CHEESY CHILLY CORN SANDWICH

 CHEESY CHILLY CORN SANDWICH

I love sandwiches as they can be had anytime be it for breakfast,tea time or simply a midnight bite.My cheesy corn sandwich is a fav of mine,as I love eating corn in any form especially during rainy days with a   cup of hot full fat coffee…

INGREDIENTS: (serves 1)

2 bread slices

½ cup boiled corn/canned

2 slices of mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp of mayonnaise

1 tsp Red chilli flakes

A sprig of mint

Salt

Pepper

Butter/olive oil

METHOD:

In a bowl,mix together the corn(boiled with salt and sugar),mayonnaise,salt,pepper,chilli flakes and torn leafs of mint.

Take a bread slice and  place the cheese slice on it.

Then top it with the corn mixture.

 Place another cheese slice on top of the mix.

Place the second bread slice on top and press lightly.

Heat a pan/skillet,Brush some butter and place the sandwich.

 

Toast/grill the sandwich till the cheese is melted and bread browned on either sides

RAVA UPMA

RAVA UPMA

 I love to eat a good breakfast in the morning along with a cup of hot ginger tea.I never really liked upma as a kid and disliked it strongly,but when I started to stay alone and had no time to make breakfast,Upma was my savior.Its simple,easy and is ready in a few minutes.

INGREDIENTS: (serves 4)

1 cup semolina/rava

1 tbsp urad dal

2 onions roughly chopped

2 green chillies chopped

1 tbsp golden raisins

1 tsp mustard seeds/rai

1 tsp cumin seeds/zeera

A few curry leaves

1 tsp sugar

Salt

4 tsp ghee/oil

2 ½ cup hot water

Coriander leaves

METHOD:

In a kadhai/pan,

Heat 1tsp ghee and roast the semolina till golden brown and is fragrant.

Remove in a bowl and keep aside.

In the same kadhai,

Heat 2 ½  tsp ghee and add the urad dal,mustard seeds,cumin seeds,raisins and curry leaves.

Let them splutter,then add roughly chopped onions,green chillies,salt and sugar.

Sauté till onions are translucent.

Then add the roasted semolina and sauté everything for 2 mins.

Add hot water and ½ tsp ghee and cook on sim/dum.

Garnish with chopped coriander,shredded coconut(I did not have any) and nylon sev.

MAMLEDAR USAL (BEAN SPROUTS IN SPICY INDIAN GRAVY)

MAMLEDAR USAL (BEAN SPROUTS IN SPICY INDIAN GRAVY)

I remember eating Mamledar Misal in Thane(Mumbai) at Gokhale Road when I was kid and its been my family’s favourite for the past 35 years.I tried making a similar one and It turned out absolutely delicious.Spicy,tangy and full of flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

250 grams bean sprouts(matki)

3 cloves

3 blackpepper corns

2 green cardamom

1 bayleafs

1 2 inch cinnamom stick
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds

2 onions finely chopped

2 tsp fresh ginger garlic paste

3 large soft tomatoes finely chopped

1/4^th cup fresh grated coconut

1 ½ tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp tamarind paste/water

2 green chillies slit

10 Curry leaves

3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

3 tbsp oil

½ tsp sugar

Salt

METHOD:-

In a pressure cooker,heat oil.

Add the mustard and cumin seeds,cloves,green cardamom,cinnamom stick,blackpepper corns and bayleafs.

Add the finely chopped onions,ginger garlic paste,curry leaves and green chillies.

Sauté till the onions turn golden brown.

Then add the finely chopped tomatoes.Saute for another 5 mins.

Then add the coconut paste along with all the dry spice powders ie coriander,cumin,garam masala,turmeric,salt and the red chilli powders.

Sauté well till oil is separated from the mixture.

Add the bean sprouts along with a glass of water(you can add more water if you want more gravy)

Cover the pressure cooker with its lid and pressure cook till one whistle.

When done,open the cooker again and keep on medium flame.

Then add the tamarind paste,sugar and chopped coriander.

Cook for another 10 mins.

Done.

MANDI CHICKEN WITH BHUKHARI RICE

MANDI CHICKEN WITH BHUKHARI RICE

 

When I first visited Saudi Arabia Mandi Chicken with Bhukhari Rice was the first thing I ate there and have been in love with it ever since.

Now that I am back in India I miss it terribly,and so my cravings led me to try cooking it in my kitchen and surprisingly  it turned out absolutely delicious. 




 








 

INGREDIENTS:

For the mandi chicken –

½  chicken

10 grams blackpepper corns

10 grams green cardamom pods

10 grams cumin powder

10 grams coriander powder

10 grams turmeric powder

10 grams turmeric powder

2 tsp garlic paste

2 tsp ginger paste

1 dried black lemon

4 tbsp oil

Salt

For the bhukhari rice –

2 cup basmati rice

1 capsicum

1 grated carrot

3 tbsp mandi spice mix

3 tbsp golden raisins

3 tbsp fried pinenuts

1 black lemon

2 ½ cups chicken stock

Oil

 METHOD-

The mandi chicken-

Dry roast all the dry spices ie cardamom,blackpepper,cumin seeds,coriander seeds and the turmeric till fragrant.

When cooled blend all the spices in a mixer to a fine powder.

Add 4 tbsp of the spice powder to the chicken along with ginger,garlic paste,oil and torn black lemon pieces.

Massage the chicken well.Cover and keep overnight.

In a pan,heat 5 tbsp oil.

Add the chicken piece and sear well on both the sides.

Cook till the chicken is thoroughly done.

You can also do this in an oven at 180 C for 25 mins or till the chicken is cooked.

The bhukhari rice-

Soak the rice in water for 30 mins.

