Boiled Egg Sandwich

Eggs are the family  favourite now... Boiled eggs omelettes, egg curry.. we seem to be eating a  lot of eggs!!!!These boiled egg sandwiches are easy to make,delicious and nutritious.

My little one s, loves eggs and bread..and these boiled egg sanwiches were the perfect snack to make as  i had some boiled eggs in the fridge and bread too. I tweaked the other ingredients and did it my way and had a quick and easy evening snack  ready.

Ingredients:

Eggs,boiled and grated- 4

 White Bread - 8 slices

Fresh Coriander leaves- 2 tablespoons chopped

Black pepper powder - to taste

Grated processed cheese -2 tbspns

Mayonnaise- 4 tbspn

Method:

Place the grated eggs in a bowl.Add the coriander leaves , pepper powder, cheese and mayonnaise and mix well.

Arrange 4 bread slices on th ework top.Spread the egg mixture thickly on  each slice.Cover with remaining slices of bread.

Toast in a sandwich toaster and have them hot..This is also a good tiffin /lunchbox option.

Notes:

 You can add in shredded lettuce leaves and chopped onions into the grated egg.

The original recipe uses parsley leaves.

Toasting it is totally optional . 

You can just cut each sandwich into fingers .

Recipe Source:Tiffins ,Sanjeev Kapoor

Gulgule

Gulgule is  a north indian sweet  made during special occassions like karvachauth, basauda,teej..etc.It is also called pua in certain areas.Gulgule is very similar to the unniyappam we make in Kerala.Unniyappam uses rice flour whereas gulgules are made from wheat flour.
Traditionally , gulgules are made using wheat flour,jaggery, and fennel seeds.But  we added a south indian touch to it.We added black sesame seeds to it   and skipped the fennel seeds.Also instead of deep frying we used the appa pathram or the ebelskiver pan so that the quantity of ghee can be reduced and we get well shaped gulgules- round and soft.I suppose the meaning of the word gulgule is round and soft ... and this definitely is round, soft and sweet :)

Bread Upma in Tomato Sauce

This bread upma is my saviour when i am terribly hungry in the evenings and don't want to have plain bread.This is the simple , quick and easy version of the bread upma.

Ingredients:

4 slices of bread- crumbled
2 medium sized onions
5-6 tablespoons -Tomato sauce
1 or 2 teaspoons ghee
Salt to taste
Green chillies or red chilli powder -as per taste.
1/4tspn haldi(turmeric)
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

Heat  ghee in a pan.Saute the finely chopped onions till golden colour.
Add the tomato sauce and mix well so that it will coat the bread when it is put into this.
Add salt ,haldi and red chilli powder or green chillies.
Then mix in the bread well so that the bread is well coated. Garnish with dhania leaves and serve.

You can use mustard seeds, urad dal , curry leaf tempering also to give  a south indian twist or  a north indian tadka with jeera.
You can add some capsicum  or peas...
I love it this simple way as its quick and  easy.

Give it a try and let me know how its is!!!

Semato Rolls

Another of those names N and i came up with...!! I did a search on google and did not find any semato rolls though there was some company called semato tools... who cares??? There is no food item semato!!! :D
Anyway this is just one of those things which came to me while i was trying to  make something for my 4 pm coffee.

Oh forgot to tell u how we came up with that name?Well the rolls are made from potato and vermicilli.. We thought of combining both.. but vermato.. dint sound good so took semiya+potato.. and hence SEMATO rolls;)

I love potatoes in curries ,rice etc but N doesn't.So the only way potatoes get consumed in our house are by either making some  4 o clock snacks or an occassional aloo paratha or poori masala!!

I had come across a vermicilli( semiya) cutlet recipe in Women's era magazine a few months back ..the idea of this one came from there but then again i kept on adding ingredients i felt like. One major problem i face is if i make this  a second time there will be some difference.. either an additional ingredient or something missing!!! Before i forget its better i write it down ..otherwise i may put down.. version 1, version 2 etc!!!

