Little Italy...Risotto

" As a child my family menu had two choices around food- take it or leave it" Buddy Hackett

The excitement around creating something new. I guess that is what makes cooking therapeutic. I feel so happy when I decide to try out a new dish. Poring over recipe books, Google searches, chatting with friends who might have prepared the dish, the trudge to the nearest supermarket to pick up the ingredients, the anticipation around how the dish would turn out-finally plating the dish and waiting for the verdict! Most of the times the response is worth all that effort.

These days the only TV programs I watch with interest are ' cookery shows'. The delightful Nigella even has me staying up well past my bedtime. She is lovely and her passion for food clearly shows through. I love the way she romances food. Shows like hers and the Master chef series do introduce us to a whole host of global cuisine. My repertoire of Italian cooking tends to be restricted to various kinds of pasta and pizzas. One such show got me thinking about Risotto. This was quickly followed up with a trip to a gourmet food store, recipe searches, tweaks and finally the dish. Has inspired me to try Paella next- would be a toss up between meat or sea food versions. I am so looking forward to trying it soon. Another day and another post, for now it is a little bit of Italy by my side.

Risotto(Serves 4)

Ingredients

Risotto Rice: 2 cups

Red Wine: 1/2 cup

Vegetable or Chicken stock- 3/4 cups

Parmesan cheese: 1/2 tbsp( grated fine)

Butter: 1 tbsp

Olive oil: 2 tbs

Onion: 2/3, finely sliced

Mushroom: 6/7, quartered

Chicken Salami- 3/4 roundels, chopped into small pieces

Fresh Basil leaves- 1/2, for the garnish

Method

• Heat olive oil in a Wok and fry the onions for a couple of minutes till they turn soft.
• Add the Rice and stir for a few minutes.
• Next, add the red wine and mix well.
• Keep adding the stock little by little( half a cup at a time). Once the rice absorbs the stock, add the next half cup. Continue this till the rice is cooked.
• Toss in the mushrooms and salami. Cook for a few minutes.
• Add salt to taste, the butter and cheese. Give it a good stir and remove from fire.
• Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh Basil and serve hot.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Arrivederci!

Inspired by the Masters......Chicken Exotica

I am really, really excited as I write this post. Just minutes after having eaten the dish. It came out so well and everybody loved it. That it was something completely new, different and "my own" made dinner even more enjoyable.

So where do the Masters come in. Well, some parts of this dish are inspired by Master Chef Australia. Like co-food blogger, Knife, I don't like 'Reality food shows" where participants spend more time running between the pantry and their work stations than actually cooking. And your focus as you watch the show is to pray that your favorite contestant finishes on time, almost never on what he/she has cooked. But yes, as I watch them cook and between those pressure tests some combinations seem interesting. And then of course there are master classes where the dishes look "gorgeous" but a little too complex for everyday cooking. It was in one such show that I watched one of the judges try an onion, saffron and star anise combination. That has been the starting point of tonight's dinner. I typically use saffron either to make Biryani or in my desserts. Similarly Star anise gets restricted to Thai cooking. I felt inspired to combine the two seeming varied flavors with chicken and make a 'continetal' dish with them. The rest of the ingredients just got added on as I started cooking. Just be led by your senses and you cannot go wrong with your cooking.

Chicken Exotica( this dish looks really exotic)

Ingredients

'Chicken: 8/10 pieces

Vegetables: About 2 cups, 2 carrots and maybe 10/12 beans, cut into 1 inch long pieces

Spaghetti: I just grabbed a fistful( that is all that was left in the packet)

Onions: 5/6 large onions, cut into roundels

Star Anise: 2/3

Saffron: a pinch

Toasted sesame seeds: 1 tbsp

Chilli flakes: 1 tsp

Salt: to taste

Olive oil: 3/4 tbsps

Method

• Marinate the chicken with some lime juice and salt for about an hour.
• Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the saffron, star anise, saffron and a little bit of salt to it. Cook covered on low flame till the onions looks brown( should take about 30 minutes or so- keep checking as you cook). Remove onto a baking dish. Layer the dish with the onions. Leave the excess oil in the wok.
• Add the chicken to the pan, cook on high flame for about 5 minutes, add the sesame seeds and chilli flakes. Saute and transfer to the baking dish. Layer over the onions. Bake at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.
• As your chicken is baking, boil spaghetti with some salt and olive oil. Once done, drain. You could add the vegetables to the spaghetti after it is half cooked or blanch the vegtables separately. Toss the vegetables and spaghetti into the same wok and toss for a couple of minutes so that it gets coated with the oil and spice, add some more of the tosted sesame to it.
• Finally, plating it all together. Make a little nest with the spaghetti and vegetable combine. Place some pieces of chicken on it. Spoon the onions over the chicken.
• Serve immediately.
• Verdict: Delicious!

This dish has such an unusual taste. The onions have a "meaty" flavor to them and cooking the chicken along with it makes the pieces really succulent. The chicken would also go well with some buttered toast or garlic bread.

Cheers to the fusion of flavors.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

From the land of butter and cream....Presenting Daal Makhni

I have never used as much butter and cream in one dish. Those of you who have read my earlier posts would have noticed that most of the dishes I write about are either low oil or no oil. Ironically this post(laden with butter and cream) follows the " Freedom from oil" post.

Well, in a weak moment I agreed to make " Daal Makhni" for sonny dear. In fact he played it out quite well, " Mom, you never make anything "rich"(emotional pressure), R's mother makes really nice Daal Makhni and Paneer Butter Masala(read come on Mom you ought to be the best)". That did it. Over the next few days I began my search for easy to prepare and authentic Punjabi recipes. Decided to start with Daal Makhni. Daal is considered a low involvement, low skill dish in most part of the country. Serves as an accompaniment and often passed over for other more interesting food . But in the North and for people from Punjab it is main course, staple food- Chole Kulche, Rajma Chawal, Tandoori Roti and Daal Makhni are popular combinations. There is a lot of painstaking effort that goes into making the perfect daal. Cooked on slow fire for hours, simmering brings out the flavor of the daals. So no quick pressure cooking and tempering.

