Love and Calories!!

Gosh, it's been months since I posted anything on my blog and am feeling already guilty about it. I must admit that my work life has truly taken a toll on me that I have nearly forgotten what cooking is all about. London life is fast, super fast! Weekdays come, weekends go and I just go with the flow. Months have gone by and I just left my hobby, my passion somewhere that I did not even get the time to revive it.  But no more....today I bring to you not one, but two recipes of Indo-Chinese influenced dishes. The very popular Gobi Manchurian and Chilli-Garlic Fried rice. So be ready with your wok and spoon, we have work to do!! :) Gobi Manchurian Ingredients: 1 medium cauliflower (break into florets) 1/4 cup Maida 3 tsp cornflour 1 scallion or salad onion (bulb and green finely chopped) 1 bell pepper (cut into bite size chunks) 2 tsp chopped ginger 2 tsp chopped garlic 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp red chilli flakes 1 tsp milk 1 tsp soy sau...

So I decided to bake something to check out how my new oven works. (Oh! Did I not mention that we shifted to  another location a month back??). Thanks to hubby dear's job, I get a new kitchen every couple of years. And to get used to the new location, new home and most importantly new kitchen, takes time. But am not complaining this time as I got my favourite gas burner (how I used to curse the hot plates before) to cook all my Indian stuff. :) I planned to bake a bread this time and  it took an entire half day to bake one. I struggled so hard with my yeast to foam up and later knew that the yeast had already gone dead. So I quickly decided to go to a superstore to buy some yeast before I changed my mind to not to "Bake a Bread". But patience paid off as soon as I saw the result (the pic below). And I can't even explain what it feels like when you bake something and it comes out just perfect!!  "Focaccia"  is an Italian flat bread which resembl...

I came up with the name "Phulka Pudine Ka" after wasting a lot of time thinking, than just calling it "Pudina Roti" or "Pudina Parantha". "Phulka Pudine ka" was so rhyming and funny at the same time that I thought let me name it the same. It is an easy peasy recipe if you regularly make rotis at home.  I just made it yesterday with a little sprinkle of mint-chat masala spice mix. It only gave the rotis that extra zing. For those who are unfamiliar with the word "Phulka", is nothing but rotis cooked on an open flame for it to puff up like a balloon with the help of steam. This method is the most healthiest way of making a roti/chapathi as it uses no oil, is perfectly light and brings that smoky flavour to the rotis.  In this recipe, the rotis won't puff up because there's mint leaves inside the dough which restricts the dough to swell, but the smokiness will release the flavour of the mint leaves inside each chapathi...

During the past couple of months, I have tried out many of my favourite dishes at home but when coming to posting recipes, I seriously am not getting time for it. June was completely bland as I have posted hardly one recipe. So to compensate that, I promise, July will be more palatable and interesting. So to start off, am bringing to you, everyone's favourite....the irresistible "Garlic Bread"!! This warm, buttery, garlicky bread can be made at home in no time that you will stop ordering  it from any pizza joint after relishing the home made. Perfect for any tea time parties. Bake it in 10 minutes and earn your brownie points. Forget the frozen garlic bread that you buy from the superstore and make your own at home, only it will be more fresh and delicious!!      Ingredients: 1 french loaf (I have used a cheese baton)  50 gm butter (room temperature) 4-5 cloves of garlic (or more according to your taste) 1 tbsp of finely ch...

Now there is probably no other word that can be a synonym for "Italian Cuisine".......PIZZA! Who doesn't know about Pizza & who doesn't like Pizzas! And what a great joy you will experience if you know how to make these perfectly at home. If you asked me a decade back, would you try making a pizza at home, I would have said..."Crazy or what!!...Its a fast food dish, best eaten at Pizza Hut or a Dominoes! It is not & cannot be made at home & it won't be as delicious as you get in one of the fast food joints". But when I saw for the first time how my mom-in-law made some delicious pizzas at home with her own luscious toppings, I was spellbound. I slowly started to have a liking towards home baking. It was when I visited Italy, that I found the true taste & look of the authentic pizzas. My previous notions were all wrong. I got a whole different picture of this beautiful dish called PIZZA! An authentic Italian pizza dough is smooth as b...

"In love with Spain" continues & I cooked up another popular dish from the sunshine country, Espana. The world famous "Paella" pronounced as Pa-e-ya is a popular Spanish Rice dish cooked with mainly seafood. It is cooked in a special pan known as La paella (from where the dish gets its name too), which is a wide mouthed thick shallow pan made of iron that helps in quick heat absorption and helps cooking the rice really fast. The authentic paella takes a decent amount of time to cook but nowadays who has time for those elaborate sessions in the kitchen so here is one quick paella recipe which you can make in a jiffy (well about a maximum of 20 minutes). :) The image below is that of an authentic paella pan & the paella rice. You can swap these two with any of the wide mouthed shallow pans already at home & long grain rice respectively. Vegetarians need not be disappointed as they too can substitute the chicken stalk with vegetable stalk & prawns with...

Here's a dish for the Paneer lovers, a super delicious yummy "Paneer Parantha". Famous in every North Indian household, Paranthas have a special place in every South Indian's heart too....:)Out of all the stuffings, I like Paneer stuffed Paranthas the most, Simple to make, looks perfect when cooked & tastes yummy when you put it in your mouth. My dinner tonight was PKP and I was so desperate to post the recipe tonight and share the picture of my yummy parantha with you all, that I sacrificed my sleep for a little while. Its eleven in the night & my husband is snoring next to me....Well, you won't get a sleep with the snores anyway!! ;) For the Dough : 3 cups wheat flour (plus some for dusting) 1 tbsp ghee (clarified buter) pinch of salt enough water to make a dough In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, salt and ghee and rub everything with your hand. Then add enough water to it to make a stiff, smooth dough. Cover and keep aside. For the...

Have you got loads of left over rice from yesterday? Don't know what to do with it apart from the usual curd rice, lemon rice or tomato rice? Why not try making "Nasi Goreng" with it for a change. I had a similar situation last night. So just took out my cold rice from the refrigerator, improvised it by mixing some vegies, eggs, garlic, onion & some soy sauce. And served a spicy hot fresh dinner in minutes. :) Nasi Goreng, is the National dish of Indonesia. It is popular in most of the South Asian countries & has got a Chinese influence to it if you see the use of the ingredients. It actually means fried rice where pre-cooked rice is mixed with any combination of veggies, chicken, prawns or eggs with the rice. You can cook fresh rice but should be done before hand & cooled for a long period of time. Or else, like me, use the left over rice to make this tasty & colourful Indonesian fried rice, if it has been kept well chilled. I didn't have plans ...