Potato Tornado

Hello, my Foodie Fellas.......hope you all are doing fine and not getting frustrated due to the COVID situation. We all need to stay positive and enthusiastic to overcome the current situation. I know it's very easy for somebody to sermonize things but very difficult to follow. But believe me, if you get yourself involve in something then you'll be much more relaxed. It can be anything starting from doodling, painting, cooking, reading, singing, dancing and the list goes on......These are the things which we have kept aside and became busy in our day-to-day activities. So, take out some time and rejuvenate yourself.

We as adults are not only the ones you are going through all this but our kids are also under the same umbrella. They too are at home all the time. It's a very usual thing that they can get frustrated reason being staying at home for the last 3-4 months. 

One thing that can keep them happy in this situation is good food. Treat them with their favorite dishes every now and then to keep them happy and motivated. Today's recipe is Potato Tornado or Spiral Potato French Fries and we will be making them without a machine. This can serve as a great tea-time snack and will make your kid happy whenever they're a little demotivated. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Khandvi

Khandvi.....is a very popular Gujarati snack item and can be very easily found in the breakfast menu in every Gujarati household. This farsan or snack is very commonly found in Gujarati restaurants and street-side snack shops but slowly and steadily this snack item is getting popular in the rest of the part of the country.

Khandvi is made with Besan, curd, water and seasoned with few spices like salt and turmeric powder. Once the batter is cooked to desired consistency it is spread on a plate. If you like stuffed Khandvi then you can sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut before cutting the strips and rolling them. These Khandvi rolls are then tempered with asafoetida, mustard seeds, sesame seeds, curry leaves, and green chilies. 

I must admit this recipe is not that easy to prepare and has seen many failures in my kitchen. In order to make perfect Khandvi, batter plays a significant role. It's not rocket science to make the batter but the right quantity of the ingredients is a crucial thing to note. The next thing to keep in mind is as soon as the batter is cooked spread it evenly on a plate if you delay then the batter thickens and will become lumpy while spreading.

Here I have stuffed the Khandvi rolls with finely chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut but if you like you can garnish the Khandvi rolls with them (leaving the stuffing part). So without any further ado let's begin with the recipe:

Potato Balls/ Potato Lollipops

As we have started a new series where I'm posting the replicas of our favorite food items which we get in our favorite restaurants like McDonald's, Dominos, Pizza Hut etc. I have already shared some recipes like:

• Chicken Nuggets
• Egg Tawa Burger
• Pizza McPuff
• Veg Pizza

You can click the links to read more about the recipes. Today's recipe is a variation of Chicken Balls. I have tried to make it vegetarian by using Potatoes. Therefore today's recipe is Potato Balls. This is a very healthy recipe as you can add or subtract any veggies as per your or your kid's liking. You can also add cheese to make it more appealing to your naughty toddlers.

So, without any further ado, let's begin with the recipe:

Pizza McPuff.......McDonald's Style

We all love to eat outside at restaurants, food joints, food court, etc but amid the current situation, it is not possible to do so. Especially the kids at our home they just love to eat at KFC, Domino's, McDonald's and Subway. You might be thinking I always favor eating clean and at home but there should be some cheat days when we can relish our favorite food at our favorite restaurants with our loved ones. This not only gives us immense happiness but it's a way to spend some quality time with our family.

As we all are aware of the current situation eating outside is not possible and I think delivering the food at doorstep has its own risk too. Now, the question is what to do to satisfy the cravings of our kiddos who demand fast foods like Pizza, Burger, and all those food items available at their favorite restaurants.

I would suggest you do some research and please them with your creativity. Try to replicate their favorite food available at their favorite restaurants and I'm sure they will love your efforts and relish the food prepared by you. So, to ease your problem I'm starting a series where I'll post some fast food recipes. I have already shared some recipes like:

• Chicken Nuggets
• Egg Tawa Burger

Today's recipe is McDonald's style Pizza McPuff. This is one of their best-selling food items which is equally enjoyed by both kiddos and adults. My 3 yr old loves to have to when we eat at McDonald's. I have tried to recreate this recipe and trust me it tastes awesome. So, without any further ado let's begin with the recipe:

Samosa

Hello, my foodie friends....... I hope you all are doing good and following the lockdown guidelines. These days we all are staying home and experimenting with the food which we used to relish outside or the famous street-side delicacies. My all social media handles are filled with the posts of Pani-puri, Jalebi, Rasgulla, Dhokla, Samosa, and whatnot. 

We all love Samosas, isn't it but amid this lockdown neither we can go out nor we can enjoy the outside food. However, this lockdown cannot stop us from enjoying and relishing something homemade. Anything homemade is always better than store-bought or having them at street-side stalls or restaurants. Making Samosa is quite tricky. It involves 3 main steps:

• Kneading the dough
• Preparing the filling
• Making the Samosas
• Frying the Samosas

I have made Samosa a number of times with different kinds of fillings like potato, cauliflower, chicken, paneer, etc. But perfected this recipe after many years. Making Samosas requires a lot of patience because kneading the dough requires lot of muscle strength and then frying the samosas requires a lot of time.