This is As's( a true blue Punjabi) recipe. Her instructions were very precise and easy to follow. She also simplifies the steps which makes it easy for somebody making the dish for the first time. I think the best tip she gave me was to pick up " Roopak's Daal Makhni" masala. Roopak Masalas are easily available in most supermarkets in Delhi. I have used their Oregano seasoning, Dahi bhalla Masala, Biryani Masala. Thank God! for blended masalas, easy to replicate the taste each time. And like one of the ad says ' helps Mrs. Chawla make her Sambhar as good as Mrs. Reddy's'.

I love the concept of trying out food from different parts of the country/World. A global kitchen which is literally a melting pot of recipes, fusion food. Just thinking about it is exciting. And yes, the opportunity to make something new, different each day and for each meal. Wow! I was so excited about making this dish that I made it on a 'weekday' morning. Slow cooking does allow you to go about your chores as the dish cooks.

Daal Makhni( Serves 6/8)

Ingredients

Saboot Urad Daal: 1 cup

Rajma Daal: 1 handful

Tomato Puree: 10/12 tbsp

Garam Masala: 1tsp

Cream: 1 cup

Daal Makhni Masala: 3 heaped tsp

Butter: 2 tbsp

Refined oil: 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp

Method

• Soak the daal overnight in 8 cups of water.
• Pressure cook the daal with 8 cups of water and salt to taste( this daal cooks for much longer than regular daals so do ensure you have added enough water else you risk burning it).
• Let the cooker give out one whistle and then cook on low flame for 40 minutes. Keep aside and let the cooker cool down on its own.
• Take a kadai/wok and heat the oil. Next add the tomato puree and cook for 10/15 minutes.
• Mix the daal makhni masala in about half a cup of water and add it to the tomato puree. Cook for another ten minutes. Add butter
• Add the tomato puree mixture to the daal and let it simmer for 20/25 minutes.
• Add the cream and 1 tsp of garam masala
• Served hot with rotis.

The boys just loved it. Younger one had it with rice(sacrilege, I know) and the older one with phulkas. The kitchen smells divine as the daal cooks. The daal has a smooth, creamy texture and all the ingredients blend together to create sheer magic. You will definitely have people asking for more.And for all you non-vegetarians reading this post, like I'd told my Dad years ago, 'Ghar ki daal murgi barabar'.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Freedom from oil.....Tricolour Tiranga Pulao....Happy Independence Day!

This one is an independence day special. The typical way to make a tiranga/tri-color rice is to cook three types of rice separately- a palak/spinach rice for green, carrot rice for the color saffron and then combine it with some plain rice in the midle for the final effect. Looks really nice and goes well with the Independence day spirit.

I was a little short on time today. The Independence day lunch organised by the building committee was called off at the last minute, cook had her day off and yet I was quite determined to make the meal special.

So an oil free recipe it was( in keeping with the Freedom theme), a one dish wholesome meal( read Pulao) and three different colored ingredients- carrots, beans and baby corn. The combination was definitely a visual treat and nobody seemed to miss the oil/butter/ghee.

With lean cooking( I have Sanjeev Kapoor, Nita Mehta and Karen Anand to thank- picked up all my basic tips about low oil/no oil cooking from their books) there are two basic rules:

• Be patient because a good part of the cooking needs to be done on low flame. Some steps may need constant stirring. Try and use a good non-stick cookware.
• The food is low on oil but high on flavor so some of the dishes(like this one) need a lot of ingredients- basic everyday use ingredients but quite a few nevertheless.

Tri-colored Rice/Tiranga Pulao(No Oil)

Serves: 4/5

Ingredients

Basmati Rice( choose the long grained variety): 1.5 cups

Onions: 2, finely chopped. You could also use Shallots- about 8/10 peeled

Ginger: Finely chopped, 1 tbsp

Tomatoes: 2, finely chopped. Choose large ones, this is a key ingredient when you are cooking with no oil

Carrots: 1/2, cut into 1/2 inch long pieces

Beans: 8/10, 1/2 inch pieces

Baby corn: 4/5, 1/2 inch pieces

Bay leaves: 1/2

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Green Cardamom: 2/3

Lime juice: 1 tbsp

Water: 3 cups

Method

• Soak the Basmati rice for about an hour before you start cooking. Do follow this step for all Pulaos.
• Heat a non-stick kadai/wok. Dry roast the bay leaves, cumin seeds and cardamom till fragrant.
• Add the onions, ginger and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes till the tomato turns soft.
• Add the vegetables, rice and mix well. Cook for a few minutes.
• Transfer to a pressure cooker, add 3 cups of hot water( this prevents the rice from sticking, also helps cook faster) and the lime juice. Close the lid of the cooker and let it give out one whistle. Switch off the cooker and let it cool on its own.
• Serve hot along with a cucumber-tomato- onion raita.
• Enjoy.

Jai Hind!

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Stanley ka dabba....Happy Friendship Day!

• The movie, " Stanley ka dabba", is on showcase and I am hoping to watch it this evening. Anyone who has seen the movie tells me that it took them back to school and they thought of all their classmates with whom they had shared their lunch boxes.

Talking about school, I too have some very fond lunchtime memories. There were about 10 of us who assembled around a makeshift lunch table( one of the spare tables in the class) every afternoon during the break. We would all place our dabbas on the table(very plain, basic plastic/steel ones). One lunchbox would be opened at a time and the entire pack would attack the contents. Funny but even after years I remember what each one of them usually got( yes, there wasn't too much variety but we loved each other's dabbas nevertheless). N always got apples( yes, all through the ten years we studied together she got sliced apples and never did she get to eat more than a slice), S got curd rice with manga( small mangoes soaked in brine with a slight bitter after taste) or Parota kurma, P and Sa often got gongura rice ( hot, fiery stuff which I just loved. " I have got your favorite today", P would whisper during the class at the start of the day and I would eagerly wait for the break to grab more than my fair share). R got paratha and alu fry, Sh got chinni paratha, B got alu paratha or paratha shredded into small pieces and then cooked in ghee and sugar. Thanks to our cosmopolitan class we did get to sample a little bit from the different parts of the country. Strange but I am a little fuzzy about what I carried in my lunchbox. I remember twice a week it was idli sambhar. Mom( in the pre tupperware/no spill proof container days) packed the sambhar in old nescafe jars to prevent them from spilling. Sis and me had a deal. I would carry the bag on the way to school and she would carry it back. I had to balance the lunch bag gingerly making sure I did not spill the contents, she on the other hand just bundled the bag with the empty dabbas/bottles and shoved them into her school bag. Yes, stupid me. Guess 'the love for food' took over common logic.

