CREAMY EGG AND POTATO CURRY

Life always has its own plans for us and sadly we can never alter these plans. Three weeks earlier I was all excited to met my parents and enjoy my long awaited vacation.....but. Its true I spent three weeks with my parents but I never want to spend those days again.......shocked. Well my Baba(father) is very ill and was here for check-up, he had been suffering since many years but he never told anyone.....its only when Mamoni(mother) saw all the visible symptoms that I got to know about it. After his check-up we were told of all the physical aliment he is suffering from.....now he has loads of medicine through out the day....I am still shocked with his attitude toward himself. Parents get worried when we neglect about ourself or we don't tell them about our problems, I don't know why they don't realize that we feel the same.....even we are worried about them and if they fall ill it affects us so much. I hope now my parents understand that they should just tell me everything directly.                                                                                                                             very old pic of my parents Anyway,the changing of my plans by life didn't stop with this, I planned for my parents to stay with me for a month so that both of them can rest and relax a bit as doctors said he needs a lot of rest. And even that plan could not work out.....why? Well life planned something more horrible.....one of my uncle, my Baba's sister's husband, expired and I knew that Baba had to go else that would hurt him more. So he left and I know when he goes home he will start his routine and wont get the most required rest....all this worries me, then again that's what life has planned and I can just play my part in it. As it has been planned for me,  again I am alone with the same routine life and the only real fun time is when I am blogging. As I was alone and not in a very good mood, so I didn't feel like shopping or cooking anything special. So last Sunday was perfect for a easy , simple curry and the Creamy Egg & Potato Curry was part of the menu. Gravies are often the star of any Indian meals and a good creamy gravy can make the meal a perfect one. This is an awesome gravy......full of flavors with all the simple spices and coconut cream. Its a perfect dish that goes well with rice, chapati and paratha. Great for those lazy days..!!!

Eggs	6 numbers
Potato	2 medium sized
Onion	1large
Ginger-garlic paste	1 tablespoon
Green Chilly	2 numbers
Tomato	2 numbers
Coconut milk	100 ml
Turmeric powder	1/2 teaspoon
Red Chilly powder	1/2 teaspoon
Roasted Cumin powder	1/2 teaspoon
Oil	2-3 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste
Pepper	As per taste
Cilantro Leaves	1 cup

1. Hard boil the eggs and remove the covering. Marinate the eggs with little salt, tumeric powder & red chilly powder.
2. Cut the potato lengthwise like the wedges. Soak it in water with some salt.
3. Cut the onion in large blocks. Place the cut onions in a baking dish and drizzle slight oil on top. 
4. Season with some salt, pepper and give it a mix. Roast it at 180C for about 15 minutes.
5. When the onions are done, let it cool and then blend it to a smooth paste.
6. Blanch tomotoes in hot water and let it boil till they get soften. Remove the skin and blend that to a smooth paste to make tomato puree.
7. Heat little oil in a kadhai and fry the eggs and potatoes separetely. Remove them and set aside separately.
8. In the same kadhai, add ginger-garlic paste fry for some time and then add the roasted onion paste.
9. Fry the mixture for 5-6 min. Then add tomato puree and cook under cover and low flames till the oil separetes out.
10. Mix the spices - tumeric powder, red chilly powder and roasted cumin powder with little water till it forms a paste.
11. Add the spice mixture to the kadhai and mix all the cooking ingredients together.
12. Then add the fried potatoes and eggs to the kadhai and cook for 6-7 min.
13. Mix the coconut milk with 1/2 cup of warm milk and pour in the kadhai.
14. Cook the dish in low flame and under cover till the water is soaked.
15. Finally garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

I tried the dish with rice and paratha and enjoyed it with both. 

