Pav Bhaji

For this week's  Blog Hop Wednesday  I am paired with Shree. As Jai was on a business trip this week I was not in a mood to try anything new, yet waned to make something that I haven't blogged so far. My search ended when I saw this recipe. As usual I adapted it  a bit to our taste. It was just  wonderful to dig into this  while  listening to  Aishwarya's update on school and friends.
Recipe adapted from shreezexperiments
Ingredients:
For the bhaji:
Cauliflower /Beetroot - 1 cup chopped or grated
Peas - 1/2 cup
Bell peppers - 1/2  thinly sliced
carrot - 1 grated
Potato - 3 medium
Onion - 1 cup finely chopped
Tomato - 1 1/2 cup finely chopped
Ginger-1tsp
Garlic paste-1tsp
Pav bhaji masala - 1 1/2 tbsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp (reduce if you do not like the bhaji hot!)
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Kasuri methi-1 tsp
Black salt -1/2 tsp optional
Salt to taste
Pav or dinner rolls
Butter

For Garnishing / Serving:
Cilantro - 3 tbsp
lemon wedges
Onion

Method:
Steam cauliflower/ beetroot, peas, carrot and potato and keep aside. Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons of  butter or oil,add onion and ginger garlic paste,saute till onion turns transparent and  ginger garlic paste gives a cooked smell. Now add the bell peppers and fry for a minute,then add tomatoes,salt,pav bhaji masala and red chilli powder. Saute this till tomatoes turns soft and mushy and then add all the veggies, along with 1/2  a cup of water and stir well.
Simmer for 5 min and mash with a potato masher so that all the veggies get mixed well, add butter if desired.
Add a bit of water, if you feel the bhaaji is too thick.
Simmer the bhaji  for a few mins (10 mins should do). Towards the end of 10 minutes add kasuri methi, black salt and cilatro.
Serve this along with butter toasted dinner rolls or pav, a dollop of butter,few onion slices and a squeeze of lemon
Sending this over to Radhika's

Mediterranean Pizza

Friday nights are pizza nights for us. But the last Friday,  when I checked my refrigerator, I realized that I had so much of left-overs from the New Year celebrations that I decided to make it a left-over Friday instead! So to make up for that (and owing to the persistent demands of the pizza lovers in my family), I ended up making this pizza today. As it was a Sunday, I wanted to make something simple, easy, yet delicious; and this was the perfect choice.

Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:
Crust Ingredients:
3/4 cup water (110-115 degrees, preferably)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, melted or very softened
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon yeast
Toppings:
Crumbled feta cheese
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Minced Parsley
Red onion, sliced
Black olives, chopped
Sliced tomato
Chilli flakes
Dried oregano
Olive oil, to top

Method:
Proof the yeast by mixing with lukewarm water and sugar.Add butter and flour,knead for  6-8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Set dough in  a bowl and grease the top. Cover with a towel and set in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes. After dough has risen the first time, punch down and knead until air bubbles are removed.
Liberally butter a 16-inch round pizza pan, and press dough onto pan.  Then top with veggies and cheeses of your choice. Let the dough rise for 15-20 minutes (as the oven heats up).
Place pizza in oven and turn heat to 400 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes; rotate crust and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until top is browned. (Be sure to watch so it doesn't burn; every oven is different!)
 When pizza is browned, turn off heat and open oven door. Leave pizza in oven until ready to serve.

Curried Zucchini 'N Potato Soup

I am a soup lover. Many of my friends find this hard to believe as they all think that I only eat ,drink and dream of desserts. I came up with  this recipe today and believe me, it was real good. We enjoyed this soup to the last drop. Friends, do give this a try and I am sure you will love this simple soup in this cold weather. 
Ingredients:
1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1tablespoon butter
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt to taste
2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1 inch slices
2 potatoes cooked and cubed
4 cups chicken stock/vegetable stock
1tablespoon allpurpose flour
Method:
Heat the oil and butter in a large pot. Saute the onion, and season with curry powder and salt. Saute until onions are translucent. Add  zucchini, and cook until tender. Stir in the flour. Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and  simmer 10 minutes. Remove soup from heat. Use a hand blender, or transfer in batches to a blender, and blend until almost smooth. Add the cubed potatoes and simmer for another 10 mintues.

Lamington

HAPPY 2012!!  

I can't imagine any new beginning without chocolate and cake. So to celebrate the start of 2012, I thought of making these delicious and cute lamingtons, which is an Australian delicacy. Talking about Australia, today is also the birthday of my one and only SIL, who is settled in Australia - one more reason for me to have this cake on this special day! Dedicating these lamingtons to my SIL and all you wonderful friends of mine, who visit my blog and keeps me motivated to make the whole year a  reason for celebration.
Recipe adapted from Ria's Collection & What'sCookingAmerica
Ingredients:
For the cake:
All purpose flour-2cup
Eggs-2
Baking powder-2 heaped tsp
Baking Soda-1/2 tsp
Salt-1/4 tsp
Butter-125 g
Sugar-7 tbsp, powdered
Milk-1 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract-1/2-1 tsp

Raspberry preserve-3 tbs (for layering)

Method:
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Beat butter and sugar together till light and fluffy.Add in the eggs one by one and beat it well after each addition.Add flour and milk alternately starting and ending with flour. Add in the vanilla extract.If the batter is thick, add more milk and make it to the right consistency. Pour into a prepared cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C/350 F for 15 mins. Cool and cut the cake into small 2x2 inch squares.I coated half of my squares with raspberry preserve and stacked the uncoated ones on top of them.

For the chocolate coating
Ingredients:
4 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut

Method:

Place the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and milk in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir the mixture until it is smooth and of pouring consistency. Remove from heat.  NOTE: You don't want the liquid to get too thin as the cake won't absorb the frosting properly.

To assemble the Lamingtons:

Place some paper or plastic wrap under the wire racks to catch any dripping frosting. Place the cake squares on the racks and have your warm Chocolate Frosting and coconut ready. NOTE: If the frosting starts to set while using, stand bowl in hot water until frosting thins down.
Quickly spoon or ladle the warm Chocolate Frosting over the chocolate squares, and then let the cake drain. Coat each cake square on all sides in the Chocolate Frosting. NOTE: It is best to just do a few cake squares as a time.
Using a small knife or spatula, gently roll each coated cake square in the coconut. Repeat with remaining cake squares. Set the cakes aside to dry before serving.
Once the Lamingtons have set, store in an airtight container for several days.
Sending this over to Chocolate Fest event at Srav's Culinary Concepts