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Paneer Firecracker Parcels

October 12, 2017 by manjirichitnis 6 Comments

A delicious paneer starter for special occasions

 The countdown to the most opulent and bright Hindu festival of the year has begun. DIWALI – the festival of lights is knocking on our doors. Delicious spicy shredded paneer bhurji encased in a delicate filo pastry parcel and baked to just the right temperature. These bite-sized mini parcels of deliciousness pack a punch of flavour and are certain to become a crowd-pleaser in no time. These mini ‘firecrackers’ explode when bitten into engulfing one’s palate in a riot of beautiful flavours and textures.

Easy Vegetarian Party food recipe, a sure-fire crowd-pleaser

A great recipe to rustle up quickly and impress guests, perfect for both at a planned party or for surprising those guests that drop in unexpectedly. And with ASDA by my side, I can bring home all these beautiful ingredients and unleash my creative side in the kitchen. It also gives me an opportunity to save some precious time and spend it with those that matter most – my family – and celebrate this amazing and lively festival with pomp and pageantry – at home.

Paneer Firecracker Parcels

PANEER FIRECRACKER PARCELS

manjirichitnis
Delicious, Vegetraian and festive this is a great recipe torustle up quickly and impress guests, perfect for both at a planned party orfor surprising those guests that drop in unexpectedly.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Fusion Indian
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • Pan, Oven

Ingredients
  

  • 250 grams Paneer
  • 2 sheets Filo pastry
  • 1 handful cashews and almonds for purée
  • 2 Red onions medium sized
  • 1.5 small juicy sweet tomatoes
  • 2 Sweet Peppers (small, sweet crunchyones)
  • 2 tbsp Tomato purée
  • 4 tbsp Oil
  • 1 small pinch Asafoetida
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin (jeera)
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • 1.5 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 2 tsp Garam masala
  • 2 tsp Coriander powder
  • 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
  • 1/4 tsp Kasoori methi
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
  • 1/2 tsp salt or as per taste
  • 2 tbsp Ghee (clarified butter)
  • 1 handful Almonds + cashew nuts +Raisins ( for garnishing)

Instructions
 

  • Grate the paneer to get longcheese like curls, set aside
  • Soak a handful of cashews andalmonds in warm water, it becomes easier to peel off the skin, peel and leavethem to soften in lukewarm water. Once they soften, make a thick smooth pasteof the cashews and almonds. Set aside
  • Remove the seeds and thenroughly chop the tomatoes
  • In a heavy bottomed pan heat 1tbsp oil, then reduce the flame and add a pinch of asafoetida and 1/2 tspginger garlic paste, roughly chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 a green chillies chopped roughly, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
  • Cook on a medium flame forabout 2 mins, stirring to ensure the paste doesn’t burn or overcook
  • Remove this mixture fromthe pan and allow to cool, once it has cooled down blend the mixture tomake a thick paste. Add 1 tbsp water to blend to a smooth consistency
  • Meanwhile, start on the peppers by removing all the seeds andfinely chopping the sweet peppers into tiny bite-sized cubes,similarly chop the red onions very fine. Set aside
  • In the same pan add 3tbsp oil, when the oil is hot sputter some cumin seeds and add 1/2tsp  ginger garlic paste, reduce the flame
  • Then add the chopped onions andreduce the flame to low, allow the onions to brown slightly while stirringoccasionally
  • Now add the dry powdermasalas (garam masala, 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, red chilli powder,coriander powder) and saute well until the onions are reduced and releasea strong aroma. To ensure the onions and masalas don’t burn, stir occasionallywhile they reduce
  • To this, addthis cashew-almond paste and the thick tomato mixture and mix wellThen add in the chopped sweet peppersand cook them until they begin to soften.
  • Now add in the gratedpaneer, turmeric powder, kasoori methi and finely choppedcoriander leaves. Cook on a low flame until the mixturethickens it looses all its excess moisture. Do not cook with a lid on, do notadd water and ensure that you stir occasionally
  • Allow this mixture to cool completelyand then rshapeinto tiny bround balls. On a baking sheet lay open the filopastry pack and use two sheets to make a strong outer covering
  • Cut the sheet using a pizzacutter into large rectangles. If you find this fiddly place the sheet on amuffin tray and cut using a scissor
  • Drizzle some melted butter or use anoil spray to line the inside of the sheets
  • Add one small paneer mixture ballinto each filo rectangle and gently fold to make a neat parcel, spray someoil over this and cook in a pre-heated oven at about 150 deg cel (fan oven). Keep an eye so that the outer filopastry does not burn
  • While this is in the oven heat gheein a small pan and add the raisins, they are ready when they begin to swell insize, then dunk in some skinless whole cashew nuts and skinless whole almondsfry them in the ghee too, once done, remove and set aside
  • When the parcels turn a toasty lightbrown colour on the outside, they are done, remove and serve on a prettyplatter on a bed of chopped coriander, sprinkle ghee roasted nuts on top tomimic tiny jewels
Spicy paneer bhurji encased in delicate filo pastry parcels