PANEER & PEPPER QUICHE

We all read about food and try to learn new dish for any place avaliable, some recipes sound so interesting that it just gets us thinking....the same happened with me when I read about quiche some years back. My love for eggs is no secret and this dish has eggs as the main ingredient so exciting right :) . But I didn't know of any place in Bangalore where I could get them and I didn't have oven at that time so I didn't try making it. I have been introduced to a lot of dish by my elder sister-Kankana and I tasted my very first quiche with her. Before my sister was leaving Bangalore, we used to spend every weekend together, so one Sunday she took me out for dinner to a beautiful resturant. She ordered a lot of yummy dishes including a creamy chicken quiche. When I saw the quiche I was not sure if I would like it coz it didnt look very appeling to me, but my sister said I should try it before I make up my mind and when I did I was lost in the flavour. The chicken filling was creamy and juicy and the crust was crunchy......honestly I ordered another slice of the quiche, I just could not leave with one :) . Since the last Tuesday I was not well, I was surviving on cornflakes and milk so Friday morning as I was feeling a little better I decided to make some tasty and quick and definately savoury brunch. When I saw the eggs the very first thing that came to my head was Quiche....simple, easy and filling. Quiche can be with a pastry crust or without it, I went for the crustless one. I didnt have any readymade crust available and I wanted a quick brunch so had no plans in making the crust. As for the filling, I had pepper, paneer, onion and beans so I ended up with Paneer & Pepper Quiche. The best part was that the food was ready in 30 min and I had a satisfying brunch :) .

FOR QUICHE
Eggs	4 numbers
Red Bell Pepper	1 number
Paneer	200 gms
Beans	6 numbers
Green Chilly	2 numbers
Onion, big	1 number
Garlic cloves	3 numbers
Milk	1 cup
Dried Thyme	1 tablespoon
Oil	2 tablespoons
Salt	As per taste
Black Pepper	1 teaspoon

    Paneer & Pepper Quiche:-

1. Chop the onion, red bell pepper and pepper separately into small cubes. Cut the chilly very finely.
   
2. Blanch the beans for about 5 min and then, shock them in ice water. Keep them aside.
3. Pre heat the oven at 140 C for 10 min.
4. Heat 2 tbs oil in a pan and add the garlic, fry till the garlic turn brown.
5. Add onion and pepper to the pan and saute them till the vegetables are soften.
6. Then add the paneer and green chilly and fry for 10 min.
7. In a big bowl, whip the eggs with milk, dried thyme, salt & pepper.
8. Add the cooked vegetables and paneer to the bowl and mix them properly.
9. Grease a baking pan with some oil and pour the egg mixture to the baking pan.
10. Arrange the bean on top of the egg mixture on the baking pan
11. Bake it at 180 C for 30 to 35 mins.
12. Quiche is ready to be served.

I had a great start for the weekend and have planned to have a very relaxing one :) .

VANILLA SOAKED FRENCH TOAST WITH POACHED PLUMS

All my life the one meal I have skipped is Breakfast....I know it the most important meal of the day and all, but somehow I rarely feel like eating in the morning. One glass of milk is more than enough for me. I have been advised against this by so many people but somehow I just could not  However things do change at times, and I woke up hungry today..!!! I think its due to the Masterchef Australia....just before sleeping off thats what I watched and was tempted with all the wonderful creations and may be thats what made me hungry.. :)  Whenever I make breakfast it would be either of those -- french toast or pancake. So following the same habit I decided to make some type of French Toast, that when I remember a French Toast idea by one of my fav. cook Nigella Lawson. A new series of her cooking - Nigella Kitchen had started in TLC some time back and they would have a repeat telecast at 3:00am.....during those days I would actually make it a point to leave office by 2:30am so that I am in time for the show.... :) . Honestly, its not only her recipes that captivates me but also they way she presents it.....in my opinion, she encourages everyone to cook.  Lets get back to the dish....I had twigged her recipe a little to suit my taste buds and definately to fit in the ingredients that were available... :) Hence my version of Vanilla soaked French Toast with Poached Plums was created... This is the first time I tried a sweet French Toast and totally loved it. As I was totally packed for the last few weeks with new releases in office and final exams and final project submission.....this was a great way to relax myself... :)

FOR FRENCH TOAST
White Bread Slice	4 numbers
Egg	1 number
Caster Sugar	1 tablespoon
Vanilla Essence	1 teaspoon
Milk	1 cup
Salt	Only a pinch
Oil	Enough to coat the base of pan

FOR POACHED PLUMS
Large Plums	8 numbers
Black grape juice	1 cup
Caster Sugar	Half cup
Water	Half cup
Cinnamon Stick	1 stick
Nutmeg	A small quantity grated
Salt	Only a pinch

  FRENCH TOAST:-

1. In a large plate; mix milk , egg , vanilla essence , caster suger  and salt thoroughly.
2. Place the bread on the plate let it soak for 5 min.
3. Turn the bread pieces over and soak the other side for 5 min more.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan, and place the soaked-up bread pieces and it fry over medium heat.
5. Fry the bread pieces from side-to side till it looks crunchy on top and soft(not soggy) in the center.

