Bread Cheese Rolls (Bread Paneer Rolls)

Bread Cheese Rolls are probably the easiest and quickest snack you can make with some bread slices and cheese/paneer filling. I make this often with different variations of cheese/paneer fillings to make a nice snack for tea time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cottage cheese (paneer)
• 1 small onion, chopped finely
• 1/4 tsp cumin (jeera) powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
• A small bunch of finely chopped coriander (dhania)
• 1 green chilly finely deseeded and chopped 
• 2 tsp  tomato  ketchup
• 4 slices of bread
• Butter to roast
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Place the crumbled cheese (paneer) in a bowl
• Add the red chili powder, garam-masala, salt, chopped coriander, chopped onion, and cumin powder mix them lightly
• Add the tomato sauce or ketchup and the ginger garlic paste.mix them in mixture .Set aside while you prepare the bread.
• Remove the crusts from your bread. 
• Roll out each slice as thin as you can.
• Place about 1 tsp  of filling on one end of the rolled out bread slice.
• Gently roll in from one end to another, making sure that the filling stays well within the first turn of the roll.
• Place the tightly rolled bread slices with filling in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.
• Butter up the rolls well on all sides.
• Lightly roast in a pan until all sides are browned. Cut up and serve with tomato sauce.

Baingan ka Bhartha (Grilled meshed spicy eggplant)

Baingan Ka Bartha 

Roasting of eggplant

Ingredients:

• 1 baigan/Eggplant/brinjal (large)
• 2 onion
• 3 tomato
• 1 tsp Ginger paste
• 1 tsp Garlic paste
• 2 green chilies
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 3 tbsp Oil
• Coriander leaves for garnishing
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash and wipe the eggplant well. Coat the outer surface with oil and then it's ready for roasting.
• Roasting on the gas cook top is the most easily and best method you can do to achieve that charred and smoky effect.
• Take the greased eggplant and place it directly on the burner. Keep the flame on low. 
• Keep turning the eggplant and make sure all the sides are exposed to flame. This takes about 5 - 6 minutes; depending on how big is the eggplant.
• Once the eggplant is cook you will notice that the out side will start to look charred and you will get that smoky smell.
• When the eggplant is roasted well, allow it to cool.
• Take the completely cooled eggplant and peel off its skin, transfer to a plate and slice to check for worms and hard seeds then mash.
• Finely chop the onion and puree the tomatoes, heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and add the onions, fry onions till light golden brown, add ginger and garlic paste and stir, add turmeric, red chili powder and salt, tip in the tomato puree and the green chilies and cook over low heat stirring frequently till mixture leaves oil. Cook while stirring frequently over low heat.
• Add the mashed pulp to the onion-masala and cook over low heat for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or till the mixture leaves sides of pan. Sprinkle the garam masala and mix.
• Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve piping hot with fluffy chapattis…….

Kache kele ke kofte ( Raw banana dumplings)

Kache kele ke kofte

Ingredients:

For Koftas

• 2 Kache Kele  (Raw Bananas)
• 2 medium Aloo (Potato) boiled and mashed
• 1 tsp Ginger grated
• ½ tsp Garam Masala powder
• 2 Green Chilies finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh Dhania (Coriander/Cilantro leaves)
• 1 tsp Amchoor Powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp roasted singhara ka atta (Water chestnut flour)
• Cooking Oil for deep-frying

For Masala/Gravy:

• 1 big Onion chopped
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic

Skip onion and garlic if you are preparing for VRAT

• 1” cube of fresh Ginger chopped
• 1 medium sized Tomato chopped
• 1 Green Chili
• 1 tsp Red Chili powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp  Garam Masala powder
• 1 Bay leaf
• 4-5 tbsp Cooking Oil
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• Salt to taste

Method:

Koftas:

• Cut each Raw Banana in to two pieces. Put these pieces in a bowl of salted water. Let them stand for 10-15 minutes.
• Take about 4-5 cups of water in a pan and boil it. Now add Raw Bananas pieces to the boiling water and let the water boil until pieces are tender but not mushy. Drain and keep the pieces aside to cool a little.
• Peel off and grate/mash Raw Bananas.
• In a big bowl take grated Raw Bananas, mashed potato and all other ingredients, other than oil, required to make koftas.
• Shape the Raw Bananas mix into round balls (koftas).
• Deep-fry koftas to golden brown over medium flame.

