Posts by OCS | Saute Fry N Bake

Cauliflower shezwan stir fry

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving : 4members

Description

Cauliflower shezwan stir fry . No idea from where I learnt this dish or the source of the recipe but the inspiration was drawn from the Chinese restaurant Kowloon in Coimbatore . The shezwan fried rice and chicken shezwan stir fry served there is ultimate . My misconception and sense of gap in understanding Chinese food was cleared at large through this restaurant as i got to know that even Chinese food has regional food according to their own province through out china . This dish has a deep umami flavours of sweet , sour , salty and spicy together . The key is to achieve a balance of all these tastes together stir fried on high heat so it adds a caramelised flavour . This dish can very happily be eaten on its own , strait from the served bowl .( I end up doing this strait from the wok always :-)) )

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Cauliflower florets	2 cups
Garlic	1/2 teaspoon chopped
Ginger	1/2 teaspoon chopped
Green chillies	1/2 teaspoon chopped
Capsicum	1/4 cut into cubes
Spring onion with whites	1 teaspoon chopped + little to garnish ( I have used onion cubed as I didn't have spring onion whites in hand here )
Schezuan sauce	3 tablespoons
Oil	1 teaspoon + to deep fry
Salt	to taste
Sugar	1/4 teaspoon

Ingredients for batter

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / maida	1/2 cup
Corn flour	1/4 cup
Oil	1 tablespoons
Salt	to taste

Make a thick batter mixing all the above mentioned ingredients along with little water and set aside .

Method

Dip the cauliflower florets in the batter and deep fry over a high flame until crisp .Drain and keep aside .
Heat oil in a wok on high flame , add garlic , ginger , capsicum and green chillies and stir fry for a few seconds .
Add the spring onion whites and sauté for a few second .Add the schezuan sauce and bring to boil .
Add fried cauliflower florets , salt and sugar mix well .Serve immediately garnished with spring onion greens.

Ingredients (for 3/4 cup sauce)

Ingredients	Quantity
Garlic (finely chopped)	1/4 cup
Ginger (finely chopped)	2 tablespoons
Sesame oil	3-4 tablespoons
Dry red chilli	10 to 12
Soya sauce	1/2 teaspoons
Pepper powder	1/4 teaspoons
Tomato ketchup	1/2 teaspoons
Vinegar	1/4 teaspoons
Salt	to taste
Water	1/4 cup

Method for the shezwan sauce

Soak the red chillies in water for an hour.
Take out the seeds and grind it into a smooth paste. ( I prefer my sauce hot , so i omit removing the seeds ) Add a few teaspoon of water if necessary while grinding.
In a pan heat the oil and add the finely chopped ginger and garlic . Saute for few minutes till the garlic turns golden brown colour in a low flame . Add the ground red chilli paste .
Mix well and cook for 2 minutes till the oil oozes out. Add soya sauce ,pepper powder, tomato ketchup , vinegar and salt .
Keep in mind that the sauces(soya and ketchup) contains salt.Add 1/4 cup of water to this and cook for few minutes till it reaches a saucy consistency.
Add little extra water if you want, but do not add too much.Sauce is ready.

Notes

The easier way to take out the seeds is in the dry red chillies for the sauce is to take it out before soaking. this makes the job easy.
The shezwan sauce can be stored in a clean bottle for 10 days in the refrigerator and used in other dishes .
This same recipe can be followed and done by swapping paneer , mushrooms , baby corn , prawns , squid , chicken or boneless fish strips instead of cauliflower .

