vegetable Vermicelli pilaf

Today I am not feeling like going out but there was nothing for lunch at home. So I started to think what I can make with the vegetables available. I didn't want to eat rice. So I made vegetable pilaf or Pulao, actually fried rice but instead of rice I used vermicelli or the Indian wheat noodles. And its amazing. I hope you will try it too and leave me a comment

Vegetable Vermicelli pilaf (Vermicelli cooked with a variety of vegetables)

Vegetable Vermicelli Pilaf

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups dry roasted vermicelli
2. 2-3 cups total of your favourite vegetables ( I used carrots, cauliflower, green beans, peas, onions, cabbage and white corn)
3. 2 tablespoons oi divided
4. 1 teaspoon salt divided
5. 1 medium sized red onion sliced and divided
6. 1 green chilly chopped
7. 1 large or 2 small garlic pods minced
8. 2 bay leaves
9. 1 inch cinnamon broken
10. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
11. Handful of soya chunk(optiona) (Heat1-2 cups of water in a microwave and at 1/4 teaspoon salt and add the soya chunks to it and leave it for 2-3 minutes. Drain and break into smaller pieces. set aside)

 Heat one tablespoon oil in a small pan and fry about 3/4 onions till they become dark brown and crispy. Drain and set aside. Boil about 3 cups water and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon oil and add vermicelli to it and boil till done. Drain and set aside. In a pan heat the oil and fry the bay leafs and cinnamon and the cumin for a couple of minutes. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add the onions, carrot , cabbage and cauliflower, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes. Add the frozen veggies and cover and cook for 5 more minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and green chily and stir to combine. Add the soya chunks if using and stir. Add the vermicelli and fried onions and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with cilantro, stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Serve with ketchup

                                        Also try Pulao with Peas and Soya Chunks 

Ginger Shrimp

Today I am a bit nostalgic and am craving something from the days when was not responsible for anything other than my own things...read "when I was a kid" :D
                      Anyway, I loved Hyderabadi Ginger Chicken in those days and today I tried it with Shrimp and it turned out to be equally delicious.

Ginger Shrimp (Shrimp and bell pepper in a ginger based gravy)

Ginger Shrimp

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb medium- large shrimp peeled and deveined
2. 1 medium red onion
3. 2-3 inches of fresh ginger peeled
4. 1 large or 2 medium tomatoes
5. 3 garlic pods
6. 1/2 teaspoon cumim
7. 2 tablespoons oil 
8. 3/4 teaspoon or to taste salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder
10. 1 tablespoons tomato ketchup
11. 1 bell pepper your favourite color cut into bite size pieces
12. 1 jalapeno or 2 serrano peppers chopped
13. 2 bay leaves
14. 1 inch cinnamon stick broken

Pat dry the shrimp. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, till it gets very hot and add the shrimp (Take care not to splatter yourself). Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain and set aside.
Grind the onion along with ginger and garlic and cumin into a smooth paste. Add this to the oil and fry till it starts to get dark brown. Add all the spices and stir to combine. Grind the tomatoes and add it to the pan and fry for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and shrimp and a cup of water and bring it to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until oil separates. Serve with your favourite Roti

Mediterranean Baked Fish and Artichoke Hummus

The other day when I went shopping and I got Pita Bread. The first time I had Pita Bread, I hated it. Its so dry. But anyway, I started liking pita bread with Hummus and the grilled vegetables. I always used to make grilled chicken and some vegetable skewers with it but this time I made fish bake with vegetables in mediterranean style and it turned out great. I thought the fish would be bland but it took all the flavors and was yummy
                        And ofcourse I can't have pita bread without Hummus and today I made Artichoke Hummus mainly because I didn't have lemon. And it tastes great. So here are the recipes

Mediterranean Baked Fish (Fish with Zuchini and Olives)

Mediterranean fish bake

Pita Bread

Ingredients:

1. 1 inch thick steaks of Mackerel cleaned
2. 1 large tomato sliced (or 3-4 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes sliced)
3. 2 tablespoons sliced fire roasted pepper
4. 1 large zuchini cut into circles
5. 1 medium white onion sliced
6. 2 tablspoons kalamati olives
7. 1 teaspoon capers
8. 2 big garlic pods crushed
9. 1 garlic pod grated
10. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, lemon pepper
11. 1 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon
12. 1 tablespoon olive oil or oil from the sun-dried tomatoes or roated peppers

In a bowl mix together the oil, salt, lemon pepper and lemon juice and apply to the fish pieces. Mix all the ingredients together and make a packet using aluminium foil.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the packet for 25 minutes. Remove the fish onto another baking dish (sparyed with non-stick cooking spray). Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake further for 10-15 minutes. Put the fish back in the center of the vegetables and serve with warmed pita bread

Artichoke Hummus (Chickpea and Artichoke Dip)

Artichoke Hummus

Ingredients:

1. 1 can garbanzo beans drained
2. 1/2 bottle artichoke hearts drained
3. 1 tablespoon dry roasted sesame seeds (optional)
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 2-3 garlic pods smashed
6. Water from the artichoke bottle or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
7. Olive oil to drizzle on the hummus or if the artichoke were packed in oil use that oil
8. Chilli powder

Grind the sesame seeds and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add chickpeas and artichokes and grind to a smooth paste using the water from the artichoke bottle or lemon juice and salt. Remove it to a bowl and make a well in the middle. Add some olive oil in the center and sprinkle with chilly powder. Serve

