Bread boats filled with spinach, eggs & Del Monte Sandwich spread

Bread boats filled with spinach, eggs & Del Monte Sandwich spread is a fun way to serve breakfast. This stuffed bread makes for a perfect Sunday morning breakfast to share with friends and family or a handy on- the- go snack.

Sun Dried Tomato Penne Pasta Salad With Goat Cheese

This vibrant Sundried Tomato Penne pasta salad with fresh flavours straight from the Mediterranean is perfect for picnics, potlucks, lunch box or a light summer lunch or supper.

Garam Masala spiced Palak Paneer Timbale

A Timbale is a baked savory custard like dish usually made with meat, cheese, vegetables and eggs. Pasta or rice is sometimes added to the creamy mixture too. This elegant dish can be made almost with any vegetable.

There is a Light up your Diwali contest going on at The Urban spice. We have to create recipes with Spinach ,Egg , Brown Rice, Khoya or Oats as the core ingredient.

I thought of a Spinach Timable which has been on my mind for a while. Currently I am in a ‘fusion food’ creative mode and so the Spinach Timbale turned into a Garam Masala spiced Palak Paneer Timbale :).Two core ingredients Spinach and Eggs are incorporated in this recipe! So,this recipe has been created for The Urban Spice and KitchenAid India Diwali Contest.

Instead of using any Pasta or Rice I preferred using Ragi/Nagli Rava. You can swap this with Semolina or any Millet if you like.

To add a little crunch and flavour, add some finely julienned Ginger as a garnish along with a garlic-Red Chilly flavoured  (Tadka) . A simple Kachumber kind of salad served on the side along with the soft creamy Timbale makes for a hearty meal, using day to day ingredients-The humble Palak Paneer Sabji  in gourmet avatar! It was super tasty as it is, but you can also serve this with a Tomato gravy if you like. These can be made ahead and baked just when you want to serve them.

Here’s the recipe for my Garam Masala Spiced Palak Paneer Timbale

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the Timbale

1 Tbsp Butter

1 onion, finely chopped

½ tsp garlic paste

½  tsp ginger paste

1 green chilly finely chopped

½-1 tsp Garam Masala

¼ Cup Ragi Rava, soaked in water for 5 minutes

½ Cup Spinach Puree

½ Cup grated or crumbled Paneer

1 egg

2 Tbsp fresh cream (I used Amul)

1 small pinch sugar

Handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Salt to taste

For the Garnish

2-3 Tbsp oil

1 inch Ginger piece,finely julienned

1 tsp Cumin seeds

¼ tsp Asafoetida

2-3 Garlic cloves,sliced

½ fresh Red Chilly sliced

For the Salad/Kachumbar

1 onion, sliced

1 Tomato, sliced lengthwise

A few cabbage shreds

1 Cucumber, sliced lengthwise

Salt and Red chilli powder to taste

1/2 tsp lime juice

Few sprigs of fresh coriander

Method

To make the Timbale

Preheat the oven to 190 degree celcius.

Grease two 175ml/ ¾ Cup Ramekins.

Line the base with a parchment paper and grease the paper.

In a pan heat the butter. Add the onion and the ginger garlic paste.

Saute for 1-2 minutes and then add the green chilly, Garam masala.

Saute for a few seconds and then add the Ragi Rava

Mix properly. Take off the heat.

Add the Spinach puree, Paneer,fresh coriander, Cream,salt and sugar.

Mix well and let the mixture cool a bit.

Whisk the egg and add this to the Spinach mixture.

Spoon the spinach mixture into the ramekins and place in a deep baking tray with tall sides.

Add hot water to the baking tray to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for  about 40-45 minutes till just set. (Insert a tester and check if it comes out clean)

Invert onto a plate and peel off the paper.

Serve Hot garnished with the fried Ginger and the Garlic-Chilly oil and the salad on the side.

For the garnish

Heat the oil in a very small pan.

Add the Ginger and fry till crisp.Take it out of the oil and drain on a paper towel.

In the same oil, add the cumin seeds and the Asafoetida.

Add the garlic and fry till golden.

Take off the heat and add the sliced Red chilly

For the Salad/Kachumbar

Mix all the ingredients and serve.

Veg Soup for the Soul

This is one of my favourite soups. Simple and Easy to make…Simply delicious.

