A very quick and very delicious rice

On weekdays I eat my lunch alone. Hubby and son both having carried their packed lunches along with them are never at home for lunch on a weekday. Now I am a person who loves one dish non-fussy meals. Hubby being a bit of a traditionalist where eating is concerned likes elaborate meals and so when I cook a Maharashtrian meal for the three of us (which is every evening ) I cook Bhaji, Amti, Chapatis some form of Koshimbir or salad and sometimes rice. It takes about an hour and a half to cook all this from scratch. Gets a bit monotonous when you have to do it almost everyday, though I admit I do prepare pasta and garlic bread and stuff like that and all three of us are very happy eating that too. Why wouldn't we be?

But then when I eat alone I try to make food that requires minimum amount of time cooking but is at the same time filling, nutritious and full on flavour. No compromise there. Some days back I made this rice with whatever was available in my fridge. I was surprised at how good it tasted. It was hot, spicy, sweet and sour all at the same time. And although I couldn't wait to dig in I had the good sense to take a picture of the dish. And am I glad I did. I can share it with all of you today.

Ingredients:

3 cups leftover cooked rice,

1 onion sliced,

1 tblspn readymade garlic paste from a bottle

1 cup cooked and shredded chicken,

1 cup assorted diced vegetables (capsicum, carrots,peas corn, sugar snap peas)

2 spring onions finely chopped,

2 tblspns tomato ketchup,

2 tblspns soya sauce,

1 stock cube of OXO veg,

salt to taste

Oil to cook

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a wok, and stir fry the sliced onion ,garlic and all the veggies until cooked but still with a bite to them

2. Next add and stir in the shredded chicken and crush and sprinkle the OXO stock cube over it. As the chicken is already cooked it does not require any further cooking.

3. Now add the rice, both the sauces and salt. Toss it all well but with a light hand. As a final touch add the chopped spring onions . These come at the end as a garnish.

Your rice is ready to eat. You can replace the chicken with scrambled eggs or skip both and make it completely vegetarian. The star ingredient here is the tomato ketchup. That is what lends the rice that awesome flavour. It is bit of cheating but who is complaining.

Delicious Chicken Wraps (Like they say"No one can eat just one")

I am a cook of varying moods. I guess we all are to some extent. What I cook each day is to some extent ruled by my mood on that particular day. Many people get the impression that because I run a food blog I am completely besotted by cooking and the kitchen. But that's not always true.
I have also read and heard people say that cooking is relaxing. Not for me. It can be very exhausting at times .I feel cooking can be relaxing only if you do it once in a while. It also depends on where you are when you are cooking. For eg: cooking in the UK where the weather is mostly cool is OK. It does not make you all hot and flushed. But I have also cooked in Pune and Mumbai where the temperatures are soaring quite often and cooking is the last thing you want to do in such weather . And that too Indian cooking which has you standing at the hob for at least an hour doing all the stirring and frying and rolling out piles and piles of chapatis. Not a thing I relish always.

So when I have one "I don't want to cooking moods" what do I do? Well , the answer to that is not always easy. Sometimes I have to go through the entire rigmarole because that's the healthiest option for everyone in the family. But not to worry , there are other healthy options as well . And this dish today always comes up trumps with my family. There is minimum fuss with maximum taste and you don't even have to switch on the gas if you have shop bought cooked chicken.
What you need is:
For 4 people:
8 tortilla wraps (I buy "wheat and white")
approx 3 cups cooked chicken (shredded)
hummous
mayonnaise
3 grated carrots
lots of fresh crisp lettuce
hot peri peri sauce (or any other hot sauce)
grated cheddar cheese

Method:First spread generous amounts of hummous on a wrap
Next spread the shredded chicken,
Top this with grated carrot and crispy lettuce
Dot it with hot peri peri sauce and sprinkle the grated cheddar last
Roll up the tortilla tightly and cut into 3 or 4 pieces to make it easier to eat.

There you have a healthy and hearty meal ready without having to toil over the cooker hob for hours. If you wish have your favourite soup along with it (that too a canned one ) to make the meal even more filling. You can replace the chicken with canned tuna or mackerel and vegetarians can replace the chicken with paneer.

