Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Chicken-Soya Burger








There's nothing more delicious than homemade juicy burgers. Forget your jaws and fill as much as you can ... full open your mouth and stuff it with the burgers.. yummm ! I can't resist that. 

These are juicy , melt in mouth, easy to follow, simple to make and delicious little patties ; shallow fried in oil or grilled and then sandwiched between buns and salads of your choice. The recipe is a revised version of that adapted from Vah re Vah . I had mixed soya with chicken for healthy reasons and a little variation in the spices. Noo likes chicken and Raz likes vegetable burgers. So I say Noo that these are chicken burgers and to Raz I say Soya burgers.. Both are happy and I don't have to lie.. taada !








INGREDIENTS

2 cups/450g Chicken mince *

160g/1 cup Soya
4 tbsp cream
1 tsp Pepper powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Lemon juice 
3 tbsp Chopped coriander
1 tbsp Red chilli, crushed
2 Onions, finely chopped
1 tsp Garam masala
Salt
1/2 cup Bread crumbs
Extra Bread crumbs to coat




 METHOD:

 1. Soak soya nuggets in warm milk for atleast an hour. Drain them nicely, press till all moisture dries up and then  process in a food processor. 

2. Add chicken mince to it and blend again.

3. Place chicken and soya mixture in a bowl. Add all other ingredients except bread crumbs to coat . Mix well using a wooden spatula. 

4. The mixture will be very wet and sticky(that's the secret behind juicy burgers). Place some bread crumbs on a plate. Shape the chicken soya dough into patties and coat them with bread crumbs. You can either fry them then and there or freeze them for later purpose. Click here for freezing tips. 

5. Fry them till it turns golden color and get cooked through. About 3-4 minutes on each side on medium-high flame.

6. For assembling:- I used mayonnaise, lettuce,onions, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pickled jalapeno peppers, cheese and saute mushrooms.

* If you are using chicken breasts, cut them into chunks, clean and dry them nicely, process them in food processor.












Monday, 6 July 2015

Guest Post for YUMMY FOOD: Lime Juice & Chilli marinated Chicken Fajitas


Today's is a guest post for a blogger friend Lubna Karim, who blogs at Yummy Food. Like every year, she is here with her wonderful Ramadan event 'Joy from Fasting to Feasting' . Through this event, she tries to collect and publish recipes from around the world . This time also there are so many wonderful recipes until now and hope to see more varieties coming ahead. Best wishes for the event Lubna.

Wraps are better and healthier option than traditional snacks since they are not deep-fried. Chicken fajita rolls give you the tanginess and spiciness you need  with your cup of tea. It could be served as a wholesome meal too. Make sure to use fresh and crispy salads in your wraps. The mayonnaise dip, spiced with paprika and cumin, is perfect for wraps,fries or as a spread for sandwiches. 

Let's head on to Lubna's page for the recipe



Tuesday, 9 September 2014

Cheesy,Chicken & Corn Quesadilla with Avocado Dip




Quesadillas are Mexican wraps which could be made with no much fuss in your kitchen. These are excellent choice for those who are looking for easy breakfast or a light dinner. The most important part of any quesadilla is the filling.  You can play with your choice of filling which varies from vegetarian options like beans, corns,mushrooms, spinach etc. to non-vegetarian options like chicken or beef or a mix of both veg and non-veg. You can choose your favourite cheese also; mozarella, cheddar, parmesan ..anything!









When you decide the filling of your choice , next is to decide on the ways to cook it; whether to fry, grill,bake or panini press them. When you fry, you get crispy wraps as you can see in the picture, whereas a little care needed as if you place tortillas before oil is heated, it may end up in oily & soggy wraps. You can use your panini toasters for zero oil wraps. It's more easier and takes less time compared to frying. But it's not advisable for super-stuffed wraps. Baking is better when you make for your whole family in a bunch; and yes, less oil. You can grill your wraps when you are out for a BBQ.






Ingredients:

Tortillas    1 packet of 6
Onion      1/2 (medium)
Tomato           2 (medium,red & ripened)
Red chilli      2 
Coriander leaves   1 tbsp
Sweet corn        1 cup
Chicken           1 cup , pan-fried and shredded
Pepper            1/2 tsp
Salt
Cheddar cheese    1 1/2 cups




Method:

1. Prepare salsa. For this, chop onion and tomatoes into fine and small pieces. Mix these with chilli, salt and coriander leaves. Keep this aside.

2. Boil or steam sweetcorn till it is done. 

3. Marinate chicken with salt; heat pan and roast chicken with less oil. When cooled down, shred into pieces. Mix chicken and corn together and season with salt and pepper.

4. If you are frying:
Heat pan in slow flame and add a tsp of olive oil or butter and when it is hot, place tortillas on it in such a way that oil is coated on whole tortilla. Sprinkle 3-4 tbsp of cheese on it. Now top it with 3 tbsp of salsa. Layer chicken and corn mix on top of that; cheese again. Now close this with another tortilla and press nicely. Turn the quesadillas upside down and fry the other side too. When that side turn crispy brown, take it out onto a plate, cut into 4 pieces and serve. If you are making in huge batch, place the fried wraps in a preheated oven until the next wraps are fried to keep it warm.

You can make it moon shaped also. When you fill your wraps, fill in half and when cheese starts melting, close the wrap in half (crescent/semi-circle shape) and fry on both sides.

5. For baking(170C for 20-30 minutes) , grilling or toasting, prepare quesadillas, brush a little oil on top and then cook in oven, toaster or on grill. 

6. Serve hot as it is or with dips/sauces of your choice.



Avocado Dip:

Ingredients:

Avocado   1
Yogurt     3 tbsp
Tabasco sauce/ chilli sauce  -to taste

Method:

Mash avocado with fork until smooth and mix in yogurt and sauce. Dip is ready to serve !

