Starters

Garlic Cheese Bread Sticks

Who does not love to eat garlic bread? Especially, when you have bread and do not want to make the usual sandwiches or bondas.

This recipe calls for sandwich bread and other ingredients, and only need to be tossed and toasted for that crispy and delicious garlic bread.

Ingredients

• Bread - 4 slices
• Shredded mozarella or any pizza mix cheese - 1 cup
• Finely chopped or grated garlic - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
Note: You can skip salt if you are using salted butter.
• Softened unsalted butter - 50 gms
Note: It is good to have soft butter as it is easier to spread.
• Finely chopped bell peppers - 2 tbsps
• Italian herbs - 2 tsps
• (Optional) Green chillies - 1 tsp, finely chopped
• (Optional) Chilli flakes - 1 tsp

Preparation method

1. Mix salt, grated garlic, and butter. Keep aside.
2. Mix shredded cheese, chilli flakes, bell peppers, and Italian herbs, and keep aside.
3. Take a bread slice and top it with the cheese mix and cover it with another slice of bread. Press gently.
4. Heat a griddle and add garlic butter to it. Place the bread and toast it on low flame.
5. Apply butter on the top layer of the bread and then flip it and toast the second side until golden brown or crisp.
6. Cut them into vertical sticks and add some herbs or any other topping of your choice before serving.

Baby corn manchurian

Yet another appetizing and delicious Indo-Chinese cuisine with baby corn as the main ingredient.

Ingredients

• Baby corn - 1 1/2 cups, washed, slit into half, vertically and then horizontally
• All purpose flour - 1 cup
• Corn flour - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - to make a thin batter of the all purpose and cornflour
• Oil - for frying

Ingredients for the sauce

• Spring onions - 1 cup, finely chopped
• Garlic - 1 tsp, finely chopped
• Green chillies - 1 tsp, finely chopped
• Bell pepper - Slit into thin, long pieces
• Tomato, chilli, soya sauce - 2 tsp each
• Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation method

1. Make a batter of the all purpose flour, corn flour and salt.
2. Heat oil required for deep frying.

Once hot, dip the baby corn one by one into the batter and dip them in the oil. Fry them until golden brown and keep them aside.

For the sauce

Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add spring onions, garlic, ginger, chillies, bell pepper, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilli sauce (optional) and stir well.

Now, add the fried baby corn and mix gently, until all are coated with the sauce.

Serve warm.

Chilli baby corn

The monsoon and cold weather today, is certainly a welcome from the sultry summer we have had. Something spicy-tangy is what we were craving for. So, this led to the Chilli baby corn recipe in my kitchen today.

Ingredients

• Baby corn - 6, washed and slit into half, cut into equally length wise
• Onion - 1 medium size, chopped
• Green capsicum - washed and cut length wise
• Spring onions - 2 tsps
• Green chillies - 2, slit and finely chopped
• Tomato sauce- 3 tsp
• Soya sauce - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 1 tsp, finely chopped
• Coriander leaves - for garnishing, finely chopped
• Cornflour - 1 tsp
• Pepper powder (black) - 1/4 tsp
• Water - 20 ml
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

Preparation method

For marinade

1. Add cornflour, water, salt, ginger garlic paste, pepper powder and mix well.
2. Add the baby corns and mix well.
3. Keep aside for 10-15 minutes.

Next steps...

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add onions, green chillies, salt and saute.
3. Add finely chopped galic, capsicum and saute until capsicum is tender.
4. Add the baby corns and cook on high flame, until it is cooked well.
5. Add soya sauce, tomato sauce, salt, spring onions and cook saute.
6. You can see that the gravy thickens slowly, due to the corn sauce.
7. Cook for a few more minutes and remove in a serving plate.
8. Garnish with coriander and serve warm.

Paneer Tikka

Yesterday, I had prepared this dish after a very long time and the plate was empty within no time! A very tasty, colorful and nutritious dish.

Ingredients

• Paneer - about 250 gms, cut into equal sized cubes and of medium thickness
• Onion - 1 medium size, cut into the same size as paneer
• Capsicum (Red, Green and Yellow) - cut into the same size as paneer
• Tomato - 1 medium size - cut into the same size as paneer
• Thick yogurt/curds - 1 cup
• Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
• Ginger-garlic paste - as per taste (garlic is optional)
• Amchur/Dry mango powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric - pinch
• Salt - to taste

Preparation method

1. Wash the paneer (run it through water once) and dice them into equal cubes of medium thickness.
2. Beat the yogurt to a smooth paste.
3. Add red chilli powder, amchur powder, turmeric, garam masala, kasuri methi, ginger paste and salt. Mix it well.
4. Put the diced paneer cubes into the yogurt mixture and mix it so as to cover all the paneer pieces with the yogurt. Leave refrigerated for atleast 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add the capsicum pieces and shallow fry them until they are cooked.
6. Similarly, fry the onions and tomatoes.
7. Keep them in separate plates.
8. Now shallow fry the marinated paneer and keep them aside.
Note: Do not add the excess yogurt.
9. Now, take capsicum, tomato and onion and keep the paneer in the middle (like a sandwich) and bring them together with a toothpick.
10. Serve warm.

Vegetable Manchurian

This is a very appetizing and delicious Indo-Chinese cuisine.

Ingredients

• Beans - 1 cup, finely chopped
• Potatoes - 1 cup, boiled and mashed
• Cauliflower - 1 cup, washed
• Cabbage - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
• Oil - for frying

Ingredients for seasoning

• Spring onions - 1 cup, finely chopped
• Garlic - 1 tsp, finely chopped
• Green chillies - 1 tsp, finely chopped
• Bell pepper - Slit into thin, long pieces
• Tomato, chilli, soya sauce - 2 tsp each
• Oil - 1 tsp

Ingredients for batter

• All purpose flour - 2 cups
• Cornflour - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste

Preparation method

1. Wash and chop the vegetables and half cook them, until tender.
Cook the cauliflower separately.
2. When cooled, mash all the cooked vegetables, including the potatoes.
3. Add salt, mix well and make equal sized balls.
4. Heat oil in a pan and coat the veg balls in the batter and deep fry.
5. Keep them aside.

For the sauce

6. Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add spring onions, garlic, ginger, chillies, bell pepper, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chilli sauce (optional) and stir well.
7. Now, add the fried vegetable balls and mix gently, until all are coated with the sauce.
8. Serve warm.