Homemade Dinner Rolls (Indian Pav Buns)

Visit www.foodomania.com for the recipe & step by step pictures.
Link to this recipe - http://foodomania.com/homemade-dinner-rolls-indian-pav/

Cheesy Vegetable Sandwich

One of the reasons why I get to experiment a lot with food is because I am not responsible for ensuring that everybody at home is fed on time. That's Ma's job. So, I don't mind spending an hour or 2 for every recipe. But I can fathom how some don't like to spend more time in the kitchen than what's absolutely necessary. "There isn't enough time for making dinner, and you want me to make your fancy cakes?" - said a dear relative of mine to me. :-D That's when I realized the lack of simple and quick recipes on my blog. This sandwich, is my answer to all you people who have no time for themselves. Of course, it involves cheese, mayo or béchamel sauce. That's how it becomes tasty! ;-) Feel free to skip any ingredient while you make it.

Wholewheat Stuffed Buns

Who in the world doesn’t love the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven? It’s better than any smell my nose could possibly ... uh, smell. :D And mind you, my sense of smell is really strong. I can sniff food from far away and even guess what ingredients are boiling/ broiling/ baking/ frying away! :P But nothing like a loaf of bread, heh? Remember the Stuffed Bread Loaf I made sometime back? Well, this is pretty much like that. Same method, different output.

Chinese Vegetable Noodle Soup

I have said it before. I am not a soup person. But then, my idea of soup has always been blitzing the hell out of beautiful tomatoes and then further slaughtering by squeezing out the liquid from the puree! But if soups can look as beautiful as this one, then I'd like to change my opinion! ;-)

Stuffed Bread Loaf

Visit www.foodomania.com for the recipe & step by step pictures.
Link to this recipe - http://foodomania.com/stuffed-bread-loaf/

Thengai Poli | Cooking With Kin #17#

I didn't want my blog to go into a funk just because some exams were in the way. But I had to prioritize and so, cooking + blogging took a backseat. Out of an adversity, Cooking With Kin was born! :-) I have another blogger here with us today to share her recipe as a part of my CWK Series. Seriously, what would I do without these people?! :-D They are responsible for keeping my blog alive all these days. Ok, before I start getting all mushy with gratitude, I'll introduce our guest of honor - Jeyashri from Jeyashri's Kitchen! You will find so many authentic Indian recipes on her blog. And the variety of recipes is simply outstanding! What are you waiting for? Go check out Jeyashri's Kitchen. Wait. Go after seeing this post fully! ;-) Over to Jeyashri -
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Chinese Fried Rice | Cooking With Kin #16#

I'm a sucker for good looking food photographs. (well, who isn't?) No matter how good your food tastes, your success as a food blogger lies in food styling, photographing & presentation. Nisha, from Spusht is one such blogger I follow religiously. Some of her recipes like the Gobi Manchurian, Almond Pudding Cake, Manchow Soup just give you the best use of time spent on just-another-food blog. The photographs are so beautiful that you wont even care about the recipe! You'll just want to ape her creation. I'll stop yakking now. Here's Nisha with her Chinese Fried Rice.
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Shaam Savera (Spinach Balls in a tomato sauce) | Cooking With Kin #14#

In terms of blogging, she's younger than me! ;-) But what amazes me is that she's already managed to post so many delicacies; supporting them with good looking photographs! It took me 2 months of blogging and a friend's advice to realize that food pics have to be neatly designed too! But this blogger's clean photographs and precise recipe instructions make her blog really beautiful! Here's introducing Rasi, from Vegetarian Food and Me.
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MTR Biryani Masala - Product Review

THE REVIEW

Biryani is a royal rice dish that is mixed with a lot of different spices and condiments.

MTR is a very popular brand in India. They sell wide range of products like ready-to-munch-snacks, sweets, pickles, spices, masala paste etc. And so, I didn't think twice before buying the Biryani Paste. The small 100 gram sachet costs Rs. 15 and makes more than enough to serve 4 people. (Paisa Vasool!)

Ela Ada | Cooking With Kin #10#

A food blog is considered to be the *complete package* when it has short stories associated with a recipe, a simple recipe.. and most importantly, beautiful, appetizing photographs to go along with the recipe. The blogger I'm going to be featuring here today has all the above mentioned qualities in the right amount. And as if that wasn't enough, she names her blog aptly - Hot from my oven. You could smell the smell of fresh bread sitting in front of your computer! Please welcome an Engineer at day and a passionate baker after work - Ramya!!

