Cream of Broccoli soup

 A hot and nutritious soup on a cold winter night gives you so much comfort. This soup is not only healthy but yummilicious too.

Broccoli is a versatile vegetable and can be added to any dish ;, be it soup ,salad or main course.;to make it more appealing and delicious. This exotic vegetable is a powerhouse of nutrition.It boosts your immune system, is high in calcium and helps in preventing cancer.
It promotes heart health, prevents ortho arthritis and is excellent for eyes.

Ingredients : 

1 tbsp Oil 

2 Onions ( chopped ) 

3 Garlic cloves ( chopped ) 

2 big florets of Broccoli ( diced ) 

3 cups Vegetable stock 

2 cups Milk

Salt and pepper as per taste

Directions : 

1 : In a heavy bottom pan,  sauté onions till translucent. 

2: Add garlic and cook till its soft.                 

3: Add broccoli and vegetable broth and  cook till it turns soft.  

4: Add milk and boil it properly. 

5: Pour soup into a blender and blend till its very smooth. 

6:Add salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

7: Serve hot.

*You can add cream after blending if you want your soup to be of thicker consistency. 

                         

Khao suey /Burmese Vegetable and Coconut Curry Soup

Khao suey is a curried bowl of noodle based , vegetable and Coconut Soup, served with a delightful melange of garnishes.
           It was originated in North Eastern part of Burma, which shares it's coastline with India, China and Thailand. Primarily because of this reason, their dishes are influenced by Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisines.

Khao suey uses vegetable broth, coconut milk and chicken or vegetables along with curry powder and condiments. 

It is served with an array of toppings like

fried onions, cilantro, Lemon wedges, roasted and crushed peanuts. 

                  It can also be spelt as Khao Soi or Khao Soy. Both Thai and Burmese versions are quite similar.

Ingredients : 

Khao soi paste:

4 Large dried medium hot red chili ,seeded

OR

2 Thai Bird Chili

3 Large Onions, chopped

1 tsp. Ginger, chopped

1 tsp. Garlic, chopped 

1 tsp. Curry powder  (recipe given)

Handful of Cilantro stems

1 tsp.  Turmeric powder 

2 Kaffir Lime leaves

1 stalk lemon grass, bottom part only, chopped

1 tsp  whole coriander seeds

For the soup:

2 tbsp. Oil

1 can Coconut Milk

1 cup Vegetable /Chicken broth

1/2 kg. Boneless chicken ,cut into small pieces / 2 cups mixed vegatables (mushrooms, brocolli, baby corn)

1 tsp Salt 

1 tbsp Light brown sugar/ 1 tbsp. Palm sugar

1 tbsp. Light Soy Sauce 

2 Lemon's juice 

Toppings:

250 gms. Boiled and drained noodles

Fried onion slices

Fried Garlic

Spring onion greens

Chili oil

Chopped Cilantro Leaves

Lemon wedges

Roasted and crushed peanuts 

Directions :
1 : Soak dried red chillies in water for 15-20 minutes.
2 : Drain them and reserve the liquid.
3 : Add all the ingredients of khao suey paste and red chillies to a blender and blend till smooth, often adding reserved liquid.

For soup:
1 : Heat oil in a wok.
2 : Add Khao suey paste and cook till it turns dark.
3 : Add coconut milk and broth. Bring to boil.
4 : Add vegetables /chicken and salt and cook till vegetables / chicken are done.
5 :Add palm sugar/light brown sugar and soy sauce /fish sauce .
6: Boil till it thickens to desired consistency.
7: Now divide noodles in four soup bowls.
8: Pour soup over it and add toppings.

                            Curry powder
2 tsp. Black pepper corns
1 tsp. Cloves
3 tsp.  Coriander seeds
3 tsp. Cumin seeds
1 tsp. Fennel seeds
Seeds from 8 Black cardamom pods
3 tsp.  REd chilli powder
2 tsp.  Ground Ginger
3 tsp. Turmeric powder

1: Heat a pan.
2 : Dry roast all the ingredients for 5 minutes on low flame.
3: Blend all the masalas to a fine powder.
4 : Put it in air tight jar .
* Stays good upto a month.