Monday, 17 March 2014

Aloo Parantha- Tips to Freeze

I'm a freezer girl. I always try to dump anything and everything into my freezer which makes my life easier and  helps me to get out of my laziness to spend hours inside my kitchen. I wake up half an hour prior to my kids' bus time and those thirty minutes are like hell! I always thought that the song 'Jame raho... ' from the movie Taare Zameen Par was made just for me. I know all moms take that to their credit. But I guess I'm more closer to that character ;) I plan to wake up earlier; set 6-7 alarms from 5 am to 5:38am; but wake up at the last set time. Waking up kids, packing tiffin,ironing uniforms, preparing breakfast, making them eat .. all these are done in those thirty minutes. Kids' bus arrive at 6:10 and many a times I miss that too. I had to then drive and drop kids to the big roundabout where I could catch the bus. I know my friends must be laughing at this as they always make fun of me.
In the midst of all these things, the only relaxing bit is that I always store something and all in the freezer which helps me to prepare breakfast in no time. Whenever I make parathas or rotis, I make 5-6 more and freeze it. I also freeze sandwich stuffings, french fries,home-made burgers etc. Also when planning for some dinner party, the first thing I do is freezing some parathas. This makes our job easier.



For The Dough:
Wheat flour 3 cups
Salt             1tsp
Oil              1 Tbsp

For The Stuffing:
Potato                         3 large/700 g
Oil                              2tbsp
Onion                         1 chopped into chunks
Green chilli                 2 chopped finely
Ginger-garlic paste      2tsp
Cumin powder            1/2 tsp
Chilli powder              1 tsp
Coriander powder        1/2tsp
Turmeric powder         1 tsp
Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice                1 Tbsp
Coriander leaves          3 Tbsp
Salt to taste



 Method:

Stuffing:

1.  Mix the dough ingredients together in a bowl and add water to knead into a soft and pliable dough. Keep it aside.

2. Boil potato with salt and turmeric until cooked nicely. (Don't overcook them as it may result in messy stuffing)Cool them and grate them finely.


2. Crush onion, ginger, garlic and greenchilli in a grinder. Pulsing for 2-3 seconds is enough. Don't turn into paste. This is done to prevent paranthas from breaking while rolling.

3. Heat oil in a pan and saute onion paste in that till the raw smell disappears and colour changes slightly. 
4. Add spices to this. Saute for a few seconds.
5. Add grated potato to it and mix nicely and mash with the spatula. Make sure that masalas are coated evenly and nicely. Switch off the flame.

6. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice to it. Mix again.

7. Let it cool.



Parantha:

1. Make 12-13 balls of both the flour dough and filling.

2. Take a flour dough and roll slightly into a small circle. Place a ball of filling on it and cover from all the sides. Pin on top and shape into smooth balls again . Keep it aside. Repeat this step until all the dough balls are used up. 

3. Now take the first filled dough ball and flatten to a big circled roti.

4. Cook this on hot tawa (medium-low flame) flipping over both sides, spreading ghee/butter/oil on the parathas. Serve it  hot with dahi(curd) or achar(pickles). 

Notes:

#Grate cooked potatoes instead of just mashing them as this may prevent breaking while rolling.

#Use all purpose flour while rolling parathas to prevent sticking on the base. All purpose flour(maida) is better than whole-wheat flour(atta) for this purpose.

#Crush onion,ginger and garlic to prevent breaking of the parathas resulting in messy parathas. Avoid stems of coriander leaves for the same purpose.






Freezing tips:

Once you roll parathas, place it on a medium hot tawa and cook for a few seconds till a slight color change. Flip it over and cook the other side for another few seconds. (This step helps preventing parathas stick to each other or to the cling film)
 






No need to cook completely until crispier or flakier. Take it out to a plate with tissue paper and let it cool nicely. Once cooled layer your parathas with cling film (or plastic sheets or baking sheets) in between each parathas and place it inside a ziplock bag or air tight container. Once dumped into freezer bags, squeeze out maximum air as possible from inside and then lock the bags. I lock 3/4th of its face and then squeeze out air . Lock it after that. Freeze it until use.

To cook frozen parathas:

No need to thaw your parathas. Take it out from the freezer and place it on a medium-high hot tawa. Cook both sides until crispier and flakier. Brush oil/ghee/butter to make it more crispier. Serve hot.



Thursday, 14 November 2013

Healthy Pancakes

  • Happy Childrens Day!! 




  • A healthy pancake with all healthy ingredients such as oats, wholemeal flour etc. to all those wonderful moms who keep worrying about their kids' health and to all those kids who love eating delicious junks .


  • Ingredients:
  • Courtesy:Eating Well

  • Buttermilk 2 1/2 cups**
  • Oats 3/4 cups
  • All purpose flour/Maida 1 cup
  • Whole purpose flour/Atta 3/4 cup
  • Light brown sugar 1/4 cup ,packed
  • Baking powder 2 tsp
  • Baking soda 1tsp
  • Ground Cinnamon 1tsp
  • Salt 1/2tsp
  • Egg 1 ,large
  • Eggwhites 2, large
  • Oil 2 tsp

** For Buttermilk, add 2 1/2 tbsp of vinegar to 2 1/2 cups milk and allow it to remain at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes, without stirring/mixing it.
  • Method:

  1. Combine buttermilk and rolled oats in a small bowl; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes to soften oats. Stir all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour,  brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, egg whites and 1 teaspoon oil in a separate bowl. Add the oat mixture and the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
  2. Lightly brush a large nonstick skillet with a little of the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and heat over medium. Using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, pour batter onto the skillet and cook until the underside is browned and the bubbles on top remain open, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook until the underside is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm in a 200°F oven. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with a little of the remaining oil as needed. Serve hot, topping with maple syrup if desired.

Thursday, 5 September 2013

SOYA MUSHROOM BURGER- Happy Teachers Day!!

Just now read somehwhere "Teaching is the profession that teaches all other professions!" How true! We seldom realize such simple things in life unless told by someone.  I like all my teachers except two ,whom I really hate.(there's a genuine reason).As a child, I was very shy to express my respect or love towards them. So today I wanted to take this oppurtunity to share about some of my favourite teachers who left their impact on me.

Qamarunnisa Ma'm who taught me in Grade 2 from Al Noor School,Auh was my first favourite among teachers. She was so caring and knew to deal with small kids really well. I always got motherly affection from her and was surprised when she could recognize me after 8 years. The other favourites were Jayasree Ma'm, Sangeetha Ma'm, Hari sir, Lissy Ma'm, Sheena Ma'm etc. etc. and the list goes on. I wanted to thank all my teachers from the bottom of my heart. I wouldn't have achieved first rank in 12th without them and I really mean it. I was so careless in my studies; but the teachers' trust in me overpowered everything and I had to prove myself.