Onion ragi roti

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 3 minutes for each roti

Serving : 2 members

Description

Ragi in one ingredient that I thought was meant only for babies . As at home all babies are fed with a ragi porridge after 40 days in the evening by 6 , so their stomach is full and don’t disturb others around much in the nights . I did the same with my kids as well . So eating the left over porridge was the only thing that I did with ragi for decades ( as a kid to a grown up version of myself ) until one fine day tasted a ragi roti at moms place that was moist , soft , dark brown in colour and yum . You could eat the roti on its own with out any sides . Found out the rotis were sent by karishma ( moms friend ) . Stored it in my mind and gave it a try at home for lunch . The rotis resulted perfect like what karishma had sent over . Happy me , as I found a new way experimenting using our local produce and added an unusual ingredient in my kitchen cupboard . I strongly feel it’s important to eat ethically , to consume food prepared using locally picked , high – quality organic produce

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Ragi flour	1 cup
Onion	1 chopped
Green chillies	3 chopped
Ginger	small piece grated
Salt	to taste
Oil	2 teaspoons
Hot water	for the dough

Method

1 . Add salt , oil , onion , green chillies and grated ginger to the ragi flour .
2 , Knead to a soft loose dough using enough hot water and use immediately .
3 , Roll the dough into equal 5 balls and spread each ball on a greased plantain leaf or wet cloth to 1/4 inch thick round discs .
4 , Place over a hot griddle / tawa and carefully remove the leaf or cloth
5 , Add oil around and cook well turning both sides .
6 , Serve with curd and onion chutney .

Imli chutney

Preparation Time : soaking of tamarind over night + 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 1 hour

Serving : 20 members

Description

Imli chutney , a dark deep maroon colored gooey mass of lip smacking accomplishment that helps to create a magic when served with anything and everything . As a kid , when at any chat counter or shop used to wonder what was in this sweet chutney as we call it . I always ask for more of sweet chutney :-)) . When I started cooking , I came up with a sweet chutney recipe with dates , tamarind , black salt , cumin and chilli powder which use to taste close to what is served at all the chat shops . I did religiously follow that recipe till a few months back until I came across this recipe which was shared by my fellow home chef mubeen Sulthana . The day she shared this recipe had a sack of tamarind from our farm at home . Immediately gave it a try adding a few more ingredients with my twist to the chutney but keeping it simple not over complicating it as well . I ended up with 4 jars of imli chutney ( I wanted just 2 ) . No complaints as I saved 2 for myself and the other 2 were packed of to my daughters place . This imli chutney can be used with any chat items , samosas , dahi wada ( thayir wada ) and at times I use it as a dressing for salads as well with a trademark Indian twist . Tamarinds always bring me nostalgic childhood memories of me eating tamarind pieces dipped in salt . I would eat it non stop resulting with cuts in the upper skull of my mouth above the tongue . Well now a days I do have imli sweets ( tamarinds coated with sugar crystals ) in my handbag to reach out for when the munchies strike or to chance upon serendipitously when you are rummaging for a pen :-)) .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Tamarind	3 cups soaked in 5 cups of water over night
Vinegar	1 teaspoon
Chilli powder	2 tablespoons or to taste
Salt	to taste
Black salt	a pinch
Chat masala	1/4 teaspoon
Pepper powder	1/4 teaspoon
Chilli flakes	2 teaspoons
Crushed cumin seeds	2 teaspoons
Jaggery	3 tablespoons or to taste

Method

Soak tamarind overnight with water and cook for 45 minutes .
Strain the cooked pulp 2 to 3 times very well that there is nothing left in the tamarind .After that discard whatever is left in the strainer.
Cook the tamarind juice again and add vinegar, chilli powder, salt, pepper, chili flakes, crushed cumin , jaggery , black salt and chat masala .
Cook for another 20 minutes or until it thickens on low heat And enjoy.

Rainbow pine wheel dosa

Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Rainbow pine wheel dosa . Heres a spin on the classic dosa , we all have been growing up eating . A dish I took note of from a telly cookery show about nine years before on a regional satellite channel . Just love the innovation done with simple every day ingredients that we have around the house always . Absolutely additive yet ridiculously easy to make and will elicit a chorus of oohs and aahs for sure . Idlis , dosas and a white coloured chutney or a red coloured chutney alternatively was on the table day and night every ever passing day at my in – laws place . My co – sister Farzana got married into the family only after 7 years of my coming . With crossed fingers wished and prayed that she should hate idlis , dosas and chutneys so that we all at home would be boomed with a change in the menu . But to my surprise … , she jumped with joy seeing idli and chutney for breakfast . Gosh I was like .. Finished my entire life will end eating these idlis , dosas and chutneys . A week passed and slowly she asked me if there will be a change in menu this following week …..I told her this is the standard never ending menu carved in the history of this house . She blinked as I did as a new bride and we nicknamed these dishes as ” national dish “. Dum me didn’t have the brains to re – imagine them as new , exciting versions of themselves back then . Better late than never isn’t it folks ….. Now with this recipe , dosas will never be the same again .

