Bread Egg Upma

The event COOK IT HEALTHY : PROTEINicious was successfully completed a day back. I feel so happy because it was my first event and the response was really good. The event wouldn't have been a success without your support. I thank each one of you who participated in this event. Thank you friends!! I will post the round-up as soon as possible. 

Bread upma might be one of the common breakfast dish. So what if we make it with a small twist, by adding eggs? Yesterday, I tried adding the eggs to bread upma. The upma came out good, with a different and great taste. Its so simple, finally pour the egg mixture to the bread upma you prepare. But make sure that bread doesn't get very soggy by adding more eggs. Also, if kids don't like eggs, they won't easily know that eggs are also included in the upma. Add more vegetables to make it healthy and colourful.

What you need?

7-8 Bread Slices

2 Eggs

1 Onion chopped

1 Tomato chopped

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Chilli powder or to taste

1/2 " pc Ginger chopped

Salt

Pepper

Oil

How to prepare?

Beat the eggs with a little salt and pepper, keep aside. Cut the bread slices into small cubes.

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter mustard and cumin seeds. Add the ginger and saute for few seconds. Now add the onions and saute until they turn pink. Then add tomatoes and cook until tender. Add salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder, mix well. Now put the bread cubes and mix thoroughly. Finally, pour the eggs into this on a medium heat. Stir continuously until the eggs are dried up. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Serves 2-3

Notes:

* I added only 2 eggs. Add more eggs if you desire, but do not make the bread very soggy.

*Add other vegetables to make it healthy and colourful.

*You can also add some nuts too.

Pasta in White Sauce

I had posted the recipe of  Vegetables in White Sauce  few weeks back. I had mentioned then that the white sauce idea was from Nita Mehta's book. Once in a week I prepare pasta at home. I thought of trying the same sauce for pasta this time. I prepared the pasta with this white sauce and it tasted very yummy. I like to have more sauce while having pasta. If you want less sauce, adjust the quantity accordingly. I have used whole wheat Penne pasta here, which is very healthy and high in fibre.

What you need?

2 cups Pasta

1 Onion chopped

1 Bell pepper chopped 

2 tsp Oil

Salt

Pepper

Italian Seasoning

For White Sauce:

1/2 of an Onion, finely chopped

1/4 tsp Ginger Garlic paste 

1 tbsp Wheat flour

1-2 tsp chopped Coriander leaves

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Red chilli flakes

1/2 tsp Pepper

3/4 cup Milk 

1 tsp Tomato ketchup

How to prepare?

Cook pasta according to packet directions.(Add few drops of oil in the boiling water if you desire, so that the pasta won't be sticky.)

Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions until they turn pink. Add bellpepper and stir fry until they are cooked. Now add the cooked pasta and mix well. Sprinkle some salt, pepper and the italian seasoning. Mix thoroughly and keep this aside.

Take all the ingredients under For White Sauce in a bowl. Whisk it so as to get a smooth paste. In a pan, add this mixture, cook on a medium flame. Stir continously until a thick sauce like consistency is obtained. Add the pasta to this. Mix well.Serve immediately. The sauce can become very thick and dry if kept for long.

Before serving, if you desire sprinkle cheese on top and microwave until cheese melts.

Saucy Gobi

If you want to prepare a quick Gobi side dish, try this recipe. This is an easy one with sauces and adjust the spice level according to your taste. Its perfect with roti or any fried rice. Usually I prepare this dish by chopping gobi florets very small. But yesterday I tried with the florets itself without chopping. Both the versions tasted great. Hope you too will try this easy and tasty recipe..!!

What you need?

2 cups Gobi florets

1 Onion chopped

1 Bell Pepper chopped

2 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

2 Green chillies chopped

2 tbsp Soya sauce

2-3 tbsp Tomato Chilli sauce 

Pepper

Salt

Oil

How to prepare?

Heat oil in a pan. Add the onions, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. Saute until onion turns slight brown. Now add the bell pepper and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the gobi florets now. Add a little water, cover and cook until almost cooked. Stir in between.(You can also microwave the gobi and once cooked add to the pan) Once almost cooked, remove the lid, stir fry for a few minutes until the gobi turns slight brown.Now add the sauces, sprinkle salt and pepper.Serve hot with any fried rice or roti.

Plantain Sweet Dosa

Plantains ( or Ethapazham) are very dear to Keralites. The simplest snack or breakfast item using plantains is prepared by simply steaming the ripe ones. Pazham pori or plantain fritters is a very popular snack and there are lot of other wonderful recipes using them. Plantains are fully loaded with fibre, vitamins and minerals. It is said that once they are cooked, they are low in fat, high in fibre and starch. Today's recipe is a simple sweet dosa. This was an experiment and dosas came out very tasty. Make these as breakfast or snack, kids will enjoy these for sure.