Ingredients:

Potato-1 1/2 cup boiled and mashed potato
Vermicillie(semiya) boiled and drained of excdess water-1/2 cup
Bread- 1 slice soaked in water and water squeezed out.
Finely chopped onions( optional)-1
Finely chopped coriander leaves- say 4 tbsp( actually according to your choice)
Red chilli powder-according to your preference.I used about 1 full tspn
Salt to taste
Garam masala powder-1 tsp
Lemon Juice-extracted from  a lemon( want it more tangy.. go ahead and add  a litlle more lemon juice)
Salt biscuit- powdered and enough to coat the rolls (optional)
Oil- for deep frying



Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and keep aside. Heat oil in a deep saucepan.When the oil is hot enough ,make cylindrical rolls from the potato semiya mixture and coat them in powdered salt biscuit and drop one by one into oil.
When they turn golden brown in colour take them out into an absorbent paper. Serve hot with tomato sauce, mayonnaise or green chutney.
When  you bite into them you get the spongy soft feel and the tanginess too.Sends the taste buds tickling!!!

Lovely evening snack.. in case you are the lucky few who are in Kerala now and are enjoying the monsoons there , then its the perfect snack .Imagine sitting in  your balcony( on a rainy day) on a swing or an easy chair with a book in your hand or your ipod and a coffee and these rolls.... ohhhh how i wish i was in Kerala.. Missing Cochin...!!!
I can only imagine that pleasure sitting far away in Dubai where the temperatures are rising everyday!!!!!

Notes:

All ingredients can be increased or decreased according to your taste ( just take care that you have some binding factor though, the bread or the potato)
You can use green chillies instead of red chilli powder  ,it can be pepper also.
You may also try other variation like coriander powder or  chicken masala instead of garam masala.
You can prepare the mix and refrigerate it and take it and deep fry when you want.

Get creative , try different shapes!!:)

Crunchy Potato Cheese Bites

Sudden  hunger pangs  in the evening resulted in  these very crunchy ,soft,(you know the melt in the mouth types!!) bites.

I used to make  normal cheese balls.. today while making i made some changes and i found that this was much better than my previous style of making cheese balls.So that recipe is out( unless i run out of cornflaked and i badly need to eat this) and this one is in!!!!

Ingredients( trying to give  arough estmate. honestly i dint measure any ingredient)

Potaoes-2( i took one big and one medium)
Cheese -abt 4 tablespoons grated( i used amul processed cheese..ya.. the one in the tin, have used teh cubes earlier)
Onion-1/2 of a mediom sized onion,finely chopped.
Salt- to taste
Pepper- Around 1 tspn( adjust according to your taste)
Cornflakes-say 7-8 tbspns( gave it 2-3 turns inmy blender)
Oil for deep frying

Method

Boil the potatoes. Then mash the potatoes and mix in all other ingredients except cornflakes.

Roll into small balls ,flatten a little and coat them with cornflakes.

Heat the oil ( very well) and deep fry and take out into absorbent paper.

tastes yummy plain or with  tomato sauce!!


Notes:
Other spices may be added but i dint want to complicate the flavours and did not want it tasting like tikki.
Dhania can be added, that will  give  a good taste. I dint have any:(

I tried rolling the bites in maida batter and then coating with cornflakes, but felt that the ones without maida were better.. why unecessarily add maida when it tastes good without it??!!! Left to you what you would like to do.

Coconut Rice

A new item on my menu!-coconut rice!!!:) Till yesterday i had never eaten coconut rice nor made it. But i had heard about it and had come across it in many cooking websites .But i never made it.Yesterday  2 Ls- Laziness and Leftover -made me do it.I was feeling lazy to make the normal rice ,curry , vegetable etc  and I had leftover rice in my fridge .So the laziness factor and leftover factor finally made me try  it and also the sudden flash of  grated coconut stashed away in my fridge!!

 I  found the coconut rice to be easy , quick and yummy.Of course it has a wonderful aroma too.The smell of slightly fried coconut  wafts from it and i  saw N sniffing as he came inside our apartment!!!!:)

Ingredients

Coconut oil-1 tbspn( can use refined oil  also )

Mustard seeds- 2tspn

Coriander seeds- 1tspn
Channa dal -2 tbspn
Peanuts- 1 tbspn

Split Urad Dal(split black gram) -1 tspn

Dried red chillies- 1or 2

Curry leaves- 1 stem

Cashewnuts-8-9 

Coriander leaves- for garnish

Grated coconut-1/2 to 3/4 th cup

 Rice- 1 1/2 cups ( i used leftover rice the day before)

Sugar- 1 tspn (optional)

Salt to taste.

(these quantities are roughly what  i used. please adjust according to taste.There are no hard and fast rules)

Method

Soak chana dal for 10-15 minutes.
Heat a non stick pan and pour the oil into it.Then splutter the mustard seeds followed by coriander seeds ,dry red chillis,curry leaves,chana dal ,urad dal,peanuts  and cashewnuts.

