CREAMY CARROT SOUP

The past too weekends were super tiring for me as I was busy looking for a house. Rents in any part in Bangalore has become a total killer. Also it was Monday yesterday and I had a very tiring and hectic day at work . To add to my misery I was the last drop so had reached home at 10:00pm......2 hours after I left  :'(.  Anyways lets forget all the sad things and move to something thats relaxing and fun....COOKING and BLOGGING :D . Till some years back, I had some kind of a cold war with Carrots :) . Actually I didnt dislike them but I could never feel any great use of the vegetable. Whenever I am in Shillong, on Sundays my dad makes his super delicious noodles with lot of vegetable including carrot, so I felt that was the only best use of the vegetable. Then my mom started making Carrot Halwa, just remembering about her carrot halwa is making all drooly and humgry.  According to me, she made the best Carrot Halwa I have ever tasted. Thats when I realized that this vegetable can be had in many different ways and I started experimenting-----Carrot Cake, Carrot and Chicken, Carrot puree with Grilled Fish etc.  So when I came home yesterday all tired I decided to make some soup, soups have always helped me relax. Also today I had read in my Food Bloggers' Cafe page about everyone creating wonders withCarrot and it got me tempted to have Carrot, hence my Creamy Carrot Soup was created :)

Carrots	4 & half cup
Milk	1 cup
Cream	1 cup
Onions chopped	1 cup
Ginger juliennes	1 tablepoon
Oil	1 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste
Black pepper powder	1 tablespoon
Lemon juice	10-12 drops

  

    CARROT SOUP:-

1. Boil water in a rice cooker with a pinch of salt and a few drops of lemon juice. Place the carrots in the cooker and cook till it softens.
2. When the carrots are cooked, remove them from water and let it cool for some time.
3. Transfer the carrots to a blender or food processor; cover and process until smooth.
4. Heat oil in the pan and add the chopped onions and ginger juliennes and fry till the onions turn brown.
5. Add the pureed carrot to the pan and cook for 2 min.
6. Stir in the milk, cream, salt and pepper to the pan and cook over low heat for 5 min. 
7. The Creamy Carrot Soup is ready for the tummy.                

            

The soup was really a blessing after all the tiring work and am ready for the next challenges .... :)  

BABY PIZZA

Since my childhood I had a huge craving for Pizzas. Even now when am sad or I feel too lonely I order a Pizza and watch FRIENDS :) . I always loved Italian foods, in fact the every word ITALIAN deeply attracts me. Although I have never been to Italy yet but what ever I have seen in television has deeply impacted me, the sexy language, the breath-taking architecture and the cheesy gooey cuisine...UUUHHHH LA LA LA!!!! ...told you its attracts me a lot, I secretly wish I could go to Italy ones.... hehehe :D . Well reality stroked again and am back to my senses. The Cricket World Cup matches are going on, not that am very crazy about Cricket but I do watch the World Cup match.....that my Indianness kicking in :) .On the 27th Mar'11 the match was India vs England and since Saturday I had planned to make some good appetizer to enjoy with the match. For the first time I made crescents rolls , pasta frittata , baby pizza and chocolate mousse. I will share all the recipes one by one but lets start with Baby Pizza.

FOR PIZZA DOUGH
All purpose floor	4 & half cup
Milk	1 cup
Instant dry yeast	1 tablespoon
Dried Basil	1 tablespoon
Sugar	1 teaspoon
Oil	Quarter cup
Salt	A pinch
Water	3-4 cups

FOR PIZZA TOPPING
Chicken breast	2 slices
Onion	2 medium sized
Garlic	2 cloves
Corn	200 gms
Spinach	1 bunch
Cream	3 tablespoon
Cheese- grated	1 cup
Red Chilli Powder	1 tablespoon
Oil	2-3 tablespoon
Salt	As per taste

      PIZZA DOUGH:-

1. Take water in a bowl; place it on low flame and add sugar, stir till the sugar dissolves.
2. Add the yeast to the sugar-water bowl after removing from heat and leave it for 10 min or till the yeast dissolves properly and the water gets a little frothy.
3. Sift and pour the flour into a large bowl.Add salt and dried basil to the flour and mix them thoroughly.
4. Make a hole in the center of the flour mixture and pour the yeast mixture and oil.Using a spatula, combine all the ingredients properly.
5. Then mix the dough with hands and place it in a large bowl and let the dough stand for at least 2 hours so that the yeast can work on it.
6. After the dough is double its original size, punch it down to eliminate the air bubbles.
7. Sprinkle some flour on the large wooden surface. Place the dough on the floured surface. Knead  the dough by pushing and folding till it forms a smooth dough.
8. Place the dough in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

PIZZA TOPPING :-

1. Cut the chicken and onion into cubes.Chop the spinach into medium pieces.
2. Boil the corn in a cooker with a pinch a salt, one whistle of the cooker is enough to soften the corn. 
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and fry till it turns translucent.
4. Add the chicken cubes to the pan. Sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder and fry it over medium heat till the chicken turns soft.
5. Heat oil in a separate pan, add grated garlic cloves and fry the cloves.
6. Add the boiled corn and chopped spinach to the pan.Sprinkle some salt and red chilli powder and fry it over medium heat till the water is evaporated and the spinach is cooked.
7. Add 1 tablespoon of cream and combine all the ingredients. Cook it for 5-6 min more.

