Paneer chaat sandwich

 So…it’s one of those days where whatever I have is not what I want for lunch. So I was looking g for sandwich recipes and I found a paneer sandwich but of course that as a base…I made my own paneer sandwich and yum yum yum …lunch 😊

Paneer Chaat Sandwich (Sourdough sandwich with spiced Indian cottage cheese )

Paneer Chaat sandwich

Ingredients 

1. 2 -3 tablespoons grated paneer
2. 1 tablespoon thick plain yogurt 
3. 2 tablespoons each of boiled sweet corn, boiled black beans
4. 1 tablespoon each of fresh cilantro and mint chopped fine, fresh squeezed lemon juice
5. 1 green chili finely chopped 
6. 1-2 teaspoons chaat masala
7. Salt to taste
8. Sour dough bread + butter to toasting bread 

Mix all the ingredients to become a homogeneous mix.

Heat a griddle and toast the bread with butter on one side.

Flip and toast with butter on the other side 

Pull the paneer mix on the bread and cut it into your favorite shape and enjoy

Chicken Samosa

 Spicy chicken samosa is pretty awesome. Its great for tea time snack or make the spice level low so that it becomes a yummy lunch for school or office.

Spicy Chicken Samosa (Indian Empanada with ground chicken)

Chicken Samosa

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb ground chicken
2. 1 medium small onion chopped
3. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilli powder, curry powder
5. 3/4 teaspoon salt
6. 1 tablespoon fenugreek leaves
7. 1/2 cup frozen peas thawed
8. 1/2 cup chicken broth
9. 1 tablespoon oil
10. Oil for spraying on the baking sheet

Mix all the spice ingredients in the chicken. Heat oil in a pan and add the onions and fry for 5 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for 1 minute. Add the chicken and stir and break well and cook for 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Add the chicken broth or water and cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add peas and cover and continue for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and cut the heat and let it cool

Home made dough or use store bough empanada circles. Cut them into halves. Fill each half with 1-1.5 tablespoons chicken filling. Touch your finger with water and run it at the edges. Close the half circle into a triangle and lay on a sprayed baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the samosas with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the samosas spary again and bake for 15 more minutes. Let it cool a bit and enjoy

Rolled Oat Crackers

This is an awesome snack and quite easy to make also. Since the snacks you get from outside last only so long when everyone is staying home all day long and all week long and every month long :(

Rolled Oat Crackers (Savory Baked Crackers with rolled oats )

Crackers with rolled oats

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup Rolled oats
2. 1 cup all purpose flour + more for kneading
3. 1/8 cup finely chopped onion
4. 1 green chilli finely chopped
5. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped Coriander leaves , mint leaves
6. Plain yogurt 1/3 cup
7. 2 tbsp Butter softened
8. 1 teaspoon each of Salt, cumin seeds, carom (ajwain) seeds
9. 1 tablespoon Sugar 
10. 1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
11. Water as needed

Mix all the ingredients except water and add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Roll the dough into 1/2 cm thick disk on a floured surface and cut it into 1-1/2 inch squares or the shape of your liking. 

Pre heat oven to 300 degrees F and place the crackers on a prepared sheet.

Spray the top of the crackers with vegetable oil and bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool completely and enjoy

Nimki

In the olden India there used to be sweet stalls...these are like small mom and pop bakeries which sold savory snacks and sweets. In the evening, during the tea time you could go and get hot snacks and all day long there will be other savory snacks which are great any time. Nimki, nammak para or I don't know the other million names this snack has, but these used to be my family's favorite.

So when my dear brother was visiting I found a recipe for this and made them. They were so delicious and so easy to make.
I will definitely be making them more often

Nimki (Salty snacks)

Nimki (Namak Para)

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup oil
3. 1 teaspoon salt (or less)
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of kalongi (onions seeds), ajwain
5. oil for deep frying

Add the salt and the seeds to the flour and mix well. Add the oil and mix so that that oil and flour
get incorporated  well together. Add water little by little until the dough comes together. Cover and set aside
for 30 minutes.
Heat oil in  a pan.
Roll the dough about 1/3 inch thick and cut it into cubes.
When the oil is hot, add some nimki to the oil and reduce the heat to medium and fry them until they become golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and enjoy

Fruit bits Pistachio biscotti

Biscotti are easy to make and they are super delicious and ofcourse our beloved coffee shop charges us ridiculous amounts for this (If you know who I am talking about!!!)

