I have these dried dark red kidney beans, which I have bought....and they won't cook soft to the consistency, I require to make the popular Punjabi curry-- rajma..., even if, I pressure cook it, for a long time, after soaking for 12-18 hours. I make this fun recipe which uses these kidney beans very well and makes a delicious and quick snack. I have used "khakras". They are thin crispy flatbreads made with wheat flour from Gujarat, usually eaten for breakfast. My son named this dish as ""Khakos""....as a mix from the words "khakra" and "taco". Taco is a crisp mexican flatbread made with maize flour, often stuffed with fillings like grilled chicken, beans, avocado, sour cream, etc... :)
So here are my fusion "khakos" .... :)
Ingredients:
- 6-8 pieces of khakra
- 1/2 cup of dried kidney beans (or canned kidney beans)
- 1 onion
- 3/4 pieces of garlic cloves
- salt, pepper, garam masala according to taste...maybe 1/2-1 tsp each
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder(optional)
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1 carrot
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 green capsicum
- 1/2 cup defrosted frozen corn(or fresh corn boiled or steamed)
- 3-5 tbsp mozzarella or cheddar cheese
- a bunch of coriander leaves
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp oil
Recipe:
- Wash the dried kidney beans in tap water and soak them in enough water for about 12-18 hours(overnight).
- Drain the soaking water, fill the container with enough fresh water. Add about a tsp of salt and pressure cook the kidney beans for 15-20 minutes or so... till they are soft and mushy.
- Omit the first two instructions if you are using canned kidney beans. Drain and rinse the canned kidney beans and keep them aside.
- Grate garlic, chop onion to half. Finely chop one half of the onion, and slice the other half of the onion in long slices.
- Chop tomatoes, chop the capsicum, grate carrot, grate cheese, defrost frozen corn and chop the coriander leaves.
- Keep it all aside in different bowls or separately on a plate or a cutting board.
- Puree the kidney beans to paste in a food processor or a grinder.
- In a pan, heat a tsp of oil, stir fry the garlic and the onion.
- Add spices, garam masala and add the kidney bean paste to the pan.
- Mix till the onion and spices are mixed with the bean paste.
- Add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves.
- Transfer the kidney bean paste in a bowl and let it cool.
- Now, keep all the ingredients ready and start assembling the "khakos"
- Make khakos....!!
- In a plate, place a khakra.
- Spread the kidney bean paste.
- Layer with chopped tomatoes.
- Chopped capsicum.
- Grated carrot.
- Onion slices.
- Boiled corn.
- Shredded mozzarella or cheddar.
- Coriander....topped with more lemon juice if needed... :)
- Yumm.... flavorsome and healthy Khakos are ready to bite into ...!!!
- Crunchy base and fresh vegetables makes a delicious snack...!!!
Quantity:
Notes:
- Turmeric is optional. I think the dark color of the bean paste looks better.
- As the canned or even the boiled kidney beans are already salted, be careful while adding more salt ...when further cooking the bean paste.
- You can use other vegetables or even grilled chicken as topping.
- You can use 2 khakras as base(it makes a stronger base)
- Serve immediately as the khakras will go soft in a while.
- You can make this, on a bread toast too, if you do not have khakras.
- You can puree leftover, rajmah curry too...(after removing the whole spices).
Since I bought the perfect fitting cupcake liners for my cupcake tray, the cupcakes seem to bake well. My kids have their friends over, so they like having these mini treats with their evening milk, after afternoon of play and games...!!! A snack, which looks like a cupcake, yet it is kinda healthy(compared to any store bought stuff, I could give them), and which is very easy to make and bake without any lengthy procedure or fancy baking equipment.... :) Sounds good, doesn't it ...?? It tastes good too, with burst of fresh flavors.... !! Google searched and found this yummy recipe, here. It's detailed and I chose to do the original version, with few changes.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all purpose flour (OR whole wheat flour... check notes)
- 3/4 cup quick cooking oats (OR use rolled oats)
- 1/3 OR 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder (As I used self-raising flour, I omitted this ingredient)
- 1/2 cup of dried cranberries (OR use dried cherries, apricots, raisins)
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips(OR use roasted walnuts)
- 1 egg (or 2 egg whites.....OR 2 tbsp yogurt to make the eggless version)
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 tbsp oil (any flavorless oil, I used canola)
- 1 tsp grated orange zest
- more oats, chocolate chips, cranberries to sprinkle on top
Recipe:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees for about 10 mins.
- Line the cupcake tray with paper liners.
- Powder the oats, to flour in a grinder.
- Sift flours, salt, baking powder in a large bowl.
- I pureed the cranberries. You can use them whole.
- Add sugar and dried cranberries. Mix with a spatula.
- Add chocolate chips or walnuts. Mix again.
- Make a well in the center of dry mix and keep aside.
- In a measuring cup, measure milk.
- Add oil and egg(or yogurt) to it.
- Add orange zest and mix with a fork or a whisk.
- Add this liquid mixture, to the dry ingredients.
- Mix with a spatula to get a smooth batter.
- Add additional 1-2 tsp milk, if you think the batter is too thick.
- Add about 2 tbsp of batter in the cupcake molds.
- Top it with 1/2 tsp of oats, cranberries or chocolate chips.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes till the tops are browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool them completely, before serving.
