INTERNATIONAL CUISINE | Saute Fry N Bake

Home style Pita pockets

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 30 minutes
Serves : 5 members

Description

Any food item that is sent home for a tasting from my father – in – laws elder brothers home sure has a surprise element to it. It’s always a new out of the box try done by my elder mother – in – law mahmoodha Rabbani. This home style pita pockets were sent over once a few years back. Immediately I made sure to get the recipe from her. From then till date, I have been making this recipe at home quite often but when wanting to share the recipe, thinking about how much I have to type always made me put it aside for later. This time I made sure to type the recipe over beating my laziness. Reading the recipe might look like a lot of work to be done but once you prep, it’s so easy to assemble and serve. I always am blown away on how my elder mother in law comes up with substituting ingredients and methods that she tries with recipes, she’s had on her abroad trips. In this recipe, instead of using the authentic pita bread, she’s substituted it with a home made wheat semolina poori that stays puffed up like the pita bread and serves to be a pocket as well. Her experience in the kitchen and knowledge of food sure does get me awestruck with my mouth wide open always. I am in love with food and cooking for this surprise element and never ending learning process it has. I know you all must be thinking is there so much to be learnt in every day cooking.. Come, join me and see how much more we have to explore, learn, give trial and errors, share, inspire and spread the joy of food making memories to cherish for life.

Home style Pita pockets

Ingredients	Quantity
Broken wheat semolina	1 cup
Wheat flour	1/2 cup
Salt	to the taste
Water	little

Method for cover

Mix all the ingredients for the cover together and knead into a tight dough. Let it rest for thirty minutes or more.
Heat oil to deep fry. Make round poories that is rolled out a bit thicker than we usually do for normal poories with the dough.
Drop poories and deep fry to puffed up for 30 seconds on each side. Drain and set aside. Once cool, cut into equal halves using scissors. Keep the pita pockets aside.

Ingredients for filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Tomato	2 sliced to strips
Cabbage	1/4 cup shredded
Capsicum	1 cut to strips
Potato	3 cut into fingers
Egg plants	4 cut to fingers
Eggs	3 scrambled
Boneless chicken	1/2 cup cut into tiny cubes
Dried green peas	1 cup soaked for four hours
Dry red chillies	2
Salt	To taste
Oil	To deep fry

Method for filling

Cook the chicken pieces with salt and pepper powder to taste. Keep aside.
Grind the soaked, drained dried green peas with salt to taste and dry red chillies to a coarse paste.
Heat oil to deep fry. Deep fry the potato fingers and egg plant fingers to crisp. Drain and keep aside. In the same hot oil, drop goose burry size of the ground dried green peas thick corse batter. Deep Fry to crisp. Drain and keep aside.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil, break the eggs, add to the oil, season with salt and pepper to taste. Scramble to done. Remove and keep aside.
Mix cabbage, tomato and capsicum together. Season with salt and pepper powder to taste.

Sauce ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Mayonnaise	1/4 cup
Red chilli flakes	1/2 teaspoon
Garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Tomato sauce	4 tablespoons
Sugar	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	To taste

Method for sauce

Mix all the above ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasoning. Keep aside.

How to proceed

Take one half of the pita pocket, layer the bottom with a teaspoon of the raw vegetable mix.
Top with a few deep fried potato fingers, egg plant fingers and dried green peas fries.
Sprinkle cooked chicken bits and scrambled eggs. Top with sauce generously.
Repeat the same once again. Serve immediately.

Rolled spiral meat Burek

Preparation time : 35 minutes
Cooking time : 35 minutes
Serves : 8- 10 members

Description

Having to send over food items to near and dear ones during the holy month of Ramadan is customary at my place. I always make sure I send over dishes that will entertain the concerned family the right way. Hubby dear is particular about such things and makes sure to check on what goes to which cousin and relatives home. Having to do this year after year . At times I get lost with out of the box dishes. I had to dig into my food locker ( that’s stored in my mind with any food that interests me ). Out of a sudden this dish just popped out from my mind. I remember watching it on the television seeing an old grand ma making this so artistically and patiently in Morocco. Well she made the phyllo pastry from scratch but I used ready made ones . Made it and my, my .. I just fell in love with the dish totally. While baking it, the entire house was aromatic with the dishes scent. But I could not taste the final product as it had to be sent as it is to a cousins place. Waited for their verdict and it was all praises. I was curious about the taste and all they had to say was, it tasted similar to our bakery puffs but crisper and moist. Can’t wait to make it again and get to taste it as well.

