Leftover Rice Cutlets

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice             -2 cups
Mix Veggies             -1 cup (I used cabbage, carrot and capsicum)
Potatoes                    -1 cup boiled and mashed
Onion                       -1/4 finely chopped
Green chillies          -2 Chopped
Fresh coriander       -2 tbsp Chopped
Ginger                     -1 tspoon
Cumin seeds           -1 tspoon
Red chilli powder   -1/2 tspoon
Garam Masala         -1/2 tspoon
Amchoor                 -1/2 tspoon
Salt                          -to taste
Oil                           -4-5 tblspoon to shallow fry
Cornflour                -2-3 tblspoon

Method:

Mash the boiled potatoes.
Microwave the veggies for 2 minutes.
Grate the onion and ginger.
In a deep mixing bowl, put rice, veggies, potatoes, grated onion, grated ginger, chillies and coriander.

Now add the cumin seeds, red chilli, garam masala, amchoor and salt to the bowl. Mix it well.

If the consistency is very dry mash the mix with few pulse of hand blender.

If the consistency is very mushy add the cornflour to it and mix well.

Now grease your palm and shape the cutlets of desired shape, I prefer them to be round.
Shallow fry them in a heavy bottom pan. Flip them and Fry them until golden brown.

Serve them with choice Chutneys.

Jam Cookies (Heart Shaped)

Ingredients:

Basic Cookie dough            
Jam                                          - 3 tblspoon ( I used 3 berry Jam)
Chocolate hearts                      - 6 (3 white 3 dark chocolate)
Glaze                                       - 1 tspoon butter 2 tspoon milk


Method:

Take out your cookie dough from the fridge and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Now roll the cookie dough in between parchment paper for about 5 inch round and 3cm thick.

Now take a cookie cutter, I used heart shaped, and cut the cookies from the rolled out dough. I cut out 12 shapes to make 6 cookies, as these will be sandwich cookies.

Now keep 6 whole shapes for the base of the cookie.
Cut out the heart shape from the other 6 cookies to make heart shape border for the upper layer of the cookie. Please refer the pictures.

Now place the 6 base cookies on a baking sheet.

Polish them with the glaze.

Now lay down the border cookies over these bases.

Polish them with the glaze again. Fill them with the choice of jam.
Now keep them in the fridge for 30-40 minutes. You can leave them overnight in the fridge.
Just before baking the cookies pre-heat your oven to 180 c and bake the cookies 15 minutes or the sides starts to get golden.
Once cookies cool down completely put the chocolate hearts as an extra treat for your kids.
These cookies go very well with milk and shakes.

Basic Sugar Cookie

This recipe will tell you how to make basic sugar cookie dough. In this dough you can use choice of colours, essence and flavours.

Ingredients:

All-purpose flour            - 1 1/4 cup
Cornflour                        - 1/4 cup
Granulated Sugar           - 1/4 cup
Granulated Cane Sugar  - 1/2 cup
Butter                             - 1/2 cup
Salt                                 - 1/2 tspoon
Baking Powder              - 1/2 tspoon
Baking Soda                  - 1/4 tspoon
Food Essence                 - 1 tspoon
Food Colour                  - as required

Method:

Sieve both the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the deep mixing bowl, mix it well.

Now mix Sugar and butter together until light in colour and smooth.

Now mix in the essence as per your choice.

Now put butter mix in the bowl of flour. Add in the food colour.

Now knead it to form a dough, if you fine the dough too dry add some milk but don't make the dough too smooth and soft.

Keep the dough in the fridge for 2 hours before rolling and cutting the cookies of your desired shape.

Royal Nutty Veggie Kofta

Ingredients:

For Koftas:

Cashewnuts                        - 5
Almonds                             - 5
Pistachio                             - 5
Coconut                              - 1 tblspoon grated
Raisins                                - 10
Corn Kernels                      - 1 tblspoon
Carrot                                 - 2 tblspoon (Grated / Finely chopped)
Mix Peppers                       - 2 tblspoon (Finely chopped)
Boiled Potatoes                  - 3 boiled and mashed
Fresh Coriander                 - 1 tblspoon
Cornflour                           - 2 tblspoon
Salt                                    - To taste
Amchoor                           - 1 tspoon
Black pepper                     - 1 tspoon (Powder)
Oil                                     - for deep frying

For Kofta Gravy:

Cumin Seeds                     - 1/4 tspoon
Hing                                  - 1 pinch
Green Cardamom             - 2
Cloves                               - 2
Cinnamon powder            - 1/4 tspoon
Onions                              - 2
Garlic                                - 4 cloves
Ginger                               - 1 inch
Tomatoes                          - 2 large
Cashewnuts                      - 5 soaked in water
coriander powder             - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala                  - 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder             - 1/4 teaspoon
Kasoori methi                  - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt                                   - to taste
Cream/Set Yogurt            - 2 tblspoon
Oil                                     - 1 tblspoon for tempering
Water                               - 2 cup or your choice of thickness


Method:

For Kofta balls:

Mash the boiled potatoes in a deep mixing bowl.
Now mix in the veggies to the potatoes.
Coarse grind the nuts except raisin and coconut.
Mix the nuts, raisins and coconut to the potatoes.
Finely chop the fresh coriander and throw it in the mixing bowl.
Now add all the dry masalas (salt, amchoor, black pepper powder) and cornflour into the bowl.
Give it a good mix using your hands and make it like a dough.
Now make same size round balls out of this mix.

Once all the balls are shaped, keep them in the fridge for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes take the Kofta balls out of the fridge and deep fry them until golden brown and crisp.
Keep the kofta balls aside after frying them to cool them.

For Kofta Gravy:

Grind Onion, garlic and ginger to fine paste.
Grind the cashewnuts into a fine paste.
Also puree the tomatoes. Keep both the pastes and puree aside and start with the cooking of gravy.
Warm 1 tblspoon oil heavy bottom pan. Add all the whole spices ( Cumin, Green Cardamom, Cloves and hing) to it.
Now lower the flame to slow, add cinnamon powder, turmeric powder and salt to the pan.
Mix it well for a second and add onion paste to it. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the raw smell of onion goes away.
Once done, add in the tomato puree to it. cook again for 2-3 minutes.
Now add coriander powder, kasoori methi and cashewnut paste to it.
Mix it well and cook for 5 minutes.
Now add the 1 n half tblspoon of set yogurt/cream to the pan and mix it very well while stirring continuously.
Add in the water and let it boil for 5-7 minutes.
Check the consistency of gravy as per your choice. I keep kofta curry a bit thick else koftas go very soft and fall apart in the gravy.
The gravy is ready.

To assemble the koftas and gravy, your just need to take out the gravy in a deep serving bowl and dip the kofta balls into it.
Garnish them with fresh coriander and 1/2 table spoon of cream/yogurt.

If your kofta balls are very soft, do not dip them in the gravy just after cooking. Dip them just before serving.
Serve these Royal Nutty Veggie Koftas with steamed rice and laccha parathas.

Stuffed Masala Idli

Idlis are the most popular breakfast dish from south of India. It's also very popular in north of India as the food makes all of us one. I experiment a lot with Idli recipes. Idlies can be made in several different ways such as authentic style rice idli, stuffed idli, methi idli, masala idli and so on.... here is one of my idli recipe.

Ingredients:

Fermented idli batter - 3 cups
Red Peanuts - 2 tblspoon
Cashewnuts - 5-8
Almonds                      - 5-8
Raisins - 10-12
Achari Masala - 1 tblspoon
Corn Kernels              - 1 tblspoon
Carrot - 2 tblspoon (Finely chopped)
Mix Peppers - 2 tblspoon (Finely chopped)
Fresh Coriander - 1 tblspoon
Salt                           - To taste              


Method:

Take a pan and dry roast peanuts, cashewnuts, raisins and almonds in it until they start leaving their oil. Now finely chop all the nuts except raisins.

Chop carrots, fresh coriander and capsicums finely. Add in the corn kernels.

Now mix Achari masala and salt to the nut mix.

Now mix together the nuts and veggies.

Beat the Idli batter well and add the salt to your taste. Remember that we have added the salt to stuffing as well.

I've steamed my idlies in microwave steamer this time but they can be steam the authentic gas steamer way.
Refer the picture to stuff the idlies. first layer idli batter on the idli mould and place 1 tspoon on the batter then layer it again thinly over the stuffing.use the spoon to make it even.

Steam the idlies for 7-10 minutes depending on your microwave temperature or gas steamer.
Stuffed idlies are ready to tuck in as breakfast or evening snack with chutney and hot tea.