Eggless Paav/ Soft Bun / Dinner Rolls

Paav in India is a very special dish in northern parts. But in West India it is very commonly eaten and loved meal with mixed vegetable or Bhaaji as we call it.

I loved paav's when I was a kid. We used to get these sweet buns with some colorful things in it and I used to eat it just like that with some butter layer. Me and my sister used to fight over them. Aaahh it was fun times. :)

Anyways, I wanted to make these for a long long time. So finally I made up my mind and thought lets do it. But as always, there has to be some glitch when I make something for the first time. When I warmed the milk and added yeast to it, it wasn't proofing as it used to be. I threw that batch out and then started afresh with a new yeast sachet, but again same result. I knew my yeast is not expired as I just bought it two days back. So as I was looking at my yeast pack readings on the back on how to use it, I read add to dry ingredients and I was like oh no this is no proof needed yeast. I wasted two packs trying to proof them.

Once I figured out the mistake, I took out another sachet, which was the yeast which needs proofing. And everything went fine after that and I had deliciously soft dinner rolls for dinner :D. So moral of the story was, check your yeast packs before using it. And do not use no proof needed yeast for this recipe.

Hope you will try it and enjoy eating them as much as I did. Do leave any comments or suggestions you might have down below. Happy Cooking Everyone!!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
5 tsp butter - melted
21/4 tsp instant dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
 Extra oil, all purpose flour and milk for dusting/coating

Recipe:

1. Warm the milk enough so that you can hold your finger for not more than 5 seconds in it. Take 3/4 cup milk and add sugar and yeast to it. Let it sit for 15 minutes until yeast is proved.
2. In a big bowl, add flour, salt, butter and yeast mixture to it.
3. Mix it until everything is well combined and a sticky dough is formed. Keep in mind that dough should be very sticky and if not keep adding 1 tbsp milk at a time and mixing it until it reaches desired consistency. Once combined, place it on a floured counter top.
4. Now with help of your palm heels press and stretch it for 15 minutes or until it becomes a smooth dough and less sticky than when you started.
5. Once done, place it in a oiled bowl and coat the dough in oil too. Leave it at warm place for 1 hour.
6. After an hour, take it out and punch it down a little. Make small balls out of the dough. It will make around 8-10 paav.
7. Place the balls in a non-stick baking tray side by side without leaving any space in between them.
8. Cover the baking tray with damped paper towel and leave them to rest at a warm place for another 45 minutes or until they rise again.
9. At about 30 minute mark, preheat your oven at 390F.
10. After 45 minutes, take 2 tbsp milk and brush the top of paav with milk.Place it in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.
11. Take it out after 15 minutes and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve hot with bhaaji/mixed vegetables or anything else you might like.

Basil Potato Salad

To have a side dish is a struggle I go every time I cook something like fish or dried chicken recipes like tandoori chicken etc. And you have to think what will go well with them. Than what you have available in your fridge, what you can come up with.

But this potato salad is the one dish which we can make in a jiffy and goes well with anything. And most importantly the main ingredient is one which we always have available "POTATOES" :D. This is the simplest dish which for sure wake up your taste buds.

So do give it a try and let me know if you have any suggestions or comments down below. Happy Cooking Everyone!!!!

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes
20-25 basil leaves
1 garlic clove
1-1/2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp mustard paste
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. In a mixer-grinder, mix everything together except potatoes and grind in a fine mixture.
2. On other hand, boil the potatoes. Once boiled, cut it into cubes and place it a bowl.
Note: Always add potatoes in water before starting the heat while boiling. Because we want potatoes and water to heat up at same rate evenly. Else you will have potatoes boiled from outside and raw inside.
3. Pour the mixture over potatoes and mix gently without breaking potatoes.
4. If you add this on warm potatoes, you might be able to smell the garlic being cooked in heat of potatoes.
5. Longer this salad sits, more it absorbs the mixture and better it gets. Serve hot or cold with any main dish. I served it with baked salmon.

Baked Salmon with orange/lemons

It is my new found passion to experiment with different fishes and different ways to prepare them. This is one of the successful experiments I did :D. A healthy and delicious way to eat salmon. Though it is very popular and very basic, but for me it was the first time and exciting to eat a baked fish.

Salmon has its own very peculiar taste which is very very different than any other fish. And in order to elevate this flavor profile of salmon, we need to do it justice by making salmon the start of the dish. And what better way to seal in all the flavors Salmon has to offer, other than baking it in its own juices and steam.

If you are a fan of Salmon or eating it for the first time. This is the best way to get the real taste of Salmon. No fuss preparation and awesome results.

Give it a try and let me know if you any suggestions or comments down below. Happy Cooking Everyone!!!!

Ingredients:

2 portions of salmon - washed and pat dry
1 lemon - thinly sliced
1/2 orange - thinly sliced
1 inch piece of ginger - thinly sliced
1 garlic clove - thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 star anise
3-4 tbsp wine - but since I don't drink wine I used vegetable broth/stock
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe:

0. Preheat oven at 435 F.
1. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. I do this because I don't want to clean the mess afterwards :D
2. make a bed of 1/2 lemon slices.

