CHICKEN MEATBALLS and SPAGHETTI

Hi, Friends.... i'm updating my blog after more than a year.... Lots of excuses creeping up in my brain  for this, but bottom line is I've been lazy to get around working on the hindrances causing me not to update....


Chicken Meatballs and Spaghetti Recipe:

A very easy and tasty dish... I usually make it on a sunday afternoon when the kids are at home, so all at home can enjoy it hot when it is at its tastiest best.....

INGREDIENTS:

For chicken meat balls:
1. 1/4 kg chicken mince
2. 1 tsp each of ginger, garlic mince
3. 2 tsp of green chilli mince (use it according to your spice preference)
4. 2 tbsp of ground roasted bengal gram
5. 4 tbsp breadcrumbs.

For the sauce:
1. 5 ripe tomatoes
2. 7 cloves garli
3. 2 medium onions
4. 1 tsp of chilli powder
5. a bunch of basil leaves (i prefer fresh to dried)
6. a pinch of turmeric
7. salt to taste
Oil as per your preference. I used 3 tbspns of olive oil

For spaghetti:
1 packet spaghetti
4 - 5 litres of water
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Method of Preparation:

Meatballs:
1. Mix all the ingredients mentioned for the meatballs and knead it well.
2. Make balls of the mix.
3. Shallow fry if you precook the mince or deep fry for 5 mins, on a medium flame, if you haven't precooked the mince.

Sauce:
1. Chop the onions and tomato very fine. Garlic needs to be minced.
2. Heat oil is a heavy bottomed pan. Add the garlic and stir fry till the raw smell is no more.
3. Now add the onions and fry till it is translucent.
4, Add tomatoes and fry for 1 minute.
5. Add turmeric, salt and chilli powder, mix well and let the sauce cook.
6. The sauce is cooked when you see oil in all the corners. Now use a blender and make the sauce into an almost smooth paste.
7. Chope the basil leaves fine and add to the sauce, mix well and add the meatballs to it and mix.
8. Let the flavor of the meatballs combine with the sauce. Let it cook together for 5 mins, Keep mixing....

Spaghetti:
You can prepare the spaghetti midway of the sauce preparation.
Boil the water with a pinch of salt and add the spaghetti to it. Let the spaghetti cook till it is almost done. Drain immediately and add a spoon of olive oil and mix so it doesn't stick.

Now add the spaghetti to the sauce and mix well... Alternately, you can place the spaghetti and put the sauce on it..... You can also use red and yellow peppers in the sauce..... Grating cheese on top can also be done. I avoid cheese for the whole portion but for my kids i grate cheese and put their portion in the oven for 2 mins to melt the cheese......

EGGLESS FRUIT CAKE

EGGLESS FRUIT CAKE

I baked 2 cakes for my son's birthday (December). A chocolate cake and a fruit cake. Below is the recipe for the fruit cake. I usually bake eggless cakes.

Ingredients :

2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
50 gms butter
1/2 cup sunflower oil
200 gms condensed milk
1 cup water
150 grams mixed tutti fruti fruits

Method of Preparation:

1. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
2. Mix the butter and tutti fruti. Add this to the flour.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients one after another and mix everything well.
4. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease the cake mould.
5. Pour the batter into the mould and bake for 40 mins.

STRAWBERRY CAKE WITH FRESH STRAWBERRY & CREAM TOPPING

STRAWBERRY CAKE

Today is my daughter's birthday. She wanted a strawberry cake. Since strawberries are in season, i got some fresh strawberries from the market yesterday. This is my first cream topping cake. It came out very well and not much work involved at all. My daughter loved it and that is very important for me. I had baked a tutti fruti cake for my son's birthday in december, yet the update the recipe though, will do it along with this recipe, today. 

Ingredients:

for the cake:

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp strawberry syrup (i used Hershey's)
2 drops strawberry essence
50 gms butter + 50 gms sunflower oil
50 ml full cream milk
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp castor sugar (adjust to your liking)

for the cream topping
1 pack whipped cream powder (blue bird)
3 + 1 tbsp icing sugar
1 cup fresh strawberry (cut into very small pieces)
1/4 tsp lime juice

Method of Preparation:

1. Whisk the butter and castor sugar together. Add the strawberry syrup and essence and mix well.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Add the butter mix to this and mix.
3. Add milk and water to this and mix thoroughly.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
5. Grease the cake mould with butter and pour the batter in it.
6. Bake for 35 mins in 180 degrees.

Cream Topping:

1. Cut the strawberries finely. Mix this with 1/4 tsp lime juice and 1 tsp icing sugar and keep aside.
2. Whip the whip cream as instructed on the box and refrigerate for 15 mins.
3. After 15 mins, mix 1/4 cream with the strawberry mix and keep 3/4 as is, aside.

After the cake is baked, keep it for cooling. With a fork, poke the cake on the top and pour strawberry syrup. After the cake is cooled, first spread the strawberry cream mixture on the cake and then layer the cream on top.
 

GRILLED CHICKEN AND PEPPERS WITH MINT AND CORIANDER DIP

GRILLED CHICKEN AND PEPPERS WITH MINT AND CORIANDER DIP


I'm on a weight loss diet and have started making suitable recipes for this.... I tried chicken grill for the first time and it came out so well that i decided to post it right away.... I have so many recipes to be posted but just couldn't resist posting this right away. Will have to update my other recipes as well one of these days......

