EGG SALAD SANDWICH

Posted on April 28, 2012 by nituchugani

I used to eat egg salad sandwiches for as long as i can remember! It used to be one of my mothers favourite sandwiches. The filling can be made and kept in advance for a day or two so it makes an excellent filling when one needs to prepare in advance. Its also an excellent filling for tarts! I combined it with lettuce and mortadela but you can use ham of any type!!
Cynthia Serrao…this recipe is for you…hope you enjoy it and make it. The normal recipe just calls for mayonnaise but i have made my salad taste piquant by adding mustard and a few drops of hot sauce!! This is how you go about it.
INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs, hard boiled and grated
2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of mustard
a few drops of hot sauce
1 small onion chopped fine
a dash of black pepper powder
slices of ham or mortadela
lettuce leaves
toasted bread of your choice
METHOD:
mix the grated eggs with the chopped onion, mayonnaise , mustard and hot sauce. Add the black pepper to taste and salt if needed
Take a slice of toasted bread and spread the egg mixture on it.
Place the lettuce leaves on top of it
Place the mortadela on top of it.
Cover with the other slice of toasted bread.
Cut and serve!!!

Posted in Crack an egg???, Salads, Sandwiches | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

WRAPS WITH CHICKEN TIKKA AND SWEET N SOUR SALAD

Posted on April 27, 2012 by nituchugani

My family does not like store bought wraps and so i have now resorted to making them myself from scratch. The other day i got an idea to flavor them with herbs, sesame seeds, nigella seeds and black pepper. Obviously i wasnt going to make soo much different flavored doughs so i even thought of a technique!!! What i like about home made wraps is that they taste better and can be made and frozen and then taken out when needed. The dough keeps fresh in the fridge for a few days too!! You can fill them with almost anything but my family favourite is chicken tikka. I made an unusual sweet and sour salad to go with it!! So here i am sharing all the whole recipe.

First we start with the wraps
INGREDIENTS:
500 grams of white flour
125 grams of room temperature natural white yogurt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
salt to taste
warm water as needed
sesame seeds, nigella seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper, oregano, garlci flakes for flavoring
METHOD:
Put the yogurt for a few seconds in the microwave to heat (if you have one…if not skip this step or put the yogurt in the sun for half an hour)
Add the soda bicarbonate and baking powder and salt
Add the white flour and make a dough using warm water as needed
Work the dough for five minutes till well keaded
Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for about 3-4 hours to rise a bit.
HOW TO PROCEED:
Make small balls out of the dough. Flatten it a bit. Dip one ball in white flour and starting rolling  a bit into a round. Sprinkle with flavoring of your choice on one side.
Roll to seal in the flavoring and repeat on the other side.
Keep on rolling till its nice and thin
(for reference you can see my youtube video on paratha.. yourtube cookingwithnitu paratha
Heat an iron gridle or skillet and cook the wraps on each side till done.
Do not over cook as they will become hard,
Store in an airtight container and use when needed.
If using the next day refrigerate
These can be frozen.

FOR THE CHICKEN TIKKA
350 grams of boneless chicken breast, in thick fillets
3-4 tablespoons of sour white yogurt
2-3 cloves of garlic
a small piece of ginger
1 tablespoon of Nitu Didi tandoori spice powder
few drops of red food coloring
salt to taste
red chilli powder to taste for spice
METHOD:
Blend the yogurt, ginger garlic in a blender to make a paste. Add the tandoori spice and coloring and red chilli powder.
Marinate the chicken fillets in this marinade overnight.
Grill them in a greased frying pan or a grill or barbecue them.
If grilling in a pan grill them and later flame them over the gas stove to get that lovely bbq flavor.
Cut into strips and its ready to be filled into the wraps.
For chicken tikka video….cookingwithnitu on youtube..chicken tikka

For chicken tikka video….cookingwithnitu on youtube..chicken tikka
SWEET AND SOUR SALAD
1 big bowl of lettuce, shredded
1 cucumber , diced
1/4 cup of spring onions
DRESSING:
2-3 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1/2-1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
1 tablespoon or more or blackberry jam
a few drops of tabasco (optional)
Mix the salad and then add the dressing. Toss well.