This post has brought back so many memories. The special lunch boxes that we would carry on our birthdays. Mom would send me hot alu chop( alu bonda) and ghuguni( patiala matar). I remember our man friday cycling furiously to make it on time for the lunch break- he would be greeted with screams from all my classmates.

Yes, it was a lot of fun and we definitely bonded over food. We happily shared whatever we carried. Much of that I am sure still remains in today's schools but children want more variety and something interesting each day( as with most things aimed at this generation including education "packaging" is important).

Here is the good old grilled sandwich, best eaten hot, tastes nice in the lunchbox too.

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich
Serves : 2
Ingredients
Brown bread: 4 slices
Boiled Potatoes: 2 large
Mixed vegetables: Beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower- chopped fine and sauted.
Cheese: 1/2 a cube per sandwich, grated
Cheese spread: 1 tbsp per sandwich
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Mash the boiled potatoes.


• Add the vegetables, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Mix well.


• Next, spread the cheese spread on both the bread slices. Places the vegetables on one slice and cover with the other.


• Grill for about 7/10 minutes for it to turn golden brown and for the cheese inside to melt.


• Cut into triangles and serve with tomato ketchup.

If making it for the lunchbox, grill for about 5 minutes to allow the bread slices to stick together. Leave the bread a little soft otherwise it will harden as it cools down.

You can keep varying the filling. Any leftover vegetable/grilled chicken with some cheese would taste good.

I hope my children will look back( as fondly as me) at their lunchtimes and lunchbox friends. Here is to all the friends they will make and to some strong relationships that will stand the test of time.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Redifining "ghaas phoos"..

Modern day salads have repositioned "healthy eating". People today opt for salads by choice, for the taste and not because they have been asked to go easy on oil and/or spice.
So much so that a popular women's magazine had a salad supplement with its last issue, as many as 100 salads, many of them modified to suit the Indian palate. There were some interesting options though some I think had been stretched/forced fit to make the number 100.

So from being prepared with basic vegetables like cucumber, tomato, onion( with raddish, carrot and beet root added in the winter months) salads have graduated to getting more exotic with names such as tossed rice salad/lentil salads/pasta salad/carrot and raising salad. We think far more innovatively today when we are making salads. I keep adding ingredients even after I have started making the salad. Chicken in the salad below was an afterthought( in fact a substitute for salami strips that I normally add). I added the bread croutons since I was serving it as a meal, would have skipped it if I was serving the salad as a meal accompaniment. They are so handy when you are entertaining, no last minute bother of heating or frying. Keep the ingredients ready, toss them all together and serve. Served as starters too. Most salads can be prepared way ahead and served chilled. Keep a little bit of the seasoning handy in case all of it gets absorbed.
We had an interesting salad last night for dinner and so I have named it after the day of the week( sorry, been rather uninnovative in naming the dish but just could not think of any other name).

Saturday salad
Time: 20 minutes, serves: 1/2

Ingredients
2 bunches of lettuce
2 cups of boiled veggies(beans, carrots, baby corn)
1/2 cup of sauted mushrooms( use half of the regular pack, quarter and cook in a little bit of olive oil, add some salt and pepper to it)
Cherry tomatoes: a handful, these add a lot of colour to the salad, are convenient to use and have a nice, sweetish taste
Olive oil( for the seasoning): 2 tbsps
Garlic: 6/7 large pods, chopped fine
Bread: 1 slice, toast and then chop into small squares
Chicken(optional): boiled and shredded( I use leftover curry pieces- remove the masala and shred them into thin strips- a good way to re-use leftover chicken)
Dried herbs: 1 tsp( I used Basil but oregano would also go well as a seasoning for the salad)
Lime juice: 1 tbsp( half a lime)

Method

• Place the lettuce in ice cold water to refresh. Leave it in the water for about thirty minutes, take out, gently squeeze out the water and shred into large pieces( never chop the lettuce)


• Take a large bowl, place the lettuce in it.


• Then add the boiled vegetables, sauted mushrooms, cherry tomatoes to it.


• To make the dressing: Heat the olive oil in a small wok/tadka pan, add the garlic and let it turn brown, remove from the flame and add Lime juice, Basil and some salt. Mix well.


• Add the dressing to the salad and toss the vegetables lightly.


• Top with bread croutons and serve immediately.

This is a meal by itself. You could serve also serve it along with a clear soup. Lettuce adds a lot of volume to this salad so the portion size is a little deceptive. The portion shown in the accompanying picture serves one adult only.

As with the corriander pulao, this salad combines some fairly varied ingredients for a really flavorsome bite. Be a little generous with the olive oil else the veggies would taste dry. The burnt garlic gives the salad a distinctive taste and helps spice up an otherwise bland fare. Instead of the croutons you could add a handful of pasta, leftover pasta would be even better.

Another successful one dish meal. Bon Apetit and Happy cooking!

Aikam Baikam Tara Toori...........Alu Dum

The first time I remember hearing about " Alu Dum" in all its glory was when as kids we used to play" hide and seek". We went through a very democratic process of choosing the "seeker". We had rhymes that we repeated till all but one player got eliminated and he/she was declared the den. Our Bong neighbors Mana and Mou came up this one which ended with the lines " Alu dum khabo na, soshur badi jabo naa"( loosely translated that means I am not going to eat potato curry and I shall not get married- sorry the essence seems to be getting a little lost in the translation, as always but you get the point).

Now when it comes to naming their dishes the Bongs can give the Mughals a run for their money. Luchi Alu Dum sounds way more exotic than Puri Tarkari. The same goes for dishes like Prawn malai curry(shrimps in a coconut gravy), Dhokar Dalna (Besan curry), Kadaishutir Kachuri( Stuffed Kachoris with peas) etc. etc.

Puri Alu is or rather used to be a regular breakfast item in many households. Growing up I rember having Puris everytime there was a big puja in the household. Breakfast would be Puri Alu and lunch would be Khichdi with baigan fry and tomato khajur chutney.

However with increasing health awareness Puris are kind of disappearing from breakfast tables. A couple of weeks back when Delhi was still cold and nice we decided to indulge ourselves. So the breakfast spread comprised Luchi, Cholar Daal( Bengal gram daal) and of course Alu Dum. Both Alu Dum and Cholar Daal are very easy to make and need very few ingredients. The Luchi/Puri needs to be served hot, straight from the kadai/pan.