What you need?

1 ripe Plantain (Ethapazham)

1 cup Dosa batter

2 tbsp grated Coconut

2 tbsp Sugar or to taste

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

A pinch salt

How to prepare?

Cut the plantain into 2 with the skin on. In an idly cooker, steam them for few minutes. Keep aside to cool. Peel the skin off and cut into pieces. Put these in a blender with a little water. Blend until you get a smooth paste.Now add this paste and other ingredients to the dosa batter.Mix well. Add water if necessary to get the dosa batter consistency.

Pour a ladle of the batter on a heated tava. Apply some ghee or oil if you desire. Flip them only once the bottom part is slight brown.Cook on the other side too. Serve warm. 

Sending this to the Healthy Snacks event hosted by Deepthi at Good Food recipes.

and also to Show me your dosa event at Dil se hosted by Divya

Tapioca and Soya Puffs

Tapioca in puffs? Now I too wonder how that came out of my innovative mind ;) I had one small tapioca left and was wondering what to make with it.  My hubby, son as well as me are fans of soya chunks and tapioca. So I thought of combining soya chunks and tapioca to make the filling for puffs. This is the first time I am trying puffs and they came out great.We all enjoyed it. Thanks to my friend Saleena, who suggested to try the tapioca from the mexican store here. So I could make the classic Kappa Puzhukku, which was my last post and also this innovative puffs.

What you need?

1 Puff pastry sheet ( I used Pepperidge farm puff pastry sheets)

1 small size Tapioca

1/2 cup Soya chunks

1/2 of an Onion chopped

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

a few Coriander leaves chopped

1 tsp Oil

Salt

Note: I made the filling for the puffs as per the quantity mentioned above. But the filling was a little more than required for making puffs with 1 pastry sheet (9 puffs). You can use the extra as filling for sandwich or dosa.

How to prepare?

Thaw the puff pastry sheet as directed in the package.

Remove the skin of the tapioca. Wash the tapioca and chop into cubes. Add these cubes to a vessel,  pour enough water to this and cook on the stove. When the water starts boiling, remove it  from stove and drain the water. Now fill the vessel with fresh water, add some salt and turmeric. Cook again until the tapioca is fully cooked and it should be very soft. Drain the water and keep aside.

Boil 2 cups of water. Add soya chunks to the water and let it cook for 5-10 minutes.Drain the water and allow it to cool. Gently squeeze out the water from the soya chunks. Put them in a blender and pulse it 5-6 times so that you will get a coarse mixture of the chunks.

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter cumin seeds. Add onions and ginger-garlic paste. Saute until the onions turn slight brown.Add the soya coarse mixture, saute for a minute. Now add the chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt. Mash the tapioca well and add to this. Mix thoroughly and finally add the coriander leaves. Keep this mixture aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.There is no need to grease it.

The pastry sheet will have 3 rectangular sections. Divide each section into 3 squares. Put about 1 tbsp of mixture in each cut pastry sheet and fold it into any shape you desire, then seal with hands. Bake for about 15 minutes. Once baked, cool it for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with tomato ketchup.

Makes about 9 puffs.

Notes:

* If you want you can use water, milk or egg wash for sealing. I sealed it by pressing with hands.

* Apply some egg wash on the top of each puff before baking so that it will brown nicely. I haven't done this.

Sending this to the following events:

Fast Food, not Fat Food  event at Vardhinis Kitchen, hosted by Vardhini, an event initiated by Priya of Now Serving

Only- Baked event happening at Tamalapaku, hosted by Harini, an event started by Pari

Healthy Snacks event hosted by Deepthi at Good Food recipes.

Tapioca with Coconut/Kappa Puzhukku and Small Onion Dip/Chammanthi

Tapioca is widely consumed in Kerala. It is referred to as "Poor man's Food". But today tapioca dishes are very popular and served even in multi star hotels in Kerala. Kappa Puzhukku needs no explanation to the keralites. It's one of the popular dish using tapioca. Kappa puzhukku means boiled and mashed tapioca in ground coconut. This dish is usually served along with fish curry. But I made a small onion dip or chammanthi with it and the combination was simply great.

What you need?

2 Tapioca

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

4-5 Curry Leaves

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

Oil

Salt

For Grinding:

3/4 cup Coconut

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

2-3 Green chillies

2-3 Garlic cloves

A pinch Turmeric

For Ulli Chammanthi/Small Onion dip:

8-10 Small Onions

3-4 Curry Leaves

1 tsp Red chilli flakes or to taste ( You can use whole dry red chillies also)

Tamarind

Salt

1 tsp Oil

How to prepare?