Coming over to the recipe, a wonderful , melt in mouth and healthy recipe which you can make ahead and freeze for your kids' school. You can avoid mushroom if your kids don't like it. Otherwise a power packed, nutritious food is just a few minutes away.

Ingredients :
Courtesy: Mummy Ka Magic
(Makes 10)

Soya bean chunks 36 medium sized
Button Mushrooms 6
Green peas 1 1/2 cups
Potato 2 cups, boiled and mashed
Onion 3, medium
Garlic 2tsp
Pepper 2 tsp
Oregano or Italian mixed herbs 3/4tsp, (Optional)
Bread crumbs, 1 cup or more for coating

Method:

Pour boiling water over soyabean in a bowl, let it soak for 10-15 minutes. Drain and squeeze them nicely. If there's any moisture left behind, there's a chance to break while frying.

Mince soya beans, mushroom and greenpeas together in a grinder or foodprocessor. Keep it aside in a bowl.

Make a paste of onions. Heat oil in a pan and saute in garlic for few seconds . Add onion paste to it. Saute till the paste leaves sides of the pan. Add spices to it.

Add this paste into the soya mixture. Mix in breadcrumbs nicely. Take a handful of mixture and make patties out of it. Coat breadcrumbs and shallowfry this in little oil.

If you want to freeze, follow the same procedures I followed in freezing Meat Cutlets.



Linking this to Back 2 School Event hosted by me
Healthy Breakfast Event


Saturday, 31 August 2013

Cream Scones

Updated with a better picture :)


Weekend Breakfasts are one important meal of the family. Unlike people back home,I dont like spending hours in kitchen for breakfasts. My aunts make delicious breakfasts in the morning like kaarayappam, neipathal, muttayappam etc. But here, i think of nothing more than eggs or pancakes, puttu or cereals. The dull expressions seen on the faces of my folks while serving repeated stuffs for breakfast forced me to try variations; but mess-free.



This small cake is a quick bread, similar to an American biscuit, made of wheat flour (white or wholemeal), sugar, baking powder/baking soda, butter, milk (whole, half and half, light cream, heavy cream, buttermilk, yogurt, etc.), and sometimes eggs. This produces a soft and sticky dough. It needs to be baked in a moderate to hot oven so the dough sets quickly thereby producing a light scone with a light to golden brown floury top and bottom with white sides. The texture of the interior of the scone should be light and soft, and white in color. Got this recipe from Here.


I did try scones before with whole-wheat flour. Here is the Link to the recipe. You may add raisins, cranberries, etc to it if you like.


Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface, hands, and cutter
3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Strawberry preserves/jam for serving
Softly whipped cream, for serving








Directions


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until largest pieces are the size of small peas.

Using a fork, whisk together the cream and eggs in a large glass measuring cup. Make a well in the center of flour mixture, and pour in cream mixture. 

Stir lightly with fork just until the dough comes together (do not overmix).

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, gently pat dough into a 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch rectangle, about 3/4-inch thick. 

Using a floured 2-inch round cutter, cut out 8 to 10 rounds, and transfer them to lined baking sheet. Brush tops with cream, and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake scones until golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes. Transfer scones to wire racks, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with strawberry preserves/jam and whipped cream.












Tuesday, 13 August 2013

Idly-Soft and Perfect!


Ramadan is over and hence back to the routine. The same old breakfast,lunch,tea and dinner :( I miss Ramadan a lot this time. How nice it was to sleep late, wake up late and no hassles early morning. Kitchen was so clean at mornings. This time both my kids were fasting and so no hunger cries were there too.  Now kids wake me up saying 'I'm hungry Mom'.. and so I jump to kitchen directly from bed and make arrangements for breakfast .



Idly is so easy to make in the mornings when half of your job is done at previous nights. Grinding is done beforehand and sometimes I fill my idly cooker with water , cover it and keep on stove just like that so that I could wake up 5 minutes later :)

No introduction is needed for Idly these days as this has now turned to be so famous worldwide. This steamed cake made from rice and black lentils was not a regular dish at our places , but now it has added up to the favourite lists. We just love them because of its nutritional values and no oil part. I make sure to cook this atleast once a week so that kids get benefited of its protein, iron, carbohydrates and other nutritions.

After marriage, when I asked Jab about the dishes we served as to whether he liked our food or not ,what he said was he liked everything else except our idlys. I was surprised to hear that as it was soft and fluffy. He then took me to a restaurant at Calicut to show me the kind of Idly he liked. It was so delicious. It smelled nicely, was light and not sour at all. I then realised the difference of taste and I decided to try different proportions until I got this correctly. Before we used to take urad dal more and so its flavor was kind of predominating over others.



Ingredients:

Urad dal 1/2 cup
Idly rice/ parboiled rice 1 1/2 cups
Rice flakes/ aval/ poha 2-3tbsp(optional)
Fenugreek seeds/uluva 1 tsp
Water 2 cups




Method:

Soak urad dal and rice separately for a minimum of 3-4 hours. Soak fenugreek seeds with any of these.

Drain water from this using a strainer so as to add exact measure of water. Grind these separately and keep them for fermentation overnight in two different bowls.(see notes)

When fermented, fold these together adding salt to taste. Do not overmix the batter.

Now keep the idly cooker ready by filling water. Pour big ladleful of batter in each mould and steam it for 10-20 minutes at medium flame. This varies according to the type of idly cooker or the dish you use. Some need little time and some need more. Insert a toothpick or knife into idlys and if it comes out clean then it is done.

Take the moulds out ,sprinkle some water, let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then take it out with the help of a spoon. You can take it out hot too, but it might get sticky and you might find it difficult to unmould. Anyway,the taste is not going to change.

Serve it hot with Sambhar or Chutney.



Notes:

Fermentation time depends on the temperature of your kitchen. It's so easy here in middle-east kitchen during summers, other than airconditioned ones. It takes 5-6 hours in my kitchen. You add a pinch of yeast if you find it difficuilt to ferment. Adding 1 or 2 tbsp of cooked rice or rice flakes/aval/ poha also eases fermentation. You may either heat up your oven for 10-15 minutes, turn it off and then keep the batter inside.  Try any one of these techniques but not two techniques at a time.  Don't keep it so long to turn it sour. 

Linking this to:

Rakshabandhan Event

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Mushroom Sandwich

'Eat Healthy, Do Not Waste' is my mantra this Ramadan.