HOW TO ASSEMBLE:
Take a wrap. Spread a bit of the salad on it and then spread some chicken tikka strips and fold the wrap.
Secure with a toothpick and serve!!
Excellent tv dinner!!

Posted in Chicken, Floury Matter, Fusion, Indian Restaurant Dishes, Salads, Tupperware Food | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

DAHI WADA

Posted on April 26, 2012 by nituchugani

From time to time my followers send me their recipes with their pics of their tried and tested dishes and that makes me happy. I get to learn and appreciate that a dish can be made in a different way and presented in a different way too. Plus i get to learn different dishes and share them with all of you. If youd like to send me your favourite recipe with the pic please feel free to do so. Todays recipe comes from Priya Bedi who not only sent me the recipe with the picture but also told me a bit about herself in the email. I found that really soo touching. I also make these dahi wadas and havent had time to put it up in the blog. I make mine exactly the same was as Priyas….only i soak the lentils overnight and grind them with ginger and a few green chillies and leave the batter to ferment for a few hours. This ensures lovely soft wadas. No baking powder or soda to be added. The rest is the same as the recipe. So happy cooking!!

> Dahi Wada is also called as Dahi Balaa in punjabi
> White Urad Dal (250 gms or more as per quantity required)
> Green chillies
> Ginger
> Cummin seeds 1 tsp
> Normal Cooking Oil
> Yoghurt (one full big bowl)
> Chaat Masala 1 tsp
> Red Chilli powder 1/2 tsp
> Black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
> Roased cummin seeds powder 1 tsp
> Water
> Coriander leaves
>
> Urad Dal need to be soaked overnight or 5 to 6 hours, grind the urad
> dal along with green chillies, ginger and cummin seeds, please make
> sure the batter is thick and water need to be added only if required
> and salt to be added. after the batter is ready deep fry them and
> then soak the wada in warm water for 2 or 3 mins to make them soft.
> Put fresh yoghurt in a bowl add water as much as required however make
> sure that too much water is not added as the raita needs to be not
> very thick nor thin, then add the salt and other masala i.e. black
> pepper, red chilli powder, chaat masala and roasted cummin seeds mix
> them well.
> While removing the wada squeeze the water completely and then add all
> the wadas to the dahi mixture and mix all of them well and add
> coriander leaves to garnish if you want you can also add some
> pomegranate for the rich taste.

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Veg Starters | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

EGGLESS ORANGE N SAFFRON CAKE

Posted on April 24, 2012 by nituchugani

just read on facebook that someone called the cake which they baked “better than sex cake”!!! Well thats a name id love to give to my saffron cakes. With all the latest talk about saffron being so good for health etc… its a good idea to put in a few strands in your cakes! This lovely recipe was taken from my blog (which i didnt even remember-just makes you see how many recipes i make and upload that i lose track!!!) and changed a bit by Dipa Motwani of Malaga!!! She used orange juice, orange zest, saffron and cardamom to flavour this cake!! How exotic can that be??? Its a blend of east and west!! Once again i thank Dipa for sending me the pic …. This is a huge cake (over a kilo) so if you want to halve the recipe you can go ahead 🙂 I will post the original measurements as she gave them to me over the phone
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups (750 grams) of all purpose white flour (maida)
2 cups (500 grams) of sugar
1 cup (250ml) of vegetable or light olive oil
1 cup (250 ml) of milk
2.5 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoons of baking soda
1 cup (250 ml) of freshy squeezed orange juice
zest of 1 orange
a pinch of Nitu Didi pure spanish saffron
1/4 teaspoon of Nitu Didi cardamom powder
METHOD:
Heat the oven to 190 degrees. Combine the vegetable oil with the sugar and mix well.  Add Nitu Didi pure spanish  saffron and powdered cardamom Add all the other liquid ingredients. Sift the flour with the baking powder and soda bicarb twice. Slowly add the sifted ingredients into the liquid mixture and mix till the batter is smooth. Add half the orange zest and mix well. Pour into a large baking pan which has been pregreased. Put remaining orange zest on the top. Lower the oven to 180 degrees. Bake the cake for about 30-40 minutes till done.
Slice and enjoy with your cuppa tea!!!

