Sphagetti With Vegetarian Meat Balls ....

Every time i switch on TV .. be it a movie or sitcom on some cooking show....I always see people eating this Italian delight "Sphagetti with Meat Balls " ... they used to luk soo yummy... being a vegetarian I knew i could never eat it.. so i thought of an alternative.. and found our very own soya chunks....

Dear Non veg eaters I know this will be nothing close to your meat but something is better than nothing .. :)

Ingredients :

1. Pasta Noodles
2. Dry herbs - Oregano & Parsely (if you have then fresh den use that)
3. Extra Virgin Oilve oil ( these oils are unrefined and so cannot be used for cooking on high heat/for long time as it will get burnt)

For sauce:

1. 3- Tomatoes each cut into 4 parts
2. 2-3 tbs Olives (I did not add then as it was not available when i was cooking)
3. Salt
4. Pepper
5. 1 Bell Pepper(cubed)
6. 2 Onions ( cut into 4 parts)
7. 2 Tbs tomato ketchup
8. 1tsp Cornflour
9. Water
10. vegetable oil
11. Soya chunks

Method of Preparation :

• Boil water in a deep bottomed container , put the spaghetti noodles and salt .
• Do no break the spaghetti noodles to make it fit inside the container, as teh noodles gets cooked it softens and u can push the rest of the noodles in.Make sure you do not over cook the noodles.
• Once it is cooked drain the water and wash this in cold water (this is to remove all the excess starch)
• In a small bowl mix the 2 tbs of olive oil with little bit of both the herbs.
• In a frying pan first put the noodles first (because we have used extra virgin olive oil which may get burned ) and den add the oil and herbs mixture and just toss on medium flame for just 2 minutes.
• and keep it to rest.

For sauce:

• The preparation of sauce can go side by side with the spaghetti preparation.
• put a little bit of vegetable oil and fry the onions and bell peppers and tomato, fry to just soften it.let it to cool.
• Mean boil soem water enough to dunk in the soya chunks along with salt. Add the soya chunks to the boiling water and keep it covered and then switch of the heat, and let it rest in the hot water.
• grind the fired veggies in a blender , the blend should be chunky and not a paste. the pieces of all the veggies should be visible as chunks.
• Now take a frying pan , add a very little oil to this add garlic paste and soem of the herbs used for noodles.
• to this add the chunky paste and bring it to boil when the oil starts leaving the sides , pour some water simmer for a while, to this add pepper,soya sauce, and ketchup and last the salt (bcoz soya sauce and ketchup will have a little bit of salt content to put the salt accordingly at the end) and bring it to boil on low flame.
• to this add the soya chunks ( drained & squeezed free of water) cook covered on very low flame for 5 min so that the chunks absorb the flavor of your sauce. (if you have olives add them at this stage)
• now in a small bowl mix cornflour with water and pour this into the sauce( this is to thicken the sauce )
• simmer this on low flame for just two minutes stirring it continuously .
• and your sauce is ready...

Now put the spaghetti on the plate and pour the sauce over it . if you have cheese you can garnish it with grated cheese... :) and a yummy juicy meal is ready ..:)

Rava Idli

Ingredients :

1. Sooji (2 cups)
2. Curds (1.5 cup )
3. Eno Fruit salt
4. Coriander leaves finely chopped
5. Oil 4-6 tsp for seasoning
6. Mustard Seeds- 1 tsp
7. Channa dal - 1tsp
8. Urad dal - 1 tsp
9. Green Chillies - finely chopped no. as per requirement
10. Cashews coarsely chopped (8-10) and
11. curry leaves

Method Of preparation :

• Take a kadai to prepare the seasoning
• pour the oil add mustard seeds and wait form them to crackle... now add the urad dal and channa dal let it turn a little bit brown ... now add the chopped cashews and fry till golden brown den add teh green chilies and curry leaves fry for 1/2 a min .. now add the the sooji and fry for 4-5 minutes till it gives a nice aroma.
• now take it down from the flame and let it cool.(i usually make it over night and leave it)
• once cooled add the curds to it... do not add the curds fully add a little to make a batter consistency
• now add salt and coriander leaves and let it rest covered for 20 minutes..
• after 20 minutes u will see that the the batter has hardened as the sooji has absorbed the moisture from the curd .
• now if u touch the mixture u should not be able to feel the rough sooji if u feel the sooji grains add a little more curd/water and let it rest for some more time.
• now add the rest of teh curd, teh batter will be a little runny compared to the usual idli batter.
• Now grease the idli plates and pour thi sbatter into this.
• Steam the idlis on high flame for 10 min, do the fork test to check if the idlis are done.
• once done scoop out the soft and hot idlis.. :)

you can eat this with sambar or my fav coriander chutney.. :)

Phenori

I dont have a sweet tooth, but this is one of those dishes which i lovee as its a mildly sweetened dish... :) and veery easy to make....