  POACHED PLUMS:-

1. Cut the plums into halves.
2. In a wide saucepan, add half cup water and caster suger and let it cook in medium flames till the suger dissolves.
3. Add the black grape juice to the saucepan and let it cook for 2 min.
4. Then add cinnamon stick ,nutmeg and salt to the saucepan and let it boil till the mixture becomes syrupy.
5. Bring the saucepan out of flames, and arrange the plums in it. 
6. Poach the plums in low heat for 10 min or till the plums are tender.

   ASSEMBLING:-

1. In a plate, arrange the French Toast. Place the Poached Plums on the toast.
2. Add the sweet-sour sauce on and around the toast.

                   

A hot cup of  Masala tea with the sweet and sour French Toast was a great start for the weekend. :)       

SPICED-UP CAKE

Cooking can be so much fun when you have an awesome family to share with. As you know that my mom and sister had come to visit me, they had stayed 2 weeks with me and everyday was wonderful....its not only there presence that made things worth, but all the lovely dishes prepared by all of us together made everything entertaining . The 15 days I had with them was so awesome and fun.........missing them already :(.  During the weekdays it was impossible for me to do anything special for them but the weekends I tried my best...... Baking Cakes have become a new weakness of mine, I even dream about it :) . Whenever I see a fruit or vegetable the very first thing that pops into my head is.....HOW WOULD IT TASTE IF TURNED INTO CAKE!!!.... My sister loves cakes so with my craze of baking cakes and her love for them, it was added in my to-do list :) and the smile she had with each bit made all the efforts worth-while.  Well today's recipe is actually something I had day dreamt about, when I told mom about my idea she was excited too and the urge to try it was so intense that I had to make it instantly and got an hour late for office.......but the heart wants what it wants so my Spiced-Up Cake was born..... :)

FOR SPICED-UP CAKE
Lemon(Indian)	4 medium sized
Cream	1/2 cup
Eggs	3 numbers
Honey	1 cup
Flour	1 and quarter cup
Baking Powder	2 teaspoon
Baking Soda	1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon Powder	1/2 teaspoon
Nutmeg	A pinch
Salt	A pinch
Oil	2 tablespoons
Butter	2 tablespoons

  
   SPICED-UP CAKE:-

1. Whisk together the egg and cream till it turns fluffy.
2. Grate the lemon peel directly in the egg mixture.
3. Add honey, lemon juice and salt to the mixture and whisk it again till it mixes thoroughly.
4. Sift flour,baking powder and baking soda separately in a large bowl. To this add the dry spices(grated nutmeg and cinnamon powder).
5. Melt the butter. Add the butter and oil to the egg-lemon mixture  in the processor and mix throughly.
6. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and fold them till its smooth. 
7. Coat the baking bowl with slight oil and then add the batter in the baking dish.
8. Bake the mixture in the oven for 20 min at 210 degree celcius.
9. Remove it and then let it cool.

                   

The Spiced-Up Cake is ready for TASTING.......... and it was pretty good...a little moist with crunchy sides  :)       

CHEESY FRENCH TOAST

Breakfast is the meal of the day that I skip most of the time. I know its totally wrong and have been told to change this habit by so many people however I just cannot do it yet :D , lets be hopeful for the future ;) . Today morning was really different, I woke up and had the urgent urge to eat something . You can say I woke up hungry , in fact I was so hungry that I woke up at 7:00am which is really shocking in my case. There is a nursery poem "EARLY TO BED & EARLY TO RISE" , well am totally the opposite and I think cause I get up late so I end up skipping breakfast :) . While I was standing near my refrigerator thinking what I could eat for the breakfast at the fasts , instantly I remembered a dish I was created by Nigella Lawson. I dont remember the name of the dish , but I remember the cheese oozing out from the bread and so that was it.  I dont like sweet dish in the morning so I had made my French Toast a savory one. Sharing the dish with My Sweet and Savory

FOR FRENCH TOAST STUFFING
Sandwich Bread	4 slices
Milk	2 cup
Mozzarella cheese slices	2 slices
Carrot	1 medium sized
Onion	1 medium sized
Red Chilli Flakes	1 tablespoon
Oregano	1 tablespoon
Dried Basil	1 tablespoon

FOR FRENCH TOAST COATING
Eggs	2 numbers
Cream	2 tablespoon
Dried Parsley	1 tablespoon
Oil	2-3 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

      FRENCH TOAST PREPARATION:-

1. Cut off the brown edges from the bread slices.
2. Grate the carrot into very thin slices. Chop the onion as finely as possible.
3. Cut the mozzarella cheese slices into thin strips.
4. Mix the grated carrot and chopped onion in a medium sized bowl. Pour in a bit of oil , salt and oregano and bake it in the microwave for 5 mins.
5. Let the baked bowl cool down , then add the dried basil , red chilli flakes and mozzarella cheese strips and mix them properly (do not mash up the thing).
6. Pour the milk in a large bowl . Place the bread slice in bowl and let the bread get little soft.
7. Take one bread slice put the cheese mixture on it and place another bread slice on top. Then seal the edges properly.
8. Repeat the same with the other 2 bread slices.