 Oil fried snacks are not at all a good idea to have during Iftars. But that has turned to a custom since years in many regions including ours.  To change or to revolt against the year old tradition is a big task in itself- to fight with our family members and with our own minds. As Jab is a doctor and health concious too(obviously) , I find it a bit easy to convince them.





We always break fast with fruit salads ,juice and water, as recommended by Prophet (PBUH) and now scientifically proven. We feel so good and refreshed after that. Sometimes we do make fruit custards, but most of the days we add fresh melon or orange juices to our fruit salads. Just a little but it tastes so good. Then, after prayer comes the teatime when we usually eat oily snacks. But the change we tried (to avoid oily stuffs) helped us to feel active during Tharaaveeh (prayer after) . One hour long prayer helps digesting these snacks easily and then it's time for a light meal. Suhoor (Early breakfast)defenitely should be a wholesome meal which help us to stay active the whole day. Eating dry fruits during Suhoor is highly recommended.


Ingredients:

Button Mushrooms 1 box
Oil 1tbsp
Onion 1/2
Garlic 4 cloves
Pepper 1 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves 1 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and saute onion till it changes it color.

2. Add garlic and saute a little more.

3. Pop in mushroom slices into it. Saute till it turns golden brown for about 10-12 minutes.

4. Once it is done, throw in coriander leaves.

5. Toast breads and assemble the sandwich ingredients.

6. Place cheese slice first, then mushroom filing, tomato slice, cucumber slice. etc and close with another toast.Microwave this for 20 seconds

Variation:

You can either assemble the sandwich and then toast it, if you like melted cheese.
Adding olives, mayonnaise, lettuce etc. may add variation to the taste, depending upon your choice.


Friday, 16 November 2012

Sausage Masala





Ingredients

Olive oil
Sausages 4-5 
Carrots 1/2
Onion 1 large
Ginger 1 tsp
Garlic 1 1/2 tsp
Tomato 1 large
Green Chillies 3-4
Red Bell Pepper (capsicum) 1/2
Green Capsicum 1/2
Carrots p
Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
  


Method:

Cut the sausages into 1" pieces and vegetables into square pieces.

In a small bowl, mix Red Chili, Coriander and Turmeric powders with Ginger paste and 1-2 tablespoons of water.    You can also use 1-2 teaspoon of Curry Powder in place of Red Chili, Coriander and    Turmeric powders

    Heat a little olive oil and fry sausages till golden brown. Remove from the pan and fry the bell peppers (capsicums) and carrots. Dont overfry it, crispiness should be there.Keep them aside with the fried sausages.

    Add more oil, if required, add the finely chopped onions and fry till golden brown. Add the big pieces of onions with garlic and green chilies. Saute for 1-2 minutes.

    Add the spice mixture (paste) in the pan and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

    Add Tomatoes, saute for 1-2 minutes and cover the pan till the tomatoes are mushy and leaves oil from corners.

    Add all the vegetables with Sausages, give a nice stir, add the salt and water. Cover the pan till the gravy becomes thick and all the vegetables are completely cooked.
    • Serve hot with plain Rice or Chapati.












    Sunday, 18 March 2012

    Nutella Paranthas- Happy Holidays

    Happy Holidays to all the kids and best of luck to their moms.

    Childrens Vacation Mothers Worry Time. I know there are many moms who get worried so easily when their kids' vacations starts. Likewhat Mini (my friend) said 'From today onwards, for three weeks its gonna be  Entertainment, Entertainment & Entertainment'. haha.. But I love vacations. There's a lot that we Moms can plan to make their holidays educative, fun and memorable ones. Cartoons or movies is just not the one and only thing to keep them busy.


     I choose some themes for every holidays to keep them engaged and learn a new thing. This time, it's HYGIENE. And our motto is 'For Health to be Bright, Hygiene should be Right' . Google is my best companion who helps me out in doing this successfully through printouts of posters, tips and youtube educational videos.
     

    Kids often show up hungry during holidays. They need something to crack every now and then. Either keep them busy or they'll find something to keep me busy. :) .  The holidays mean yummy, festive treats for them. They wake up demanding some awesome breakfast to start their day with and seems lazy to eat the regular stuffs which they used to have from their schools in packed boxes. They like to help us in kitchen to prepare some. Here is one such breakfast dish (inspired from Masterchef) which I'm sure they would like rolling, folding and spreading out nutellas and the more they would enjoy eating that. My kids enjoy every bite of it and hope yours too..

    Ingredients:

    Flour 1/2 kg
    Ghee 35gm
    Nuts (Cashews/almonds or any ) 1 to 2 tbsp
    Nutella 2 tbsp ,heaped
    Oil 1 tbsp
    Butter 1 tbsp







    Method:

    Combine the flour with enough salt and ghee. Mix in just enough water to knead the mixture to a smooth firm dough. Cover the dough with a moist muslin and kepp aside to rest for 25 minutes.

    2. Dry roast the nuts , turning constantly till cashews turn golden. Cool and break them into fine chunks or powder them.

    3. In a samll mixing bowl, combine the nutella with powdered nuts and melted butter. Mix very well and refrigerate the mixture until firm.

    4. Divide the dough into 6 balls, roll each out into a round paratha. Apply melted ghee on each paratha, fold it into a semi-circle, apply some more ghee on one side of the paratha and fold it again into a cone shape. Roll out into a triangular shape paratha.

    5. Heat a tawa and roast the parathas partly basting lightly with oil. When on the tawa/pan, separate a layer of each partially cooked paratha making sure to leave it intact on the two sides, fill in the nutella mixture, seal and cook the paratha completely. You can do this on your kitchen counter also . Just take this off from the pan and then return it after filling the nutella mixture.

    6.Serve hot.

    LINKING THIS TO KIDS DELIGHT ORIGINALLY HOSTED BY SRIVALLI




    Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
    Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts

    Tuesday, 24 November 2015

    Chicken-Soya Burger








    There's nothing more delicious than homemade juicy burgers. Forget your jaws and fill as much as you can ... full open your mouth and stuff it with the burgers.. yummm ! I can't resist that. 

    These are juicy , melt in mouth, easy to follow, simple to make and delicious little patties ; shallow fried in oil or grilled and then sandwiched between buns and salads of your choice. The recipe is a revised version of that adapted from Vah re Vah . I had mixed soya with chicken for healthy reasons and a little variation in the spices. Noo likes chicken and Raz likes vegetable burgers. So I say Noo that these are chicken burgers and to Raz I say Soya burgers.. Both are happy and I don't have to lie.. taada !








