Cake Topper

This Cake Topper is dedicated to my recent visit to Disneyland. It is entirely made up of chocolate (both Dark and white) including the green base.
It can be used as a cake topper or as an edible decoartive piece at the party.

Garden Burger

These are veggie burgers with a kick! These 'Garden Burgers' are full of goodness and taste of fresh veggies. The flavorful mixed vegetable patty is pan fried and served on a Burger bun along with Cole slaw.I served them along with oven baked fries.


These are so easy to make and much healthier than its fast food version. After trying this you will never want to eat another fast food burger again.


Ingredients (Serves 6)

6 Fresh Burger Buns
Few Lettuce leaves (soaked in cold water to make them crisp)
Few slices of Tomato (thinly sliced)
Mustard Sauce
Ketchup

For the Burger patty

4 Big Potatoes
1 Big carrot
1/2 cup Green Peas
3 Bread slices
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala
1/2 teaspoon Red Chili Powder

To coat Patty

3 tablespoon Cornflour
1 Cup dry Bread Crumbs

For the Cole Slaw

3 tablespoon Mayonnaise
2 tablespoon Sour cream ( use curd as a substitute)
1 Cup finely shredded Cabbage
Pinch of salt
Pinch of Black Pepper


Method
For the Cole slaw, mix mayonnaise and sour cream together, add shredded cabbage, salt and pepper. Mix and keep in fridge.

Pressure cook Potato, Peas and carrot together. After the pressure drops, take out potatoes, peel them and put back in cooker with boiled peas and carrot. Mash them with potato masher thoroughly till there is no water in pan.

Cool the potato mixture and add all the spices and crumbled fresh bread.Mix well and shape into 6 patties. Keep aside.

Mix 3 tablespoon cornflour with little water to make thin batter. Dip a prepared burger patty
in this batter and the roll patty in dry bread crumbs.

Heat 5-6 Tablespoon oil in a non-stick pan. Shallow fry the patties till golden brown and crisp.

Heat Burger buns in microwave for 30 seconds ( or if you like crisp buns, apply a little butter and toast them on a non-stick pan)

To assemble, spread a little mustard sauce on base.Arrange a lettuce leaf and then place a burger patty. Spoon over some Cole slaw, tomato slice and little ketchup. Cover with other piece of bun.

Serve with French fries and ketchup on the side.

Chocolate Truffle Cake

This cake is every chocoholics dream come true. For this cake I baked a nice dark chocolate cake at home for my class. I sandwiched the cake layers with chocolate whipped cream and made Ganache to cover the entire cake. After the cake was cooled down, I made some decorations over the top with Dark and white chocolate.. I used the leftover Ganache to pipe a border around the cake.

The cake turned out absolutely soft and moist and being a true chocolate-maniac I savored every last bit of it. Enjoy this cake on its own or serve a cake slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and roasted almonds on top and Yumm!!!

Spicy Bean Burritos

Hey everyone!! Just back from a refreshing Disney vacation :D missing all that Sunshine ...

Back to the Business... I have tasted so many versions of Mexican food outside but none was spicy enough for me.So I decided to give the tantalizing Mexican food a try at home. I made Spicy bean burritos with white flour tortillas, filled with spicy refried beans, stir fried veggies and cottage cheese. I topped the burrito with my favorite Jalapeno Salsa, Sour cream, fresh green salad and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Give these burritos a try and believe they will become your favorite.

Ingredients

For White Tortillas: ( also available in stores )

3 Cups White Flour( Maida)
1 Tablespoon salt
6 Tablespoon Oil
Water to knead

For Refried Beans

1 Cup Red Kidney Beans(Rajma), soak overnight
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1/4 cup Tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon Read chili powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tablespoon Oil

Vegetable Filling

1 Onion, sliced
2 Teaspoon Garlic Paste
1 Carrot,shredded into thin strips
1/2 Cup French Beans, cut diagonally
1/4 cup Corn Kernels
7-8 Mushrooms,thinly slice
100 grams Cottage Cheese, cut into long strips
1/2 Cup Cabbage,shredded
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Red Chili powder
1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
2 Tablespoon Pickled Jalapeno Pepper
2 tablespoon Chopped Green Coriander

Sour Cream

1/2 Cup

Tomato Salsa
1/2 Cup

Salad

4 Lettuce leaves,shredded
1/2 Cup Tomato,chopped
1/4 Cup grated Cheddar Cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method

Mix all the ingredients of tortillas together and knead with water to make soft pliable dough. Divide into 10 portions and cook on griddle/tawa till light brown spots appear on both sides. Keep wrapped.

