Daily Archives: September 30, 2014

Mini muffin pizza

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serving : 5 members

Description

Mini muffin pizzas . A recipe I first came across in a foodie group in Facebook , home bakers guild . Rajashri Manoj had posted it and i just went head over heels seeing her haute make over post . Book marked the recipe but time didn’t permit me to give a try . Finally gave it a try with a home made pizza sauce from scratch . The beauty of this recipe is that it comes together very quickly . Thinking I had pizza sauce in stock went ahead giving this recipe a try , only after I baked my pizza muffins did I note I didn’t have it in my pantry . Immediately just made a sauce with what ever came to my mind with my trimmings and was surprised with the out come .this poshed  – up version of pizza sauce from scratch was delicious .  Hubby dear hates pizza  in spite of the global craze it has  so with fingers crossed served it to him on the Iftar table . ( Iftar table made me cross my fingers double the more ) . Thank fully he liked it as the muffins were soft , moist and packed with flavour , not chewy like normal pizza ‘S . The chewy part is what hubby hates about pizza’s . The pizza muffins bursted with a satisfying plop on hubby’s plate . So  Folks , sure can’t escape this must have casual bites .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Flour/ maida 3/4 Cup
Baking powder3/4 teaspoon
milk3/4 cup
Egg1 lightly beaten
Mozzarella cheese shredded 4 ounces (about 1 cup)
Bell Pepper / capsicum (green , red and yellow 1/2cup very finely chopped
Boiled sweet corn kernels1/4 cup
Garlic 1 flack crushed
Saltto taste
Chilli flakesto taste
Onions 1/2 Cup finely chopped
finely chopped fresh basil/ dried basil 1 tablespoons

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; whisk in the milk and egg.
  2. Stir in the mozzarella , bell peppers , onions ,sweet corn , salt , chilli flakes , garlic and let the mixture stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Stir the batter and divide among the greased mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden for 20 to 25 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle the mini pizza muffins with  basil. Serve them with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Ingredients Pizza sauce

Ingredients
Quantity
Ripe tomatoes1/2 kg blended
Flour2 tablespoons
Olive oil2 tablespoons
Garlic 2 cloves crushed
Stock cube 1 ( I used maggi chicken stock cube )
Dried Basil 1 teaspoon
Oregano1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder 1 teaspoon
Sugar1 teaspoon
Saltto taste

Method

  1. Heat a non – stick saucepan with olive oil . Fry the garlic to light brown .
  2. Top with flour and sauté making sure no lumps are formed .Pour the blended tomatoes . And mix well .
  3. Add salt to taste , maggi stock cube and 3 -4 cups of water and boil until raw smell goes and sauce thickens .
  4. Season with basil , oregano , chilli powder and sugar . Taste and adjust and serve with the mini pizza muffins .

Notes

  1. You can add spinach , shredded chicken , sausages , pineapples , olives or any other ingredient of choice to the mini pizza muffins and bake .

Vermicelli croquettes

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Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes

Serving : 6-8 members

Description

Vermicelli croquettes . It was during one summer holidays of my children  and the holy month of ramadan was going on then . Not sure why we planned a trip to Bangalore during the fasting time . on our journey towards Bangalore  on the out skirts , we dropped in to a hotel for a buffet lunch . A grand spread was displayed . As usual the curious me though fasting went through the entire spread seeing and reading the name boards of each dish displayed . There was this one dish that was rolled in vermicelli and deep fried to a deep sun shine yellow . It looked really tempting with pick me up written all over it and the aroma of this particular dish was over taking all the other dishes . My cousins , kids and hubby really liked the dish and lined their stomachs with this ubiquitous brunch . My mind was busy and a bit confused on this fatty culprit , weather they should have rolled the potato Patti in raw vermicelli or in boiled ones . As for American  chopsuey we boil the noodles and then deep fry to get crisp noodles . With this confusion in mind , this divine   dish was a forgotten story after that . Nearly after  6-7 years , I came across a recipe   in one of my friends cook books about a snack similar that had used vermicelli to coat the potato Patti .finally my doubt was cleared and the recipe demanded for raw vermicelli ( how dum I am !!! )  I took note of the recipe and tried it out for the first time when I had my newly wedded cousin sister Ashibha come over to my place for a holiday feast . Her hubby hassan loved this snack   and so many other things that I made for them . They were here for 2 days and both of them had gained two kg’s each :-)) . My job done and the best part being she got pregnant immediately after this trip to my place . Now she is blessed with a beautiful daughter adleena ( hope I have spelt her name right ) who has a dimple on her cheek that’s even more beautiful .

Ingredients for the covering

Ingredients
Quantity
Potatoes 6 boiled , peeled and mashed
Lime juice1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilli + ginger paste 1 tablespoon
Gram flour 4 tablespoons
Salt to taste

Method for the covering

  1. Mix all the above mentioned ingredients together .
  2. Taste and adjust . Divide into equal lemon size balls and set aside .

Ingredients for Stuffing

Ingredients
Quantity
Corn kernels1 1/4 cup boiled
Grated coconut1/4 cup
Chopped coriander leaves 1/4 cup
Lime juice 1/2 teaspoon
Green Chilli +ginger paste 1 1/2 teaspoon
Salt and sugarto taste

Method for stuffing

  1. Mix all the ingredients together .
  2. Taste and adjust .Set aside .

How to proceed

  1. In greased hands , make flat puris out of the potato balls .
  2. Place little corn mixture in the Center of each flattened ball and bind the open edges together and make an oval shape croquettes .

