Tawa Pizza / Ovenless Mushrrom Pizza

I never knew pizzas could be made in a tawa and most importantly taste the same until I did one myself! Here's a cheesy mushroom pizza (you can substitute mushrooms for whatever you like) right from the tawa! Mine wasn't that cheesy because I found it hard grating the cheese. Yeah, I 'm THAT lazy! =P

Ingredients:

Pizza base - 1 (from the store)
Mozzarella cheese (grated) - 1 cup
Butter - 1 tbsp

For the tomato sauce:

Tomato puree - 1 cup

Onion (finely chopped) - 1
Green chilly (finely chopped) - 2

Garlic clove - 2

Oregano - 1 tsp

Salt - To taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

For the topping:
Mushroom (chopped) - 250 grams
Onion (finely chopped) - 1
Cabbage (finely chopped) - 3/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

For the tomato sauce:

1. Grind together the garlic cloves, green chilies and onion in a blender. Allow this to cool.
2. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai and add this paste. Saute well.
3. Add tomato puree and cook well until the raw smell of the tomato goes.
4. Dust in oregano and salt and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.

For the topping:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and saute till they sputter.
2. Add onions and saute till they turn brown.
3. Add cabbage and saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add mushrooms, salt and cook till they turn soft. Remove from flame and keep it aside.

For the pizza:

1. Rub a little butter over a pan or dosa tawa.
2. Place the pizza base over the tawa and cook for a minute. Now turn it to the other side and spread the tomato sauce over it in an evenly fashion.
3. Add the topping over it and spread it evenly too.
4. Sprinkle the already grated cheese over it and allow it to melt and bind with the topping.
5. Transfer it into another place, cut into pieces and enjoy! Say cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!! :D 

Potato cheese balls

An old schoolmate of mine had come over and since we were meeting after a long time, I thought I could make something to surprise her of my culinary skills which she never knew I had or will ever have! And I had this sudden craving for something cheesy and I suddenly remembered this dish I had at a restaurant few days back. So yes, I started off and this took less than 15 minutes as it's as simple with the minimum but just the sufficient ingredients and it's more like a customized recipe... You can include/delete as per your taste ☺ I'm posting both the methods I tried today... Let's take off!

Ingredients:
Potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed) - 2
Onion (very finely chopped) - 1
Cheese (grated) - Anything you like (I used cheddar)
Green chilly (very finely chopped) - 1
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - For frying

For the outer coating: (You can use any of the two methods)
1. Bread crumbs - 1 cup
Egg white - 1 (or) corn flour mixed in water - 1 cup
2. Bread slices (corners removed) - one slice for one cheese ball you make
Water - As required

Method:

1. Mix together the mashed potatoes, onions, cheese, green chilly, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt in a large bowl.
2. Make small balls of the mixture and keep them aside. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai or wok.
3. For the outer coating, if you're following the first method, take one ball of the mixture you made and dip it in egg white or cornflour mixed in water and roll it in the bread crumbs so as to get coated evenly. If following the second method, dip the bread slice in water on both sides, drain off the water by pressing the bread slice between your hands. Take a mixture ball, place it on the bread slice and roll it into a ball.
4. Deep fry the cheese balls. Make sure you don't turn them unless they turn brown as they might tend to break. Serve hot with tomato ketchup! 

The second one was prepared using the first method and the first one with the second. But whatever, both were yummmmmylicious! :D

Crispy fish colo - colo / Whole fish fry

I was in the library one day, so bored (obviously!) and randomly flipping pages of a novel which was only helping me get even more bored. So I thought I could exchange it for some DIY project book or something that would lift my spirits for the moment. My eyes were scanning through the racks when a big bright orange book caught my eye. It had the word "Asia" on it. Curious to know what it was about, I immediately pounced upon it. And tada... It was a book on the various Asian cuisines with mouth watering pictures of them! It took me about half an hour to flip through the whole book and when I was about to close, the last recipe definitely was the first thing I planned to try once I got back home. It was a simple fish fry recipe but with a Lao twist. Yes! It was a dish from Laos, a landlocked country in the Southeast Asia. So, over to Laos in the Indian way! ;)

