Tasty Cutlets made from left over rice

As promised in my last post, here is another tasty snack from left over rice. This can be quickly prepared as all the ingredients are generally available at home at any given time. Moreover, its very tasty and the left-over rice is very well camouflaged ! This snack was an instant hit at home.

 Cutlets shallow fried plain (without rolling in semolina or breadcrumbs)

 Cutlets rolled in fine semolina(sooji) and shallow fried

Ingredients:

Left over rice	1 cup
Potato (boiled & mashed)	1 large
Mixed vegetables (cut into cubes & boiled)	1 cup
Bread slices	2
Onion (chopped)	1
Green chilies	2-3
Coriander leaves (chopped)	2 tbsps
Salt	To taste
Fine semolina (sooji) or bread crumbs	½ cup
Oil	For shallow frying

Method:

1. Soak the bread slices in a little water for about 2-3 minutes and then squeeze out excess water.
2. Mix all the ingredients (except oil and semolina/breadcrumbs) and the bread slices in a bowl and form cutlets into desired shapes.
3. Roll each cutlet in fine semolina or breadcrumbs and keep aside.
4. Shallow fry these cutlets in hot oil until golden brown on both the sides.
5. Serve hot with chutney or tomato ketchup.

Makes: 10 cutlets (depending upon the size)

Note:

These cutlets can also be shallow fried without rolling them in semolina or breadcrumbs.

To make it more spicy, you can add chilly powder, garam masala powder and a dash of lime juice.

Spicy Rice Parathas from left-over rice

Every housewife at sometime or the other faces the problem of left-over cooked items and is always in a dilemma as to how best to either avoid the situation or camouflage the same into a culinary delight!

If the left over cooked item is rice, then generally I use it to make lemon rice, puliyogare, or fried rice etc.  Believe me they really taste good.

But this spicy rice parathas made from the leftover rice beats all of them and is worth trying out. You will not regret it.

 Spicy rice parathas with salad

Ingredients:

Left over rice	1 cup
Wheat flour	1 cup
Gram flour (Besan)	½ cup
Yoghurt /curds	¼ cup
Ginger chopped & crushed	1 inch piece
Green chilies chopped & crushed	4-5 (or as per taste)
Turmeric powder	½ tsp
Red chilly powder	½ tsp
Chopped coriander leaves	3-4 tbsps
Salt	To taste
Oil	For shallow frying

Method:

1. Put all the above ingredients (except oil) into a bowl and knead it into smooth dough. If you have a food processor, this can be done in a jiffy.
2. Divide the dough into 14 balls and roll each ball into flat discs or parathas using a little flour.
3. Fry these parathas on a hot tawa (griddle or frying pan) using little oil. Fry them on both the sides till brown spots appear. Remove from the pan or tawa.
4. Follow the same procedure for the rest of the dough.

Makes : 14 parathas depending upon the size of balls

Note:

• This goes well with plain curds, or salads or with any curries.
• If the dough is not being used immediately, it can be refrigerated in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
• Chopped mint leaves or kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) can also be used.
• Freshly cooked rice too can be used in this recipe.

P.S. Watch out for another tasty snack from left-over rice in my next post.

Turnip curry

This root vegetable is known in Hindi as “Shalgum” and of course “Turnip” in English. However, I have yet to find its Konkani name. If anybody knows its name in Konkani please do let me know.

Turnips are available in plenty during this season. This vegetable is generally not liked by a lot of people and that includes me too! Besides, it is said that all seasonal vegetables are available to us for a purpose. So, I thought of trying this out as it was quite economical and easy on my purse too. Believe me, to my surprise, it turned out quite delicious. So I thought of sharing this with you all. I am now planning to buy them again!

Turnips are a good low calorie source of vitamin C & fibre.

Ingredients:

Turnips	4
Onion (sliced)	1 large
Garlic (chopped)	6-8 cloves
Tomatoes (sliced)	2
Green or red chillies (slit)	3
Oil	2-3 tsps
Turmeric	½ tsp
Garam Masala	1 tsp
Coriander leaves chopped)	1 tbsp
Salt	To taste

Method:

1. Wash and peel the turnips and cut them into medium size pieces. And parboil them.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add to it the chopped garlic and sauté.
3. Next add the sliced onions and slit green (or red or both) chilies. Stir it till the onions are translucent.
4. Add sliced tomatoes and sauté till the tomatoes turn soft and a thick gravy is formed.
5. Add turmeric and give it a good stir. Add water and allow it to boil (on a low flame).
6. Next add the parboiled turnips pieces and salt. Let it cook for a few minutes.
7. Add garam masala and mix well. Remove from flame.
8. Finally garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

Note:

This dish goes well with chapattis as well as with “rice and dal” too.
For more info on this root vegetable see here:
http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/p/turnips.htm

Sesame seed (Til) chutney

"Til" is an Indian word for sesame seed. In India especially in south, "til" is generally eaten during "Dhanur Maas" i.e. during the cold season as it gives the additional heat in the body that is necessary during this season.

Sesame seed in India is generally associated with “Til Laddus”. Now that “Sankranti” is round the corner, every house in the South or in Maharashtra state will be celebrating this festival with “til Laddus”.

