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Hara Bhara Kabab

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Nidhi

Hara Bhara Kabab is quite a popular snack nowadays among adults as well as kids. Made with lots of green vegetables these are generally a healthier option to other snacks which are served in parties and ceremonies. My kids also love to eat Hara Bhara Kabab though they know all the vegetables that have been added to these. I think that tells how delicious they are especially to mothers of fussy eaters

we all know the benefits of spinach which is the star ingredient of these kababs. You can add a variety of green vegetables in these. I have added whatever I had in my fridge namely beans capsicum coriander leaves. In winters peas can be added to these as peas add a very nice taste to kebabs or cutlets.

These can be shallow fried or grilled in oven. I have shallow fried the kababs. A perfect evening snack for kids or a perfect starter to serve guests or a more than perfect breakfast item. It is your choice how and when you want to have these.

How to make Hara Bhara Kabab

Preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 10 minutes
makes around 8-10 depending on size

Ingredients:
1 cup spinach leaves washed properly
¼ French beans chopped finely
¼ cup capsicum chopped finely
¼ cup coriander leaves chopped finely
2 green chillies
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 medium sized boiled potatoes
1 onion chopped finely
1 white bread corners removed

¼ tsp roasted cumin powder
¼ tsp chaat masala

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup maida
water to make a thick paste

Bread crumbs
oil to shallow fry
To make Hara Bhara Kabab

Boil water in a pan. Add a little salt. Switch off the flame and add spinach leaves to the water. Leave for 5 minutes. Drain the leaves to remove excess water.
Heat ½ tsp oil in a pan and sauté beans and capsicum for 2-3 minutes. Blend capsicum, beans, spinach leaves, coriander leaves and ginger in a blender to a coarse paste after cooling down.

In a wide bowl add mashed potatoes, onion, all the spices and the coarse spinach mixture and mix thoroughly. Soak bread slice in water for 1 minute, press and remove the excess water and mash it in the mixture. It helps in holding mixture together.

Make kababs of desired shape.

Make a thick paste of cornflour with water. Take bread crumbs in a separate plate.

Dip the kababs in the maida batter and roll in the bread crumbs so that they are coated uniformly.

Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the kababs till light brown on both sides. Serve hot with ketchup.

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Posted in breakfast, For beginners, healthy, Homemade, quick and easy, Recipe, snacks, Vegetables | Tagged appetizers, breakfast, healthy, kebabs, potato, potatoes, quick and easy, snacks, spinach, tea time, vegetarian | 2 Comments

Mango Kulfi

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Nidhi

Mango Kulfi

After homemade Kulfi I am back with Mango kulfi. It is so hot these days that I do not think we can survive summers without these homemade kulfis( my husband’s and kid’s words). Generally cream is added to Kulfi to give it a creamy flavour but by adding bread slices I do not have any need of adding cream to these Kulfis. That is why we can call these guilt free indulgence.

Mango Kulfi is my husband’s favourite Kulfi. I think he likes everything with mangoes in itJ though my kids still prefer regular homemade Kulfi. I think they like different flavors deliberately so that I keep on making different flavors of everything

Mango kulfi recipe is same as that of regular homemade Kulfi. You can prepare it two ways.

1. After preparing kulfi you can add mango pulp and give it a boil.
2. You can wait for kulfi to come to room temperature then add mango puree.
I have tried both. First type gives a very well set soft Mango Kulfi and second type yields a very flavourful kulfi . My family prefers second type)

Mangoes are still in season. Give it a try and fall in love with Mango Kulfi

How to make Mango Kulfi

Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Makes around 8-10 kulfi

Ingredients:

1 liter milk
2 white bread slices
¾ cup sugar ( if your mangoes are very sweet you can use ½ cup sugar)
1 ½ cup mango puree ( I got it from 2 mangoes)

2 tbsp slivered almond/pistachio

To make Mango Kulfi

Boil milk in a wide thick bottomed pan. Cut the corners of the bread slices and soak them in ½ cup warm milk from the pan.
After milk comes to boil turn the flame to low and let it cook till it reduces to 3/4th liter.
After 10-15 minutes blend the soaked bread slices in the blender with the milk to form a smooth paste. When milk reduces to ¾th liter add this mixture to the pan stirring continuously so that no lumps form. Stir for 3-4 minutes continuously.
When milk reduces to almost half add sugar and almonds and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add mango puree give it 1-2 boils and switch off the flame. This ensures there are no ice crystals in the kulfi on cooling. If you do not want to boil mango puree You can avoid this step also and add mango puree after the kulfi cools down. My hubby likes this way more as the Kulfi we get is very flavorful.
After Mango Kulfi cools down fill in the kulfi moulds and freeze for atleast 4-5 hours before serving.