Posted in Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Saffron | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

EGGLESS YOGURT CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Posted on April 23, 2012 by nituchugani

I saw this recipe on facebook (it was made and shared by a spanish woman- and i cant remember her name…am feeling totally fustrated) and it fascinated me. It was a yogurt cake with strawberry topping and was totally EGGLESS!!! I was happy and asked my family if they would eat the cake if i baked it ( they cant see beyond chocolate or saffron cakes) and i was told NOT to bake it!! My fascination continued so i asked some of my followers on facebook if they were prepared to try a recipe for me and some agreed. Well Sajna Basant of Bangalore made this cake acording to the recipe and sent me the pic. Thank you soo much Sajna… i cant take credit for it , except for the fact that i came across the recipe. I cant even rememeber the name of the spanish lady and i am feeling so bad. Once i get to know i shall credit the recipe to her. Meantime talking about the recipe. Sajna Basant gave it her own twist…topping it with chocolate sauce instead of strawberry jam!! So now we have two versions!!! Its eggless….and butterless, oiless but in the LEAST TASTELESS!!!!!!!!!!! So thank you Sajna for making it and thank you whoever who actually put up the recipe…And…you all can thank me when you do try it out !!”wink wink”!! Pinky Nagdev…my sweetie do try this out 🙂
INGREDIENTS:

150 grams of crushed biscuits
60 gramos of butter, melted
375 grams of thick yogurt, greek or normal but must be thick…if not put it in a thin cloth for a while to remove the moisture
1 small can of condensed milk
strawberry jam at room temperature
OR
chocolate sauce
for the chocolate sauce:
milk chocolate bar
a little cream
a little icing sugar to taste

METHOD:
Heat an oven to 175 degrees.
crush the biscuits and add the melted butter to it. Press it into the bottom of a spring form pan to make a base. Press it firmly and refrigerate for an hour.
Mix the thick yogurt with the condensed milk well. Pour it gently and carefully on top of the biscuit layer. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely (very important) and then refigerate for an hour. For the strawberry jam topping : Heat the strawberry jam ( if its from the fridge) and cool it a bit. Top it over the cake and make swirls with a fork to create a fancy design.
FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE: melt the chocolate bar over a double boiler , add a little cream and some icing sugar to taste. Cool it a bit and pour over the cake!!

Posted in A Piece of Cake???, Eggless Sweet Temptations, Everything Vegetarian, Low Cost | Tagged , | Leave a comment

CHINESE BLACK BEAN CHICKEN THE NITU DIDI WAY

Posted on April 22, 2012 by nituchugani

Black bean chicken is a popular dish in all the oriental restaurants. The main ingredient here is the black bean sauce which is made with fermented soya beans. It is extremely salty so you need to be careful about how much you use. If you like the taste you can always add more ! My daughter loves to bite into the black beans so what i do is i add very little salt and add a lot of black bean sauce. You can make it with any ingredient…fish or meat, tofu. vegetables etc. I use a  lot of chicken at home as everyone loves it. I have uploaded a video tutorial for this so you can see how its made step by step,
INGREDIENTS:
400 grams of boneless chicken breast cubed
3 tablespoons each of minced ginger and garlic
1 bowl of cut vegetables like onions, leeks and red or green capsicum
1/4 teaspoon of white pepper powder
2-3 tablespoons of chinese rice wine (TOTALLY OPTIONAL…MY HALAL FOLLOWERS PLEASE IGNORE THIS)
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of cornflour dissolved in a cup of water
2-3 tablespoons of cooking oil
METHOD:
Marinate the chicken with half the ginger garlic, a pinch of salt, the rice wine and the sesame oil and white pepper for an hour.
Heat the oil in a wok . Brown the chicken in small batches and keep aside on a plate.
In the same wok without adding extra oil just add the vegetables and the remaining ginger garlic and let it sautee for a few seconds.
Add the browned chicken pieces to it and stir.
Add the black bean sauce and mix well.
Add the cornflour and water mixture and cook till the sauce thickens
Serve hot with white rice
Enjoy!!

