Pav Bhaji Buns/ Dinner rolls

I saw the recipe of Pav Buns at Vardhini's kitchen, suddenly baked these this evening! :) Buns came out so nice. Thought of storing them and make pav-baji tomorrow, but we had it with evening tea and almost finished them! :)

I just followed her recipe except the amount of sugar. As a sweet lover, I wanted the buns to be little sweet, hence added some more sugar. You can see her recipe here.

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour-11/2cups
Instant Yeast-1/2 of a 7oz pack
Sugar-2tablespoons
Salt-1/2teaspoon
Milk -1/2kap+2tablespoons
Luke warm water-2tablespoons
Butter-11/2tablespoons
Oil-1teaspoon
Egg-1


Method
Add the yeast and a teaspoon of sugar to the luke warm water, mix well and keep undisturbed for 10 minutes. By this time the yeast solution will be frothy.

Heat the milk for a minute in Microwave, add the butter, and let it melt.(heat again for 30 seconds.)

Add the remaining sugar and salt to the milk+butter, stir well till they get dissolved. Let the milk to cool down a bit. Then add the yeast to the milk and mix it.

Add the flour little by litter and mix it. It will be very sticky. I added little more(May be couple of tablespoons) flour to work with.

Knead it like roti dough for 10 minutes and you will get a soft dough which won't even stick to your fingers.
Coat it with oil,cover it with clear wrap. Keep it in a warm place and let it rise for an hour.(I kept it for 11/2 hours)
Punch the dough and make 6 equal balls. Place them on a greased baking tray. Make sure that you leave some space in between the buns to raise.
After an hour the buns will rise nicely. Preheat the oven to 375F. Give a generous egg wash to the buns and bake for 20 minutes.
Soft and tasty buns are ready! Let it cool for some time and remove them from the pan. I was planning to make pav-bhaji, but could not resist! ;)

..... n enjoyed it with our evening tea!

:)))))))))))))

NB: I know am adding lot of snaps, but can't resist that! ;)

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Mint Pulao

Ingredients - To Grind
Mint-1 small bunch
Cilantro-1 fistful
Green Chilly-1
Cloves-2
Cinnamon
Elaichi-1
Grated Coconut-1tablespoon

For tempering
Ghee- 1 tablespoon
Oil-2teaspoons
Few Almonds and Cashews (optional)
Cumin Seeds-1 teaspoon
Onion(medium size,finely chopped)-1

Basmathi Rice-1cup
Lemon juice-1tablespoon
Salt


Method
Wash and soak the rice for at least 20 minutes,drain the water and keep aside.
Clean and wash the mint and cilantro leaves. Grind the ingredients under "to grind" table with little water to a fine paste.
Heat oil +ghee in a pressure cooker. Make the tempering with cumin seeds,then add the onions and fry till it becomes nice brown colour.
Add the mint paste and lemon juice, fry on low heat till the oil oozes out.
Then add the rice, 11/2 cups of water. Cook for a whistle and switch off the flame.
Remove the cooker from stove top and let it cool.

Open the cooker, fluff the rice gently and serve. Any chips will be a nice accomplishment for this rice. You can add green peas with the pulao and garnish with a few roasted cashew nuts.

Makes a quick n tasty lunch box with some chips! :)

Sending recipe to Reva's "Royal Feast -Biriyani" event.

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Brinjal-Drumstick-Potato kuzhambu

Ingredients
Five pieces of Drumstick,cut into 2" pieces.
One Brinjal
One small Potato
Onion-1
(Cut brinjal-potao-onion in same size chunks)
Green chilly-1
Few curry leaves and cilantro
Garlic-2 cloves
Tamarind juice-1/4cup
Chilli Powder-11/2teaspoons
Coriander Powder-1teaspoon
Mustard seeds-1/2teaspoon
Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon
Sugar-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil

To Grind
Tomato-2
Grated Coconut -3tablespoons

Method
Heat oil in a kadai,make the tempering with mustard and cumin seeds.Let them crackle.
Add onion-g.chilli-garlic cloves-curry leaves and sauté them for 2 minutes.
Add in the veggies-tamarind juice-chilli powder-coriander powder and salt. Cook till the veggies are soft but firm.
Grind the tomatoes and coconut to a fine paste.
Add the coconut-tomato paste to the veggies.
Let it boil on medium heat till the kuzhambu thickens and oil oozes out.
Brinjal-Drumstick-Potato kuzhambu is ready to serve. Goes well with Rice and Dosai.

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Methi-Mattar Malai

Few days back, I saw this recipe in Lavanya's Cookery Corner . Had a bunch of fresh Methi leaves by then, and prepared it. Rich and creamy side dish for roti's and pulao. Interesting variation to the regular methi dhal & methi roti. :)

Ingredients
Fresh Methi leaves from a small bunch.
Frozen green peas-1/4cup
Onion-1
Cloves-2
Green chillies-2
Coriander powder-1 teaspoon
Almond-5
Milk -11/4cup
Elaichi-1
Oil
Salt

Method
Soak the almonds in hot water for 30 minutes,peel the skin and keep it aside.