For Refried Beans, Heat oil in cooker, add chopped onion and garlic paste and cook till light brown in color. Add tomato puree, cook till oil separates. Add red chili powder, salt and soaked beans. Give one whistle, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes more.When pressure drops,mash the beans with potato masher and add 2 tbsp butter. Keep aside.

For the filling, heat 2 tbsp oil, add garlic paste, sliced onion and cook till light brown. Add sliced carrots and french beans and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add Mushrooms and corn kernels and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add cabbage and Paneer(cottage cheese). Lastly add all the seasonings, chopped jalapenos and green coriander. Mix and keep aside.

For the salad, Mix all the ingredients and keep aside

Assembling Burrito

Place a tortilla on a plate and spread a thin layer of refried beans on it .

Place some filling in the center.

Put some salad over it.

Spoon over some sour cream and Salsa over salad.

Fold burrito and roll over to get a Roll.

Serve with salsa and sour cream on side.

Celebration Cake

Hey All ....I am back with a new Cake this week. This one is a Fondant Cake decorated with Marbled Rolled fondant , all the decorations for the cake are made out of fondant too.

Prior to making this cake I have never tasted Fondant, so it was great new experience for me. In the class I learned to make White fondant from the scratch. Fondant was quite easy to make although rolling it for decoration was an entirely different case. While rolling, the fondant has the tendency to dry out, so I had to keep it covered all the time when not in use.

I used a combination of Peach and Fuschia color for decorating cake. The fondant base was made using peach color to give a marbled effect. I decorated the top by making small and large gift boxes using orange and fuschia colors.

The cake itself was a Italian Sponge cake, sandwiched with buttercream and lemon filling. I will post the recipe for the sponge cake in my coming posts.

Quick N Easy Sponge Cake

This is the great recipe for a 10 minutes foolproof cake. It is the perfect base for making any layered cake. The cake after baking turns out lightweight and golden brown in color.

I made this cake in two 9" cake pans for making a 4 layered cake. Make sure the eggs you use for this recipe are at room temperature, it really helps in making a cake nice and soft

The best part about this cake is it requires just 3 ingredients for it and being a sponge cake it is fat free.So you can have your cake and eat it too ;)

INGREDIENTS

1 Cup Refined flour
1 Cup Sugar
6 Eggs


Method

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Line two 9"cake pans with parchment paper.

Separate Eggs ,white portion in a large bowl ( as it will triple up in volume) and yellow portion into a small bowl.

Add 1/2 cup sugar into egg whites and beat till it increases in volume and becomes stiff ( peaks should stand up when a sponn is lifted)

Add leftover 1/2 cup sugar to yellow portion and beat till it becomes pale yellow in color.

Fold egg yolks into egg whites.

Fold in flour gently using 1/3 cup at a time. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into cake pans lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degree F for about 30 minutes. Toothpick inserted in the cake centre should come out clean.

Let the cake stand in pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and remove waxpaper.

Cool the cake completely before frosting.

Punjabi Kadi

Kadi reminds me of Pure simple and delicious home food.Although I have tried many recipe of Kadi till yet,this one is the best. My Mum makes amazing Kadi and I learnt this recipe from her.I made a few modifications in the recipe and the results turned pretty good.

In this recipe I made Pakoras with a combination of chopped spinach,potato and onion mix,flavored with dry fenugreek(Kasoori methi). Pakoras were then simmered in ginger-garlic flavored creamy yogurt curry. Its the perfect recipe to treat yourself to when you are craving some delicious 'Ghar ka Khana'.

Ingredients
For Pakoras :
1 Cup Besan (Gram Flour)
1 Cup finely chopped spinach
1 medium Potato,finely chopped
1 medium Onion,finely chopped
1 tsp Kasoori Methi
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Red Chili powder
Salt, To taste
Oil, for frying

For the Kadi :
1 Cup Besan
2 Cups Sour Curd
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder
Salt, to taste

For the Tempering (Tadka) :
2 Dry Red Chillies
1 tsp Mustard Seeds (Rai)
1/2 tsp red chili powder

Method
Heat Oil in a heavy bottomed pan.

