Chicken Seekh Kabab

Seekh kababs are the most popular type of kababs (atleast to my knowledge). I have tasted mutton seekh kababs before in some Indian restaurants but where I live, we get minced chicken very easily and so I thought I will try making seekh kababs using minced chicken.

One can surely try making lamb/mutton seekh kabab but the cooking time may vary as mutton/lamb take long time to cook. The chicken kababs were very juicy and tender and we finished all of it in few minutes. Let me know if you like the taste of it!

Ingredients:

Minced Chkn - 1LB

Onion - 1/2, finely chopped and sauteed

Cilantro - handful, finely chopped

Green Chillies - 1 small, finey chopped

Dhania Powder - 2 1/2 tspn

Garam Masala - 2 tspn

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tspn

Ginger - Garlic Paste - 1 tspn

Mint Leaves - 1 - 2 tspns, finely chopped

Bread Crumbs - 2 - 3 tbspns

Salt-  as per taste

Oil for frying (if not baking/broiling)

Procedure:

1.       Mix all ingredients given above, other than oil. Check to see if the mixture is thick enough and can hold up a sheek kabab shape (Cylindrical). If it doesn't, then add some more bread crumbs to it till it becomes easy to shape.

2.       Now make cylindrical shaped kababs by either rolling them around the skewers (make sure wooden skewers are soaked in water for atleast 30mins before using them) and bake/shallow fry in a pan for 10-12mins or until done (or broil for 5mins on each side).

3.       I did not use any skewers but just shaped them in cylindrical shape and shallow fried them in a pan with 1 tspn oil. I also BBQed these kababs and they turned out awesome!

4.       Serve/Eat this with mint chutney mixed in greek yogurt and some sliced onions with lemon squeezed on top. YUMMMM!!!!

Conclusion:

I made these for my hubby's Bday BBQ and I got rave reviews for them. It got over in no time!

Cajun Shrimp Quesadilla

These days I prefer to try some quick entrees as it will be useful for my blog readers to try them out and also for me when my baby is cranky and doesn't let me cook ;). Although he is a calm baby with very little sleep, he gets bored easily if there is no one to entertain him.
Shrimp quesadilla is one of the quick and easy entrees to try out. You can experiment a lot with the ingredients and try to make as per your palate.

Ingredients: 
Medium Soft Tacos - 4
Peeled and deveined Shrimp - 12-15 medium sized
Red/Yellow/Green Bell Pepper - 1
Onion -1 medium
Sour Cream - 2 tbspn
Store bought salsa - 3 tbspn
Mexican Blend Cheese - 1 pack
Cajun Spice - 2 tspn
Salt & Pepper as per taste
Oil

Procedure: 

1. Cut the shrimp into small pieces and marinate it with the cajun spice and some salt.
2. In the meantime, sautee the onions and bell peppers till they are soft and add salt and pepper as per taste.
3. Now sautee the shrimp till just cooked (make sure it's not chewy)
4. Mix sour cream and salsa and mix it well and keep aside
5. Heat a pan and put a soft taco on it and keep the heat to low. Now sprinkle some cheese on one half of the taco and add the sauteed onions, peppers, shrimp, sour cream and salsa mixture on the same half side of the taco. Now sprinkle some more cheese on top and cover the taco with the other half and heat the other side till cheese melts. 
6. Serve the hot and spicy quesadilla with homemade Guacamole. 

Variations:
You can add any other meat instead of the shrimp or go veggie by completely omitting the meat. I liked the veggie creation as well which I made for my mom.

Conclusion:
Happy tummies and in future baby will be happy too.

Sausage Stuffed Mushroom

I wanted to use the sausages I had at home and so I thought of making stuffed mushrooms as I was really bored of eating hot dogs Hollywood and Highland style. However stuffed you are, you cannot miss the hot dog stand at Hollywood and Highland. The lady sells them on the streets for $4 with some grilled onions and peppers. I am a big fan of that and so I tried replicating it at home, it was good but it was missing the "grease" :-)
So when it's my husband's turn to cook (which comes once in 2 months), he takes the easy route and makes the HH Hot Dog (or Pasta). He really puts loads of efforts in making it (even if he can cook in half the time and effort :-P). Coming back to the topic of stuffed mushrooms, I really wanted to try them as I had seen a very similar recipe on foodnetwork.com (by Rachael Ray). I had seen the ingredients in it but when I really wanted to make it, I never found the recipe :(. So I just winged it and it turned out really yummy.

