The left over special Parantha

Left over has always been a great head ache for people like me who love their food very fresh.. When I lived as a P.G in Mumbai , I remember my catholic land lady had a cook coming in the morning to cook for both lunch and dinner.. eeeouch.. I can honestly give her the leverage given her age.. I despite being working full time have preferred to cook fresh for the meal.. hence the major issue is to finish tiny quantities of leftover veggies.
This recipe is my mother's who uses it to finish off smaller portions of cooked dal, vegetables or gravy's. Very easy and very very tasty.

You need
Whole wheat flour
Left over vegetable or dal mashed into coarse puree.
Salt to taste
Red chilly powder
Ajwain
Oil / ghee for parantha's
Method
Mix the salt, chilly and ajwain in flour.
Knead the flour using the vegetable paste. Use a little water if required. usually it will not need.
Roll out parantha's and use ghee or oil to cook.
Serve with butter/ dahi or pickles..:)

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP

Vir Sanghvi.. a noted food critic says that you can judge a restaurant by the quality of their SOUP. Now at regular so called multi cuisine restaurants across India soups are perhaps the least cared for item on menu.. Standard ones are cream of tomato or cream of mushroom.. worst a lot of them serve the canned or powdered varieties..

Taking a cue from Mr. Sanghvi I started guessing what wud be the food like by sipping soup.. ;)

If the soup is the canned variety then food wud be invariably average..

Most people even restaurants use corn flour to thicken soups.. That is not a very tasty and healthy option. It is the method of making soup that ensures creamy consistency. Here is a simple and easy way.

serves 2-3 persons

YOU NEED

4 Tomatoes

1 Onion finely chopped

Butter

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper to taste

1-11/2 cups water or vegetable stock / chicken stock

Coriander to Garnish

HOW TO MAKE
Blanch tomatoes and remove skin and large seeds. Chop coarsely.

In a saucepan heat butter. Add bay leaf and saute onions.

Add tomatoes and cover and let it simmer.

After 10 -15 mins remove the bay leaf and in a

mixer blend tomatoes into paste.

Take the paste in a pan and add stock.

Let it simmer and add salt & pepper.

Serve hot garnished with coriander and cream (optional).

KASHMIRI PULAO

Rice can be an extremly versatile grain.. pulao or pilaf is equally versatile ... same rice grain can taste really different with addition of different ingredients and spices.
This kashmiri pulao uses some very basic ingredients yet is very yummy. the best part is the chopped fruits and nuts which add crunch to the pulao.

You Need
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2-3 cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
• 2-3 green cardamom
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 green chilli, sliced thinly
• 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
• few tbsp of ghee
• 1 cup of mixed nuts ( almonds,cashews, walnuts and raisin)
• 1 cup milk + few strands of saffron
• 1 cup water
• chopped fruits (grapes and apples )

How to Make
In a pan roast dry fruits using little ghee. Set aside
In another pan add ghee . Add all the spices ( nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf and cumin)
Add ginger garlic paste and chillies.
Add washed rice and saute rice till aromatic.
Add milk and water. Cover and cook.
Add nuts just before rice is fully done.
Serve hot garnished with fruits

Home Made Brown Bread

We were planning to bake bread at a friend's house.. her mom in law said" why work so much when you can easily get a bread for 15 bucks at the bakery." quite famously I told her " coz we are wonder women.. baking, working, nappy changing, house keeping all at one go..;).."
On a more serious note i feel baking bread at home has more to do with satisfaction than taste.. since we don't generally have enough muscle power to knead the atta well.. resulting in a heavier bread than commercial bakery breads. so if you can build bread muscles bread baking is for you..:)
This one is a good recipe that I have adapted from http://www.chefinyou.com/

You need
2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/ tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar( can use normal sugar color wud be lighter though)
1 tsp active dry yeast
4 tbsp butter
7/8 cup lukewarm water ( almost a cup of water)
How to Proceed
Mix salt in the flour and Rub in the butter with your fingertips making it grainy mix.
In about 1/4 cup water out of the total , mix sugar and yeast. Be careful about water not being more than 26 deg Celsius. Let the mixture stand until it becomes frothy.
Add the yeast mixture to the flour and make a soft dough using rest of the water.
The dough has to be soft and not sticky..knead using all the muscle u can develop :)
Put the smooth dough in a oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or towel.
Let it rise until doubled in a warm air draft free space.
Once doubled punch down the dough and knead again.
Make it into a smooth cylinder shape and place it in a loaf pan and again cover and let it rise again in the pan until almost double in height.
Bake in a preheated oven at about 200 C or 425 F for 25 to 30 minutes or until the crust is golden. Make sure not to over bake or the bread will be hard and brittle.