Ingredients for the filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Chicken or meat mince	boiled 1/4 kg
Ginger garlic paste	1/8 teaspoon each
Salt	to taste
Turmeric powder	1/4 teaspoon
Onions	5 big chopped
Green chillies	4 chopped
Mixed vegetables	carrots , beans , cabbage , green peas chopped and boiled in water with salt - 3 cups
Mint leaves	few
Coriander leaves	one hand chopped
Pepper powder	to taste
Red chilli flakes	to taste
Oil	2 tablespoons
Lime juice	1/4 teaspoon juice

Method for filling

Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add onions and fry to translucent.
Add green chilies, boiled chicken or minced meat, boiled chopped mixed vegetables, mint leaves, coriander leaves, salt, chilli flakes and pepper to taste.
Mix well and lower the flame and keep stirring for 3 minutes letting all the flavours infuse together.
Remove from heat, squeeze lime. Mix well, cool and set aside.

Other ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Filo pastry	1 packet ( you can use Spring roll sheets instead )
Butter	1/4 cup melted
White sesame seeds	1 tablespoon
Egg white	of 1 egg
Water	1/4 teaspoon

How to assemble

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Line a baking tray with butter paper or foil paper.
Over a clean working kitchen counter, lay out three phyllo pastry sheets end to end, slightly over lapping to create one long rectangle of pastry.
Brush with melted. Repeat the same twice creating three layers of butter brushed phyllo sheets.
Arrange the cooled filling mixture in a long line leaving one inch space above.
Fold the phyllo sheets above the filling line over the filling and roll tightly but gently to get a long log.
Don’t worry if the pastry breaks as rolling, just go ahead as it gets tucked in.
Roll the filled log into a spiral – coil disc shape. Place the spiral – coil disc over the lined, greased baking tray.
Brush beaten egg white over. Sprinkle sesame seeds.
Bake for 20 – 30 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve warm.

Cannelloni Savoury Cake

Preparation time : 40 minutes
Cooking time : 1 hour
Serves : 8-10 members

Description

Comfort food is what I needed. As mentioned earlier to me Italian cuisine some how relate’s a lot to romance. So it’s going to be an Italian dish celebration said my mind. How can I say no to it. Now the next big thing in mind.. Simple and quick or elaborate and long dish. Well simple and easy always seems a cheat’s way to me so of course it’s got be elaborate and long dish to make. Next what do I sizzle up ?? Just went through my picture gallery for ideas and there it was an image of a cannelloni made in a different way. I started with great enthusiasm and went on and on with too many things to be done but once I started to assemble the dish.. The warmth of the dish was felt and the elaborate long process just melted away. Placed it in the oven to bake. I could not wait to see and taste the dish. The longest forty minutes of my life I can say. Removed it from the oven and had to wait for it to cool down a bit. The dish looked deep and cozy oozing out comfortableness as I wanted. Served it and hubby dear goes on to ask me what is this? My mind went blank as I didn’t think of a name for this dish. With the knife in my hand all ready to cut and serve, the first thing that came to my mind was a cake. So I just told its cannelloni savoury cake. Wow I just named my dish and cut her as well to celebrate it. Ate her too.. All I needed now was a big warm hug for the efforts put in to create her. That’s a pretty cool way to celebrate with warmth and coziness .. Right ??

Step 1 – cheese sauce

Ingredients for cheese sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Milk	2 cups
Refined flour	2 tablespoons
1 tbsp butter	1 tablespoon
Salt	to taste
Cheese slice	4 slices
Chilli flakes	to taste
White pepper	to taste
Mixed dried herbs( oregano , thyme ,rosemary , dill , basil )	a pinch of each

Method for the white sauce

Heat and Melt butter, add refined flour, saute a little and add the milk very gradually, stirring vigorously all the time.
Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes, add the salt, white pepper, chilly flakes dried herbs and cheese slice.
Mix well and boil till a thick gooey saucy consistency is obtained.
Add a little more milk if the sauce gets too thick.

