Like Lasagne...........lovely!!!

Amit and I lovvvveee Italian food, so i keep trying my hand at it often nowadays, whenever i taste anything in a restaurant, I try to make it at home.....so today i experimented....and it was successful....well otherwise i wouldnt be talking or writing bout it!!! Hehhe.....

Recipe serves 2 to 3

For the main course

2 handful of rice
750 gms beans
1 lemon
2 tbspn of sugar
Salt to taste
2 boild eggs
1 slice cheese
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 ½ tbspn butter
2 tomatoes finely chopped
½ tbspn Oil


For the side dish

1 onion finely chopped
½ tbspn Oil
mustard seeds
Chilly powder
Turmeric powder
A handful of rajma or any other chavli (dont know a better name!!hehhe)
½ cup Water
Salt to taste
Pinch of hing
Sugar to taste (optional)
Ginger garlic paste



For the side dish,soak the rajma or chavli for an hour in water, after they are soaked, cook them in pressure cooker till they are soft . Keep aside. heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds,once they sputter, add hing, turmeri c powder, ginger garlic paste & onion. Fry till light brown, add cooked rajma / chavli and water. Add salt, sugar & chilly powder. Let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Keep aside.

For the main course, cook the potato, beans & rice in a pressure cooker. Add salt to taste in each and every item before you set them to cook in the pressure cooker except for potato. Keep aside once cooked.

Take the boiled eggs, peel the skin, seperate the yellow yoke from the white, cut the white in long strips, keep aside.

Peel the cooked potato, smash it finely, add 1 tbspn of butter and yellow yoke of egg, blend properly, add black pepper & salt , mix well, keep aside.

Heat oil in pan add chopped tomatoes, let it cook for a minute, add salt, ½ tbspn. Of sugar, add oregano & black pepper. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Keep aside.Make a nice syrup of remaining sugar & lemon juice,keep aside.
Now, take a nice pan, take the remaining butter and spread it on the surface of the pan, even the side of the pan, so that when you cook the ingredients they dont burn. Now plant half of the whole quantity of cooked rice in the pan, spread it properly, on the rice, put the beans, again spread evenly, add the remaining rice, ad dthe strips of egg, then the tomato curry we prepared earlier, add the potato- butter- egg paste , for the topping plant cheese slice, you may cut strips of the cheese before planting it. Sprinkle oregano & black pepper. Cover it. Put it on a low flame for about 6 to 7 minutes.
Your layered lasagne like recipe is ready, it may be not authentic italian lasagne...but it tastes awesome.
Sprinkle some sugar lemon syrup before serving. Savour it with rajma / chavli we prepared earlier, while its hot n fresh!!

Bambaiyya Bhel!!!!

When I shifted to Chennai 5 months back, one thing i started missing was mumbai food!!! Paani Puri, Bhel Puri, Sev batata Puri, Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav and the list is endless!! And I tried tasting the chat items in Chennai but to my dismay that was no where close to what Mumbai offers. So I decided that I will try some at home, why not! Maybe the taste will not be as greeeeeaattt as we get on Mumbai streets, but it will surely be better than what is sold in chennai ....dont mind!

Recipe serves 2 to 3

1 packet Bhel mix
2 to 3 finely chopped onions (depending on size)
½ finely chopped raw mango
1 to 2 potatoes (depending on size)
½ a handful of tamarind
½ a handful of jaggery or 2 tbspn of sugar
3 finely chopped green chillies
Yellow thin sev for garnishing
Finely chopped coriander for garnishing

Cook the potatoes properly, they should be really soft- ready to be smashed, smash them finely and keep aside.
For the sweet n sour chutney , soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water for about half hour, after its nice soft, crush it with your hand while it is still in water , and the water becomes dark brown like the tamrind, remove the tamrind from the water and add jaggery or sugar in the water, blend it well till it mixes properly, you may heat it to fasten the process. Once done keep aside.
For the Bhel now, take a medium size vessel, pour the bhel mix in it, add chopped onions, smashed potatoes, chopped raw mango and chopped green chillies and mix properly. Now add the tamarind chutney prepared earlier and again mix well, till all the ingredients blend nicley, garnish with chopped coriander & sev.Serve immediately. Isnt it simple....and i bet its tastes very close to bambaiya bhel!!!heehhhehehehe.....
You can make a green chillies chutney instead of the chopped chillies, but i prefer to have the chillies crushed so i dont make the chutney.

Pop some Pasta

After reading Laxmi’s recipe in her blog, i decided to make pasta fusilli!! And one fine Sunday morning I sent my husband to buy some ingredients for the pasta. But you know how it is when you live India, even though there are supermalls or other high end stores of groceries, you dont get what you want when you need it!! Like Brocolli, variety of sauces, etc. But to my luck he found red bell pepper, I asked him to bring yellow one too, that would add some colour to the recipe i thought! Now let me cut the crap out and begin with the recipe. I have changed the recipe from her’s coz we loveeeee cheese and hate olive oil!! Lolz.....so here it goes!