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Khus Khus Poori | Cooking With Kin #7#

I have been the biggest fan of Gayathri's Cook Spot forever!!! And to have Gayathri herself do a guest post for my Cooking With Kin series is so cool! :-D Her recipes are egg-free, just the way I like it. She's already worked out many egg substitutes successfully! Go on.. have a look at her recipes.

She sent me two recipes & I'm posting them separately. Watch out for the side-dish ...
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Stuffed Karela/ Bitter Melon | Cooking With Kin #3#

Mumbai-chi mulgi Ashwini who has a beautiful blog named Indulge - Ashcorner; has graciously agreed to be my guest blogger today. :) For me, she's this super-baker and cake decorator who has so many lovely cakes to her credit. The first post I had seen on her blog was this Disney Cars Cake. Go on, open the link. You would think she's a professional cake-decorator. I used to admire her posts... and that was it.

Last month, I buzzed her on chat (coz I seemed to have 400 friends on Facebook. And it was embarrassing not to know anything about anybody! So I randomly buzzed everyone online & she was the only one to reply!) And I immediately connected with Ashwini. For one, she is a hardcore Mumbai-ite. :-D So we had a lot to chat about. And I'm happy to be featuring her post here today! :)

Over to you, Ash - 

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Dum Aaloo | Baby Potatoes in Almond-Yogurt based Gravy

Visit www.foodomania.com for the recipe & step by step pictures.
Link to this recipe - http://foodomania.com/dum-aloo-baby-potatoes-yogurt-gravy/

Double Decker Pizza

Here’s a dish I came up with sitting on the upper deck of a double-decker bus in Mumbai. Hence the name: Double-Decker Pizza. It’s funny how the mind comes up with ideas when you least expect it to. But that’s how it is, heh? :) Once again, with Pizza, you never have to follow the recipe to the *T*. Play with the spices & include the veggies you love!

Rotini Pasta with Cheese Sauce (Microwave)

Um.... I have been staring at the computer screen for the past 10 minutes trying to come up with a good introduction for this post. But every time I look at the Cheesy Pasta, I fail to do justice to this sinful pleasure! :-D So, I decided to just upload the pictures & get on with the recipe :-)

Malai Kofta | Veg Balls dipped in rich gravy (Microwave version)

Koftas are basically deep fried mixed vegetable balls that are dipped in a rich gravy just before serving. There are different types of Kofta Curries one can make. Of all the koftas, Malai Kofta is what we hear often. And it is one of my most favorite side-dishes ever!

Veg Schezwan Rice

Jeera Rice | Cumin Rice

Phulka | Chapati | Wheat Tortilla (Puffed Indian Bread)

This idea isn't mine. I had seen a similar presentation somewhere & decided to go for it.

Phulka (Full-Kaa) or a Chapati is the basic Indian tortilla made with wheat flour. Its the staple food in almost all North Indian homes. Its typically a disk shaped tortilla that puffs due to the steam while cooking on the stove. You can make a zillion healthy snack rolls with this. Just make a healthy stuffing, roll it up with the Phulka & munch! Pretty Cool huh?! ;)

For me, the greatest challenge is to get the perfect round shape. When I was in school, I used to roll out the dough & using a round vessel, I used to cut out the perfect shape! :) I still don't get the perfect round shape like my Maa. But I think its a lot better now! I've got to learn the secret of it. If you guys know, do tell me! :-D

RECIPE --
Source: Mom's Corner

Ingredients (to make 4 Phulkas)
Wheat Flour - 2 cups
Cooking Oil - 1 teaspoon
Salt - to taste - 1 teaspoon - optional
Water - to knead the dough- 1 cup

Method
STEP 1: In a mixing bowl, mix all the dry ingredients

STEP 2: Slowly add water & use your hands to knead a soft dough. The water shouldn't be too less or more. The dough should be soft but not sticky.

STEP 3: Let it rest for about an hour or more. Keep it covered with a damp cloth.
STEP 4: Make medium sized balls out of the dough.

STEP 5: Take a ball of dough on a falt surface. Dust some some wheat flour on it.