Step -1

Ingredients for carrot chutney

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrots	1 cup chopped
Tomato	1 small chopped
Small onion	5
Garlic flakes	2
Tamarind	a small pinch
Salt	to taste
Coconut	1/4 cup
Coriander leaves	very little
Dry red chillies	4 to 6
Gingely oil	1 tablespoon
Asafoetida	a pinch

Method for carrot chutney

Mix all the above mentioned ingredients in a microwave safe bowl .
Mix well and microwave on high for 6 minutes . In between at an interval of 3 minutes toss once and microwave again .
Cool completely and grind to a smooth paste . Add very little water if needed . The consistency of the chutney should be of a spreading consistency not too thin and watery or not too thick .
Taste and adjust seasoning and set aside . Incase you don’t have a microwave just fry all the ingredients separately in gingely oil until the ingredients are 3/4 cooked .
Remove cool and grind to get a chutney .

Step -2

Beet root chutney

Use the same ingredients as the above chantey but substitute beet roots instead of carrots and follow the above recipe to get beet root chutney .

Step -3

Ingredients for Coriander mint chutney

Ingredients	Quantity
Coconut	1/4 cup
Ginger	a tiny piece ( just a tit bit size )
Coriander leaves with stem	1/4 cup
Mint leaves	8
Green chillies	4 to 6
Tamarind	a pinch
Salt	to taste
Curry leaves	2
Jaggery	a tiny piece

Method for the coriander mint chutney

Grind all the above ingredients together to a smooth paste of semi thick spreading consistency by adding very little water .
Taste and adjust seasoning and set aside .

Step -4

Other ingredients

ingredients	Quantity
Dosa batter	3 cups
Oil or ghee	2 tablespoons

Method

Mix the dosa batter to the right consistency with water and salt to taste .
Make normal sized dosas in a dosa tawa and set aside .
The dosa should not be too thick or too thin but of medium size in thickness .
The size of all the dosas should be of the same shape and size .

Step -5

How to proceed

Take 3 dosas . Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of carrot chutney on one dosa . Spread 1-2 tablespoons of beet root chutney on the second dosa and spread 1-2 tablespoons of coriander mint chutney on the third dosa .
Now place the beet root chutney spread dosa on the bottom , top with coriander mint chutney spread dosa over and finally place the carrot chutney spread dosa on the top .
Now carefully hold all the 3 dosas together on one end and roll tightly towards the opposite end .
Once rolled , cut into 1 inch thick bite size pieces and place the cut side facing upwards making sure the vibrant colours of the spiral dosa and chutneys are visually seen . Serve as it is or with tomato ketchup .

Note

Use very little tamarind as all the three chutneys have tamarind added and when had together can tend to get very tart .
Add very little water to make the chutneys as the dosa gets soggy when spread with runny chutneys .
The size and shape of the dosas must be the same so that when cut not much of the pine wheel rainbow dosa is wasted .
Make the chutneys and dosas ahead . Assemble and roll them together just before serving as the dosas tend to catch colour from the next dosa soon and tends to get soggy also .
You could use a tooth pick and hold the bite size cut pine wheel rainbow dosas together and serve . Adds style and Children will love eating with a tooth pick on

Soya kofta curry

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 35 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Soya kofta curry . Soya beans and tofu are two ingredients that I hate the most but they are the healthiest . Why does healthy food always has to taste bland and not so good . Usually what I do with soya beans is soak it over night , boil it the next day morning and have it as it is ( tastes horrible ) or I mix it with some curd and have it for lunch . ( without chewing much , this way the curd helps to gulp in the soya beans .) all this happening with hubby dear beside me having a regular splendid meal and poor me :-(( . My life is a constant battle between my love for food and not wanting to be fat . I had a lot of boiled soya beans left over after I had for lunch . Not wanting to waste them , came up with an idea of making a kofta gravy with these left overs but in a healthy way . Started and wanting to bake the koftas just didn’t want to use bread crumbs to coat them , so substituted with coarsely ground soya chunks and it worked perfect with a mildly crisp exterior and a yielding inside . The gravy part is our regular tomato based one but I omitted the ground onions as its costlier than gold now ( kidding ) . The first time soya beans tasted healthy , nutritious , delicious and got hubby dear to eat it as well along with me :-)) .