Ingredients:
Whole fish (cleaned) - 1 (Anything that you like and that which fits your pan)
Red chilly - 3-4
Green chilly - 3-4
Ginger - 1/2-1 inch piece
Garlic - 4-5 cloves
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Fish sauce (optional) - 1 tsp
Lime juice - 2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Oil - For frying
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - For garnishing

Method:

1. Slash the fish with a knife making 3-4 cuts on both the sides.
2. Mix red chilli powder, lime juice, fish sauce and salt and rub over the entire fish.
3. Blend the chillies, ginger and garlic in a processor and marinate the fish in that for about an hour. Make sure to rub the paste inside the slashed parts as well.
4. Heat oil in a wok and fry the marinated fish on both sides till it is completely cooked.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Slashed!

Chilli burst

Crispy fish colo - colo

Butter Chicken Masala / Murgh Makhani

The other day I had extra chicken after making chicken fried rice, so the next thing that popped on my mind was butter chicken masala. Known for it's North Indian flavor, butter chicken doesn't necessarily have to accompany naan/roti/chapati. It goes best with rice too. Here it goes:

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken (cut into small pieces) - 1/4 kg
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

For marinating the chicken:
Thick curd - 2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Tandoori color (optional) - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

For the gravy:
Tomato (pureed) - 3-4
Cashew nut (boiled with water, drained and blended into a paste) - 10 
Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Green chilly (finely chopped) - 1
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp
Fenugreek leaves (hand crushed) - 2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Milk (at room temperature) - 1/2 cup
Cream - 2 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Buter - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Mix chicken with the ingredients listed under 'For marinating the chicken' and leave aside for 2-3 hours.
2. Heat butter in a pan and add garlic paste. Saute for half a minute.
3. Add chilly, cumin powder, red chilli powder and mix well.
4. Add tomato puree and salt and saute well till the raw smell of the tomato goes.
5. Lower the flame. Add cashew nut paste, tomato ketchup, sugar and water and give it a good stir.
6. Meanwhile, heat oil in another pan and shallow cook the marinated chicken pieces. Drain and keep aside.
7. Now add the chicken pieces to the gravy once the gravy comes to boil. Cook for a minute.
8. Add milk and stir well for another minute before adding the cream and mix well.
9. Throw in the garam masala and fenugreek leaves and give a final stir.
10. Garnish with cream or fenugreek leaves or finely chopped coriander or even more cream! Your choice!☺

Chicken fried rice

The mention of chicken fried rice makes my mouth water! This is a recipe I'll hog on anytime of the day. And my whole family knows what I'll order every time we eat out. Yes! Chicken and fried rice together = Total bliss!

Ingredients:

For the rice:
Basmati rice - 3 cups
Carrot, beans, cabbage (finely chopped into thin strips) - 2 cups
Capsicum, spring onions (finely chopped) - 1/4 cup each
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Ajinomoto - 1/4 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

For the chicken:
Boneless chicken - 1/4 kg
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tbsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Method:

For the rice:

1. Clean and soak rice for about 15 minutes.
2. Cook rice (either in a pressure cooker or in a non stick tawa) with 4 cups of water.
3. Once the rice is cooked, spread it on a plate with the help of a fork so that the grains do not stick to each other.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a wok and add cumin seeds.
5. When it splutters, add chopped spring onions (white part alone) and saute well.
6. Add the remaining vegetables and saute till they are half cooked.
7. Add ajinomoto, soya sauce and salt and saute well.
8. Slowly add the cooked rice and mix well. Add pepper powder and sprinkle spring onion greens over this.

For the chicken:

1. Pressure cook the chicken along with turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste and salt.
2. Once it's cooked, cut the chicken into small strips using a knife or forks.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add chilli powder to it. Add in the chicken pieces and saute well.
4. Add garam masala and mix till the chicken is coated well with the spices.
5. Remove from heat and add the chicken pieces to the rice and mix well.

Relish with Butter chicken masala! 

500+ views!!