Enjoy

Yummilicious Paratha Frankies

Hi everybody! I am back after my long break again. These long breaks are becoming an annoying habit you might say , but it is one that I definitely intend to break very soon. Anyway, how have you guys been? I have missed you all too. What I have for you today is something I thought of today morning at 5.00 o'clock when I was disturbed out of my sleep and just could not go back to sleep again. And our mind you know has this annoying habit of immediately kicking into action with all kinds of thoughts rushing in which makes it even more difficult to sleep.
So my mind turned to the most nagging of thoughts and that was what to pack in the lunch boxes. Fortunately there was paratha dough already ready in the fridge, but as that was what we had had for dinner there was no way I could repeat the same in the lunch boxes . Well not as an ordinary paratha anyway. But then I remembered the block of paneer in the fridge and the mixed frozen veggies in the freezer and I had my lunch boxes all planned in minutes.
So I made paratha frankies . They are tasty, wholesome ,convenient to carry and a great change from regular chapatis and vegetables or sandwiches. So much so that my husband called up from office to say that he had enjoyed his lunch. Great!!!
So to make the parathas you need:
2 cups wheat flour, 3 cups of finely chopped spinach, 1 cup finely chopped carrots, 2 tspn ginger garlic paste, 2tspn chilly powder, 1 tspn turmeric powder, 1tspn each of cumin and coriander powder, 1 tspn of ground saunf, 1.5 tspn sugar, salt to taste, 2 tblspns oil .
Knead all the above into a medium soft dough and and cook the parathas a little thinner and larger than a roti.
For the filling you will need:
1 onion, 1 and a half tomato, 1 tspn ginger garlic paste, 2 cups mixed vegetables chopped finely (I had the frozen mix which contains peas ,corn,beans and carrots), 200 gms paneer, 2 tblspns tomato ketchup, 2 tspn pav bhaji masala, 2 tspn cumin seeds, 2 tspn chilly powder, 1/2 tspn turmeric powder, salt to taste, and oil for cooking.
Method:

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds.
• After a few seconds add the chopped onion and ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute
• Next add the chopped tomato and let this cook for at least 2 to 3 mins
• Now come the chilly powder, turmeric , and pav bhaji masala along with the vegetables. Let the vegetables cook on a low flame. When they are cooked add the salt and ketchup.
• At the last stage add the paneer which does not need any cooking . Mix it all gently together until the paneer is coated with the spices.
• Give it a taste and adjust seasoning accordingly .

To serve take a paratha and spoon about 2 tblspns of filling on it and roll tightly. To put in a lunch box wrap the roll in foil so that the filling does not fall out while eating.
Enjoy!!!

Very wholesome Chapati and Egg Rolls

Come summer and my mind goes into the "Quick Recipes Mode" or the QRM as I like to call it. I mean it's simpy impossible to toil over the hob for hours at a stretch to cook elaborate meals . And the weather in UK being so kind for once , you just have to make the most of it and spend time outdoors as much as possible rather than in the kitchen.

So currently I am constantly on the look out for recipes requiring minimum time but with no compromise on taste and full flavour. As you must have derived by now from my previous posts I fancy all kings of wraps. I just love making wraps. They are quick and easy to make , delicious and a single wrap can hold the nutrition of an entire balanced meal. And most important of all is that in my family all three of us like them just as much. So everybody is happy.

Yesterday I made these chapati and egg wraps for my lunch and they tasted so good I just have to share them with all of you.

What you need is:

• 2 chapatis (homemade or readymade store bought)
• 2 eggs
• 1 spring onion finely chopped,
• 1/2 cup fresh sweet corn kernels,
• 2 mushrooms finely chopped (I used chestnut mushrooms),
• 1 tblspn grated cheese,
• salt and pepper to season (you can replace pepper with chilly powder too),
• Oil to cook
  
  Method:
  In a pan heat the oil and gently saute the spring onions , mushrooms and corn for a few minutes.
• Crack the 2 eggs in a large bowl and beat lightly.
• To the eggs add the sauteed spring onions ,mushrooms and corn.
• Add the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.
• Beat the mixture gently together and make 2 omelettes .
• After the omelettes have cooled a bit lay out one omelette on each chapati , dot it with your favourite sauce, and roll up tightly.
• Cut each roll diagonally into two pieces .
  
  Your lunch is ready. These are awesome also in a lunch box or to carry on a picnic. Enjoy with a salad accompaniment or a glass of juice.

Spicy Chicken Burgers (Simply delightful and very satisfying)

Hi everyone! I am so glad to be posting again. Last week was a good week food-wise . I tried out a few new recipes and they turned out pretty neat. One of them was this burger recipe that was a complete hit. Recently I have taken to watching re-runs of 30 Minute Meals by Rachel Ray and there is something about that show that really inspires me to just get up and spend time in the kitchen trying out recipes. It's probably Rachel enthusiasm on the show and the very homly no-fuss dinners that she makes that I find very appealing. So a few days back I saw her cook some burgers and cole slaw and I decided then that I wanted to cook burgers for dinner too. I already had chicken in the fridge. But I also wanted really spicy burgers.

So I surfed the net for some good burger recipes and was completely impressed by a recipe put up by Kevin on his blog Closet Cooking. Its a fab idea to use curry powder for burgers. My family just loved these burgers, so thanks Kevin for a great recipe.I tweaked it a bit here and there to suit my taste and it came out awesome.