Step 2 – Marinara Sauce

Ingredients for Marinara sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Chopped onion	3/4 cup
Garlic minced	5 flakes
Olive oil	4 tablespoons
Whole peeled tomatoes	3/4 kg , ( blanch whole tomatoes in hot water and peel the skins ) , ( I blitzed the peeled tomatoes to a corse pulp )
Salt	to taste
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Bay leaf	1
Tomato paste / tomato sauce	1 tablespoon
Dried basil	3/4 teaspoon
Ground black pepper	1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder	1 teaspoon ( for the Indian pallet )

Method

Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent.
Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer.
Stir in tomato paste, basil and 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder.
Cook until sauce is thick and gooey. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat.

Step 3 – Chicken filling

Ingredients for Chicken filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Boneless chicken	1/4 kg
Garlic paste	1/4 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Onions	5 big chopped
Green chillies	4 chopped
Mixed vegetables	carrots , beans , cabbage , green peas chopped and boiled in water with salt
Dried basil + oregano	1/4 teaspoon
Pepper powder	to taste
Oil	2 tablespoons

Method for chicken filling

Pressure cook cleaned chicken, salt and garlic paste for one whistle. Bring to boil and Reduce the water. Cool completely and shred the chicken to treads ( I run it in the food processor for a second ).
Heat oil in a non stick pan. Add onions and fry to translucent. Add green chilies, boiled chopped mixed vegetables, shredded chicken, dry basil and oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well and lower the flame and keep stirring for 3 minutes letting all the flavours infuse together. Remove from heat, cool and set aside.

Step 4 – Cannelloni

Ingredients for Cannelloni

Ingredients	Quantity
Cannelloni shells	1 packet store bought

Method

Cook the cannelloni shells according to packet instructions and keep aside.

Step 5 – how to proceed

Other ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Egg	1 whole
Salt + pepper + red chili flakes	to taste
Coriander leaves	few chopped
Grated cheese	1/4 cup

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease a spring form generously with butter.
Beat egg with pepper, salt, chilly flakes, chopped coriander leaves and 2 teaspoon of grated cheese.
Fill each cooked cannelloni shell with the chicken filling.
Spread two ladles of white cheese sauce over the greased spring form tin. Top it with two ladles of marinara sauce and spread evenly.
Pour the egg mix and spread evenly.
Stack the filled cannelloni shells in a horizontal manner tightly.
Top with two ladles or more of marinara and spread evenly. Pour two ladles or more of white cheese sauce and spread evenly.
Sprinkle with the remaining cheese on top.
Bake in the preheated oven for forty minutes. Remove and bring cool for five minutes. Cut and Serve hot.

Italian cheesy rice balls

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 3-4 minutes for deep frying each batch
Serves : 4 members

Description

Some how to me Italian food always relate’s to being romantic. No clue as to why I feel so but that’s what it is to me. May be the ease in which the way Italian food is made not being precise like we Indians cook with a little of this and a little of that and loads of love put into each dish. My trip to Italy was done when I just knew pizza and pasta being Italian dishes. Not aware of the versatility the Italian cuisine has I just missed out my chance to explore the real authentic taste of Italy. But I do make up for all the lost time by exploring all the interesting dishes that I get to know in all means. This recipe’s idea is from Italian Canadian born David rocca from one of his telly shows. I just love the way he uses simple, fresh, seasonal ingredients and cooks up a stir that helps any home chef to do the same any where. The authentic, easy to learn, classic Italian dishes that he shares are peasant cuisine which is at the heart of Italian cooking. I have added a few ingredients that are cupboard friendly to our Indian palate. I had my doubts about the rice crust breaking when deep fried but I was put to shame for sure. I made these rice balls when I had a cousin visit us with out notice and her favourite were these for sure with a “recipe please “following . The minute I told her these were made with left over rice, she was awe struck and looked at me like I was a genius. I had to tell her, it’s David rocca who is the genius and not me .

