INSTANT GRATIFICATION...

My son loves cheese especially mozzarella cheese . Whenever there is some occasion to celebrate.. ( I love the small celebrations.. which are not necessarily  for big achievements but small even silly things but its a celebration never the less ) .
I love to treat my son with something that's cheesy .
Yesterday he gave his computer aptitude test for an one month internship program which he did very well in and that was the reason for us to celebrate and what better way then to make him something with cheese..

I had bread, cheese and off course tomatoes and so I made this classic sandwich with cheese, tomatoes , salt and pepper. 
I know its something that is commonly eaten or cooked in the west , but here in India its not very common . I haven't eaten it before and after watching many programs which use this combination for variety of dishes especially in salads I thought i should make this for him .

I toasted them in a sandwich toaster grill by spreading a little butter on top.. 
It was yummy...
Served it with a bowl of strawberries.
Instant gratification for him...

He just loved it.
I love the plate too , I feel cheerful when I serve food in bright coloured dishes.

DAHI WADA PAPDI CHAAT

I love chaat, and i think almost all mumbaikars love chaat too, if you visit MUMBAI the city where i live you will find chaat shops almost at every nook and corner

Chaat is a sort of fast food in India especially in Mumbai, Its something which I wont call nutritious as there are lots of fried ingredients going into it.. But you can always make it healthier and more nutritious.
You can sneak in some whole sprouted pulses, potatoes, crunchy cucumber ,boiled corn,finely chopped carrots,finely chopped capsicum,tomatoes ...the list is endless let your imagination go wild ..with the thought of your child's health in mind.. You can always top it with cool , sweet curds. which are spiced with a little chaat masala.

I love dahi wadas the most, for which the recipe you will find on my blog . I normally combine the recipe of dahi wada and make it a little bit more nutritious by adding the following things sprouted moong, soaked and cooked kabuli chana, and some mashed spiced potato.
You feel less guilty when you eat something like chaat which is also nutritious.
Can any of you suggest some nutri-chaat items...

VERMICELLI SANZO...

This breakfast is a favorite with my whole family; it’s a good lunch box item too.

I made this for breakfast and also packed it as my son’s lunchbox who does not eat anything in the morning before he leaves for college, normally he has only a glass of milk with Bournvita.

SEVYACHO SANZO (Spicy vermicelli upma)

INGREDIENTS:

Vermicelli – 1 cup
Onion -1 big or 2 medium
1 tbsp ghee for roasting vermicelli
1 tsp lemon juice
Oil -3 tsp

1 tsp sugar
Water – 1 ¾ cup

For the seasoning

Mustard -1 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida – ½ tsp

Green chilli -1-2 chopped
Curry leaves – little

Freshly grated coconut and finely chopped coriander for garnish

 
METHOD

Thinly slice onions.

Dry roast Vermicelli till golden brown. If you are using roasted Vermicelli then you can skip this step.

Heat oil, add mustard seeds, when mustard splutters, add hing, green chilies and curry leaves.

Add onions and saute till onions become transparent.

Add water, sugar and salt as needed. Taste the water it should be a little salty.
When water starts boiling, add the roasted vermicelli.

Cook covered on low flames stirring occasionally till it is done.

Serve hot garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves and freshly grated coconut.

You can see a MODAK on the plate too which is a sweet made with rice flour and stuffed with a filling of fresh coconut and jaggery. This was made on the previous day and so I just added it on the plate as this is one more sweet loved by everyone at home.

PHODNI BHAT....

I have a tendency of cooking more than required and hence always have leftovers..My mother always says that minimum of 2 people extra can come and eat at your place at any point of time and you will still have something remaining..Hehe..
Personally if you ask me, I like to cook in large quantities and also love to serve large portions .
I get inspired when chefs cook large portions on television programs too and have noticed that they are normally my favorite cooking programs.. eg Nigella lawson .
Now back to why I started this talk I almost always have a little rice leftover and love to make something with it.. Phodni bhat is a very common item made in Indian homes which means... PHODNI --tempering or baghar. and bhat means Rice so in short it is tempered rice..
I twist my tempering in order to make it more interesting and different tasting.. this time I used garlic and tomatoes in the tempering and the product is for you to judge and taste off course after you try it at home and give me your comment so waiting for your comments.

Ingredients:-

1 cup cooked rice

1 medium sized Onion finely chopped

1 tomato finely chopped

3 cloves garlic finely chopped.
3 Green chilies
Curry leaves –few

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp sugar.

For the tempering:-

 
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/4 tsp Hing /Asafoetida
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Oil

Chopped Coriander to garnish
Salt to taste

Method:-

Heat oil in a pan.

 Add Mustard seeds and Cumin seeds, allow to splutter.

Add hing Turmeric powder and curry leaves, green chillies and garlic.

Add chopped onions. Saute the onions till they turn translucent.

Add the tomatoes and stir till they are just partially cooked and do not leave water.

Finally add the leftover rice and salt. Mix well.

Stir gently without mashing the rice.

Sprinkle and mix the lemon juice and sugar.

Cover the pan. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot.

I love to serve this rice with curds and papad.

CHICKPEA MUSHROOM CURRY

I call this dish curry and not chole as it is typically called in India because I made it differently from the way we make our CHOLE...Almost all the ingredients are similar the only difference being that the onion and tomatoes are chopped coarsely and we do not cook them so much that they form into a thick gravy  .