This dish is meant to tease the palate before a festive meal. The vibrant spices ensure an explosion of flavour and the rich cashew-almond paste adds a regal twist which also balances the flavours ensuring those who are not partial to heaty spices can savour this dish too. Congratulations – you have in your repertoire a cracking crowd-pleaser recipe. Now all you need to do is to go stock up that list of ingredients 😉 – time crunch? No problem – shop online!

Spicy paneer bhurji encased in delicate filo pastry parcels

ASDA has some really cool offers for Diwali, why not check out the special Diwali offers here before you head out to ASDA?  I have stocked up on oil, ghee, spices and a few store cupboard essentials – after all, it helps to have time-saving tricks up our sleeve!

*With thanks to ASDA. As always, all opinions expressed are always my own.

Filed Under: Food, Indian, Recipe Index Tagged With: ASDA Diwali, autumn, celebrate, celebration recipes, cottage cheese, Deepavali, Deepawali, Diwali 2017, Diwali Food, Diwali in London, Diwali in the U.K, Diwali recipes, festive recipes, Indian Food, Indian recipes, paneer, Paneer Firecracker Parcels, spicy vegetarian starter recipe, starter recipe, the festival of lights

Tawa Chicken Frankie Roll

February 28, 2014 by manjirichitnis 20 Comments

Frankie – Popular Indian street food

Tawa Frankie Roll – How I decided to re-create this popular Indian street food at home. In 2014, global flavour leader McCormick, the parent company of leading herbs and spices brand Schwartz, is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The yearlong celebration kicks off with the launch of the 125th Anniversary Edition of the Flavour Forecast (a new, annual prediction of what ‘flavours’ will be most popular in the cooking world) and the Flavour of Together programme, with the goal of connecting people around the world as they share 1.25 million stories about the special role food and flavour plays in our lives through.

To inspire people to share their flavour stories and tell the blogger community about Flavour Forecast, McCormick challenged me and a few other bloggers  to come up with a new recipe that is based on the Flavour Forecast trends :

1. Chillies Obsession: Food lovers everywhere are seeking out their next big chilli thrill.

2. Modern Masala: Indian food is finally having its moment, breaking free of its traditional confines with modern interpretations.

3. Clever Compact Cooking: Proving that big flavours can come from small spaces, cooks in urban kitchens are making the most of what’s available.

4. Mexican World Tour: Mexican flavours are making their way around the globe, with people everywhere discovering new aspects of this bright, casual cuisine.

5. Charmed by Brazil: The world’s attraction to Brazilian cuisine is heating up, thanks to its seductive mix of global and native influences.

I decide to take up Modern Masala as a flavour trend. Coming from India, using a complex mix of spices as part of our daily diet has always been a part of my life. The beautiful large open fruit n vegetable markets even in major cities are a visual treat and there is a lot of passion involved in say getting the right type of chilli powder. So I think my recipe is an amalgamation of these two big flavour trends together – Chillies Obsession and Modern Masala and of course because I manage all my culinary experiments in my tiny urban kitchen which is the size of a postage stamp I am sure my recipe also covers the theme Clever Compact Cooking!

My most vivid memory of spices being sold loose is of this huge wholesale and retail market in an area called Parel, Mumbai in India. There are many tiny shops and vendors which hand carts with huge piles of spices, bright red chillies in jute sacks, and mini yellow mountains of turmeric and ever imaginable spice being sold in the open. Of course, with our modern industries being so well developed we always used masalas out of a packet but the sheer variety available locally in any small town in India is mind-boggling.

