Paneer Cigar Roll (non fried)

Paneer Cigar Roll (non fried)

The last time I made paneer cigar rolls was for my son’s birthday celebration last year. It was loved by everyone and was a hit. After that though, I somehow never got to make it again, probably because I have just not had the time and energy for it. Not to say it is energy consuming but because it involves deep frying. This time though I tried my hands on baking it. I felt that if home made dough was used for the pastry then the results may not be very satisfactory so chose filo pastry. For those who do not have access to filo pastry, make a dough with about a cup of all purpose flour (maida) with required water and couple of spoons of oil. Roll the dough as thin as possible and that is almost as good as filo pastry substitute. You can see from the pictures that they look more like the huge cigar rolls than the sleek cigarettes, am sure you can do a better job of rolling them, I had far too many things going on including a crying baby. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. You could use other cheese like cheddar or mozzarella too. As these will melt, so not add it to the pepper on the stove, mix it after the pepper has cooled down a bit. I made my own dip by mixing hot an d sweet sauce, soya sauce, garlic infused olive oil and sugar. The below mentioned quantity makes about 9 rolls.

100g paneer, grated

1 large red pepper, finely chopped

3-4 spring onions, green and white part finely chopped

½ teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon cumin powder

Turmeric powder

½ teaspoon chilly powder

Salt to taste

6-8 sheets of filo pastry

Cooking oil

Heat some oil and sauté the spring onions for couple of minutes

Add the peppers and add required salt and cook just until if begins to soften

Add the paneer, turmeric powder and spice powders and sauté for couple of minutes

Take two sheets of filo pastry and brush with little oil and cut into three equal parts across its length

On one end, put some of the prepared paneer stuffing and start rolling. Seal the ends with wet fingers and with seam side below, place on lined baking tray. Repeat until all filling is used

Brush few drops of oil on all of the rolls and bake at 170degC for about 15-20 minutes until golden

Jowar Methi Muthiya (Sorghum dumplings)

Jowar Muthiya (Sorghum Dumplings)

Some days I follow a restricted diet and it was one such day that I was terribly hungry. I was wondering what to make for breakfast and was looking for nothing elaborate as time in the kitchen was precious and spending it on just breakfast for me seemed unfair. I then thought of making muthiyas with jowar as I remembered seeing a similar recipe by Tarla Dalal. I had fresh methi leaves on hand and for me, that is just about enough to make any dish very appealing. I was not sure what to expect out of jowar muthiyas so methi would be enough to atleast help me gobble the dish. Luckily, my scepticism was unjustified as the muthiyas were really good. They were full of goodness and yum! My son also quite liked it and was happy to nibble while he played, making it a good finger food. I thought presenting it like lolly pops was a good idea but could not get a good picture of it.

Jowar is called sorghum in English. It is a millet and as expected, has several health benefits. It is rich in phosphorous and potassium. A cup of sorghum is said to provide about 40% of the protein recommended per day. It is fiber rich and also has some anti-oxidants making it offer some protection against cancer. It is, obviously, wheat free so great for people with allergy or caeliacs.

1 cup jowar flour

Handful of fenugreek leaves

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon coriander powder

½ teaspoon chilly powder

Dash of turmeric powder

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Cooking oil

Mix together the flour, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, fenugreek leaves and salt. Add just enough water to make a dough

Divide into three parts and using your fist (that is why it is called muthiya), make cylinders of the dough and steam them for about 20 minutes

Cool and cut into about half an inch long slices

Heat some oil and add mustard seeds and sesame seeds

Once the mustards pop and sesame begins to brown add the cut muthiyas and roast until desired. Roast on low flame for a while if you like it slightly crispy without adding much oil

Insert tooth picks and watch them dissappear!

Cream of Tomato Soup

Cream of Tomato Soup
When I was pregnant with my first kid, my husband bought tinned soup for me to see if I kept atleast that down and boy did I hate it. I couldn’t tell you what in it made me dislike it so much but it was hopeless to say the least. I quite like the soups I used to have in Indian restaurants, especially the tomato soup. I have tried a few times in the past to recreate the taste but surprisingly it was not all those elaborate preparations that scored but this simple recipe that emerged as the winner. Whether or not it tasted like what I was used to, this tasted great and was approved by my mom and my husband and they are a bit fussy about soup. I prefer to use tinned tomatoes for it because for whatever reason, they seem more flavourful and thick. Although I do not normally use tinned products, I carefully pick my tins to ensure there is nothing in them that I do not understand. If you do not have cream, you can use milk instead. You could skip the butter and use little oil as well. I do not normally stock croutons so I made my own using old bread and all in all, the soup was great. Stock cubes have salt in them and some tinned tomatoes also have some salt so be careful when you season. As a starter this recipe will serve 3. Here is the recipe...

