nitu didi

FISH KABABS

Posted on April 4, 2013 by nituchugani

A nice snack to make with white fish which can be a tv dinner or a starter. This is a gluten free recipe. If you have some left over cooked fish you can also make this dish using that. Just make sure you drain away all the sauce from it. White fish is good for health and very light. These kababs have not been deep fried. They have been sauteed in light olive oil.
INGREDIENTS:
300 grams of white fillet fish
1 cup of mashed potatoes, boil the potatoes, peel and then mash while still hot
2 tablespoons of finely chopped onions
2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves
1 green chilli, chopped
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon each of coriander, cumin and garam masala powder
a pinch of dry mango powder (amchoor)
salt to taste
METHOD:
Put a cup of water in a frying pan ( i used my ceramic pan) and add a bay leaf and a few pepper corns and boil it for a minute. Then add the fish and cook for about 5 minutes or till fish is done. Strain the fish (the liquid can be used in fish curries , you can freeze it) and remove the pepper corns and bay leaf. Mash the fish with a fork and then add the potatoes, and all the above ingredients. Mix it well. Check and correct the seasoning. Keep this in the fridge for a few hours to harden. Shape into kababs with the help of oiled palms. Heat a little olive oil in a non stick pan and test one kabab. If it breaks, which it should not, but if it does, just add some cornstarch to the mixture. Pan fry the kababs a few at a time turning them over to brown them evenly. Serve with the sauce of your choice.
NITU DIDI TIP:
If using left over cooked fish, remove the fish from all the sauce and proceed with the above recipe.
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To buy my ceramic pans click here

Posted in Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Low Cost, Quick Recipes, Snacks, Something's Fishy | Tagged fish, healthy, kababs, olive oil, shallow fry, starter | 2 Comments

TUNA N EGG PATE

Posted on April 3, 2013 by nituchugani

Tuna is a good source of high quality protein . This pate is very versatile. Right from a sandwich filling, to a canape topping, or a pate to eat with crackers or crusty bread.
This pate is great for all the pescatarians out there! If you use a non fat mayonnaise this can be part of your diet too.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of drained canned tuna
1 boiled egg, grated (to buy my no peel egg boiler click here)
1 tablespoon of chopped pickled onions
1/4 teaspoon of mustard
2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise (can use low fat, normal, etc)
a few drops of tabasco or hot sauce
a few olives to decorate
METHOD:
Mix all the ingredients together till smooth and pasty. Check and correct seasoning. Put into a dish and decorate with olives. Chill and then serve. This is extremely delicious!!!
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Posted in Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Ideas for meals, Low Cost, Quick Recipes, Sandwiches, Snacks, Something's Fishy | Tagged canapes, dip, eggs, pate, sandwiches, starters, tuna | 2 Comments