Ingredients	Quantity
Cooked rice	2 cups
Rice flour	1 teaspoon
Cornflour	2 tablespoons
Red chilly flakes	to taste
Egg	1 + 1
Salt + pepper powder	to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese	1 cup
Mozzarella cheese	3/4 cup cubes
Garlic crushed	1 clove
Dried oregano	1/2 teaspoon
Dried basil	1/2 teaspoon
Bread crumbs	2 cups
Oil	to deep fry

Method

Mash boiled rice well with hands. Add salt, cornflour, red chilly flakes, garlic, one egg, dried basil, dried oregano and Parmesan cheese to the mashed rice. Mix well. Then add rice flour and mix well. set aside for twenty minutes.
Make even lemon size ball’s of the rice mixture, flatten it out in your palm to get a round disc of your palm size with 1/4 inch thickness.
Place a goose burry size of mozzarella cheese cube in the centre. Bring the edges of the rice disc towards the middle and roll to a ball with no cracks making sure the mozzarella cube is sealed well.
Beat one egg with salt and pepper to taste. Roll the filled rice ball over beaten egg. Remove and toss over bread crumbs making sure it’s coated all around well. Do the same to all the balls. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop the rice balls in batches of four at a time and deep fry to crisp and golden in hot oil. Drain and serve hot with marinara Italian sauce or tomato sauce.

Home made nachos served with Italian sauce and topping

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 30 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

It’s been a while since I tried out a fusion international dish. I could feel my dining table shout out to me saying, please we need a change. I grabbed the opportunity when my friend Sheela dropped in home to give me deepavali ( that’s how we South Indians say Diwali as ) sweets. A revelry won’t be complete with out edible gifts, would it ? This sure did add so much glamour to my other wise dull table. These nachos didn’t take much skill or any special equipment to pull off and with my clever touches and twists ( uff please .. No self praising ) to this Mexican divineness, it was a gorgeous creation. Though infinitely versatile, it’s all about getting the flavour pairing right. As myself and Sheela were in full swing with munching and gossiping, I heard the calling bell ring . Went and checked and to my surprise it was my neighbor kamala aunty ( we share the same native place ) who had come to drop deepavali sweets as well. Welcomed her and took her strait to the munching spread. We did enjoy our bit of togetherness with a good spread around. The same evening, we had another neighbor’s get together to attend for dinner. Myself and kamala aunty had a sly laugh as we both had food in our plates but nothing was lining our tummies. The joy and memories that food bring to my crazy self.

Ingredients for nachos

Ingredients	Quantity
Yellow cornmeal flour (makki ka atta)	2 cups sifted
Flour / Maida	1 cup
Baking powder	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Oil	2 tablespoon
Warm water	2 cups or more
Oil	to deep fry

Method for nachos

Mix the yellow cornflour, flour, baking powder, salt, oil and warm water together. knead to get a soft dough.
Roll into equal big lemon size balls. Spread out to thin rotis and cook over a hot griddle (tawa), on both sides. Remove and cool completely.
When cool, cut the rotis to triangle shape with the help of a sharp knife. Deep fry the rotis to a light golden brown and drain.
Keep stored in an air tight container until needed to be served.

Ingredients for Italian sauce

Ingredients	Quantity
Ripe tomatoes	1/2 kg blended
Flour	2 tablespoons
Olive oil	2 tablespoons
Garlic	2 cloves crushed
Stock cube	1 ( I used maggi chicken stock cube )
Dried Basil	1 teaspoon
Oregano	1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder	1 teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste

Method

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

Other ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Onion	1 chopped
Red , yellow and green capsicum's	1/2 each copped
Cheese	grated to taste

How to assemble

In a wide plate spread the Italian sauce. Pile up the fried nachos over.
Sprinkle chopped onions, three colored capsicum’s and grate cheese over.
Serve immediately.

Cannolini

Preparation time : 30 minutes
Cooking time : 1 hour 20 minutes
Serves : 8 members
Recipe source : afritha

Description

What do I start with. The dish Cannolini or the person who shared the recipe “Afritha”. Well I know Afritha long before I got to know the dish Cannolini. So it’s about Afritha first and then to the dish for sure. My cousin sister’s daughter. Always confident, tall and giggly are the first three things that come to my mind about her. Then being enthusiastic and inquisitive to know about every thing as well. Her mother, my first cousin Shifa and myself were not the best of friends as kids. Like we all have that one cousin who is a snicker and loves to get us into trouble. She was one hell of a terror for sure. Her father was from Tanjore district and I remember shouting at her on every fight saying. You better make a leave soon to Tamilnadu. Not knowing I myself was there in Tamilnadu.(dum me). In reply she used to ask me to migrate to Kerala (may be because I was born there). Finally, I got married into a typical Tamil family (guess it was her curse.. Kidding) and she into a mixed one.. Following with her daughter Afritha too. Afritha and myself are the only two who are married of to the deep southern part of Tamilnadu and we know every bit of the craziness we are going through with the extreme differences in between the cultural, regional and food habit changes of the opposite ends of Tamilnadu. oops.. I have gone far away from the dish and am boring you all with my silly childhood and present thoughts. Coming to the dish.. Afritha got this dish for the second anniversary of sauté, fry n bake celebration. She missed a prize as the pasta sauce she made was ready made one but taste wise.. The bowl was kicked out clean. The picture by itself is evident for that as even before I could click a picture 3/4 of the dish was empty.. So peeps try this Italian dish made by a Tamil – Mallu combination girl who lives in Deep South Tamilnadu.