Ingredients: 
Mushrooms (normal sized) - 1 pack
Herb Flavor Sausage - 1
Onions, finely chopped - 1 (medium)
Bell Peppers, finely chopped - 1/2
Garlic, minced - 2 pods
Cream Cheese - 3tbspn
Basil - 7-8 leaves
Cheese for Garnish - 2tbspn
Egg yolk - 1

Procedure: 

1. Wash and clean the mushrooms and remove the stem and chop them fine.
2. Sautee the mushrooms (not the stems) with their heads up so that the water is drained out. Switch off the heat and let them be in the pan for 3-6 mins so that all water from mushrooms is drained.
3. Now sautee the finely chopped onions, mushroom stems, garlic and bell peppers till they are cooked (8-10mins)
4. In the mean time, pre-heat the oven at 325 degrees. Remove the casing off the sausage and separate the meat. Cook this meat with the onions for another 3-4 mins.
5. Let this mixture cool.
6. Now mix egg yolk and cream cheese and then add the cooked mixture and mix well. 
7. Fill the mushrooms with the mixture and bake for 12-15mins on 325 degrees.

Variations: 
For vegetarians, it can be converted into a vegetarian dish by adding paneer/cottage cheese with some Parmesan cheese instead of the sausage.


Conclusion:

I served this with Alfred-Pesto Pasta. Every single bite of it was delicious. It is very heavy and filling so this recipe would hold 3-4 servings as a side dish. This is a very good appetizer for potlucks and game nights.

Butter Paneer Naanizza / Indian Style Pizza

I usually try to make things out of what I have in the inventory and/or what is perishable. So I had half of store-bought Paneer Packet left and some Naans. I remembered the Butter Paneer Pizza I had in San Jose when I went for a very good friend's Birthday Party. We had surprised her by visiting her all the way from Los Angeles.
Her Fiancee had organized the Birthday Party for her and had ordered Butter Paneer Pizza. It was sooo good that it got over in a few minutes.
So I thought I would try to make something similar with the ingredients I had.

Ingredients (for 4 people):
Paneer, pea sized cubes - 2 cups
Green Bell Peppers, 2" sliced - 1
Onions, sliced - 1
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1tspn (Optional)
Tandoori masala - 2Tbspn
Chicken Curry Powder - 1Tbspn
Red Chilli Powder - 1 tspn
Kasuri Methi - 1tspn (Optional)
Butter - 2Tbspn
Ketchup - 6-7 tbspn
Naan - 6
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded - 3 cups

Procedure: 

1. Pre-heat oven on 350 degrees.
2. Add Butter to pan and saute onions, bell peppers and ginger garlic paste for 2mins (Do not cook it). Then add Paneer and other ingredients and sautee for another 2mins. 
3. Spread ketchup on the Naan and distribute the mixture on the Naan evenly and sprinkle cheese on top
4. Now place the Naans in the oven for 8-12mins or till cheese has melted.

Variations: 
You can add chicken instead of Paneer. In that case, use cooked chicken breasts for best results.

Conclusion:

I was astonished with the results. They were yummy and were made in 20mins only.

Paneer Tikka Panini

Cafe Coffee Day was the all time hang out place for me and my friends. I loved the Tropical Iceberg there. I remember having this Paneer Tikka Panini there and OMG, it was very yummy. But I did not have enough motivation and a kitchen to try it out (I used to live in a hostel in Navi Mumbai where I had an electric hot plate to warm milk and make khichdi). I still remember the taste of that panini and I had everything handy, so I decided to try it out on a Tuesday morning (7am) for my lunch box.