1 tin tomato
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon butter
3 cloves garlic
Cooking oil
3 tablespoon cream
Croutons to serve
Salt and pepper to taste
1 vegetable stock cube

Heat some butter and oil and sauté the onions and garlic until soft

Add the tomatoes with its juice, some water and the stock cube and boil

Cool and grind to fine puree

Put it back on the stove add couple of spoons of cream and simmer

Serve hot

Note - if the soup become runny, make a paste with cornflour and pour it in, bring to boil and soup will thicken.

Kala Channa Cheese Balls

Kala Channa Cheese Balls
With the hope to make healthy snacks for afternoon tea, I try to soak legumes and had kala channa soaked. I must admit that I am not a big fan of it but respect it and eat it for the wealth of goodness it possesses. I had pressure cooked half of it and left another half to sprout. I was wondering what to make with it while thinking of a good breakfast for my wee one and myself too. He likes to have baked beans but I do not like giving him the same food everyday. It then occurred to me that I could sneak kala channa into his breakfast. Normally, I would not give him kala channa or any channa as it is a choking hazard at his age but this recipe calls for grinding the channa making it safe. I wanted it to be a wholesome dish so combined carbohydrates in the form of potato, calcium from cheese and ofcourse protein from cheese and the channa itself. The channa is also rich in fibre and when combined with aromatic coriander leaves which are rich in minerals, it was a superb combination. It was neither too heavy nor too light and helped us keep full until mid morning snack. It is important not to fill a toddler’s tummy with just one meal and better to stagger the intake throughout the day. Same applies to us also but I must admit it is a struggle sticking to that regime while having a house to run and child to care for. I made this recipe very recently and while there are almost a hundred other recipes to be drafted and posted, this has jumped the queue really because I thought it would be a good dish for parents to give their little ones and ofcourse nourish themselves. Sticking the wee toothpicks makes it more attractive to wee ones and helps them gobble the dish!

½ cup cooked kala channa
1 medium sized potato
Handful of coriander leaves
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder
½ teaspoon chilly powder (optional)
2 heaped tablespoon grated cheese
2 heaped tablespoon all purpose flour
Cooking oil

In a food processor, bring together the kala channa, potato and coriander leaves and blend but do not add any water. The consistency should be such that it forms a ball when held together. To achieve this you need to ensure you drain the channa and potato well to avoid them forming a paste

Add the cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt, cheese, coriander powder and mix well

Make a runny paste by bringing the flour and water together

Make balls of the channa cheese mixture and dip in the flour paste to coat uniformly

Cook with little oil in kuzhi paniyara koodu. If you do not have one, make patties and cook on hot tava with little oil

Serve hot!

Aloo Tikki

Aloo Tikki


Aloo tikki is a very popular North Indian dish and I was surprised I had not made it in ages and not blogged about it either. It used to be one of the dishes that I used to make in my mom’s kitchen whenever I managed to get some time away from my books as a student. Some deep fry but most shallow fry it on a hot griddle and I prefer the latter. My wee one is not a fan of potato and will clearly put it on our plate if I give him any. However when I give it in the form of baked chips, potato cake etc., he does not realise it and has it. I then thought I will make tikki for a change and it went well too. You could add some boiled peas if you like but in the interest if time and simplicity I skipped it. I also preferred chilly powder to green chillies as my wee one may not fancy chilly but it is upto you. Mint or coriander chutney will be great with these tikkis, this time though, I served with ketchup. Here is the recipe…

1 big potato boiled
1teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon chilly powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon coriander leaves
2 wholemeal bread slices, crust removed
1 teaspoon grated ginger (optional)
½ teaspoon onion granules (optional)
Salt to taste

Mash or grate the potato well and add the ginger and coriander leaves

Wet the bread slices and squeeze the excess water out and squash it between your palms and add to the potato

Add the coriander, cumin powder, chilly powder, onion granules and salt and mix well

Smear some oil on your palms and take lemon size balls and pat them to desired thickness

Heat a non-stick pan and cook both sides of the tikkis until golden brown and add little oil if needed

Serve with a chutney or ketchup

Crispy Cauliflower (Low Fat Cauliflower Fry)