Mix well all ingredients of the Pakoras together with enough water to form a batter of medium consistency.It should not be too thick,nor too thick.

Drop spoonfuls of batter into hot oil to form pakoras.Fry them at medium heat till light golden in color.Keep aside in a plate.

In a bowl mix together Besan and Curd to form a smooth and lumpfree batter.

Heat oil in a pan. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry till light brown in color. Add Haldi and Red chilli pd.Add 3 cups water to it and let it come to a boil.

Add Besan - Curd mixture to above and stir constantly till it thickens and comes to a boil. After first boil, lower the heat, add fried pakoras and simmer on low flame for 15 minutes. Serve in a bowl.

For the tempering, heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan add dry red chillies ,rai and heat till rai starts to crackle. Add red chilli powder pour it over the prepared Kadi.

Serve hot with steamed Rice or Chapati.

Black Forest Trifle Pudding

Who doesn't likes Puddings? The Ooey-gooey temptation of Puddings can lure anyone.They are the perfect dessert after a delightful meal.
Black forest cake though originally from Germany is now popular worldwide.It consists of layers of chocolate cake sandwiched with whipped cream & cherries. Anyways back to the pudding I made.

I made Black Forest Trifle pudding this time,which is a take on my all time favorite black forest cake.I made a quick-fix version of trifle pudding with use of Instant pudding mix and Jell-o(or any jelly mix) as normally trifle pudding is very time consuming.I had some leftover Chocolate cake which I used for it.
It consists of 3 alternating layers of pudding,chocolate cake and strawberry jelly( hence the name trifle).Topped with whipped cream,cherries and chocolate sprinkles ,its Heaven on Earth!!

Ingredients( Serves 6)

2 Cups chocolate Cake,chopped into small pieces

1 Pack instant Vanilla Pudding (~2 Cups Custard)

1 Pack Strawberry Jello (~2 Cups Set jelly)

2 Cups Fresh Cream

1/2 Cup powdered sugar

1/4 Cup chopped Walnuts

3-4 Cherries for garnishing

3 tbsp cherry syrup ( from cherries in can)

Chocolate sprinkles or Chocolate curls for garnishing


Method

Make Strawberry jelly according to instructions given in the package and keep it in fridge to set.

Make vanilla pudding according to instructions given on the package.It will make about 2 cups of pudding.Keep it to chill in fridge.

Chop chocolate cake into small pieces and keep aside.

Whip the fresh cream with sugar till soft peaks are formed.Keep it to chill in fridge.

When all the ingredients are chilled for about 1-2 hours,we can start assembling the pudding.

In chilled pudding, fold in half of the whipped cream and stir softly to mix well.Keep rest of the whipped cream for topping aside.

Crumble set jelly roughly with a fork so that small bits of jelly are formed.

Take a wide pudding bowl, preferably of glass so that all pudding layers are visible or you can also take stemmed glasses for individual servings.

In the bowl, put 1/3rd of the pudding mix at the bottom.Put chocolate cake pieces over pudding.Lightly spritz cake pieces with cherry syrup. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over it and finally put jelly bits over it all.

Repeat the layers 2 more times till all the cake,pudding and jelly is used.

Top the pudding generously with leftover whipped cream.You can use back of the spoon to form peak effect.

Sprinkle chocolate vermicelli or curls over it and arrange cherries on top.

Chill for at least 2 hours before consuming for the best taste.

Garlic Bread

Well guys...this time I tried to make Garlic Bread from scratch.I baked my own bread and then made garlic bread out of it.

The heavenly aroma of freshly baked bread is so stimulating that I can hardly stop myself slicing the loaf even before it got cooled.Baking bread may seem like a daunting task but trust me I am no professional baker.If I can do it so can you!Although the process of fermentation may seem like a bit long but its totally worth it.

The dough I used for making this bread is multipurpose.It can be shaped into long and skinny baguette,crusty oblong Italian loaf.Your imagination is your limit...

Ingredients(makes 2 loaves)

4 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1+3/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 tsp salt
cornmeal for sprinkling

Method

In a bowl mix yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes till bubbles appear on surface.

Stir in 1 cup warm water and slowly add 2 cups of flour to form a wet spongy dough.Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours.The dough will triple in volume.

After 8-12 hours add remaining 1/2 cup warm water,salt and 2 more cups of flour to form soft dough.

On the work surface knead dough for 7-10 minutes sprinkling as little flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking.Dough will become smooth,moist but will remain still sticky to touch.