STEP 6: Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough evenly into a thin, round shape.

* After every 2 or 3 rolls, turn the Chapati by a 45 degree angle. It helps to get a decent shape! :-D
STEP 7: Heat a Tawa / flat pan.
STEP 8: Place the Phulka / Tortilla on the pan.

STEP 9: Let it cook on one side for about 20 seconds. (Until the dough is no longer sticky and you can actually move the phulka freely on the pan) Flip over & do the same for the next 20-30 seconds.

STEP 10: Take the phulka & place it directly on the flame. It will puff up beautifully! don't place it on the flame for more than 5 seconds on each side or it'll burn.

There you go- Enjoy with pickles, jam, side dish like Kadai Paneer, Sprouts Sabzi, Potato Curry etc! :-)

Vegetarian Chinese Noodles

Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you the simplest Chinese Noodles you will ever come across! :-D My mom has been making this for my school lunch box since a very long time! I finally learned this one from her. Well, not so much as "learned" as I just heard what she does once. It is so easy and yes, damn tasty! It tastes really awesome with the Chinese Manchurian (but, I'll make that some other time! ☺) To get a more authentic Chinese dish, you have to use stuff like Spring Onions (didn't have it at home so I used normal onions), something called Ajino-Moto which brings out a real Chinese flavor (again, I skipped coz its not good for health. And since I am making it at home, why make it unhealthy?) You can also add a lot of your favorite veggies like baby corn, mushrooms etc. (use your common sense though. Just because you like lady-finger, you can't add that here, can you? ☻) This one is the most basic Chinese Noodles with minimum veggies....

Ingredients - (enough for 4 people)
Chinese Noodles - 200 grams (also called Hakka Noodles here)
Cooking Oil - 1-2 tablespoons (remember, we're eating healthy! :-D)
Soy Sauce - 2 tablespoons {a very important ingredient of the chinese cuisine. You can skip it, but then your noodles wont have the authentic chinese taste to it.}
White Vinegar - 1-2 teaspoon (another important, yet not totally necessary ingredient. Don't add too much of this. And use only plain vinegar)
Onion - 2 medium finely chopped (Preferably Spring Onions)
Carrots - 2 finely chopped or grated
Bell Pepper/ Capsicum - 1 medium finely chopped
Cabbage - 1/4th of a cabbage finely grated (add more if you like cabbage) {alternatively, you could use Iceberg Lettuce too}
Green Chili - 4 - 5 (I just sliced it length wise so that it would be easy to spot & remove it. You can finely chop it if you dare to eat the spice! :-P)
Salt - to taste (2 teaspoons)
Garlic Cloves - 2-3
Other ingredients you can use (I skipped) ---
Red Chili Sauce - 2 tablespoons
Chinese Sauce - to taste (around 1-2 teaspoons)
Baby Corn - 6-8 cut & washed
Egg

METHOD ---
STEP I. Boiling the Noodles- (You can follow the manufacturer's instructions on the cover)
1. Take the packet of 200 grams of noodles and drop it into a deep bottomed vessel full of water & 2-3 tablespoons of salt.
2. Boil it on the gas stove on high flame for at least 5-10 minutes or until you can see that the noodles are boiled. (just lift a few & press them to see if the are mashing)

 3. Switch off the flame & filter out the water. You can then immerse the noodles in cold water like we did in Pasta. This makes sure that the Noodles are separated & they don't break while mixing)

STEP II. Making the noodles -
1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a deep bottomed pan. Then add the green chilies and sauté for 30 seconds.

2. Add the onions & fry for 1 minute. It turns slightly translucent. Then add the cabbage, capsicum/bell pepper & the carrot and mix it all well.

3. Now add the salt, vinegar and soy sauce & give it all a nice mix. Immediately add the noodles too.

 4. Chinese has a lot of raw veggies and so, you shouldn't let it cook for long. You have to be really quick. Mix the vegetables-mixture with a noodles really well. With practice, you'll be able to toss it and mix. ☺ Until then, be careful not to mash the noodles and make sure the veggies mix well with the noodles. That's it - your Chinese Noodles is ready!

STEP III: Plate UP!
So, enjoy your hot noodles with some Manchurian or just like that!

請享用。

which means, ENJOY!!! ☺ ☻