Panfried potato and meat cutlet/ croquette/ tikki

                The deep fried potato, and minced meat cutlet is a popular snack throughout the world. There are different variants, in North India it's called tikki, in Korea it's Goroke, kroketten in Germany, croquette in America, almost every cuisine have their own version of it. 
            In this recipe, the cutlet is pan fried and i layered the minced meat and bell pepper with a bread slice and mashed potato. 
            We can recycle stale bread, leftover vegetables or meat into savory cutlets/ croquettes. Use mixed vegetables instead of meat for a fresh vegetarian tikki or make it a kid's menu by, filling the bread with pizza toppings or mac and cheese.

Ground meat sandwich/ croquette

Ingredients:
6- 8 slices           bread
1 cup                  mashed potato
1/2 tsp                butter (optional)
1                        capsicum/ bell pepper (finely chopped)
1 cup                  minced/ ground meat
1 tsp                   garam masala/ curry powder
1                        chopped green chilli (optional)
1 tsp                   chilli powder
1/6 tsp                ground pepper 
1/2 tsp                lemon juice 
salt                     to taste
4 tbs                   oil
Method:

1. Combine the meat, garam masala/ curry powder, salt and chilli powder together. In a separate bowl, mix the mashed potato with ground pepper, salt and butter. 
2. Heat 1/2 tbs of oil in a pan, add the capsicum, salt and green chilli and fry till it becomes soft, remove it from the pan and keep it aside.
3. Heat 1/2 tbs of oil in the same pan and stir fry and brown the meat, reduce the heat and add 2-3 tsp of water to it. Cover the pan and cook, till it's done and the meat mixture becomes dry. 

4. Remove the crusts off the bread and uniformly flatten the bread slices with a rolling pin.. 

5. Place a slice of bread on a cutting board, spread 1/2 tbs of  mashed potato evenly, in the middle of the bread slice. 

6. Put a tsp of meat and another tsp of capsicum mixture over the  potato.

7. Wet the edges of the bread slightly, fold the bread and press it together with the stem of a spoon, press and seal all the three 
sides.

8. For a fancy look, use a fork and press the edges together. 

9. Slightly flatten the top of the bread by pressing it softly with a spoon or fork. 

 

10. Heat oil in a flat pan/ electric skillet and fry the stuffed bread slices. Flip it and cook, till both sides becomes golden brown.
11. Remove from heat and transfer it to a serving plate and serve it  warm, with tomato ketchup.

Feel free to comment. I love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Have a blessed day :)

  

Pomegranate and Cauliflower Salad/ Autumn Salad

Autumn offers many nutritious fruits and vegetables. we can get cauliflower throughout the year, but it's a cool weather crop and at it's best in fall and winter. Pomegranate is an autumn fruit, in the northern hemisphere. This is a fresh autumn salad, with lot of flovor and texture.

Fresh and bursting with flavor and texture!!!

  Cauliflower nutrition facts: A high intake of cauliflower has been associated with reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer.  Cauliflower is low in fat, low in carbohydrates but high in dietary fiber, folate, water, and vitamin C, possessing a high nutritional density. It contains several phyto chemicals, common in the cabbage family, that may be beneficial to human health. Sulforaphane, a compound released when cauliflower is chopped or chewed, may protect against cancer. Other glucosinolates, carotenoids, indole-3-carbinol, a chemical that enhances DNA repair, and acts as an estrogen antagonist,  slowing the growth of cancer cells. Boiling reduces the levels of these compounds, with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes, and 75% after thirty minutes. However, other preparation methods, such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying, have no significant effect on the compounds - Wikipedia

Pomegranate nutrition facts: Pomegranate juice provides about 16% of an adults daily vitamin C requirement per 100 ml serving, and is a good source of vitamin B₅ (pantothenic acid), potassium and natural phenols, such as ellagitannins and flavonoids. Pomegranates are listed as high-fiber in some charts of nutritional value. That fiber, however, is entirely contained in the edible seeds which also supply unsaturated oils. People who choose to discard the seeds forfeit nutritional benefits conveyed by the seed fiber, oils and micro nutrients- Wikipedia

Adding orange juice and orange zest to this salad, knocks down the raw smell of the cauliflower.
Ingredients:
2 cups     scraped cauliflower
1/2 cup   canned garbanzo beans/ cooked channa
2 cup      pomegranate
15-20     baby spinach leaves
1             orange slices 
Dressing:  
1 tbs       olive oil
2 tbs       orange juice
1 tsp       orange zest
2 tbs       chopped nuts  
 Method:
1. Drain the liquid and wash the garbanzo beans.
2. Mix the shredded cauliflower, pomegranate, garbanzo beans and keep it aside.
3. Combine olive oil, orange juice, nuts and orange zest in a bowl, pour it over the shredded cauliflower mixture and mix it nicely.
4. Arrange the spinach leaves on the bottom of a serving bowl, layer the cauliflower salad over it. 
5. Place the orange slices around the salad, cover and  keep the salad for at least 2 hours before serving.