Pune, India - spice market
Pune, India – spice market

In London, whenever I trudge to my local Indian shop and purchase Indian spices, I secretly wish that I could get an unlimited supply of aai’s homemade masalas. Her garam masala and red chilli powder where she carefully selects 2 types of chillies with varying degrees of heat and roasts them in a kadhai after they have been dried in the blistering hot afternoon sun! Then she takes it to a local mill where it is ground and packed into a large ceramic jar and then stored at home.

I have made a simplified version of Tibbs Frankie using boneless mutton and a variety of Schwartz spices which were sent to me. You could safely say that this fella ”Frankie” is a distant cousin of the Fajita and the Kathi Roll.

How this Frankie came into being is also a very interesting story which I shall share in a few lines here. These lines are from the Tibbs Frankie website

”The year 1967 Mr. Amarjit Tibb on returning back from England had a stopover in Beirut. During his brief stop there he stumbled upon a very ingenious Lebanese preparation, which was a pita bread wrap, with a variety of stuffing’s, this fascinated him. Upon his return the idea still lingered on and he kept innovating it to suit the Indian palate, after a year of research along with his wife they hit upon the perfect concoction. This Indianised wrap was soon tried among friends and family and after testing brilliantly it hit the markets. That was a new era to the term fast food in Mumbai, it caught on like fire in the Jungle, people accepted it and kept asking for more.Now came the problem of naming the product, again a number of brainstorming became the order of the day till a unanimous decision on the name was taken i.e. Frankie”

This explosion of flavours in a handy easy to eat roll which was given a  modern food truck makeover is a gastronomic delight and is available in a large variety of stuffings both veg and non-veg.I have rather fond memories of my college days and spending my pocket money which was always in short supply on these spicy, tasty rolls with a bunch of friends giggling away and then gathering any loose change we had left amongst us to buy a bottle or two of some fizzy cola to quench our thirst. Alert : have been suddenly been hit by a huge wave of nostalgia 🙂

I have created what is my version of a tawa chicken roll (tawa meaning pan in Hindi), the original Tibbs frankie filling is a tangy spicy  taste which they attribute to a secret ”Frankie Masala” – humm , well I think I got pretty close 😉 – evil laugh follows 🙂  You can go crazy and creative with the fillings and use this recipe idea to use up meat from your sunday roast, try various different veg and non veg patties with meat and masalas rolled into boiled potato casing and shallow fried. Great way to use a lot of colorful veggies and create a stir fry filling too – the possibilities are endless.

Tawa Chicken Frankie Roll
Tawa Chicken Frankie Roll

Tawa Frankie Roll

Manjiri Chitnis
Popular Indian street food, this was created in Mumbai and is a deliciously paratha stuffed with a variety of fillings and green chutney
5 from 7 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Fusion Indian
Servings 2 People

Equipment

  • Tawa – Flat frying pan
  • Saptula

Ingredients
  

Tawa Chicken Filling

  • 50 Grams Chicken breast
  • 1 pinch Asafoetida
  • 2 tsp Garam Masala
  • Onion salt as per taste
  • 1/2 tsp Garlic Minced
  • 2 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 1 tsp Cumin Powder
  • Red Chilli powder as per taste
  • 1/2 thum-sized Fresh Ginger fresh peeled
  • 2 medium Red onions finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Turmeric
  • 2 lage Jjuicy tomatoes chopped very fine
  • 1 large Green chilli split lengthwise
  • 1 Red pepper slit lengthwise
  • 3 tbsp Cooking oil

Mint and Coriander Chutney

  • 1 large bunch Fresh Coriander
  • 1 small bunch Fresh Mint leaves
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 1/2 Lime – freshly squeezed
  • Salt to taste

For the Frankie filling

  • 1 large Red onion chopped lengthwise

For the Paratha coating

  • 2 small Eggs
  • Salt for seasoning

Instructions
 

To make the Chicken Filling

  • Heat a saucepan on medium heat and add the oil
  • Once the oil is hot, add the asafoetida
  • Then add split green chilli and crushed fresh ginger
  • Saute' and add the garlic granules
  • Saute' and add the garlic granules, when the garlic begins to give out a strong fried aroma its time to add the finely chopped red onion
  • Cook the onion till it reduces and turns a delicious brown, then add the coriander and cumin powder and garam masala and mix well
  • Then add the finely chopped tomato and add very little water and cook for 1 -2 minutes without lid
  • Stir frequently, so as to ensure the mixture does not stick to the saucepan
  • Now the spices have been thoroughly cooked along with the onion and tomato to make a thick gravy
  • Cut the chicken breasts and red peppers into lenghthwise strip and add to the gravy
  • Add onion salt to the mixture, red chilli powder and turmeric
  • Cover and cook until done

