Veggie Enchilada

I got this recipe from American Masala by Suvir Saran. I make many types of Quesadillas for quick dinners and have started preferring these over the restaurant ones. After trying this enchilada, I am even more in love with home-made Mexican food. Though it is more time-consuming than my humble quesadilla creations, its definitely worth the time & effort. All members of my family loved it.

Here's how I made it:

For the roasted pepper dip -

2 tbsp oil

1 small red onion - chopped

4 colored bell peppers - I used 1 each of green, red, orange and yellow - cored, seeded & chopped
2 medium tomatoes - chopped

4 cloves of garlic - peeled

1 serrano - increase for more heat

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper pwd

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup Mexican cheese blend

Toss all the ingredients, except milk & cheese, together. Spread on a greased glass baking dish. Roast in a pre-heated 450F oven for 1 hr, stirring every 15 mins.

Cool slightly, then blend.

Transfer to a saucepan. Simmer on medium heat. Add the milk & cheese. Stir till cheese melts. Take off heat.

The original recipe calls for cream, but I used 2% milk for a lighter option.

This dip tastes delicious with tortilla chips as well.

For the enchilada stuffing, the author uses a stir-fried carrot salad recipe from his book. Here's how I made it:

1 bag shredded carrots
1/2 a head of cabbage - shredded
1 can balck beans - drained & rinsed
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1 tsp sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
Cilantro for garnish

Heat the oil in a wide skillet. Add the cumin seeds. After 2 mins add the carrots and cabbage. Stir & cook on medium heat for about 5 mins. till al dente (or a little longer if u prefer it more cooked). Add the salt, pepper, sugar, lemon juice, cumin pwd, coriander pwd & cilantro. Mix well & take off heat.

The original recipe does not include the beans. I just added them as I love black beans in Mexican dishes.

To assemble the enchiladas:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Evenly spread 1/2 cup of the Roasted Red Pepper Dip on the bottom of a 11 X 9 inch baking dish along with 1 tsp oil.

Heat 4 tortillas on a skillet on medium high heat for about 20 secs. each side until a bit toasty. Fill each with 3 heaped tbsp of the carrot-cabbage-beans stuffing down the middle. Roll them up & place seam side down in the baking dish. Top with 1 cup of the dip and an even layer of cheese. Bake for about 20 mins till cheese is melted and golden brown. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

These veggie enchiladas are off to the Monthly Mingle: Mexican Fiesta event at allthingsyummy.

Shortbread Spirals

My daughter and I recently made these from the Kids' Baking book by Sara Lewis. We had a lot of fun prepping these together and the end product was pretty good too...although not too sugary sweet. Here's how er made them:

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa pwd

1 tbsp boiling water

1 cup butter - at room temperature

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Dissolve the cocoa pwd in the boiling water until smooth. I had to add a few more drops for this.

2. Mix the butter, flour and sugar into a crumbly mix. Divide equally between 2 mixing bowls.

3. In one bowl, add the vanilla extract. I also added a few tsp milk to make it a little more pliable and easy for my daughter to work with. Knead well and keep aside.

4. Add the cocoa paste to the other bowl and knead well.

5. Roll out the two doughs between 2 sheets of parchment paper into 8 inch squares each.

6. Carefully place the cocoa dough over the vanilla dough. Roll the two together as tightly as possible.

7. Chill the roll for 15 mins. In the meanwhile, preheat oven to 325f.

8. Cut the rolls into about 16 slices. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 mins. Cool on the baking sheet before serving.

These shortbread spirals are off to the EFM - Cookies event at srishkitchen.

These also go to the Chocolate event at Poornima's Tasty treats.

Green Butterfly Pasta

This recipe is from an old edition of Tarla Dalal's monthly cooking magazine.

Here's how I made it:

1/2 lb. farfalle/bow-tie pasta - cooked per directions on box

1 cup spinach puree

1 spring onion - finely chopped with the green part

1 small garlic clove - finely chopped

1/2 cup shredded chedder cheese

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp butter

Salt & pepper to taste

For the spinach puree, if using frozen spinach, thaw it then blend. If using fresh spinach, blanch it in salted boiling water for a minute, drain & refresh in cold water, drain & then blend till smooth.
Heat the butter, saute the spring onion & garlic for 2 - 3 mins. Add the spinach puree, milk, cheese, salt & pepper. Mix well. Simmer for a couple of mins, stirring continuously. Add the cooked pasta, toss together and serve.

I was so glad I tried this, my daughter loved it. I'll definitely be making it again. It was a bit bland for my dad's typical Indian palate though.

This Green Butterfly Pasta goes to Aquadaze's Presto Pasta Night # 106 event.

This event was started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

This kid-friendly dish also goes to Srivalli's Monthly Mingle 31 - Kids Lunches.

This event is the brain child of Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey?

Cucumber dosa with cucumber chutney

My aunt makes this cucumber chutney quite often. Since it uses just the inside pulp of tender cucumbers, I thought of using the rest of the cucumber to make this cucumber dosa that I had book-marked from Ramya's Mane Adige.

The two went very well together for a delicious, relaxed Sunday breakfast.

For the Cucumber (Sowthekai) Dosa, I pretty much followed her recipe to a tee.