Wow!! It feels so amazing that my blog finally hit 500+ views! Thanks to all those lovely people who stopped by purposely or accidentally! ;) This means a lot to me! Thank you so much :) 

Do you want to know what I cooked to celebrate this? Here it is:

Chicken fried rice and Butter chicken!
Bon appetit! :D

My surprise visitors

I have a small roof-top garden at home where I grow a variety of roses and a few other common flowering plants. I remove the weeds once in a while to ensure the plants get the most of it all from the manure. As I was doing it one day, I noticed a few tiny seedlings of what it appeared to be of the same plant. The tiny leaves were elongated with a tapering tip and resembled those of a chilly plant. Curiosity I blame, wanted them to stay for a longer time till I actually come to a conclusion of what that was.

A week passed and the seedlings were shooting out very well and there was a slight modification in the shape of the leaves. The newer leaves were tooth like and the small stem had tiny hair like structures of what I remember seeing on the tomato plants. So are these the tomato plants? Wow! My joy knew no bounds. I was literally jumping out of surprise and happiness because I had never actually sowed them. I assumed those seeds were in the manure I had got from a friend.

I watered them well, spoke to them every day (No, I ain't retarded) =P and the flowers started blooming after a month, tiny tomatoes started peeping out and this is how they are today:

Just when I was having this dying urge to start an organic terrace garden of my own and have been quite researching into it, this comes as a great boost to me! Hoping to grow more of them sooon!

And yes, will make something out of this after the harvest guys! ;) Cheers!

P.S: Did you notice the tomatoes by the way? =P

Mushroom Munchurian

I've always thought mushrooms tasted slimy until my cousin forced me to taste this at a restaurant a year back. I had it along with fried rice, which I think by far is the bestest combination for this Indo-Chinese dish.

Ingredients:

Mushrooms (cleaned and quartered) - 10-15
Cooking oil - for frying

For the batter:

Maida - 1 cup

Corn flour - 2 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Red chili powder - 1 tsp

Pepper (powdered) - 1 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

For the sauce:

Garlic cloves (sliced thin) - 6-8

Ginger (finely chopped) - 1/2 inch

Green chillies (finely chopped) - 3-4

Spring onions (sliced thin) - 4-5

Tomato ketchup - 3 tbsp
Sweet chilli sauce - 3 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1-2 tbsp
Ajinomoto - ¼  tsp
Corn flour (dissolved in ½ cup water) - ½ tbsp

For garnishing:
Spring onion greens/coriander (finely chopped) - as required

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients mentioned under 'For the batter' in a bowl. Mix them well without any lumps. Make sure the batter is of dosa batter consistency.
2. Heat oil in a wok. Dip the mushrooms into the batter allowing it to coat well and slowly drop them one by one into the wok.
3. Deep fry the mushrooms in batches until they are crisp. Drain and keep them aside.

To prepare the sauce:

1. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. Add garlic and saute till it turns golden brown.
2. Add ginger, green chillies, spring onions and saute for a minute or two.
3. Add tomato ketchup, sweet chilli sauce, soya sauce, ajinomoto and mix well.
4. Add the cornflour dissolved in water slowly in low flame and keep stirring till the sauce starts to thicken.
5. Allow the sauce to boil and remove from heat.

Serving:

1. Add the deep fried mushrooms to the sauce and mix well.
2. Serve garnished with finely chopped coriander or spring onion greens.

Instant curd vada / Dahi vada

Hello guys! Hope you are melting in the summer heat just like me :D I've always liked the way summer is in the movies... The sunbaths, bikini strolls, surfing! But Chennai heat leaves me with ONLY one option - To sit indoors and hog on something cool with the normal snack being a bore! So here's a cool evening snack that's  not only finger-licking-good but also with just the minimum ingredients and hold on... Did I tell you this vada is made out of bread? Sounds cool, doesn't it? ;)

Ingredients:

Bread - 5-6 pieces
Onions (finely chopped) - 1
Carrots (grated) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies (finely chopped) - 1-2
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
Curd/Dahi (beaten smooth) - 1-2 cups
Cooking oil - To fry
Salt - To taste

Method:

1. Remove the sides of the bread slices and break the bread into small pieces in a bowl.
2. Add the onions, 1/4 cup of carrot, chillies, cumin seeds, 1 tbsp of coriander, salt and mix them well along with sufficient curd so as to get a batter consistency.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Wet your hands and take a small ball of the mixture and pat it gently on your palm to flatten it.
4. Gently put it into the oil. Deep fry till they turn golden brown.
5. Repeat the same for the remaining mixture. You can do it in batches. 
6. Drain the vadas and keep them aside. Pour some curd over them and refrigerate for half an hour.
7. Garnish with the remaining grated carrots and coriander leaves while serving.

