Tasty Cabbage-Cucumber salad

A good salad is becoming an integral part of our daily meals for most people. Cucumber, carrot, tomato and onion are the most commonly vegetables to be used in everyday salads. However that tends to become boring and monotonous and all of look for a change, that is simple to put together, tasty and nutritious. Cabbage, cucumber and peanut salad is perfect to be had with lunch.

Ingredients                                               

1 small cabbage (200 grams)

1 cucumber

50 grams peanuts (roasted and shelled)

2 tblsp Olive oil

1-2 tblsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pinch sugar (optional)

Few Mint leaves (optional)

Method

Wash and finely shred the cabbage. Peel the cucumber and cut into small pieces. In a salad bowl, put chopped cabbage and cucumber. Add peanuts and all other ingredients, mix well and serve chilled. Garnish it with mint leaves.

MamaGoto - Should you Go To ?

In the last two weeks I have taken two groups of friends to MamaGoto, the Asian food restaurant on Hill Road Bandra, because they wanted to have Chinese/Asian cuisine and MamaGoto is conveniently located being close to home. On one occasion we went on a weekday afternoon and on second occasion on a Monday night, both being not very busy times. But on both occasions the service was rather slow and the staff confused. However on the food front some dishes were very good and the others average. I particularly liked their clear veg soup, egg fried rice and the mixed vegetables in schezwan sauce. The starter which was a Momo in shape of a spring roll was quite disappointing and so was the hot and sour soup. If you are looking for a place to have a relaxed evening and some light and tasty food, try MamaGoto but make sure you have a lot of time and go early as they don't take reservations.

Tasty Cheesy Bread Rolls !!

Last evening, soon after I got back from a day trip to Pune, I got a call from a friend that she was coming to my locality and would drop by at my place, I asked her to join us for dinner. I needed to add some finishing touches to the meal that was cooked and ready and organize a starter quickly. Since it was a rainy evening, I thought of making tasty and easy to make bread and cheese rolls. Here's how I made them -

Ingredients:         

6 slices fresh bread (cut off all four edges of each slide)      
1 small bowl of milk or buttermilk
4 to 5 tbps grated cheese
1 small onion finely chopped
1 green chilly finely chopped
A few coriander leaves finely chopped
1/4 tsp pepper powder (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Procedure:

Put grated cheese, onion, chilly, coriander leaves and salt in a bowl and mix well to a thick paste. Pour the milk/buttermilk in a flat bowl/deep plate. Heat oil in a thick bottomed kadai. When really hot, lower the flame, soak one bread slice in the milk/buttermilk quickly, squeeze out extra  milk, put a spoonful of the cheese onion paste in the centre and close the open edges by pressing the edges and giving it the shape of a roll. Slowly drop each roll into the hot oil and fry till all sides are evenly golden brown in color. Drain out the oil and remove the rolls on paper tissue. Serve hot with ketchup or coriander mint chutney.

P.S. You can substitute the cheese paste filling with potato and peas filling. 

Do share your comments and let me know how this simple but yummy recipe made your loved ones smile!

Chicken soup for the 'cold' !!!

The much awaited monsoon has finally hit Mumbai and as usual has  brought the colds and sore throats to Mumbaikars. There's nothing like a hot cup of chicken soup to perk you  up and help  fight the cold virus. It's easy to make and tastes great !

Ingredients             

3-4 fleshy  pieces of chicken
1 small onion
1 tspn coriander powder
1/4 to 1/2 tspn pepper powder
2-3 cloves
1 inch  piece cinnamon
Few strands of coriander leaves
Salt to taste
1/2 - 1 tspn corn flour -- optional
1 tspn butter  -- optional 


Method
In pressure cooker , put washed chicken pieces and finely chopped onion along with coriander powder , cloves and cinnamon . Add 2-3 cups of water and pressure cook for 7-10 mins after the first whistle. When cool, open cooker and take out the chicken pieces and debone the flesh. Add 1/3 of the chicken flesh back to the cooker and put the contents in a blender and blend well. Heat to boiling point Add salt and pepper powder and the remaining shredded chicken and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with garlic toast or bruschetta 

Optional : In case you like your soup thicker, after blending and while heating, you can put the butter and corn flour on a pan, saute it and add the soup to it and mix well. If you like the soup to be  more like a clear soup you can dilute by adding some boiling water.