Paneer Paratha, an incredible dish very popular all over north India and made with Indian flat bread stuffed with cottage cheese. Parathas are whole wheat Indian flat bread, staple in north India, popularly found in most of restaurants and dhabas in north India. It is an awesome filling, soft and healthy dish usually served with raita or curd or pickle with few slices of onions.

Parathas are generally pan fried Indian flatbread, crispy, flaky and they go well with most Indian dishes for example any gravy based curry or a dry stir fry. Making the parathas are quite easy but remember that the flakier and more layered they are, the better the taste and crispier. Parathas are usually stuffed with vegetables such as boiled potatoes (aloo paratha), spinach (palak paratha), radish (mooli paratha), cauliflower (gobi paratha), minced meat (keema paratha), fenugreek leaves (methi paratha), minced chicken (chicken paratha) or onions (onion paratha) etc.

The stuffed parathas can be eaten simply or with a blob of butter spread on top accompanied with any chutney, pickle, yogurt or meat or vegetable curry. Sometimes you find that few people just roll the paratha into a tube like shape and eat it with tea, often dipping the paratha into the tea. This makes a complete balanced meal. Parathas are most popular unleavened flat breads in Indian and Pakistani cuisines.

Paneer is an excellent ingredient, is soft fresh Indian cottage cheese made by simply using acid and no rennet, very simple to prepare at home. Paneer is widely used in north Indian cuisine. Most often, no party or family dinner is complete without a paneer delicacy. Dishes like paneer butter masala, shahi paneer, kadhai paneer are all sensualist and luscious delicacies. Paneer kebabs and paneer tikka are exotic vegetarian option that substitutes meat dishes; hence no one is really going to miss the meat!

Paneer is considered to be fresh cheese and never aged. Made with whole milk, is also very high in protein and great addition to vegetarian diets. Paneer is a great way to start a meal. It is a versatile dairy product used in desserts, snacks or for main course cooking. Paneer paratha is a very health and nutritious breakfast for all age groups.

To make this healthy and nutritious Paneer parathas, firstly combine wheat flour, little salt and add little water. Knead the dough, sprinkling water little by little until it form a soft, elastic ball. Add little oil and mix well. Cover the dough and let it rest for few minutes.

In the meanwhile, make the paneer filling. Take a bowl, add grated paneer, green chillies chopped finely, salt to taste, amchur powder, coriander leaves, curry leaves and mix well. Make into small dumplings and keep aside.

Take one piece of the atta dough and form into a ball. Dip the ball in wheat flour and using a rolling pin, roll into a small round paratha. Place one paneer dumpling on the round paratha and gather the edges of the paratha and bring them up. Pleat them over the filling to form a parcel. Seal the paratha. Spread some flour and place this paratha and gently roll using a rolling pin.

Heat tawa on medium heat and place the paratha on the skillet. Cook on medium heat adding butter till pale brown spots appear on the upper side. Flip and repeat the same. Serve hot with yoghurt or curd, pickle and few rings of onions.

Do try this dish. Your kids would really love the taste and ask for more. Click on the link for watching the making of paneer paratha. It’s interesting!

http://www.vahrehvah.com/Paneer+paratha:7714

Enjoy Cooking!

Jowar Methi Paratha is delicious, flavourful and nutritious Indian flat bread made with Sorghum flour and fresh fenugreek leaves. Jowar or Sorghum flour is rich in Iron and healthy to eat. Both Sorghum and Methi have enormous health benefits and make an appetizing and healthy meal all packed in one shot.

Jowar ki roti is a very popular Indian bread from the northern India and was generally said to be a poor man’s diet, but of late is valued as it is a gluten free whole grain that has got high energy and very nutritious. Jowar is also commonly known as White Millet, Jwaari, Jonallu and is one of the staple sources for the rural and poor. Sorghum is considered an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia and is the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world.