To make the Mint and Coriander Chutney

  • Wash the coriander and mint leaves, blend to a smoothpaste with a green chilli
  • To reduce the heat use 1 chilli de-seeded.Add the salt and lime juice and sblend once again
  • A smooth thick green paste is the consistency we are after – add some water to adjust the consistency
  • This chutney stores for upto 10 days in the freezer in a clean ,air tight jar – rarely lasts that much in my house though -I love making Bombay sandwich for dinner with this delightful chutney

To make the coating for the Paratha

  • Crack the eggs in a bowl and beat with a fork, add salt to taste
  • Using a plastic brush spread on the surface of a frozen ready to eat paratha
  • Place the eggy side down on a hot pan coated with some cooking oil
  • Ready to eat frozen parathas are readily available in most supermarkets and Indian grocery stores

How to put the Frankie Roll together

  • Once the paratha coated with egg has been cooked on both sides, slather it with the mint and coriander chutney and add some red onion chopped lengthwise
  • Add a generous helping of the chicken filling , roll and wrap one end with some kitchen foil or baking paper. Enjoy hot
  • Dip into the chutney or tomato ketchup as you munch along
Keyword Frankie
Tawa Chicken Frankie Roll
Tawa Chicken Frankie Roll

After I received the samples and wrote up my flavour story, my left hand was operated on (unexpected rescheduling) – a minor but rather errrmmm painful surgery and I walk around most of the time with a sling (promptly remove it as soon as OH leaves home for work hehe) So I had a bit of a panic attack about getting this post up on time,I know I missed the deadline by a few days  🙁

But am really grateful to the kind folks up at McCormick for bearing with me. Also I would like to thank OH for patiently chopping and cutting all the fresh ingredients for me and helping me to click these lovely photographs – what would I do without you? Sighh…

The company has pledged to donate $1 to United Way Worldwide and it’s UK partner Focus on Food, for every story shared on the Schwartz website, Facebook page or other social channels.

Disclaimer: Schwartz Samples and voucher for ingredients purchase sent by McCormick I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Filed Under: Food, Indian, Product Reviews, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: 125th anniversary, asafoetida, big flavours, Bombay, breaking free, brush, chicken breast, Chillies Obsession, chopped very fine, Clever Compact Cooking, cooking oil, cooks in urban kitchens, coriander, Coriander Ground, Cumin Ground, eggs, Fajita, finely chopped, Flavour Forecast, food lovers, garam masala, Garlic Minced, Ginger fresh, green chilli, India, Indian Food, Kathi Roll, large juicy tomatoes, large tablespoons, lime juice, making the most of what’s available, McCormick, McCormick Schwartz Flavour Challenge, McCormick Spice Challenge, Mexican World Tour, mint, modern food truck makeover, modern interpretations, Modern Masala, Mumbai, Mumbai Street food, next big chilli thrill, Onion salt, parathas, Pune, red chilli powder, red onions, red pepper slit lengthwise, saucepan, small spaces, split lengthwise, TAWA Chicken filling, Tawa Chicken Frankie Roll recipe, Tibbs Frankie, traditional confines, turmeric, UK leading herbs and spices brand Schwartz

C.K.P Valache Birdhe (वालाचे बिरडे) – Field bean curry

September 22, 2013 by manjirichitnis 19 Comments

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry – a Regional delicacy from the state of Maharashtra, West coast of India

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry, is an extremely popular bean gravy and has helped soothe many aching hearts and settle ruffled feathers after long gruelling work days.I managed to procure a few packets of these beautiful field beans with brown skin after a lot of searching!Hubs goes completely mental at the mere mention of this dish and insisted on me uploading the recipe and help all the other hungry hubbies out there..ahem ..so without further ado ladies and gents I present to you yummyscrummy recipe.