Just out from the pan

After garnishing

Crab fry

Okay! So here goes my first non-veg recipe. One of my favorite too. Who doesn't love seafood, or crab to be more specific? Here's a very simple recipe that will keep you wanting for more!

Ingredients:

Crab - 2
Onion (finely chopped) - 2
Tomato (finely chopped) - 2-3
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - For garnishing
Coriander leaves - For garnishing
Salt - To taste
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Boil water (1 to 2 cups) in a vessel with salt and turmeric powder.
2. Add crab to this and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain water and keep it aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Saute till they turn golden brown.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute.
5. Add tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and water from step-1. Fry till oil separates.
6. Add the crab and cook till the spices get mixed well with the crab.
7. Garnish with coriander and curry leaves.

Chocolate French Toast

Okay! So I had this sudden craving for something chocolaty and something that had to do with bread. Ummmm.. Bread + Chocolate = NO, not that chocolate bread spread again! The only proper thing I know to make with bread was the bread toast. So why not a simple, easy-to-make chocolate toast? ;)

Ingredients: 

White bread slices - 4 (Preferably thick ones because I used normal ones and they broke off)
Milk - 1 cup
Granulated sugar - 3/4 cup
Cocoa powder - 1/3 cup
Eggs - 2
Table salt - 1/4 tsp
Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp
Sliced bananas or strawberries - For garnishing

Method:

1. Mix granulated sugar, cocoa powder and table salt together in a bowl. 
2. Pour half a cup of milk and the eggs into this bowl and blend till there are no lumps formed.
3. Arrange the bread slices in a plate and pour this mixture over the bread slices.
4. Poke the slices with a fork so that it absorbs well. Let it soak for about 20 minutes, turning it once in between.
5. Heat butter in a nonstick tawa and fry the bread slices until they are well cooked (usually 3-4 minutes).
6. Remove from heat and garnish with bananas or strawberries.

I know this doesn't look like the original French toast. It was because of two reasons:

1. The bread was of the normal size. I should have used the thicker ones.
2. I didn't include a lot of ingredients which actually go into the making of the French toast. Will try the original version soon.

Cheers! ☺

Sumer coolant - Iced tea / Lemon iced tea

It's summer and I'm beginning to crave for anything and everything that is cold. I'm a tea addict but having hot tea in this hot climate really didn't seem a good idea. That's when ice tea stuck me! Yes, a better alternative to those canned sodas. This has become a part of me now. In the mornings, for brunch, in the evenings and sometimes, even at midnight :D Introducing you'll the ice tea:





























Ingredients:

Teabags - 4 (Black tea or green tea)
Water - 8 cups (4 cups of ordinary water and 4 cups of cold water)
Sugar - 1 cup
Lemon - 4 tbsp (optional)
Ice cubes - 4-5 for a glass
Mint - A sprig (optional)

Method:

1. Boil 4 cups of ordinary water in a pot and dip in the teabags. Allow the tea to steep for not more than 4-5 minutes (You don't want a bitter tea, do you?) and discard the bags. 
2. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 4 cups of cold water in a jar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Pour the brewed tea into this mixture and stir.
4. Refrigerate this for a good half an hour and serve in glasses over ice cubes.
5. Garnish with mint.

For the lemon iced tea:

         Add 4 tbsp of lemon juice along with sugar and cold water in step-2.

►  Sweetness is a matter of taste and it varies from individual to individual. So add or subtract sugar as per your taste ☺

Indo-Chinese veg / egg noodles

Is there anybody who doesn't love noodles? Here is a simple recipe of an Indian-type Chinese noodles.