In India, Jowar is very popular in the villages and small towns and is prepared like a roti (Indian flat bread) eaten along with meat or vegetable curries or pickles. Jowar Methi Paratha makes a nutritious and healthy meal as it’s a low calorie diet rich in potassium, energy, protein, calcium and Iron. Eating Jowar ki roti keeps bones and teeth healthy giving energy to the entire body and also maintains the health of heart, controls diabetes and weight loss. But gone are the days that Jowar ki roti is a poor man’s meal as most of the doctors and nutritionist are recommending eating jowar to stay fit and strong.

Traditionally, jowar or white millet is used in various food dishes like porridge, cookies, couscous and malted beverages. Jowar flour is specially used for either making rotis or chappatis served with a delicious and spicy vegetable or non-vegetarian curry. Jowar absorbs flavours well and can be eaten plain also. Methi added to jowar flour enhances the taste and benefits of the dish. Methi or fenugreek leaves are used both as an herb (leaves) and as spice (the seeds). The greens are generally cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop and frequently used in making variety of curries. The fenugreek are called by different name in India like Menthya  (in Kannada), Vendayam, and Venthiyam (in Tamil language), Menthulu (in Telugu language) and Ventayan and Uluva (in Malayalam).

The fresh fenugreek leaves are bitter in taste and are recognized as a powerful herb. To boost and enhance the flavour of the dish, fresh fenugreek leaves are added to dal, vegetables, rice or wheat or jowar flour. Methi or fenugreek leaves also tastes extremely wonderful when added to meat preparations. Methi Roti, Methi Dal, Methi Chicken, Methi Chaman, Aloo Methi are some of the very popular dishes from the Indian cuisine. The dried form of Methi leaves also known as kasoori methi that is used as garnish for flavouring dishes.

Fenugreek greens are used in various herbal therapeutic use and treatments in many parts of India. Apart from the culinary use, fenugreek leaves are in used in making of medicines since ancient days in India. It is said that it helps in increasing the digestive process in human bodies. Fenugreek leaves has gained attention among many diabetic patient as the intake of these leaves stabilize the insulin, blood sugar, haemoglobin levels and condition of diabetes. In addition to diabetes, fenugreek leaves are believed by some to be beneficial for digestion and liver problems, anemia, and as an anti-inflammatory.

Jowar Methi Paratha is simple and easy to prepare. For preparing this dish, firstly wash and finely chop the fenugreek leaves (methi leaves).  Put Jowar flour, wheat flour, chilli powder, salt, jeera and little oil in a large besan or bowl. Add the chopped fenugreek leaves and mix all the ingredients well.

Adding little by little water to the mixture, make soft dough. Do not add more water to the mixture (like for Chapathi). Dough should be medium tough. Knead the dough properly until it becomes soft. (It should not become too soft, just soft). Cover and Keep it aside for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into small balls and roll each ball into a round shape. (Use little wheat flour while rolling, if the dough sticks to the roller). Grease a tava with ghee and place the paratha over it, when done on one side turn on the other side and apply ghee again and fry properly till both sides turn golden coloured. Serve piping hot with a tablespoon of Butter and a bowl of Curd or raita.

Jowar or sorghum flour is an excellent variety of gluten free, and an attractive alternative for wheat allergy sufferers. Do give this recipe a try. Click on the below link for detailed recipe:

http://www.vahrehvah.com/Jowar+Methi+Paratha:1695

Pumpkin bread is exceptionally incredible bread that is sweet, moist and full of flavours. It has a nice soft and crunchiness with nuts included and spiced with some special allspice and Chinese spice. This is an excellent dish that can be eaten at breakfast or as snack.

Flavoured with pumpkin puree, this pumpkin bread tastes little similar to the banana bread but with a different variation in flavour and taste. Pumpkin bread is an easy way to use up leftover pumpkin or any winter squash. For bringing out the best of flavours, you can either use a can of pumpkin puree or make yourself by steaming or roasting the pumpkin pieces, scooping out the flesh and mashing with a fork or blending in the blender. A can of pumpkin puree gives you a stronger pumpkin flavour. The blend of spices combined with other ingredients lends a wonderful taste to the bread and the pumpkin puree helps the loaf stay deliciously moist and soft.