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Posted in bread, Festival sweets, fruits, Homemade, indian, Indian Sweets, Kids, milk, No bake sweets, Recipe, Summer food, sweets | Tagged bread, cream free kulfi, desserts, Diwali Sweets, healthy, indian, mango, mango Kulfi, milk, quick and easy, sweets | Leave a comment

Homemade Kulfi

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Nidhi

Homemade kulfi is quite a popular dessert in Indian homes which is not surprising given the long hot summer season. Our moms have been making these for ages in kulfi moulds, Kulhads or even Ice cube trays (very easy to serve pieces).

My mother also used to make amazing Kulfi though at that time I was not really very fond of Kulfi or Icecreams. Only Icecream I used to eat was Orange bar. Yes I know. My family also knows. It is no secret. I was weird That is another story. So Kulfi was made in every household and it was loved by all.

This Homemade Kulfi recipe is by my dear friend and neighbor Nisha Chugh. Whenever she used to make this Kulfi she would keep some share for us. My hubby and son just loved it. She adds bread slices to the Kulfi which gives it a nice texture and body. It has been a huge hit with my family and I have been making it now for almost 2 years.
Somehow I do not mind giving that dessert to my kids which have milk as their main ingredient. And with summer holidays on kids are always hungry and they always want something cold so making Kulfi seems like the perfect choice.

We can add fruits also to this Kulfi to get a fruity flavor. I have made this with mango puree and my husband just loved it. I will post the recipe soonJ
For now here is homemade Kulfi recipe for you.

How to make homemade kesar elaichi Kulfi
Cooking time: 35-40 minutes

Makes around 8-10 kulfi
Ingredients:
1 liter milk
2 white bread slices
½ cup sugar
½ tsp elaichi/cardamom powder

Few strand of kesar

2 tbsp slivered almond/pistachio

To make homemade kesar elaichi Kulfi

Boil milk in a wide thick bottomed pan.

Cut the corners of the bread slices and soak them in ½ cup warm milk from the pan.
After milk comes to boil turn the flame to low and let it cook till it reduces to 3/4^th liter.

After 10-15 minutes blend the soaked bread slices in the blender with the milk to form a smooth paste.

When milk reduces to ¾th liter add this mixture to the pan stirring continuously so that no lumps form. Stir for 3-4 minutes continuously.

When milk reduces to almost half add sugar and almonds and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

Switch off the flame and add kesar strand and Elaichi powder to the kulfi.
after it cools down fill in the kulfi moulds and freeze for atleast 4-5 hours before serving.

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Posted in For beginners, healthy, Homemade, Indian Sweets, milk, No bake sweets, quick and easy, Recipe, Summer food, sweets | Tagged desserts, Diwali Sweets, healthy, indian, kesar, kulfi, milk, nuts, quick and easy, sweets | 6 Comments

Vegetable Momos

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Nidhi

Vegetable Momos
Momos are steamed buns (made with plain flour) with veg or non veg filling. These are quite easy to make, filled with vegetables and yummy…. They are also very light to eat.

The first time I ate Vegetable Momos they did not appeal to me at all and I decided that I am not trying them again. But recently hubby and elder son have been to some party and they just fell in love with momos being served there. These Momos were so good that they skipped dinner and concentrated on Momos only.

When they arrived home they were full of Momos tales and I said what a coincidence my friend was just telling me how she makes Momos at home. From that day (more like that second) my son has been asking me to make Momos. All this happened one month back and I did oblige him and make Vegetable Momos. For some reason I have not been able to post this recipe but better late than never.

Hubby and son both were quite satisfied with the Momos made at home. It is not every day that you see your kids relishing something with cabbage, carrot and lots of vegetables in it. That too knowingly (I have sneaked these vegetables in their food many times without their knowing it).
As for me I was also quite satisfied with the Momos. Though I accidently dropped a lot of soy sauce in the Sauce its taste was also good.
So a big thanks to my friend Diksha chugh for this easy to make recipe which will be made quite frequently in our house in winters (as decided by my kids) when fresh cabbage and carrots are available.