I love red and yellow peppers, they have a slightly sour and sweet taste and is very good when it is just stir fried or grilled (like i did today). Stir fry not to exceed maximum of 4 minutes... overcooked peppers don't taste so good...I sprinkle pepper and salt slightly to this and i can guarantee you will love the yumminess to the last bite.





Ingredients:

300 gms chicken breasts (2 pieces)
3 tbsp curds
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/2 coriander powder
a pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
1 tsp oil for grilling
Yellow and red pepper cubes

1. Marinate the chicken with all the above ingredients (except oil) and keep it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 1/2 an hour to maximum of 24 hours.
2. Grill this (i used my sandwich grill) brushing a little oil on both sides. Let it cook on both sides for 4 minutes (Chicken breasts cook fast).
3. Arrange the pepper cubes on the grill simultaneously. When serving, sprinkle little salt and pepper on the peppers.

 Voila! Healthy chicken breasts with peppers ready to serve. My daughter too loved this and i was surprised and her not making a fuss to eat the peppers, which she usually does not eat....

DAL KICHADI

My mom and daughter both are unwell today and i was taking care of mom being a daughter and my daughter being a mom. Kichadi seemed a good option for their lunch today and hence i prepared kichadi. The only difference is I prepared kichadi with masoor dal today, for the first time. Came out well but i felt tur dal was even more tastier.

 Ingredients:

1 cup rice
3/4 cup dal
1 inch ginger (grated)
4 green chillies
1/2 tsp dhania powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

For the tadka:

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp jeera
1 big onion (cut small)

2 tomato (cut small)
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 pinch of hing (asafoetida)
2 red chillies (torn in 2)
1 tbsp oil

Method of Preparation:

1. Wash rice and dal together and pressure cook it with chillies, turmeric, green chillies, ginger, dhania powder and salt, for 3 whistles, alongwith 4.5 cups of water.
2. Heat a pan, add oil and once the oil is hot, splutter mustard seeds, add hing, jeera one after the other.
3. Add red chillies, onions and once the onions turn translucent, add curry leaves, and tomatoes. Let the tomatoes cook for 3 mins until is soft.
4. Add this to the kichadi and mix well. Add hot water if you want it of more liquid consistency.

Serve hot with pickle, papad or eat it as is.

GRILLED VEGGIES and FRUITS

I'm trying out recipes which are healthy & diet friendly and grilled veggies and fruits is one of these experiments. This is not a new dish, but still can be made interesting with different marinades. Today i tried out the normal one with curds, mint leaves, cilantro, garlic, jeera, salt and sugar. My son loves paneer, daughter apple and pineapple, capsicum and onions for me. This is the mix of veggies and fruits i used and before i could take a picture of the dish, my son had finished all the paneer.... My daughter, since she is sick today, was a little fussy but she ate it in the end because she loves fruits.

 Ingredients:

Capsicum, Onion, Apple, Pineapple, Paneer or any similiar veggies and fruits as per your choice.

For the marinade:

1 bowl curds

1 handful cilantro (coriander leaves)

3 tbsp mint leaves (pudina)

4 green chillies (adjust as per taste)

1 tsp jeera

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp sugar

salt as per taste

Method of Preparation:

1. Cube or cut all veggies and fruits into triangle.

2. Marinate them in the marinade for half an hour.

3. Grill them in a microwave. ( i have used the paneer grilled setting which is for 12 mins). You can also use the non stick microwave pan. Brush the pan with olive oil and use the same setting. I did both grill and pan but by the time picture was taken grilled veggies were over.

Tastes very good if you make the marinade spicy.

Serve hot.

 

                                                      

     

VEGETABLE SAAGU (KARNATAKA STYLE)

My whole family loves the poori saagu we get in Bangalore. It is not that we don't like the poori bhaaji in Mumbai, but the saagu, i miss here. To compensate i make the saagu at home atleast once a month. It goes well with not only poori but also with dosa, idli, phulka, appam and even rice.....
I use less coconut since the gravy has a thick consistency from the roast gram dal used in the recipe. I learnt this from one of the cooks who we had hired for a feast at home.
It is packed with a lot of vitamins and minerals from the various vegetables used in the recipe. There is no hard and fast rule of the vegetables that can be used. So, use your own combination and pack a punch in your family meal!!!!

 

Ingredients:

All vegetables to be cut to the same size, into small cubes.
1 big carrot
1/4 bowl green peas (fresh/frozen)
1 big knol-khol (I get this in mumbai only in the winter)
12 french beans
1 big potato (optional)
1 small cauliflower
1 pinch turmeric

For the gravy paste:

1 tbsp fresh grated coconut
3 tbsp roast gram dal (puttani, dahliya, bhuna chana)
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
5 green chilli (adjust according to your taste)
1 clove
1 inch cinnamon
1 handful of coriander (hara dhania, cilantro, kothimiri)
1 inch ginger (optional)

For tadka:

2 byadagi chilli (torn in half)
1 tsp mustard
a pinch of hing
curry leaves
1 tsp oil

Method of Preparation:

1. Dry roast the coriander seeds, clove, cinnamon and cumin seperately. Let it cool.
2. Pressure cook all the vegetables with a pinch of salt and turmeric for 1 whistle. It should be almost cooked.
3. Blend all the ingredients for the gravy paste.
4. Heat oil in a kadai, splutter the mustard seeds, add hing, red chillies and curry leaves.
5. Add the vegetables to the kadai, the gravy paste, salt as per taste and bring everything together.
6. Adjust water as per your like and requirement and let it simmer for 5 mins.

Serve hot with poori, parantha, dosa, idli, appam, rice.....