Gravy:

• Put the chopped onion, ginger, garlic, green chili and tomato into a blender or food processor along with ¼ cup water and blend until you have a smooth paste.
• Heat the oil in a heavy wide pan over a medium flame (use same oil in which koftas were fried). Add bay leaf and the contents of the blender to the oil. Add red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt and half of the garam masala powder.
• Fry, stirring constantly, for about 5-6 minutes, or until masala turns little darker, and the oil begins to separate from the masala.
• Add 4 cups of water to the masala and let the gravy boil for 2-3 minutes. Add koftas, lower heat, and simmer gently uncovered for about 4-5 minutes.
• Turn off the flame, add lemon juice and garam masala and allow the curry to rest for 15 minutes. Koftas absorb water and swell.
• Transfer curry to serving bowl. and serve hot garnished with fresh finely chopped corriander leaves!

Sabudana Kheer

Sabudana Kheer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Sabudana/Sago/Tapioca Pearls
• 2½-3 cups Water
• 1 cup Whole Milk
• 1¼-1¾ cups Sugar
• A Pinch of Saffron, crushed
• 5-6 Green Cardamoms, peeled and seeds crushed to powder
• Few Cashews
• 1 tbsp Ghee/Clarified Butter

Method:

• Take sago pearls in a bowl and rinse them with water till all the scum is washed away. Drain all the water and add another 2 cups of water and let it soak for at least 30 mins.
• Drain all the water from soaked sago pearls. Add about 2½-3 cups of water and cook sago pearls in medium flame till they are cooked and become transparent, for about 15 minutes.
• Mix in milk and sugar and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring in between, for another 5-7 minutes.
• While its cooking, heat ghee in a pan and add broken cashews to it. fry cashews to golden brown on medium flame, about 2-3 minutes and keep them aside till needed.
• Add crushed saffron strands and cardamom powder and let the Kheer come to a gentle boil, about 3-5 minutes.
• Switch off the flame and mix in fried cashews. Serve it hot, warm or chilled and enjoy!

Banana Chips

Banana Chips

Ingredients:

• 5 raw bananas
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• Salt as per the taste
• Refined oil for deep frying

Method:

• Peel the bananas
• Put the peeled bananas in salted iced water.
• Slice bananas with a chip slicer into water, mix turmeric powder to it. Keep for 10 minutes, Transfer to a kitchen cloth to remove the moisture.
• Heat the oil in a wide pan. Bring it to boil.
• Fry banana slices for 1-2 minutes until crisp. Turn over the chips to cook both the sides. Once sure that they are crisp, use a strainer to take the chips out and place them on an absorbent paper to drain the excess oil off. Sprinkle salt over the fried bananas.

Paneer Rolls (Cheese Rolls)

Paneer Rolls (Cheese Rolls)

Ingredients:

For the wrapper

• 2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
• 1/2 cup rice floor
• 1 tbsp ghee/oil
• Salt to taste

For the filling

• 1 cup crumbled cheese (paneer)
• 1/4 cup approx of finely chopped onions
• 2-4 green chillies, chopped finely
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 1/4 cup tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped
• Salt to taste (little since wrapper also has salt)

Method:

• Add all the ingredients for the wrapper except rice flour together in a bowl.
• Add enough water to make it into pliable dough. Knead well until smooth.
• Meanwhile for filling, heat oil in a pan and put all the ingredients of filling except the cheese and sauté until soft.
• Add the cheese and sauté for 1 minute.
• Add freshly chopped coriander.
• Take the small pieces from the dough and roll them into rectangle shape.
• Cut them into smaller rectangles, of course you need not necessarily accurate ;). The thickness should be medium - not too thin nor too thick.
• Take one piece. Add the stuffing in shorter end of the rectangle making sure to leave few inches near the edges. Roll it continuously until the end and bring the edges of the filling together. 
• Take the rice flour and with the water make a dip of medium consistency.
• Dip all the rolls one by one into the dip and deep fry in hot oil, until golden brown.
• Crispy rolls are ready to serve with your favorite chutney. 

Methi Muthia ( Fenugreek cutlets)

Methi Muthia (Fenugreek Cutlets)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup finely chopped Fenugreek leaves
• 2 Tbsp plain Yogurt (hung curd)
• 2 Tbsp Chickpea flour
• 2Tbsp Rice flour
• 1Tbsp Wheat flour
• 1Tbsp oil
• 5 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 1Tsp Ginger paste
• 1Tsp Carom seeds (Ajwain)
• 1Tsp Cumin seeds roasted and crushed (Jeera)
• 1Tsp Coriander seeds, crushed
• 2 finely chopped and deseeded Green Chillies
• Pinch of Turmeric powder
• Oil for deep frying
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients except oil for frying and make firm dough. If the mixture is dry, then add yogurt to moisten it.
• Take some dough and make an inch oval shaped ball (or you can give any shape as desired).
• Keep all the ovals in a fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a pan.
• Get the ovals from the fridge and deep fry the oval shaped balls over a medium high flame until golden brown.
• Drain off the excess oil and put the muthias on paper napkin.
• The hot, crispy and spicy methi muthia is ready to serve with chutney.