Posted in Chicken, Fusion, Gluten Free, Made in China, Step by Step | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

COUS COUS SALAD

Posted on April 20, 2012 by nituchugani

Cous cous salad is refreshing and filling and can be eaten as a meal by itslef. You can add soo many things to this salad and i have given it my own innovative touch by flavouring it with cumin powder and adding strawberries to it!!!! You need a lot of lemon juice for this as cous cous tends to be quite bland and needs a lot of flavoring to make it delicious!! Its an excellent party salad as it can be made before hand and it even keeps a few days in the refrigerator without spoiling.So here we go with the recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of cous cous (make according to the instructions in the box….)
1/2 teaspoon or more of cumin powder
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup each of diced cucumber, radish, carrot, onion, and capsicum
1/4 cup each of finely chopped parsley and mint leaves
a few strawberries chopped fine
a few dates, chopped fine
a little extra virgin spanish olive oil for drizzling
a good pinch of black pepper
METHOD:
Let the cous cous cool down and then add all the chopped vegetables, and the pepper. Add the lemon juice and some olive oil. Check seasoning and keep in the refrigerator at least for an hour so that all the flavours mingle.
Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Fusion, Healthy Options, Salads, Veg Starters, Vegan | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

KABAB KOOBIDEH (IRANIAN KABAB)

Posted on April 19, 2012 by nituchugani

Another excellent recipe sent to me by Ree Khan. Thank you soo much Ree! Kabas are wonderful and light and quite healthy because of their low content in fat, if you are on a high protein diet this recipe is just for you. You can omit the bread . In this recipe two kinds of mince are used. When i was in Dubai i had tasted this kabab and asked the chef what meat he used to make it and he said beef and lamb. The taste was awesome and i recall once i had made some indian style kababs with 3 types of mince (ages ago) and everyone who tasted it complemented me about tis flavor and texture.

250 grams of Mince Meat of your choice. (Better if two types of mince meat are mixed..it can be either lamb with chicken of beef)
Green Chilies, chopped to taste
1 egg, beaten slightly
-Salt to Taste
-Black Pepper to Taste
1/4 teaspoon of cumin powder
– Red Pepper Flakes
1 chopped onion
a little lemon juice
1 slice of bread soaked in a little milk so it becomes pasty,

Mix All the ingredients together. All Ingredients should be according to your taste, some people like less salt, more chilies etc. Make sure you put as much you require. I used a machine to grind all these ingredients together, and it was much better than I usually do it with my hands.
Shape into long flat kababs and grill on a heated frying pan or grill with a little oil on it.
Serve with salad and dill rice!!
Thank you soo much Ree Khan!!

Posted in Healthy Options, Lets eat Meat!! | Tagged , | Leave a comment

HEALTHY BREAD SQUARES

Posted on April 18, 2012 by nituchugani

This healthy bread snack is filled with sprouts and paneer (cottage cheese) making it a whole meal on its own! For a side dish i would suggest a salad and your packed with the vitamins and nutrients one needs. The recipe and the pic has been sent to me by our dear Dipa Motwani from Malaga Spain and i really do thank her from the bottom of my heart go to through the patience to photograph and write me the recipe so i can share it with all of you. You can make this with any filling you wish or even left over food but do try Dipa´s innovative recipe!!
INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup of Moong beans, sprouted
1/2 cup of paneer or cottage cheese
one cup of spring onions
a pinch of hing(asafoetida)
2 chopped spring onions
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
green chilles
lime
 pinch of turmeric
 pinch of black pepper
curry leaves
cilantro
ginder and garlic grinded
half a cup of Raisins …………
METHOD:
Sprout the mung beans by soaking them over night in water. Next day drain them and leave them spread in the open and and you will find them sprouting.
heat a little oil in pan and sautee the spring onions with the ginger garlic paste  black ppepper and curry leaves ..green chilles.all together
start stiring on slow flame till golden light brown and add salt grated paneer cilantro leaves and  lime juice
 Add the sprouted mung beans, turmeric and some spices if you like.and mix well. Lastly add the raisins