Transfer dough to bowl and set aside for 2 hours.

Divide dough into 2 halves and shape into oblong loaf about 10X3 inches.Place loaves on parchment covered baking sheet,cover loosely with wet towel and set aside at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degree F.

Sprinkle dough with water and bake for 30-35 minutes.The loaves will become hollow sounding when tapped on bottom and golden brown in color.

Place the bread on wire rack to cool.

Note: I used this loaf for making delicious garlic bread in another recipe

Garlic Bread

To me any Italian meals seem incomplete without Garlic bread.Whenever I go to Italian Restaurant,I eagerly anticipate the warm,delicious bread basket before meal.Garlic bread is pretty easy to make at home too.

Almost any bread can be used to make garlic bread,I particularly like Italian loaf or sourdough bread for it.

The variations of toppings one can do while making garlic bread are limitless. Some variations can be:

• Sun dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil leaves
  
• Mixture of provolone,sharp cheddar and mozzarella cheese
  
• Shredded spinach and feta cheese
  
• Mushrooms,corn kernels and red pepper with a spritz of olive oil

Ingredients

1 Medium loaf - Italian bread or any bread of your choice

6 tbsp salted butter(at room temperature)

3 tbsp garlic paste

1 tsp dry Italian herbs

A pinch of red chili flakes

Method

Preheat oven to 450 degree F.

Cut bread loaf at a slant into medium thickness slices In a bowl mix softened butter,dry herbs,garlic paste and chili flakes.

With a blunt knife apply butter mixture onto upper surface of bread slices.

Place bread slices into a baking sheet and bake for about 5-7 minutes till bread crisps up and gets slightly brown on top.(If topping with cheese,bake till cheese melts).

Serve hot with your favorite pasta or pizza or just relish it alone.

Pad Thai Noodles

Thai food is a wonderful combination of sweet,spicy and sour flavors.It is literally bursting with all the delicious flavors and a treat for your taste buds.My passion for Thai food started about 2 years back when I first tried hot Red Thai curry and I am in love with Thai cuisine ever since.

Last weekend I was craving something hot and spicy and thought of making Pad Thai noodles.I used Rice Noodles for making this dish ,also known as 'Rice Sticks'.The noodles are steamed in hot water for 5 minutes and then stir fried with flavorful pad Thai sauce.I added marinated tofu to noodles which can be substituted with Paneer(Cottage Cheese) if you wish.

Ingredients(Serves 3-4)

8 oz Rice Noodles (approx 225 gm)

100 g Tofu/Paneer

2 eggs,lightly beaten

1 medium onion ,finely chopped

1 medium carrot,finely grated

2 tbsp Garlic Paste

3 tbsp groundnuts

2 tsp chopped green coriander leaves(cilantro)

Oil,for stir frying

Salt,to taste

For Pad Thai Sauce:

1 tbsp Tamarind paste

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Brown sugar

2 tsp red chili sauce(can be substituted with 1 tsp red chili powder in absence of red chili sauce)

Method

Mix all the ingredients of pad Thai sauce in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.The sauce should have more of a sweet and spicy taste.

Cut tofu into long strips and marinate in pad Thai sauce for about 30 minutes.

Soak Rice Noodles in a bowl of hot water for 6- 10 minutes.Drain and rinse with cold water.

Heat oil in a pan and roast groundnuts on medium heat till golden brown,set aside.Take care not to burn them.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non stick pan.Take tofu pieces out of marinade and sear them in hot pan,cook till golden brown on both sides.Set aside.

Add 2 tbsp oil to same pan and cook garlic paste till it gets light brown.Add chopped onion and cook till it becomes transparent,add grated carrot to it and cook for 2 min on high flame.

Add 2 lightly beaten eggs(if using) to onion mixture above and cook till they are lightly scrambled for 1-2 minutes.

Add drained noodles to the pan mix in the remaining pad Thai sauce carefully using 2 spatulas(like you toss salad).Stir fry for about 2-3 minutes on high flame till evenly mixed.

Add cooked tofu pieces to noodles,mix.Check salt.

Serve hot garnished with roasted groundnuts and finely chopped coriander leaves.

Rose Bouquet cake

This was the second cake I made in my class.I was a bit skeptical about making roses as I thought they are very hard to make after my instructor demonstrated it.But as it turned out they were quite a fun to make and not hard at all!

