Tasty Chilly Cheese Toast

Cheese is much loved food.  From kids to the elderly,  everyone enjoys a well made dish with cheese. A very popular dish at my home is Masala CheeseTtoast. We sometimes have it as a Sunday breakfast. On other occasions as  a tea time or after work snack and sometimes even as a Sunday evening meal accompanied with a bowl of soup. It's pretty simple to make and really delicious,  though  high on calories.

Ingredients

4-6 slices of bread

2 eggs

100 gms of cheese grated

1 cup milk

4 tblsps  maida or cornflour

1 small onion finely chopped

1 green chilly finely chopped

A few coriander leaves finely chopped ( optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tspn butter

Oil for frying

Method

Break eggs in a flat bowl and beat well. Slowly start mixing in the maida with a little milk,alternating  gradually  till you have a thick mixture. Now mix  in the grated cheese and blend  well. Add salt, pepper, green chillies,onion, coriander  and mix well so that you have a thick mayonnaise like mixture. Taste for accuracy of salt. Heat oil in a kadhai. When hot, reduce the flame. Take 1 slice of bread at a time and evenly spread out the egg cheese mixture to cover the entire surface and slowly put the slice into the hot oil with the wet side facing downwards. Let the slice fry while occasionally moving it around till it is golden brown on the cheesy side. Now turn it over and let the other side also fry to Golden Brown. Drain out any excess oil and place on tissue. Cut each slice into 2 traingles diagonally. Similarly fry  all slices , arrange on a serving tray and serve with tomato ketchup, chilli sauce or green chutney.

You can also have the Low-Fat version by baking it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Divine trip to Amritsar and Dharamshala

Just back from a lovely trip to Amritsar and Dharamshala. Besides having memorable, spiritual moments, we had some great gastronomical experiences like yummy melt in the mouth, oh so fresh tikkis with chholas, chutney and dahi at a small stall on Bazar road in Mcleodganj, fabulous lassi and onion Khulcha, Paneer bhurji and parathas at Bharwan da Dhaba in Amritsar.
Our hotel in Dharamshala, Pong View served good ghar ka khana whenever we decided to have a meal there. What struck me was how well they used shredded ginger as a topping in most of their gravy dishes like Choley, aloo matar, aloo bhaaji etc. The one centimeter long ginger shreds gave a very fresh and delicious taste to each dish.

I am going to start doing the same at home.

Dakshinayan - Ultimate south-Indian food destination!

Being a vegetarian, Dakshinayan in Juhu, is one of my favourite restaurants for consistent fresh and yummy south- Indian delicacies and polite and quick service. Its a great restaurant for a Sunday breakfast- which is what we did today. The wide variety of melt-in-the-mouth idlis - steamed idli, rassam idli, butter idli, molgapudi idli, Kancheepuram idli are a good way to begin your sunday breakfast/brunch. Follow it up with Sada/cheese Sada, masala, rawa masala, adai or paper dosa or perhaps the delicious upma. If you are in the mood for a sweet, I would recommend Rawa Kesari and if you like something cool you could try the rose-almond ice-cream or the falooda.
For me no meal at this place is complete without a strong cup of filter coffee which is what I had today too.

Dakshinayan is also a good place for lunch, dinner or an evening snack and chat with friends.

Palak and Doodhi Pakodas

Palak and Dudhi are not very popular for snack but can be made into delicious, crunchy pakodas that are hard to put down.

Sharing the link on how to make them. Hope you enjoy them as much as my family does.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKfFUC8IJ1w

Paneer Tikkas

The Diwali festivities begin today with Dhanteras. All of us will have many visitors dropping in over the next few days. Along with the traditional tray of mithai and dry fruits,a savoury snack is always welcome. Paneer tikka can be got ready in just a few minutes. Here is how you can delight your guest with this yummy snack.

Ingredients:

250 grams Paneer/ Cottage cheese cut into cubes or fingers

1 tbsp gram flour/ besan

1tsp red chillie powder

1tsp amchur powder

½ tsp jeera powder

¼ tsp kala namak 

¼  tsp  slightly crushed ajwain (optional)

Salt & red color powder

¼ tsp Chaat masala or tandoori masala (optional)

I small onion peeled and cut into fine rings (optional)

Method:

Mix all the dry spices in a bowl and empty out on a plate or thali. Heat oil in a kadai. Roll the paneer cubes   in the mixture & gently drop into hot oil one by one. Deep fry for a minute or two till golden brown. Drain out excess oil and remove paneer pieces on a tissue. Arrange paneer tikkas in a flat serving dish and serve hot with  chutney or ketchup or onion rings.

A few days ago, I was at Chinmaya Vibhooti, attending a Pranayama Camp. The food served at the ashram was saatvik and vegetarian. No onion, garlic and minimal oil and spices. Inspite of that everything tasted delicious, completely busting the myth that masalas and oil make food more tasty. Whether it was veg pulav, tamatar bhaaji, dal, sambar or stuffed brinjals or the morning upma served with laddoos made from rotis, each dish was Superb! All of this reinforced my belief that food cooked with love and a passion for service always turns out superb!

Yummy Cheesy Cabbage Parathas.

All of us experience days when you are not in the mood to cook an elaborate meal, we look for ways to rustle up a quick meal that's tasty, filling and healthy. Cabbage and cheese parathas are perfect for such occasions. Something easy and tasty and a great way of using cabbage which adds a little bite to the texture.

Ingredients

225 gm  cabbage grated

100gm soft cheese , crumbled

2tbs , coriander leaves, finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped.

Salt to taste.

All I do is put  diced pieces of cabbage and cottage cheese along with the  coriander and green chillies in a food processor, pulse for a  minute or two. Upturn in a bowl. When ready to actually make parathas, sprinkle salt to season, stuff in the whole wheat round and roll out like a thick roti. Cook on non-stick tawa till both sides are evenly done. Add a little butter for the last flip over which will bring crispness to the paratha. You can even serve with a blob of butter, any pickle or a bowl of yogurt and roasted papad.

Love this variation  for parathas as it is easy, no boiling, cooking  or squeezing of filling  required as in making parathas out of potatoes, radish, or cauliflower.  Besides even the seasoning is simple – salt and chillies.

Enjoy!