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.