Vegetable Dumpling

Vegetable dumpling
Ingredients
For the fillings
1 cup mix vegetables ( carrots, capsicum, cabbage ) finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic chopped
1/2 tsp green chilli chopped
4 tbsp spring onions chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp soya sauce

Method

Heat  oil in a pan. Saute chopped onions, chopped garlic and chillies. Add the chopped vegetables and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add salt, vinegar and soya sauce and cook it till all the liquids dry up. Add spring greens, and let the filling cool.

To make  dough:
Ingredients
1 cup flour
Salt to taste
Hot water
Take flour. Add salt and  water. Make a stiff dough. Knead the dough well and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Divide into equal parts. Using dry flour roll each part into a small disc. Use dry flour to prevent dough from sticking.

Assembling
Put the vegetable filling on each disc. Bring the sides together and pinch the dough to appear like potlis or draw string bag. Now take some spring onions and tie it around the dumplings. Steam the dumplings for 10 minutes. When done, serve immedietly with homemade schezwan sauce or soya sauce.

Mutton curry Bengali style ( Mangshor Jhol)

Mutton curry Bengali style
( Mangshor Jhol)
For marinating the Mutton
Ingredients
1 kg mutton
1/4 cup curd
Salt to taste
1 tsp mustard oil
1/2 tsp turmeric pd
Mix all the ingredients and keep it for 1 hour.

For the paste
Ingredients
2  medium size onions roughly chopped
4 pieces of garlic
1 piece ginger
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 stick of cinnamon
2 green elachi
4 cloves
4 green chillies
3 kashmiri chillies
Grind all the ingredients in to a fine paste.

For cooking
Ingredients
4 medium size potatoes cut in to 2 pieces
2 medium size onions sliced
1 big tomato chopped
6 tblsp spoon mustard oil
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 garam masala pd. ( 1 elachi,

Method
Take a pressure cooker. Add mustard oil. Heat it well. Add the chopped potatoes and fry it. Take the potatoes out and keep it aside. Add sliced onions and fry it well till golden brown. Add the paste and fry it well till the oil starts separating on slow fire. Add the marinated mutton, continue cooking on slow fire till the mutton mixes well with the masala.Add salt as per taste as salt was added in the marination also. As the oil begins come out of the mutton as the potatoes, tomatoes and half jug water. Pressure cook till 4 whistle. After the pressure realises add the ghee and garam masala pd. Have it with plain hot basmati rice........

Radish leaves roll

Radish leaves roll
2 cups radish leaves chopped
1 green chilli chopped
1 tsp garlic chopped
Salt to taste
1/2 pepper powder
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
1/2 cup cheese cut in to small cubes
12 samosa strips

Method
Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Take a pan and add oil. Add garlic, onion and green chilli sauté till the onions have changed its colour. Add the leaves, salt and pepper powder. Cook the leaves till the water has evaporated and the vegetable has become dry. Switch of the gas and add the cheese cubes. Take the samosa strips and add the vegetable and roll the strips. Add water at one end and stick the end. Repeat the process with other  samosa strips. Grease the baking tray and place the rolls. Spray the rolls with oil and bake it for 20 minutes at 160 degrees. Take the rolls and keep it for sometime before having it.

Classic Dhokla, Schezwan Vegetable Dhokla and Vattayappam with a twist

These 3 healthy quick snack recipes are a twist from classic recipes of India made from the same basic key ingredients... Lapsi and Suji.  Do try out at home....

Suji and Lapsi Batter
Ingredients
2 cups Lapsi ( broken wheat)
2 cups Suji
1 cups butter milk or more to make a thick batter
2 tsp soda bi carb or yeast or Eno

Method
Wash the Lapsi and soak it in water for 2 to 3 hours. Then throw the water in which the  Lapsi was soaked. Now put all the ingredients except for the salt and soda bi carb or yeast or Eno in the grinder and grind it into a fine paste. Take the batter out of the grinder and if required add more butter milk to get a thick consistently. Add soda bi carb or Eno or yeast as desire. If yeast is added then add the yeast in 1/4 cup of Luke warm water with 1 tsp sugar and keep it for 10 minutes for rising. Then add the yeast water to the batter. Let the batter stand for 30 minutes to an hour.