Alu Dum( Serves 4)

Ingredients

Baby Potatoes: 1/2 a kilo

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Garlic paste: 1 tsp

Bay leaves: 1 or 2

Cumin/Jeera powder: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Sugar: a pinch

Garam Masala: 1 tsp( freshly ground cinnamon and green cardamom works best for this dish, gives the gravy a nice flavor)

Oil: 1 tbsp

Method

1. Boil the baby potatoes with their skin in salt water. Remove the skin. You could also leave the skin on, in that case make sure to prick the potatoes with a tooth pick before boiling them) and keep aside


2. Heat the oil in the pan, add a pinch of sugar and let the sugar caramelize. This gives the gravy a nice rich color


3. Add the bay leaves, ginger paste, garlic paste, cumin powder and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the salt.


4. Then add the potatoes and continue to saute for 4/5 minutes.


5. Add some water( about 1 cup of warm water) and check the seasoning. Simmer for a few minutes. The gravy should coat the potatoes and there should be a little bit more.


6. Add the garam masala.


7. Serve hot garnished with some finely chopped corriander

Cholar Daal(serves 4)

Ingredients

Bengal gram daal: About 1 measure/1 cup

Jeera/Cumin paste: 1 tsp ( very integral to a lot of traditional vegetarian cooking which are cooked sans onion and garlic so the flavoring comes from cumin and ginger)

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Bay leaves: 1 or 2

Salt: 1 tsp or to taste

Sugar: 1/2 tsp

Coconut: 1 tbsp, cut into very small pieces

Oil: 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp

Ghee(optional): 1 tsp

Method

1. Pressure cook the daal along with the cumin paste. One whistle should do


2. Heat some oil, add the bay leaves, whole cumin seeds and the ginger paste. Saute for a couple of minutes.


3. Add the boiled daal, let it cook for a few minutes. Then add salt, sugar and the coconut.


4. Finally top up with a teaspoon of ghee and serve hot.

Indulge, Make sure you can roll out and fry the puris real quick because you are sure to have everyone asking for more. On an average boys will eat about ten Puris with ease. If they are competing with each other and breaking their fast with this meal, budget for a few extras.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Happy Mother's Day, Mama....

My memory has served me well so far( sis will vouch for it, she says " I may forgive but I never forget"). And if it is got to do with food then you can be sure I will carry the memory to my grave.
My blog posts as you would notice are full of some of my favorite food memories. Each time I start writing a post they come flooding back. I just have to think of a similar dish and I am transported back in time. Let me tell you about the 'wafer coated triangle shaped' chocolate that somebody had gifted us( this was way before Kit Kat and Perk became household names- perks 0f growing up in a "port city")- sis and me were completely taken in by the novelty of form and taste. For once we rationed the portions and ate little by little each day. The other one that I comes immediately to mind( varied from the earlier reference but probably sampled both around the same time) is aunty I's cauliflower dish. Basis the snatches of conversation between her and my Mom on the recipe, I remember it being made with grated cauliflower, ginger, onion and tons of butter. It was her specialty. At her dinner parties I always helped myself to generous portions and studiously avoided Momma's glares.


And then there were my mother's cutlets. She made them with all types of fish. In fact very often with Tuna, a fish that most others we knew turned up their noses to( it is only much later that I learnt that Tuna is from the " shark" family). Mom would first get our household help to fillet the Tuna, then she would saute them with some garlic to get rid of the fishy smell and several complicated steps later they would appear on our dinner table as the most delicious cutlets garnished with some onion rings and lime wedges. She also made cutlets with Bhekti, Rohu and even prawns. On winter evenings we would have them with soup and bread.

Mom was here a couple of weeks back and taught me to make fish cutlets. I was amazed at how simple the steps were. That did not take away from the taste. Mom also made them with very little oil which I guess makes them healthy.

We now have cutlets as regulars in our menu. They are convenient as starters, go well as meal accompaniments, are often eaten as evening snacks by the boys, leftover get converted into sandwich/burger filling.


Fish Cutlets


Ingredients( This dish needs very few ingredients and all of it very easily available at home)

Fish: 3/4 pieces( Choose the stomach portions as these would have fewer bones, if buying a fillet about 200 grams should do. If you are planning to make cutlets I would suggest you keep a few " stomach/peti" pieces aside when sorting and freezing the fish)
Onions: 2 medium sizes ones, chopped really fine.
Ginger: 1", finely chopped
Potatoes: 2/3 boiled
Bread crumbs: 2/3 tbsps, enough to coat the cutlets
Mint/Pudina leaves: a handful, finely chopped
Green corriander: 2 tbsps, finely chopped
Oil: About 2 tbsps for a batch of about 20 cutlets

Turmeric: 1tsp

Salt: To taste

Method

1. Smear salt and turmeric on the fish pieces and shallow fry them.


2. Debone the fish.


3. Heat about 2 tsps of oil. Fry the onion till glassy, add the ginger and saute for a few more minutes. Next add the fish and cook together for about 5 minutes.


4. Remove from fire, add boiled potatoes, 2/3 tbsps of bread crumbs, some finely chopped green chillies( optional), the mint and corriander leaves and mix well.


5. Make small round balls with the mixture and flatten lightly between your palms.


6. Spread the remaining bread crumbs on a plate and place the cutlets over them. Turn the cutlets around so that the crumbs coat them evenly.


7. Heat a tsp of oil in a non-stick, shallow pan. Once the oil heats up, add the cutlets one by one. Arrange them on the pan and fry on both sides.


8. Serve hot garnished with some onion rings, lemon wedges and a chutney/dip.

Thank you Mama for this wonderful recipe, helps me relive a part of my childhood with each bite.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

The seven day itch...

Come Saturday and I start feeling restless if I haven't uploaded a new post. Yes, blogging is addictive, Like my son says " passion becomes addiction". But then blogging is therapeutic as well( I have said this before).

No posts also means that we haven't eaten anything new, different or interesting through the week. That makes me go on an overdrive to create interesting weekend food.

The inspiration for this dish came from some fresh basil that my cousin gave me. She has also gifted me a Basil plant. So I can make this dish over and over again. Yipee!