    INGREDIENTS

    2 cups/450g Chicken mince *

    160g/1 cup Soya
    4 tbsp cream
    1 tsp Pepper powder
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tbsp Lemon juice 
    3 tbsp Chopped coriander
    1 tbsp Red chilli, crushed
    2 Onions, finely chopped
    1 tsp Garam masala
    Salt
    1/2 cup Bread crumbs
    Extra Bread crumbs to coat




     METHOD:

     1. Soak soya nuggets in warm milk for atleast an hour. Drain them nicely, press till all moisture dries up and then  process in a food processor. 

    2. Add chicken mince to it and blend again.

    3. Place chicken and soya mixture in a bowl. Add all other ingredients except bread crumbs to coat . Mix well using a wooden spatula. 

    4. The mixture will be very wet and sticky(that's the secret behind juicy burgers). Place some bread crumbs on a plate. Shape the chicken soya dough into patties and coat them with bread crumbs. You can either fry them then and there or freeze them for later purpose. Click here for freezing tips. 

    5. Fry them till it turns golden color and get cooked through. About 3-4 minutes on each side on medium-high flame.

    6. For assembling:- I used mayonnaise, lettuce,onions, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pickled jalapeno peppers, cheese and saute mushrooms.

    * If you are using chicken breasts, cut them into chunks, clean and dry them nicely, process them in food processor.












    Monday, 6 July 2015

    Guest Post for YUMMY FOOD: Lime Juice & Chilli marinated Chicken Fajitas


    Today's is a guest post for a blogger friend Lubna Karim, who blogs at Yummy Food. Like every year, she is here with her wonderful Ramadan event 'Joy from Fasting to Feasting' . Through this event, she tries to collect and publish recipes from around the world . This time also there are so many wonderful recipes until now and hope to see more varieties coming ahead. Best wishes for the event Lubna.

    Wraps are better and healthier option than traditional snacks since they are not deep-fried. Chicken fajita rolls give you the tanginess and spiciness you need  with your cup of tea. It could be served as a wholesome meal too. Make sure to use fresh and crispy salads in your wraps. The mayonnaise dip, spiced with paprika and cumin, is perfect for wraps,fries or as a spread for sandwiches. 

    Let's head on to Lubna's page for the recipe



    Tuesday, 9 September 2014

    Cheesy,Chicken & Corn Quesadilla with Avocado Dip




    Quesadillas are Mexican wraps which could be made with no much fuss in your kitchen. These are excellent choice for those who are looking for easy breakfast or a light dinner. The most important part of any quesadilla is the filling.  You can play with your choice of filling which varies from vegetarian options like beans, corns,mushrooms, spinach etc. to non-vegetarian options like chicken or beef or a mix of both veg and non-veg. You can choose your favourite cheese also; mozarella, cheddar, parmesan ..anything!









    When you decide the filling of your choice , next is to decide on the ways to cook it; whether to fry, grill,bake or panini press them. When you fry, you get crispy wraps as you can see in the picture, whereas a little care needed as if you place tortillas before oil is heated, it may end up in oily & soggy wraps. You can use your panini toasters for zero oil wraps. It's more easier and takes less time compared to frying. But it's not advisable for super-stuffed wraps. Baking is better when you make for your whole family in a bunch; and yes, less oil. You can grill your wraps when you are out for a BBQ.






    Ingredients:

    Tortillas    1 packet of 6
    Onion      1/2 (medium)
    Tomato           2 (medium,red & ripened)
    Red chilli      2 
    Coriander leaves   1 tbsp
    Sweet corn        1 cup
    Chicken           1 cup , pan-fried and shredded
    Pepper            1/2 tsp
    Salt
    Cheddar cheese    1 1/2 cups




    Method:

    1. Prepare salsa. For this, chop onion and tomatoes into fine and small pieces. Mix these with chilli, salt and coriander leaves. Keep this aside.

    2. Boil or steam sweetcorn till it is done. 

    3. Marinate chicken with salt; heat pan and roast chicken with less oil. When cooled down, shred into pieces. Mix chicken and corn together and season with salt and pepper.

    4. If you are frying:
    Heat pan in slow flame and add a tsp of olive oil or butter and when it is hot, place tortillas on it in such a way that oil is coated on whole tortilla. Sprinkle 3-4 tbsp of cheese on it. Now top it with 3 tbsp of salsa. Layer chicken and corn mix on top of that; cheese again. Now close this with another tortilla and press nicely. Turn the quesadillas upside down and fry the other side too. When that side turn crispy brown, take it out onto a plate, cut into 4 pieces and serve. If you are making in huge batch, place the fried wraps in a preheated oven until the next wraps are fried to keep it warm.

    You can make it moon shaped also. When you fill your wraps, fill in half and when cheese starts melting, close the wrap in half (crescent/semi-circle shape) and fry on both sides.

    5. For baking(170C for 20-30 minutes) , grilling or toasting, prepare quesadillas, brush a little oil on top and then cook in oven, toaster or on grill. 

    6. Serve hot as it is or with dips/sauces of your choice.



    Avocado Dip:

    Ingredients:

    Avocado   1
    Yogurt     3 tbsp
    Tabasco sauce/ chilli sauce  -to taste

    Method:

    Mash avocado with fork until smooth and mix in yogurt and sauce. Dip is ready to serve !

    Monday, 17 March 2014

    Aloo Parantha- Tips to Freeze

    I'm a freezer girl. I always try to dump anything and everything into my freezer which makes my life easier and  helps me to get out of my laziness to spend hours inside my kitchen. I wake up half an hour prior to my kids' bus time and those thirty minutes are like hell! I always thought that the song 'Jame raho... ' from the movie Taare Zameen Par was made just for me. I know all moms take that to their credit. But I guess I'm more closer to that character ;) I plan to wake up earlier; set 6-7 alarms from 5 am to 5:38am; but wake up at the last set time. Waking up kids, packing tiffin,ironing uniforms, preparing breakfast, making them eat .. all these are done in those thirty minutes. Kids' bus arrive at 6:10 and many a times I miss that too. I had to then drive and drop kids to the big roundabout where I could catch the bus. I know my friends must be laughing at this as they always make fun of me.
    In the midst of all these things, the only relaxing bit is that I always store something and all in the freezer which helps me to prepare breakfast in no time. Whenever I make parathas or rotis, I make 5-6 more and freeze it. I also freeze sandwich stuffings, french fries,home-made burgers etc. Also when planning for some dinner party, the first thing I do is freezing some parathas. This makes our job easier.