This batter is the base for the 3 following recipes. Divided the batter into 3 parts.

Classic Dhokla
Ingredients
1 part of the batter
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp chilli paste
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp oil
1 pinch of hing
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
5 to 6 curry leaves
4 tbsp water
1/2 tsp sugar
Coriander leaves chopped for garnishing

Method
Add ginger, salt and chilli paste to the batter. Grease the dhokla plates and fill 1/2 of the dhokla plates with the batter. Sprinkle chilli powder and roasted cumin powder and steam the dhoklas. Check the dhokla with the help of the tooth pick. If done the tooth pick will come out smoothly. Take the dhokla out of the steamer and cool it. Now take oil in a small vessel and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds starts to crackle add hing, curry leaves and sugar. Keep it for a minute and add water and let it bubble. Now add the tadka on the dhokla and garnish with coriander leaves. Cut it in to square or diamond shapes and serve it with green coriander chutney.

Schezwan Vegetable Dhokla
1 part of the batter
1 tsp oil
Salt to taste
1/2 pepper powder
1/2 tsp soya sauce
1 tbsp Schezwan sauce
1 onion sliced
1/2 small capsicum slice
1/2 tsp garlic crushed
1/4 cup cabbage sliced
1 tbsp carrot sliced
1/4 cup spring onion chopped
Coriander leaves and spring onions for garnishing

Method
Take the batter and add salt as required. Take a pan and add oil. Add crushed garlic and sauté for a minute. Add all the sliced vegetables. Add the soya and the Schezwan sauce. Sauté the vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chopped  spring onions the vegetables and keep it aside. Now grease the dhokla   plate and fill 1/4 of the plate with the batter. Half steam the batter. Once half steamed and the top of the batter has harden spread the vegetables on the batter. Now fill the rest of the plate with the rest of the batter and sprinkle pepper powder on top. Put the plate back into the steamer and steam the dhokla till done. Take it out from the steamer and garnish it with coriander leaves and chopped spring onions. Let the dhokla cool and then cut into shapes as desire.

Vattayappam with a twist
1 part of the batter
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Sugar as per the sweetness required
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp broken kaju
1 tbsp raisins
1 mashed banana
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp Saffron syrup
1 banana sliced for decoration
1/2 tsp ghee

Method
Take the batter and add all the ingredients except Saffron syrup and sliced banana. Mix the batter well. Now grease the plate with ghee and add the batter. Steam the batter till done. Take the plate out of the steamer. Cool the Vattayappam. Garnish it with Saffron syrup and sliced banana.

Sandwich Uttapa and Masala idlis....

Sandwich Uttapa and Masala idlis....
For Sandwich Uttapa
Ingredients
Dosa atta
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
2 green chilies chopped
1 tbsp of coriander leaves chopped
Salt to taste
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
Ghee
Method
Mix all the above ingredients in the dosa atta, except for the ghee. Take the sandwich toaster and brush with ghee. Add the batter and close the lid... Cook the Uttapa till done.

Masala Idlis
Ingredients
2 cup Idli cut into small cubes
1 tbsp Oil
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Chana Dal
1/4 tsp Urid dal
1 green chilli chopped
Few Curry leaves
2 tbsp  Mullapodi Chutney powder
1 tbsp Coconut chutney
1/2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp Desiccated Coconut
1 tbsp chopped Coriander leaves
Method
Take a pan. Add oil. Add mustard seeds, chana dal, Urid dal, curry leaves, chopped green chilli and sauté it for few minutes. Add Chopped Idli to the pan and sauté it for few minutes more.  Take a small bowl. Mix the coconut chutney , Mullapodi powder, lime juice and 3 tbsp water. Add the chutney mix to the idlis. Mix it well. Cook for few minutes till the water in the chutney dries up. Garnish it with desiccated coconut and chopped coriander leaves.