Ingredients for the Koftas

Ingredients	Quantity
Soy beans	1 cup
large potato	1
onion	1 chopped
green chillies	2 chopped
Coriander leaves	chopped few
Lime Juice	1/2 a lime
Salt	to taste
Soya chunks	1/2 cup ( blitz them in a food processor to get a coarse powder )

Ingredients For Gravy

Ingredients	Quantity
Oil	1/4 teaspoon
onion	1 chopped
ginger garlic paste	1 teaspoon each
cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
tomato paste	1 tablespoon
tomato puree	1/2 cup ( just blitz 3 medium sized tomatoes in a food processor )
turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
garam masala	1/4 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	to taste
Coriander leaves	chopped few to garnish
bay leaf	1
Salt	to taste
Corn flour / soy flour	1 teaspoon diluted in 2 teaspoons of water

Method for soy kofta

Soak the soy beans overnight. Cook them in a pressure cooker. No problems if it gets mushy. We are going to do that anyways.steam the potato in the steamer (with the skin. It has nutrition too)
Mix all the ingredients for the koftas together except the soya chunks . Mash them with your hands .
Spread the coarsely blitzed soy chunks on a plate and coat the balls with them.
Repeat with all the balls and place them in a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for about 10-15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 degree Celsius . ( this can be served as it is as a starter , side dish or as a nibble any time of the day )

Method for the gravy

Heat a skillet with 1/4 tsp oil And add the onions , bay leaf and cumin with some salt. The salt will bring out the moisture and help the onions cook easily.
Top with ginger garlic paste and fry until raw smell evaporates. Add the tomato paste and the puree.
Sauté until oil separates .
Add the spice powders ( turmeric powder , red chilli powder and garam masala powder ) Along with enough water to make sufficient gravy and once it comes to a boil, thicken it up with little soy flour or cornstarch and bring it to a simmer.taste and adjust , remove from heat and set aside .

How to proceed

Remove the koftas from the Oven and pour half the gravy over each of the koftas until they are soaked in the gravy.
Bake them for another 10 minutes and before serving pour out the remaining gravy.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and Serve warm with phulkas , chapathis or rotis .

Puli chutney

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 4 members

Description

Puli chutney . A quick chutney that is done with easily available ingredients at home and had mainly with palaya soru / ice biriyani . Ice biriyani is left over cooked rice that is soaked and immersed in water over night and had the next day morning for breakfast along with curd , salt and small onions usually . This dish is addressed as cucina povera – food of the poor . I remember during my long , hot summer vacations at my grand parents place in Palghat . There was always ice biriyani with this puli chutney as an accomplishment along with other breakfast items spread on the table . I would sit next to the ammi that was on the flour at the back yard of the kitchen and watch wahitha Akka ( our cook ) make this chutney by technically just crushing these ingredients together .my eyes would burn and pour down tears because of the onions being crushed but still loved the way wahida Akka used to handle the ammi and skilfully blend simple ingredients to a sublime art form . This chutney is also served with thenga choru as a side dish to Play a supporting role to gulp in a few more calories into you . A very tart , hot and salty chutney flavoured with coconut oil that hits the right spot with unique earthy flavours and oozes with old world charm . It’s good to retain old favourites and flavours to oomph a domestic staple .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Small onions	one hand chopped
Green chillies	2 chopped
Thick Tamarind pulp	5 tablespoons
Water	1 teaspoon or more
Rock Salt	to taste
Coconut oil	1 tablespoon

Method

Crush small onion , green chillies and rock salt together in a ammi or sil patta .
In case you don’t have one crush them with the back of a spatula or crush them coarsely in a food processor making sure you don’t grind them . mix well . ( Best done in the ammi / sil patta )
Add tamarind pulp and water to get a gooey consistency mixture .
Top with coconut oil and mix well . Taste and adjust seasoning and serve .

