cooked oil it as well otherwise turn it back till it is cooked.  Once it is cooked, turn it over and oil the other side (that you’ve not oiled earlier).

After around 1 minute turn it over and let it cook for some time.

Serve it with pickle or/and vegetables or/and plain yoghurt and/or raita and/or dahipakodiyan.

I hope that you loved it as much as I do.  Enjoy your meal!