Ingredients	Quantity
Olive oil	1 tablespoon
Onion	1- finely chopped
Garlic clove	2- crushed
Chicken mince	500 grams
parmesan cheese grated	2/3 cups
Spinach	2 tablespoons- chopped
Boiled corn kernels	1/2 cups
Tomato pasta sauce	Home made ( u can use ready made sauce as well )
Pasta sheets	Home made or ready made cannelloni sheets

Method

Preheat oven 180C and lightly grease ovenproof dish.
Heat oil in frying pan and sauté garlic and onion.
Add chicken, brown well for 4-5 minutes.
Add corn n spinach into chicken mixture and season to taste and let it cook

TO MAKE PASTA SHEETS

Beat together 2 cups of all purpose flour n 1 egg . Dilute with little water to get pancake consistency.
Pour on pan n make thin sheets (like dosa)

Let the sheets cool down and fill the sheets with chicken mixture
Pour a third of the pasta sauce over bottom of ovenproof dish and top with filled cannelloni tubes.
Pour remaining sauce over the top of the cannelloni tubes, then sprinkle with remaining Parmesan.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, uncover and bake further 15-20 minutes until tender.

TO MAKE PASTA SAUCE

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the 3 cloves garlic and 1 onion and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened but not browned.
Add the 1 tablespoon tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute
Add the 6 Cooked n beaten tomatoes, reduce the heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, until thickened.
Stir through the salt and pepper, sugar, basil and parsley, adjusting the seasoning as required.

Luqaimat- Arabic sweet dumplings

Preparation time : 5 minutes + 1 hour and 15 minutes for the batter to double

Cooking time : 3-4 minutes for each batch deep fried

Serves : 6-8 members

Description

On my return from a holiday in Dubai, hubby dear’s niece sabeena gifted me a huge bag full of edible goodies. Back home went through the entire lot of goodies and found every thing to be so useful and new to me. The ready mix Arabic dumpling box was a boon which helped me to entertain guests for brunch and during the holy month of Ramadan to break out fast. The dumpling ready mix box lasted for three servings.. There after when the dumplings were on demand at home I felt lost thinking who do I ask for the next batch from Dubai letting go off as always. Recently I came across a recipe in the name of luqaimat in a foodie group with an image looking similar to the dumplings I made. Googled to find out it’s the same dumplings with its authentic name being luqaimat. Took note of two easy recipes and tried both and had to settled down with combining both the recipe’s that was exactly like my previous luqaimat’s light, airy, soft centres with a crisp exterior. I thank sabeena for the edible gifts that let me learn another new recipe for keeps and to share with you all.

Ingredients	Quantity
Flour / maida	3 1/2 cups
Instant Yeast	1 1/4 teaspoon
Salt	1/8 teaspoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Warm water	2 1/2 cups
Oil	to deep fry

Ingredients to toss

Ingredients	Quantity
Honey	to taste
White sesame seeds	to sprinkle

Method

Mix flour, yeast, salt and sugar together.
Gradually add the luck warm water to the flour mix making sure no lumps are formed to get a sticky batter
Cover the batter with a wet damp cloth and let it double in size for 1 hour to 1 hours-15 minutes.beat the batter with hands four times in a gap of 15 minutes each in the first hour of doubling.
Heat oil to deep fry. Drop a teaspoon of batter to get small balls (I preferred to use my hands to drop balls). They pop up and float on the top. Reduce the flame and fry to a light golden color and crisp for about 3-4 minutes in total for each batch. Drain.
Drizzle with honey when the luqaimat balls are hot. Toss well and sprinkle white sesame seeds on top and serve immediately.