Other ingredients

ingredients
Quantity
Flour / Maida1/4 cup
Corn flour 1/4 cup
Saltto taste
Water enough to make a loose batter
Vermicelli 200 grams or more
Oilto deep fry

Method

  1. Mix flour , corn flour , salt and water to make a semi loose batter .
  2. Dip each oval shaped croquettes into the batter and roll in crushed vermicelli , making sure the vermicelli has coated all around the croquettes well .
  3. Do the same with all the croquettes and vermicelli . Heat oil to deep fry .
  4. Deep fry the vermicelli croquettes to a golden brown colour and crisp . Drain and serve hot with tomato sauce and mint chutney .

Notes

  1. any other veg or non – veg filling can be substituted to your choice .
  2. At times I do use cutlet mixture and roll them in vermicelli and deep fry . Works perfect .
  3. These croquettes can be made a day before , stored in the refrigerator and deep fried when required .

Healthy paneer filled dumplings

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Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 5-6 members

Description

Healthy paneer filled dumplings .mindful eating being clearly the buzz word for now , I am into swapping a few ingredients and making healthy choices that count .  But that doesn’t mean having to grudgingly pile on austere , flavour- less food on your plate . the magic is to accrue caloric karma with refreshing and nutritious way to tickle our taste buds . A recipe I came across in ndtv good times satellite telly channel . Took note of it but have made it with my twists and turns to the dish . As fasting is going on now , not being able to taste and cook is a big challenge . So , I was double nervous while making this dish  but it does help you to master the art of cooking with out tasting . This wonder ball is fluffy , light , healthy and succulent packed with so much flavour , character , taste and texture . In total it’s made to impress , so gear up to impress each one around you :-))

 Ingredients for paneer

Ingredients
Quantity
paneer / cottage cheese 200 grams
wheat flour 1 tablespoon
semolina1 tablespoon
couscous1 tablespoon (if you don't have couscous in hand substitute it with semolina)
egg1
oil1 teaspoon
Chilli flakes to taste
saltto taste

Method for paneer dough

  1. Mix all the above mentioned ingredients together and knead well to get a dough .
  2. Set aside in the refrigerator for one hour .

Ingredients For the filling

Ingredients
Quantity
Mixed vegetables1 1/2 cup chopped ( cabbage , carrots , capsicum , green peas , beans , cauliflower )
Chicken or mutton mince200 grams ( vegetarians can substitute with soya chunks )
Oil1 tablespoon
Onion1 big chopped
Green chillies2 chopped
Coriander leaveschopped few
Salt to taste
Ginger garlic paste 1/2 teaspoon each
Pepper to taste
Chilli flakes to taste
Turmeric powder a pinch
Lime a squeeze

Method for filling

  1. Mix chicken or mutton mince with turmeric powder , ginger garlic paste , salt to taste and very little water and pressure cook until cooked through .
  2. Boil till all the moisture has evaporated and the meat is dry . Heat oil and fry onions and green chillies to translucent .
  3. Top with chopped mixed vegetables and sauté till vegetables are half cooked , stirring constantly .
  4. Add the cooked minced meat , seasoning with pepper , chilli flakes , lime juice and salt to taste .
  5. Toss and mix well . Garnish with coriander leaves . Set aside and cool completely .

Ingredients For garnish

Ingredients
Quantity
Mixed vegetables1 1/2 cup chopped ( cabbage , carrots , capsicum , green peas , beans , cauliflower )
Chicken or mutton mince200 grams ( vegetarians can substitute with soya chunks )
Oil1 tablespoon
Onion1 big chopped
Green chillies2 chopped
Coriander leaveschopped few
Salt to taste
Ginger garlic paste 1/2 teaspoon each
Pepper to taste
Chilli flakes to taste
Turmeric powder a pinch
Lime a squeeze

Method for the garnish

  1. Blitz bread slices in a food processor to get fine crumbs .
  2. Remove and set aside . Blitz the sun dried tomato pieces along with the oil from the jar to a coarse paste .
  3. Mix bread crumbs ,sun dried tomatoes coarse paste and all the other ingredients together to get a well seasoned bread crumb mixture .
  4. Taste and adjust . Set aside .

How to proceed

  1. Take lemon size portions of the paneer dough and flatten them on your greased palm. Fill with the filling and shape to a round dumpling making sure the paneer dough has covered and sealed the filling inside .
  2. Do the same with all the filling and paneer dough .Boil in simmering one litter of salted boiling water till the dumplings rise to the surface.
  3. Remove the balls one by one out of the water .( be careful as the balls are very delicate and light , they tend to break soon .)
    roll them in breadcrumbs mixture immediately making sure the balls are coated well all around with the breadcrumb mixture .
  4. ( I placed 2 tablespoons of breadcrumb mixture on one palm .Then placed the paneer ball , topped it with another 2 tablespoons of breadcrumb mixture and pressed together with both hands to coat the breadcrumb mixture all around ) serve warm or at room temperature along with tomato ketchup or Thai sweet chilli sauce .

Notes

  1. In case you don’t have sun dried tomatoes in hand just omit the ingredient and follow the recipe .
  2. Don’t over load the dumplings while boiling them . 5 at a time is enough .