VEG BURGER

Its been really really long since i posted anything.

Life;s been terribly busy with my daughter growing up and demanding more and more attention. I miss being on my blog, but now again my motivation is up high and would want to take time out for my blog.

Food has been a little off list lately with the increasing waist line :(

I need to come up with more healthy low cal options now on :)

One of it is ...

VEG BURGER

My dad eats fada (wheat grain) khichdi , he says its good for weight loss :) so i tried making burgers out of it. In case u dont get this u could use Bulgur wheat.

Half cup wheat grain soaked over night and then cooked in a rice cooker or pressure cooker just like rice.

Mixed veggies of ur choice (try to steam them rather than boil to retain the nutrition)

1 boiled mashed potato.

Dry spices.

Once ur wheat grain is cooked mix in all the boiled veggies and potato. Mix it well enough and add all the dry spices like salt, red chilli, garam masala, mango powder. As we have used less of potato we need more binding to add about a tablespoon of wheat flour and mix well and make patties. Roast them on a non-stick with or without oil. If using oil try using olive oil... it sure changes the flavour.
Now to assemble the burger you will need Wheat buns, lettuce, Thinly sliced tomatoes, onions, cheese slice, and thousand island dressing.(if u don't have thousand island dressing just mix mayo with some tomato ketchup and use that as ur sauce)

Grill the buns and assemble the burger with the above ingredients :)

Enjoy.

For those who are not counting calories serve these with sauted herbed potatoes.

I used pre cut ribbed fries.

Mixed dried herbs.

Chilli flakes

Butter.

In a non stick add about 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter, add the mixed herbs and ur chopped fries, mix well and add let them cook for about 3 to 4 min, then add chilli flakes and season with salt :)

serve hot!!

MIX VEG MUTHIA

Being born and brought up in Gujarat i fell i m a gujju in every way. I miss gujju food. Its sweet yet its spicy, that's the best part... u could eat gujju dal which would be sweet and yet ur nose would water cause its equally spicy. My hubby does not enjoy sweet food, the thought of sugar or jaggery in food makes him run miles away ..
I wanted to make a wholesome meal for myself, was not in mood of rice or chapati ..
My major points were... i wanted healthy, easy, low cal, tasty, gujju, no oil or say extremely less oil, filling.
Hmmm now wat would that be..? MUTHIA;S. i used to eat these a lot as evening snack during my school days :)
So here i share a simple yet tasty recipe with u all :)

Mix Veg Muthia;s

2 cup Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Rava flour
pinch of Soda bi carb
1/2 cup shredded Squash
1/3cupshredded Cabbage
less than half cup of finely shredded carrot
1/2 tsp crushed ginger
green chili according to ur taste.
pinch of sugar.
1/2 cup curd.

For Vaghar:
Vegetable oil
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves

Mix all ingredients and dough, normally u wont need water but in case it is too dry add water.
From dough make round 6" long dough sticks
Boil some water in a steam pot, put the sticks on a plate that fit in ur container.
And keep it on steam for about 20 min or until cooked. To know its cooked insert a tooth pick and check, if the tooth pick comes out clean ur muthia;s are ready.
Let them cool and cut them into rounds.
In a pan add some oil and add the vaghar ingredients once they crackle add the muthia;s and serve hot with coriander chutney :)

CHEESE CHILLI TREATS.

These cheese biscuits are my all time fav snack. Totally sinful in terms to calories, but then, sometimes .. who cares :).

I used to bake these easy biscuits long back. N now i thought id bake some and give it to my hubby to keep in his office for a evening snack :) He took a box full and by evening i got a picture mail by him of a empty container :) he had finished all of them by evening :) yum yum snack, if kept in a air tight jar will last for months (only if u can resist.)

1 cup flour

1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice

1tbs red pepper (adjust the quantity according to ur taste)

2 tsp baking powder

4tbs butter

1tsp salt (adjust according to the salt of the cheese)

1tsp sugar.

Mix all the above ingredients and for a nice dough.

Pre-heat the oven at 180 deg C , and while the oven gets heated roll your dough into a log or a block and plastic wrap it and put it in the freezer.

After about 15 min remove the dough and cut it into rounds or blocks.

Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or untill crispy brown.

Id suggest you to rotate your baking try to get them evenly cooked.

:)n u done with ur yummy snack!

Enjoy:)

MOCHI DANGO

I love to try new things :) Food is my weakness and if i get something veg i will not let it go, i have to try it.

Here in japan i hardly get the opportunity to try new things but recently on our hiking trip to MOUNT TAKAO i got to try kushiyaki dango.

I cannot explain much about the taste, it was bland, sweet, sticky...

Let me brief u a big about what it is.

Its made of Mochi (sticky rice) which is basically powdered rice made to a ball held on skewers and dipped in soyu sauce. later its grilled on coal in a different way. The pic explains it better :)

The steal about this is after u finish eating and if u give the skewers back you get 10 yen back for your skewers :)

Happy Birthday

My daughter turned 1 year old on the 26th of April 2008 :)

Time flies, but when i sit and think do i even have any time? Well Mommies are always on the run i believe.:)

Back to the topic.. Birthday cake :)

Well there was no party for her as i felt that she is too small to understand a birthday party so y not do something she loved, She loves animals so we took her to the zoo:) n it was the perfect decision to spend the day with her seeing her smile.

So it was a obvious fact that the cake had to be some animal. I have never done a deco cake ever in my life. Or say I've never done a icing cake in my life:) this was the first and i dint want it to be a disaster. It was her FIRST birthday, how could i ruin things... Well here is what i made for her ...

KOMATSUNA (japanese mustard)

KOMATSUNA

One thing common between JAPAN and PUNJAB?? GUESS??Sarson :)) can u believe it? Yes it true u do get green mustard here :) known as KOMATSUNA:)It has a lovely sharp flavour to it and recently its been in my weekly hit list :)its yum, easy, and low cal :)) like i want it to be.No pre-preps needed :)

2 bunch Komatsuna chopped and washed.
3 pods crushed garlic
1 tbs wheat flour
green chili lengthwise slit (acc to taste)
1 tomato chopped or 4 tbs canned tomato.
salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
pinch of asefodia
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin and asefodia. Once crackled add crushed garlic
and green chili, and saute for few seconds, then add the chopped komatsuna to it.
Add salt, turmeric and wheat flour to it. Mix well.Adding wheat flour will make a semi thick gravy for the veggie.Keep it covered on medium heat for about 5 min. As the green's simmer down add the tomatoes and cook on high flame :)
Serve with Hot chapatis :)

CHOCOLATE TART

CHOCOLATE TART

Yes yet another sinful treat. Just cant resist this one. NOTHING but chocolate again. This dessert is pretty simple. No pre preps required. The trick to the taste is using the best quality chocolate for a more intense taste.

Crust:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup powder sugar

Mix the above ingredients, n knead the dough. the butter will warm up when in contact with your hands and will allow you to form the dough . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate
while you prepare the ganache.

Ganache filling:
1 cup dark chocolate (chopped finely or u could choco chips)
1/2 cup cream.

Heat the cream over low heat and wen hot remove from the stove and add in the chocolates, let stand then Stir to incorporate the chocolate and cream and let it stand in the
room temperature.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it gently. Fit the dough into the tart or pie molds, prick with a fork and bake until light gold in colour at about 170 deg. Let the shells cool completely. De mold and fill with the ganache. Refrigerate until the ganache is completely set.it ideally takes about 3-4 hours. i.e if u could resist :)
U could decorate it with fresh fruits like strawberries and kiwi.. or caramel. :)