Notes

Always deep fry the luqaimat dumplings just before serving and toss over honey when the dumplings are hot.
The authentic way to toss the luqaimat dumplings is with a syrup made with sugar, water, orange blossom water, rose water and honey. I prefer just honey (when pressed for time which is the case always) as its easy and adds a sticky texture and good taste.
I have used instant yeast here, in case you are using dry yeast. Add sugar and 1/4 cup luck warm water to the yeast and dissolve. Set aside to foam and rise. Then mix with the flour and remaining luck warm water.

Home made cheesy baked barittos with salsa and green peas guacamole

Preparation Time : 40 minutes

Cooking Time : 1 hour
Serving : 8 members

Description

Going through some old pictures of my family holiday in Dubai, came across a few images of a Mexican feast we had there at a restaurant. There was a tsunami happening in my mouth with so much saliva… Went into the kitchen to see what can be made for dinner. Had a few left over chapathis, immediately the barittos from the images on my holiday just popped up in my mind. Started prepping and it was like a never ending story. One after the other had to do so much for this one pot dish and I was like for these left over chapathis do I have to do so much ??? Another problem came up with me having no avocados in my pantry to make guacamole which is the only source that lends a creamy texture to the dish. Came up with an idea to use mashed green peas to replicate an avocado guacamole. Worked perfect… With a pat on my back from myself…. Baked the dish and it was an instant hit at home except for the complaint of the berittos being too big. This dish did wind a course of aroma, taste, flavor and colour. There is no secret method or any special touch that makes this Mexican dish a gourmet’s nirvana experience through the plate but it’s what ordinary folk prepare for themselves. Keeping in mind the metaphor of adventures with which this one pot dish has introduced me to…. To being another Bon appetite.

Ingredients for salsa

Ingredients	Quantity
Onion	I chopped
Tomato	1 chopped
Green chillies	1 chopped
Coriander leaves	1 teaspoon chopped
Salt	to taste
Lime juice	1 teaspoon

Method for salsa

Mix all the ingredients together and place it. The refrigerator until needed to be used.

Ingredients for Green peas guacamole

Ingredients	Quantity
Boiled green peas	1 cup ground to a smooth paste
Hung sour curd	1/4 cup
Mayonnaise	2 tablespoons
Salt	to taste

Method for green peas guacamole

Mix all the above ingredients together to a smooth paste. Taste and adjust seasoning and set aside.

Ingredients for the barittos filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Cooked shredded chicken	2 cups
Onions	4 chopped
Green chillies	4 chopped
Garlic	5 cloves chopped
Red, green and yellow bell peppers	I each
Cooked red kidney beans ( rajma )	1 cup
Paprika + salt + peppe	to taste
Red chili flakes	1 teaspoon
Cooked Rice	1/4 cup
Oil	2 tablespoons

Method for barittos filling

Cut the bell peppers into 1/2. Clean the seeds and grill over flame for a minute to char the skin on each side.
Do the same to all the bell peppers. Keep covered in a vessel for 30 minutes. Peel of the skin and chop the peppers.
Heat oil, add chopped onions, green chillies and garlic together. Sauté to translucent.
Add 3/4 of the chopped bell peppers and mix well.
Add all the other ingredients one after the other and toss well. Taste and adjust seasoning .
Remove from heat and cool completely.

Other ingredients

ingredients	Quantity
Cheddar cheese	1/4 cup
Mozzarella cheese	1/4 cup
Butter	to grease
Tortillas	8 ( I used large sized wheat chapathis instead )

How to proceed

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Take a wide baking platter. Grease it with butter on the bottom and all around.
Take a tortilla, spread one tablespoon of green peas guacamole all over on one side. Fill the center with a generous hand full of stuffing.
Fold the sides first. Then from top tightly roll to get a tight, fat roll. Place in the greased baking platter.
Like wise roll all the tortillas with green peas guacamole and filling. Pack these rolls tightly in the baking platter.
Sprinkle the reserved three color bell peppers over. Top with salsa evenly. Pour remaining green peas guacamole and spread all over evenly.
Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes until you see bubbles all around the edges. Then grill to get a golden top. Serve hot .

Sweet corn savoury pudding

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 20 minutes + 30 minutes to bake .

