Paneer Quesadilla in griller

More than posting a paneer quesadilla recipe, here I am excited to post this idea of using the griller plate of the sandwich maker for making this quesadilla. I have posted chocolated sandwich using this griller plate before, after that, I tried making hara bhara kabab in this, but the heat was not just enough for kababs. After that, this is one successful use of the griller plate in the sandwich maker. This idea is again from my friend Sangeeta, she have asked me to try this as she makes this very often. This is just an idea, so use your imagination for making any quesadilla with leftover dry sabji, leftover chapati with some grated mozarella cheese. So great way to use up the leftover rotis. If you have leftover roti, make some stuffing and do this, if you have some sabji make roti and use it up in this as a snack for your hungry family who comes hungry to home. You can also use store bought wheat tortillas to make it easy. You can also make Kathi roll, the same way. Just roll your favorite and grill in between the plates. Genius right? Thanks to Sangeetha. You can make the same in waffle maker plates too.

Paneer quesadilla recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Snack
Prep Time:10 mins     |  Cook time: 15 mins     |  Serves: 3

Ingredients

Tortillas / chapati -  6

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Paneer cubes – 1 & 1/2 cup

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Onion – 1

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Capsicum – 1

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Red chilli powder – 1 tsp

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Chaat masala – 1 tsp

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Lettuce (Optional) – few

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Tomato sauce – As needed

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Mozarella cheese, grated – 1/2 cup

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Salt - as needed

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Oil – 2 tsp

Method

1. Thaw paneer, soak in hot water and drain, crumble it roughly. Heat kadai with oil and fry onion and capsicum for a minute. Add crumbled paneer, red chilli powder, chaat masala and salt (Chaat masala has salt so add less).
2. Mix in medium flame. Keep a side. Heat the sandwich maker with griller plate. In a chapati place a leaf of lettuce, spread a tblsp of sauce.
3. Spread the paneer filling, 2 tblsp of  mozarella cheese and cover up with another chapati. If your chapati is big, you can just use one and fold it into half. 
4. Place it in the hot grill and close. Grill for 4 mins or until golden lines appear. Slightly rotate the quesadilla and grill again for 2 mins.
5. Cut into quarters to serve.

Notes

• Make sure the chapati is thick enough.
• Lettuce is optional. And you can use any tomato based sauce to suit your taste.
• Use only cheese like mozzarella which doesn't melt and flow much. Also never use too much cheese as it will ooze out.

Serve hot with any cheesy dip or tomato sauce. Check out my rajma quesadilla too.

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Carrot kosambari recipe | Ram navami recipes

Rama navami 2015 this year is on 28th March (Saturday). We usually make only Panakam and payasam. Neer mor or Kosambari also is offered to Lord Rama. My favorite is Panagam. Mom makes it everytime it tastes divinely. Its perfect drink for summer too. Even if you don’t have the formality of this function, do make Panakam and neer mor, to keep yourself cool.
When I went to Chennai in Jan, my MIL made this, but sans paasi paruppu. My co-sis is a great fan of this. My mom makes carrot thayir pachadi. But this way I had for the first time and liked it too. Carrot is least favourite for me, mom and dad used to grate carrot, mix with sugar and ask us to eat and I used to cry while eating that. But when I made this salad today, I liked it, I ate the whole thing I made while I was cooking.

Carrot kosambari recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Salad
Prep Time:10 mins     |  Cook time: 2 mins     |  Serves: 2

Ingredients

Grated carrot – 1 cup

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Moong dal/ Paasi paruppu – 3 tblsp

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Lemon – 1

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Salt – 2 generous pinches

To temper

Oil – 1 tsp

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Mustard – 3/4 tsp

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Green chilli – 1, chopped

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Asafoetida – A pinch

Method

1. Soak moong dal for an hour. Drain water completely.

2. In a mixing bow, place grated carrot, drained moong dal. Squeeze the lemon in it.

3. Temper with the items under ‘To temper’ table. Add it to the salad, add salt and mix with a fork/ spoon.

Notes

• You can increase or decrease the moong dal in it.
• Same way, you can use finely chopped cucumber in place of grated carrot.
• Lemon and salt can be adjusted as per your taste preference.

This can be kept in the full meals as a salad. Also this is offered as prasadam for Rama Navami.

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Paneer pulao recipe | Paneer pulao

I know I am going to post paneer pulao one day or the other. I rarely make this. Once I tried a version in which I cook paneer together, but ended up in rubbery paneer. It will be soft until its cools down. But later gets rubbery. I add in biryani and love it a lot. Wanted to try pulao with golden fried paneer. Today I thought since Aj at home for lunch and tried, he loved it. I have got many requests to post this and I could see many of my readers search for this particular recipe. So its high time I post this one. Its very easy and simple just similar to veg pulao but add paneer towards the end. Mild pulao, so pair it with a rich or spicy gravy as we did.