Peel the skin of the tapioca, wash it well. Now chop the tapioca into small cubes. Add these cubes to a vessel,  pour enough water to this and cook on the stove. When the water starts boiling, remove it  from stove and drain the water. Now fill the vessel with fresh water, add some salt and turmeric. Cook again until the tapioca is fully cooked. It will become soft and a little mushy.Drain the water and keep aside.

Take all the ingredients under For Grinding in a blender. Pulse it 4-5 times to form a coarse mixture.

Heat a little oil in a pan. Splutter mustard seeds and add the curry leaves. Now add the tapioca and slightly mash it. Put the coconut mixture to this. Mix well. The kappa puzhuku or tapioca is ready now.

Preparing Ulli Chammanthi / Small Onion dip:

Heat oil in a pan. Saute small onions, curry leaves, red chilli flakes until the onion turns slight brown. Keep aside this to cool. Grind this along with a little tamarind and salt with a little water to form a smooth paste.

Serve tapioca hot with the ulli chammanthi.

Baked Soya Bread Cutlets

Its been a while I prepared some baked snacks. As I have mentioned before, I prefer baking to deep frying. Soya chunks cutlet was in my mind from long time. Finally yesterday I prepared the soya and bread cutlets. I like soya chunks rather than the soya granules. You can use soya granules if you want. But I pulsed the soya chunks in the blender and made a mixture of it which helped to make cutlets easier. Soya is rich in protein and I added some veggies too. Baking made it more healthy. Enjoy these soya bread cutlets with a hot cup of coffee or tea !!

What you need?

1 cup Soya chunks

5-6 Bread slices

1/2 cup finely chopped Onion

1/2 cup finely chopped Vegetables of your choice

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

a few Coriander leaves chopped

1 tsp Oil

Salt

Lime

How to prepare?

Boil 3-4 cups of water. Add soya chunks to the water and let it cook for 5-10 minutes.Drain the water and allow it to cool. Gently squeeze out the water from the soya chunks. Put them in a blender and pulse it 5-6 times and you will get a coarse mixture of the chunks.

Heat oil in a pan. Splutter cumin seeds. Add the onions and ginger-garlic paste. Saute until the onions turn pink. Now add the veggies and saute until they are almost cooked. Add the soya chunks mixture, salt and the spices-chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Saute for 2-3 minutes and finally add the coriander leaves. Sprinkle some lime juice if you desire. Keep this mixture aside and allow it to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.

Take each bread slice, dip in water and squeeze out the water. Add these bread slices to the soya-veggie mixture  and  mix well to form a dough. Make small balls out of it, flatten them, apply a little oil on both the sides and place them on the tray.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes until they turn brown. Flip them after 20 minutes or so. All ovens vary and so keep an eye on the oven. Serve warm with tomato sauce.

Makes about 10-12 medium size cutlets.

Sending this to the following events:

Fast Food, not Fat Food  event at Vardhinis Kitchen, hosted by Vardhini, an event initiated by Priya of Now Serving

Only- Baked event happening at Tamalapaku, hosted by Harini, an event started by Pari

Healthy Snacks event hosted by Deepthi at Good Food recipes.

Cook it Healthy-Proteinicious event happening here.

Vermicelli Pulao

It feels great to be back to blogging after a short break. Thank you  for your wishes for a good time.....yes, sure I enjoyed a lot with my family and friends. The days went so quick and I wished that our vacation would extend for a couple of days more :). After the long journey, I was busy unpacking and cleaning up the house yesterday. So I was very lazy to cook for dinner. Then I thought of making something quick and prepared the Vermicelli pulao. This is indeed an easy pulao, very flavourful and delicious one.

What you need?

1.5 cup roasted Vermicelli

1/2 cup chopped Onion

3/4 cup Vegetables of your choice

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

1 tsp Ghee/Oil

1 tbsp broken Cashews

2.5 cups Water

Salt

Spices:

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Fennel seeds powder ( dry roasted and powdered)

1/2 tsp Garam masala

1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

How to prepare?

Heat oil/ghee in a pan. Splutter cumin seeds. Add cashews and let them get slight brown. Now add ginger-garlic paste and then the onions. Saute until the onions turn pink. Add the vegetables and saute until they are cooked. Now add all the ingredients listed under Spices and mix well. Add the water and when it boils add salt. Finally add in the vermicelli and mix well. Cover and cook on a medium flame until all the water is absorbed and the vermicelli is cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serves 2-3

Notes:

* I have used roasted Vermicelli here. If you are using plain Vermicelli, roast in ghee or oil until they turn slight brown.

* You can use green chillies instead of chilli powder.

* Vermicelli and water ratio may slightly vary depending on the brands. You can check for the packet directions. (I have used MTR roasted vermicelli)