This Samosa recipe is just perfect to enjoy with your evening cup of tea. I have shared some important tips and tricks to make the Perfect Samosas. So, stay home and enjoy these Samosas with your family. Let's begin with the recipe:

Soya Chunks Kebabs

             

From last many days, I was craving for Kebabs but was not in the mood of making regular Kebabs made from Chicken or Mutton, I wanted to try something new. I googled Kebab recipes and came across zillion of recipes starting from chicken, mutton, fish, paneer, potatoes, chana and what not. One ingredient that caught my attention was Soya Chunks.

My family loves to eat Soya Chunks. They're very rich in nutrients. The protein content in soya chunks is even higher than that of lentils. So we must include them in our diet at least twice a week. Also, soya chunks are the best meat replacement. I know we sometimes get bored with the usual recipes and look for something different. I have few Soya Chunks recipes on my blog do check them out if you like:

• Soya Manchurian
• Soya Chunks Fried Rice

Today in this post I'll share one more delicacy made from Soya chunks and i.e Soya Chunks Kebabs. Since soya chunks have high protein content vegan and gluten-free so you can easily feed them to your toddlers. The best part is they are super easy and quick. 

Generally, three varieties of Soya chunks are available in the market: the larger ones, mini soya chunks and soya granules. The one which we have always handy is the larger ones. We can make these kebabs with any variety of soya chunks. I have used the larger chunks as they were lying in my pantry for many days. You have to just soak the soya chunks and then grind them in the mixer-grinder. You're ready to make the Kebabs.

So, without any further ado, let's begin with the recipe:

Sooji/ Rava Appe

           

Hello my Foodie Friends...........Winter has arrived in almost all the regions of India and the market is loaded with all the winter veggies. Whenever I visit the market I can't resist myself from buying them without giving a second thought what will I do with them. 

Winter is known for veggies like green beans, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower etc. You can enjoy them in number of ways but it's very tricky to feed veggies to our kids. Moreover if your baby is a picky or fussy eater then this task becomes more troublesome. We all struggle to come up with new ideas and recipes for lunch box and breakfast. Even if you give your kid's favorite dish in their lunch box the lunchbox is never empty. 

Therefore, we as mother's should come up with some new and brilliant ideas to feed veggies to our babies. The food should look interesting and cute that's the trick to allure the kids. 

So, today in this video we'll make Sooji Appam or Rava Appe which is loaded with veggies. It is very easy to make and just needs 15 mins of your time if you do the prep work beforehand.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Bhel Puri

           

Hello Peeps.......how are you doing? Hope you all are having a fun filled festive season and enjoying with your friends and family members. Indian Festivals are incomplete without get togethers and Food isn't it? As you all know that Kolkata is the king of Street Food, there are so many options available here. 

You can get the real essence of Street Food during the Durga Puja. All the Pandals are surrounded with so many options that sometimes it's difficult to decide which one to select. Bhel Puri is a very popular Indian Street Food which is best enjoyed during the monsoon season. That said, if we can prepare that Bhel Puri at home; it can be hygienic and healthy too. 

Today's recipe is all about Bhel Puri. Here I have given a rough estimate of all the ingredients but you can always add or subtract the quantity as per your liking. 

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Egg Roll

            

Hello Foodies......Hope you all are doing great and enjoying the festive season. The biggest festival of Bengalis Durga Puja is just around the corner. Which means lot of shopping, pandal hopping, makeup, adda (meeting and chit-chat with friends) and obviously Food. 

We Bengalis can never think anything without Food. Food takes the center space in everything we do. That's the love we have for Food. Durga Puja means Pandal hopping and lot of junk food. During these days we all forget about diet and hygiene and gulp anything and everything. 

As Durga Puja is just around the corner so we thought of sharing a very popular street food of Kolkata and that is "Egg Roll". Kolkata is the hub of Street Food. There is so much variety in the food that we can find endless options to eat but will not get fed up.

Today's recipe is Egg Roll which is nothing but a paratha stuffed with an omelette and spicy salad. So, let's begin with the recipe:

Chicken Nuggets

            

Hello Peeps...hope you all are doing great. The festive season is just around the corner and it's time to celebrate all the festivals with your friends and family members. It's that time of the season when we visit each other's place, exchange gifts and have lots of fun. 

Any festivity is incomplete without food whether we have friends and family visiting our place or we go out exotic dinner or enjoy the street side food while hopping the Puja Pandals.

But between all these hustle-bustle we can never compromise the food items that we  feed to our family. We have to take care of the hygiene and the heathiness. Obviously, we all want to enjoy the festivals with full enthusiasm, energy and with a good health.