3. Place salmon on top of it. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of salmon.
4. Now scatter around rest of the ingredients. Lemon slices, orange slices, ginger, garlic, star anise (one on each piece).

5. Sprinkle olive oil on top and pour vegetable broth at the bottom of pan.
6. Cover the pan with another aluminium foil. And cover it with lots of space for steam inside.
7. Place it in oven for 25-30 minutes.

8 Once done, take it out of oven and server hot either in same baking dish or on a platter along with any side dish. I served it with basil potato salad.

Peanut crusted Catfish with chili garlic vinaigrette

I have started cooking fish few months back and whenever I get fish I love to experiment with different flavors. As I said in one of my previous blog posts, catfish is the best substitute I found for Bengali style mustard gravy fish. But this time thought of giving it a twist and making it in a different style.

Inspiration for the flavor profile came from one of the Chef Gordon Ramsay's video where he cooked mullet instead of catfish. I am a huge huge fan of Chef Gordon Ramsay, and I love to try the recipes he gives.

And as always this recipe turned out to be awesome. Me and my hubby loved it and cleaned the plates up to the last bite :). I served it along with some boiled, then fried veggies. You can serve them with rice/Quinoa or any thing else you might fancy.

Give it a try and I am sure you will love it. Please leave any comments or suggestions you have down below. Happy Cooking Everyone!!!!




Ingredients:

For Fish:

1/2 sliced catfish
1/4 cup peanuts
2 tbsp cilantro - finely chopped
1 egg - beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

For Vinaigrette:

1 green chili - finely chopped
1 clove of garlic - finely chopped
2 tbsp cilantro - finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt to taste

Recipe:

1. For vinaigrette, add green chili, garlic and cilantro in a mortar pestle and grind it so that garlic gets crushed and infused into vinaigrette. Now add rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Note: Longer this mixture sits, better it gets.

2. Wash the fish properly and tap dry it using kitchen paper towel and place it on a plate.
3. In a bowl take egg and beat it. Set it aside.
4. Add peanuts (crush them using mortar pestle. Do not grind them completely, make a chunky mixutre) , cilantro and salt/pepper. Mix everything well together and place this on a plate or any flat surface.
5. Take a sauce pan, add olive oil and heat it over high heat.
6. Coat the fish in egg, and place flat side down on peanut mixture. Egg will help peanuts stick to the surface of the fish.
7. Once pan is hot (it should be hot and not just warm. If it is not, than as soon as you place the fish on the pan peanuts will separate from the fish), place the fish peanuts side down on the pan. Cook until peanuts gets brownish color, once cooked and colored, flip the fish and cook.
8. Once fish is cooked, take it out on a plate.

9. Server hot with some vinaigrette dressing on top.

Simplest Broccoli Soup

This is not cream of broccoli soup but rather soup in its purest form. I love the flavor of broccoli and love to eat it in salads or stir fry just as it is.

So this soup is the perfect way to have broccoli if you are a fan of broccoli like I am. This soup is creamier without any cream and tastes delicious with just salt and pepper.

Give it a try and let me know if you any suggestions or comments down below. Happy Cooking Everyone!!!!!



Ingredients:

1 broccoli head - separated into florets
4 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
slice of goat cheese - cut into small pieces

Recipe:

1. Take water in a deep saucepan and boil over high heat. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat to medium and add broccoli florets. Cover the lid. Boil for 4-5 minutes or until knife pierce the floret easily.
Note: Do not over boil the broccoli else it will loose its color and you will not get that perfect green you are looking for.

2. Once boiled, strain the broccoli florets.

Note: Do not throw away the water. It will be used while pureeing.

3. Puree the floret when hot and use the water in which you boiled the florets for pureeing. Add enough water so that you get a creamy puree. Do not over add it else it will be watery. After pureeing, add it to a pan over low-medium heat.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat it for 2 minutes. Serve hot with goat cheese on top.

Honey Lemon Chicken

This is a very quick starter recipe which can be prepared with very less ingredients. And all you have to do is mix everything :)

This tastes yummilicious and kids will love it. Do try it. Please leave any comments or suggestions you might have down below. Happy cooking everyone!!!!




Ingredients:

2 chicken leg pieces - skin on
1 tsp honey
1 tsp mustard paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp chili sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp sesame seeds for garnishing
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

Recipe:

1. Wash the chicken thoroughly and pat dry it.
2. In a mixing bowl, add honey, mustard, soy sauce, chili sauce, lemon juice. Mix everything well together and taste for salt. If needed, add salt to taste.

2. In a non-stick pan over medium heat, add oil and when pan is heated, place both chicken leg pieces on the pan.

3. Once it is cooked on one side and starts to get light brown shades, flip it. Apply the honey mixture on cooked side.
4. Once other side starts to get color, flip it again. Apply honey mixture on other side now. Do this process until your chicken gets desired color. We get the color on chicken as sugar gets to caramelize. So do not increase the heat too much else it can get burned.

