Potato Paneer Frankies / Wraps

Women love shopping! I'm no exception. During such super shopping spree sessions with friends, we have always preferred to munch on frankies for lunch or evening snack so that we dont run out of energy to roam around :P

Frankie stalls around the city have been our saviors during busy days. They are mess free, delicious and simple wraps that truly serves the purpose and easy to have them on the go.

I have made them at home a couple of times and this time wanted to make it a little more professional. Checked out around the web world and got inspirations from Tarladala's wraps, but tweaked them to my needs and tastes :)

Here comes my favorite Potato Paneer Frankies :)

Ingredients for Potato Paneer Tikki -

Potato - 3
Paneer (grated) - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2
Onion - 1
Ginger - 1/4 inch piece
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Salt - for taste
Corn flour - 1 tblsp
Oil - for roasting

Method for Potato Paneer Tikki -

Boil and mash potatoes. Chop onions, ginger and chillies finely.

Take two tsps of oil in a pan and saute onions until it turns transparent. Add the chillies and ginger and saute for a min. Drop in the mashed potatoes, grated paneer, salt, turmeric powder and garam masala, mix well and cook on medium flame for 3 to 4 mins, while stirring continuously.

Allow this mixture to come to room temperature and then sprinkle corn flour over it and mix well.

Now pinch out equal portions of the potato paneer mixture and make 2 inch oval shaped tikkis.

Roast them on both sides on a skillet by adding few drops of oil.

Potato Paneer Tikkis are ready.

Note: You can deep fry or shallow fry them instead of roasting.

If you taste the tikkis at this stage, you might have nothing left out to make the frankies :P

Ingredients required for making frankies:

Roti
Potato paneer Tikki
Onion Masala mixture
Chilly vinegar
Masala water

Method:

Onion masala mixture:

Chop one onion finely. Add some amchur powder and chaat masala to it and mix well.

Masala water:

Take 1/2 tsp of chilly powder, 1 tsp of amchur powder, a pinch of salt and 3 tblsp of water in a bowl and mix well until salt dissolves.

Chilly vinegar or Chilly lemon mixture:

Chop chilly finely and add it to 3 tsp of white vinegar or lemon juice and allow it to marinate for few hours.

Make rotis with wheat flour or maida and keep it ready.

Make the potato paneer tikkis in advance and keep it ready as well.

Assembling:

1. Place a roti on the work area and keep two oval potato tikkies in the center.
2. Sprinkle the onion masala mixture on top of the tikkis.
3. Pour a generous tsp of chilly lemon mixture on top of the tikkis.
4. Drizzle a tsp of masala water mixture on the tikkis as well.
5. Roll the roti tightly and wrap it up half way through with tissue or foil to keep it intact.
6. Serve immediately.

Enjoy the tangy and yummy homemade frankies :)

Tips:

Grate some cheese on top of the tikkis before rolling the frankie and microwave for just 30 seconds to have cheesy bite of frankie :)

Couldn't resist biting it :P

I reserved some of the yummy potato paneer filling for another dish. Wait to see what it is!! :)

I am happy to send this as an entry to "Let's Go Stuffed Series - LGSS" which is going on in Vatsala's blog - Show and tell. :)

Written by: Nithya

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Sugarcane Soup

Looking for an appetizer to make your kids eat well? or are you looking out for a different soup to make??? Your search can comfortably end with this simple yet delicious Sugarcane soup :)

Sugarcane in soup!!! yup its quite different but I swear this sweet and hot soup is awesome and there is a lot of chance that you fall for it :)

I used to hate sugarcane juices since the process of extracting the juice as well as the shop which sold them used to be a bit too dirty and unhygienic. It was a no no for me always until a few months back when I found this little shop next to my place which was much better when it comes to cleanliness. The sophisticated machine juices the cane is a neat fashion and the juice is served in clean disposable paper cups :) Waaa that made me start liking sugarcane juice :)

My cousin made this soup for me when I visited my native last time and I fell in love with it :) Here it is for all of you to make and enjoy :)

In the pic - The hygienic store that sells sugarcane juice :)

Ingredients:

Sugarcane juice - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece
Lemon juice - 3 tsp
Salt - for taste
Pepper - for taste

Method:

Chop the ginger and pulse it in the mixie by adding just a tsp of water to it. Now squeeze and extract ginger juice.

Take the sugarcane juice, water and ginger extract in a pan and heat it for few mins. Just when it starts to bubble, simmer the flame and add lime juice and salt to it. Mix well and switch off the flame.

Delicious sweet and hot sugarcane soup is ready :)

Serve it hot by sprinkling pepper in top. This quantity would make 3 servings.

Enjoy making :)

Note:

Don't let the soup boil for long, this might spoil it.

Add lemon juice only after simmering the stove otherwise the soup would become bitter.