SAFFRON MASALA RICE WITH CHICKEN ROAST

Posted on April 2, 2013 by nituchugani

Another one of my “no oil added” recipes . This is a one dish meal which is easy to make, fulfilling and nutritional. The benefits of saffron are innumerable and i have written about this time and time again. I created this recipe during my sons visit home. He loves wholesome , nutritive food and just loves rice that is cooked in chicken stock. In spite of me selling saffron there is no way i can get him to have some when he lives on his own , so when he comes home i try to give him some saffron in his food. This dish can also be frozen (see the picture ) and then heated up. This also makes an excellent tupperware meal. So… lets make something hearty and healthy today.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4-6
1 full chicken, cut into 10-12 pieces without skin
1 onion, halved
2 inches ginger, chopped roughly
10 cloves
1″ stick cinnamon
6 green cardamoms
2 star anise
2 bay leaves
1 black cardamom
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
2 teaspoons of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of green fennel seeds
1 teaspoon of salt or to taste
1 pinch of Nitu Didi pure spanish saffron
1 pinch of Nitu Didi pure turmeric powder
2 cups of basmati rice, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
6-8 green chillies, chopped fine
1 cup of fresh coriander leaves chopped ( i used my magical scissors for this)
6 cups of water
METHOD:
Put the water to boil in a huge pot. Once it comes to a boil add the salt and then add the chicken pieces and let it come to another boil. Once it boils you will see some foam on the top, please remove it all with a strainer or a spoon. Once its boiling without any foam, add the onion, ginger and all the spices except for the coriander leaves and green chillies. Boil this for 30 minutes till the chicken is done. Once the chicken is done take off heat. Remove the chicken from the fragrant stock and place in a baking tray. Strain the stock with a strainer. Put all the strained spices, cooked onion and ginger into a blender when cooled and blend into a paste ( i used my bullet to do this) Once blended put this paste back into the soup. You should have about 3-3.5 cups of stock, more or less. Put the stock in a good casserole dish ( i used my ceramic pan) and bring it to a boil. Add the rice and check and correct seasoning. While the rice is cooking, put the chicken pieces into a hot oven (240 degrees) and brown them a bit. Cook till the rice is nearly done, and add the chopped green chillies and the chopped coriander leaves.
To serve… place the chicken pieces on top of the rice and be prepared to enjoy this amazing dish.
NITU DIDI TIP: If for any reason you have extra stock, you can freeze it. If for any reason you have less stock you can just add a bit of water. This all depends on the kind of chicken you are using 🙂
To buy my amazing pure spanish saffron, ceramic pans or magical scissors do visit my online store

Posted in Chicken, Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Ideas for meals, Magic Bullet, Nitu´s Spicy Delights, NO OIL RECIPES, Rice is Nice, Saffron, Spices, Tupperware Food | Tagged chicken, glutenfree, healthy, no oil, pillaf, pullao, rice, saffron | 1 Comment

EGGLESS BOUNTY CAKE

Posted on April 1, 2013 by nituchugani

Bounty chocolates are a favourite for those who love the combination of chocolate and coconut. I got the idea for this cake from a recipe online but i have tweaked it completely. I have made this eggless, and the chocolate cake recipe is a new one which i tried on my own combining various recipes. There was also an error making this (as i made it for the first time which will be corrected for the next time). So… lets make a bounty cake together! For best results the cake needs to be refrigerated for a few hours before you slice it to sandwich it with the smooth and sweet coconut filling.
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE:
1 glass (250ml) of milk, i used semi skimmed milk, but you can use whichever milk you have… even lactose free milk
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2.5 glasses (using the same glass of the milk as a measurement) of self raising flour
1 glass of cooking oil
1/2 glass of cocoa powder (this is the one i used)
2 glasses of sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 glass of hot boiling water
1/2 teaspoon of soda bicarb
METHOD:
Heat the oven to 180. Line a round cake tin with butter /wax paper and grease the sides with oil.
Put the lemon juice into the milk and leave it for 10 minutes. Mix the flour with the cocoa powder and the sugar. Pour the milk into the flour /cocoa mixture carefully and mix well so that there are no lumps. Add the oil and mix well again. Add the pinch of salt . Mix well. Add the soda bicarbonate and lastly the boiling water. Mix and pour into the cake pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes till done. While the cake is baking lets make the sweet coconut filling and the ganache.
FOR THE COCONUT FILLING
3 tablespoons of dessicated coconut, powder it a bit in the blender ( i did not do this, but its best that you do it)
2 tablespoons of sugar, also powdered ( i used my amazing bullet to do this, to buy it do contact me)
100 ml of whipping cream or as needed.
Mix the coconut with the sugar and add the cream to make into a smooth spreadable paste. Keep aside. If it thickens a bit you can add some more cream or milk to get it into the spreadable consistency.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
150 grams of milk chocolate
100 grams of whipping cream
Put the cream to heat and add the chocolate and mix till the chocolate melts. Keep aside and it will thicken.
TO ASSEMBLE:
So, we have our perfectly baked chocolate cake! Let it cool completely (this is VERY IMPORTANT) and once its cooled, keep it in the fridge for a few hours. Since this is a very soft and moist cake, if we do not keep it in the fridge it will not cut nicely (thats what happened to me)- Once it is in the fridge and cool cut in in half with a serrated knife. On one half spread the coconut mixture and then put the other layer of cake on it pressing it gently. Spead the chocolate ganache on the top and the sides.
Your “bounty” cake is now ready to be eaten!! You will love the light texture of the cake combined with the sweet coconut filling and the rich chocolate ganache!
Do try this out and send me your comments
Do visit my online store !!!

