Corn spinach cheese sandwich

   

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

  

Makes about 10 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 20 - Bread slices
• 6 cups - Spinach
• 3 cups - Corn kernels
• Amul cheese - per your preference 
• 1 - Finely chopped onion
• 4 - Garlic cloves
• 2 tsp - Wheat flour
• 1tsp - Black pepper
• 2-3 - Green chillies (if you need spicy)
• 1 Tbsp - Butter for the stuffing
• Butter to grill the sandwich

Preparation:

1. Wash the spinach leaves and chop them
2. Boil the corn kernels
3. Heat oil in a pan
4. Add grated garlic and sauté
5. Now add finely chopped onion, chopped green chillies and sauté 
6. Add wheat flour and sauté till the raw flavor is gone
7. Now add the chopped spinach and allow to cook
8. Add corn kernels and mix well. Cover the pan and allow to cook for 4min
9. Add salt and pepper. Mix well. Turn off the heat and let it cooled
10. Once cooled, take a bread slice and apply the filling
11. Grate cheese and cover with another bread slice
12. Heat a griddle and cook till golden brown on both sides

Korean vegetable pancake

  

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

40 mins

TOTAL TIME

60 mins

  

Makes about 30 small sized pieces

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup - Rice flour 
• 1/2 cup - All purpose flour or use Besan/Chickpea flour for healthier version 
• 1/4 cup - water to make the vegetable mix and stick well
• 2 medium sized - Finely lengthwise sliced Onion
• 2 green chillies - Finely chopped
• 2 cups - Finely lengthwise sliced cabbage
• 2 cup - Finely lengthwise sliced carrot
• 2 cup - Finely lengthwise sliced bell peppers
• 2 cup - Finely lengthwise sliced potato
• 1 cup - Chopped spring onions
• 1 tsp - crushed black pepper
• Cilantro
• Salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp or more to cook - Oil 

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine all the lengthwise sliced vegetables. Make them as thin as possible (pic for example)
   
   
   
2. Add salt, rice flour and chickpea flour and mix well with a very little water. The flour should be just the right quantity to bind all veggies together (see video for example)
   
   
3. Heat a pan and add little oil
4. Make small pancakes and cook on both sides.
5. Serve with chili oil or ketchup

Vegetarian wheat Dim Sum/momos/Dumplings with spicy sauce

 

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

40 mins

TOTAL TIME

60 mins

  

Makes about 30 small sized pieces

Ingredients:

For the momos:

• 1.5 cup - Wheat flour 
• 1/4 cup - water to knead the dough
• 1 medium sized - Finely chopped Onion
• 5-6 cloves - Finely chopped garlic
• 2 green chillies - Finely chopped
• 2 cups - Finely chopped cabbage
• 1 cup - Finely chopped carrot
• 1 cup - chopped spinach
• 200g - Crumbed tofu
• 1/2 cup - Finely chopped green bell pepper
• 1 tsp - crushed black pepper
• Cilantro
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp - Oil 

For the spicy sauce:

• 2 medium - Tomato
• 2-3 - garlic cloves
• 1-2 - dry red chillies (adjust per preference)
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp - sugar
• 1/2 tsp - powdered black pepper
• 3 cups - water for cooking tomatoes

Preparation:

Momos:

1. In a large bowl, combine wheat flour, salt, oil and little water. Made a dough like we make for chapati. Keep the dough covered and aside 
2. Heat a pan. Add oil and let it become hot. 
3. Now add chopped garlic and roast a little.
4. Add finely chopped onion, green chillies and sauté till raw flavor goes away
5. Add the finely chopped bell pepper and sauté 
6. Now add finely chopped cabbage, carrot, tofu and cook it for 5min
7. Now add spinach and cook agin for 5min
8. Now add salt, pepper and cilantro and  give it a good mix
9. Turn off the heat and allow to cool down

Spicy sauce:

1. Rinse tomatoes well and keep ready
2. Break dry red chillies into halves, remove seeds, rinse in water and keep aside
3. Heat water in a pan and when it comes to a boil, add the whole tomatoes and red chillies
4. Cook uncovered for 8-10 min or until the tomatoes are well cooked
5. Use strainer and separate the tomatoes and chillies
6. Allow to cool
7. Once cool, peel the skins of tomatoes 
8. Add them to the blender (without any water).
9. Also add garlic, salt, sugar, black pepper to the blender and blend into smooth consistency
10. Transfer to a bowl to serve it

Assembling and cooking the momos:

1. Take a small ball of the prepared dough. Roll it into a big chapati
2. Now take a round cutter and cut multiple smaller circular dough
3. Add a tsp of the above vegetable-tofu mix 
4. Shape the momo as you desire. I have an example of how I folded mine
   
5. Line a steamer with parchment paper or use a cooker tin to steam momos. I dont have a steamer and used a regular Indian pressure cooker without the whistle to steam my momos
6. Steam the momos for 7min and serve hot with the sauce