Paneer pulao recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time:30 mins soaking time    |  Cook time: 25 mins     |  Serves: 2

Ingredients

Basmati rice – 1 cup

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Paneer cubes – 1  & 1/2 cups

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Peas & carrot – 1/2 cup

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Onion – 1

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Green chilli – 2

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Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

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Coriander leaves, chopped – as needed

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Salt – As needed

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Ghee – 1 tsp

To temper

Oil – 1 tblsp

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Cloves – 1

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Cinnamon – 1 inch piece

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Cardamom – 1

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Black pepper – 1tsp

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Shah jeera (optional) – 1 tsp

Method

1. Wash and soak rice for 10 mins. In a pan, add ghee, add well drained soaked rice and fry until it becomes dry.

2. In a small pressure cooker, add oil, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table, in order.Add onion, green chilli and fry till onion is just transparent, without changing its colour.

3. Add ginger garlic paste, give it a fry and then add the veggies (I forgot and added along the veggies). Fry till veggies are half done.

4. Add 1 & 3/4 cup water, required salt and bring to boil. Add the roasted rice. Bring to boil, cover with the lid and cook in medium flame for 2 whistles. I just simmer for 12 – 13 mins as my flame can be put to minimum heat.

5. Mean while you can prepare the paneer cubes. Let the paneer cubes be tiny for better taste. Toast the paneer cubes (thawed or soaked in hot water previously) preferably in a non-stick pan until golden. Do it in medium flame. You can deep fry too. Keep aside soaked in hot water until use.

6. Once the pulao is done, drain the paneer and add it to the pulao. Make sure water is completely drained from the paneer before adding.

Notes

• You can soak the rice upto 30 mins. While roasting, be gentle otherwise it may break. Also when it starts sticking to the pan, add ghee or stop roasting if its dry to avoid breaking.
• Roasting ensures separate grains. But it needs bit more water for getting cooked than usual. I usually add less than this water, but for this recipe, add as mentioned.
• When I shallow fried paneer, the oil spluttered a lot, so make sure you use non stick pan and use less oil. Also cook in medium flame for golden colour.
• The pulao is very mild, so add green chillies and pepper.
• You can add ghee fried cashews along with paneer. Also if you like sweet touch, add ried grapes fried in ghee.
• Soaking the paneer in hot water ensures its softness even when cooled down. If you are serving immediately, you can add as such skipping soaking paneer.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with a spicy or rich accompaniment. We had with peas masala and it was perfect!

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Eggless Brownie recipe | Eggless brownies

My old post yoghurt brownies was the one and only attempt I have made to post an eggless brownies in my blog. Other than that, though I have tried one or two for visiting relatives, I have not attempted to post one. I dont bake mostly to avoid my intake of sugar, all purpose flour. If I in case crave for brownies, famous amous is always there and I can buy 2 or three and indulge. Its better than baking and end up eating the whole thing. Yeah no one eats baked goodies here at home. But Aj was asking me if I could bake an eggless brownie for his last day class party for past one month. He wanted to tell his friends and teachers about my blog and with something for them to taste as well. So it seems they planned for this and told me a month ahead and kept on check with me when I should shop ingredients and when I should bake…almost 5 days a week since then. Yeah, over excited boy! That Aj !!. So I chose this eggless brownie from Gayathris cookspot, where there is a lot of great baking recipes. I halved the recipe and made in few batches (as I had small baking pan). It came out really good.
 

Eggless brownie recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Continental  |  Recipe Category: Dessert
Prep Time:10 mins    |  Cook time: 30 mins     |  Makes: 16

Ingredients

All purpose flour – 1 cup + (2 tblsp & 2 tsp)

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Coco powder unsweetened – 1/3 cup

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Sugar – 1 cup

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Instant coffee – 1/2 tsp

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Baking powder – 1 & 1/4 tsp

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Butter – 1/4 cup

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Salt – 1/4 tsp

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 deg C. In a heavy bottomed pan, mix  the 2 tblps + 2 tsp flour in 1/2 cup of water. Heat it over the stove to make a thick paste. transfer it to the mixing bowl and let it cool down.

2. In the same pan, add butter and melt it. Switch off the flame. Add coco powder and using a whisk, make it smooth.

3. Add coffee (dissolved in a tsp of warm water – I added as such but it didn’t dissolve so dissolve and add), sugar to the cooled flour paste and mix well. It will turn watery.Add the coco + butter we melted to this and mix until smooth.

4. Add baking powder, flour,salt and mix well. The batter will be thick as shown in the next step, so dont panic.

5. Transfer to a greased pan (8 *8 inch square) - lined it with a greased butter paper if possible. Transfer the batter to the baking tin and bake for 23 - 25 mins at 180 deg C. Mine took 25 mins.

6. Once done, set aside for 10 mins and later invert it to a wire rack. Cut into squares using a knife.

Notes

• Note the consistency of the flour paste we prepare in step 1. If its watery, then your batter consistency also will change.
• You can add walnuts or pecans to the batter, will be good to have the crunch. The brownie was very sweet for me and nuts will be good to balance it.
• I used unbleached flour for a batch and it worked fine as well.
• Baking time may vary depending on your oven. So keep an eye after 23 mins.