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Magic Bullet | Tagged bounty, cake, chocolate cake, coconut, easy, eggless, ganache, jain | 4 Comments

HEALTHY SPINACH IN OLIVE OIL AND GARLIC

Posted on March 29, 2013 by nituchugani

HEALTHY LOW CALORIE SPINACH

I cannot take any credit for this recipe except for typing it out! Many of you ask me for healthy, low calorie recipes and frankly i do not use much oil in my cooking except when i deep fry. This is part of my daughter Chaya´s diet. My daughter does not “diet”, she just eats healthy where her meals are concerned because she has a weakness for sweets, cakes, cookies etc, so her meals are always light but her desserts decadent 🙂 She cooks her spinach this way and loves it. Its a simple recipe with few ingredients and no spices. It takes hardly any time to cook and can be made in quantity and then refrigerated and added to pasta or salads.
INGREDIENTS:
300 grams of spinach, washed well and chopped ( i buy the ready made prewashed spinach and just chop it with my magical scissors)
3 flakes of garlic, roughly chopped or finely minced, choice is yours
1 birds eye red chilli, broken or any type of dried red chilli
salt to taste
1 teaspoon of extra virgen pure spanish olive oil
METHOD:
Heat a good non stick pan till well heated. I used my cook n serve ceramic pans. Add the olive oil and then the garlic and the red chilli and sautee till the garlic starts changing colour and gets fragrant (please take care not to burn or else the dish will taste bitter). Add the spinach leaves and cook on a high heat till they are cooked (it will only take you a minute) and then add the salt. Take off heat and serve in the same pan. Please do not overcook as the spinach will lose all its nutritional properties. Tbis recipe can be made with any kind of leafy green vegetable.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF OLIVE OIL
Olive oil is very good for health. It has many benefits and cardiologists recommend a daily intake of 2 tablespoons. This can be easily had by dressing your salads with olive oil and stir frying your vegetables in it.
TO BUY MY COOK “N” SERVE CERAMIC PANS

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Low Cost, Quick Recipes, Veg Starters, Vegan | Tagged garlic, healthy, low calorie, olive oil, spinach | Leave a comment

SPICY FRIED POTATOES

Posted on March 27, 2013 by nituchugani

If you love fried potatoes then this is definitely going to be on your table very often. These spicy fried potatoes make an excellent side dish to almost everything ! Snack on them… eat them as a side dish… or even a vegan meal with a salad.
INGREDIENTS:
500 grams of potatoes, cubed ( best use potatoes for frying)
a good pinch of salt
a good pinch of Nitu Didi pure turmeric powder
a good pinch of hot red chilli powder
6-8 curry leaves
green chillies, chopped if you want it extra hot!!
1 cup of cooking or olive oil
METHOD
Wipe the chopped potatoes with a kitchen towel to remove all moisture. Add the spices and mix well. Heat the oil in a good non stick frying pan ( i used my ceramic pans, to buy them visit my online store HERE)
Put a handful of potatoes carefully into the hot oil and fry till done. When half fried add the curry leaves so that they get the flavour of the curry leaves. Drain well and serve with your main dish or as a snack.

NITU DIDI TIP: The oil will then have the flavour of the spices, so you can use it for your cooking, but do not keep it for a long time.If you are going to use it soon, then fine..if not please just discard the oil. Thats why i tell you to use a handful of potatoes in a little oil so you dont waste.

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Fusion, Gluten Free, Ideas for meals, Jain recipes, Low Cost, Quick Recipes, Spices, Veg Starters, Vegan | Tagged ceramic pans, olive oil, potatoes. eggless, quick, spicy, Vegan, vegetarian | 2 Comments

EGGLESS TIRAMISU

Posted on March 27, 2013 by nituchugani

Specially for my vegetarian and halaal followers…for you on this lovely easter season 🙂

INGREDIENTS
250 grs of mascarpone cheese
1 tablespoon condensed milk
1 tablespoon milk
50g sugar
Slices of cake
1 cup of black coffee (decaf for me)
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 teaspoons chocolate powder (which did i use?)
Cocoa to decorate
It is very easy to make
The first thing is to mix the coffee with the chocolate powder and instant coffee.