How to make Vegetable Momos

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes

Cooking time: 40-45 minute
makes around 25 Momos

Ingredients:

For dough:
2 cups Maida/ plain flour
½ tsp salt
2 tsp oil

Water as needed

For stuffing:
1 cup grated Cabbage

½ cup grated carrots
¼ cup finely chopped Capsicum

¼ cup steamed French beans

½ cup steamed Corn
1 large onions finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 tsp oil

8-10 basil leaves roughly chopped

Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp vinegar
(You can add or subtract vegetables according to your taste and preference)

For sauce:
1 tsp oil
1 tsp chopped green chilies
¼ tsp chopped ginger
¼ tsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp corn flour
1 cup water
1 tsp soya sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup (you can use chili sauce also if you like)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp vinegar

½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp red chili powder (optional if you are adding chili sauce no need to add)

Serve with
green chilies in vinegar
soya sauce

To make Vegetable Momos

Let’s first prepare the dough. Add salt and oil to maida/plain flour and make stiff dough. Leave it covered for 15-20 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan on high flame. Sauté onions and garlic. Add all the vegetables for filling and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add salt, pepper and vinegar.

You can also prepare the sauce in the meanwhile. Heat oil in a pan. Fry chilies, garlic and ginger for 1 minute. Add corn flour in water and add to the pan. Add rest of the ingredients and cook till the mixture becomes thick.

Take a small ball of dough and roll it as thin as you can with the help of a rolling pin. Wet the corners slightly.

Place 1 tbsp filling in the centre. You can fold momos in different ways. You can either fold it like stuffed paranthas in a round shape or you can give it a crescent shape.

Put in a steamer and steam for 10-12 minutes. If you do not have a steamer you can use an idli stand.

I have steamed in a large pan filled 1/4^th with water. I have placed momos on a greased slotted plate so that I can steam a large number of momos in one go.

Serve with prepared sauce, green chilies in vinegar and soya sauce

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Posted in Appetizers, Recipe, snacks, Vegetables, winters food | Tagged appetizers, carrots, Momos, snacks, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Rose Popsicle

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Nidhi

Rose Popsicles

to beat the heat
to survive harsh summers
to keep kids happy in their summer vacations
to remember the taste of CHUSKI which hubby would not let me have anywhere
wow so many reasons to make a Popsicle. I am sure you all must have been convinced on the first line itself.

Popsicles are so easy to make. Just make some fruit shake or juice and freeze it in Popsicle moulds and your popsicles are ready.

I have made Popsicles with orange juice (they tasted just like orange bar), mango shake, banana chocolate shake and these Rose Popsicles with Roohafzah sharbat.

My kids love to drink Roohafzah sharbat. But with temperature reaching 50 C drinks have failed to provide much relief. So hubby gave this idea of making Roohafzah popsicle to make kids happy.
You can see how hot it is Rose Popsicles started melting even before I could click the snaps.

How to make Rose Popsicle

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ready to eat after 6-8 hours
made around 8 popsicles

Ingredient:

2 cups water
4 tbsp Roohafzah or any other Rose syrup
2 tbsp sugar

4-5 mint leaves

Note: You can add lemon juice also to it if you like.

To make Rose Popsicle

Mix sugar and water. Add roohafzah sharbat and mix properly. Fill the Popsicle moulds with sharbat. Add some chopped mint leaves to it and keep in the freezer for 6-8 hours to freeze.
If you do have popsicle moulds you can either make them in kulfi moulds ( like I did) or disposable paper cups.

Just fill the moulds/ cups with Roohafzah sharbat and cover it with foil. Freeze it for 2-3 hours.

Make a slit in the foil and arrange stick in it. It should be partially frozen so that stick remains in its position. Freeze again for 4-5 hours.

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Posted in Drinks, For beginners, Homemade, indian, No cooking required, quick and easy, Recipe, Summer food, under 10 minutes | Tagged mint, popsicle, quick and easy, Roohafzah | Leave a comment

Paper flowers

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Nidhi

My kids made these paper flowers for their grandmother on her birthday. Needless to say she was thrilled to receive these. I saw these on pinterest and immediately liked them. These are perfect to make flower bouquet, cards and for wrapping gifts.