Methi Mutter Gosht

Methi or Fenugreek leaves are one of the few ingredients which are a bit bitter. (Bitter is call Kadva or kadvi and Hindi and I just had a brain freeze and couldn't remember the word) Anyway, but if you know how to handle it, it turns out great.
                    So the dish I made today is with fenugreel leaves, peas and boneless lamb. This is a great tasting recipe with health benefits too. Fenugreek is supposed to be good for you

Methi Mutter Gosht (Fenugreek leaves and peas with Lamb)

Methi Mutter Gosht

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 lb boneless lamb cut into 1 cm cubes
2. 1 cup each of fresh peas, frozen fenugreek leaves thawed
3. 1 tablespoons oil
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, salt, chilly powder, turmeric
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1 cup sliced red onion
7. 2 tablespoons plain yogurt beaten

Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt on the methi or fenugreek leaves and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze as much water as possible (this will take out most of the bitterness)
In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add turmeric, salt and chilly powder and the cubed meat and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the methi and 1/2 cup water and cook for 2 whistles. After the steam escapes open the cooker and add the peas and the yogurt and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with phulka or roti

Pink rice with Mughlai Baby Corn

I am running low on vegetables and when I went to the Indian stores for vegetables on Sunday, it was super crowded and I couldn't find a parking space. So I didn't go shopping and I don't have much in my fridge. So I am left with canned vegetables since I didn't want to cook any non-vegetarian.
            So today's menu is Pink Rice (Pink color is from the beet root) and Mughlai style baby corn with carrots. And this is such a treat for the eyes as well as the stomach. It is so very healthy too.

Pink Rice (Fried rice with beet root)

Beet Root Rice

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups rice cooked
2. 1 can shoe string beet root drained (2 cups red beet root cubed and boiled)
3. 1-11/2 tablespoons dry roasted sesame seed powdered
4. 1-2 tablespoons oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal (soaked in water for 10 minutes)
6. Few curry leavs
7. 2 green chillies sliced

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal for a few minutes. Add the green chillies and curry leaves and fry till they start spluttering. Add the beet root and salt to taste and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the sesame seed powder and handful of chopped cilantro and stir to combine. Serve

Mughlai Baby Corn (Baby corn and carrots in a creamy spicy gravy)

Mughlai Baby Corn

Ingredients:

1. 1 can baby corn drained
2. 2 medium carrots cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3. 1/2 cup sliced red onions
4. medium small white/yellow onion
5. 2 tablespoons oil divided
6. 1 tablespoon each of heaped plain yogurt beaten, tomato paste
7. 1/2 cup each of water, milk
8. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, cumin, coriander powder, garam masala, sugar
9. 1 inch ginger
10. 2 garlic pods
11. 1/2 bell pepper cubed (optional)

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the sliced red onion till they become crispy. Drain and set aside. 

Boil the white/yellow onion along with cumin, ginger and garlic in a microwave safe boil, covered with a little water for 2 minutes. Grind to a fine paste.

Boil the baby corn and carrots in the same way for 2 minutes.

In a pan heat the remaining oil and if there is any oil left from the fried onion and fry the onion paste till it starts to change color. Add the spices and tomato and stir to combine and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the vegetables and stir. Reduce the heat and add the beaten yogurt, milk and water and stir. Simmer for 10 minutes. Give it a taste test and adjust seasoning. Garnish with fried onions and serve

Phulka aur Paneer Fava Beans

The other day my hubby dear was watching something on TV about how vulnerable you are for getting a heart attack. From that time on he has become a little health concious. So these days instead of making the regular roti with oil I am making Phulkas (these are just the oil-less version of the Indian bread Roti)
but it sure definitely tastes different.
                   And for the side dish I am making Paneer Fava beans. These Fava beans are from the mediterranean stores and they are huge. And sometimes I find them in Target. And I really like them. My kids also love them. So here are the recipes.

Paneer Fava Beans (Fava Beans with Indian Cottage Cheese)

Paneer Fava Beans

Ingredients:

1. 1 can fava beans drained and washed
2. 100 gms Paneer or about 1 cup cubed paneer
3. 1 large tomato chopped
4. 1 medium small onion chopped fine
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, madras curry powder
6. 3/4 teaspoon or less salt
7. 1 green chilly chopped
8. 1 tablespoons+2 teaspoons oil

In a pan heat the tablespoons of oil and fry the paneer cubes for 5-7 minutes until they start to change color. Drain and set aside. Add the rest of the oil if needed and add the onions and fry till they become tender. Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and the powder spices and fry till the tomatoes till they become tender. Add fava beans and 1/2 cup water and simmer for 7-8 minutes. Add paneer and stir to combine and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro stir to combine and cut the heat. Serve with Phulkas

Phulka (Oil-less Indian whole wheat bread)

Phulka

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups whole wheat flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. water as needed
4. Extra flour for rolling phulkas

In a bowl sift the flour and salt together. Add little water at a time and knead the flour until it comes together. Make a hole in the dough and add a tablespoons of water and cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Knead the flour for a couple of minutes. If it is stiking to your hand apply some oil to your palm or sprinkle some flour on the dough and knead.
Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and roll each piece of dough with a rolling pin into a tortilla. Heat a griddle and roast the phulka. Serve hot