Ingredients: 
For Stuffing
Paneer/Cottage Cheese, small cubes - 1 cup
Bell Peppers, 1" cubed - 1 cup
Onions, 1" cubed - 1 cup
Tandoori Masala - 2 Tbspn
Red Chilli Powder - 1tspn
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1/3 tspn
Coriander Powder - 1 tspn
Yogurt - 1 Tbspn
Salt

For Panini
Bread Slices - 4
Mint Chutney (optional)
Butter to spread on the bread
Cheese, grated - 1 cup (I used 4 cheese blend as it was handy)


Procedure: 
Mix all the ingredients for stuffing and keep aside. Now spread some mint chutney on the bread slices on one side and butter on the other. Heat a pan and add the stuffing mixture to it. Cook it for 5-8mins or till paneer is tender and onions and bell peppers are crisp. Evenly distribute this stuffing to the bread slices with butter side being out and mint chutney on the inside. Now sprinkle some cheese on the stuffing and grill the sandwich till the bread turns golden brown.
Serve this with some ketchup or mint chutney.

Serves - 1 person


Variations: 
Make it a kids favorite by using less masalas and adding more cheese to it. They would definitely love it!

Conclusion:
It tasted just like the Cafe Coffee Day's Paneer Tikka Panini. How I wish I could pay a visit to India to see my Family and friends and hang out at CCD :)

Vada Paav/Indian Burger

Vada Paav or Indian Burger - One of my favorite comfort foods found very commonly on the streets of Maharashtra. Everyone who has lived in Maharashtra knows Vada Paav but it is a novelty for the rest of India. I was surprised when my friends from Andhra Pradesh had not heard of Vada Paav.
One of our family friends live in Delhi and when they visited us in Solapur, we fed them Vada Paav and they loved it. Now whenever anyone flies to Delhi from Solapur or Mumbai, they order a few Vada Paavs.
I personally feel that nothing can go wrong with potato preparation. This was made for a friend of mine who is expecting with Twins - a boy and a girl. Nothing better than Vada Paav for an expecting women.

Ingredients: 
Paav/Bread - 8-10 pieces
Dry Coconut Garlic Chutney - 1/2 cup

For Vada's inner filling - 
Potatoes, Boiled and Mashed - 4
Onions, finely chopped - 1
Green Chillies - 3
Ginger Paste - 1 tspn
Hing/Asafoetida - 1/4 tspn
Rai/Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tspn
Curry leaves - 6-7
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tspn (levelled)
Cilantro - 4-5 strands


For Outer Coating - 
Besan/Chick Pea flour - 2 cups
Jeera - 1/2 tspn
Baking Soda - 1/8 tspn
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tspn
Salt
Water
Oil


Procedure: 

1. Heat 2 tbspn oil in a wok. Add Hing, Rai and Jeera to it and once it starts sputtering, add curry leaves and green chillies. Mix this well then add onions and garlic paste. Cook till the onions are translucent.
2. Now add turmeric powder and then the roughly mashed potatoes and mix well. Add some salt to taste and cook for 2 mins and turn off the heat.
3. Now mix the besan, chilli powder, jeera, salt and soda with some water. Make sure the mixture becomes a thick paste (without lumps) and not a runny paste. If it becomes runny, add some besan and salt to it. Adjust the chilli powder accordingly too.
4. Now heat some oil to fry the vadas. When oil is well heated, add 1 tbspn of hot oil to the besan paste and mix well. 
5. Now make small balls out of the potato mixture and dip in the besan paste and deep fry in the oil on High heat till the Vadas are golden brown in color.
6. Now open some paav and spread some dry coconut garlic chutney and place a vada on it and enjoy it with some fried green chillies.

Variations: 
I had added some mint and meethi chutney to the Vada paav just for my taste buds.
 
Conclusion:

My friend seemed to crave for Vada Paav and I happened to visit her with the same. She was quiet happy and so was I.

Cauliflower Pakoda/Batter Dipped Cauliflower

Using less oil in every food item is my basic idea. I am not a person who would eat or cook fried food every now and then. But my husband is a BIG FAN of fried food due to the variety of pakodas and fish fries my mother-in-law makes.
One fine evening it was raining in Los Angeles and we were returning from work. I desperately wanted to eat onion pakodas and as per my husband's request some cauliflower pakodas were made too! I just remembered some of the ingredients my mother-in-law had put when she was visiting us and they are...