Beetroot and Sweet Potato Kebabs

Kebabs and winters go hand in hand. They occupy a prominent place on platters in bar be que dinners.The term 'kebab' is more or less synonymous with meat but we do propagate our love for vegetarian kebabs; often imbibing the flavours of unusual ingredients like raw bananas, water chestnuts or for that matter beetroot.

            The word 'kebab' comes from Peshawar and Lucknow while 'Tikkas' come from Punjab. Once you start you can't stop without  having a copious amount of this delectable kebab. So get hooked to these healthy and lovely beauties. 

                              Ingredients :

3 Beetroots

2 Sweet Potatoes

2 green chillies ( chopped ) 

Few Coriander leaves 

1 tbsp Roasted Gram flour 

3/4 tsp Salt 

1/2 tsp Red chilli powder 

1/2 tsp Ground roasted Jeera powder 

1/2 tsp  Chaat masala

Oil for shallow frying 

                                   Directions :
1 :  Peel and grate Beetroots. 
2: Boil, peel and mash sweet potatoes and add to grated Beetroots. 
3: Add chopped green chillies,  roasted gram flour,  chopped coriander leaves, salt, red chili powder, chaat masala and mix thoroughly. 
4: Grease your palms and take small portion of this mixture.
5: Shape them into tikkas.
6: Now shallow fry them into hot oil.

7: Flip it over and cook from other side; pressing it slightly for uniform cooking.
8: Serve with onion rings and mint sauce. 

Yogurt Chicken /Dahi Murgh

         At times simple things can just enliven your day. Yogurt Chicken is one of them.
Not only is it simple to make and less time consuming, it's nutritious too.

                          Ingredients :
500 gms Chicken legs
500 gms Yogurt
2 tbsp. Mustard Oil
2 Lemon's juice
Salt, as per taste
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
1/4 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp. Ginger Garlic paste
1 tbsp Kasoori Methi
1/4 tsp Garam masala powder
1/4 tsp Carom seeds

                           Directions :
1:Wash and clean chicken legs.
2: Make incisions in it.
3 : Whisk rest of the ingredients in a bowl.
4: Marinate chicken in this marinade for atleast 4 to 6 hours.
5: Pressure cook chicken along with half of its marinade.After 1 whistle, just release the pressure.
6: Heat 1 tsp. oil in a thick bottom pan.
7: Add chicken and cook it till it turns nice brown in color.
8: Add rest of the marinade and cook it it thickens.
9: Serve with breads or steamed rice.

Red Kidney Bean Kebabs/Rajma Galouti

         Galouti kebabs are melt in mouth kebabs where you can use lamb's meat, mushrooms or Rajma along with herbs and spices. Galouti or Galawti itself means 'melt in mouth'.

            They originated from Lucknow and as legendary tale goes , Nawab of Lucknow, Wajid Ali Shah lost his teeth but his love for meat didn't fizzle. So Galouti was prepared to satiate his taste buds and he savoured this dish till his last breath.
             This food of Nawab, rich in dry fruits,saffron and ghee is cooked on slow fire to extract it's fine and rich aromas of whole spices.

                  Ingredients : 
Boiled Rajma                      2 cups
Cashew Powder                 1/2 cup
Salt                                       As per taste 
Red chilli powder               1/2 tsp 
Roasted cumin powder    1/2 tsp 
Rose Water                          1 tsp
Saffron                                  Few strands
Potatoes , boiled and mashed   2
Warm milk                            2 tsp 
Cardamom Powder              1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste               1 tsp 
Green chilli                            1
Few Mint Leaves

Directions : 

1 : Soak rajma overnight or for atleast 8 
hours. 
2: Drain water and pressure cook them in 4 cups of water with salt for atleast half an hour. 
3 : When pressure drops, drain rajma.
4 :  Cool them and keep aside.
5: Blend green chillies, ginger garlic and mint to fine paste.
6: Soak saffron in warm milk.
7: Put rajma , green chilli paste and cashew powder in blender and mix thoroughly. 
8: Add cardamom powder,red chilli powder,  clove and cumin powder , saffron and rose water and mashed potatoes  in rajma mix. Mix them thoroughly. 
9: Take ball size mixture and form patties out of it.
10. Heat oil in a pan and cook them at medium heat. 
11 . Serve them with onion rings and mint sauce.