    For The Dough:
    Wheat flour 3 cups
    Salt             1tsp
    Oil              1 Tbsp

    For The Stuffing:
    Potato                         3 large/700 g
    Oil                              2tbsp
    Onion                         1 chopped into chunks
    Green chilli                 2 chopped finely
    Ginger-garlic paste      2tsp
    Cumin powder            1/2 tsp
    Chilli powder              1 tsp
    Coriander powder        1/2tsp
    Turmeric powder         1 tsp
    Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
    Lemon juice                1 Tbsp
    Coriander leaves          3 Tbsp
    Salt to taste



     Method:

    Stuffing:

    1.  Mix the dough ingredients together in a bowl and add water to knead into a soft and pliable dough. Keep it aside.

    2. Boil potato with salt and turmeric until cooked nicely. (Don't overcook them as it may result in messy stuffing)Cool them and grate them finely.


    2. Crush onion, ginger, garlic and greenchilli in a grinder. Pulsing for 2-3 seconds is enough. Don't turn into paste. This is done to prevent paranthas from breaking while rolling.

    3. Heat oil in a pan and saute onion paste in that till the raw smell disappears and colour changes slightly. 
    4. Add spices to this. Saute for a few seconds.
    5. Add grated potato to it and mix nicely and mash with the spatula. Make sure that masalas are coated evenly and nicely. Switch off the flame.

    6. Add coriander leaves and lemon juice to it. Mix again.

    7. Let it cool.



    Parantha:

    1. Make 12-13 balls of both the flour dough and filling.

    2. Take a flour dough and roll slightly into a small circle. Place a ball of filling on it and cover from all the sides. Pin on top and shape into smooth balls again . Keep it aside. Repeat this step until all the dough balls are used up. 

    3. Now take the first filled dough ball and flatten to a big circled roti.

    4. Cook this on hot tawa (medium-low flame) flipping over both sides, spreading ghee/butter/oil on the parathas. Serve it  hot with dahi(curd) or achar(pickles). 

    Notes:

    #Grate cooked potatoes instead of just mashing them as this may prevent breaking while rolling.

    #Use all purpose flour while rolling parathas to prevent sticking on the base. All purpose flour(maida) is better than whole-wheat flour(atta) for this purpose.

    #Crush onion,ginger and garlic to prevent breaking of the parathas resulting in messy parathas. Avoid stems of coriander leaves for the same purpose.






    Freezing tips:

    Once you roll parathas, place it on a medium hot tawa and cook for a few seconds till a slight color change. Flip it over and cook the other side for another few seconds. (This step helps preventing parathas stick to each other or to the cling film)
     






    No need to cook completely until crispier or flakier. Take it out to a plate with tissue paper and let it cool nicely. Once cooled layer your parathas with cling film (or plastic sheets or baking sheets) in between each parathas and place it inside a ziplock bag or air tight container. Once dumped into freezer bags, squeeze out maximum air as possible from inside and then lock the bags. I lock 3/4th of its face and then squeeze out air . Lock it after that. Freeze it until use.

    To cook frozen parathas:

    No need to thaw your parathas. Take it out from the freezer and place it on a medium-high hot tawa. Cook both sides until crispier and flakier. Brush oil/ghee/butter to make it more crispier. Serve hot.



    Thursday, 14 November 2013

    Healthy Pancakes

    • Happy Childrens Day!! 




    • A healthy pancake with all healthy ingredients such as oats, wholemeal flour etc. to all those wonderful moms who keep worrying about their kids' health and to all those kids who love eating delicious junks .


    • Ingredients:
    • Courtesy:Eating Well

    • Buttermilk 2 1/2 cups**
    • Oats 3/4 cups
    • All purpose flour/Maida 1 cup
    • Whole purpose flour/Atta 3/4 cup
    • Light brown sugar 1/4 cup ,packed
    • Baking powder 2 tsp
    • Baking soda 1tsp
    • Ground Cinnamon 1tsp
    • Salt 1/2tsp
    • Egg 1 ,large
    • Eggwhites 2, large
    • Oil 2 tsp

    ** For Buttermilk, add 2 1/2 tbsp of vinegar to 2 1/2 cups milk and allow it to remain at room temperature for a minimum of 15 minutes, without stirring/mixing it.
    • Method:

    1. Combine buttermilk and rolled oats in a small bowl; let rest for 20 to 30 minutes to soften oats. Stir all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour,  brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg, egg whites and 1 teaspoon oil in a separate bowl. Add the oat mixture and the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
    2. Lightly brush a large nonstick skillet with a little of the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and heat over medium. Using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake, pour batter onto the skillet and cook until the underside is browned and the bubbles on top remain open, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the pancakes over and cook until the underside is browned, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a platter and keep warm in a 200°F oven. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing skillet with a little of the remaining oil as needed. Serve hot, topping with maple syrup if desired.

    Thursday, 5 September 2013

    SOYA MUSHROOM BURGER- Happy Teachers Day!!

    Just now read somehwhere "Teaching is the profession that teaches all other professions!" How true! We seldom realize such simple things in life unless told by someone.  I like all my teachers except two ,whom I really hate.(there's a genuine reason).As a child, I was very shy to express my respect or love towards them. So today I wanted to take this oppurtunity to share about some of my favourite teachers who left their impact on me.

    Qamarunnisa Ma'm who taught me in Grade 2 from Al Noor School,Auh was my first favourite among teachers. She was so caring and knew to deal with small kids really well. I always got motherly affection from her and was surprised when she could recognize me after 8 years. The other favourites were Jayasree Ma'm, Sangeetha Ma'm, Hari sir, Lissy Ma'm, Sheena Ma'm etc. etc. and the list goes on. I wanted to thank all my teachers from the bottom of my heart. I wouldn't have achieved first rank in 12th without them and I really mean it. I was so careless in my studies; but the teachers' trust in me overpowered everything and I had to prove myself.