FINAL ASSEMBLING:-

1. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, cream, dried parsley and salt.
2. Heat oil in a pan.
3. Place the stuffed bread slices in the egg mixture and fry it in the pan till its turns crispy on all sides.
4. The Cheesy French Toast is ready for hungry tummy :)  

I had my Cheesy French Toast with one huge cup of tea.... :D 

POTATO , EGG & CHICKEN SALAD

Yesterday was the last day for my exams for this semester , so since morning I was all excited thinking that this is it after this paper I would not need to study for 1 month at least :D  . I had gone to the examination center at ten in the morning thats when I learned that the server was down so we had to wait. And so I waited and waited , finally I had my exam at 4:30 in the evening....... all my excitement had died down by then and I was tired and hungry   :( .  I was so tired that I didn't feel like getting down and packing food coz then getting a transportation to my house would be another big struggle , so cooking something at home seemed to be a better option.  People you know me would right-away tell you that I enjoy having good salads. And I make one every weekend , don't really know why I have not posted any of my salad ideas so far but as the saying goes better late then never, so sharing with you the Potato & Egg Salad I had this Friday after all the waiting. I have shared the salad with Favorite Things Friday - No. 13 hosted by Kristi , FoodTripFriday#100 in Food Trip Friday  and  Fun w/ Food Friday Linky Party in Paisley Passions

FOR THE SALAD
Potatoes	4 numbers medium sized
Eggs	2 large eggs
Onion	1 medium sized
Vinegar	1 tablespoon
White Pepper	1 teaspoon
Salt	As per taste

FOR SALAD DRESSING
Cream	1/2 cup
Butter	Half tablespoon
Mayonnaise	2 tablespoon
Red Chilli Powder	Half teaspoon
Dried Parsley	1 tablespoon
Black Pepper	1 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

FOR CHICKEN TOPPINGS
Chicken breast	1 slice
Soya Sauce	1 teaspoon
Tomato Sauce	1 tablespoon
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Black Pepper	1 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

    SALAD:-

1. In a large pan , boil water add salt and vinegar and potatoes and cook till the potatoes are soften.
2. In another pan , boil water with some salt and hard boil the eggs.
3. Chop the onions as finely as possible. Cut the potatoes and eggs in small size cubes
4. In a large bowl place all the main ingredients and add the salt and white pepper. Keep it for at times.

SALAD DRESSING:-

1. In a bowl , place butter, cream , mayonnaise , red chilli powder , dried parsley , salt and pepper. Mix them thoroughly till it forms a smooth paste.
2. Spread the dressing on the salad mixture and mix it properly and let it stand for 10 min.

CHICKEN TOPPING:-

1. Cut the chicken breast into thin strips.
2. Marinate the strips with soya sauce , tomato sauce , red chilli powder , black pepper and salt and keep it for 30 min.
3. Heat a bit of oil in a pan , and fry the marinated chicken strips till they are golden on all sides.

To serve , place the salad in a bowl and top it with the fried chicken strips. I felt great after having the salad. Hope you do too  :)  .

BUTTERY GARLIC NOODLES & CHICKEN TAIPE

Knowing me you will be aware that I just don't like to cook on Friday's. I enjoy cooking every single day mainly on weekends where I can try some new dishes :) . But on Fridays I just want to parcel some food , enjoy 2-3 movies and relax , but this Friday was different SADLY :'( . I reached home and ordered food from my favorite Chinese restaurant but they said they were super packed so they can send food only after 2 hours :( . I was hungry after the hectic day in office and I had done my shopping so I had everything at hand and it made no sense to wait for so long. Since it was Chinese in my head so I thought of trying some new Chinese recipe :)  Some time back I had read that butter has been recent added in the Chinese dishes, suddenly I remembered that in one small resturant some 3-4 years back I had a buttery noodle. I was determined to try to make noodles with butter some time soon and what better than this Friday :)  When I started my college, I had a very kind hearted friend "Barsha" who would very often treat me to different resturants during that time I had a Chinese chicken dish called "Chicken Taipai". So with my buttery noodles I decided to try making this chicken dish but since I was not aware of the recipe and I don't wanna hurt any sentiments so I called mine "CHICKEN TAIPE"