In a pan,heat 3 tbsp oil (or you can use the oil left in the pan from cooking the chicken)

Add grated carrot and 2 tbsp mandi spice mix,Saute.

Then add the raisins,chopped capsicum and black lemon along with chicken stock and let it boil.

Add the pre soaked rice and make sure the broth covers the rice if not then add more water.

Cover with a lid and cook for 20 mins on medium heat and leave it on dum(lowest flame) till rice cooked.

 

When serving remove rice on a platter.Garnish with roasted pinenuts and keep the chicken piece on top.

Tip-

To get the charcoal flavor in the rice.Lite a coal piece and keep it on the rice,pour 1 tsp oil over the burning coal and cover immediately with a lid and keep aside for 5 mins.Remove the coal and serve.

BLUEBERRY BANANA PANCAKES

BLUEBERRY BANANA PANCAKES

 Its pancakes day today,yoohoo!!! Another reason for me to spoil myself and cheat off my diet.Tall,fluffy pancakes with loads of blueberry sauce- A perfect start to a lazy Tuesday for me.This recipe never disappoints me and I can even make them with my eyes closed,its that simple!

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 12 medium sized pancakes)

3/4 cup fresh milk

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup flour

2 tbsp castor sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 tbsp oil

Butter to brush on the pan

Blueberry compote/sauce

1 sliced banana

METHOD:

In a medium sized bowl,mix the lemon juice with milk and set aside for 5 minutes till the milk curdles.

Sift the flour,castor sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. 

Whisk the egg and oil in another large bowl and then add the curdled milk.

 Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. 

Heat a medium sized pan and brush some butter over it.

 Then pour a ladle full of batter onto the pan, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. 

Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

When serving,place sliced bananas between the pancakes and pour a generous amount of blueberry compote on top.

SHEETAL ARC

SHEETAL ARC

Recently,I had friends visiting me from Chandigarh during the holiday season and soon enough they were starting to feel homesick.

 Since,the demand from the two was to have ghar ka khana plus vegetarian food.I knew instantly that sheetal arc’s the place to go.

Being a hardcore non-vegetarian myself ,Its certainly a difficult thing to get me to eat vegetarian food but when I was introduced to sheetal arc,I was bound to change my perception.

  Sheetal arc has been operating since 2007 and has quickly made its way into many hearts.
This restaurant seats around 100 people at a time and is also available for marriages and other functions on prior intimation.

 The ambience of this restaurant is basic but its spacious and not crammed up.

We were really hungry,so we ordered some starters like pani puri,delhi chaat,masala papad,paneer tikka along with some beer.
The orders came to our table within no time despite rush hours and the service here is spectacular.
Both the pani puri and delhi chaat are like little burts of flavor in the mouth and that made me keep wanting for more.

The pani puri here is made with mineral water and that takes care of the hygiene part besides that the pani puri was yummy,it had the right balance of flavours in both the sweet and spicy water.Masala papad was a must have since we were having beers,the papad was topped up with spiced up onions and tomato with lemon.

 

Paneer tikkas too was absolutely delicious,it had the right amount of spice and kick to it.

After all this,we still managed to save some space for the maincourse and so next we ordered some shezuan noodles,fried rice ,paneer Manchurian,malai kofta,dal tadka,tandoori rotis,one deluxe thali and one tomato soup as a special demand from my friend.
I managed to taste all the dishes but the thali shone the most among all.

Ordering up a deluxe thali is the best bargain one can get here.i absolutely adore the thali here,it’s the best in fact.The deluxe thali comprises of dal makhani,mix veg,aloo mutter,paneer makhani,pulao,2 parathas,raita and gaajar halwa.

The dal makhani has a distinctive earthy flavor to it and the cream adds to its richness.The veg preparations keep changing here depending on the availability and so this time I got to taste the aloo mutter and mix veg.Both the dishes were well made especially the mix veg as the veggies were cooked to perfection.

The malai kofta gravy had pieces of pineapple and cherry in it which was a bit unusual for me and it made the gravy a lot on the sweeter side but the koftas were just melting in the mouth with all the creaminess coming from the paneer in it.

I must say that sheetal arc makes really good dal preparations as the dal tadka too was delicious.It wasn’t like you could only taste the tadka but the dal flavor too came out beautifully.

In Chinese,the shezuan noodles were al dente.Surprisingly it wasn’t that spicy which was good for me but the good thing about the noodles was that it dint have any red food colouring added to it,as mostly seen nowdays.The paneer Manchurian was a bit unusual for me as I had never eaten one with paneer,it tasted alright but I would still prefer the traditional veg Manchurian over this.
I’m not a big fan of soups especially tomato soups as most of my experience with it was horrifying.In the name of tomato soup,I was most of the time served a cross between tomato ketchup and puree with a generous amount of water added to it.But the soup at sheetal arc changed my outlook,it was tangy and at the same time the cream added to its richness and it was topped with perfect crisp croutons.

In desserts,the gaajar ka halwa is a must try.I must say its not for the faint hearted,as its made in pure ghee.One might question its preparation as it comes in a pool of ghee and every spoonful is dripping with ghee but ones you eat it you know your in pure bliss.
By looking at the contended faces of my friends I knew that the dinner was a huge success plus the food was economical as well,as food for 4 cost around 1240 INR(excluding beers).It was a decent amount for the quantity of food we were being served.i would say that sheetal arc is a hard to miss place and is definetly worth a try.

 

Ambience:4.5/5

Food:4.5/5

Service:4.5/5

Price:3.5/5

Food for 4: 1240 INR

Overall ratings:4.5/5

Address: Virwani Plaza,East Street, Besides 11East Street Cafe, Camp.

 Pune - 411001

Phone: 020 41045533, 020 41045544