Idli upma

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes

Serving: 2 members

Description

Idli upma . Upma is one dish I hate …. But I do crave a lot for the upma’s that were served to us in good shepherd public school (ooty )on Sunday mornings along with masala omelet . I used to fill the omelet with the upma inside , roll it and eat it like a katti roll . This idli upma recipe I learnt from one of my cooks at my in – laws place Which is a fast , clever , easy and time saving one pot dish . A genius quick fix with left over idlis at home . The high light of this recipe is the lime added which gives an oomph factor , Resulting deliciously tart . This dish did wonders when I had to pack lunch for my kids to school . It was my go – to quick fix when pressed for time . My daughter ANISHA is a die heart fan of this idli upma . She ends up asking for this idli upma very often which is a staple that’s adapted to suit the brew available . upma

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Left over idli	6
Big onion	1 chopped
small onion	10 chopped
Green chilli	1 chopped
Ginger	1/4 inch piece grated
Salt	as needed
Cooking oil	1 tablespoon
Mustard seeds	1 teaspoon
Urad dal	1 teaspoon
Channa dal	1 teaspoon
Dry Red chillies	2 each torn into two
Curry leaves	1 strand
Asafoetida	a pinch
Lime juice	1/2 a lime
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon

Method

Dip the idlis in salted water for 5-6 seconds . Remove and Crumble the idlies well and set aside.heat oil in a non – stick kadai .
Add mustard seeds , urad dal , channa dal ,torn dry red chillies and curry leaves .
Once the mustard seeds crackle top with hing , onions , grated ginger and green chillies .Once the onions turn translucent add turmeric powder and lime juice .
Saute for 10 seconds and top with the crumbled idlis and toss well in a very low heat .
Making sure the yellow colour Coates well all around the crumbled idlis and the flavours infuse together .
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot .

Note

You can avoid the turmeric powder and lime juice following the same recipe to get a white color bland idli upma .
You can add a sprinkle of idli podi ( powder ) to add more flavour to the idli upma .
At times even the left over vegetable poriyals ( sabzis ) are also added to the idli upma . ( My favorite is potato fry to be added )

Patra

Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 -20 minutes

Serving: 5 members

Description

Patra . An authentic Gujarati snack that I first ate in chennai at residency towers 3 years back on celebrating our wedding anniversary . ( I have mentioned the word “OUR ” wedding anniversary as my hubby’s brother nawaz and first cousin Yousuf also got married on the same date as our’s – me and hubby ) un – expected we all happened to be in chennai together and all cousins in chennai had a grand buffet feast for lunch in residency towers . Patra was served in the chat counter and i just could not stop eating it . I didn’t know the name but guessed , it is a Gujarati dish as it was sweet , sour , hot and made with chick pea flour . ( Who else would tickle your taste buds with all these flavours in one dish ) I had taken note of this recipe from a blog , only then did I know this dish is called patra . Originally they use collaslavia leaves but I have substituted it with huge spinach leaves . Was at moms place last week and my grand finale of finishing my holiday always has to end with a shopping at nilgiri’s store in r.s Puram in Coimbatore . Every time I am there , I am surprised with new ingredients , fruits and veggies there . This time I went more than mad actually while shopping as I ended up picking every thing in the store ( think as I was fasting …. Wanted every thing there ) my daughter was like what is wrong with you mom ???? I just could not resist my surprise seeing really huge spinach leaves there . I just grabbed 3 bunches and immediately patra sparked in my mind . Made it today and feel so revealed that hubby liked it and another snack added to my know lists of not deep fried goodies .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Spinach large Leaves	6
Besan / Gram flour	2 cups
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon
Ginger green chilli paste	1 teaspoon or to taste
Red chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Coriander powder	1/2 teaspoon
Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Grated jaggery	2 tablespoon
Tamarind pulp	3 tablespoon
Baking powder	1/4 teaspoon
Oil	1 tablespoon+ little to grease the foil paper
Salt	to taste
Water	required to make a thick batter