Then add the grated coconut.Add in the sugar and salt . Mix well say for a minute( or till a nice aroma fills your kitchen and your apartment, floor....;) )

Add in the rice followed by dhania leaves.Mix well.

Your aromatic ,easy and quick coconut rice is ready to serve.

This is a very good lunch option for kids.

Poha

Poha is also known as beaten rice, flattened rice, pressed rice, flaked rice in English and the regional   variants are  powa,avil , aval , chivda etc.A very light and nutritious snack can be made from poha..
Poha is available in our markets in different varieties- the thick and thin variety  and also the brown  and white variety.For making poha , i prefer the thin variety.I have made only with white as normally supermarkets in Delhi stocked only white. Now  here in Dubai i will try the brown one.The brown rice is more nutritious so i assume the brown poha to be more nutritious too!!

In Kerala poha or aval  is used for making  upma, aval nanachatthu etc. or even simply mixed with sugar and milk and eaten.But i most often make the  Maharastrian version modified according to my taste.


Going on to the recipe of poha ,my style !!!!Am not claiming that it is an  out of the box recipe.Many will be following a similar recipe. But i add and subtract ingredients according to my mood. Sometimes its cumin only, sometimes its mustard only,sometimes its both.At times i add urad dal.Sometimes i skip the potatoes .. so that's y my style... :)

Ingredients:

Refined oil-2-3 tbspns
Mustard seeds-1 tspn
Cumin seeds- 1 tspn
Peanuts- 2-3 tablespoons( i love having lot of peanuts in it so i  add extra)
Green chilli-2( adjust according to your taste)
Onion, coarsely  chopped- 1 medium sized
Turmeric powder-1/2 a tspn
Potato cubed and boiled- 1 medium sized
Salt to taste
Beaten rice/Poha( aval)- 1 1/2 cups
Juice of 1 lemon 
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method

• Wash the poha and drain it well.( in case you have bought the thick poha , you may have to keep it soaked  in a little water  for some time).In case of thin poha, washing it just before you add to the pan will be enough.

• Heat oil in the pan.Add mustard seeds. When they splutter,add the cumin seeds followed by green chillies, chopped onions and the peanuts.Let the onions turn into a light golden colour.(You may add some salt here to  fasten the browning of onions.)Add the turmeric powder and mix well.
• Add in the boiled potatoes and let them also be slightly fried.
• Now add the poha and mix well so that the yellow colour is distributed evenly.Add salt , lemon juice and garnish with coriander leaves.

Tantadaaaaannnngggg!!!   You have your fast, easy,light and nutritious  recipe ready!!

So how much time did you take 1o min ,15 minutes 0r 20 minutes??? I am sure you  did not go beyond that ( oh yes the potatoes can make it slow)But keep that preboiled and u have your poha ready in max 15 minutes.

Sabudana khichdi

Well ,Sabudana khichdi is something far from khichdi and more like an upma.. a sabudana upma.. but i think Maharastrians call it Khichdi.. But its not wet and soggy like khichdi( am not a khichdi fan.. for me khichdi is " bimaaron ka khana" and something which i make when i am not in a mood for cooking).

My friend Sweeny made this once when we were in Mumbai and i loved it.... and then later sabudana was a regular in our break fast menu.Again something not normally there in a malayalee or north indian menu. Am glad the variety is increasing!!!:)At least we are not eating dosas and parathas every other day....

Ingredients

Sabudana- 1 cup
Potatoes- 1 big or 2 small cut into cubes( if u love potatoes u can add more)
Jeera 1 tspn
Ghee /oil-1 tbspn
Groundnuts-1/2  a cup( without skin preferably)
Sugar  and salt according to taste
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Dhania to garnish

Method

Wash the sabudana and soak it in water the previous night. It does not have to be immersed in water but just enough to soften it by morning.
Boil the potato cubes( i always do it in the microwave mostly for 6-8 minutes)
Grind the groundnuts coarsely..
Heat a kadai and splutter the jeera in one tbspn ghee or oil.
Then  add the potatoes and let it start to turn brown.
Now add the sabudana ,groundnuts sugar and salt.
Mix well.
You will find that sabudana starts becominga transparent sort of colour. When all the sabudana becomes transparent, add the dhania leaves and juice of 1/2 a lemon.
Serve with garnished dhania leaves.

Maharashtrians prefer to have it with curd .
But i prefer it plain.

You may also add grated coconut to it.

A simple , fast and easy breakfast. A good snack for the evening hunger pangs too!!!