Ingredients:
Cauliflower - 1LB

Jeera/Cumin Powder - 1/4 tspn

Dhaniya/Coriander Powder - 1/2 tspn

Red Chilli Powder - 1tspn

Besan - 2 tbspn

Rava/Suji - 1 tbspn

Salt

Oil for frying

Procedure: 

1. Mix Besan, rava/suji, 1 tspn red chilli powder, 1/2 tspn Dhaniya Powder, 1/4 tspn Jeera Powder, salt and turmeric.
2. Mix well making sure that the cauliflowers are lightly coated with the mixture.
3. Heat oil in a wok. When oil is heated, add 1 tbspn of hot oil in the cauliflower mixture and mix well.
4. Now fry the cauliflowers till they become dark golden or brown in color.

Variations: 
Be creative and use some other vegetables of your choice. But nothing can beat Cauliflower!!

Conclusion:
Yummy Crispy Cauliflower Pakodas on a rainy evening tasted really awesome. Now I am a fan of the cauliflower pakodas too.

Kachchhi Dabeli

Kachchhi Dabeli is a gujrati snack and very famous street food. It is commonly found in Gujrat and Maharashtra, especially Mumbai. I like the sweet n' spicy taste of it.
My childhood friend, my best friend, is Gujrati and we always had Dabeli that her mom made. We hogged on it whenever she made it. I miss those childhood days where we played all day without eating and celebrating something involved buying a chocolate from a store and eating it together. So I decided to try making the Dabeli for the old times sake.
In India we find Dabeli Masala easily. but I didn't have it on me when I decided to make it on a rainy evening. I made the masala from scratch and it turned out really good. It actually tasted like the one my best friend's mom made.


Ingredients: 
Dabeli Masala - 1bspn
  2 red chillies
  1tbspn Coriander/Dhaniya Seeds
  1/2 tspn Cumin Seeds/Jeera
  4 Cloves/Laung
  2 Peppercorns
  1/4 tspn Fennel Seeds
  1" Cinnamon Stick/Dalchini
Boiled and mashed Potatoes - 2 Big
Tamarind Chutney - 2 tspns
Salt
Roasted Peanuts - 1/2 cup
Pomegranate/Anar - 1/2 cup
Black Grapes - 1/2 cup
Nylon Sev/Zero number sev - 1/2 cup
Fresh Chopped Coriander - 2 tbspn
Chopped Onion - 1/2 cup
Burger Buns/Paav - 8
Butter for the buns


Procedure:

1. Roast all the ingredients for Dabeli masala in a pan for 2-3 minutes and then grind in a mixer.
2. Mix the chopped onions, coriander, mashed potatoes, tamarind chutney and 1 tbspn masala together.
3. Now divide the mixture in 8 parts and fill in the buns and top it with pomegranate, peanuts, grapes and sev.
4. Now heat a pan and put some butter on it and press stuffed bun on it untill both the sides turn light brown.
5. Now serve it with some sev sprinkled on top.

Variations: 
You can use some mint chutney/garlic chutney on the buns if some spicy dabelis are preferred.

Conclusion:

This reminded me of my childhood days again and called my best friend and spoke about our childhood memories. It was so much fun!

Healthy Potato Chips

I had recently made the Turkey patty and my Husband demanded the Spicy Turkey Patty Burger for dinner. I was so sure that he wouldn't eat only turkey burger, he needs some kind of side dish with it (it's his food habits, can't blame him). So I thought of making Potato Chips with it.

This was a simple recipe I found online and I had to experiment with it with some modifications to it.

Objective: 

An accompaniment with Turkey burger.

Ingredients:
Red Potatoes Sliced Paper-thin  - 3

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Ground Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon (Optional)

Parchment Paper

Oil - 2 tbspoon

Method of Preparation:

1. Place the parchment paper on a dinner plate or microwave turntable.
2. Put the potato slices in a ziploc bag with oil in it and mix the potatoes well.
3. Place one slice at a time on the parchment paper (Do not overlap)
4. Put it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes (Depending on the power of the microwave. I burnt my first lot due to the high power of my microwave)
5. Let the slices be golden brown (Else they won't be crispy enuff)
6. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the slices and let them cool
7. Repeat the procedure till all the slices are done.

Variations:

You can add cajun flavoring or any other flavoring as per your taste.

Conclusion:

Happy Husband who would (hopefully) not complain that there was no side dish. :)

These taste like the store bought ones but much more healthier.