Spaghetti

Pasta can be made in n number of ways the reason being the number of variables involved. Different combination of pasta type, sauce and the veggies/meat used can give you different flavored pastas. I am describing just one of those ways here. This is a noodle pasta (Spaghetti) with marinara sauce and many veggies. The proportions of ingredients doesn't matter much if you are not making the proper authentic pasta (which is quite bland and not liked by Indians usually :P). So feel free to tweak the proportions given in this recipe. The pasta I make is quick since I use ready-made pasta sauce..makes life much easier! :)

Ingredients
1 small packet of pasta noodles (Use wheat pasta if you dont prefer maida)
1 cup red pasta sauce (choose any of the pasta sauces you get in the grocery store or even a combination of multiple sauces)
1 tspoon minced garlic
shredded parmesan cheese according to liking
2 tbspoons olive oil
red/white wine (opt)
1 or more of these veggies - onions, red pepper, green pepper, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes (cherry tomatoes taste better in pasta), basil

Method
Boil the pasta for 10-12 min in a large vessel so that the noodles completely immerse in the water. Add some salt to this water while boiling. After 10-12 minutes, try to break the pasta and see if it easily breaks or taste it to check if its cooked well. If yes, take it out and put it in a strainer so that extra water drains out. Pour cold water on this pasta so that the noodles dont stick to each other and form a lump.

In a separate flattish non-stick pan, add the olive oil. Add garlic and let it cook. Then add all the veggies one by one and saute them. Close the lid for 2 minutes so that they cook with the steam. Then add the pasta sauce and some wine. Let the pasta sauce cook. Once its cooked, add the noodles and mix well. Again close the lid for 2 min. Add some salt and pepper if you like. Add cheese in the end. serve hot.

Goes well with italian salad, bread sticks, garlic bread, soup.

Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancakes) made in Desi style

Ingredients
3/4 th cup besan (gram flour)
3/4 th cup pancake mix
1 cup red cabbage
1/4th cup spring onions
pinch of baking soda
2 eggs
salt, pepper, chilly powder, turmeric, dhania jeera powder (opt) according to taste
water, oil (use olive oil if you want to make it healthy)

Method
To make the batter, add gram flour, pancake mix, salt, spices, baking soda to water and make a paste like you make for bhajia batter. Keep it aside for 10 minutes.
Cut the veggies into small thin pieces and add to the batter. Heat the pan and add some oil to it. just before putting batter on the pan, add eggs to it. Put the batter on the pan like you will do for uttapam or pancake. Use a non-stick pan so that the pancake does not stick to it and comes out as a single piece :) Turn and cook the opposite side.

Alternate way to make this will be to make the pancake without veggies and egg and while its cooking on the pan, put the veggies and an egg. this way the veggies remain separate, it looks attractive and is healthier. In this case, dont turn the pancake, just cook it from one side. For the other side to cook, you can close the pan with a lid so that it cooks wit the steam.

The picture shows the first method

Preface

Cooking is a combination of Art and Science. I love both and hence it caught my attention a few years back. I used to watch my mom make these amazing dishes and wonder if I could be as good as her some day in life. Though there are several areas in cooking that are still unexplored by me, I think I am ready to write a blog in order to share my experiences and enthusiasm in preparing new dishes or twisting the known recipes and trying something new.

I feel cooking should not be perceived as a burden in everyday life. Instead if you put your own creativity in making something as simple as white rice and as complicated as biryani, you will definitely find cooking refreshing and enjoyable.

I hope this blog inspires you to cook or at least makes you want to visit me in order to eat some different and interesting food ;) This blog is a compilation of all the different recipes I have tried. Its a combination of my own recipes and the ones that I have got from different sources.

So all you foodies, enjoy the blog!!! :)

- Shruti

Healthy Spinach Wraps

Preparation time: 20 min
This is a quick and healthy meal to make when you don't feel like doing extensive cooking. I make this on days when I come tired from gym and have zero enthu to cook. I have given three different variations of the wraps. You can decide based on your likes or the ingredients that you have :)

Ingredients:
Chinese: 1 spinach tortilla packet,
1 onion cut vertically (long and thin like in fajita)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 garlic cloves
soy sauce, chilly sauce
pepper powder
grated parmesan cheese

Mexican: 1 packet spinach tortilla
1 can black beans (mexican)
1 onion cut vertically (long and thin like in fajita)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 tomato (opt)
2 garlic cloves
2 cups chopped lettuce
pepper powder
grated parmesan cheese
any spread like cream cheese, avacado spread, hummus spread

Indian: 1 packet spinach tortillas
ANY veggies that you like
jeera powder, dhania powder, garam masala, chat masala, chilly powder, salt and pepper
cheese (opt)

Method:

Chinese: take some olive oil in a pan and add the garlic cloves to it. Add green chillies if you want it spicy. Then add the chopped onions, red and green peppers in it. Let it cook for sometime. Add soy sauce, chilly sauce and ketchup as per taste. Add salt and pepper powder too. Add a pinch of aginomototo to get the chinese flavor. Let these veggies partially cook. I dont overcook them coz i like the crunchy taste of peppers. Now put the filling in a spinach tortilla or a regular tortilla and roll it. Put these rolls in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 min. You can also put the tortilla on a pan, put the filling and roll it once it cooks.