Here's how I made the Cucumber chutney, my aunt's way:

1 English cucumber or any tender cucumber - use only the tender inside pulp portion

1/2 cup grated coconut - fresh or frozen

1 tsp roasted sesame seeds

1 serrano pepper or to taste

Few springs cilantro

Salt to taste

1 tsp Sugar or jaggery

1/4 tsp tamarind diluted in some water

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. Enjoy with dosas, idlis, adais etc.

This Cucumber Dosa and Cucumber Chutney are off to the AFAM: Cucumber event at Neha's Tasty Recipes.

This event was started by Maheswari of Beyond the Usual.

Tandoori Aloo

This recipe is from Tarla Dalal's Microwave Desi Khana, with some modifications by me.

10-12 small baby potatoes

2 tsp oil

1-2 tsp degi mirchi pwd

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1/2 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp coriander pwd

1 tsp cumin pwd

1/2 tsp kasoori methi

3 tbsp yogurt

salt to taste

Wash the potaotes, pierce them with a fork 2-3 times and place around the circumference of the microwave turntable. Place a glass of water in the center to prevent the potatoes from getting wrinkled. Microwave on high for 5 mins till the potatoes are soft. Next mix the dry pwds with the oil in a bowl & microwave for 30 secs. Stir once and microwave another 30 secs. In a glass microwave safe bowl mix the potatoes, oil masala paste, salt, kasuri methi and yogurt together. Marinate for 1/2 hr, then microwave for 2 mins.

I cut some of the bigger baby potatoes into wedges.

Stick toothpicks in each & serve as appetizers.

This Tandoori Aloo goes to the MEC - Savoury Snacks event at Priya's Easy n Tasty Recipes.

This event was started by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all seasons.

Rice Crispies Chivda

I found this recipe on Meera's Enjoy Indian Food and made it for Diwali faraal last year. Ever since, I have been hooked on to it and make a fresh batch the moment the earlier one is over. Here's how I made it this time around:

5 cups Rice Crispies cereal

1 cup shev/aloo bhujia

4 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

a generous pinch of asafotida

1 tsp turmeric pwd

2 dry red chillies - broken & deseeded

Handful of roasted peanuts

Handful of roasted cashewnuts

1 tsp coriander pwd

1 tsp cumin pwd

1 tsp fennel/saunf pwd

1/2 tsp red chilli pwd

1/4 tsp cloves pwd

1/4 tsp cinnamon pwd

1/2 tsp amchur pwd

Salt & sugar to taste

Heat the oil in a large wide pan. Temper it with mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafotida in that order. Add the turmeric pwd & red chillies. Fry for a minute. Add the peanuts and cashewnuts, fry another few mins. Add all the dry masals, salt, sugar, rice crispies & shev and mix well. Saute on medium low for 5 mins. Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

This chivda goes to Pallavi's Sunday Snacks - Grab n Go event at All Things Yummy.

Puran poli

Updated 10/24/12 - Recently, I have gathered some good techniques from friends/online to make this dish even better. Hence updating this post.

Puran poli is a traditional sweet dish wherein maida rotis are stuffed with a sweet jaggery-chana dal mix.

Here's how I make it:

For the puran or filling -

1 cup chana dal

1 to 1.5 cups light color jaggery/gul

1/2 tsp cardamon pwd

1/4 tsp nutmeg pwd

Wash the chana dal and soak in 2 cups water for atleast 4 hours. Then pressure cook it for 8 whistles. Once the pressure comes down, open the cooker and remove the cooked chana dal. Mix it with the jaggery in a heavy bottom pan and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all the water dries up. This can take anywhere between 15 to 30 mins, depending how watery it was to start with. My MIL taught me that the test for this is that the stirring spoon should stand upright when stuck in the mix. That's when the mix is dry enough. Add the cardamon and nutmeg pwds at this time, mix well and take off heat. Once the mix cools, it has to be mashed completely. If you have the traditional puran yantra (manual sieve for mashing puran), use that. But I do not have that, so I have found that a gadget called ricer (available at Target/Walmart/Bed Bath type stores) works very well too. In the absence of this, you could also use a potato masher. The idea is that the mix has to be thoroughly mashed, no piece of dal or jaggery should be visible. I usually make this puran a day before I plan to actually make the puran polis since the puran should be completely cooled before stuffing. I refrigerate it overnight and thaw it to room temperature before use the next day.

For the dough -

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup plain all purpose flour

a pinch of salt

Warm water

Few drops of oil

Mix all except oil and knead into a soft, pliable dough. The consistency should be much looser than regular roti dough, almost to the point of sticking to your hands. Then add few drops of oil and knead till smooth.

To proceed -

Pinch of some dough, about the size of a small lemon and flatten it on ur palm. Take a ball of puran, double to size of the dough you took. Stuff into the dough, bringing the dough around the puran in a bowl-shape. Be sure to press the puran down gently so as to get maximum quantity of puran into the bowl shaped dough. Then bring the edges of the dough together and pinch them shut. Flatten between palms. Roll out gently into a thin roti using flour to dust. Roast on a tawa until brown spots appear on both sides. Smear with ghee and serve warm.



I always make these puran polis for Holi and this time they are off to Purva's Holi Hai event.