    Coming over to the recipe, a wonderful , melt in mouth and healthy recipe which you can make ahead and freeze for your kids' school. You can avoid mushroom if your kids don't like it. Otherwise a power packed, nutritious food is just a few minutes away.

    Ingredients :
    Courtesy: Mummy Ka Magic
    (Makes 10)

    Soya bean chunks 36 medium sized
    Button Mushrooms 6
    Green peas 1 1/2 cups
    Potato 2 cups, boiled and mashed
    Onion 3, medium
    Garlic 2tsp
    Pepper 2 tsp
    Oregano or Italian mixed herbs 3/4tsp, (Optional)
    Bread crumbs, 1 cup or more for coating

    Method:

    Pour boiling water over soyabean in a bowl, let it soak for 10-15 minutes. Drain and squeeze them nicely. If there's any moisture left behind, there's a chance to break while frying.

    Mince soya beans, mushroom and greenpeas together in a grinder or foodprocessor. Keep it aside in a bowl.

    Make a paste of onions. Heat oil in a pan and saute in garlic for few seconds . Add onion paste to it. Saute till the paste leaves sides of the pan. Add spices to it.

    Add this paste into the soya mixture. Mix in breadcrumbs nicely. Take a handful of mixture and make patties out of it. Coat breadcrumbs and shallowfry this in little oil.

    If you want to freeze, follow the same procedures I followed in freezing Meat Cutlets.



    Linking this to Back 2 School Event hosted by me
    Healthy Breakfast Event


    Saturday, 31 August 2013

    Cream Scones

    Updated with a better picture :)


    Weekend Breakfasts are one important meal of the family. Unlike people back home,I dont like spending hours in kitchen for breakfasts. My aunts make delicious breakfasts in the morning like kaarayappam, neipathal, muttayappam etc. But here, i think of nothing more than eggs or pancakes, puttu or cereals. The dull expressions seen on the faces of my folks while serving repeated stuffs for breakfast forced me to try variations; but mess-free.



    This small cake is a quick bread, similar to an American biscuit, made of wheat flour (white or wholemeal), sugar, baking powder/baking soda, butter, milk (whole, half and half, light cream, heavy cream, buttermilk, yogurt, etc.), and sometimes eggs. This produces a soft and sticky dough. It needs to be baked in a moderate to hot oven so the dough sets quickly thereby producing a light scone with a light to golden brown floury top and bottom with white sides. The texture of the interior of the scone should be light and soft, and white in color. Got this recipe from Here.


    I did try scones before with whole-wheat flour. Here is the Link to the recipe. You may add raisins, cranberries, etc to it if you like.


    Ingredients

    2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface, hands, and cutter
    3 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
    1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
    2 large eggs, lightly beaten
    Strawberry preserves/jam for serving
    Softly whipped cream, for serving








    Directions


    Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

    Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until largest pieces are the size of small peas.

    Using a fork, whisk together the cream and eggs in a large glass measuring cup. Make a well in the center of flour mixture, and pour in cream mixture. 

    Stir lightly with fork just until the dough comes together (do not overmix).

    Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, gently pat dough into a 4 1/2-by-8 1/2-inch rectangle, about 3/4-inch thick. 

    Using a floured 2-inch round cutter, cut out 8 to 10 rounds, and transfer them to lined baking sheet. Brush tops with cream, and sprinkle with sugar. 

    Bake scones until golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes. Transfer scones to wire racks, and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, topped with strawberry preserves/jam and whipped cream.












    Tuesday, 13 August 2013

    Idly-Soft and Perfect!


    Ramadan is over and hence back to the routine. The same old breakfast,lunch,tea and dinner :( I miss Ramadan a lot this time. How nice it was to sleep late, wake up late and no hassles early morning. Kitchen was so clean at mornings. This time both my kids were fasting and so no hunger cries were there too.  Now kids wake me up saying 'I'm hungry Mom'.. and so I jump to kitchen directly from bed and make arrangements for breakfast .



    Idly is so easy to make in the mornings when half of your job is done at previous nights. Grinding is done beforehand and sometimes I fill my idly cooker with water , cover it and keep on stove just like that so that I could wake up 5 minutes later :)

    No introduction is needed for Idly these days as this has now turned to be so famous worldwide. This steamed cake made from rice and black lentils was not a regular dish at our places , but now it has added up to the favourite lists. We just love them because of its nutritional values and no oil part. I make sure to cook this atleast once a week so that kids get benefited of its protein, iron, carbohydrates and other nutritions.

    After marriage, when I asked Jab about the dishes we served as to whether he liked our food or not ,what he said was he liked everything else except our idlys. I was surprised to hear that as it was soft and fluffy. He then took me to a restaurant at Calicut to show me the kind of Idly he liked. It was so delicious. It smelled nicely, was light and not sour at all. I then realised the difference of taste and I decided to try different proportions until I got this correctly. Before we used to take urad dal more and so its flavor was kind of predominating over others.



    Ingredients:

    Urad dal 1/2 cup
    Idly rice/ parboiled rice 1 1/2 cups
    Rice flakes/ aval/ poha 2-3tbsp(optional)
    Fenugreek seeds/uluva 1 tsp
    Water 2 cups




    Method:

    Soak urad dal and rice separately for a minimum of 3-4 hours. Soak fenugreek seeds with any of these.

    Drain water from this using a strainer so as to add exact measure of water. Grind these separately and keep them for fermentation overnight in two different bowls.(see notes)

    When fermented, fold these together adding salt to taste. Do not overmix the batter.

    Now keep the idly cooker ready by filling water. Pour big ladleful of batter in each mould and steam it for 10-20 minutes at medium flame. This varies according to the type of idly cooker or the dish you use. Some need little time and some need more. Insert a toothpick or knife into idlys and if it comes out clean then it is done.

    Take the moulds out ,sprinkle some water, let it cool for 5-10 minutes and then take it out with the help of a spoon. You can take it out hot too, but it might get sticky and you might find it difficult to unmould. Anyway,the taste is not going to change.

    Serve it hot with Sambhar or Chutney.



    Notes:

    Fermentation time depends on the temperature of your kitchen. It's so easy here in middle-east kitchen during summers, other than airconditioned ones. It takes 5-6 hours in my kitchen. You add a pinch of yeast if you find it difficuilt to ferment. Adding 1 or 2 tbsp of cooked rice or rice flakes/aval/ poha also eases fermentation. You may either heat up your oven for 10-15 minutes, turn it off and then keep the batter inside.  Try any one of these techniques but not two techniques at a time.  Don't keep it so long to turn it sour. 