                                   ENJOY!!!

Cilantro Sriracha Citrus Chicken

                Never let the perplexity of flavors enshroud your mind with unnecessary hinderance. What seems like a difficult and cumbersome task might be the easiest thing on earth.

Cilantro, Orange zest,Sriracha add zing to otherwise plain chicken.You can add Sriracha to almost anything for a spicy flavor and Orange zest will fetch you the required tanginess.

Ingredients : 

4 chicken legs (with thighs)

1 Orange's juice

1 Orange's zest

1 cup Cilantro  (with few tender stems)

2 tbsp  Sriracha 

1 tbsp. Olive oil

1 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp Black Pepper 

Powder 

1/2 tsp. Garlic paste

1/2 tsp. Ginger paste

Directions : 

1 : Wash and pat dry chicken legs.

2 : Blend Cilantro along with oil, salt, pepper and garlic ginger paste in a blender. 

3 :In a bowl,mix Cilantro mix, Sriracha, Orange juice and orange zest. 

4 : Add chicken legs to this marination. 

5 : Place it in a zip lock bag along with the marinade and marinate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

6 : Grill it till it turns nice brown in color, often basting with olive oil and marinade.

7 :Drizzle some reserved marinade on the chicken and serve. 

Peri Peri Fennel Chicken Galette

Galette is basically a part of French Cuisine which can be described as large ,crusty ,flaky cookie with delicious savory filling.                        A rustic and flaky tart,savory or sweet dough; with gorgeous and colorful vegetarian or non vegetarian filling, baked to perfection;  to give you a perfect, spectacular galette.

                    I was on a threshold of deciding whether to  give up or to give it one more try when this one came as a surprise. It came out really well. I abhor the idea of my effort going down the lane .With so much love and affection going into your meal, what you expect is a beautiful reward and a galette falling apart is least you could expect.

After some failures,  I concluded that my fillings had to be a little dry so that my base doesn't come  down. So toss whatever yummy comes your way and go ahead .

GALETTE  DOUGH :

Ingredients : 

1 cup  refined flour (though I used wholewheat since I am a little biased towards whole grains )

1/3 cup butter, chilled and cubed

1/3 cup cold water

Directions :

1: Take flour in a processor and add cubed butter and pulse it till you get breadcrumbs resembling mix. 

2: Now add chilled water and pulse it once again till it forms a soft dough.

3: Cover it with cling film and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

PerI Peri Fennel Chicken

Ingredients : 

500 gms chicken breast ( boneless ) 

2 tsp Peri peri Sauce

Shavings of 1 fennel bulb

1 tbsp. Olive oil 

1/2 tsp  Salt 

1/4 tsp. Freshly ground black pepper 

1/2 tsp. Ginger paste

1 / 2 tsp  Garlic paste 

Directions :

1: Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. 

2: Marinate chicken for atleast 4 to 6 hours. 

3: Cook it on high flame in a wok and remove when half done.

Assembling:

1:Preheat oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.

2: Divide the dough into 3 discs or a 1 big disc.

 3: Keep filling in the centre leaving an inch on the edges for small galettes and 2 inches for a bigger one. 

4: Now gently fold  the edges over the filling.

5: Drizzle some left over marination over it and keep galette on parchment paper over baking tray and bake for half an hour till the pastry turns golden brown.

6: Take it out from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes. 

7: Serve warm .

Chicken Tikka In A Bun

As they say,"Give me Lemons and I will make tequila ', I would say "Gimme chicken tikka and I will definitely make something out of it"

Such a versatile piece of appetiser. Turn it into  a roll, sub, patties, galette or whatever you feel like.