Fresh herbs can completely transform a dish. Pardon the hyperbole but I just love the fusion of ingredients, the ones that flood your taste buds with their amazing flavors, I am referring to dishes where all the individual ingredients come together to create magic. No single flavor stands out but there are subtle hints in each bite.

Chicken forms a good base when it comes to a creating flavorsome food, highly versatile, so soaks up dhania, butter and tomato puree(refer Dhania Chicken) as easily as orange juice. Works for me either ways.

Basil Chicken( serve four)

Preparation time: 10 minutes, Cooking time: 45 minutes.

Ingredients

Fresh Basil: 1/2 cup, chopped

Dried Basil: 1 tsp

Chicken: About 8 pieces, choose nice, large pieces for this fish.

Orange juice: 1 cup, freshly squeezed would work best but Tropicana came fairly close

Lime juice: 3/4 tbsps, definitely freshly squeezed

Onion: 2, finely chopped

Cumin powder: 1 tsp, roasted and ground cumin adds to the fresh taste of the dish

Salt to taste

Olive oil: 2 tbsps

Method

Heat the olive oil in a pan.

Add the chicken and fry for a couple of minutes.

Then sprinkle the finely chopped onion and continue to fry.

Add the orange juice, cumin powder, dried basil and salt. Stir.

Simmer and cook covered for 5/7 minutes.

Open the lid, add the lime juice and mix well.

Remove the chicken pieces onto a plate.

Let the sauce thicken a little more, add the fresh basil leaves and ladle over the chicken.

Serve the chicken with some herbed rice( add some butter, finely chopped coriander, chili flakes and salt to rice) and boiled vegetables.

Delicious! Finger lickin' good!

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Rang Barse.....the riot of colors.....

Happy Holi and just the right time to post a recipe that looks colorful. Making your food look fancier than it is adds to the overall taste( given that we eat with most of our senses). And if cooking for children tricks them into actually eating more. Usually the more colorful your food, the healthier it is. Simple, you need to add more greens to add more color. Compare a macaroni with cheese and mushroom to one with macaroni, tomatoes, yellow/red bell pepper and beans. You got it?

Plating which translates into serving your food elegantly and artistically is a complex process. Master chefs on cookery shows say that it is not as difficult as it looks or sounds. It basically means getting the colors and balance of composition right.

Someday I shall be there. For now I follow some basic color rules.

• Planning the menu well so that each ingredient adds color to the dish and to the table.
• Making sure that no two dishes being served look alike, this automatically ensures that there is a fair variety in terms of ingredients, recipe types and taste
• Use of colorful garnishes like cream or yoghurt for soups, ginger juliennes for the daal, fresh corriander for the rich gravies, nuts for the salads etc.

So, a little bit of creativity, an eagerness to learn and a lot of planning and patience is what would finally get you there.

Meanwhile the recipe that follows is the result of one such attempt. Very proud of it as I created it out of party leftovers. The source of inspiration was the lettuce I had leftover from Pinacorn salad made for lunch. I also had some herbed cottage cheese that I had used as cracker topping. Decided to combine the two along with some cherry tomatoes. Incidentally my kids love eating cherry tomatoes, must be to do with the size/form. Instead of making a regular salad, I decided to make these into tiny wraps. They looked quite exotic and tasted nice.

Lettuce Wraps( Serves 4)

Ingredients

Lettuce: 1 bunch(refresh the lettuce in ice cold water to which a few drops of vinegar have been added)

Cheery tomatoes: 12/15, halved

Herbed cottage cheese: 200 grams( This is available off the shelf as ' Masala' paneer, you can very easily make your own with some roasted cumin seeds together with fresh mint, green corriander, green chillies- all chopped fine, some salt)

Method

Choose the bigger leaves. Lay them out on a plate.

Place the herbed cottage cheese in the middle.

Fold in lengthwise and then widthwise.

Place half a cherry tomato on top and secure with a toothpick.

Serve along with a spicy, hung curd dip.

The lettuce gives this a fresh, crunchy feel. A light summer starter and an anytime snack for all those weight watchers.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

TGIF........

My evening today reminds me of the song " Jaate the Japan, pahunch gaye Cheen"(Planned something and ended up with something quite different).

I had planned on making a Cous Cous Chicken. Cous Cous, the new wonder food is doing the rounds. I had come across an interesting recipe for Cous Cous Chicken in a women's magazine. It was new, different, easy to prepare, healthy, a one dish meal and thus perfect for a Friday night dinner. A night when you begin celebrating the two day holiday ahead, want to have something special and yet are not looking at anything fussy or elaborate( those are for Sunday mornings or Saturday evenings). By the time you get back home on Friday, you are physically exhausted, mentally tired and just want to put your feet up. Maybe if you are a foodie, you will make it to the kitchen and rustle up something in a jiffy.

I got late at work and could not pick up the Cous Cous. It is unfortunately not available with the neighborhood grocer. I got back home and decided to make a Fiesta chicken instead only to discover that I did not have raisins, a key ingredient in the dish. Finally after much deliberation and inventory search settled for a Mediterranean version. In this easy dish versatile chicken mingles with the flavors of white wine, herbs and garlic. Calls for ingredients that one usually has on hand.

Mediterranean Chicken( Serves four)

Chicken: 500 grams

Tomato puree: 6 tbsps

Wine: 1/4th cup( I used white wine)

Bay leaves: 2/3

Mixed Herbs: 1 tsp( I had run out of Basil so used some Rosemary and Thyme)

Garlic: 3/4 pods, crushed

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Sugar: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Cornflour/Maida: 1 tsp

Olive oil: 1 tsp( Optional if using a non-stick pan)

Spaghetti: 200 grams( boiled in salt water to which olive oil has been added and drained)

Method

Heat a non stick pan. Add the chicken and cook till it changes colour. This should take a couple of minutes.

Add tomatoes and all the seasoning.

Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender( add a little water if necessary).

Dissolve 1 tbsp of maida in a cup of water and add to the chicken.

Boil well and serve over spaghetti.

The sauce tastes delicious and has a glossy texture. Can also be an accompaniment for Pulaos and Fried rice.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs......