Mexican: Take some olive oil in a pan and add the garlic cloves to it. Then add the chopped onions and green peppers. Let it cook for just 5 min. Add salt and pepper for taste. Add the black beans to this if you like the taste of black beans. The filling is ready. Now take a spinach tortilla, put some avocado spread or salsa on the base. Then add lettuce and some fresh cut tomatoes (don't put tomatoes if you add the mild salsa, it already has tomatoes) followed by the filling that we prepared just now. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top. Put only so much filling that you can make a roll easily. Now make a roll and keep it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 min till the cheese melts.

Indian: Take whatever veggies you like - onions, peppers, tomatoes, beans, cabbage, green peas, carrots, paneer and cut them small. Make a sabji from these - add oil in a pan and saute all veggies in it. Add jeera powder, dhania powder, garam masala, salt, chilly powder, chat masala to this. Once they are cooked, put them inside the tortilla, add some cheese if you want and roll it. Put it in oven or cook it on a pan.

The picture given below is of the mexican spinach wraps. It has avocado spread, lettuce, salsa, onions, peppers, and some cheese

Idli-shaped Dhoklas

Dhokla, originally a Gujarati dish, is very easy to make and serves as a light evening snack. I used to avoid making it since I didn't have the right vessels (flat steel vessel and big pressure cooker). But after I tried it in the microwaveable idli maker, I found it really easy and convenient. You can find this idli maker in any kitchenware shop in India. I use the Gits dhokla mix (or any other gujju dhokla mix) available in Indian stores just coz of laziness to make it from scratch :P and convenience. You can find the procedure to make it from scratch by googling other dhokla recipes J

Ingredients:

1 Gits dhokla mix packet

Oil for seasoning

Mustard seeds, jeera seeds

Curry leaves

Coriander (cilantro)

Red chilly powder or green chillies

Til (sesame seeds)

Hing (Asophoetida)

Fresh coconut (opt)

Method:

Follow the method mentioned on the cover of the Gits dhokla mix i.e. add water to the mix and keep for 10 min. Beware of the consistency- if you make it too thin, it will drop out of the stand and if you make it too thick, the dhoklas will become stones :P. In this 10 min time, grease the idli stand with oil and keep it ready. You can also start preparing for the seasoning on the side. After 10 min, put batter in the idli maker (similar to how you do for idlis) and keep it in microwave for 5 min.

Seasoning – Heat some oil in a small tadka kadhai. Add mustard, jeera, hing, curry leaves, chillies or chilly powder, til and turn off the heat before it starts burning. Add some water to this mixture (this prevents dhoklas from becoming dry) and very little salt and sugar as per taste. Remember the mix already has salt and sugar.

Remove dhoklas from the idli maker after checking that they are cooked from inside. Pour this mixture evenly on top of these dhoklas. Garnish with coriander and fresh coconut.

Goes well with mint or tamarind chutney

Wada-paav

Wada-paav -  popularly known as 'desi burger' is a very famous roadside item in mumbai and is gaining popularity in other parts of maharashtra too. Its a very tasty, spicy and filling snack-cum-lunch dish. Might not be a very good option for you if you are very health conscious, but who cares! On some days when its cold or raining outside and you feel like eating something spicy and hot, this is one of the best options

Ingredients:
2 big or 3 small boiled potatoes
2 green chillies
1 chopped onion
1 spoon ginger garlic paste (fresh ginger and garlic is always better than the ready-made paste)
1 cup chana dal aata (besan)
LOT of oil for frying ;)
1 packet mid-sized paav
chilly powder, dhania jeera powder (opt), salt
lemon juice
baking soda (opt)
Hing
curry leaves
Lasun chutney (recipe not given here)

Method:

Batter: add water and salt in the chana daal aata to make a thin batter. Add some hot oil or 1/2 spoon baking soda in the batter. This is to make the outer cover of wadas crispy. If you add too much of this, the wadas will absord lot of oil and will become very oily. Keep the batter aside. Dont make the batter too thin else the wadas wont get layered nicely before frying.

Filling: Cut the boiled potatoes into small pieces. Add some oil in a pan and put tadka (mustard seeds and jeera seeds). Let them splatter. Then add some hing, turmeric, green chillies and curry leaves. Add the chopped onion in the oil. While its cooking, add the ginger garlic paste. I add ginger garlic paste after adding onions always so that it does not stick, burn or fly out of the pan too much. Once the onion is cooked, add the potatoes. Then add chilly powder, dhania jeera powder, salt, lemon juice according to your taste. I like the wadas to be spicy. So I add considerable amount of chilly powder. Close the lid and let the filling cook properly for sometime. When you close the lid the tastes of the spices go in the potatoes and it tastes better. If the potatoes stick at the bottom, sprinkle some water and keep the gas on low flame (or just use non-stick pan :)). Dont let the sabji become thin and watery since you have to make balls out of it

Wada-paav: Let the filling cook down to room temperature. Make small cake kind of shape out of it. Dip it in the batter completely and deep fry it. Let the color turn to golden yellow. Take out the wadas and keep them on a paper napkin to soak all the extra oil.
Now cut the paav into two and put the lasun chutney inside. Place a wada inside and close the paav nicely so that it is easy to serve and eat.