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

वालाचे बिरडे

ThisValache Birdhe or field beans curry recipe is a typical C.K.P way of making a rather traditional legume curry. Vaal or kadve vaal (kadve meaning bitter in Marathi) are generically referred to as Field Beans in English.

Traditional regional cuisine and a beautiful heirloom C.K.P recipe

Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Manjiri Chitnis
Hieloom recipe from the CKP community from the western coast of Maharashtra, India
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 days d
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 2 people

Equipment

  • Pan to cook the curry
  • Blender to make a paste from the garted coconut
  • Kitchen cloth to tie up beans for sporuting

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 Cup Vaal/ Field Beans – soaked, sprouted and skin removed – takes a few days
  • 3 -4 Cloves Lasun/Garlic with skin
  • 1 pinch Hing/Asafoetida
  • 1 Kanda/Red onion – one small finely chopped for the pan
  • 2 -3 tsp Dried Kokum 2 pieces or Tamarind (Chinch/ Imli) -tamarind paste OR dried tamarind soaked in water -remove the pips and use the gooey thick bits
  • 1/2 tsp Jaggery
  • 1 tiny pinch Mohri/Mustard Seeds
  • 1 Pinch Cumin/Jeera
  • 1.5 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tsp Laal Mirchi / Red Chilli Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Halad / Turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp Coriander powder
  • 1 tsp Jeere/Cumin powder
  • 1/2 fistful Fresh Coriander finely chopped to garnish
  • 3 – 4 tbsp Grated coconut paste * see notes
  • Salt as per taste

Instructions
 

  • Soak the Vaal overnight, change the water in the morning and by evening if they appear puffed then wrap them in a damp cloth and set aside in a vessel with a lid to create an environment warm enough to allow them to sprout
  • Remove sprouted vaal into a bowl and pour like warm water on them, stir with your palms to loosen the skin and many will float to the top, decant the water and remove all the rest of the skins and discard
  • Heat the oil in a saucepan and dust some asafoetida and throw in the mustard and cumin.
  • When the cumin seeds begin to pop, throw in the garlic with their skin on and smashed to flatten them and as they turn colour and release their aroma, add the chopped onion.
  • When the onion turns a delicate pink add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and then add the vaal/field beans.
  • Now add the turmeric, red chilli, coriander and cumin powders and quickly stir in enough water to cover the beans
  • On a low flame cook with lid
  • When the vaal is almost done, add the jiggery, coconut paste and the tamarind paste or the water from the dried tamarind which has been soaked or dried kokum soaked in water and when the vaal are done add salt and garnish with finely chopped coriander.
  • Valache Birdhe or field beans curry is best enjoyed with steaming hot rice
Keyword Vaal
Vaalache Birdhe with text resized
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

Food pairing

This Valache Birdhe or field beans curry is a delicacy pairs best with a portion of pressure-cooked rice of the Ambemohar variety, Basmati will do too. Always remember, a generous dollop of home-made sajuk tup or pure ghee is a must.

Stages of Vaal sprouting in photos

Sprouting of Vaal or field beans
Sprouted Vaal / Field Beans
Close-up – Sprouted Vaal or Field Beans

Notes:

  • Grated coconut paste: made by running fresh grated coconut or frozen grated coconut through a mixer/blender. Add 1 green chilli and 1 clove of garlic. My Aai (mum in Marathi) also prefers to also add 1/2 a finely chopped red onion which has been tossed on a pan with the coconut and green chilli – must admit it lends a toasty warmth to the gravy but I skip this step simply because the I compensate for it by using the onion in the pan!
  • Making Chinche cha kool ( usually, a block of tamarind is available packaged in any well-stocked Indian grocery store here in London, if not major spice brands now do tamarind paste in a bottle, find these online or any leading supermarket) – remove some in a bowl – add lukewarm water and gently ease the flesh of the tamarind loose from the seed. Use this thick mix to add to the curry. If you have fussy eater then maybe you want to strain this before adding into the curry. I would avoid straining as the gara – the thick flesh of the tamarind – is flavour packed so embrace it – fibres and all. 🙂
Valache Birdhe or field beans curry

I do know this process for cooking Valache Birdhe or field beans curry, sounds rather labor-intensive and complex but believe you me, its easy-peasy, and the main bit of hard work is only getting rid of the field bean skins.