This tiny seed has a lot of curative properties. I recently found that it has high calcium content. 

This easy to make sesame chutney is not only tasty but healthy too.

Ingredients :

Sesame seeds	½ cup or 100 gms
Coriander leaves (chopped)	½ a bunch
Green chilies	2
Lemon juice	2-3 tsps
Water	2-3 tbsps
Salt	To taste

 

Method:

1. Roast the sesame seeds and leave it to cool.
2. When cooled grind it to a fine powder.
3. Add to it chopped coriander leaves, green chilies, salt, water and lemon juice and grind the whole mixture to a fine paste.
4. Store it in a glass jar or bottle.

Note:

• This tasty chutney can be used as sandwich spread or can be served with cutlets, pakoras, kebabs etc.
• The taste of this chutney is enhanced when served with onion rings.
• Will last for 10-15 days when refrigerated.

For curative properties of “til”, see the link below:

http://www.best-home-remedies.com/herbal_medicine/nuts_seeds/sesame_seeds.htm

Healthy (Multi Grain ) Bread

Bread is one of the most versatile bakery item. It can be had as a quick breakfast snack for all those who are on the run and at the same time the humble bread can be converted into a healthy sandwich with assortment of vegetables for the vegetarians or with non-veg fillings for the non-vegetarians. One can also make savoury dishes or even sweets. It is ideal for lunch packs, for parties or even while travelling. The choices are endless. I simply love the bread. Even during my childhoood days, I would always prefer to have bread for breakfast and I was aptly named "Miss Pav" - because in those days in Bombay/Mumbai we would get freshly baked "Pav" early in the mornings and with a dollop of butter spread on it - it tastes heavenly!

According to my opinion, there is nothing to beat the freshly baked homemade bread. The aroma of the bread that wafts through the kitchen while it is being baked is truly amazing and I really do not have words to describe this wonderful aroma.

Freshly baked Multi-grain bread

Tea-time - open sandwiches

Ingredients:

Multi Grain flour	3 cups
All purpose flour (Maida)	2 cups
Dry yeast	1½ tsps
Honey	1 tsp
Warm water	2 cups
Salt	1 tsp
Oil (sunflower oil)	3 tbsps
Warm milk	1-2 tbsps

Method:

1. Mix in a small bowl -  warm water, dry yeast and honey. Set aside to foam.
2. In a large bowl, mix the multi-grain flour, all purpose flour (maida), salt, oil and the formed yeast and mix thoroughly. Knead it well for  about 10-15 mins.( If you have a food processor, your work will be done much quicker).
3. Cover the dough with a wet cloth and leave it to rise for about half an hour or till the dough has doubled in size.
4. Place the dough in an greased loaf tin or you can also form it into any shape and place it on an well oiled baking tray. Leave it to rise for another 20 minutes.
5. Moisten the cloth with the warm milk and brush the surface of the dough.
6. Bake it at 200 degrees centigrade for 25 mins.
7. Allow it to cool before slicing.

Makes: 12 round bread (about 3"-4" diameter each)


Note:

• This is a simple basic bread recipe. It will be slightly dense than those available in the market.
• You can also substitute multi-grain flour with whole wheat flour.
• Variations can be made by adding chillies, some herbs, spices etc. for different flavours.

Dill & Spinach Curry

After having our fill of  yummy puddings, cakes and chocolates, I thought it would be a good idea to start the new year with some healthy and tasty recipes.

Leafy vegetables are now available in plenty. Dill is an aromatic leafy vegetable and when combined with spinach, it gives a very pleasant aroma to the dish. The more dill you add in combination of spinach, the more pronounced will be its aromatic flovour.  It depends on your "Dil" (heart) too! If "Dil Maange" more you can add more!. So the choice is yours. Do it with "Dill Se" !

In Hindi. Dill is known as Suwa and in Marathi "Shepu".

 Ingredients:

Moong Dal (Split Green gram)	1 cup
Spinach	2 bunches
Dill	1 small bunch
Onion	1 medium
Ginger	1” piece
Tomatoes	2
Salt	To taste
Seasoning ingredients
Oil	2-3 tsps
Mustard seeds	1 tsp
Chillies (green or red)	1-2

 

 Method:

1. Soak Split Green Gram (Moong Dal) for about an hour and then cook it with very little water.
2. Clean and wash Dill and Spinach separately. Chop them and cook them with little water for a few minutes or just blanch them to retain its green colour.
3. Chop tomatoes and onions and slit green or red (fresh) chilles.
4. Heat a pan. Add the seasoning ingredients. Fry till the mustard seeds pop.
5. Add chopped onion and tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are soft and forms a paste. Add chopped ginger.
6. Next add the cooked moong dal and mix well. 
7. Finally add the cooked dill, spinach and salt. Give it a good stir and remove from flame.

 Note:

• This dish can be served with rice or chappatis.
• It is advisable to use slit red chillies instead of green chillies as these can be seen and removed easily or else you may end up with a burning tongue!

See here for more info on Dill:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dill

To know the indian names of Dill see here:

http://www.indianspices.com/html/s0626dil.htm