Sizzler

While browsing thru my friend's collection of Tarla Dalal's cooking magazines, a recipe for Italian sizzler caught my eye. It reminded me of this incident when I tried to eat a sizzler. A few years back, on my trip to Mumbai, I was craving for a sizzler. So when my school friends decided to meet up, I insisted we go to this well-known sizzler place at Sukh Sagar/Chowpatty. Some of my friends were bringing their kids along, so I decided to take my daughter too (she was a baby then). Once seated in the restaurant, we ordered and I eagerly waited for my sizzler. But the moment it came, my baby, for some reason, started howling away. No amount of TLC could calm her down. She just did not want to be inside the place. Finally, I had to doggie bag my "cold sizzler" & take it home!

Since then I haven't dared to eat another sizzler. But when I saw this recipe, I could not resist the tempation to try it at home. Only problem was, hubby is not too much into Italian, but I have seen Indianized version with rice, so decided to make a combo Indo - Italian sizzler.

Here's how I made it:

Pasta with Mushroom sauce -

1 cup cooked pasta - I used small star-shaped ones
1/4 cup onions - chopped
2 garlic cloves - chopped
1 cup mushrooms - sliced
1 tbsp plain flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat the oil. Saute the onions in it for 2-3 mins, add the garlic, saute another min., add the mushrooms and saute till browned. Add the flour and saute on low for 4-5 mins till the flour is light brown. Add the milk & bring to a gentle boil. Add the salt & pepper. Just before assembling, reheat this sauce and add the cooked pasta.

Zucchini patties -

1 zucchini - grated
1 carrot - grated
1/2 cup grated paneer
1 tsp cumin pwd.
1 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp ginger paste
Salt to taste

Mix these together and shape into small patties. Shallow fry on a non-stick pan with few drops of oil until each patty is browned on both sides.

Rice with veggies -

1/2 cup basmati rice - washed & soaked for 1/2 hr
1/2 cup frozen mixed veggies
1/2 cup onions - sliced
1/2 cup tomatoes - chopped
1 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp cumin pwd
1/2 tsp garam malasa
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil

I made this like a basic veggie pulav. Heat the oil, saute the onions till transluscent. Add the rice & fry it a bit. Then add 1 cup of water, the frozen veggies, salt, coriander and cumin pwds. Cover and cook on medium low for about 15 mins till rice is cooked. Stir in the garam masala & lemon juice. Cover and keep warm.

French fries -

I used the frozen fries here.

Assembly -

Heat a cast iron pan on high until very hot. Place it carefully on a wooden tray/board (I used my wooden chopping board). Place the pasta in one half & the rice on the other half of the pan. Top with patties and fries. Mix 1 tbsp oil with 1 tbsp water and pour on the sides of the cast iron pan for a sizzling effect. Serve immediately.