Chocolate chip cookies

PREP TIME

10 mins

COOK TIME

40 mins

TOTAL TIME

50 mins

  

Makes about 20 medium sized cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup - All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup - unsalted butter
• 1 cup - Large chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup - White sugar 
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 egg 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt 

Preparation:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan until it turns dark brown, and has a nutty scent.
2. When browned, transfer butter into a large mixing bowl and let cool for 5 mins. 
3. Add white and brown sugar to the bowl and incorporate fully. 
4. Add your egg to the mixture and it should look like a slimy consistency. 
5. Add vanilla, salt and baking soda into mixture and mix fully. Add the baking soda into pool of vanilla to activate baking soda
6. Once mixture is a ribbon-like consistency, add in flour and large chocolate chips. Mix until no streaks of flour are left. 
7. Scoop into round dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 
8. Sprinkle with salt if desired. 
9. Chill 10 minutes for flatter cookies or you can also bake it right away
10. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350º F.
11. Chill and enjoy

Beetroot tomato sabji

 

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

  

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium size beetroot 
• 2 medium size tomato
• 10 leaves kadipatta
• 1-2 green chillies or dry red chillies
• Cilantro 
• 4 tsp oil
• 2 tsp - Cumin seeds or Jeera
• 2 tsp - Mustard seeds or Rai
• 3 tsp - Sesame seeds
• 3 tsp - Urad dal
• 2 tsp - Hing
• 1/2 tsp - jaggery
• 2 tsp - Dhaniya-Jeera powder 
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Cut the beetroots into halves and pressure cook them
2. Peel and chop the beetroots into cubes of size of your choice
3. Cut tomato into cubes
4. Also chop the cilantro 
5. In a pan/kadhai, heat oil
6. Once hot add mustard seeds and allow to splutter
7. Then add Jeera, Sesame seeds and allow to splutter
8. Now add urad dal and roast till golden brown. Make sure the dal is brown, else it does not taste as good
9. Now add chillies and kadipatta and roast well
10. Now add the cubbed beetroot and tomato
11. Add salt, jaggery, Dhaniya-Jeera powder to the pan and mix well
12. Garnish with cilantro and serve with chapati

      NOTE: This can be mixed with yogurt to make it a raita as well or eaten just like that with chapati

Suspicious sandwich/Veggie wraps

This recipe has an interesting story behind its name. My son started calling it the "suspicious sandwich" because every time I made it for him, he was surprised by what was inside. The sandwich always had a burst of different flavors that he enjoyed every single time, making it one of his favorites. It's also my go-to recipe when I'm short on time but still need a healthy, filling meal. I've experimented with several variations of this recipe, and I'll share one in detail in this post, along with other variations in the notes section until I can create a separate post for them.

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME

25 mins

  

Makes 5-6 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 packet ready to make roti's or tortilla
• 1 cup - Shredded Cabbage 
• 1 cup - Sliced onion 
• 1 cup - Sliced Tomato
• 1 cup - Spinach leaves
• 1 cup - Cucumber
•  Bitchin' sauce
• Salt to taste
•       Crushed black pepper
•       3 cubes - Amul cheese (Any other cheese can be used as well)
•       Olive oil to grill the sandwich 

 Preparation:

1. Heat a griddle on medium flame till hot
2. Half cook the roti/tortilla and let it cool
3. Now fold the roti/torilla twice to make a quarter/triangular shape
4. Open it back and make a slit half way through (see the video for details)
5. On one of the quarter of the roti apply the bitchin' sauce (I used pesto), you can use any other of your choice. Also this can be replaced with Mayo, Indian mint Chutney, traditional pesto, hummus etc
6. In the remaining 2 quarters add the veggies. The veggies can be placed in layers. I love it loaded with veggies
7. In the last quarter, add grated cheese
8. Now, starting with the quarter with the sauce - Start placing the quarters on the next quarter and continue to do that until we have the sandwich in the shape of a quarter(triangle)
9. Apply some oil or butter to a heated griddle
10. Place the sandwich on the griddle and cook till crispy and brown
11. Flip around and cook the other side as well
12. The sandwich is ready to be served with ketchup, Indian mint chutney or can be just eaten as is. All have its own flavor burst

NOTE:

• This is just one variation of the sandwich. We can use different sauces, different veggies and make it with your own preferences
• For added protein content, we can also roast and add a slice of paneer, Tofu along with vegetables

Cucumber thalipeeth

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

40 mins

TOTAL TIME

60 mins

  

Makes about 10 medium sized thalipeeth

Ingredients:

• 1 cup - Wheat flour (Skip if you want to make gluten free version)
• 1/4 cup - Ragi flour
• 1/4 cup - Bajra flour
• 1/2 cup - Besan flour
• 1 cup - Jowar flour
• 1/2 cup - Rice flour
• 1 tsp jeera
• 4-5 tsp sesame
• 8-10 chopped leaves kadipatta
• Chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbsp oil
• Additional oil to cook thalipeeth
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• 1 inch grated ginger
• 2 tsp Asafetida
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder (or more if you like spicy)
• 1/2 tsp powdered jaggery
• 2 tsp dhaniya -jeera powder
• 1-2 Chopped green chillies
• 1 big Grated cucumber
• 1 small chopped onion
• Additional chopped onion to apply while making individual thalipeeth
• Water in a bowl while making thalipeeth

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine all the flours
2. Add all the masalas and other ingredients from the list and mix well
3. Make a dough, not too hard like chapati dough and not watery. Make it enough to be able to spread with fingers on a sheet of plastic
4. Take a sheet of plastic paper and apply oil
5. Take a small ball of dough and place on the sheet. Spread the dough to make as flat as possible. Make 2-4 small holes in thalipeeth with fingers. This will help cook it better and make it crispier (watch the video for better understanding of how to make it)
6. You can add fine chopped onion and sesame seeds if you like it
7. Heat a griddle and once hot apply oil
8. Transfer the thalipeeth on the griddle, apply oil on the thalipeeth, cover it with a lid and cook it well on one side for 3 min or so
9. Once cooked, flip around and cook for another 2-3 min  

NOTE:

1. Serve with butter or yogurt
2. Cucumber can be replaced with red pumpkin, laud/dhoodi, ridge gourd/turai/dodka

Dry shenga/peanut chutney

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

0 mins

TOTAL TIME

15 mins

 

Ingredients:

• 5 cups roasted and de-skinned peanut
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp sesame
• 8-10 leaves kadipatta
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp Asafetida
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder (or more if you like spicy)
• 1/2 tsp powdered jaggery
• 2 tsp dhaniya -jeera powder

Preparation:

1. Dry roast peanuts and de-skin them. I use store roasted ones to save time.
2. On a hot pan, add few drops of oil. Then add Jeera, sesame and kadipatta and roast well
3. In a mixer jar add, add the above ingredients except oil and pulse it coarse. 
4. Once the mix is coarsely ground, Add oil and grind till desired texture
5. Serve this chutney with idli, dosa, paratha with dahi or even with ghee chapati roll or with rice. All the combinations are my family's favorite. 

NOTE:

If I am in a hurry and need a quick chutney, I skip the first two steps and just all other ingredients and grind. That one also is tasty and super quick 

Lasuni (garlic) moong dal palak (spinach) khichdi

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

35 mins

TOTAL TIME

50 mins

Ingredients:

1 Cup white rice (short to medium grain)

⅓ Cup yellow moong dal

1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste

¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)

½ inch cinnamon stick

2 ½ Cup water

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon Garam Masala 

For palak puree:

2 Cup spinach leaves (palak)

1 green chilli

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

4 garlic cloves

For tadka: 

2 tablespoon ghee

1 tablespoon fine chopped or sliced garlic

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

4 dried red chillies (preferably Kashmiri Red Chilli)

Preparation:

1. • Combine dal and rice in a bowl. Rinse them with water 2 – 3 times. Soak them in clean water for 15 minutes.
   • To blanch the spinach first, clean it and rinse with water to remove dirt particles. Next, place a bowl of ice-cold water ready.
   • Boil water in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt. Once the water starts boiling, add the cleaned spinach leaves to the hot water. Cook for about 40 – 50 seconds until the colour of the leaves turns bright green. Turn off the heat.
   • Transfer the leaves immediately to the bowl of ice-cold water. This step stops the cooking process and retains the leaves green colour.
   • Make a smooth puree of blanched spinach, green chilli, ginger, and garlic using one to two tablespoons of water. Keep it aside.
   • Drain all the water from the soaked dal and rice. Transfer them to a pressure cooker. Add salt, asafoetida (hing), water, and cinnamon stick. Pressure Cook for two whistles over low heat. Release the steam manually.
   • Open the lid, add spinach puree, and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat. Meanwhile prepare the tadka.
   • For tempering, heat ghee, add dried red chillies, cumin seeds, and sliced garlic. Fry over low heat till garlic turn light golden. Turn off the heat.
   • Pour lehsuni tadka over the palak khichdi. Stir to combine.
   • Lehsuni Palak Khichdi is ready to serve.
     Recipe Notes:
   • After adding spinach puree do not cook the khichdi for too long. Simmer over low heat only for 5 – 6 minutes for flavours to combine. 
   • Blanching spinach removes its raw taste and give the puree a beautiful green colour. 
   • If the khichdi is too thick, add more water while simmering it to get the desired consistency.
   • This is a medium spicy khichdi. Adjust the quantity of red and green chilli to get the desired level of spiciness.