    Linking this to:

    Rakshabandhan Event

    Wednesday, 17 July 2013

    Mushroom Sandwich

    'Eat Healthy, Do Not Waste' is my mantra this Ramadan.

     Oil fried snacks are not at all a good idea to have during Iftars. But that has turned to a custom since years in many regions including ours.  To change or to revolt against the year old tradition is a big task in itself- to fight with our family members and with our own minds. As Jab is a doctor and health concious too(obviously) , I find it a bit easy to convince them.





    We always break fast with fruit salads ,juice and water, as recommended by Prophet (PBUH) and now scientifically proven. We feel so good and refreshed after that. Sometimes we do make fruit custards, but most of the days we add fresh melon or orange juices to our fruit salads. Just a little but it tastes so good. Then, after prayer comes the teatime when we usually eat oily snacks. But the change we tried (to avoid oily stuffs) helped us to feel active during Tharaaveeh (prayer after) . One hour long prayer helps digesting these snacks easily and then it's time for a light meal. Suhoor (Early breakfast)defenitely should be a wholesome meal which help us to stay active the whole day. Eating dry fruits during Suhoor is highly recommended.


    Ingredients:

    Button Mushrooms 1 box
    Oil 1tbsp
    Onion 1/2
    Garlic 4 cloves
    Pepper 1 tsp
    Salt 1/2 tsp
    Coriander leaves 1 1/2 tsp

    Method:

    1. Heat oil in a pan and saute onion till it changes it color.

    2. Add garlic and saute a little more.

    3. Pop in mushroom slices into it. Saute till it turns golden brown for about 10-12 minutes.

    4. Once it is done, throw in coriander leaves.

    5. Toast breads and assemble the sandwich ingredients.

    6. Place cheese slice first, then mushroom filing, tomato slice, cucumber slice. etc and close with another toast.Microwave this for 20 seconds

    Variation:

    You can either assemble the sandwich and then toast it, if you like melted cheese.
    Adding olives, mayonnaise, lettuce etc. may add variation to the taste, depending upon your choice.


    Friday, 16 November 2012

    Sausage Masala





    Ingredients

    Olive oil
    Sausages 4-5 
    Carrots 1/2
    Onion 1 large
    Ginger 1 tsp
    Garlic 1 1/2 tsp
    Tomato 1 large
    Green Chillies 3-4
    Red Bell Pepper (capsicum) 1/2
    Green Capsicum 1/2
    Carrots p
    Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
    Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
    Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
      


    Method:

    Cut the sausages into 1" pieces and vegetables into square pieces.

    In a small bowl, mix Red Chili, Coriander and Turmeric powders with Ginger paste and 1-2 tablespoons of water.    You can also use 1-2 teaspoon of Curry Powder in place of Red Chili, Coriander and    Turmeric powders

      Heat a little olive oil and fry sausages till golden brown. Remove from the pan and fry the bell peppers (capsicums) and carrots. Dont overfry it, crispiness should be there.Keep them aside with the fried sausages.

      Add more oil, if required, add the finely chopped onions and fry till golden brown. Add the big pieces of onions with garlic and green chilies. Saute for 1-2 minutes.

      Add the spice mixture (paste) in the pan and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

      Add Tomatoes, saute for 1-2 minutes and cover the pan till the tomatoes are mushy and leaves oil from corners.

      Add all the vegetables with Sausages, give a nice stir, add the salt and water. Cover the pan till the gravy becomes thick and all the vegetables are completely cooked.
      • Serve hot with plain Rice or Chapati.












      Sunday, 18 March 2012

      Nutella Paranthas- Happy Holidays

      Happy Holidays to all the kids and best of luck to their moms.

      Childrens Vacation Mothers Worry Time. I know there are many moms who get worried so easily when their kids' vacations starts. Likewhat Mini (my friend) said 'From today onwards, for three weeks its gonna be  Entertainment, Entertainment & Entertainment'. haha.. But I love vacations. There's a lot that we Moms can plan to make their holidays educative, fun and memorable ones. Cartoons or movies is just not the one and only thing to keep them busy.


       I choose some themes for every holidays to keep them engaged and learn a new thing. This time, it's HYGIENE. And our motto is 'For Health to be Bright, Hygiene should be Right' . Google is my best companion who helps me out in doing this successfully through printouts of posters, tips and youtube educational videos.
       

      Kids often show up hungry during holidays. They need something to crack every now and then. Either keep them busy or they'll find something to keep me busy. :) .  The holidays mean yummy, festive treats for them. They wake up demanding some awesome breakfast to start their day with and seems lazy to eat the regular stuffs which they used to have from their schools in packed boxes. They like to help us in kitchen to prepare some. Here is one such breakfast dish (inspired from Masterchef) which I'm sure they would like rolling, folding and spreading out nutellas and the more they would enjoy eating that. My kids enjoy every bite of it and hope yours too..

      Ingredients:

      Flour 1/2 kg
      Ghee 35gm
      Nuts (Cashews/almonds or any ) 1 to 2 tbsp
      Nutella 2 tbsp ,heaped
      Oil 1 tbsp
      Butter 1 tbsp







      Method:

      Combine the flour with enough salt and ghee. Mix in just enough water to knead the mixture to a smooth firm dough. Cover the dough with a moist muslin and kepp aside to rest for 25 minutes.

      2. Dry roast the nuts , turning constantly till cashews turn golden. Cool and break them into fine chunks or powder them.

      3. In a samll mixing bowl, combine the nutella with powdered nuts and melted butter. Mix very well and refrigerate the mixture until firm.

      4. Divide the dough into 6 balls, roll each out into a round paratha. Apply melted ghee on each paratha, fold it into a semi-circle, apply some more ghee on one side of the paratha and fold it again into a cone shape. Roll out into a triangular shape paratha.

      5. Heat a tawa and roast the parathas partly basting lightly with oil. When on the tawa/pan, separate a layer of each partially cooked paratha making sure to leave it intact on the two sides, fill in the nutella mixture, seal and cook the paratha completely. You can do this on your kitchen counter also . Just take this off from the pan and then return it after filling the nutella mixture.

      6.Serve hot.

      LINKING THIS TO KIDS DELIGHT ORIGINALLY HOSTED BY SRIVALLI