Have a lovely weekend ahead :)

Written by: Nithya

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Figs and Caramel Loaf

I have been on a baking spree lately and enjoying a lot of experiments too :) One such super successful experiment that I did yesterday was to bake a cake with dried figs :)

My cousin gave a surprise visit day before and brought me a pack of dried figs from his place. Oh wow! I like them so much and just realized my taste for it :) Bling!! the next thought was to bake something using it and after a brief session of mind cooking, I came up with my own combination of a recipe :)

The cake has a mild flavor of caramel and is crunchy too. Crunchy??!! I know you guys would be wondering about it. Figs are packed with small crunchy seeds that give it a crackling texture once into the mouth :) hmmm slight similar to kiwi's texture. Ahhh now you should have got an idea of why the cake is crunchy right! ;)

Nothing is better than words of praise from parents and relatives isn't it?!! I loved all the compliments and the cake was worth to get them all for me :)

Dried figs(Atthi pazham) are easily available in India than fresh ones, so hope you guys give it a try too :)

Ingredients:

Dried figs - 15
All purpose flour(Maida) - 125 gms
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Butter - 100 gms
Powdered sugar - 100 gms
Eggs - 2
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Caramel - 2 tblsp

For Caramel -

Sugar - 2 tblsp
Water - 3 tblsp

Method:

Chop the figs into small pieces. Take them in a microwave safe bowl and add 1 tblsp of water to it. Microwave at high for exactly 1 min and keep it aside. This will make the fruit soft and perfect for the cake.

Sieve maida, baking powder and salt together and keep it aside.

For caramel:

Take a dry pan and add the sugar to it. Leave it untouched for few mins until it melts completely and starts to bubble. Simmer the stove and add the water to it and stir quickly. Allow it to cook in low flame until it becomes slightly thick.

Transfer it to another bowl immediately and allow it to cool before use. You can store this is refrigerator for a long time.

Take a beating bowl and chop in the butter into small chunks. Gradually add sugar to it and beat until light and fluffy. Now add one egg at a time and beat well. Once done, add the caramel and lemon juice to it and mix well. Now fold in the sieved flour mixture gently. Finally add the cooked figs to it and give one stir to spread it evenly.

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease the mould with butter and dust with maida.

Fill the moulds with batter upto 3/4th and bake it for 20-25 mins at 180°C. Adjust the time according to your oven settings.

Check if cooked by inserting a skewer in the center. Once done, allow it to cool on a wire rack for a while.

Cut into slices and enjoy at tea time :)

Note:

Cooking the dry figs is an important step. Adding it directly might make the fruit harder and unpleasant to chew.

You can replace dried figs with fresh figs and skip the cooking part.

You can also use dates and nuts along with this. Follow the same cooking procedure for dates too.

Tips:

You can replace caramel with vanilla as a variation.

You can add spices like cinnamon and cardamom to this cake as well.

I used the disposable aluminium packaging bowls for baking my loafs this time :) This one is simple to use and does not need greasing and dusting too :) Various sizes and shapes are easily available too. Place them on a cookie tray and then place it on your grill.

Written by: Nithya

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Pomegranate Shake

Wish you all a bright morning :)

Monday blues are part of everyone's life. Its totally unavoidable and understandable too :) All that we can do to break it is to do what we like or rather simply start off the day with your favorite drink. This can definitely boost up the day and make it a bright morning :) So was mine today! :)

Made an easy breezy pomegranate shake and yup I'm on my toes. Super active to accomplish all what I planned for the day :)

Ingredients:

Pomegranate - 2 fruits
Milk - 1.5 cups
Sugar or honey - for taste
Vanilla ice cream - 1 scoop
Strawberry emulsion - few drops

Method:

Option 1 -

De-seed the pomegranate and reserve some in a bowl. Blend rest of the fruit along with milk and filter it to remove seeds. Now pour back the shake into the jar and add sugar and vanilla ice cream. Blend again and pour into serving glass. Top it with some pomegranate pearls.

Option 2 -

De-seed the pomegranate and reserve some in a bowl. Blend rest of the fruit along with milk and filter it to remove seeds. Now pour back the shake into the jar and add sugar and few drops of strawberry emulsion and blend well. Chill the shake before serving.

Enjoy healthy and tasty pomegranate shake :)

Note:

You can also pulse the pomegranate in the mixie to just get a pure extract of pomegranate juice void of seeds. Strain it well and then blend it along with milk and sugar.

Emulsion of various flavors are readily available in super markets. They are nothing but flavored essence and food coloring together.

You can use fresh strawberries instead of emulsion.

Written by: Nithya
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Pista Cilantro Korma

Rich and creamy garvies like paneer butter masala, malai kofta etc. always have a special place in a grand dinner menu. After the love for those two, my new found love is this pista cilantro creamy korma :)

This recipe is an inspiration from Anitha Kupusamy's recipe on a tv show. I have made a lot of changes according to my taste buds, but all thanks to her for the pista cilantro idea :)

The richness of pista along with aromatic cilantro can easily steal one's heart :) I can imagine a lot of you nodding your heads for this combi ;) Get set go and give it a try :)

Ingredients:

Pista - 15
Green chillies - 2
Cilantro (coriander / Kothu malli) - 1/2 bunch
Onion - 2
Pepper - 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Potatoes - 3
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder(Dhaniya powder) - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt - for taste

Method:

Peel, dice and cook potatoes and keep it aside.

Soak pista in water for half an hour.

Grind pista, cilantro and green chillies together into a smooth paste.

Roughly chop the onion and cook in microwave along with pepper, cinnamon and cloves until the onion turns transparent. Allow it to cool and grind into a smooth paste.

Take a pan and add few tsp of oil. Drop in the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Now add the onion paste, pista cilantro paste, chilly powder, garam masala, coriander powder and salt and fry till the raw smell goes. Pour in just enough water to make the gravy.

Now simmer the stove and add milk or fresh cream and mix well. Finally drop in the cooked potatoes and allow it to boil for 5 mins.

Rich and creamy pista cilantro korma is ready :)

Serve hot with chapathi or roti. :)

Tips:

You can replace the potato with cubes of paneer or tofu.

You can make bread kofta or paneer kofta and add it to the gravy as well.

Written by: Nithya
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