Recipe serves 2

Oil aroung 1 ½ tbspn. (generally olive oil is used in pastas but we dont kind its pungent smell)

Fusilli pasta 1 packet

Red bell pepper ½ chopped in long thin strips

Yellow bell pepper ½ chopped in long thin strips

Oregano herb 1 tbspn.(I was lucky to have found it!)

Salt to taste

Cheese slices 4 to 6 (depends upon your liking)

Dry Crushed red chillies 3 medium size

Garlic 4 pods chopped finely

Cook the fusilli in boiling salted water, to check if cooked, pop one piece in your mouth and if you can chew it easily, its cooked! After its cooked, drain the water from it and sprinkle some cold water. Leave to drain. Now, heat the oil in a pan, add the crushed red chilles and garlic, let it fry till the garlic becomes nice brown, then add the chopped capsicum, both red and yellow, cook for a while, dont cook it too much, leave it crispy, add salt, now add the cooked fusilli in it, take care that the fusilli is without any water, now sprinkle the oregano herb, if you feel that its getting too dry, then you may add half tbspn. Of oil on it. Switch of the flame once all the ingredients are nicely blended, put 2 to 3 cheese slices of it and cover with lid, after about a minute the cheese is partially melted and it looks yummy! Its absolutely ready to serve!
One important thing i larnt from Laxmi in her blog that keep the pasta dry, only when you eat it add your favourite sauce, otherwise it becomes too soggy! Thanks babe for that tip!!
We had it with normal tomato ketchup. You can have it without it too, it tastes delicious!

Frankie Fun!!

Well its damn easy...this one! Like the first one!! After I got married, I experimented on my poor hubby, but he never discouraged me...so here i am!

Reciepe serves 2

Wheat flour ( approx. 3 to 4 big spoons, bigger than tablespoon !)

Water

Oil

Butter

1 tomato finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

Ginger garlic paste (I use smith n jones)

Tomato ketchup (optional)

Red chilly powder( according to how much spicy you like it)

Bhel mix (you can buy it in any store) or potato chips / wafers

Salt to taste

Make a nice soft dough of the wheat flour (adding oil, salt n water...just like you make for making chapatis). Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onion along with ginger garlic paste, fry it till nice lovely golden brown(be patient for this one!otherwise the garlic n onion if left raw, tastes bad)Then add chopped tomatoes, mix well, cook for 2 to 3 minutes, after the onion n tomatoes ahve blended well, add ketchup (optional) add salt (a bit more so that when you eat it with the chapatis it tastes perfect)then add red chilly powder. Cook for half a minute. Now make chapatis, but put some butter on the pan , generally its not put when you make chapatis, but this frankie needs to be really buttery....!! be careful not to make the chapatis too thin, like usual, they should be crispy. Then place the ready chapatis on a plate. Add the topping of your gravy prepared earlier and spread some bhel mix on it or potato chips /wafers will also too.....this is just to make it crispy and crunchy! Roll the chapati like a frankie.....serve hot!!!

Maggi Mischief!!

To begin with I insist that cook while you listen to soft music...it helps , really!
Here’s my very first recipe.......let me be clear guys...I am not a great chef yet....so these are simple yet tasty recipes....some i have invented myself, some I have read somewhere and tried!!
One ordinary day when I had nothing at home which seemed interesting, all I could find was a packet of Maggi noodles. And to be frank I was really bored to just fill up my stomach coz I was hungry.
So I cooked p an idea ;) Well I opened my fridge and to my pinch of delight I found one capsicum and one carrot! And my mind worked up a recipe...to my luck it tasted great.....not only me....folks at home liked it too !!

Recipe serves 2

Oil

2 packets of Maggi with the masal that comes along with it

1 onion choped in long & thin pieces

I capsicum cut in long & thin pieces

1 carrot grated finely

1 teaspoon of jeera

Cheese (it depends on how much you like it...i add loads J)

Tomato ketchup

Oregano

Crushed red chilles ( you can use left out chilli flakes of Dominos!!)

Cook the Maggi noodles like you generally cook Maggi (2 minute J) noodles, once cooked, drain the water and sprinkle some cold water on it so that they dont become sticky. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add jeera , fry till a nice brown colour, then add chopped onion, fry till light brown in colour, add grated carrot and chopped capsicum, dont put lid on it, let it cook it for a while , let it partially fry, dont cook it too much, it should be chewy and crispy, then add the maggi ready made masala and some ketchup (maybe a tbspn) mix all ingredients well, add cheese, it maybe cut in big pieces, it is going to melt anyway, mix it well, now lastly add the cooked noodles and again mix it. Let it cook for a minute, so that it blends well with the gravy. Sprinkle some oregano & crushed red chillies.
Your hot and tasty noodles are ready......this is a very simple recipe, but those who are tired of eating the same old maggi noodles should try it.....its yum!!!

Inspiration from Lux.....a sweet friend...:)

Folks, here is my next blog for all who are new to cooking, bachelours or newly marrieds....cooking is not at all difficult as it seems.....with this realisation I begin......hope you all enjoy this blog too.....:)
Hey Laxmi I owe you a lot sweetheart! Here I am with my new blog just like yours....am going to write about all the recipes I try.....!!