This is heavenly if fried in Ghee/Vanaspathi...which makes it veery crispy... this is usually a dish made on special occasions.. but now away from home , we do no get to celebrate those special occasions so preparing it when ever we feel like eating and using oil instead of ghee.. :(

Ingredients :

1. 1 Cup maida/all purpose flour
2. 1/4 cup ghee
3. A pinch Salt
4. Sufficient water (luke warm water)
5. Cardamom Powder
6. 1 Cup sugar to make sugar syrup coating (powdered sugar if you like dry coating )
7. 1-2 Kesar Strands
8. 2 Tsp rice flour
9. 1-2 tsp ghee

Method of Preparation:

• Mix the ingredients from 1-3 and den add sufficient water to make a dough (chapatti dough consistency)
• Work the dough form 4-5 min to make it smooth and air free.
• make balls out of the dough (chapatti size)
• Roll this into very thin chapatti
• now make a mixture of rice flour and melted ghee and apply lavishly on top of the chapatti and keep it aside.(this mixture helps separate the layers)
• at the same time in a wide pan .. put one cup of sugar , cardamom powder ,and 1/2 cup of water and start making the sugar syrup initially on high flame and once it starts boiling add the kesar stands and now reduce teh flame to minimum .
• now continue with the other balls to make a chapatti till u make 4 chapattis.
• now place one chapatti on the previous (coated with rice flour & ghee) covering its 3/4th
• now repeat the step of applying teh ghee rice flour mixture on top of this den place another chapatti on top (covering 3/4th) continue this for rest of the three chapattis.
• now starting from the first chapatti start rolling , make this a tight roll (but do not use too much pressure)
• now cut into equal parts (approx 2 1/2 inch pieces)
• now take each piece and place it vertically(u will be able to see the different layers of chapatti)
• and now roll this into small puris(but unlike puris do not roll from sides roll from center the sides)and do not use much pressure while rolling.
• Now heat oil in a wok and (frying in ghee would be perfect)deep fry these in medium flame.
• now take it out and keep it on a tissue/any absorbent paper
• if you prefer powdered sugar then sprinkle the powdered sugar when its still hot.
• or if u liek it coated in sugar syrup , den by now the sugar syrup would have reached the one string consistency, just put a little bit of lemon juice to this syrup(which will stop the further solidifying of the sugar as even if u switch off the heat the existing heat will make it more harder)
• now as the phenoris cool down coat them with the sugar syrup and keep them inclined on a plate to let the excess syrup drain out .
• at this point u may get the smell of the lemon in your phenori .. but worry not in 2 hrs time the smell of lemon will vanish and u ll have the sweet aroma of ghee and sugar syrup...

you have you prefect phenoris ready ..:)

Kerala Porotta

This is one of my favourite dishes... the kerala porottas we get on the tahttu kadas(roadside shops) in kerala are to die for... now far from home i never found any restatant that match the flavours.. so decided to give it a try.. :) and i must say it turned out really gud.. and it easy to makee...:)

Ingredients :

1. 2 cups Maida/whole purpose flour
2. Luke warm water : as required to make the dough
3. 1/4 cups luke warm milk
4. 2 tsp salt
5. 1tsp sugar
6. ghee/dalda/oil ( i prefer the sinful ghee :) nicee aroma and richer taste)
7. 1 tsp baking powder

Method of Preparation :

• sift the maida along with sugar and salt and baking powder.
• make a sorta well in the sifted maida and pour 2 tbs of ghee and luke warm milk
• mix it properly and then pour the water accordingly to attain the required dough consistency
• the dough here has to be really soft and as we cannot toss the porottas in the air as the experts do we ll have to work on teh dough really hard to make it smooth .
• i worked on it for nearly 10 min , which was when all the dough came together and it was really soft
• now bring all the dough together and then cover it with a wet muslin cloth and leave it for 30 min (or more if u have time )
• Then divide the dough into balls of sizes a little less than tennis balls
• keep these together and cover it with teh same cloth and keep it for 10 min

Rolling of the dough as thin as you can on a work station smeared with oil

• now take each ball ... work it a little bit and den using a rolling pin roll it as wide and as thin as u can ... it dosen matter it it gets torn (make sure u apply a lot of oil on the working surface so tat it dosen stick )
• try using very little of no flour at all while rolling as it will harden the dough, and from my experience lavish amount of ghee will help rolling easier.
• apply the oil on top of the rolled out dough (this will help in keeping the layers separate) now slowly try lifting the rolled out dough (shape dosen matter) and try folding it like a chinese fan (whish we used to make when we were kids) /saree pleats .