So for this I baked two 8" yellow cakes and frosted them with butter cream.I cooled the cake in fridge for about an hour and meanwhile I made roses with pink colored butter cream .The edges of the cake are decorated to give a beautiful basket weave effect and a shell border is piped at the bottom.I transferred the roses onto the round edges of the cake and then piped out leaves with the help of green colored butter cream.In the centre I piped out the message"Best Wishes" with pink colored icing too.

Next I am trying out Fondant cake...will post the pic when I make it.
Ciao...

Fried Rice

Fried Rice is perfect partner to any chinese dish .You can add your favorite veggies to it.I cook the rice first and let it cool otherwise when tossed with veggies in pan it will get all mushy. I Stir fried onion,green & red capsicum,carrot and spring onion greens with cooked rice, add to it a bit of soy sauce and some seasoning and you are good to go....

Ingredients(Serves 2)

• 3 Cups Boiled Rice(cook rice till just tender and fluff it with fork)
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 2 green chillies -finely chopped
• 1/4 of Green capsicum -cut in small pieces
• 1/4 of Red Capsicum - cut in small pieces(or you can just use 1/2 green capsicum)
• 1 small carrot - cut in small pieces
• 2 spring onion greens - finely chop and separate green and white portion
• 1/2 tsp pepper pd
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil

Method
Heat oil in a pan.Add garlic paste,green chillies and chopped spring onions .

Cook for 1 minute till onions turn transparent.Add carrots and cook for 1 minute.

Add green and red capsicum.Stir for for 30 seconds and add cooked rice. Add salt,pepper powder and soy sauce (You can add more soy sauce to your taste).Mix well.

Serve hot garnished with spring onion greens.

My First Cake!

I started taking Cake Decoration classes recently and made my first decorated cake there. This cake consists of Yellow cake with raspberry and cream cheese filling. It was frosted by almond flavored buttercream.

It is a 4 layer cake made up of two 9"yellow cakes.Center layer has cream cheese filling and top and bottom layers have raspberry filling. After arranging all four layers , the cake was iced using buttercream frosting. Then I piped shells on the cake to make different designs.

My instructor made decorating cake look so easy but when I started to decorate it was not as easy as it seemed to appear. For my first decorated cake it was okay. I hope to improve with practice. I will keep posting my other designs as I happen to do them.

Kadhai Paneer

This is one of my ready in 5 minutes yet delicious recipe. All the ingredients of the recipe are readily available in any household. Paneer is tossed with stir fried onion,capsicum and tomato. Tastes best served witha hot lachcha parantha or naan.

Ingredients(Serves 2)

• 250 gm Paneer
• 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1 bay leaf (Tej patta)
• 1 dry red chilli -broken into pieces
• 1 Onion -sliced lenghtwise
• 1 Capsicum- Remove seeds and slice lengthwise
• 1 tomato-sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 tsp dhania powder
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• salt - to taste
• 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• 2 tbsp oil

Method

Cut Paneer into cubes

Slice Onion,Capsicum and Tomato Lengthwise.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan/kadai. Add bay leaf, ginger garlic paste, red chilli pieces and cook till ginger garlic paste changes color.

Add onion and cook till onion turn transparent. Add capsicum and stir for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and stir for 1- 2 minutes till they get a little dry.

Add dhania pd,red chilli pd,garam masala and salt and cook for 30 seconds.

Add Paneer cubes and tomato ketchup.Mix well and remove fron heat.

Serve hot with crispy parantha or naan.

Tandoori Pizza

This is an Indian twist on Italian Pizza.I got bored of the regular pizza and one day decided to add some desi flavors to it and the results were pretty delicious.It has vegetables smothered in tandoori sauce baked on an pizza crust to golden delicious perfection.

Ingredients

1/4 cup brocolli -cut in small florets
1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
1/2 of mesium red capsicum-cut lengthwise
5-6 mushrooms-cut lengthwise
1 Cup shredded mozzrella cheese
3 tbsp tomato ketchup

For pizza dough

• 2 -1/2 cup refined wheat flour(Maida)
• 2 tsp dry yeast
• 2 tsp olive/vegetable oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup water
  

For the tandoori sauce

• 1 Cup tomato puree
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp kasoori methi
• 1 tsp tandoori masala(readymade)
• 1/4 tsp red chilli pd
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp oil
  

Method

Preheat oven to 225 deg C.

