Thalipeeth Pizza

Thalipeet Pizza is a fusion dish i tried out this weekend. It's very nutritious and healthy. Thalipeeth is a type of savoury pancake popular in Western Maharashtra, India. It is a very popular Maharashtrian dish.
Its dough is prepared from a special flour called "Bhajni" which is very nutritious. Bhajni is made of different types of grains like wheat, rice, ragi, millet and also some dals like black gram, bengal gram along with spices are roasted and grinded into flour.
The Bhajni is kneaded with a tbsp of hot oil and water. Taking a golf size portion of the kneaded bhajni pat it on a hot tava. Poke few holes in it and drop in little oil through the holes. Cook it from both the sides.
In India, this bhajni is prepared at home and is also available in the market.
I made Thalipeeth Pizza. It was full of nutrients and we could eat not more than 1 pizza. The Thalipeeth was made as described above. If you do not have "Bhajni" you can add a couple of tbspn of all the flours available in your pantry like wheat flour, jowar flour, rice flour, millet or ragi flour and besan. Add some spices according to your taste and knead it and then pat it directly on a tava. I will show you how to make the pizza sabji. Here's what you gonna need -
Ingredients -
1) 1 medum onion sliced in large chunks
2) 1 medium tomato sliced in big pieces
3) 1 cup green, yellow and red bell peppers sliced lengthwise
4) 1/4 cup corn
5) 1/4 cup paneer cut in cubes
6) 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
7) 2-3 dry red chillies
8) 1 tbsp red chilli powder
9) Mozarella cheese for garnishing
10) Salt to taste and Oil
Method -
1) Heat oil in a skillet and add cumin seeds.
2) Once they splutter and red chillies.
3) Add onions and saute till they turn light pink.
4) Add tomatoes and saute for a minute.
5) Add the bell peppers, corn and paneer. Mix well and saute for a couple of minutes.
6) Add red chilli powder and salt. Mix well. Cover and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Do not over cook the veggies.
7) Now, heat oil in a tava. Take a small portion of thalipeeth bhajni and pat it to a circle on the tava. Cover and let it cook from one side.
8) Turn it over and spread the veggie mixture on the other side. Garnish it with cheese. Cover and let it cook till the cheese melts.
9) Serve hot with some ketchup.
Enjoy!!!.

Tiramisu

Tiramisu is an Italian cake. It has now become the most popular dessert all over. The only way of better describing it is like "Heaven in Your Mouth". Yes!!!!! It tastes heavenly....
I was searching for some cake recipe over the net to surprise my husband for Valentine's Day. I found this recipe on showmethecurry. Thank you Hetal and Anuja. They are doing such a wonderful job. Love them...I watched their video and it was damn so easy. Without a second thought I decided to make it for my Valentine. It was just perfect. We both enjoyed it. I have absolutely no words how it tasted. You gotta make it.
The original recipe counts for Tiramisu biscuits or Ladyfingers which acts as the base for this dessert. An alternative to this is the plain sponge cake mix. It works great. I closely followed the recipe from showmethecurry.com Here is what you need -
Ingredients -
1) Cake Mix
2) 3 egg yolks
3) 4 tbsp sugar divided
4) 8 oz Cream Cheese
5) 1 1/2 cups Cool Whip
6) 1 cup coffee
7) Coco powder and powdered sugar for garnishing
Method -
1) Bake the cake as per the packet instructions. Use only half packet for this recipe. Once the cake is cooled down flip it on a flat surface and using a big knife cut it into 2 thin layers.
2) Now in a large bowl take the cream cheese and add 3 tbsp sugar. Mix it well until the sugar is dissolved. Use an electric blender.
3) Take egg yolks in a seperate bowl and whisk it continuously in a double boiler(Double Boiler Method - Place the bowl containing eggs over a pot of boiling water and whisk it continuously). In a minute or so it will change its color to lemon yellow. Immediately remove it from the boiler and add it to the cheese mixture. Mix it well.
4) Add 2 tbsp coffee and mix it well.
5) Now add the cool whip and mix it nicely.
Now its time to layer the cake.
6) Take a square baking dish with a lid. Place one layer of the cake in it. Now, with a spoon spread coffee all over the cake. The cake will absorb it.
7) Spread half of the cheese mixture over it. Spread Evenly.
8) Sprinkle coco powder all over. Tea strainer works best for this.
9) Now place another layer of cake on top and repeat the method again.
10)Spread coffee, cheese mixture and coco powder over it.
11)Close the lid and chill it overnight or for 8 hours minimum.
12)While serving garnish it with powdered sugar. Again, tea strainer works the best.
You can make it in the morning and have it as a desert for dinner.
Tiramisu is ready. Dig in it. Sluuuuuuuuuuuurp!!!
Surprise your sweetheart. Be it Valentine or any other day. It needs no occassion. Enjoy!!!