Have it warm heated up in microwave with ice cream, its bliss! Hope kids enjoy this. 

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Vendakkai Puli kulambu recipe (With coconut)

I first need to thank a reader who took time and sent me this recipe. I have few reader friends who send their recipes to me for trying and posting in my blog. I have many like that in my inbox folder. Last month when I could not come to a clear decision what to try, I went through this folder and saw this recipe from Sangeetha sekar which was apt for me to try for blog as well as for my lunch. She sent this long time back, its only now I got the right time. It was yummy and different from our usual way of cooking.

Vendakkai puli kulambu recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Lunch
Prep Time:30 mins tamarind soaking time    |  Cook time: 20 mins     |  Serves: 4

Ingredients

Ladies finger – 12 young, tender

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Tamarind – 1 tsp tightly packed

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Sambar powder – 2 tsp

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Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

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Sesame oil / Oil – 2 tbslp

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Salt – As needed

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Garlic – 3 flakes

To sautee in oil and grind

Shallots (Small onion) – 12

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Tomato – 2

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Coconut – 1/2 cup

To temper

Oil  - 2 tblsp

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Mustard – 1 tsp

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Fenugreek seeds / Vendhayam / Methi – 1/2 tsp

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Curry leaves – 1 sprig

Method

1. Cut ladies finger into one inch pieces. Peel small onion, roughly cube tomato, slice garlic into thin circles. Soak tamarind in 1/2 cup hot water for 30 mins, extract the juice with another 1/2 cup of water. Keep aside. In a kadai, add a tblsp of sesame oil and fry the ladies finger in medium flame stirring every now and then until the slime goes away and black spots appear here and there. Keep aside. In the same kadai, fry peeled small onion. Add oil if needed.

2. Once onion turns transparent, add cubed tomato.

3. Once tomato becomes soft, add coconut and fry for a minute. Transfer to a plate.Let it cool down.

4. Mean while, Heat oil for tempering, temper with the items given under ‘To temper’ table, add sliced garlic. When garlic is fragrant, add the sauteed ladies finger.

5. Add extracted tamarind juice, and adjust water so that totally its 2 & 1/2 cups of water. Add turmeric, sambar powder and mix well. Simmer for 8 mins.

6. Meanwhile grind the sauteed onion, tomato, coconut with little water to a paste. Add it to the boiling gravy along with little water.

7. Boil for 3 more minutes and until the gravy is thick. It thickens a bit after cooling down, so switch off accordingly.

Notes

• Since we add tomato as well as tamarind, add sambar powder or red chilli powder as mentioned, otherwise it will not be balanced since we are adding coconut too.
• If you don’t have sambar powder, just replace with red chilli powder as the original recipe calls for.

Serve with rice and if desired, sesame oil or ghee on top.

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Eggless waffles recipe | Eggless waffle recipe

 
When I bought my sandwich maker with 3 interchangeable plates, one among that was this waffle maker plate. I have seen people go mad for waffles. But I knew it will be eggy and never tasted one so far. When I made this for the first time, I was not sure about the texture and I made it soft like pancakes. Then later I asked my friends, they told it should be soft and spongy inside, crisp outside. I tried from a recipe from this blog. After that, I have tried 4 times and finally could come up with a keeper recipe. This recipe is easy and comes out perfectly. You can try this out for your kids breakfast and they will sure enjoy it for a change from their regular breakfast.
 

Eggless waffles recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Continental  |  Recipe Category: Breakfast
Prep Time:10 mins    |  Cook time: 16 mins     |  Makes: 4

Ingredients

Self raising flour* - 1 cup

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Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

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Brown or white sugar - 1 tsp

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Butter, melted- 2 tblsp

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Milk - 1 cup

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Vanilla essence – 1 tsp (optional)

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Lemon – 1/2 tsp

*Self raising flour can be replaced with All purpose flour (Maida) 1 cup + 2 tsp baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt.

 

Method

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda (all dry ingredients) first with a whisk or you can sieve it twice too. Then add melted butter, milk at room temperature, essence if adding and whisk to a smooth batter. Lastly add lemon juice.

2. Heat the waffle maker meanwhile. Grease all the parts of the plate with butter or any spray. Pour a ladle full of batter, just to cover the plate. Do not add more otherwise will overflow in the sides. So while pouring itself, pour everywhere in the plate instead pouring at a same place.

3. Close the lid and cook as per the cooking time instructed in your waffle maker manual. Mine takes 3 & 1/2 to 4 minutes. Take out with help of a tong or spatula.

Notes

• Oil in place of butter also should work fine.
• Lemon helps in reacting with the baking powder and soda and makes it soft, pourous inside and crisp outside.
• Do not add  more baking soda, or powder or lemon juice than mentioned for this recipe, otherwise it may not turn out well.

Waffles tastes best when hot. Serve it with honey, or maple syrup or a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Or even Nutella.

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