What you need:

500 gms chicken mince (you could buy chicken breast and mince it in your processor)

4 spring onions finely chopped,

1 cup finely chopped coriander

1 tblspn minced ginger

1 tblspn minced garlic

1 cup bread crumbs

2 tspns lemon zest,

4 tspns hot curry powder,

2 tspns chilly powder,

2 to 3 tblspns tomato ketchup

salt to taste

To assemble the burger you need:

Burger Buns,

Mayonnaise,

Lettuce

Tomato slices

Cheese slices

Ketchup or Hot Jalapeno Relish

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients well , but do not overmix. Use a gentle hand. This prevents the chicken patties from drying out.

Shape them into equal sized patties shallow fry for 10 to 12 mins turning them once over half-way through.

Assemble the burgers as you like and enjoy with some oven chips and a glass of icy coke.

ENJOY!!!! I know we did

A Super Bowl (Veggie Lentil Curry with Jeera Rice)

Hi guys!! I know I know , I have been as bad as ever. Neglecting my blog again for days now. Just got caught up doing other things (like playing Farmville!!) . But now I am back and have something wonderful to share. Wonderful yet very very simple to make , but very nutritious ,mind you. I made this dish just 2 days back. Got the recipe from a diet magazine and the picture in it was so good that I had to make it immediately.
This dish is perfect for those days when you have the middle of the week dinner blues and can't think of what to put on the dinner table that day. Well this ones a winner. It's fast to cook and very little washing up to do later as it can all be eaten from a single bowl.


What you need:
2 medium onions chopped
2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup of uncooked masoor dal (split red lentils)
1 cup of green beans cut into pieces
1 cup of cauliflower florets
1/2 cup of green peas
1 tblspn each of garlic and ginger paste
1 heaped tspn mustard seeds
1 tspn cumin
1 tblspn hot curry powder
1 tspn chilly powder (more if you like)
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
Oil to cook
coriander to garnish


Method:


Heat about 3 to 4 tblspns of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds first. When they begin to splutter add the cumin and fry for about 30 secs.
Next add the onions and the ginger- garlic pastes and fry well
Add to this the curry powder, chilly powder and turmeric
Now add the lentils and the vegetables, salt and 3 to 4 cups of water.
Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer.
Cover and cook until the veggies are cooked and the lentils are mushy. The beans take the longest to cook , so if they have cooked , rest assured that the rest of the veggies have cooked.
Adjust the seasoning according to your taste and garnish with chopped coriander


Have this curry with a rice of your choice. I made simple jeera rice and  just made a salad to go with it. It makes  a quick and power packed supper with minimum hassle.


Right! Now  after that spicy curry here's something completely different. Recently I was introduced to the GrazeBox. What is a GrazeBox?  Well it  is just what it sounds like . It's a box which contains 2 or 3 types of nibbles which you can graze on throughout the week. It's the best thing to have to control those  4o'clock hunger pangs .It contains delicious things like nuts, raisins, seeds  dried fruit ,fresh fruit and even some exotic spicy nibbles.  This is what a graze box looks like from the outside. 

And this is my box from last week. I ordered  a graze fresh box and got all this delcious stuff in it. Believe me it's supposed to last you for atleat a week but it  was gone in minutes.

So if you are in the UK and interested in ordering one yourself  or would just like to know more about graze then  do visit http://www.graze.com/

If you feel like ordering one then please use the promotional code below. That will give you your first box free.

free box code: LYLD625A

So go Grazing!!

Delicious Summer Mango-Strawberry Trifle

The Mango Mania in Maharashtra is something that words simply cannot describe . Alphonso or Haapus: The King of Mangoes is the one that grabs all the limelight and quite rightly so.

There is a palpable excitement in the air at the arrival of the Alphonso which makes an appearance in the markets in small numbers at the start of the season (which is from end March to May) . On it's arrival it is quite expensive. But by the time the harvest peaks it is all over the place and can be bought in large quantities though I would say the price is never really as low as that of other other ordinary fruit like apples and bananas.

It’s sweetness and flavour go way beyond the word “delicious” and is truly a “Slice of Heaven on Earth”.

The Alphonso takes it’s name from Afonso De Albuquerque : a Portuguese sailor who brought this exquisite and expensive variety of mango to Goa. The locals took to calling it Aphoos in Konkani and in Maharashtra the pronunciation further changed to Hapoos.
At my mom's this trifle is a must-make every summer. Not just once every summer but as many times as possible. It really is the ultimate trifle and all because of one magic ingredient. Yes, you guessed it.... the Alphonso Mango. If you have good Alphonso mangoes , you don't need any other fancy ingredients. The mangoes do all the work. They are the heart and soul of this pudding.