My brother is a daily customer to his coffee shop and he loves them. He is visiting me and I am making these for him. And my family loves them and I do too. They are super delicious. Make them and impress your own family

Fruit bits Pistachio biscotti

Pistachio Biscotti

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups all purpose flour
2. ¼ cup olive oil
3. ½ cup sugar
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 2 large eggs
6. ¼ teaspoon salt
7. 1 teaspoon baking powder
8. ¼ cup fruit bits (these are available in Indian stores) or use cranberries
9. 1-1.5 cups pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 degress

In a bowl mix the liquid ingredients and add the eggs to it and mix well. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the flour with salt and baking powder and mix. Add the fruit bits and pistachio and mix it.

On a baking sheet add the dough and make a log. The width of the log is your biscotti’s length. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Take it out of the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Cut the log into biscotti’s ¾ inches thick and lay them side ways. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 275 degrees. Let it cool and enjoy

Chakodi

These are the road side snacks of my childhood. One of the favorites' of my brother and we would go to one of the small stores' to get these. They used to be amazing. Crunchy on the outside and soft in inside.
           Today I made them for the first time and they turned out great and I learned some lessons for the next time. So they will be better next time

Chakodi (Fried rice rings)

Chakodi

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup rice flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, hing, caraway seeds, baking soda, chilli powder
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
5. 2 cups water
6. oil for deep frying + 1 table spoon

In a bowl mix together the rice flour, salt, cumin, caraway seeds, sesame seeds, chilli powder and hing

In a pan boil the water along with the baking soda to a rolling boil. Add the flour mix slowly to the boiling water and mix well. Let it cool enough to handle. Knead the dough into a smooth ball for 5 minutes. 

Take a small amount of dough (Smaller than a golf ball) and roll it between your palms into a log, as thick as you like. Pinch the ends together. Continue with the rest of the dough

Heat oil for deep frying in a pan over medium high heat. Add half of the pre made chakodies and let them fry for atleast 3 minutes before flipping else they will break. Fry on the other side for 3-4 minutes. Drain and let it cool a bit before enjoying

Khasta Kachori

Long ago when I was a new bride with limited cooking experience, Manjula's Kitchen saved many of my evenings where I was missing the street food from back home. She taught me many recipes and the proper way of making them.

The Kachori I made today, I never thought they will puff up like they did the first time I made them. I was soooo happy. And even yesterday they puffed up so nicely and delicious. My kids liked them too, so....I will be maaing kachoris more often

Khasta Kachori (Deep fried puffs with spicy lentil stuffing)

Khasta Kachori

Kachori with moong filling

Ingredients for dough:

1. 11/2 cup all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, carom seeds
3. 2 tablespoons oil
4. chilled water as needed

Ingredients for Filling:

1. 1/2 cup yellow moong dal
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli flakes, fennel seeds
3. 1 teaspoon each of grated ginger or ginger powder, coriander seeds
4. 2 teaspoons oil
5. Warm water 2 tablespoons

Mix the all purpose flour with all the ingredients except water. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix till the dough comes together. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.

Grind the fennel seeds and coriander seeds just a tad, until they break a little. Take them out and set aside. Grind the monng dal to almost powder. Heat oil in a pan and fry the moon dal powder, coriander and fennel seeds and ginger till the dal becomes golden brown and you start getting nice aroma. Mix all the other ingredients and set it aside to cool.

After it cooled, add 2 tablespoons warm water and mix.

Knead the dough for 1 minute and divide it into 12 parts. With your palm and fingers make it into 3 inch disks with the middle being  a little more thicker than the edges. Add a teaspoon of filling and close the edges into a dumpling and set aside for a few minutes.

Heat the oil for deep frying. With you path flatten the filled balls into 3 inch disks again making sure there are no holes. Add a tiny piece of dough and it should come to the surface slowly. Add a few kachoris and fry for 5-6 minutes until they become golden brown. Drain, let cool for a bit and serve as is with sweet yogurt, tamarind and date chutney and mint chutney

Sweet Yougurt toping

Mix about 1/2 cup plain yogurt with 11/2 tablespoons of sugar and beat well. Serve on top of sev puri or Kachori

Mysoor Bajji

When I was little there used to be a vendor who used to make these little fried flour balls and served them curry leaf powder and I loved them. It costed us 5 cents in those days in India. Mmmm nostalgia.