Something really strange(almost spooky) happened. I cooked Spaghetti with meat balls and the weather turned from a clear sunny day to a cloudy one. It is starting to rain as I write this post. Looks like the weather God either read my mind or peeped into my kitchen. The boys are thrilled with the title of the post and it does seem apt given the turn of events, I mean the change of weather. Rains at this time of the year also means that Winter would stretch for at least another week or two. So more soups, stews in the weeks to follow.

I have been meaning to cook the 'Spaghetti meatballs' combo for a while now. The name has an exotic ring to it. In hindsight the dish is surprisingly simple. Most things in hindsight look simple, don't they?

I am not good with making cutlets, chops, tikkis and the likes. Have a mental block, I fear that they will come apart as I am frying them. Must be to do with some initial disastrous attempts though I cannot recall any such incident at the moment. Not being able to make them is such a shame given that my Mom made Fish and prawn cutlets quite regularly during my growing up years. When we had guests over she even dressed up each prawn cutlets with its little tail which helped enhance the visual appeal and made the cutlets look really appetizing. It is of course obvious that they tasted really good. Oohs! Aahs! and they would be over in a jiffy. Someday soon I hope I can achieve a similar feat. Till then I shall rely on my household help or just buy them off the shelf.

I bought some meatballs while picking up my weekly non-veg from a store close to home. And the first dish that I could think of was spaghetti with meat balls. My first attempt at making this dish and a recipe that I have intuitively put together. I have deliberately skipped the cheese.

Spaghetti with Meat Balls(Serves 4)

Ingredients

Tomato Puree: 1 cup(Add one or two fresh blanched and pureed tomatoes to packaged puree. Makes it convenient and gives the sauce the right color, body and taste)

Meat balls: 10/15( I used store bought ones but you could go through the process of spicing up chicken mince, making them into little balls and then deep frying them)

Oregano seasoning: 2 tsp

Green Coriander: 2/3 tbsp

Onion: 1 medium sized one, finely chopped

Vegetable stock: 2/3 tbsp(I used some leftover vegetable stew)

Garlic: 4/5 large pods, finely chopped

Olive oil: 1/2 tsp

Sugar: 1/2 tsp( to balance out the sour tomato taste)

Spaghetti: 100 grams

Method

For the Spaghetti

Boil about 100 grams of spaghetti in plenty of water. Add some olive oil and salt to the water. Olive oil would prevent the spaghetti from sticking.

Strain and keep aside. Add 1 tsp of olive oil to the spaghetti and toss it well, that way it would not dry up.

Ideally boil the spaghetti when you start to simmer the meatballs in the sauce.

For the meatballs

Put a flat bottomed pan on the stove. Heat some olive oil in it.

Then saute the garlic followed by the onion.

Add the tomato puree, sugar, oregano seasoning, chopped coriander and cook for a few minutes. The puree will begin to thicken.

Add the vegetable stock. This would give the sauce a lovely texture and also add to the taste. As I was using some leftover vegetable stew I also mashed up a few boiled carrots into the sauce.

Next add the meat balls to the gravy. Cover and cook so that the meatball soak some of the gravy.

Putting it all together, Plating it as my older son would say

Place some spaghetti on the plate, shape it like a bird's nest. Pour the meat balls with the gravy into the hollow in the middle. Garnish with some fresh coriander and serve hot. Approximately three meat balls per serve.

Cut the meatballs into little pieces. Twirl the spaghetti around your fork, lift a little piece of the meat ball, pop into your mouth and feel the fusion of flavors/taste as you bite into them together.

Surprisingly easy if you are not starting from scratch. Ready puree and meatballs make it a quick fix. Perfect on a cold, wet, winter night.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Sunday ho ya Monday, Roz khao Ande.......

Two consecutive egg posts and hence the title. Else if you are on the wrong side of 30 you can have eggs just about once a week(Sunday ke Sunday) or so the Doctors say.

The title of this post has been suggested by my older one. I need to balance things out at home. After all he too would hopefully read the food diaries and all mentions about him are bound to "thrill". When it is to do with food, I am an optimist.

Another post about the ubiquitous sandwich . Remember it is one of my favorite food things. Typically for sandwiches almost anything can work as a good stuffing from last night's leftover curry to mutton cutlets.

But if it is an egg sandwich it had preferably be with boiled eggs. As Vir Sanghvi says, "For an egg sandwich to take a character of its own you need to use boiled eggs". Going by today's response(carried in my lunch box) I would agree with him. Sanghvi goes on to say that the boiled egg was rediscovered during the recession of 2008-2009. I would tend to think eggs never really went out of fashion even in upper middle class households. One restricted consumption purely for reasons of health.

Boiled egg sandwiches qualify as comfort food. Unpretentious in character and simple in terms of taste. They too bring back nostalgic childhood memories.

Boiled Egg Sandwich

Ingredients

Boiled eggs: 4( one egg should suffice for about four slices of bread). If you store your eggs in the refrigerator take them about half one hour before you need to boil them. Boil them in plenty of water to which some salt has been added, this prevents the eggs from cracking while boiling. And you thought it was really easy to make an egg sandwich eh!

Milk: 3/4 tbsps( roughly one tbsp per egg)

Tomato: 1, finely chopped

Fresh Green Coriander/Dhania Patta: Finely chopped

Salt: 1 tsp

Pepper: 2 tsp, freshly ground for that extra flavor enhancement

Mayonnaise: 2/3 tbsps

Method

Boil the eggs and shell them.

Use a spoon to crush them coarsely so that the whites and the yolks mix well. Add the milk at this stage. Adding the milk( picked this tip from my friend S, yes the same one in whose house I had first sampled Khao Suey) keeps the sandwich soft and prevents the egg from drying even hours later. Bet you didn't know that.

Next add the chopped tomatoes and dhania patta( this was a last minute improvisation, there was some tomatoes and dhania patta leftover from the scrambled eggs made earlier).

Take two slices of brown bread. Apply some mayonnaise on the slices. Place the egg mixture on one of the slices, cover with the second slice. Wrap in an aluminium foil/butter paper and pack in your lunch box. You also have the option to eat immediately.

Cold sandwiches are convenient as ' to go' food.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

On home turf...

I quite like the geographical diversity in the last three posts( this one included). One from Far East, Thai Green Curry, one from the West, Pizza so this one had to be from my homeland. A dish prepared quite regularly in my household and relished especially by the adults.