Black Chana Curry

Black chana is a North Indian dish. This can be a great side dish if you make it dry or a one pot meal if you make a curry. I made curry yesterday. Tasted great, very easy and a quick one to make. Its dry version is also served in many temples as "prasad". There are many ways of making this. Here is my version. You would need -
Ingredients -
1) 1/2 cup black chana soaked overnight or 6 hours maximum
2) 1 medium onion
3) 2 tsp sesame seeds
4) 1 tsp poppy seeds (khaskhas)
5) 3-4 tbsp dry coconut
6) 1/4 tsp mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder for seasoning
7) 1 tsp red chilli powder
8) Oil and Salt to taste
9) A bunch of chopped cilantro for garnishing
Method -
1) Soak the black chana overnight and pressure cook it for 3-4 whistles.
2) Grind together the onions, seasame seeds, coconut and poppy seeds to a fine paste with very little water.
3) Heat oil in a kadhai and do the seasoning.
4) Add the grinded paste to it and saute till the oil leaves.
5) Add red chilli powder and saute for some more time. At this point add little water so that the dry powder will not burn.
6) Add in the chana and water as much consistency you need. Add salt. Mix well and let it boil for sometime.
7) Garnish it with cilantro and Serve hot.
Serve it with chapatis or rice.

Indian Style Pasta (On Demand)

I had called my friends for a small party at home some time back. Had made this pasta that day. Everybody liked this Indian style Pasta and one of my friend asked me to blog it. I had made it this weekend and I am sure you all would love it. It has the flavours of Indian spices and gives it a whole new taste. We both love this. My Father-in-law also loved it. I made this many times when he was here. Here's what you need -
Ingredients -
1) 2 cups Pasta any type (I used Barilla brand's macaroni)
2) 1 medium onion chopped in big chunks
3) 1 green and red bell pepper chopped
4) 1 cup spinach finely choped
5) 3 tbsp soya sauce (optional)
6) 3 tbsp tomato sauce
7) 1 tsp mustard seeds
8) 3-4 green chillie finely chopped
9) 2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped
10) 1 sprig of curry leaves
11)1 tbsp red chilli flakes
12)1 tbsp black pepper
13)A bunch of cilantro finely chopped
14)Salt to taste
15)Oil
16)Shredded cheese of your choice
Method -
1) Cook the Pasta "al dente" according to the cooking instructions.
2) Heat oil in a skillet and add the mustard seeds. Once they crackle add the curry leaves and garlic and saute for 30 secs.
3) Add onions and green chillies. Saute for a few seconds and immediately add the bell peppers, black pepper and red chilli flakes. Mix well.
4) Add in the sauces, spinach, cilantro and salt at this time. Saute for some more time. The veggies should not be overcooked. They tastes great when they are crunchy.
5) Add the cooked pasta and mix well.
6) Sprinkle as much cheese over it and mix it well.
Serve!!! This also tastes great when it is served cold.

Aloo Paratha

Aloo Paratha is a North Indian dish. Boiled mashed potatoes are spiced and stuffed in the dough and rolled. They can be savoured with yougurt, pickle or simple enjoy it with a small dallop of butter on hot Parathas. Here is what you gonna need -
For the dough -
Ingredients -
1) 1 cup wheat flour
2) 3/4 cup water
3) 1 tbsp Oil
For the Stuffing -
Ingredients -
1) 4 medium sized potatoes
2) 4-5 green chillied slitted and chopped
3) A bunch of cilantro freshly chopped
4) 1 tbsp Amchur powder
5) 1 tsp cumin seeds
6) Salt
Method -
1) Knead the dough with all the ingredients. It should be a semi soft dough and not as soft as needed for chapatis. Cover for 15 minutes and keep aside. Divide the dough into golf sized balls. Make 8 parts.
2) Cool the boiled potatoes to room temperature. Peel and mash them. Add the green chillies, cumin seeds, cilatro, amchur powder and salt to it and mix well. Make 8 seperate parts of the mixture.
3) Take 1 part of the dough and roll it into a small round. Place 1 part of the stuffing mixture in the rolled dough and cover up all the sides making a dumpling as shown in the picture. Repeat with all the other balls and keep aside. Let them rest for 2 minutes. Do not roll immediately.
4) Roll the stuffed ball into a paratha and fry it on a hot griddle from both sides with little oil.

Serve the parathas with yougurt, any pickle of your choice, mint chutney or even tomato ketchup. Enjoy!!!