,

Banana and Cranberry Loaf

        The fall season is here and the climate is getting colder, time to cozy up with a cup of hot tea. This flavorful quick bread is a good accompaniment for tea and coffee. This is a slightly modified recipe from the book, cakes and bakes. This book has more than fifty, easy and tasty recipes in it.

Flavorful and moist bread with cardamom tea!!!

 Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup              all purpose flour
1/2 tsp                  baking powder
1 pinch                 salt
1/4 tsp                  baking soda
2                           bananas (mashed)
1/3 cup                 candied orange and citrus peel
2 tbs                     chopped  nuts
1/4 cup                 dried cranberries
6 tbs                     orange juice
2/3 cup                 oil
2                           eggs (slightly beaten)
1 tsp                     butter (for greasing) 
3/4 cup                 powdered sugar
1 tbs                     grated orange rind 
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 *f. Grease a 9*5inch/ 2 lb loaf pan with the butter and line the base with parchment paper.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar, bananas, chopped candied peel, nuts and cranberries .
3. In a separate bowl, blend together the orange juice, eggs and oil. Combine this with the banana mixture and mix it well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and level the surface.
4. Bake it in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until a tooth pick inserted into the centre of the bread comes out clean. Keep the loaf on a wire rack and let it cool
5. Mix the powdered sugar with 1/4 cup of water and drizzle it over the loaf. Sprinkle orange rind over the top. Let the frosting set before serving the loaf in slices.
Tips for taste:
Quick breads tastes better the next day.

combined dry ingredients...

Greased and lined 9x5 inch loaf pan

golden loaf, ready for frosting....

frosting...

frosted bread, sprinkled with grated orange rind. 

slice it...

......and eat.

         
    

How to Separate Eggs / Separate eggs with a plastic bottle

   Separating egg whites for a recipe is fun, as long as we do it without breaking the egg yolks. A small amount of fat from the egg yolk, will ruin some recipes. Eggs separate more easily when cold.

1. Use an egg separator.

2. Separate it with a plastic bottle (easiest and less messy)
3. Separate egg with half shell.

STEP BY STEP METHOD

 Hold the egg firmly, tap the middle part of the egg, on the edge of a bowl or on the kitchen counter.   

Place both the thumbs near the crack and pull the shells apart.

1. Drain the egg through an egg separator. 

OR

2. Separate the eggs with an empty, plastic water bottle.

  This is a fun and easy way to separate eggs. Gently place the mouth of the water bottle on the yolk. 

Squeeze the bottle in the middle and release it slowly....

The egg yolk will get pulled inside the bottle.   

To get the egg yolk, out of the bottle: Tilt the bottle over a plate, and gently press the bottle.... 

 the yolk will pop out. We can separate more than 2 yolks with the same bottle.

                                                                      OR
 3. Separate egg with the shell: Crack an egg and gently pull apart the shell, allowing some of the egg white to fall inside a bowl. 

Keep the yolk in one half of the shell, tilt the shell slightly and pass the yolk, back and forth between the shells without breaking the yolk.

Some of the recipes with egg whites: Berry Compote with Goat Cheese Cream, Pear Souffles, Egg and Cheese Stuffed Bell pepper .

Broccoli Vada/ Garbanzo Broccoli Fritter

               There are two kinds of garbanzo beans/ chickpeas: 1. kala channa 2. kabuli channa. The smaller and darker kind is called kala channa /bengal gram/ desi/ kadalai parupu. It has more fibre content than the light colored and larger kabuli channa, making it very low in glycemic index (wikipedia)   
             Parupu vada is a South Indian snack, it's made with split and de husked garbanzo beans and combined with onion, chillies, curry leaves and cumin seeds/ fennel seeds. This is an indian version of falafel. I made this vada with whole garbanzo beans and broccoli
 Garbanzo beans, ceci beans, chana, sanagalu,kondai kadalai and bengal gram are some of the common names for chick peas. 

Broccoli vada !!!