Do leave me a comment of you make this dish and also any variations to the recipe that you may have heard of, any anecdotes, happy memories are always welcome. And if you do cook to my recipe do snap a picture of your creations and use the hashtag #travelsfortasteblogrecipe and share it to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and I will re-post it.

Bon Appe’tit !

P.S: coming soon a Valachi Khichadi ( Field Beans Pulav) recipe that’s another firm family fav!

Learn how to cook western coastal Indian cuisine from the C.K.P community with my easy to follow recipes.

Find below a list of Indian recipes on my blog, some traditional, some fusion, and many regional favourites!

  • Fresh dill and yellow moong daal recipe
  • Goda sheera/ sooji ka halwa/ Indian dessert
  • CKP Surmai curry
  • Pompfret fry
  • Konbichi khichadi – Prawn khichadi
  • Vaangayche Bharit/ Smoked stuffed Aubergine ( Eggplant/Brinjal) in a thick gravy/ Baingan ka bharta
  • Valache Birdhe – (वालाचे बिरडे) – MADE IN A TYPICAL C.K.P WAY
  • Kairi Panhe/ Aam ka panha – Raw mango summer drink
  • Cauliflower- vatana bhaji – cauliflower and green peas vegetarian side dish
  • Podhnichi khichadi
  • Akkha masoor aamti CKP style / Whole red lentils with skin curry recipe
  • Achari Mutton curry
  • Spicy Chicken curry
  • Egg curry
  • Kadhi – fusion of Punjabi and Gujrati kadhi recipes with vadi’s
  • Upma
  • Gujrati Kadhi
  • Shahi Khichadi
  • Sweetcorn and paneer bhaji/sabzi (vegetable side dish)
  • Tomato and coconut chutney
  • Steamed Idli batter
  • Ragi (Finger Millet) and blueberry pancakes
  • Masala egg omlette
  • Chicken tikka masala
  • Tikka masala curry paste
  • Tawa chicken Frankie roll
  • Chai concentrate
  • Grated carrot salad
  • Strawberry flavoured shrikhand
A typical C.K.P meal

Filed Under: C.K.P recipes, Curry - Vegetarian, Food, Indian, Recipe Index, Vegetarian Tagged With: asfoetida, C.K.P kitchen recipes, C.K.P recipes, coconut, coriander powder, cumin, eat, field beans, fresh, fresh coriander, grated, green chilli, Indian Food, Indian recipes, jeera, kokum, konkani food, Maharastrian food, Marathi, mohri, mustard, oil, pan, red chilli powder, saucepan, sautee, season, seeds, tamarind, traditional marathi recipes, turmeric powder, vaal, vaalache birdhe, yum

Grated Carrot salad

August 6, 2013 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

This simple salad is a favourite at my mum’s .You can impress your guests with this simple and quick recipe that would look like you have really slaved to get it right. Nothing better I say 😉

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 15 minutes including the grating

You will need:

  • 3 fresh medium-sized organic carrots
  • 1 tsp small size black mustard seeds
  • Salt to taste
  • ½ teaspoon oil
  • 1 Large heaped tbsp Chobani Blood Orange yogurt

Method:

  • Peel and grate the carrots after beheading them – Ha! I wanted to write that just to reinforce the morbid tone here that the word ‘’Blood Orange’’ .Wonder why such a delicious fruit has such a murderous sounding name 😉
  • Heat 1 tsp oil in a saucepan and pop in the mustard seeds and the finely chopped green chilli
  • When the mustard seeds begin to explode like miniature heat bombs, add the grated carrot and stir lightly.
  • Add salt to taste and take off the heat. We don’t want to overcook the carrot here and need to ensure it stays nice and crunchy!
  • Serve in small portions with a large blob of the yogurt on top ensuring you use a spoon that goes to the BOTTOM of the pot of yogurt as the fruity bit and heavenly fruity yogurt likes at the BOTTOM of these pots, like a secret hidden treasure, ummm!

I hope you enjoy making these FAT free yogurt recipes and feel good about lowering the overall calorie count of these dishes.