Serving : 6 – 8 members

Description

The excitement of getting any thing free= awesome and when it comes with a heavy price tag it’s= even more awesome . Sounds cheap I know… but that’s the reality internationally with no caste, creed , colour or region. Like wise I got an opportunity for a two day stay at the “ITC GRAND CHOLA” hotel in chennai for a friends daughters wedding. The two days were spent in real luxury with good food, friends and fun. What more do you need. But the good food part was the ultimate for me as at each meal we had a grand spread of all courses with international standard. I went crazy from tasting each dish to digging my mind with what ingredients and technic was used for the dishes to storing in mind about platting technics and food display. My mind was over loaded with different ideas, recipes, fusion dishes …. Uff I can go on and on . Like wise the most appealing dish that really shook me was a savoury carrot pudding that was Devine. It was served in small mini portions and before I could get a second helping it was wiped out clean with no more on the table. Back home to reality… My mind was stuck to the carrot savoury pudding. I googled for the recipe and found just one recipe. I followed the recipe religiously but with substituting carrots with boiled sweet corn kernels. Made it when I had a school senior visit me and it was relished by all in style. Not bad… The free heavy price tag stay did lend me so many other things in free as well :-)).

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Butter	25 grams
Polenta	1/2 cup ( can replace with semolina )
Grated cheddar cheese	1/2 cup ( I used amul cubes )
Eggs	3 separated
Boiled Sweet corn kernels	500 grams
Milk	1 1/2 cups
Parmesan cheese	grated 1/4 cup
Dried herbs	1 teaspoon ( basil , oregano , thyme , rose Mary )
Salt + Pepper + chilly flakes	to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius . Melt butter in a heavy bottomed non – stick sauce pan over medium heat . Add corn kernels , polenta / semolina and milk.
Mix well with no lumps . Bring to boil stirring continuously . Reduce heat to low , simmer and stir all the way until the mix thickens to form one lump together.
Remove from heat ( be careful with salt as both the cheese have a lot of salt ) and add both the grated cheeses.
Season with salt , pepper , chilly flakes and dried herbs . Mix well and cool for ten minutes . Stir in egg yolks and mix well.
Beat the egg whites to stiff with the help of an electric egg beater in a clean bowl that’s not wet or greasy to stiff peaks . Using a metal spoon , gently fold half of the egg white into sweet corn mix.
Fold the remaining egg white as well into the sweet corn mix . Pour into a greased oven proof serving casserole dish about 7.5 cm deep , 6 cups capacity.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the top gets to a golden brown crust . Serve hot.

Avocado hummus

Preparation Time : 5-8 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 4 members

Description

Avocado was one ingredient that I used to wonder as to what is this when ever seen in magazines and recipes ?? A fruit or a vegetable ?? How will it taste to a million doubts in mind . Not knowing that it was the same fruit that I buy on my every visit to Kodaikanal but known as butter fruit locally . All I used to do was add sugar and blend it with chilled water and serve it as a fresh fruit juice . Once when watching the telly about a Mexican food show , I took note of the seed and it was similar to the butter fruit seed . Those days of no google where we had to assume and get things right let me to come to a conclusion of both the fruits are the same . Latter when I had access to the world wide net , did check and confirmed my doubt . For all the lost time , now the avocado is available locally at my place and now sky is the limit to play around it with a bit of innovation. Like wise , this was one try with a twist of replacing boiled chick peas with avocado pulp as a healthy alternative . Now this is served at home both as a daily fare and as part of festive occasions. The beauty of this dish lies in the fact that there is no cooking over the stove top , simple recipe to follow , big on flavours , it’s yum , creamy and can be done at the last minute that’s low on effort . Pressed for time ? Don’t fret , this recipe will have you out of the kitchen in a jiffy .

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Ripe avocados/ butter fruit	2 cups flesh alone
tahini paste	2 tablespoons ( roasted saseme paste 1/2 cup ground with 1/4 cup olive oil together to a smooth paste is tahini paste )
garlic	2 pods
lime	½ nos
olive oil	2 table spoons
salt	to taste
cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
chilli flakes	1/4 teaspoon

Method

Grind avocado flesh tahini paste , garlic and olive oil together to a smooth , thick , creamy paste .
Add salt to taste and lime juice . Mix well . Taste and adjust .
In a shallow plate , spread the hummus . Top with cumin powder and chilli flakes .
Make a dent in the Center and pour some olive oil . Top with a spring of coriander leaf . serve with vegetable sticks , pita bread or normal toasted bread sticks .
I use vegetables like carrot , celery sticks , capsicums , cucumbers ……..