Peel the onion,cut into half, pierce the cloves,cook for 7 minutes in boiling water. Take it out and let it cool.
Once the onions are cooled, take out the cloves, grind it along with almonds and green chillies to a fine paste.
Heat oil in a kadai, add the elaichi and the paste. Fry for 6-7 minutes on medium heat.

Now add the cleaned,washed methi leaves, cook for a minute.

Add the peas and coriander power and salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the milk, reduce the flame to low.

Switch off the stove when the methi mattar malai boils nicely. (It will take 3-4 minutes)

Serve hot with roti's or pulao's.

Actually I added 10 almonds and the gravy was little thick. Next time I have to reduce the number of almonds to 5! ;)

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Aval Upma /Poha Upma

I wrote a big story with this post and published it yesterday. That post is no longer available because of blogger maintenance issues(i guess!!). Got it back after some days,Just copy pasting it:

****My DH is a big fan of aval(poha),but not me!!;) He just love this easy breakfast,while I feel its kind of dry. Obviously its been a real real real long time we had this. Last week end somehow (actually there was a lunch party in the same day! ;)) I made up my mind for this breakfast.

Even though I make this once in a blue moon,every time I make some taste adjustments like adding veggies or soaking the aval(poha) in tamarind water, adding peanuts. This time,added lemon juice.****

Ingredients
Aval(Poha)-11/2cup
Onion -1
Green chilly-2
Few curry leaves
Mustard seeds-1teaspoon
Channa dhal-1teaspoon
Urad dhal-1teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/4teaspoon
Lemon Juice from half of a large lemon
Sugar-1/2teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Wash the aval(poha) 2-3 times and strain 90% of the water and keep it aside for 5 minutes.
Cut the onion-g.chilli into thin slices.
Heat oil in a kadai, make the tempering with mustard seeds,channa dhal and urad dhal.
Add onion-g.chilly and curry leaves with turmeric powder.
Saute them till the onion bcecomes transparent. Now add the sugar and salt. Mix it well.
Add the aval(poha) and reduce the heat to low. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then add in the lemon juice and switch off the stove.
Aval upma is ready to serve.

Suddenly one of our friend showed up for breakfast, so I prepared a quick n yummy pea-nut chutney, as a side dish for this upma & prepared some dosai as well. You would think what a weird combination is this??! But,trust me when you are not in a mood to cook elaborate meal, aval upma - peanut chutney comes handy! :)

Sending this recipe to Bachelor's Feast event happening at Jaleelaa akkaa's Samaiyal attakaasam

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Brinjal bajji/Katharikkai bajji

You can make bajji with kaththarikkai(Brinjal) peerkkangai(ridged gourd), onion, vazhakkai(Raw plantain). Of all these veggies I would say Brinjal bajji is the easiest one. The pain of peeling the skin of peerkangai or shedding tears with onion, having black spots in the hand with plantain are not there with Brinjal. Just Wash it,chop it,dip in the batter,fry it! That's it!;) ;)

Ingredients
Half of a big Egg plant/ Brinjal
Besan/kadalai mavu-1/2cup
Rice Flour-1tablespoon
Baking soda- a pinch
Chilli powder-1 teaspoon
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Hing/asafoetida - 2 pinches
Salt,Water and Oil to deep fry

Method
Combine besan,rice flour,salt,baking soda,chilli powder,cumin powder,hing in a bowl and mix well.
Add water little by little to make the bajji batter.
Wash, and cut the egg plant into big chunks.

Heat oil over medium heat. Dip the veggie in the batter and drop it in the hot oil carefully. Deep fry till it turns out golden in colour. Take it out, drain the excess oil in a paper towel.

Quick snack for a cold n rainy evening! Enjoy with your tea or coffee. :)

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Mushroom Roast

Ingredients
For the stuffing
Button Mushrooms-100g
Onion-1
Cumin seeds-1/2teaspoon
Ginger-garlic paste-1/2teaspoon
Chilli Powder-1teaspoon
Coconut milk powder-1
Garam Masala powder-1/4teaspoon
Cilantro for garnishing
Salt
Oil
Dosa Batter

Method
Wash and chop the mushrooms.
Chop the onion and tomato.
Heat oil in a pan,add cumin seeds followed by g-g paste, onion and tomatoes. Sauté them till the onions become transparent. Add the mushrooms,cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chilli powder-salt, cook for couple more minutes.
Add the coconut milk powder,mix well and switch off the stove, add in the Cilantro leaves,garam masala powder and let it cool completely.

Make thin dosa, spread the stuffing evenly,drizzle the oil...

Fold the dosa into a triangle, flip it over..

Mushroom Roast is ready to serve. Serve hot with your choice of chutney/sambar.

We had it with Coriander chutney. If you can make coconut chutney too, the 2 chutney combo will be super perfect. You can bring in a (South Indian)Restaurant effect at home with Mushroom roast,2 chutneys and sambar!;)

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