Bread Roll

Your choice of stuffing rolled inside a bread and pan fried and voila- you have the bread roll. A very simple snack that makes up for a great accompaniment to your Chai time, you can get very creative with the stuffing each time and never get bored of this dish. Here's a stuffing that I tried with paneer and it was a hit at the home.

Recipe: 

Ingredients:

Grated Paneer - 1/2 bowl
Coriander leaves - handful
Green Chilly - 1
Ginger - small piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Salt - as per taste
Milk - 0.5 small cup
Bread - 5

Preparation:

1. In a mixer jar, take coriander leaves, green chilly, ginger, garlic and salt and grind it into a fine paste.
2. Add this paste to grated paneer and mix well.
3. Take half the milk quantity from the ingredients and add it to the paneer mixture. The mixture should not be too dry nor too wet.
4. Take a bread slice, roll it using the rolling pin to make it a very thin layer.
5. Take some mixture and spread it evenly on the thin bread layer.
6. Start rolling the bread and then apply some milk to the edge to seal it. 
7. Repeat this process for all the remaining bread slices
8. In a pan, heat some butter and place these rolls to fry. After each interval, keep changing the side so that the roll cooks evenly on all sides.

Bread roll is ready to be served with ketchup.

Mirchi Bajji

Mirchi Bajji (chilly fritters) is a very popular spicy Indian snack which is usually served with sweet and tamarind chutney. Prepared in a variety of ways, each recipe has its own unique taste. This is very famous in Rajasthan where they stuff the chillies with  mashed potato mix and deep fry them.


My mom prepares yet another version of this dish without any stuffing and this one is my all time favorite. It has this tinge of tangy sweetness that makes you want to eat more of this while keeping them really light in your tummy.

Recipe: 

Ingredients:
Pakoda Mirchi - 12
Chat Masala - optional

For Frying batter:
Oil
Besan - 1 cup
Water - 1/4 cup (or as necessary for a thick consistency
Salt - to taste

For Stuffing:
Tamarind paste - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Curd - 1/4 cup
Lemon - 1/2
Hing - a pinch
Ajwain - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Water - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1. Mix the ingredients under the stuffing section well (tamarind paste, jaggery, curd, lemon juice, hing, ajwain, salt and a bit of water.
2. Take the pakoda mirchi and slit it.
3. Stuff the tamarind mixture into each chilly and keep aside for 1 hr.
4. Make the batter for dipping the chilly. For this, mix the besan, water and salt into a thick consistency.
5. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying.
6. Dust each pakoda with some dry besan and then dip it in the batter. The dusting helps the batter to evenly coat the chillies when frying.
7. Deep fry the chillies till they are well cooked. Once cooked, remove them and serve.
8. Optionally, you can sprinkle some chat masala powder while you serve it.

You can serve this with rice or eat it just like that as a snack.

Paneer Vindaloo

We went to this Indian restaurant - Kiran's for celebrating our anniversary and this starter just made me fall in love with paneer and this dish. It was so delicious and full of flavors that it left me guessing the ingredients that went into making it. Luckily, when i tried this at home, it turned out almost like the one I had at the restaurant. So here's the recipe and I hope you enjoy its myriad flavors.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1 cube (cut into rectangular pieces. Make sure the paneer is fresh and soft)

Coriander seeds - 1 tsp

Mustard seeds - 2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 8 cloves

Ginger - 1 inch

Coconut - 1/4 cup (grated)

Red chillies - 3

Cinnamon stick - small piece

Cloves - 4

Lime juice - 1 tsp

Onion - 1/2 (finely chopped)

Jaggery - 1 small cube (grated)

Salt - to taste

Red Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp 

Preparation:

1. Roast coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, grated coconut, red chillies, cinnamon stick and cloves for few minutes and then keep it aside.

2. Next, add turmeric powder, 1/2inch ginger, 6 garlic and lime juice and grind it into a fine paste. 

3. Marinate the paneer cubes with this paste and leave it for 30 mins.

4. Heat oil in a pan, add finely chopped onions and fry till brown, next add ginger-garlic paste (prepared from remaining ginger & garlic) and let it cook.

5. Next add the red chilly powder, grated jaggery, salt and marinated paneer pieces and let it cook for few mins.

Paneer Vindaloo is ready. Serve it hot!

Guacamole

Guacamole is an avocado based dip which originated in Mexico. Avocado is a very healthy fruit loaded with important nutrients. This dip is usually made with ripe avocados. It is served with corn chips, and added as a side to burritos, tacos, enchiladas and salads in Mexican restaurants.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Avocado - 1

Onions - 1/4 piece chopped finely

Tomatoes - 1/2 piece

Pepper - 1 tsp

Salt

Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Preparation:

1. Cut the avacado in the center and scoop the green part with a spoon. Remove the seed and mash the rest.

2. Add chopped onions, tomatoes, salt, pepper and lemon juice and mix well.

This is served with corn chips in many mexican restaurants.