Chicken Tikka:

Ingredients : 

500 gms chicken breast ( boneless ) 

1 cup Curd 

1/4 tsp Salt 

1/ 4 tsp. Red chilli powder 

1/ 2 tsp Garlic paste 

1 / 2 tsp Ginger paste 

1 tsp. Mustard oil 

1 Lemon's juice 

1/4 tsp Black salt 

1/4 tsp Paprika 

Directions :

1 : Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. 

2 : Add chicken ,cut into tikkas in it and miX it properly. 

3:Refrigerate for 4-5 hours.

4:Grill it over barbecue grill.

5:Make a hole in a bun .

6: Add mint chutney in the hole and add chicken tikka.

Spinach and Corn Quiche/Spinach and Corn Savory Pie

         Quiche , that's what we used to call it as kids.Now it's known by different names:- pie, fritters, savory pie.

Whatever the name may be, it's savory pie crust would always give your sensory system a jerk; will take you to a delightful culinary experience.

The buttery crust,rich and savory fillings flecked with cheese; how can you go wrong???

Prepare it for lunch or dinner; they will definitely tart up your meal.

A savory pie or pastry crust where you can play around with it's filling.Do not hesitate to experiment with vegetables,  meat or chicken.

I made this after a long time. Maybe it was a sabbatical from time consuming preparations but everyone enjoyed it. I can have it any time of the day.

Try adding some herbs to give it zing and to make it's 'already divine aroma' some more divine.

Ingredients :

Base/Pie:

1/2 cup Butter

2 cups Refined flour (maida)

1 / 2 cup Cheddar cheese (grated)

1/4 cup cold water 

Filling :

1 tbsp.  Olive oil

750 gms. Blanched and chopped spinach

2 cups cooked corn

5  eggs

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper  (freshly ground)

1/2 cup Mozarella cheese

Directions:

1: For the base,  take flour in a bowl, add butter and lightly knead it. Now add cheese and water and knead it into a dough.

2: Press it onto a 9" pie dish and on the sides.

3: Poke it with a fork and blind bake it in a pre heated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.

4:Heat oil in a pan.Add spinach to it.

5:Sauté till it leaves oil.Add corn , salt and pepper.Remove from fire.

6: Add beaten egg and mix .

7: Pour it in baked pie crust.

8:Sprinkle mozarella on it and bake for 50 minutes in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees.

*For those who don't eat eggs, they can use 4 cubes of shredded Cheddar cubes and 1/2 cup cream.

Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients :
For base:
1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate cookies
1/4 cup butter(melted)
3 tbsp sugar

For filling:
1/2 cup choco chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup kahlua
4 pkgs. 180 gms . Cream cheese (at room temperature )
1/3 cup Cocoa powder
1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs (At room temperature ) 
1 tsp. Vanilla essence

For ganache:
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup kahlua

Directions : 
1 : Mix chocolate cookie crumbs, butter and sugar.
2: Take a 9" spring bottom pan.
3: Press this chocolate cookie mix onto the bottom of the pan.
4: Freeze for 5-10 minutes and then bake it for 5 mins at 150 degree Celsius. 
5: Leave it on the rack to cool.
6: Melt chocolate chips over double boiler.
7: Add 1/4 cup whipping cream and 1/4 cup 1/4 cup kahlua and stir well until it's a smooth mixture.
8: In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese, cocoa powder and sugar until fluffy.
9: Add chocolate  kahlua mixture to this mix and blend well.
10: Now add eggs one by one and blend it well.
11: Add vanilla essence to this mix. 
12: Pour it over the crust and bake for 10 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. 
13: Now decrease the oven's temperature to 120 degrees and bake for 50 minutes.
14: Leave the oven's door open and let the cake cool down.
15: Melt chocolate,  whipping cream and kahlua and blend well.
16: Spread it on top of the cake and refrigerate overnight or for atleast 6 hours.
17: Put knife in hot water and loosen sides of cake from the sides of the spring bottom pan. 
18: You can also sprinkle grated chocolate on the cheesecake.