Pumpkin bread is yummy and easy to make without working much on the batter. While baking, it fills the house with its intoxicating fragrance and aroma which is a delight to our sense organs and especially the taste buds. The pumpkin bread has an implausible texture that remains moist for days. The taste of the bread gets better by time. Pumpkin bread has all the goodness of flavours like sweet, spicy, nutty and crunchy and truly is enjoyable to have in the morning with a cup of coffee or makes a nice snack to pack in lunch box. All flavours complement each other and offer an amusing kick to your taste buds.

Pumpkins are popular gourd like squash that are available in all shapes, colour and sizes. This comes from the gourd family, which also includes muskmelon, watermelon and squash. Pumpkin’s orange flesh has a mild, natural sweet flavour which is used in making various side dishes and in many desserts. Pumpkins are very versatile and used for cooking various recipes like pumpkin pie, sweet pumpkin curry, pumpkin orange and sage risotto and pumpkin masala etc. Most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the fleshy shell, the seeds, the leaves, and even the flowers. In the United States and Canada, pumpkin is a popular Halloween and Thanksgiving staple.

Homemade pureed pumpkin for pies is usually quite thinner in texture than the canned puree. To alleviate excess moisture, bake rather than steam or boil the pumpkin. Mash and drain through cheesecloth before using in pies. Pumpkins are a tasty source of vitamins and minerals, particularly beta-carotene, vitamin C, and potassium. It also helps prevent arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which can lead to strokes and/or heart attacks. Not only is pumpkin loaded with vitamin A and antioxidant carotenoids, particularly alpha and beta-carotenes, it’s a good source of vitamins C, K, and E, and lots of minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and iron.

Orange or yellow pumpkin is commonly used in southern India added to a variety of curry or added to sambar. When ripe, the pumpkin can be boiled, baked, steamed, or roasted. In its native North America, it is a very important, traditional part of the autumn harvest, eaten mashed and making its way into soups and purees. In Canada, Mexico, the United States, Europe and China, the seeds are often roasted and eaten as a snack.

For baking this wonderful and luscious Pumpkin bread, firstly preheat the oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, add 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter and mix until soft. Add 1 cup sugar and mix well. Add in 2 eggs one after the other, mix, add 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice and 1/8 teaspoon allspice and mix all ingredients well until soft and creamy.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda) except the ¾ cup chopped roasted walnuts. Mix 3 cups of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then add as much of the 4th cup as necessary to achieve the proper consistency (moist, but thick enough to stand a spoon in). Finally add the chopped walnuts and stir in.

Pour the batter into greased muffin tins or bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees F. for about 1 hour. Bake on the centre rack until a toothpick poked into the centre comes out dry.

Tip:  This bread is a fantastic base for all sorts of additions. Get creative by adding in chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried cranberries or whatever else sounds good to you.

Because the moisture content of the pumpkin can vary, as it can in the flour, the recipe recommends between 3 and 4 cups of flour. I used about 3 1/2 cups, but don’t be afraid to trust your gut and adjust according to conditions.

Do experimenting in making this grand pumpkin bread which would make a decent loaf of quick bread and a handsome addition to any holiday dessert table. Do try this recipe.

Bread Sticks are long, thin pieces of crispy dry bread baked either plain or seasoned with salt or flavoured with garlic, poppy seeds, paprika flakes, sesame seeds, caramelized onions, honey and herbs like rosemary, thyme etc.  They are also popularly known as Grissini or Grissini sticks.

Breadsticks originated way back around 14^th century in the city of Turin at Italy. Grissini are very popular in Spain as well. Traditionally, the original design of making the bread sticks was hand rolled or sometimes twisted in various shapes. The secret in making the best of breadsticks was to always achieve the crisp and dry texture without allowing the bread to burn.