For Tempering

Ingredints	Quantity
White sesame seeds	1 tablespoons
Mustard seeds	1 Teaspoon
Asafoetida	a pinch
Oil	1 teaspoon
Water	3 tablespoons

To Garnish

Ingredients	Quantity
Grated coconut	little
Coriander leaves	chopped

Method

Wash the spinach leaves and wipe them with a kitchen towel.remove the thick stems.
In a large bowl mix the ingredients mentioned in the ingredients list on top, to make a smooth and thick batter of spreading consistency except for the spinach leaves .
Place the leaf reverse side up and spread the batter evenly. Place another spinach leaf on top of this and repeat the procedure. Usually 3 leaves are perfect for one roll.
Now roll the leaves carefully to make a thick roll.
Place it in a greased foil wrap and close the edges.
Put water in a steamer and place the roll to steam for 10 minutes, turning the side after 5 minutes. ( your iddli steamer will work perfect for steaming )
Remove the steamed roll and let it cool.remove the foil paper and Cut it into slices with the help of a wet knife .
In a flat-bottomed pan fry the tempering ingredients . add 3 tablespoons water and bring to boil . toss the slices carefully and wait for the moister to get into the patras .
Place them on the serving platter and garnish with grated coconut and finely chopped coriander leaves.serve as it is ( i served it with out a dip , tasted yum ) or with green chutney and sweet chutney

Note

You could add 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder as I found my rolls a bit dark coloured . Turmeric powder added will result in a brighter looking patra .
You can use blanched large cabbage leaves also instead of spinach leaves .
Non – vegetarians can add cooked chicken or meat to the batter and follow the same recipe .

Broccoli crapes with green spinach sauce

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 6 members

Description

Broccoli crapes with green spinach sauce . The crapes , filling and the sauce are a regular at home but not had together as one dish . By putting these regular’s together with a knock out spin in the sauce by adding spinach puree to it . The dish was taken to another level with mouth watering heights . Some times a single ingredient change can feel like a total make over . I gave this dish a first try for hubby’s new vegetarian avatar recently . He approved the dish by eating 3/4 of what was made . He keeps telling every one that , he is a white rat in my cooking experiment laboratory . All my new tries are first tested and approved by him and then I decide the rest . I made this dish again when the kids were home and they loved it . Tweaking the tried and true is exciting too :-))

Ingredients for crapes

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / maida	1 cup
Water	1 3/4 cup ( more or less to get a thin loose consistency batter )
Salt	to taste

Method for crapes

Mix all the above ingredients together except for barilla brand basilico pasta sauce or tomato sauce to get a thin flowing consistency batter .
Pour into thin crapes on a non – stick pan and cook for 2 minutes covered . Remove and set aside . ( I used my appam non – stick kadai )

Ingredients for broccoli filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Broccoli flower lets	1 cup chopped
Onion	1 big chopped
Green chillies	to taste chopped
Cheese	4 tablespoons grated + 3 tablespoons to garnish
Salt	to taste
Garlic	2 flakes crushed
Oil	1 tablespoon

Method for broccoli filling

Put the broccoli flower lets into salted water . Remove from heat and set aside with lid closed for 5 minutes .
Drain . Heat butter , fry onions and garlic for 1/2 a minute .
Top with green chillies and drained broccoli flower lets . Sauté for 3-4 minutes . Season with salt . Taste and adjust .
Cool and add 4 tablespoon grated cheese and mix well . Set aside .

Ingredients for spinach sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Boiled spinach puree	2 cups
Milk	2cups
Flour / maida	2 tablespoons
Butter	2 tablespoons
Salt + pepper + chilli flakes	to taste

Method for spinach sauce

Mix milk and spinach purée together and set aside .
Heat butter in a non – stick pan , add flour and saute for 1/2 a minute in low flame , stirring continuously .
Add milk and spinach puree mixture little by little and go on stirring until the sauce becomes thick making sure no lumps are formed .
Season with salt , pepper and chilli flakes to taste . Set aside .