Folding of the dough

• now hold the pleated dough at both ends and just tap it and try expanding it... at this point make sure that this dosen break...
• after making it as long as you can den roll it like a spiral as shown below. Prepare all the balls into this spiral shape.

• Now cover this also with a cloth and let this rest for 10 min.( the purpose of covering it with a cloth is to prevent the dough from drying and as we are not experts we will usually take long time to complete each step and by that the time the dough will lose its moisture so to regain the moisture we are covering it with a cloth after each step.
• Now after 10-15 min , now roll out the dough like a chapatti but do not apply much pressure as u do not want the layers to disappear.. and do not roll it it thin this should be a little thick.
• As mentioned before please never use flour to roll the dough, use oil or ghee instead to prevent sticking.
• now heat the tawa and cook the roti on it turning it frequently... till its nice a toasted golden brown
• keep all teh rotis stacked on on top of another den after it cools down a little beat the porotta on both sides with ur hands like clapping to release the layers....

there you now have the authentic kerala porotta... :)

Vegetable Cutlet

Ingredients :

1. 2-3 potatoes boiled
2. some veggies (like carrot beet root , green peas ...) boiled , can also dry nuts if u liked
3. Bread Crumbs ( if not readily available den have a nicely toasted bread and grind it coarsely in a mixer)
4. 2 tbs Maida
5. salt to taste
6. pepper
7. 1 tsp of Garam masala
8. a pinch of amchur powder
9. oil for deep frying ( can also be shallow fried for heath conscious guys... but the deep fried cutlets have an amazing taste)

Method Of Preparation :

• As soon as you boil the potatoes take it out of water ( we don't want the potatoes to absorb water)
• same with the veggies, as soon as you boil drain and squeeze out the water completely(even use a muslin cloth if u have to to squeeze and drain the water out completely) * if there is water content present there is a chance of the cutlet breaking into pieces once in oil or turning out to be too oily

• put a tbs of oil in the frying pan fry the garam masala & amchur powder and put the boiled veggies (excluding the potatoes) and fry it nicely with the required salt and can also add pepper or red chili powder if u want to be more spicy...
• now add this mixture to the boiled potatoes and nicely mash them up .
• Now make small ball of this mixture , u can leave it as a ball itself or flatten it slightly into the desired shape...
• now make a runny paste by adding water to the maida .
• now take a plate and scatter the bread crumbs...
• take the tikkis and dip it in the maida batter, jut dip it . we do not want the tikkis to absorb water...
• take this and coat it with the bread crumbs...
• keep aside and do it for all teh tikkis.
• now heat the oil in high flame and bring it to boil....
• before putting the tikkis in reduce the flame... as in high flame what happens is the water from the food will steam out and oil will penetrate the food making it veery oil...same will happen if u leave it in the oil for too long.
• so put in the tikkis and watch then turn a hue of golden brown...
• and take it out and put it on a tissue paper...

serve this with a mint chutney or ketchup... yummy... an easy to make snack... this can also be used in burgers and sandwiches....

Soya Chunks Manchurian

Soya chunks ... a chicken substitute for us vegetarians...... i reeallly love this......

by itself its tasteless ... but add flavours to it and zinggg ... it ll hit your taste buds.......

this unlike chicken this is good for health and has high fiber content... soo taste bhi health bhi ... ;)

Ingredients:

1. 1 Cup Soyabean chunks, soaked in warm water and drained
2. 4 tsps cornflour
3. Green Chillies ( as per your requirement)
4. 2 tsps Soya Sauce
5. 1 tbs olive oil ( or any other oil )
6. 2 Onions Roughly chopped
7. Spring onions greens & white chopped. ( i didn't have it while preparing but it will add great flavor to your dish )
8. Giner & Garlic finely chopped ( 1 inch piece & 3 cloves respectively)
9. 1 Green Capsicum (chopped into cubes)
10. 1 tbs Vinegar

Method of preparation :

• Mix soya chunks, salt, two teaspoons cornflour, green chilli paste and soy sauce in a bowl. Heat half the oil in a pan, add the soya chunks and sauté for two to three minutes.
• Transfer into a bowl. Add the remaining oil to the same pan and sauté onions, spring onions, ginger and garlic, capsicum for two to three minutes.
• Add soy sauce and tomato ketchup and mix.
• Add two cups of water and let the mixture come to a boil.
• Add the soya chunks and cook for five more minutes.
• Add salt and mix.
• Add remaining cornflour dissolved in two tablespoons of water and cook till the mixture thickens slightly.
• stir in vinegar and take it off the heat.
• Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot with fried rice or noodles.