Breadsticks (grissini) are generally pencil-sized sticks of crisp, fresh baked dry breadsticks with Italian flavours; crusty on the outside and soft and tender inside. They will be gone the moment they come out of the oven! A basic bread stick recipe uses flour, water and salt. Apart from this many chefs use almost any type of yeast dough to make breadsticks, though pizza dough is most suitably used. Once the dough is rolled out flat, it is cut into strips, rolled out into cylindrical sticks and then baked till golden and crispy. Generally the thickness and softness of breadsticks varies greatly from region to region, ranging anywhere from pencil thin and crispy to several inches thick and soft. They are usually slender, slim loaf of bread served as a complimentary side dish at meals or often placed on the table in restaurants as an appetizer.

Sources states that the history of Breadsticks, or “grissini” originated in Turin, Italy in the 1600s. Before then, bread was scarcely made using proper hygiene, and rarely baked. As the story goes, in the late 1600s a young Duke became sick with food poisoning and his father suspected it was due to bread he had eaten. He remembered himself as a child getting sick just the same, and that his mother baked bread until it was hard and crispy and fed him nothing else to help remedy his illness. He tried his mother’s old recipe to help his son, and shortly thereafter the young Duke recovered. After his recovery breadsticks became the preferred bread for royalty in all of Italy. Since then many forms of breadsticks have come along, including biscotti in the early 1700s. Biscotti, which is Italian for “baked twice” is now a side dish served with coffee or espresso.

Breadsticks are basically consumed by the Americans, Europeans (mainly Spain, Italy and Greece), Australians and some parts of Asia. There are various ways of eating the breadsticks. Generally they are commonly served with soups. They are part of bread basket which also contains dinner bread rolls etc. Bread sticks can be flavoured with herbs, cheese, tomato puree, garlic etc. When flavoured, bread sticks add more flavour to soups.

In fine dining restaurants, bread sticks are served with tossed salads, spaghetti etc. They can also be combined with ingredients like Prosciutto to form classical starter. They are often offered at wine tasting sessions to cleanse the palate in between tasting wines or can be eaten as a snack when had plain or topped with parmesan. Breadsticks or Biscotti can also be served with coffee or espresso, dip them in your drink for 1 to 2 seconds before eating. Cheesy bread breadsticks tastes extremely delicious when you dip them in garlic butter or plain melted butter.

To prepare these thin, crispy, crusty pencil like-shaped Breadsticks, firstly warm milk and keep aside. Stir together yeast and sugar in a cup. Pour a little milk in yeast, stir well, and keep aside to froth till double.

Take a slightly warmed mixing bowl. Sieve in flour and salt. Make a well in centre. Sprinkle seeds onto flour. Mix butter into warmed milk. Pour this in centre of flour. Pour yeast mixture too. Mix and knead well till very smooth and elastic. Add warm water as required for kneading. Cover and keep aside for 45 minutes, or till double. Lift dough and punch and knead for 3-4 minutes.

Shape into a thin log. Cut into 30-33 parts. Shape each part into a finger shape. Grease a baking sheet well, place fingers on it. Brush with some oil or butter. Keep aside for 20 minutes. Bake in preheated oven at 200C for 10 minutes. Thereafter bake at 170C for 10-15 minutes. Remove and cool first in sheet then on racks till completely cooled. Serve with hot tea or coffee or even soup and the remaining store in airtight jar.

For detailed recipe on the ingredients and quantities used, click on the below link:

http://www.vahrehvah.com/Bread+Sticks:288

Bread making is a prime example of this phenomenon. Homemade bread or breadsticks is substantially tastier than store-purchased bread as it isn’t laden with preservatives, is very inexpensive to make, and doesn’t take all that much time, either. Homemade breadsticks tastes better, are fresh, more nutritious. In fact, bread is quite easy to make at home, and you only need a few staple ingredients to make a simple loaf. Hence keeping this in mind, do give this a try.

Enjoy Baking!