Crispy Cauliflower


With a hope to keep cost and wastage down I have been buying frozen cauliflower for the last few weeks. However, when I did come across a rather low cost cauliflower at the Indian grocers, I could not resist the temptation to buy it despite my freezer stock still being available. And then came a dull evening when I felt like munching something, not unhealthy and also filling enough for me to have just fruits for dinner. I had been meaning to try a low fat version of cauliflower fry. It was a bit complicated preference I had that day as I did not want bajji like dish and neither did I want to add soda bicarb. So I decided to increase the quantity of crispness adding flours like rice flour and corn flour and also added a bit o foil to the batter so it does not turn out too dry. I really liked the dish and if all these healthy veggies can be served in such yummy and low fat form, I could easily have not just my five a day but also ten a day! Well, enough of my rant, here is the recipe for you to try for yourself.

¼ cup rice flour
¼ cup corn flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3-4 cups cauliflower florets
Turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon chilly powder
3 teaspoons cooking oil
Salt to taste

Mix corn flour, rice flour, all purpose flour, salt, turmeric powder, chilly powder, required water to make a thick batter like dosa batter and add two teaspoons oil and mix it

Add blanched cauliflower (I steamed it for 10 minutes, you could put it in boiled water for ten minutes) to this batter and mix so all of them get coated well

Put this on a lightly greased oven proof dish and bake at 200degC for 20 minutes, then give it a quick mix and put it in the oven for 10 minutes, ready to serve!

Idli Murmura

Idli Murmura


During my early days of cooking, quantity was something I could never compromise. I absolutely dislike having to wonder whether incase I ate more of something, there may not be enough for someone else. I think it is absolutely wrong thing to do. I would rather make about half to one extra portion because at worst we can refrigerate and eat it later. It was not just things like sambar, rasam or curries but also idlis. So there were days when I used to have left over idlis. Back then for whatever reason I was not creative with recipes for left over idli although I used to fancy chilly idli that I remember having with my mom in a restaurant in Chennai. It has been a good few years since then but I still remember it clearly, we were waiting to get car seat covers fixed on my car and wanted a snack. It is a place called Sowbagya and I think it was near GP road. What a wonderful dish they make. Anyway, these days I have grasped quantity better and keep batter ready and no left over idlis. One day I managed to make more and then attempted to make chilly ildis, low fat version though. I baked the idlis mixed with some spices and that was only one part of the recipe and it did not go further. It was so nice and crispy that I started snacking on the baked idlis. And that is how this recipe came into existence! Here it is ...

4-5 idlis, cut into bite size chunks
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½ - 1 teaspoon chilly powder
Pinches of kasoori methi
Turmeric powder
1-2 teaspoon cooking oil
Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together and be careful with salt as the idlis would already have some salt.

Place in an oven proof dish and bake at 180degC for 20-25 minutes

Serve with ketchup or just on its own.

Baby Potato Peanut Roast

Baby Potato Peanut Roast


Baby potatoes are not just a beautiful sight but a yummy treat. When I was a kid, baby potatoes were not always available in the market. My mom was once very excited seeing them and bought it and was telling us that boiled potatoes sautéed with a special spice mixture is yummy. She was preparing it was looking so good and I was looking forward to eating it for lunch. Unfortunately by lunch time, my brother became unwell and we had to go to the hospital. We had lunch after returning from the hospital and despite sitting on the kitchen counter for a while and not being hot, it was absolutely yummy. Reason I brought that up is that everytime I see baby potatoes, it just reminds me of my first encounter with it. It is funny how our brain remember few specific things. This recipe is not how my mom used to make it, infact I just made this recipe on the fly. The final photograph was taken on a different day when I made this extra hot and that is why it looks more reddish.We all liked it and I hope you will too…

About 10-12 baby potatoes, steamed or boiled and peeled
¼ cup roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds, roasted
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon soya sauce
3 dry red chillies, soaked in water for 10 minutes
Turmeric powder
Asafoetida
Salt to taste

Grind together peanuts, coriander powder, sesame seeds, oil, soya sauce and dry red chillies adding just enough water to make a paste

Heat little oil in a skillet and add the potatoes, turmeric powder and asafoetida

Add the paste and little water and cook on low flame and add salt

Keep cooking until it comes to desired consistency (some like it roasted so it has a crisp coating and some may like it just soft)

Serve as a starter or accompaniment with rice. If you like hot, sour and sweet combination, then add some brown sugar and heat for a couple of minutes so it glazes the potatoes as well.