Quantity:
- Makes 12 medium size muffins.
Notes:
- You can use whole wheat flour instead of all purpose one. But, the muffins will be denser and different taste.(acquired taste)
- You can use rolled oats(or maybe steel cut oats -- I have never used steel cut oats) to make oat flour.
- You can use low fat milk and just 2 egg whites instead of a whole egg.
- You can use 2 tbsp of yogurt(Instead of egg), to make the recipe EGGLESS.
- The taste will differ and the muffins will be denser...if u use healthier ingredients.... :)
- As I pureed the cranberries, sugar can be reduced to maybe 1/3 cup....if you like the muffins to be on less sweet side...!
The end of school year in Singapore. My kids have vacations and I seem to be busier in holidays, than the school days..!! I am not cooking much, and the holidays are just passing by....! My son's friend's mom(Thank-you-- Shuvali), sent me a delicious chicken.... which we all liked so much and made me cook something new again. As I didn't have chicken at home, I decided to make the recipe with paneer. I loved the flavor.
Would you like to taste....? :)
Ingredients:
- 400 gms paneer cubes
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt (or regular curd. Hang it for an hour to get the thick waterless curd)
- 1 tsp each of nigella seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp of coriander and cumin powder
- 1 tsp of garam masala
- 1 large red onion
- 2 tomatoes
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 4 green chilies
- salt about 1 tsp or to taste
- 1- 3 tsp of mustard oil (or any regular oil or ghee, mustard oil flavor is really nice)
- More tomato, coriander leaves, or ginger to garnish
Recipe:
- Slit the green chilies, chop the onion and tomato, grate the ginger and garlic to paste.
- Heat mustard oil in a pan.
- Add the dry spices.(cumin, mustard, fennel, nigella and fenugreek)
- Heat them for about half a minute, add turmeric and asafoetida.
- Now add the ginger - garlic paste, onions and then the tomatoes. Saute them for 30 seconds to a minute after each addition.
- Add the cumin and coriander powder and saute till the masala is cooked.
- Now add paneer cubes and mix well.
- Cook for about 5-7 minutes.
- Lower the heat, add salt and garam masala.
- Add the greek yogurt and mix it in with the paneer and let it cook on a low flame for 3-5 minutes.
- Garnish with more tomatoes, coriander leaves and slit chilies or ginger matchsticks.
- A very yummy side for roti, parathas or naans.
Quantity:
- 3-4 servings with other accompaniments like roti, chapati, naan or parathas.
Note:
- This recipe can also be made with chicken. As my son says, it tastes better with chicken :)
- Marinate the chicken with salt, turmeric and greek yogurt (or hung curd) for about 2-3 hours before cooking it.
Spaghetti/Noodles is a favorite meal in my house. Even my little one has started to like it. This meal gives enough opportunities to sneak healthy ingredients like vegetables and meat. Basil pesto is a very fresh and subtly delicious flavor to add to the spaghetti.
Ingredients:
- 300 gms spaghetti noodles
- 2 cups of fresh italian basil leaves (I have used 1 cup of thai basil leaves, as that's what I had)
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp walnuts(I didn't use)
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil for the pesto
- 1 tbsp olive oil for spaghetti
- 10 green or black pitted olives
- 1 yellow/red bell pepper
- about 200 gms salad shrimps (optional -- for non-veg version)
- or you can add 1 or 3/4 cup of frozen corn (optional -- for vegetarian version)
- extra basil leaves, chopped walnuts, lemon slices and Parmesan cheese to garnish
- salt, pepper and red chili flakes according to taste
Recipe:
- Boil the spaghetti in enough salted water according to package directions.
- Mine took 13 minutes. Reserve around half cup of salted spaghetti water.
- Drain in a colander, and keep aside.
- Wash and clean the basil leaves. Remove the thick stalks. Peel garlic. Chop about half of it.
- Take the basil leaves, remaining garlic, Parmesan cheese, walnuts, olive oil, lemon juice and pulse in a food processor or a blender for few seconds ....till u get a smooth puree.
- Add fresh lemon zest to the puree and mix.
- Heat a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Add chopped garlic, red chili and saute for a minute.
- Add the pesto paste and saute for another minute.
- Add the chopped bell pepper and olives. Mix for 30 secs.
- Add the frozen shrimps or the corn. Saute for another 30 secs to a minute.
- Add the spaghetti, along with the salted water and mix well.
- Add salt, pepper and dried chili flakes according to taste or if needed.(I didn't add any more salt)
- Serve hot, garnished with lemon slices, basil leaves, toasted walnuts and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Quantity:
- Use Italian basil leaves. That will give deep green color to the spaghetti and stronger flavor.
- Leave out shrimps to make a vegetarian version. Add corn, baby corn or maybe grilled zucchini or eggplants.
- Keep the heat, low to moderate after adding the basil pesto. Add other ingredients one after the other after the pesto, so as not to over cook it...!!! It doesn't really need to cook or over cook.
- I didn't defrost the shrimps. It's better to defrost the shrimps or corn and bring it to room temperature, especially the cooked salad shrimps. You do not want to overcook(or even cook) them(as they are already cooked).
You can try these other spaghetti/pasta recipes too....