Brown Butter Pineapple Corn Muffin in one of the most delightful flavor and crunch of cornmeal absolutely bursting with dried pineapple soft and crunchy pieces lingering in your mouth. Cornmeal is a very vital ingredient giving an excellent texture and flavor to the muffin.

Muffin is an American English name for a type of quick break that is baked in small portions similar to a cup cake in shape. Muffins usually are not as sweet as cupcakes and generally lack frosting. There are a variety of flavorful muffins that one can make with specific ingredients such as blueberries, chocolate chips, cinnamon, pumpkin, lemon, banana, orange, peach, strawberry, almond and carrot etc baked into the muffin. These small bite sized cakes are often eaten for breakfast or served for tea or at other meals. They are very popular among kids as they are small, attractive to look and delicious to eat.

Classic English muffin is a type of light bread leavened with yeast. It is usually baked in a flat-sided disc-shaped tin, typically about 8 cm in diameter. Muffins are usually split in two, toasted and served with butter. Traditionally muffins were toasted in front of an open fire or stove, using a toasting fork. Muffins are also served as a snack at coffee shops and diners, or split and filled in a manner similar to a sandwich.

Muffins made from cornmeal are very popular all over United States. Though corn muffins can simply be muffin shaped cornbread, corn muffins tend to be sweeter. Similar to the pan variety, corn muffins can be eaten with butter or as a side dish with stews or chili.

Muffin cups or moulds are round sheets of paper, foil, silicone, or metal, with scallop-pressed edges, giving the muffin a round cup shape. They are used in the baking of muffins to line the bottoms of muffin tins, to facilitate the easy removal of the finished muffin from the tin. The advantage to cooks is easier removal and cleanup, more precise form, and moister muffins; however, using them will prevent a crust.

Brown butter pineapple corn muffins has an intoxicating browned butter aroma, little chewy bits of dried pineapple which makes the muffins heavenly, refreshing and mouth watering. This muffin recipe is classic with the use of cornmeal. Cornmeal is flour made by grounded dried corn and has a really cool texture and taste. It is used to prevent from sticking and for extra crunchiness. This incredible recipe surprises you with 3 exotic elements that include strong butter flavor, a nice sweetness from the dried pineapple and an excellent texture from the cornmeal. It is an amazing recipe without sugar and all the sweetness will be from the dried pineapples. It’s a remarkable recipe recommended for people who do not like sweet stuff.

Pineapple is a tremendous tropical treat. Though Hawaii is known for its pineapple, Taiwan and Thailand have become popular sources too. To make this snack, dried sweet pineapples are best or the pineapple fruit is peeled and sliced into various sizes and soaked in a sweet mixture that gives it a nice bite. These pineapple chunks are bigger than the pineapple dice used in baking and perfect for a snack. They are commonly found in health food stores as a more natural dessert treat. Just like the dried pineapple rings, only cut into smaller chunks. Perfect for snacking or for baking and preserved in a sweet glaze that highlights the muffins.

Cornmeal flour is a coarse flour ground from dried maize or American corn and is a common staple food in United States. The cornmeal flour is extensively used for making breads (corn bread), corn fritters, as breakfast cereal or making fried fish.

To prepare this appetizing Brown Butter Pineapple Corn Muffin, firstly chop ¾ cup dried sweetened pineapple finely or use dried unsweetened pineapple plus ½ cup sugar.

Throw 1 stick (1/2 cup) of unsalted butter in a heavy sauce pan on medium heat and melt the butter until slightly browned. Do not burn the butter. As soon as the chunk of butter has melted and foam started to appear, then you have to start paying attention. What we are looking for is a light hazelnut brown color; not too dark like dark brown or not too light either. Once you get to the right color, turn off the heat and throw in all the finely chopped pineapple into the pan and mix well and just let the pineapple steep in that hot butter for 20 minutes to develop more flavor. Set that a side and measure the dry ingredients.

Mix 1 cup yellow corn meal, 1 cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon fine salt into a mixing bowl. Give that a mix with a whisk for a couple of times. Set that aside and back to the wet!

