Raw Papaya Paratha

Paratha is a dish which all of us love and the variations that can be brought in this are numerous. Here goes one of my experi- mental ones!!

Ingredients

Wheat flour as per need

1 medium sized raw papaya grated

Salt as per taste

1 tspn of grated ginger

1 /4 cup of grated raw mango

2 tspns of pounded green chilli

1 tspn of cumin powder

1/2 cup finely chopped coriander

2 tspns of oil

Method

In a mixing bowl or a paraat take all ingredients except wheat flour and mix well, now start adding the wheat flour and make dough till you get a nice paratha dough. Just drizzle a little oil and keep to rest for about ten minutes. Heat a tawa, make equal sized balls of the dough, roll out into parathas, roast on the tawa drizzled with oil till golden on both the sides. Relish with a bowl of yogurt, pickle and dal.

 Paneer Poori

An Indian fried flat bread made with cottage cheese and some spices.

Ingredients

2 cups of wheat flour

1/4th cup of semolina

Crumbled cottage cheese

Some salt

A little oil

2 tspns of kasuri methi or dried fenugreek leaves

Chilli powder as per taste

Oil for frying

Method

In a mixing bowl or a paraat take all the ingredients except the cotrage cheese, mix well and now start adding the crumbled cottage cheese bit by bit to make a dough for pooris. Once ready you can make equal sized balls, roll out and fry in oil on a medium flame to make this awesome plate of puffed pooris. Eat as is or with sauce, chutney, curd...you make a choice.

                                                                          Bread Upma

Bread Upma as we call it, is a very easy and tasty breakfast or evening snack preparation. Made normally when bread remains for the next day. It tastes good when made with stale bread because fresh bread is not easy to make into small pieces and makes the dish sticky. So try this next time the bread or pavs are left over. The recipe for you ....

Ingredients

8 slices of bread or pavs, broken into tiny pieces by hand (brown bread also)

3 onions chopped into mediem sized pieces

4 green chillies chopped

few curry leaves

2 tspns of split black gram lentil

1 tomato chopped into small pieces

2 tspns of lime juice

Salt to taste

2 tspns of sugar

A ladle of milk just to sprinkle on top

Chopped coriander for garnishing

Freshly scraped coconut for garnishing

Method

 In a a pan take some coconut oil or any oil of your choice, add mustard seeds, let them splutter add turmeric powder and asafoetida, add the lentil make it golden, add the curry leaves, the chillies, saute a bit, add the chopped onions, stir till light brown, add tomato, cook till a bit mushy. Now add the bread, salt, sugar, lime juice, sprinkle the milk over, mix well and cook for sometime till everything gets mixed well. Here milk helps the dish to get little moist. Add little of the coriander and coconut and mix. Take it off the fire, transfer to a serving bowl and serve garnished with coconut and coriander. 

        

                                                                   Palak Matar Pulao

A spicy rice dish which all in my family enjoy and hoping that you people enjoy it too. When the spinach in the market is so tempting and fresh you must try this one!! here comes my recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups of long grain basmati or any rice of your choice

200 gms of fresh green peas

A small bunch of spinach, 3 green chillies, blanched and pureed

2 onions finely chopped

2 tspns of roughly pound ginger garlic

Juice of half a lime

Salt to taste

A pinch of turmeric powder

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method

In a pressure cooker take some oil, add the onions, saute till golden, add turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, saute till raw smell disappears. now add the spinach puree, a handful of chopped coriander, saute till cooked well, add the peas, the washed rice, salt and lime juice. Mix well, add 4 cups of water, this rice need not be too dry, in the sense that it tastes good when it retains moisture. Mix and cook it to 2 whistles. Tranfer to a serving bowl, garnish with coriander leaves and serve. No accompaniment is needed with this dish! A bowl of yogurt will suffice. 

 

 

 

                                     

                                          Warm Pasta Salad....Feta, Mushrooms And Spinach

This is a very delicious warm pasta salad which can be eaten at any time of the day. Very satiating and tasty on the palette. Recipe video shared by my daughter Ashwini. My version of it goes here for you.

Ingredients

200 gms of mushrooms freshly chopped into medium sized pieces

2 large onions chopped into thick long pieces

6 garlic cloves

A block of feta cheese as shown in the picture

Few sprigs of  fresh Thyme

Salt

Olive oil

1 cup pasta boiled and ready

Few  baby spinach leaves

Black pepper powder

Method

Line a baking tray with butter paper, keep the feta block in the centre, spread the onions, mushrooms and the garlic evenly, sprinkle salt, olive oil, some torn thyme leaves, pepper powder and put the tray in the pre heated oven for 10 minutes on 180 degrees. Remove stir and crush the half cooked garilc cloves and the feta, mix roughly. keep it back for another few minutes, remove and now mix everything well. let it go in again for a few minutes till you see that all the ingredients are well cooked. Remove from the oven, add the baby spinach, the pasta and mix well and eat it warm with or without bread.

 

                                                                

                                                                         Sweet Puri

A nice sweet  tea time snack. Fried, fruity and flavourful too. Can be had at llunch with some mango or lime pickle. here goes my experi-mental recipe.

Ingrdients

1 ripe banana mashed

1 chickoo mashed

2 tbsp of coconut milk

1/4 tspn of cinnamon powder

A dash of salt

1 tspn clarified butter

Wheat flour as required

2 tbsp of semolina

Method

In a mixing bowl take all the above ingredients except the wheat flour, mix well now add the wheat flour bit by bit and see that you make a dough for puris, neither too soft, nor too hard. Apply some clarified butter and rest the dough for 15 minutes. 

Keep oil to heat, in the meanwhile make small balls, Roll them out and fry them on medium heat, should become light golden in colour,  transfer them to a tissue for absorbing extra oil. They can be now eaten hot hot.