In the East we often combine fish with other green vegetables. The typical Macha Jhola/Fish curry( that is staple diet in most Odiya households) has vegetables like potato, bhindi, brinjal, cauliflower etc. This makes the dish balanced in terms of nutrients, flavorsome in terms of taste and economical on the purse strings(prawns are going at Rs.400/ a kilo and a family of four could happily eat about half a kilo at one go).

Adding fish to lesser mortals like "lau/bottle gourd"(that is the standard perception about vegetables in most non-veg consuming households, a quick disclaimer I love vegetables and eat all of them without exception) gives it a face/place lift and ensures a wider appeal. Most people I know do not like Lau/Bottle gourd but absolutely love the Lau- Chingudi(prawn) combo. The sweet taste of Lau is balanced by the spicier Chingudi/prawn.

Lau Chingudi(Bottle Gourd with prawns)

Ingredients

Prawns/Chingudi: 200 grams(ideally the really small ones though I have used the larger sized ones here by default)

Bottle Gourd/Lau: One medium sized, chopped into cubes

Jeera/Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Tej Pata/Bay leaves: 1/2 tsp

Salt: 1 tsp

Sugar: 1/2 tsp

Turmeric/Haldi powder:1/2 tsp

Green chillies:1/2, slit on top

Jeera/cumin powder: 1 tsp

Dhania/Corriander powder: 1 tsp

Green Corriander/Dhania patta: 2/3 tbsps

Oil: 1/2 tsp, ideally mustard oil

Method

This is a dish with very few ingredients. The seasoning needs to be subtle and should not overpower the flavor/taste of the main ingredients namely Lau and Chingudi. Given that prawns are very high in cholesterol try and use it more like a flavoring for the dish.

Add a little bit of salt and turmeric to the prawns and shallow fry them in a Kadai. This should take you only a couple of minutes as prawns cook very quickly. Do not overcook the prawns as they would then turn rubbery. Remove.

Into the same kadai add some jeera, bay leaves, green chillies and saute for a few minutes. Then add the Lau and the rest of the seasoning(salt, sugar, turmeric powder, jeera and dhania powder).

Cover and cook for a few minutes till the Lau softens. Lau will release a lot of water as it cooks so you will need to keep opening the lid a couple of times as it cooks.

Add the cooked prawns, mix well. Cook for a few more minutes.

Garnish with the green corriander.

While making Lau Chingudi try and keep the rest of your menu simple. Maybe plain rice and a moong daal. Provided warmth, coziness and comfort.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Breakfast like a King......

My children could not believe their luck when they woke up this Sunday morning. Breakfast menu was Pizza. The younger one circled around the kitchen counter a couple of times to make sure that it was Pizza indeed!!! Mom agreeing to Pizzas and that too for breakfast. "unbelievable". Then he sat down and watched me layer the Pizzas.

Each one got customized, lots of mushroom for the older one, chilli flakes and olives for my husband, more corn and less mushroom for the younger one and of course some, 'all of the above' kind of Pizzas too. The biggest advantage of making the Pizzas at home, made to order so as sinful or as healthy as you want it to be.

The challenge was to try and minimize the wait time between each round. Started baking only after I had finished layering all the Pizzas. Next placed one Pizza on the hot plate(top of the oven) while another one baked. Then the ready to eat Pizza made it way to the table while the one waiting on top got shoved into the oven. And so it went on till the men declared that they were done. And could I please save the leftovers for their mid meal snack

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and so if you feel like having a Pizza the best time to have it would be in the morning. That way you have the entire day to burn the calories(sorry, if this bit sounds a little preachy, all for a good cause :-))

Breakfast Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza bases: 4(one per person). Make one or two extras which you could microwave later and eat.

Tomatoes: 4/5

Oregano: 4/5 tsp( about 1 tsp per pizza)

Olive oil: 2 tsps

Mushroom: 200 grams, finely sliced

Onions: 2 finely chopped

American sweet corn: About 1 cup, boiled

Sausages: 3/4, cut into thin roundels

Cheddar Cheese: You decide the quantity. My kids sometimes ask for a double cheese Pizza. Grate evenly over each Pizza and watch it melt and bubble all over.

Tobasco sauce: 1 tsp

Tomato Ketchup: 1 tsp

Method

For the base sauce

Blanch and puree about 3/4 tomatoes( chop one tomato fine and save that for the topping).

Heat some olive oil in a kadai, add some garlic to it. Saute for a few minutes(I like the garlic flavoring in my base sauce, you could make it without the garlic too). Then add some seasoning( try the Roopak Oregano seasoning), the pureed tomatoes and simmer. Let the sauce thicken. Then add some Cilantro/Dhania patta. Add about a teaspoon full of tobasco and another teaspoon of regular tomato ketchup. Check the seasoning. You may need to add 1/2 tsp of sugar.

Now to assemble

Spread about 1 tbsp of tomato sauce over the Pizza base. Then add some/all of the toppings. Mushroom, corn, sausage/salami, onion, tomatoes, chilli flakes, sliced olives, dhania patta, chopped garlic, oregano. Final topping of grated cheese. Bake for about 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

Slice each Pizza into four/two(depending on the number of members in your household) so that all of you can enjoy eating it together. That way you also get to sample a little bit of the other one's Pizza. Then wait till the next one arrives.

Playing for Pizza, anyone?

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

What's for dinner, darling?

Salad/stir fry for the day? What should I cook today?

The eternal question. Ideally something new, something I have not made in a while. The key to make salads interesting is to keep changing most of the ingredients everyday.

As I was going through the motions of deciding on what to cook( this is harder than the actual cooking) I remembered a Sanjeev Kapoor, ' Egg and Lettuce' salad recipe. As a meal accompaniment that would have worked fine but a main meal salad would need to have more "body" and so more ingredients( you cannot possibly have more than one egg per person in your salad). But the combination sounded appetising and I decided to use that as the base and add more ingredients. Some veggies( beans and carrots are always stocked in my refrigerator), some boiled pasta(a handful, should not overpower the veggies, veggies add volume to the salad without adding too many calories) and some sausages( for that wee bit of indulgence).

Now for the dressing. Did not want to use mayonnaise or the olive oil and lime juice combo( think new, think different has to be the mantra). So decided to make a cooked tomato sauce dressing with garlic, fresh basil and Tobasco. In all the combination that I quite hurriedly put together seemed to look good and worked well.