FOR BUTTERY GARLIC NOODLES
Noodles	150 gm
Eggs	2 numbers
Onion	1 medium sized
Sugar	Half teasoon
Garlic	5-6 cloves
Green Chillies	2 numbers
Red Chilly Powder	1and half teaspoon
Butter	2 sticks
Salt	A pinch

FOR CHICKEN TAIPE
Chicken Breast	200 gm
Garlic	2 cloves
Onion	1 medium sized
Tomato puree	Quater cup
Green chilli sauce	Half tablespoon
Schezwan Sauce	1 tablespoon
Soya Sauce	1 teaspoon
Red Chilly Powder	Half teaspoon
Flour	1 tablespoon
Sugar	1/2 teaspoon
Salt	As per taste

    BUTTERY GARLIC NOODLES  :-

1. Boil the noodles in a pot of water with little salt and oil. The oil is very important as it prevents the noddles from sticking.
2. Drain the softened noodles and immediately pour cold water so that the noodles don't cook further else it will get all mushy.
3. Heat a bit of butter in a wok, add the eggs and fry them and set aside.
4. Heat the rest of the butter in the wok, add the mined garlic and let it fry for 2-3 min. 
5. Add finely chopped onion and green chilly to the wok and fry it for sometime. Then add the noodles and fry for 3 min. 
6. Add salt,sugar and red chilly powder to the noodle and cook for some more time. And serve hot.

      CHICKEN TAIPE  :-

1. Cut the chicken into strips. Marinate them with salt, pepper, soya sauce , red chilly powder and flour and leave it for 15 min.
2. Heat oil in a wok , and fry the chicken strips till they are golden on all sides. And remove it
3. To the same wok, add chopped onion and minced garlic and fry.
4. When done add, tomato puree, green chilli sauce, schezwan sauce and soya sauce and when the strong smell is removed add the chicken pieces and fry till each piece is properly coated.
5. Serve it with the buttery garlic noodle.

HEAVILY STUFFED PARATHA

And finally its Thursday:) . I just love Thursday nights as it keeps reminding me that its just one more day of office and then WEEKEND.......yahoo..!!!! :D . Frankly I have even started planning for my weekends. But Thursdays mean one more thing , refrigerator is almost empty so need to go shopping on Friday..... :)  Today when I reached home , I saw that I have 2-potatoes , 1-carrot , 2-eggs , 1-tomatoes , 2-onions and 3-green chilly , believe me that too much then most of the days :D  so I decided to try and making something that would use all of them so that nothing is wasted and tomorrow I can do some fresh shopping. Hence the Stuffed Paratha seemed to be the best option , I called it Heavily Stuffed cause I have added 4 different stuffings :) . And yeah wanted to share one more joke........even the flour and oil is all over now :D . I would share the recipe for Spicy Tomato Chutney later lets start with "Heavily Stuffed Paratha"

Wheat Flour	2 cups
Potatoes	2 medium sized
Carrot	1 large number
Eggs	2 medium sized
Green Chilly	2 numbers
Onion	1 medium sized
Butter	1 tablespoon
Refined Oil	Half cup
Salt	As per taste

1. Boil the potatoes and carrots together till they both softens.
2. Hard boil the eggs.
3. In a bowl , mash together the cooked potatoes , carrots and the eggs with salt and butter. Mix all the ingredients throughly and set aside.
4. In another bowl , knead together flour ,little salt and butter using warm water till it form a smooth mixture and leave it for 5 min.
5. Make small balls of the kneaded flour and stuff the mashed vegetable filling into the flour and turn it into a stuffed ball.
6. Using a rolling pin flatten the stuffed balls in circular shapes , keep dusting the board with flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
7. Heat a pan , and place the flatten stuffed dough into the pan over medium heat and let it cook for 1 min on both the sides.
8. Then drizzle some oil on the open side of the partially cooked dough and turn it over and drizzle some oil on the other side and fry till both the side turn golden brown.
9. Serve it hot.

The Parathas can be had with pickle or curd or chutney. I enjoyed it with Spicy Tomato Chutney.