These are quite easy to make though they take a little time and some patience.
I have not posted instructions to make these flowers. You can visit the site to learn to make them.
How to make Paper Flowers
This is what you will need:
colored paper sheets (green for leaves and stems, bright colors for flowers)
scissors
fevicol

To learn how to make these flowers please visit this site

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Posted in Craft activity, Kids, Kids Activity | Tagged activity, craft, crafts, creaft acticity, flowers, holiday activity, kids, paper craft, paper flowers | 2 Comments

Homemade Bread

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Nidhi

This is my first attempt at making bread at home. Second actually, Couldn’t take any photographs the first time. I have read many times that making bread is quite easy and once you start making it at home you will not buy it from market.

I can say this now that everything I have heard came out to be 100 % true and the taste of homemade bread ( health point too but I am not touching that now) is so much better than readymade. Bread had a very nice texture and it was perfect for sandwich.

Axat has been asking me to start making bread at home but I had been postponing it for some unknown reason in the past. But now I have made it twice already in one week. Taste was so good that kids were having it as it is without applying butter or jam.

I have used half plain flour and half whole wheat flour. But now in my next attempt I am thinking of making full whole wheat with flex seeds or oats. I have also substituted butter with olive oil.
There is not even much effort involved you just have to plan in advance because of rising time.

How to make Homemade Bread

Adapted from: reciperoll.com

preparation / rising time: 20-25 minutes+60 minutes+40 minutes
Baking time: 25 minutes
makes 1 bread loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup plain flour + ¼ cup plain flour (for working on dough)
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
¼ cup milk
1 tbsp olive oil

To make Homemade Bread

Take ¼ cup warm water in a bowl. Sprinkle yeast and half of the sugar to it. Mix it and let it stand for around 10 minutes. Add rest of the water, sugar, milk, oil and salt to it and mix it. Now add both the flours (1 cup plain flour + 1 cup whole wheat flour) to the wet ingredients. Mix all the ingredients to form dough. The dough will be sticky. Leave it as it is for ten minutes for the flours to absorb liquids.

After 10 minutes clean the kitchen slab counter or you can use a big thali for working on dough. You will have to set thali otherwise it will keep on moving from its place. Kitchen slab is best for working on dough.
Just sprinkle a little flour from the ¼ cup flour we have on the slab and put the sticky dough from the bowl on it. Work on dough for 10-15 minutes until you get a smooth and elastic dough.
This video on how to knead bread dough explains the process very clearly.

Grease a bowl and put the dough in it. Now invert the dough so that it is greased from the top also. Cover with a cling film and let it rise in a warm place for 60 minutes. It will be almost double in size.

Sprinkle a little flour on the slab and take out the dough. Punch the dough down. Gently flatten the dough into a rectangle. Fold the top part. Then fold the bottom part so that it overlaps the other part. Pinch the dough closed with your fingers. Fold it in half again and pinch it closed. Invert the dough and put in the greased bread pan. Seam side should be down.

I have learned folding from here. You can check the site to understand it clearly.

Cover it with a cotton cloth and let it rise again for 40-45 minutes till it doubles in size.

While the dough is rising you can preheat the oven at high for 15-20 minutes. When dough is ready brush olive oil on top and let it bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 300 C.

It will be golden brown in color. Let the loaf cool on a wire rack.

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Posted in baked, bread, breakfast, From blogs, Homemade, Inspired/ adapted, Recipe | Tagged baking, bread, breakfast, homemade bread | 6 Comments

Falafel with Tahini sauce

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Nidhi

Falafel is a middle eastern food generally served with pita bread and Tahini sauce. Falafel wrap is perfect for a healthy breakfast. You can add falafel balls with lots of salad, yogurt dip and Tahini sauce. It is a very filling meal.

Falafel balls can also be served as a snack or appetizer with dips and sauces. This is a high protein snack. These can be either fried or baked. I have fried them though next time I am thinking of baking them.

My son loves to eat Falafel wraps. I make the regular roti for falafel wrap add yogurt based dip to it some Tahini sauce and lots of salad.

How to make Falafel with Tahini sauce
Preparation time: 15 minutes
cooking time: 30 minutes
makes around 30 balls (I have made balls of small size)

Ingredients:
For Falafel:
1 cup Chickpeas soaked overnight
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
¼ tsp red chilli powder
2 green chillies deseeded and chopped

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

Salt to taste

¼ tsp black pepper
water
Note: I have not used baking powder/soda in the recipe though it is sometimes used. It is your preference.