 

now remove from the pan and keep it to cool down fr few moments its should not be hot nor cold …..
now take two sliches of sandwich bread .
wet each  slice of bread and with palm wet one slice and put  the stuffingall over the bread and put the other slightly wet slice on top of it and seal well by pressing the sides together.
Make all the bread slices like this with the stuffing,Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry it on each side till its golden brown. Serve with chutney,
Serving suggestion: i put a dollop of yougurt and some sliced tomatoes on each bread puff.
NITU DIDI TIP: the bread should just be wet by your wet palms just so that it can be moulded. If you wet it too much it will break apart.
THANK  YOU DIPA!!!
Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Floury Matter, Fusion, Low Cost, Veg Starters | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

PALAK PANEER (INDIAN COTTAGE CHEESE IN SPINACH SAUCE)

Posted on April 17, 2012 by nituchugani

I am posting 2 different recipes of Palak Paneer , one is a 100% no oil added recipe and the other has been sent to me by Priya Bedi..thank you soo much Priya… so hope you enjoy them

Palak Paneer by Priya Bedi…thank you soo much Priya
1 full bowl of palak (spinach)
3-4 onions medium size chopped
2 medium size tomatoes chopped
fresh paneer cube ones 200 gms
ginger chopped
garlic chopped
green chillies chopped
cummin seeds
red chilli powder
garam masala
turmeric powder
vegetable masala
Normal cooking oil
salt to taste

– Boil the palak (spinach) till the leaves are completely soft and then drain
the water and keep the water aside and grind the palak and prepare a
paste.
– Deep fry paneer till golden brown and then keep it aside
– Heat the pan add some oil and after the oil is warm add some cummin
seeds after that add the chopped onions n stir fry till its golden
brown then add garlic ginger and green chillies to it and continue
frying after few mins add the tomatoes and fry it for some more time
till it get completely reddish.
Grind the onions and tomato mixture and make it a thick paste and
again add it back to the pan, cook it for a min and then add the palak
paste and mix it again and add all the masala i.e. turmeric powder,
red chilli, garam masala and vegetable masala and mix all of them very
well to avoid get lumps now add the paneer and water which was kept
aside at the time of boiling the palak pleas ensure water is added as
much as gravy is required, add salt and mix it welll and cook it for 2
mins.

U can also add some grind cashew nut for rich taste.

NO OIL ADDED PALAK PANEER RECIPE BY ME

I was in Dubai lately and went to eat in an indian restaurant famous for its food called Gazebo and i ordered a chicken in spinach gravy (murg palak) and was a little stunned to see that the dish had soo much of cream in it. I could barely eat 2 spoonfuls of it and it made me wonder why so many indian restaurants float their sauces in cream? Our traditional palak paneer is made with cream and even butter sometimes…well i decided to make a recipe as healthy as i can…ofcoruse we all know paneer is made of full fat milk… but we can also substitute that for a low fat fresh cheese. This recipe of mine is for all of you who are calorie concious and want to have their cake and eat it too! I havent used a drop of oil to make this and it tasted good!! Ofocourse it always tastes a bit better with oil…BUT… it wasnt bad at alll!!
INGREDIENTS:
Paneer made from 2 litres milk ( if you want to know how i make my paneer at home please go to my cooking channel on youtube)
2 bowls of thawed frozen spinach or 3 bowls of fresh spinach
3 tomatoes
2 tablespoons of ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon of dried fenugreek leaves(kasuri methi)
1 onion quartered
1or 2 green chilies for spice
1 bowl of chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric powder
1/4 bowl or more of fat free cream cheese
METHOD:
Cut the paneer into cubes , i cut the into diamond shape (sorry you cant see it soo well in the pic). Boil the spinach with all the ingredients except the cream cheese.
Boil it till the spinach and the tomatoes, onions and all are cooked. I did not add any water to it while boiling. When a bit cooled puree the whole mixture. Heat the mixture in a pan till well heated and then add the fat free cream cheese. Mix till the cheese blends with the spinach puree. Add the paneer cubes and mix well till all is heated through.
Enjoy your healthy palak paneer!!

Posted in Everything Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Healthy Options, NO OIL RECIPES, Paneer | Tagged , , | 4 Comments