5. Serve hot topped with sesame seeds.

Tomato Onion Chutney

This is a south Indian chutney, with beautiful flavors. Goes well with idli/dosa but for me I eat it with anything and everything.

A quick recipe and can be stored for a week in the refrigerator. Make it and enjoy. Please do leave any comments or suggestions you might have. Happy Cooking everyone!!!!



Ingredients:

5 medium sized tomatoes - chopped
1 medium sized onion - chopped
2 tbsp chana daal/Bengal gram whole
2 tbsp urad daal/washed black lentil
10-12 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 inch piece of ginger - finely chopped
2 green chili
2 tbsp oil
sugar, salt and black pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. In a pan, add 1 tbsp oil on medium  heat. Add chana daal and urad daal and saute them until golden brown. Once golden brown, take it out of the pan straining excess oil.

2. In the same pan, add onioins and ginger. Saute them until translucent. At this point, add tomatoes and green chili.

3. Cook until tomatoes are cooked thoroughly. Take this out in a mixer-grinder. Add daal mixture and grind everything together. Add a little water if you feel it is thick for your taste.

4. Take it out in a bowl. Now add sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

5. Now for tampering, add 1 tbsp oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, when they start to crackle a little bit add curry leaves too. Once cooked, pour it over the chutney.

6. Serve hot or cold with idli/dosas or anything you like :)

Spaghetti Aglio E Olio

I love Italian cuisine and always try to experiment and try out new dishes. This one is the simplest yet yummiest spaghetti recipe if love garlic flavor.

Very easy to make and taste delicious. Just 5 ingredients and you are done. I make this whenever I feel tired or not in a heavy cooking mood. This is my goto recipe to eat something simple but delicious.

Do give it a try and please leave comments or suggestion if any down below. Happy cooking everyone!!!!!

Ingredients:

2 handful of spaghetti (for 2 people)
3 big garlic cloves - thinly sliced
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
salt and black pepper to taste

Recipe:

1. In a non-stick pan add olive oil and garlic. Over medium heat, cook garlic until it barely starts to sizzle out. Once it starts to sizzle lower the heat to medium-low and let the garlic infuse in the oil slowly. This process take around 10 -15 minutes.

2. Once garlic are lightly browned, switch off the heat and add a ladle of water in it to stop the further cooking and browning of garlic.

3. While your garlic is cooking, on other side take a large cooker or utensil and fill it water. Let it heat until water comes to a boil. Add spaghetti once water starts boiling and sprinkle some salt. Cover the lid and let it cook until al dente.
4. Once spaghetti is cooked, strain it. Do not wash the spaghetti with water.
5. Mix spaghetti with garlic infused oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Server hot with roughly chopped parsley and cheese on top. I served creamy mashed potatoes and baked sweet potato fries on side.

Honey Granola Bread

I have made breads before and experimented quite a lot with flavors in breads. But this one I can say for sure by far the best tasting bread I have ever made.

It is healthy and delicious. Made of honey and granola, what else you need. It taste yum and I can't stop myself eating it just like that. It has so much of its own flavor that it tasted great without anything else on it.

Super easy to make and can be stored for upto a week. And trust me once you make it, it is not going to last more that 2 days :).

Please try it and let me know if you have any comments or suggestions down below. Happy Cooking everyone :)

Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour
1 cup grinded granola
1/4 cup honey
21/4 tsp rapid rise yeast
11/4 cup warm milk
11/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp melted butter at room temperature
2 tbsp honey + 2 tbsp grinded granola


Recipe:

1. In a bowl, heat the milk in microwave. It should be warm not very hot. Warm enough so that you can hold your finger in milk for 5 seconds.
2. Add honey and yeast to it. Stir in once and let the yeast proof for 15-20 minutes. You will know yeast is proofed once your yeast gains foamy texture on surface.

3. In a large mixer or bowl, add all the dry ingredients and add yeast mixture to it. Mix by hand or using a dough hook attachment in a standing mixer. Mix it until everything is properly combined and mixture come together in a dough shape.

4. In another bowl, grease it with oil and place the dough in it coating dough with oil too. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place for 1.5 to 2 hrs or until double in size. For me, I put it in microwave or oven.

5. After 1.5/2 hours, take dough out on a floured surface/counter. Press the dough down in a rectangle shape. Do not press too much else you will end up with a dry bread.

6. Roll the rectangular shaped dough in a log. Pinch the ends and sides down.

7. Place this in already greased bread pan, pinched side down. Cover this lightly with plastic wrap. Do not wrap it too tightly else dough will not have enough space to rise again. Let it rise again for another hour.

8. At 45 minutes, pre heat the oven at 350. After an hour, remove plastic wrap from bread pan and coat the top layer with honey and granola. Warm the honey before doing that as it will thin the consistency of honey which makes it easier to apply.

9. Place it in oven for 45-50 minutes. To check if bread is done or not, tap on top and if it sounded like it is hollow inside, it means its done.
10. Take it out of the pan over cooling rack and let it cool completely. Cut thin slices and enjoy with anything you like.