Aloo Posto

This a typical recipe from the state of West Bengal. My association with them have been from the state I grew up in. Especially the city of Jamshedpur although a part of Jharkhand has a very mixed culture and who does but not like the food from the neighbours kitchen as a kid. So did I and so here is the recipe for my all time fav

Bread Roll

In my continuous endeavor to make something delicious and filling yet healthy for my kid who is fond of everything but food,I made the bread roll the other day. All things mashed makes him not realise what's goes in it like any of the green veggies, most often not liked. A lot of mashed potato actually take over the taste of most greens. This is an easy and quick to make recipe.

Ingredients

Bread Slices - 4
Boiled Potatoes - 2
Beans - 4-5
Spinach leaves - 1 small bunch (approx 4-5)
Carrots - 1
Onion - 1 (small)
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Black Pepper Powder - a pinch
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Salt to taste
Oil for frying





Method

For the filling:

Cut the vegetables i.e. beans, spinach and carrot
In a pressure cooker boil all of the vegetables by adding a little salt and sprinkling some water
Remove from heat and drain excess water in a pan
Leave the vegetables till the water is completely drained off
Mash the potatoes and vegetables
Finely chop the onions

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a kadahi
Fry the onions till translucent
Now add the mashed vegetables
Add all the spices including salt aand turmeric powder
Fry for a sometime till the veggies look done

For the Rolls:

Take the bread slices and soak in the drained water from the veggies
Take the bread and press with both palms
Take a small ball of the filling and place it on the bread
Roll the bread over the filling into oval shapes
Repeat with all the bread slices




Frying:
Heat oil in a heay bottomed pan
When the oil is hot add the bread rolls to it
Fry gently over medium heat till the rolls turn golden

Serve with Sauce/Coriander Chutney

Banana Eggless Cake

Ingredients

Flour/Maida - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Butter - 1 cup
Bananas - 2 (over ripe preferable)
Baking Powder - 1tsp
Edible Soda - 1/2tsp
Milk - 1/2 Cup

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients together i.e flour, baking powder and soda
Mix the butter, milk and sugar together
Mash the bananas and add to the above mixture
Slowly add the flour mix to this and whip for a while
The batter should look well blended


Baking
Preheat the oven at 250 degrees
Grease a cake pan and pour the batter
Set the oven temp to 180 degrees and bake for 20 mins
I am sending this to the event here

Eggless Chocolate Muffins

Eggless Choco Chip Muffins
The recipe was passed to me by a friend and I instantly fell in love with the result. This is the easiest of all the baking recipes I have dried so far and gets done in a jiffy. With most of the eggless cake recipes I have tried so far, I have always had to use ingredients (like buttermilk, condensed milk etc)which I needed especially for the purpose and would need to check in advance. Howeer,the best thing about this recipe is that you do not need any additional ingredients for this muffin/cake and can be made with what is always available in the kitchen. I made this in my OTG which is very commonly used for baking purposes in most Indian homes.

Ingredients
Flour/Maida - 2 Cups
Sugar(Powdered) - 1 Cup
Butter - 125g (measures a little over 1 cup when melted)
Milk - 1 Cup
Cocoa Powder - 1tbsp
Honey - 1tbsp
Edible Soda - 1 tsp

Method
In a pan melt the butter on very low heat.
Let it cool for some time and add the honey and milk.
Stir this mixture well
Now combine all the dry ingredients together i.e maida, cocoa powder, soda and sugar
Blend the dry items gently
Now fold in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients
Mix for a while and yippy you are done with the cake batter
Grease the muffin moulds and add the batter
I added chocochips to a few just before placing in the oven

Baking
While you prepare the above ingredients set the oven to 250 degrees
to preheat
Reduce the temp to 180 degrees and place the muffin moulds
Bake for around 25 mins
Check to see if it is done by inserting a knife in the centre
If the edges turn out clean, the muffins are done
Let it stand for a cuple of minutes
The muffins come out as soon as you turn the mould upside down
The result is an absolute soft and fluffy muffin and a must try
Serve this while still hot from the oven
An ideal breakfast for kids and I bet they would love it

Sending this for the Cooking for Kids - Filling Breakfast Event at Bhagyashree's blog which started here.