Grated Carrot Salad with Chobani Blood Orange Yogurt

Filed Under: Food, Indian, Product Reviews, Recipe Index, Sides Tagged With: carrots, cumin seeds, easy salad recipe, eat healthy, Grated Carrot salad recipe, Grated Carrot salad with Chobani Blood Orange Yogurt recipe, healthy low cal salad, Indian cuisine, Indian Food, indian food blog, oil, salt, totally fat free, zero % fat

MASALA ZONE ,SOHO,London

November 29, 2012 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

The word ”authethtic” has never felt so apt as when I use it to describe the offerings from Masala Zone. I am a frequent visitor to this place and it all started with my very first visit 2 years ago.New to London, needless to say terribly homesick , my husband decided to treat me to some delicious Indian cuisine. He couldn’t have chosen a better place.

The instant I walked it , I was greeted by a beautiful idol of the elephant headed Lord Ganesha and a massive urn decorated with floating flowers.The walls an earthy brown with delicate warli paintings all over.A welcome sight and instantly made me feel at home:)

I love Indian street foods,so gorging on CHAATS was in order.A masala Coke is lovely with the chaats and I can rarely stop at one masala coke. We went A’ la carte and got some spicy dal (lentil curry) and plain rice to go with it,closest in comparison to, my favourite comfort food which is varan bhaath- meaning simple yellow moong dal with ghee and steaming boiled rice!

Image below is of Sev Puri- thats small fired crunchy puris topped with mashed potato mix spiced with finely chopped tomatoes,sev which is the fine yellow crisp gram vermicelli,green mango bits and a tangy tamrind chutney with some finely chopped coriander sprinkled all over.

Image above is fried onion fritterr called Bhajiya in Hindi – thin slices of onion coated with gram flour mixed with spices and deep fried served with green chutney and tangy tamrind chutney.

In the image above there’s 2 plates of Ragda Pattice and a plate of Dahi Puri in between- Absolute CHAATilicious !Ragda Pattice is fried potato patty served with a gravy made from dried white peas cooked in a thick garvy and spiced with many different flavours topped off with various chutneys and sev. Dahi Puri is made by stuffing the puffed puris with a mix of mashed potatoes,sprouts,chutneys,sev and adding dollops of flavoured curd over it.Great for those who want to try a chaat dish and still avoid anything too spicy as the curd soothes your palate.

Last month we had a lot of friends and family visit us from India and U.S.A, all craving to have ”authentic” Indian food. All the edible looking snaps I have taken with my new Samsung Galaxy sIII are taken over several dinners.

Highly  recommended are the tasty and varied  ”Regular thalis” (mixed platter with a lentils,vegetable preparation of the day,another mix vegetable,some fried papad, rotis or rice as you choose,a sweet mango chutney, a green chutney and the main curry dish that you choose from the veg or non veg menu)which are quite filling and satisfy any cravings one has of either sea food,lamb,chicken or just good old plain veggie fare. Down it with some Mango Lassi and you are well on your way  to food heaven. One has to choose the gravy dish from their menu to go with a thali or their choice, I love Roghan Josh – a spicy lamb curry and both chicken gravys one with a coconut gravy and the other spicier and packs a real punch.The staff are quite helpfull, friendly and will explain each item in your thali once it arrives which is great considering the many tourists who come here.

If your planning an early dinner , a beer or wine with some chaat dish or fried  pakodas is apt.

If you want to go the whole hog, the dessert not to be missed is a serving of GulabJamun with Ice cream topped with pistachios.A perfectly sweet end to a meal fit for a king.

As their website says,it’s the place to go to for ”seductive Indian desserts”,”Sophistcated Indian Grills” and really wholesome Thali’s.

Masala Zone has 8 outlets in London, the one at SOHO,also the only one I have visited several times.

The service at this branch is prompt and most times it’s crowded especially on weekend evenings,if you are going in a big group to this particular branch, it makes sense to book yourselves a table.It’s a short walk from Oxford Circus tube station off the lively Carnaby Street area.

To check out Masala Zone‘s website click on the hyperlink.

Cheers!

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Restaurant Reviews Tagged With: bhajiya, chaat, Cranaby Street, curries, curry, dahi puri, delicious, eating out in London, floral urn, Fodie, food blog, food blogger, food pictures, Ganpati Idol, gulab jamun, Indian, Indian Dessert, Indian Food, london, malabar chicken, Masala Zone, papas, places to eat, places to visit in London, ragda pattice, raw mango, resturant review, Review, rogan josh, sev puri, tasty, thali, tourist attraction, travel blogger, travel wise, varan bhaath, warli painting

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