 

 

No specific measurements, just add your favourite veggies                                 

I have used :  

Green Beans (handful) ends trimmed,

1 Beetroot  peeled

1 Small cabbage

2 Small onions

2 Small Tomatoes

8-10 Stalks+leaves Spinach

1/2 Small fresh Bottlegourd peeled

(You may add Carrot, Cauliflower etc)

 

Chop the veggies roughly. Steam/Pressure cook till the veggies are just cooked.( Don’t overcook)

Run for a few minutes in the blender till smooth. Strain or don’t strain through a sieve(I haven’t).

Add 1tsp butter to a pan. Add some part of the pulp to it.(Refrigerate the leftover pulp to be used later)

Add sufficient water to make a soupy consistency(to your liking). Add salt, little sugar and freshly ground black pepper powder. Bring it to a boil. Serve piping hot.

Power Parathas- Veggie stuffed Spinach Parathas.

We had some guests last night for dinner; one of our family friend’s daughter is getting married. We celebrated her engagement earlier with Chaats.Now for the pre-wedding dinner (this is called ‘Kelvan’ in Marathi) I wanted to make something substantial yet different. Also there were two grandmothers coming, so I had to plan something accordingly.

This was the time I felt the need for a ‘Menu Planner’ website! You feed what you need;

Prewedding dinner+substantial+Something different+2 grandmothers and press Search!

And then automatically you get the planned Menu:

Veggie stuffed spinach parathas

Boondi Raita

Tricolored Penne pasta

Mushroom fried rice

Fruit Salad with Raspberyy Jelly and Custard

(Anytakers for such a website??)  

Yes that’s the spread that I cooked finally. It’s really a spread since it spans cuisines from many countries! Indian to Italian to Chinese. As you can see I did not follow any theme! But they loved it!J

I will post the recipes one–by-one as and when I can. __________________________________________________________ 

Veggie stuffed Spinach parathas recipe

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(You have to excuse the poor photos. I had to click them before the guests arrived and after slogging in the kitchen for the whole evening I was too tired to take extra efforts!)

For the cover:

1 bunch Spinach/Palak

~  2 ½ cups Wheat Flour

1 tsp green chilly paste

1 tsp cumene powder

1 tsp coriander powder

Salt to taste 

For the stuffing:

3/4^th  cup cauliflower florets

3/4^th  cup finely grated Carrots

3/4^th  cup French beand finely chopped

3 Potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed

½ cup Paneer (cottage cheese) grated

Handful of fresh green coriander leaves finely chopped

2 tsp ginger-green chilly paste

Salt to taste 

Oil/butter for frying the parathas 

†For the cover:

† Clean and Wash the Spinach leaves thoroughly. Keep the stems as much as possible. Blanch the Spinach leaves; Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of sugar and little salt. Add the spinach leaves and cook uncovered for ~5-8 minutes. Strain the water (don’t discard the water) and immediately add the cooked spinach to cold water. This helps to retain the green color of the spinach. Alternatively you can blanch the spinach in the Microwave.Puree the blanched spinach.

†In a wide bowl add the wheat flour, spinach puree and all the ingredients for the cover.

†Knead into a soft lovely green dough ball. Add water if necessary.

†Divide the dough into lemon sized balls. Keep aside covered for ½ an hour. 

For the stuffing:

†I used Nupur’s tip for cooking potatoes in the microwave with excellent results! Specially if you want no moisture in the potatoes for parathas follow this simple method: Wash the potatoes and prick them all over with a fork.Microwave on the turn table for 3 minutes. Turn them and microwave for another 2-3 minutes.(The time required may vary) That’s it. Peel and mash the cooked potatoes.

†Cut the cauliflower florets finely or as I did spin them in the Food processor once to have really fine florets!

†I did the same with the French beans.

†In a non stick pan dry cook the cauliflower and beans. Try and remove moisture as far as possible.

†Add the carrots and cook for a few more minutes.

†Cook till the veggies become a little tender.

†Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing.

†Flatten the dough ball into small thin circle.Stuff with as much stuffing as you can.

†Bring together the cover from all the sides to the center, seal tightly and roll out into thin round discs, using wheat flour for dusting.

†Cook on a hot griddle/tava, using a little oil/butter, until both sides are golden brown.

†Repeat with the remaining dough and stuffing.

†Serve hot with Raita, Pickle or Chutney.