How to proceed

Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons of barilla brand basilico pasta sauce or tomato sauce all over one side of the crape .
Fill the crape with 1 tablespoon of broccoli mixture and roll the crapes tightly . Do the same to all the crapes and broccoli filling .
Arrange the broccoli filled crapes on a greased baking dish and pour the spinach sauce over .
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cheese on top and bake in a preheated hot oven at 200 degree Celsius for 18 to 20 minutes . Serve hot .

Note

In case you have extra sauce left over . Can serve it along with the crapes , so that any one wanting more sauce can have it .
Can substitute broccoli with cauliflower or mixed vegetable filling . Non vegetarians can use any form of meat filling .
Spinach can be substituted with 3 green / red or yellow capsicums for the sauce . Don’t boil the capsicums instead just blend them with milk to get a smooth runny paste .

Pav bhaji

Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 40 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Pav bhaji . A street food favourite to all . A mouth watering dish that has the goodness of all the vegetables together . The best part , children don’t get to know that the bhaji is made with veggies . The butter high lights the dish even more . Umm .. If there’s one thing we can say with utmost confidence , its that every thing tastes better with a smear of melted butter . The butter is more generous that a smear pav bhaji brings back memories of my brother darvesh a lot . He used to take me and my kids nearly every day to a chat shop in Coimbatore out side the old nilgiris in R.S puram . The joy of being with your sibling around is beyond value . Good old days ….. Miss you bro ….. Love you tons and tons . Oops got carried away !!! This recipe is trala Dallas , I have tried loads of recipes to make pav bhaji and finally stuck to hers as it was the best . Simple to follow and high in taste .

Ingredients for the pav

Ingredients	Quantity
pavs	8
butter	4 tablespoons ,
pav bhaji masala	1 teaspoon ( optional but adds a lot of taste )

Ingredients for the bhaji

Ingredients	Quantity
potatoes, boiled and mashed	1 1/2 cups
cauliflower	1 cup (finely chopped)
green peas	1/2 cup
carrots	1/2 cup (finely chopped)
onion	1 cup (finely chopped)
capsicum	1/2 cup (finely chopped)
chopped tomatoes	2 1/2 cups
turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
pav bhaji masala	1 1/2 tablespoon
black salt	1/2 teaspoon
butter	4 tablespoons

Method for the bhaji

Boil the cauliflower, peas and carrots till they are soft. Drain out the excess water.
Heat the butter in a large pan, add the onion and capsicum and sauté for 2 minutes. Then, add the prepared chilli-garlic paste and sauté till the onion softens.
Add the tomatoes and simmer till the oil separates.
Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, pav bhaji masala, black salt and salt and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the boiled vegetables and potatoes and mash thoroughly using a potato masher, adding ½ cup of water if required.

Method for the pav

Slice each pav into 2 horizontally. Apply a little butter to each side and sprinkle with a little pav bhaji masala, if desired.
Heat a large tava and cook the pav on both sides till the pieces are lightly browned.

How to proceed

Serve the hot bhaji on 4 individual plates and top with the onion and coriander.
Serve with the hot pav and lemon wedges.

Ingredients for Pavbhaji masala powder

Ingredients	Quantity
Coriander seeds	2 tablespoon
Cumin seeds	1 tablespoon
Dry red chillies	4
Turmeric powder	1/2 tablespoon
Dry raw mango powder	1 tablespoon
Cardamom	2 pods (seeds removed)
Cloves	6
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Star anise	2
Fennel seeds	1 teaspoon
Dry ginger	2 inch piece
Garam masala powder	1 tablespoon
Asafoetida	1/4 teaspoon

Method

Heat a flat pan on medium heat. Gently roast the cumin, coriander, fennel seeds, the dry red chillies, cloves and cinnamon till they turn slightly darker and begin to release their aroma. Remove from fire immediately and cool.
Grind all the ingredients – including the garam masala powder – together in a dry coffee grinder, till a fine powder is formed. Store in an air-tight container for upto 4 weeks.

Note : This home made pav bhaji masala powder adds more taste but no harm in trying the ready made one’s also .