Anyway, here is the recipe for those yummy fried flour balls. But the difference here is, I have this dish 

This dish helps me make these yummy balls shallow fried, instead of deep frying them.

Mysoor Bajji (Savory deep fried fermented flour balls)

Mysoor Bajji

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup all-purpose flour 
2. 1/4 cup rice flour
3. 1/2  teaspoon each of salt, baking soda, cumin 
4. 1/2 cup plain yogurt 
5. 3/4 cups of water
6. 1 teaspoon each of  finely chopped ginger, fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice, finely chopped green chilis, dessicated coconut
7. 1 tablespoons  finely chopped cilantro
8. Oil for either deep frying or to apply to the above pan (if you have it)

Mix  together, all-purpose flour, rice flour, salt, baking soda,  cumin and coconut. Add yogurt and mix it well add the water to make thick batter. Add remaining ingredients and set aside for about 15-20 minutes. 
Heat the oil in a pan,  Add 1 tablespoon of batter into the oil. Fry the bajjis until golden-brown all around. This should take about 3-4 minutes.
Mysore bonda should be crispy from outside and should be soft inside.
Serve them with coconut Chutney. or with Curry leaf powder

Cheese Corn balls

I was surfing on the web and I found this random post about corn cheese balls and they looked so super delicious that I had to try them. And I had that page open on my phone for the longest of times and finally I got a chance to make it. but ofcourse I had to change the whole recipe and make it my own.

And here is the recipe for corn cheese balls

Corn Cheese Balls (Fried fritters made for corn and cheese)

Corn Cheese balls

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 can creamed corn
2. 1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend
3. 1/2 cup all purpose flour
4. 1 tablespoon corn starch
5. 1/2 teaspoon each salt, fresh ground black pepper.
6. 1 cup bread crumbs or upma ravva
7. Oil for deep frying

Mix all the ingredients except the bread crumbs/upma ravva. Make into gold ball sized balls. Heat the oil in a pan. Roll the balls in bread crumbs or upma ravva and fry till golden brown. Drain and serve with ketchup. 

Don't serve them immediately. Let them cool a bit and serve else the cheese is very hot and the kids will burn themselves

Meat empanadas

Lately I have been making things at home which the kids can just heat up in the microwave and eat and won't go bad super fast. This empanada recipe from the food network is my favorite and and filling is ofcourse my own recipe.

Meat Empanada (Meat turnovers)

Meat empanada

Meat or lamb filling

Ingredients for the crust:

1. 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 1 teaspoon sugar
4. 3 tablespoons oil
5. 1 egg, beaten

Combine flour, salt, and sugar and mix well. Add the oil and mix. Add the egg and mix well and add water one tablespoon at a time until dough comes together and is pliable.Set aside.

Take a small golf ball sized dough and roll into 4-5 inch circle. Add 1-1.5 tablespoons filling. Dip your finger in water and run it over the edges and turoldnover on edge to cover the filling. Press the edges with a fork to create the pattern.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes until the empanadas look golden brown. Let it cool a bit before serving

Rosemary Corn Bread

Corn bread is one of my favourite desserts and I think its less fattening than a muffin. Ofcourse you can increase the amount of calories you consume when you eat a corn bread by adding some whipped cream on top or better yet some ice cream >:) . This corn bread is much more yummy because it has sour cream and let me tell you its great. So go ahead. Try it
This is basically from one of the food network programmes but I changed it a bit

Rosemary Corn Bread (Corn bread with Rosemary)

Rosemary corn bread

Ingredients:
1)½ cup each of yellow corn meal, all-purpose flour, sour cream
2)1¼ cup powdered sugar
3)1 stick of butter
4)2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
5)¼ teaspoon salt
6)½ teaspoon baking soda
7)1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar and then add 1 egg at a time. Add sour cream and add the dry ingredients one after the other. Stir well to combine

Butter a round baking pan and add the batter into it. Bake it for 35 minutes at 350 Deg. F. Let it cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with cofee

This is delicious