In a bowl put the mascarpone, sugar, condensed milk and milk. Mix well with a whisk.

Soak the cake in the cofee mixture
We put together our “Tiramisu” the way we find it more attractive, test your maginación … so I recommend to put several layers to make it richer the mixture (I only did one layer of each…. Well, that and as you to see )….
Do not forget to top it with a thin sprinkle Cocoa,Let stand in refrigerator about 4 to 6 hours and serve cold. For those who want a liquer, you can add some coffee liquer, brandy or some baileys to the coffee mixture.

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Fusion, Quick Recipes | Tagged cake, eggless, halaal, tiramisu, vegetarian | 2 Comments

SPANISH STYLE KABABS (PINCHOS)

Posted on March 25, 2013 by nituchugani

Today lets have a spanish tapa! “Pinchos” are pieces of skwered meat which is marinated in a “pincho” spice whos main ingredient is paprika. These pinchos are then grilled and served to you as a “tapa” which means snack. Pinchos are usually made of pork but you can also make them with chicken or lamb. Tapas are eaten anytime of the day with a glass of wine or beer throughout spain in their lovely cafes or bars. I recently went to one tapas bar and had these pinchos and the owner who was also the cook very happily gave me her unique recipe with her secret ingredient and unusual serving style. So… vamos a tapear??? Shall we snack????
INGREDIENTS:
250 grams of chicken breast, lamb or pork , cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon of Nitu Didi Pincho Spice Mix (or you can use some paprika instead)
1 teaspoon of extra virgen pure spanish olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of brandy (my halaal friends please omit this)
1 teaspoon of white wine( my halaal friends please use half the amount of lemon juice instead)
1 tablespoon of garlic parsley sauce
METHOD:
Marinate the meat or chicken in the above ingredients overnight. Next day put it in a strainer to remove all the marinade. Skewer the meat in skewers alternating a meat piece with a small red cherry tomato, or a piece of onion if you like. Heat a grill or a non stick pan till very hot and grill these pinchos till well done. Add some of the marinade on it for extra taste.
How to make garlic parsley sauce?
In a blender ( i used my magic bullet) add a few flakes of garlic and some chopped parsley with some salt. Add a splash of olive oil and lemon juice and blend it till very smooth. This sauce will keep for a week in the fridge and can be used to flavour grilled meat or pasta.
To buy Nitu Didi Pincho Spice Mix click HERE

HERE IS A VIDEO ON HOW TO MAKE TYPICAL SPANISH PINCHOS

Posted in Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Magic Bullet, Quick Recipes, Recipes with videos, SpanIndian, Spanish Tapas, Spices | Tagged kababs, olive oil, pinchos, spain, spanish, spices, tapas | Leave a comment

SPINACH PULLAO

Posted on March 24, 2013 by nituchugani

My vegetarian followers are going to love me (hahah …giggles…just kidding). Actually its a challenge for me to create vegetarian food in my non vegetarian loving home! I had a house guest who was pure vegetarian and it was quite a challenge for me to make “unique” dishes for him to try. This pullao is an outcome of my overtime imagination. Its delicious, healthy, and the nutrients of the spinach is not wasted by over cooking. Its yummy on its own or eaten with a bowl of simple white yogurt. For Jains, please omit the ginger and garlic in this recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of basmati rice, rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes.
4 cloves of garlic , peeled and chopped
1″ piece ginger, chopped
2 red tomatoes, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
1 cup of finely chopped fresh spinach, i used my magical scissors to chop it, buy here
1 tablespoon of dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi), soaked in water for 30 minutes
1/2 teaspoon of Nitu Didi pure turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of salt or to taste
4 tablespoons of oil
METHOD:
Heat the oil in a good non stick casserole type pan and add the garlic. Once the garlic starts changing colour add the ginger and sautee for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes and green chillies together with the salt and the turmeric powder and cook till the tomatoes get all mushy and you can see the oil separating. Add the drained fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) and cook for a few seconds more. Add the drained rice and 1.25 cups of water. Cover and cook till the rice is 90% done. Once it is done, add the spinach leaves, mix it carefully with a fork and cook for a two minutes more till the spinach and rice is cooked. Serve hot with a bowl of yogurt or some pickle. This rice is so delicious on its own, it does not even need a side dish.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF THIS DISH:
This rice dish contains garlic, ginger, turmeric , and spinach. Spinach is a good source of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, manganese, zinc and selenium