Oil for deep frying

For Tahini sauce:
3 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove grated finely
juice of 1 lemon
water

For yogurt dip:
½ cup thick curd
¼ cucumber grated
1 tsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
salt and pepper to taste

To make Falafel with Tahini sauce
first you have to prepare tahini sauce and yogurt dip

Roast the sesame seeds lightly on a non stick tawa/pan. Do not brown them. When they cool down (after 10-15 minutes) run them with olive oil in your blender to make a paste. This is Tahini paste.

Add Garlic and lemon juice to Tahini paste. Add water to get a smooth sauce like consistency. Mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps. Refrigerate it and serve chilled.

To make yogurt dip mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate it also and serve chilled.

Now to make falafel, put all the ingredients except salt and pepper in your mixie/ processor. Process to a coarse paste adding little water. Do not add a lot of water while processing otherwise it becomes difficult to give them round shape. Shift to a bowl and add salt and pepper. Mix uniformly.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan. When oil is hot fry 8-10 balls of falafel mixture till golden brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain on a tissue paper/news paper.
Serve hot with tahini sauce, yogurt dip and salad. These are generally served with pita bread.

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Posted in Appetizers, breakfast, curd, Dips/ Chutneys, For beginners, Fried snacks, kids lunch box, main meal, Recipe, snacks | Tagged appetizers, breakfast, Falafel, healthy, middle eastern food, snacks, Tahini Sauce, vegetarian, yogurt dip | Leave a comment

Tomato salsa

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Nidhi

Tomato salsa is great to serve with Tortilla chips/nachos if you are entertaining a large group or there is a kid’s party at home or simply to have them while watching movies.

Tomato salsa hardly takes 5 minutes to prepare, has to be kept in fridge for some time before serving and is generally loved by all. These qualities make it a popular choice to serve guests.

It is essential to keep it in fridge for at least 2-3 hours for all the flavors to blend in. So you can prepare it in advance and there would be no last minute cutting, peeling and chopping.

This salsa is very cool and refreshing. It is sour, salty and sweet all tastes combined in one.

How to make Tomato Salsa

Preparation time: 5 minutes
no cooking required
has to be prepared at least 2-3 hours in advance

Ingredients:
4 tomatoes

1 onion
1 green chilly
¼ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves chopped
Note: Adjust quantity of chilli powder if making it for kids

To make Tomato Salsa

Finely chop tomatoes, onion and green chilly. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours. Serve chilled with tortilla chips.

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Posted in Appetizers, Dips/ Chutneys, For beginners, No cooking required, quick and easy, Recipe, salads, Spanish, under 10 minutes, Vegetables | Tagged appetizers, kids, quick and easy, salad, snacks, sweet and sour, tomato, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Greek Salad

Posted on May 8, 2014 by Nidhi

Greek Salad
Greek salad is really healthy and tempting. If I have to eat so much salad as it is I will not be able to finish even half of it. But I can have this full bowl of greek salad anyday anytime and that too happily. It could be because of the dressing added which gives it a Sweet and sour flavor or because of the way this colorful salad looks in the bowl. I don’t know and I am not complaining

As I do not get all the ingredients like feta cheese and kalamata olives easily where I live I have substituted them with available ingredients. I have used Cottage Cheese in place of Feta Cheese in the greek salad. Sometimes I use processed cheese cubes also in place of feta cheese. In place of Kalamata olives I have used black olives.

We all want to eat healthy nowadays and incorporating salads, soups and fresh juices and fruits in your diet is the best way to achieve that. And this is the best way to eat lots of salad in summers

How to make Greek salad
preparation time: 5 minutes

No cooking required

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers sliced
3 tomatoes cut into wedges
1 onion sliced
200 grams Cottage cheese/2-3 cheese cubes cut into small pieces (original greek salad uses Feta Cheese)
10-12 black olives ( in place of Kalamata olives)
2 tbsp fresh Coriander leaves

Dressing:
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

To make Greek Salad

Make the dressing first. Add all the ingredients for dressing in a large bowl and mix well together.
Add the cucumber, tomatoes, onion, cottage cheese, olives and coriander leaves. Toss all the ingredients together. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Your salad is ready. This salad is generally served with pita bread.