      Soak 1 cup of dry garbanzo beans overnight, it'll swell and double it's original size (1 cup of dried, uncooked beans gives 2-3 cups of cooked beans), drain and wash it. If using canned garbanzo beans, drain the liquid, wash it and mash it with the back of a spoon.
Ingredients:
2 cups   garbanzo/ chick pea
1 cup     finely chopped broccoli
1 tsp      fennel seeds/ saunf
1 clove  garlic (minced)         
few        finely chopped curry leaves
4          red  chillies
1 tbs     besan flour/ chickpea flour or corn starch
salt to taste
Method:
1. Grind garbanzo/ chick peas, fennel seed and red chillies  coarsely. 

2. Combine it with the finely chopped broccoli, besan flour / corn starch, garlic, curry leaves and salt.

3. Take 1 tbs of mixture in the palm of the hand and flatten it  (the middle of the vadai should be thicker than it's side), continue making vada discs with the remaining mixture and arrange it on a plate.

4. Heat oil in a pan (med/high), when the oil becomes hot enough (dip a wooden spoon inside the oil, it should get steady bubbles around it), drop 1-3 vada in the oil. Reduce the heat to medium and fry it for few mins. Flip it and cook, until both sides become golden brown.

Yum!!!

5. Take the vadai out with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel. Repeat the process with the remaining vadas, increase the heat before dropping the vada and reduce it to med during cooking. Serve it with spicy chutney Coconut chutney recipe or tomato ketchup
Tips for taste:
1. Fry 2-3 vadas at a time, over crowding the pan will decrease the heat, making the vadas absorb more oil.
2. Slightly wet the hands before shaping the vadas.
        Feel free to comment, i love your feedback. Enjoy ur cooking! Have a blessed day :)   

Cauliflower And Egg Fry/ Salad/ Poriyal

    This is a simple, yet nutritious dish made with cauliflower and eggs, both food have amazing health benefits. This cooking method (stir fry) will not reduce it's nutritional value. Cauliflower blends well with eggs, making this a kid- friendly recipe. 

Egg & Cauliflower Fry

Cauliflower nutrition facts: A high intake of cauliflower has been associated with reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer.  Cauliflower is low in fat, low in carbohydrates but high in dietary fiber, folate, water, and vitamin C, possessing a high nutritional density. It contains several phyto chemicals, common in the cabbage family, that may be beneficial to human health. Sulforaphane, a compound released when cauliflower is chopped or chewed, may protect against cancer. Other glucosinolates, carotenoids, indole-3-carbinol, a chemical that enhances DNA repair, and acts as an estrogen antagonist,  slowing the growth of cancer cells. Boiling reduces the levels of these compounds, with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes, and 75% after thirty minutes. However, other preparation methods, such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying, have no significant effect on the compounds - Wikipedia

Eggs: All of the egg's vitamin A, D, and E are in the egg yolk. *The egg is one of the few foods to naturally contain vitamin D. A large egg yolk contains approximately 60 Calories; the egg white contains about 15 Calories . A large yolk contains more than two-thirds of the recommended daily intake of 300 mg of cholesterol (although one study indicates the human body may not absorb much cholesterol from eggs. The yolk makes up about 33% of the liquid weight of the egg. It contains all of the fat, slightly less than half of the protein, and most of the other nutrients. It also contains all of the choline, and one yolk contains approximately half of the recommended daily intake. Choline is an important nutrient for development of the brain, and is said to be important for pregnant and nursing women to ensure healthy fetal brain development- Wikipedia

Healthy egg salad...

Ingredients: 
2 cups           shredded cauliflower
2                   large eggs 
3                   green chillies     
1                   onion (finely chopped)
1/4                ground pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp          ginger and garlic paste
2 tsp             oil
few strands   cilantro/ coriander leaves
salt to taste 
Method:

1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and salt with a whisk or electric egg beater, until the egg looks uniformly yellow.

2. Heat oil in a non stick, large flat pan. Fry onion and green chilli until the onion becomes soft and golden brown.

3. Add the ginger and garlic paste, reduce the heat and add the shredded cauliflower, stir it well and cook till it becomes soft but not mushy (cover it and cook, if needed).  

4. Move the cauliflower to one side of the pan. Increase the heat, a little and add the beaten eggs to the other side of the pan and stir fry, until the eggs become soft and moist curds. Combine the scrambled egg and cauliflower, check for salt and add the ground pepper. Reduce the heat and stir till the mixture becomes dry. 

5. Transfer the egg to a serving dish and garnish it with chopped cilantro/ coriander leaves.

                                                             ENJOY:)