Ingredients:

Noodles - 1 pack
Onion (finely chopped - lengthwise) - 1
Vegetables (beans, cabbage, capsicum, carrot - chopped finely lengthwise) - 1 cup
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Green chilli (slit lengthwise) - 3
Tomato ketchup - 2 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1-2 tbsp
Chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Vinegar - 1 tsp
Black peppercorns/pepper (powdered) - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste
Cooking oil - 4-5 tbsp
Eggs (optional) - 2

Method:

1. Boil water with 1 tbsp of oil, 1 tsp of salt. When water starts to boil, add noodles and cook. (usually 5-6 minutes)
2. Once cooked, remove from flame and drain the water. Run some cold water over the noodles so that they don't stick together. (You can place the noodles in a hollow sieve and then run water through it)
3. Meanwhile, heat 3-4 tbsp of oil in a wide pan and add chillies, ginger-garlic paste and fry for half a minute.
4. Add onions and saute till they turn golden brown. Add veggies and fry till they are half cooked.
   
   
   For veg noodles:
   
   
5. After step-4, add noodles, tomato ketchup, soya sauce, chilli sauce, vinegar, pepper powder and salt. Keep mixing till they are well-cooked. Serve with sauce.

      For egg noodles:

1. After step-4, move the veggies to one side of the pan and pour eggs on the other empty side and scramble it.
2. Add salt and pepper powder (for the eggs alone) and mix it well with the egg.
3. Once the egg is done, proceed with step-5. 

Indo-Chinese veg/egg noodles is ready :)

Paneer butter masala

Okay, here goes my first recipe. The first to have tried in fact. Paneer butter masala is a Punjab delicacy made out of paneer, onions, tomatoes and a variety other spices. 

Serves : 3-4

Ingredients:

Paneer/Indian cottage cheese (cut into cubes)  - 250 grams
Onion (blended) - 2 (Blend after boiling large pieces of onions in water for 10 minutes)
Tomato puree - 1 cup (Boil tomatoes in water for 10 minutes. Remove skin after boiling and then puree)

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp 
Cashew nuts (made into a paste) - 2 tbsp (Soak 2 tbsp of cashew nuts in hot water for 10 minutes and grind it to a paste)

For seasoning:
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cooking butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 1
Cardamom - 2
Salt - To taste

For garnishing:
Fresh cream - 1/4 cup
Coriander leaves - as required

Method:

1. Mix butter and oil and heat it in a wide pan/kadai/karahi/wok. Add cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and saute till they splutter.
2. Add onion paste and saute till they turn golden brown.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and saute. Make sure it doesn't stick to the pan or get burned.
4. Add cashew nut paste and saute till the raw smell goes.
5. Add tomato puree and all the spices (garam masala powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder). Cook till it leaves oil.
6. Meanwhile, take another pan and shallow fry the paneer cubes in 3 tsp of oil till they turn light brown.
7. Add this paneer to the cooked tomato mixture.
8. Add 1/2 cup of water and salt. Simmer and cook for a few minutes.
9. Garnish with fresh cream and coriander.

Serve with:

Naan or chapatis.

Why this name?

Been getting queries about why I chose to name my blog with ginger and garlic. So here it goes... According to me nothing is food without both of them! ;) I drool over anything that has ginger and garlic in them. The aroma of them when blended... tantalizing!

Courtesy: Keith Tsuji photography

So that's the end of the story guys! ;)

Tickling the taste buds...

Hello foodies and fellow bloggers,

Since 1990 (yeah, that's when I came into this world), I have never, trust me... NEVER had this liking for food or anything closely related to it. At times I wonder how I got those 50 kilograms of flesh and bones. Thanks to my mom, who stuffed in whatever she could into my small little mouth that would hardly open at the sight of food. I grew up like a tomboy who hardly knew where the kitchen was.

And all of a sudden, things changed. I started going into the kitchen more often, not just to drop the dishes at the sink this time but to try out something new. I started experimenting with simple dishes and I was amazed at the results as they were a huge thumbs-up from the whole family :) Never in my wildest dreams I thought I would be at the kitchen someday (you may ask me a girl obviously should learn how to cook but I had other plans.. Plans of getting married to a chef so he'd be the one who'll cook for me!) :P
Cooking like I never expected it to be, was full of fun, it was a great stress buster too. And it has inspired me so much that it has brought me till here. So, wish me the best guys! And keep checking this space for mmmoooorrrrrrre!!
P.S: I ain't that an experienced cook or a professional photographer, so please don't mind my not-so-impressive pictures :P