I was very lucky to get my hands on a box of excellent Alphonso mangoes a couple of days back. Now here in UK although Alphonso is available you can't eat it on the scale that you do in India. So when you have just 12 mangoes at a time to do with you have to think really hard how you can enjoy them to the fullest. The best way of course is the simplest way i.e. to slice them and enjoy the heavenly taste, but I thought I would spare just one of the mangoes for this pudding. After all once the mango season in India comes to an end you have to wait for next year to make this as it's not the same with tinned mangoes. So I urge all my readers particularly those in India and who have access to good Alphonso to make this pud at least once before the mangoes disappear .

I happened to have most of the other ingredients in my fridge. So I used:

1 large Alphonso cubed,

5 /6 strawberries cut into small pieces,

2 cups vanilla custard (I used ready to eat Ambrosia Custard)

1 cup strawberry jelly (I had set some the previous day for my son and had some leftover, but go ahead and use the ready to eat variety available in all stores),

4 plain cup cakes cut into thin round slices ( these too I had , but use any plain cake of your choice)

1/2 cup orange juice to soak the cake (use fresh or boxed)

Method:

You can decide from the number of people you are making it for whether you want to make the trifle in individual glasses or a large bowl .

1.Placed the cake slices at the bottom of each glass,

2.Drizzle the orange juice over the cake to soak it a a little,

3.Next top with mango and strawberry pieces,

4. Spoon jelly over the fruit

5. Pour custard till the fruit bits and jelly are completely covered,

6. Place next layer of cake and continue till you fill the glass completely leaving space for the top most layer of custard and top with more mango bits for decoration,

7. You can also use whipped cream as an option to top up the glasses.

Chill the trifle thoroughly (5 to 6 hrs) and then serve. Sit back and wait to be showered with compliments and a lot of OOHS and AAHS. Don't forget to save some for yourself though.



Cool and Classy Meeta of "What's For Lunch Honey ?" has announced "Mango Mania" as the theme for her Monthly Mingle and of course my trifle is making a grand entry there.

Quick Coffee Cake in a Microwave

For past few days hubby and son keep craving something sweet after meals. I mean my son has always favoured sweet more than spicy but hubby dear is going even further and asking for desserts everyday. It's quite unusual for him. It's probably all the Christmassy ads on TV showing all different kinds of yummy desserts that is causing these cravings. It's also maybe because it's winter it really feels nice to tuck into a hot dessert after dinner while sitting warm and cozy in front of the telly.

So I just went out and bought a few ready to eat desserts that can be like warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds. But then I also browsed the internet for some easy to make desserts and came across some pretty good stuff. What caught my eye this time was this very fast to make Coffee Cake that can be baked in 5 mins flat in the microwave. I am great fan of "coffee anything" and immediately got down to making it.

There was also a butter frosting in the recipe and I had my usual doubts about it. I love frosting in moderation as long as it is not very very sweet and does not completely overpower the original taste of the cake. But I went ahead and made it anyway. I am glad I did. The coffee flavoured butter icing was delicious. It really enhanced the taste of the entire cake and the cake tasted even better the next day. This recipe makes a lot of batter so I made 2 cakes instead of one large one

Here's the recipe:
Preapare two microwave proof dishes by greasing with butter and dusting them with flour.

Ingredients:
225 gms or 1 cup salted butter (butter has to be really soft at room temp)
225 gms or 1 cup sugar
225 gms or 2 cups plain flour
5 eggs (also at room temp)
45 ml or 3 tblspns coffee essence
1 tblspn cocoa powder (this was my addition to the recipe as coffee and cocoa really enhance each other
1 tspn baking powder

For the frosting:
2 tblspns coffee essence
1 tblspn instant coffee dissolved in 2 tblspns on water ( this is also something I added to the recipe to the make the frosting brown in colour)
175 gms butter
150 gms icing sugar


Method:

• Beat the butter and sugar together until really soft and light.
• Add to this the eggs one by one beating well after adding each egg
• Add the coffee essence and cocoa powder next and stir in well
• In another bowl sieve the flour and baking powder together
• Slowly fold in the flour completely and evenly into the wet mixture. Do not over mix.
• Pour the mixture equally into the 2 bowls and bake one at a time in the microwave at full power for 5 mins.
• Let the cakes rest for another 4 /5 minutes.
• A cocktail stick inserted should come out dry.
• Wait for the cakes to cool completely before turning them out and icing them.
  
  
  
  For the frosting mix all the ingredients and smooth the frosting over the cake . To get best results use a palette knife (which I do not have). I used the star nozzle to decorate the borders.

I think this is a good cake to make for the Christmas holidays