PIZZA ASSEMBLING :-

1. For the final assembling, punch the dough down to eliminate the air bubbles.
2. Sprinkle some flour on the large wooden surface. Place the dough on the floured surface. Cut the dough into 3-4 pieces.
3. Cover a oven rack with a baking paper. Drizzle some oil on the baking sheet and cover it with oil properly.
4. Roll the pizza dough using a rolling pin into 1/4" thick circular shape.
5. Using a small circular cookie cutter, cut small circular shapes. Remove the excess flour and place the small doughs in the baking sheet.
6. Add good amount of cheese on top of the pizza dough.Add some tomato sauce on top of the cheese layer.
7. On top of the tomato layer, place the cooked chicken layer and top it off with the spinach-corn mixture.Finally place some more cheese on top. 
8. Repeat the process with all the small pizza doughs.
9. Cook the pizza in the oven at 220 degree for 20 min.

 The Baby Pizza is ready to be enjoyed for each fours and sixs the players hit.... :D 

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 

STUFFED BOTTLE GOURD

This Tuesday was a very relaxing day.I had lesser work in the office so I was very happy.... :D. I also got to leave early from office hence had time to do some shopping all in all it was a nice day. I bought bottle gourd this time , I have rarely heard anyone say that they like this vegetable however I genuinely like this vegetable and the credit for this , undoubtedly, goes to my mom.Her creations even with this bland vegetable was so awesome. The bottle gourd has various name calabash or opo squash or long melon or dudhi but its commonly known as Lauki in Hindi and Bottle Gourd in English.Have read about the healthy benefits of Bottle Gourd in a few sites so I have summarized them and decided to share it with all. HEALTH BENEFITS : --> Bottle Gourd has attracted a lot of attention due to its importance in treatment of Blood Pressure and Heart disease. --> Bottle gourd is very valuable in treating urinary disorders.  --> This vegetable is very good for balancing liver function. It is often recommended by ayurvedic physicians when the liver is inflamed. --> Ayurveda suggests Bottle gourd juice once daily in the early morning for treating Graying Hair. --> Mixture of bottle gourd juice a sesame oil acts as an effective medicine for insomnia. --> The bitter variety is prescribed as a cardiac tonic, as an antidote to poisoning and for alleviating bronchitis, cough, asthma affections. --> The dietary fiber present in the bottle gourd makes it a very useful vegetable in preventing digestive disorders such as constipation, flatulence, and piles. --> Bottle gourd juice is also considered to be beneficial in insanity, epilepsy, and other nervous diseases. Well forgetting about the healthy aspect I had prepared an deep-fried appetizer with bottle gourd , its called Stuffed Bottle Gourd and it tastes very good with some spicy tomato chutney :)

Bottle Gourd (Lauki)	1 number(500 gms)
Onion	1 medium-sized
Garlic	3 medium-sized cloves
Ginger	20 gms
Paneer(Cottage Cheese)	100 gms
Potatoes	2 medium sized
Red Chilli Powder	1 tablespoon
Turmeric Powder	Half tablespoon
Cumin Powder	Half tablespoon
Lemon	1 piece
Raisins	1 Tablespoon
Cashew nut	3-4 numbers
Vegetable Oil	Half cup
Salt	As per taste

FOR BATTER
Gram Flour	1/2 cup
Flour(Maida)	1/2 cup
Corn Flour	1 tablespoon
Baking Powder	2 tablespoon
Red Chili Powder	1 tablespoon
Turmeric Powder	Half tablespoon
Oregano	1 tablespoon
Dried Basil	1 tablespoon

   STUFFING THE BOTTLE GOURD:-

1. Peel the top skin of the bottle gourd and cut off the ends.
2. Heat water in a rice cooker with a teaspoon of salt and add the bottle gourd. Let it boil till the gourd becomes soft. Generally one whistle of the rice cooker is enough ,if the gourd is fresh, to cook the gourd to the required limit.
3. Remove the soften gourd from the cooker and scoop out the inside pulp of the gourd and keep it aside.
4. Place the hollowed gourd in the cold water so that the green color is maintained.
5. Finely chop the onions, garlic and ginger . Separately chop the raisins and cashew nut as finely as possible.
6. Boil the potatoes in  the rice cooker till they become very soft and then mash them.
7. Mash the scooped pulp and mix well with mashed potatoes. Mash the paneer separately.
8. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions.
9. As the onions turn translucent, add in the ginger and garlic. Cook till the color turn light brown.
10. Add the mashed pulp and potato mixture and cook for 7-8 minutes.
11. Add the mashed panner and cook this the moister is all soaked up.
12. Add the red chilli powder and turmeric powder and cook till the spices are properly incorporated in the mashed mixture.
13. Just 2 min before removing the pan from pan , add the cashew nut and rasins and let it cool slightly.
14. Remove the hollowed out gourd from cold water and cut it into small rings and pat it dry using a paper towel.
15. Stuff the mashed and cooked mixture in the bottle gourd rings.

PREPARING THE STUFFED GOURD FOR FRYING:-

1. In a deep bowl , mix together all the batter ingredients using cold water. See the the batter is not very thin.
2. Soak the stuffed bottle gourd in the batter .
3. Heat oil in a deep-dish pan and deep fry the stuffed gourds till the turn brown from all sides.
4. Remove the fried stuffed gourd in a paper towel so that the excess oil is soaked by the towel.
5. The Stuffed Bottle Gourd is ready to be served with the Spicy Tomato Chutney :) .

The same can be done by cooking them in a oven, but my oven was not working so I had to fry them :)  .