Everyone talks about the benefits of spinach in nourishing the eyes and building bones. What few know is that it also very good for digestion. Spinach eases constipation and protects the mucus lining of the stomach, so that you stay free of ulcers. It also flushes out toxins from the colon.
Another lesser known benefit of spinach is its role in skin care. The bounty of vitamins and minerals in spinach can bring you quick relief from dry, itchy skin and lavish you with a radiant complexion. Regular consumption of fresh, organic spinach juice has been shown to improve skin health dramatically.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF TURMERIC
Turmeric has a lot of benefits, right from preventing cancer, to being a good anti inflammatory, to being anti depressant. Do buy a good quality of turmeric.

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Fusion, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, Jain recipes, Low Cost, Quick Recipes, Rice is Nice, Spices, Tupperware Food, Veg Starters, Vegan | Tagged gluten free, healthy, jain, pullao, rice, spinach, Vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

STUFFED CREPES WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

Posted on March 23, 2013 by nituchugani

Crepes are a favourite with mostly everyone! Be it sweet or savoury…..its very hard to refuse a well made crepe! My daughter just loves them and i make them very often at home. A single batter with lots of fillings…..like jam, nutella, ganache, strawberries n cream..and then the savoury ones.. you can fill it with almost everything! Left overs.. or make your own fillings…just use your imagination. These crepes can be used instead of lasagne or canneloni sheets also! Serve them on their own or topped with a sauce and put into the oven for a while for a satisfying main dish.
This is an “eggless” recipe but as i said you can use the filling you want.
INGREDIENTS FOR ABOUT 10 CREPES:
7 heaped tablespoons of whole wheat flour (you can use normal flour too)
1.5 cups of water or as needed, add the water bit by bit
1 teaspoon of salt
Pinch of soda bicarbonate
oil to grease the frying pan
filling of your choice
METHOD:
In a blender ( i used my magic bullet) add the flour and water and salt. Blend into a batter ( took me less than a minute).
Keep the batter aside for about 10 minutes.
I kept it in the plastic jug itself.
Heat a non stick frying pan with a drop of oil.
Pour a bit of batter and swirl the pan around so the pan is covered with the batter.
Cook on one side ( about 30 seconds) and then flip over and cook on the other side.
Fill with filling of your choice and roll up.
Thats it!!! Isnt this easy??????
FOR THE SPICED PANEER FILLING
1 cup of paneer
1 onion chopped fine (Jains omit the onion)
1 teaspoon of Nitu Didi Tandoori Spice Mix (tandoori spice without any added color..to buy click HERE)
1 teaspoon of chopped coriander leaves
red chilli powder to taste
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 teaspoon of a good spanish olive oil
FOR THE MUSHROOM SAUCE
1 cup of mixed assorted mushrooms, chopped (for those of you who live in spain, i used the chopped mushrooms you get from mercadona)
1/2 cup of whole or semi skimmed milk
salt to taste
a pinch of ground black pepper
METHOD:
For the paneer: Heat the olive oil in a pan and sautee the onions with salt till they are transparent. Add the spices and the paneer and mix. Add salt to taste and the ketchup. Cool and fill the pancakes. Layer them in a baking tray and pour the mushroom sauce on top and bake in a hot oven at 220 degrees till bubbling.
FOR THE MUSHROOM SAUCE:
Heat the milk in a pot and add the mushrooms and cook for about ten minutes. Add the salt and pepper and leave it to cool. It will thicken a bit. Pour on top of the crepes or any grilled meat or pasta.
To make paneer at home