My Thursday Salad

(In the absence of a better name I have decided to name the salads by the day of the week)

Ingredients

Boiled Pasta: About 1 cup

Beans: 4/5 beans cut into two inch long pieces and blanched

Eggs: 2/3 boiled and cut into quartets

Carrots: 1, cut them two inch long pieces( had not initially planned on the carrots but they seemed to contrast so well with the rest of the ingredients, just could not miss out on the photo opportunity- sis would be proud of me)

Tomatoes: 2/3, blanched and pureed

Olive oil: 2 tsp

Oregano seasoning: 1 tsp

Basil leaves: 4/5

Lettuce: 4/5 leaves

Garlic: 4/5 cloves, sliced into thin slivers

Sugar: 1 tsp

Sausage: 2/3 cut into roundels

Tobasco sauce: 1 tsp

Method

For the dressing:Heat some olive oil, saute the garlic. Add the tomato puree, basil leaves, sugar, Tabasco, oregano. Simmer for a few minutes to thicken the sauce. Remove from the stove.

Add the boiled pasta, beans and carrots to the tomato sauce. Mix well.

Layer a dish with some lettuce leaves. Add the pasta with vegetables layer. Top with the sausage, boiled eggs and some shredded lettuce. Serve.

I am learning to think beyond the regular garden salad and making some amazing discoveries in the process.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

P.S: I did not get to sample any of it. I ate the leftover Thai Green Curry but then I am not complaining.

Weaving magic around the table......

Growing up in small town India was a lot of fun. You walked to school, your school friends were also your neighbors, you cycled on high streets(read main roads) without a care in the World, you created your own games, your dolls had names other than Barbie and the doll's wardrobe was courtesy your Mom. You also had lots and lots of unexpected guests. This was the pre- mobile phone era where even the penetration of landlines/STD booths was abysmally low. Guests would many a times drop in out of the blue and close to meal times. But Mom had a way of tackling these situations. She stayed calm and before we knew almost like a magician she would have added several more dishes to the daal- chawal menu. Her invisible wand produced the most delicious papads, pickles, chutneys, salads and raitas. Some/all of this on the table made it appear a lot more elaborate than it was initially intended to be.

When it came to raitas, the cucumber with tomato and onion was most common. However if there was less time or Mom decided to use the cucumber- tomato combo for the salad, then it would be dahi boondi as raita.

Accompaniments do play a big part in Indian cuisine. They help spice up the food, break the monotony of everyday menus and add immensely in terms of taste/flavor. All of this without too much additional time/effort.

Dahi Baigan(Brinjal in yoghurt) is a traditional Odiya dish, classified as raita/relish. It is a regular meal accompaniment in most Odiya households especially in the hot summer months. The brinjal and yoghurt combination gives it a really unusual taste and flavor.

Dahi Baigan

Ingredients

Brinjal: 2 medium sized brinjal( choose the bharta baigans as these do not have too many seeds)

Curd: 400 grams

Curry leaves: 10

Mustard seeds: 1 tsp

Corriander leaves: 1 tbsp

Sugar:1/4 tsp

Salt: To taste

Oil: 2 tsps

Method

Cut the brinjal into length wise quarters (2 inch long pieces). Leave the skin on. Smear some salt and turmeric over it. Leave for a few minutes.

Heat the oil and shallow fry the brinjals till done. Keep them aside and allow them to cool.

Next, whip the curd with sugar and salt. Add the fried brinjal pieces to it.

Heat the kadai( use the same one on which you have fried the brinjals), fry curry leaves, mustard seeds and green chillies. Season the curd with the same.

Garnish with chopper corriander.

Note: It is important to keep the proportion of Brinjal to less than half of the quantity of curd.

You can make an easy dip with the leftover dahi baigan. Remove the baigan pieces, mash it in a blender/mixie. Add it back to the whipped curd. Sprinkle some chat masala. Use this to top plain crackers or serve it along with some potato chips.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

He is a growing boy....look how he is shooting up.....

Cooking for 'growing boys' is challenging(to put it mildly). They are forever hungry and want something interesting to eat. Unless you can match their pace you will have them reaching for junk.

While Burgers get classified as junk food, it is quite simple to convert that into a healthy, wholesome anytime meal. Buy good quality wholewheat buns, stuff with vegetable cutlets( tons of veggies, a little bit of oil) and there you go.

It works as a one dish meal and you could team it with a soup/fresh juice depending on the time of the day and season of the year.

Veggie Burger

Ingredients(Makes four burgers)

Burger Buns: 2 per person ( if you have boys budget for a few more)

Potatoes: 2/3 large sized, boiled

Mixed vegetables: 1 cup( finely chop carrots, beans and boil them along with some green peas)

Paneer: 100 grams, grated

Bread: 1/2 slices

Pepper: 1 tsp

Jeera powder: 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Cheese slice(optional): One per burger

Mayonnaise(optional): 1 tsp per burger

Method

To make the cutlet

Mash the potatoes, add the boiled vegetables, grated paneer, salt, pepper, jeera powder, bread slices and mix well to make a firm dough.

Shape the dough into big, round balls and then flatten them. They need to be the size( in terms of their diameter, pardon the technical jargon) of the buns that you plan to use.

Putting it all together

Halve the burger buns( horizontally). The ones I bought today had already been halved( some clever thinking I must say). Toast them lightly. You could spread some mayo on them(optional), layer a slice of cheese over the lower half(again optional, most kids love it), place the cutlet over it. Cover with the other half of the bun.

Serve with some tomato ketchup.

We had ours for dinner along with a salad and some soup.

Burger also makes a good lunch box option. Kids are quite happy eating it cold. My suggestion would be to skip the cheese slice else you would end up with a gooey mess. Make the cutlet from the night before so that all of you have to do is assemble the burger in the morning.

A good way to sneak a lot of vegetables in. Looks delicious and easy finger food( even your five year old can polish it in a jiffy).

You could keep varying the filling: aloo tikki( potato cutlets) one day, chicken nuggets on another, mince chops the third time etc.

Just about anything can be mashed into a cutlet( even leftover rajma mixed with some boiled potatoes) and turned into a burger. As long as you stay with the burger disguise, kids are sure to love it.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

P.S: The ketchup art is courtesy my older son. Cooking with kids is even more fun than cooking for kids. Cheers!