The consistency is a bit watery .

Here is the recipe for you...

INGREDIENTS

 
11/2 Cup chickpeas or chole
1 small packet mushrooms cut into quarters
2 medium sized onions coarsely chopped

2 med sized tomatoes coarsely chopped

½ tsp haldi powder
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp dhania-jeera powder

finely chopped coriander leaves for garnish
Oil and salt to taste

METHOD:
 
Soak chickpeas for 8 hours before cooking.
Cook the chick peas in a pressure cooker till soft and tender.
In a pan take some oil and fry the sliced onions till soft .
add chopped tomatoes and cook till soft.
Add all the spice powders, chili, haldi, and dhania-jeera .
stir for sometime .now add the mushrooms and let them cook with a closed lid , you need not add water as mushroom has a high water content.
Now add thecooked chickpeas .
Add salt and let it cook for sometime.
Add finely chopped coriander.
Add salt and it is ready to be served.

Serve with rotis or even rice.

A nice healthy and nutritious option.

CURD CHUTNEY....

 "CHUTNEY" which can be also called as a dip or spread in the western world...

Here in India , chutney is normally eaten with a dosa or pancake made with various ingredients like rice, lentils etc... or as a spread on bread with other vegetables like tomato and cucumber.

This is a simple chutney which can be made in minutes and served with hot dosa.

I will give you the method and ingredients together as its very simple and does not need to have them separately.

in a blender mix together 1 cup freshly grated coconut ,small piece of ginger,
1/4 tsp cumin seeds, small very small if you have curd which is a bit sour or a
marble sized piece of tamarind , 1/2 tsp sugar, salt to taste and 1/4 cup curd
mix this together .. blend remove in a bowl and temper with a bagar or tempering of ghee, mustard seeds and asoefotida  

Easy , simple can be made when short of time. .

FUSION BREAKFAST...

This is what I made for breakfast and my sons lunch box..
I call it fusion because its a combination of the traditional SABUDANA OR SAGO KHICHDI AND FRUIT BREAD WITH BUTTER.
Here is the recipe for Khichdi...
INGREDIENTS

2 cups sabudana or sago soaked for at least 6-7 hours (soak till the water just touches the top of the sabudana) Two small potatoes boiled and cut into small pieces ½ cup roasted and coarsely pounded peanuts For tempering: Jeera, hing, green chilies, curry leaves ½ tsp sugar ½ tsp lemon juice Finely chopped coriander for garnishing Grated coconut for garnishing

METHOD

Put the soaked sabudana in this mix and stir for sometime The sabudana will turn from opaque to transparent. Then you can add the remaining things like boiled potato, chopped coriander Put sugar, salt and lemon juice You can garnish this ready khichdi with freshly grated coconut. Take oil in a pan , when hot you can put jeera,hing , green chillies and curry-leavesBread is store bought with fresh homemade butter.

POTATO VEGE....

A simple stirred fried vegetable which is quick to make and very tasty...It needs only a sprinkling of water while cooking...

This is one vegetable which can be made in a jiffy and so is like a instant item on my menu either when I am busy or when unexpected guests visit ones house.

The ingredients will always be found in an Indian kitchen which makes an added incentive to be cooked at the last minute.

I normally make this for my sons tiffin as he loves potatoes and as its a dry vegetable it does not leak , and is easy to carry... as he has to catch a bus-train-walk to reach his college by 8.30 in the morning.Traveling in India is not easy especially by train as you are jostled and pushed all over and with a bag on your bag its all the more tough...

INGREDIENTS..

3 Small potatoes sliced in medium slices

2 small onions sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp red chilli powder or as per taste...

1/4 sp haldi powder

a little about1/4 tsp garam masala powder.

salt , a pinch of sugar...

you can add lemon juice which is optional

garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves

METHOD

Take oil in a pan, add the sliced onion to it let it become a little soft.

Add the finely chopped garlic stir

then add the sliced potatoes and cook covered with a little sprinkle of water

when half cooked add the chilli powder, haldi powder and garam masala powder

Add salt, sugar and stir.

cook this potatoes are fully cooked but not mushy..

garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

serve hot with bread, roti or dosas

WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR PANCAKES.....

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I am a bit skeptical about using white flour or plain flour for my food. I normally substitute it with whole wheat flour and see if it tastes good ..

I know that the taste will differ but for me nutrition takes precedence over taste that’s when it comes to cooking my everyday or food that I cook regularly.. If I have to cook something once in awhile and that requires plain flour that I might think of using it .. I said I might think but eventually don’t use it Hahah…

 

So here I my version of Pancakes WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR PANCAKES..

Which I can assure you are as tasty and much more healthy than our normal pancakes, try one for your child and I am sure it will make you feel excellent.. Because you get that inner feeling of serving your family something that’s really worth the effort of making it from scratch.

 

METHOD.

Mix together  in a bowl 11/2 cup of whole wheat flour, one egg, ½ tsp baking powder, milk enough to make a runny batter about 1 cup approximately here you can add powdered sugar to taste or you can eat it with honey or maple syrup.

Let it stand for about ½ hour before making your pancakes

Heat a griddle and drizzle a little butter on it.. Pour a ladle full of pancake mix and cook on both sides..

YUMMY AND HEALTHY!!!