Once the pineapple butter mixture is cooled down to just barely warm, pore that into a mixing bowl and then add 1 cup buttermilk, 2 large eggs and mix well. (Do not over mix)

Combine the wet ingredient with the dry ingredients, “wet to dry”. Well actually in this recipe it really doesn’t matter which goes to which but again; don’t over mix your batter.

Lay out some muffin liners or cupcake liners in the muffin pan and divide your batter evenly into each liner. Pop them into a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 25 minutes, (depends on how big your muffins are. If they’re big, maybe they will need a couple more minutes) until a toothpick or tester comes out clean. If there’s dough on it, it’s not done! Put it back in into the oven.

Once they are cool enough to handle, take the muffins out of the pan and let it cool down at least 10-15 minutes, because the insides are still very hot and you have to let them cook for a bit longer. Serve when they are cooled.

This makes an excellent home made dish that is rich and dense yet has a nice light crumb. Makes a heavenly slice of butter pineapple corn muffin!

Enjoy Baking!

Usal Pav is traditional Maharashtrian dish that is nutritious and delicious to taste. Usal is a spicy curry prepared using boiled potato, white peas, grated coconut spiced with red chili powder, cumin powder, green chilies and a zest of lemon juice.

Traditonally a basic usal is made with sprouted math beans and is a spicy curry prepared using sprouted pulses and is served topped with yoghurt and spicy chivda. This spicy curry is served with bread (Pav) and is commonly called as Misal pav. Pav in Marathi means bread which has been borrowed from Portuguese pao recipe.

Usal pav is a quintessential dish from the Maharashtrian cuisine and is prepared in most of the marathi speaking people’s house. There are a variety of ways in making this dish and is known as Misal pav, Matar Usal pav etc.  Usal pav is a dish made with potatoes, green peas with onions, green chilies and sometimes garlic and is usually eaten with a western style leavened bun or pav. The gravy is generally thick of coconut, coriander, cumin powder, green chili mixed with various other spices having amazing mixed spicy flavors.

Usal pav is a feast to your taste buds and a healthy and nutritious one balanced meal dish. It’s spicy and tangy to taste. Pav or bread is served along side with usal to compliment the fiery taste of the usal. Basically Usal is a curried dish made with legumes/ sprouted legumes or mixed sprouted legumes and is had with pav (bread), chapatti or rice whereas Misal is a dish where the usal along with its curry or rassa is served in a bowl topped with dry farsan/ chivda/ sev and chopped onions, coriander leaves, lime and some add curd too. It is also served with pav and so popularly known as misal pav.

A classic usal is prepared with sprouted beans or unsprouted beans, sprouted moth/matki beans, moong/ mung beans, black eyed beans/ chawli and also black gram/kala chana. You could also add potatoes to this recipe. Moth bean or matki in Marathi is a small, drought resistant annual herb grown especially in dry parts of South Asia. The sprouted beans taste somewhat sweet. Matki is very popular in Maharastrian cuisine. The beans are soaked overnight to make them sprout. These sprouted beans are used for salad, misal or usal.

To prepare this delicious Maharashtrian dish, firstly soak white peas for about 5-6 hours and boil them with enough water. Chop onions and green chilies and keep aside. Heat some oil in a pan and when it gets hot add mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric powder and then half of the chopped onion pieces. Saute onion pieces till they turn brown and then add boiled peas and water. Cover and cook till the gravy thickens slightly. Now add cumin powder, chili powder, and salt to taste. Stir well and cook for some more time. Remove from heat. Finally garnish with coconut and freshly chopped coriander leaves and some chopped onions. Serve hot with pav.

Tip: You can also add garam masala and ginger garlic which enhances the flavor and taste of the dish.

Usal pav is refreshing, makes an amazing breakfast or snack dish. It is a healthy and nutritious dish and makes a complete meal. To try this recipe, do click on the below link for detailed recipe:

http://www.vahrehvah.com/Usal+pav:562