Sai Bhaji

Sai Bhaji– This is a very popular Sindhi signature dish. It is also known as ‘Sindhi Palak’ since Palak is used in generous proportions for this recipe. I recently learnt this recipe from my Sindhi colleague and it was an instant hit in our home.Hey Nupur this time it’s the traditional SSSSSS….Sindhi , SSSSSS……Sai Bhaji for A-Z of Indian vegetables.

_________________________________________________________                                                            Sai Bhaji recipe

Servings :5-6

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Ingredients: 

1 bunch Palak/spinach leaves cleaned, washed and chopped

½ bunch Ambat Chuka (Green sorrel) leaves cleaned, washed and chopped. (If you don’t have Ambat Chuka, use more number of tomatoes to maintain the slightly sour taste of this dish. I have tried that version too and it tastes as good as this)

1 medium sized Brinjal/Baingan (the purple variety) cubed

1 medium sized potato washed, peeled, cubed

1-2 medium sized tomatoes, washed and finely chopped

1 onion peeled and finely chopped

½ cup Chana dal (split Bengal gram) soaked in water for ½ hour

6-7 green chillies chopped

½ tsp red chilli powder (optional)

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp cumene seeds

¼ tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp oil

Salt as per taste 

In a pressure cooker heat oil. Add the cumene seeds, turmeric powder and then the chopped green chillies. Add the onions and sauté till the onions turn golden brown in colour. Add the tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes become mushy. Add the coriander powder and the red chilli powder. Add the other veggies-potato cubes, brinjal cubes, chopped palak leaves, chopped chuka leaves and mix nicely. Add the chana dal. Add one cup of water and salt. Mix nicely and pressure cook on high heat for one whistle. Reduce the heat and cook for another6-7 minutes. Once the steam goes off remove the lid. Remove the potatoes cubes and mash the remaining bhaji with the back of a round spoon or a masher. This helps to mash the chana dal and palak leaves and the bhaji becomes homogenous. Put back the potato pieces.

If you want to serve Sai Bhaji with Roti ,evaporate some water to thicken it. With rice it can be serve a little liquidish.

Makki di Roti-Sarson da Saag

The festival of Lohri was celebrated on 13^th Jan. The traditional Lohri food Sarson da Saag and Makki di Roti is specially cooked for the main course on this day along with sweets and other delicacies. I learnt this mouthwatering duo -the Punjabi way from my Punjabi colleague. Whenever she brings this for lunch I swap my lunch box with her! Now I make it often specially for dinner coz it tastes better if the Roti and Saag are both piping hot. So here’s a typical Punjabi recipe (my friend’s) for Sarson da Saag and Makki di roti.

For the Sarson Saag 

1 big bunch Sarson leaves (mustard leaves)

1 bunch Spinach leaves

½ bunch Bathua leaves (Chenopodium album) (optional)

2 onions chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

4-5 garlic pods finely chopped

½ inch ginger piece crushed

½ tsp cumene seeds

2 tsp Makki flour (Cornmeal)

Salt to taste

1tsp butter for cooking and as much as you can have for topping

1 tsp oil

Roughly chop the cleaned, washed leaves of Sarson, Spinach (don’t remove spinach stalks) and Bathua. Pressure cook for ½ hour. Cool and coarsely puree in a food processor. In a pan heat 1 tsp butter and oil. Add cumene seeds,chopped garlic, crushed ginger and onion .Sauté till onions become translucent. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till they become tender. Add the Sarson puree and cook for almost 15 minutes .Add water if required. Add salt. Make a slurry of the Makki Flour in water and add to the saag.Cook for a few minutes. Serve piping hot with Makki Roti.

For the Makki Roti 

2 cups Makki Flour (cornmeal)

Lukewarm water

Salt to taste

Oil for cooking

Butter for topping

Add salt to the Makki flour. Knead into a dough by adding warm water. Divide into small balls. Pat each ball into a small round Roti between your palms, or make rotis by patting on a flat surface like you do for Bhakri, or on a plastic sheet taking care that the Roti is not too thin.Cook on a hot griddle brushing oil on both sides.Top with a spoonful of butter and serve hot with Sarson da Saag. 

For variation try adding fresh green Methi(fenugreek) leaves and chopped green chillies to the Makki dough.It tastes even better.This can be eaten like a paratha without the saag  with lotso butter!