Punjabi samosa

Ingredients:

For samosa filling:

1. 1/2 cup Green peas(I had used frozen )
2. 2 tbsp oil
3. 1 tsp cumin seeds
4. 1 onion finely chopped
5. 2 Green chillies chopped finely
6. 2 potatoes peeled and boiled.
7. 1 carrot boiled.
8. !/2 tsp Red chilli powder
9. Salt to taste
10. 1/2 tsp Garam masla
11. 2 tbsp Chopped corriander leaves.

For Samosa Pastry :

1. 1 cup plain flour(maida)
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. salt to taste.
4. Water as required for kneading.
5. Oil to deep fry.

Method of preparation:

• For the filling ,heat oil in a pan toss cumin seeds and let them be fried.Add green chillies , onions and saute till onions turn pale. add the boiled potatoes, carrot and peas.
• Add Salt ,Garam Masala powder,and red chillies.
• Add coriander leaves and take it off the stove.
• Mash the mixture and make the filling consistent.Let it cool

• Meanwhile prepare the samosa pastry.
• Sieve together Maida , salt and cumin seeds mix in 3 table spoons of oil.
• Add water little by little whilst making the dough stiff.
• Keep this dough covered with a wet cloth for 15 minutes.
• Divide the dough into small balls and roll into a circle. Cut each circle into 2 and dampen the edges.And make a cone of each semi circle.
• Place a spoon full of the filling into the cone and seal th edges.(dampen edges for sealing)
• Repeat this process with the rest of the dough. And deep fry in medium flame till golden brown and crispy.

Serve hot with ketchup or Mint chutney.

Banana Fritters (pazham pori)

This is a traditional recipe of Kerala state,south India.If you ever get a chance to travel by kerala trains you are sure to see this mouth watering snack in trains.It is a standard item in Kerala restaurants.It is made up of long and tasty bananas locally called "Nenthrapazham".
Ingredients:

1. 2 Bananas( not too ripe)
2. 1 Cup Maida(all purpose flour)
3. 2 tsp Sugar
   
4. a pinch of salt
   
5. a pinch of Turmeric powder
6. Cumin Seeds(optional)
7. Water
   
8. Oil for deep frying

Method Of Preparation:

• Slice the bananas(usually sliced vertically and made into 4 pieces, but i prefer cutting it into circular pieces)
• Mix ingredients from 2-6 and add water to make a batter. make sure there are no lumps.
• Dip the banana slices in this batter and drop into hot oil one by one.
• Deep fry on medium flame, turn the slices to cook on both sides.
• Cook till they turn golden brown
• Remove them and strain in tissue paper to remove excess oil.

Serve hot, these fritters are really delicious and filling.

(typical Kerala train pazham pori)

Cabbage Fritters

When I was a kid i used to hate cabbage... and my mom had her own way of making me eat cabbage... her way was this delicious cabbage pakoda.. its a really easy recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Cabbage
   
2. 1/4 cup Maida (all purpose flour)
3. 1/2 cup Besan
4. 1/4 cup rice flour
5. 2-3 Green chillies
6. Turmeric Powder
7. salt to taste
8. 1 Tsp chilly powder
9. Water
   

Method Of Preparation:

• Thinly slice the cabbage
• Add all the ingredients from 2 to 8
  
• Mix well to make a batter. Avoid using excess water.
• Add the sliced Cabbage to this batter.
• Take a small portion of the mix at a time and drop in hot oil. And then let it fry in in low flame.
• Fry till golden brown
• Serve with Ketchup or chutney.

Chonne upkeri( a dry bengal gram curry)

Ingredients:

• 150 gms over night soaked Bengal gram
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp Scraped coconut
• 2 tsp coarsely ground pepper powder
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• 2 tsp oil
• 3 dried red chiliies

Method of preparation

• Drain the soaked bengal gram and place it in a pressure cooker.Pour in water to cover and pressure cook for nearly 2o min to until the gram is tender.
• In a wok heat oil add mustard, wait for the mustard to splutter and add the cumin seeds and the red chillies.
• Add the cooked and drained Bengal gram , salt and coarsely ground pepper and stir fry.
• Add the scraped coconut mix well and cook closed, on a low flame for 5 min.
• your dish is ready .

This can be served with rice , roti or can be even eaten as an evening snack...