In a cup combine yeast and sugar with warm water and keep aside for 5-7 minutes until yeast gets frothy.

In a bowl mix refined wheat flour ,salt oil and knead the dough with warm water mixture fronm above.Rest for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat oil in a pan,add ginger garlic paste,fry for 1 minute.Add tomato puree andcook for 6-7 minutes till it thickens slightly.Add kasoori methi,cook for 1 minute,then add milk,tandoori masala,red chilli pd and salt.Cook till sauce is of desired thickness to spread on pizza.Toss in all the vegetables and put sauce off the flame.

Roll out pizza dough into desired shape.You can oil hands if dough feels too sticky.I shaped pizza dough in rectangle shape by putting the dough in non stick baking sheet and shaped by hands .Lightly oil the dough with hands and bake at 225 degree C for 5 minutes.

Take out pizza from oven and spread 3 tbsp of tomato ketchup on it and cover with grated mozzrella cheese.Pour vegetables in sauce over it evenly.

Bake at 225 degree C for 15-20 minutes till pizza edges turn golden.Serve hot.

Crispy Vegetables

This dish is one of my favorites. I used to have this in a famous Chinese restaurant in Delhi, so one day I decided to give it a try at home. It turned out very good. Now I make this whenever I have a craving for Chinese food. In this I fry thin strips of vegetables of my choice and then toss them in spicy sauce.

Ingredients ( Serves 4 )

• 1/4 of a medium brocolli - cut in small florets
• 1/4 cup green capsicum - cut in squares
• 1/4 cup red capsicum - cut in squares
• 1 medium carrot - cut in rounds
• 1 small onion - cut in 8 pieces or squares
• 2-3 leaves of cabbage - cut in squares
• green portion of 3 spring onion - chopped
• oil to fry

Batter

• 3 tbsp corn flour
• 3 tbsp refined wheat flour ( maida )
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• 1/4 tsp soya sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt

Sauce

• 1 small onion - chopped
• 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp soya sauce
• 2 red dry chillies - chopped
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
• salt to taste
  

Method

Chop all the vegetables.

Mix all the ingredients of batter with cold water to get a thin batter so that it thinly coats the vegetables.


Dip vegetables in the batter and deep fry in hot oil till they are light brown in color. Keep fried vegetables aside in a plate.


In a separate pan take 1 tbsp oil, add ginger garlic paste and cook for 1 minute. Add onion and dry red chillies and stir fry till onions are transparent. Add black pepper powder, soya sauce, tomato ketchup and salt.

Toss in fried vegetables in the sauce, mix well and take off the flame.

Serve hot garnished with spring onion greens.

Veggy Lasagna

Yesterday I was craving for some hot & yummy Italian food, but it was too cold to go outside. I thought of cooking up some Lasagna for me and hubby. I made Vegetarian version of classic Italian Lasagna. It is lighter, healthier, full of flavors and delicious.

Ingredients ( Serves 4 )
3 Sheets Lasagna ( Cooked )
1.5 cup Pasta Sauce

Vegetable Filling

• 1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green capsicum
• 1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1/4 cup grated carrot
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp red chilli flakes
• 1 tsp vinegar
• salt to taste

Cheese Filling

• 100 gms cream cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Mozarella cheese
• 1 egg or 1/4 cup milk

Topping

• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp walnuts
• 3 tbsp grated mozarella cheese

Method

Boil lasagna sheets according to instructions on package.

For vegetable fillings heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan, add all the vegetables and stir fry at high heat for 5 minutes till vegetables are cooked. Turn off the flame and add vinegar, chilly flakes and salt. Set aside.



In a bowl mix together all the ingredients for cheese filling i.e. grated mozarella cheese, cream cheese and eggs/milk. Set aside.

Add all the ingredients of topping that is grated mozarella cheese, bread crumbs and walnuts. Set aside.

Grease a baking pan with cooking oil. Divide the vegetable filling, cheese filling into 3 parts. In the bottom of pan, apply a thin layer of pasta sauce, then place a lasagna sheet over it, put 1 part of cheese filling over the sheet and then put 1 part of vegetable filling over the cheese filling.


Repeat the layers till all the lasagna and fillings are used. At the top sprinkle the topping and bake at 350 Deg F (180 Deg C) for 15 to 20 mintues till the cheese at top is melted and gets slightly brown.



Serve hot with garlic bread.