And it was that Day!!

The day finally arrived. My little one went to school today. Wasn’t this the day I had been waiting for? I wasn’t very sure anymore!
I was watching him get onto the bus. He looked so matured in the school uniform. Did the change happen overnight or did I fail to notice it before? I shooed away my thoughts. I was just a little overwhelmed perhaps!
As I waited at home to see him come back, I wondered if it’s a common feeling for all parents. When your child leaves the confinement of home and starts school, you are left with so many varied thoughts.
The wait seemed long. I had probably reached the Bus Stop quite ahead of time. And then, there he was - happy and overjoyed!
With the first day of his school gone by, I was sure there would be many more such moments. Brimming with pride I told myself, “He is a big boy now!”

Malai Kofta Curry

Ingredients

For the Koftas
Paneer - 250gms
Potatoes - 2 medium sized boiled
Flour/Maida - 3 Tbsps
Salt as per taste
Refined oil for Frying
Mixture of chopped cashews and raisins

For the Gravy

Cashews - 10 (soaked in water)
Khuskhus - 3Tbsp (soaked in water)
Tomatoes - 4 (pureed or blended in mixer)
Cinnamon/Dalchini - 2 sticks (finely crushed)
Mace/Javitri - 1 (finely crushed)
Coriander Powder - 2 tsps
Jeera Powder -1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1tsp
Salt - As per taste
Turmeric Powder - 1tsp
Fresh Cream/Malai - 2 cups whipped
Milk - 250ml





Method

To make Koftas:
Mash the paneer and potatoes
Add maida and salt
Mix all the ingredients together till well blended
Now make small balls and flatten like a tikki
Place the cashews and raisins mixture in the centre and roll into oval shapes
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan/kadahi
Fry the koftas till golden in color
Repeat this with all the koftas and place them on a shallow dish




To make the Gravy:
Grind the tomatoes
Grind the Khuskhus and cashews to a fine paste
Mix together crushed cinnamon, mace, coriander powder, chilly powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt in very little water so as to form a thick paste

Heat around 3 tbsps of oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Add the spice mixture to this
Fry till the spices look cooked enough
Add the khuskhus cashews paste to this and fry till the oil starts leaving the bottom of the pan
Now add the tomato paste to this and cook for some time
Add the whipped cream to this and let it simnmer
Now add the milk and let the gravy come to a boil
Cook till the gravy looks well blended
Place the koftas in the serving bowl and pour the prepared gravy over it.
The malai koftas would turn out well if this is done just before serving

Cabbage Kofta Curry-Cabbage Balls in Gravy

Ingredients
Cabbage - 1 small sized
Gram flour(Besan)- 4 Tbsp
Onions - 2 medium sized (paste)
Tomato - 2 medium sized (paste)
Ginger paste - 2 tsp
Garlic Paste - 3 tsp
chilly powder - 1tsp
Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 Tsp
Red Whole Chilly - 2
Bay Leaf -2
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt as per Taste
Oil for Frying

Method

Grate the cabbage
Boil the water in a pan and add the grated cabbage to it.
Remove from heat and let it rest for 5 mins
Now drain the water till all excess water is removed
Mix the grated cabbage, gramflour, 1 tsp each of ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt
Make small balls out of this mixture



For Making the Koftas
Heat Oil in a heavy bottomed pan(Kadahi)
Fry the balls till golden




For the Curry
In the remaining oil add bay leaves, Whole red chilly and cumin seeds
Add the onion paste and fry till the onions turn pink
Now add the rest of the ingredients i.e. Ginger paste, Garlic paste, cumin powder, coriander powder, salt and turmeric powder
Fry for sometime till the oil starts leaving the base of the pan
Add the tomato paste and fry for another 5 mins or till the and mixture looks well blended
Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil
Add the koftas to this and simmer for sometime

Serve with rice, roti, parathas