Today's recipe is Chicken Nuggets or Chicken Pakoras. We all love Chicken Nuggets isn't it? Especially our kids they just go gaga over them. Whenever we urge to have Chicken Nuggets we either go to McDonald's or KFC and satisfy our craving but think if we can make it at home, THEN?

Anything homemade is always better than store bought or having them at restaurants. These Chicken Nuggets recipe are too simple to make and require very few ingredients....trust me!

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Crispy Aloo Tikki.......Potato Cutlets

            

Hello Foodies......hope you all are doing great and enjoying this monsoon season with your favorite food. Let me ask you what is your favorite food that you relish while enjoying the rain with your cuppa? I like to sit in my balcony having a cup of chai with some fried stuff and yes playing my favorite monsoon songs in the background. That's my way to enjoy monsoons and relax. 

Although each and every year monsoon is not so pleasant in many regions of our country as it brings floods, epidemics, cloud bursts, landslides and so many natural calamities with it. Nevertheless, it's the part of the season and we have to accept it the way it is.

The monsoon season is running in full swing in almost every part of India so to enjoy this season we're presenting Crispy Aloo Tikkis or Potato Cutlets. 

They pair very well with your evening tea or coffee. You can also serve them as an appetizer if you have any guests coming at your home. They're super simple and require very less time to prepare. 

Let's begin with the recipe:

Hariyali Chicken Kabab

Hello Peeps.....Hope you all are doing great and enjoying the first monsoon showers in your respective regions. What is the one food item that you relish while enjoying the monsoon showers? For me it's: A hot cup of piping Ginger Tea and some crispy Pakoras. I can see myself sitting in the balcony and munching on the Pakoras. Sometimes me time is necessary to get rejuvenated and bounce back with a new level of energy. 

Coming back to today's post: in this post I'll be sharing how to make Hariyali Chicken Kabab. Are you a Kabab Lover like us then you may check out the Kabab recipes I have shared previously.

• Chicken Malai Tikka Kabab
• Chicken Shami Kabab
• Panner Tikka Kabab

Hariyali Chicken Kababs are made by marinating the Chicken in a green marinate and then cooking it to perfection. That green marinate will do all the magic. 

So without doing any further ado let's begin with the recipe:

Gobi Manchurian

             

Hello Peeps......Hope you are doing great and relishing the cool summer beverages this season. I know many people who doesn't like the Summer season; well they have their own reasons for not enjoying this particular time of the year. If you ask me I love Summer season for many reasons; first and foremost being relishing upon the King of Fruits and i.e. MANGO and the other reasons are you can wear some colorful, light, easy breezy summer dresses.

If you're looking for some summer recipes than I have bunch of them on my blog. You can find them here (click here). One of the irritating thing we ladies hate to do face during the summer season is being in the kitchen but at the same time you can't compromise your family's health by eating outside and taking carryouts.

So, if you want some easy peasy snack items to munch on while spending quality time with your family then I have got you covered. Today's recipe is Gobi Manchurian. It's a very popular street food and a different version of Veg Manchurian or Chicken Manchurian. I have already shared the recipe of Veg Manchurian on my blog. You can find it here. (click here).

It's very easy to make and requires very less prep time. So, if you have some guests coming or you want to enjoy some quality time with your family then make this Gobi Manchurian and enjoy the time with your friends and family members.

So, let's see how to make Gobi Manchurian:

Fried Masala Idli....An Innovative way to reuse Leftover Food

           

One of the most difficult things to deal in life is the Leftover Food. I feel very frustrated whenever I open my refrigerator and see leftover food is peeping at me.

I don't have the courage to dump them in the dustbin because there are so many people in the world who are not getting food to eat and we are wasting the food we are getting. 

That's the reason I always try to come up with some innovative ideas to deal with the leftover food so that my family doesn't feel that they are having the same old stuff and try to make it delicious.

In this post I have tried to reuse the leftover Idlis. My family loves Idli-Dosa but it always happens to me that I overmake the Idlis so I always have some Idlis as leftovers. 

Leftover Idlis don't taste that good as they lose their freshness. So, I came up with this exciting and delicious Fried Idli recipe which not only gives a new look to the leftover Idlis but makes it delicious too.

So, without doing any further ado let's start with the recipe.

Panner Poppers

              

Paneer is such a versatile ingredient that whatever you make out of it, it will make you lick your fingers. Whether you make appetizer, main course or dessert out of Paneer it fits in each course so well. 

Today I'm going to make an appetizer from Paneer and i.e. Paneer Poppers. They serve as a great snack or appetizer. It's a complete party pleaser and can be enjoyed in any party, picnic or even in any grand occasion. 

Paneer poppers are everyone's favorite. You can add lot of veggies to make it healthy. There can be many variations to these paneer balls like cheese paneer balls, veggie paneer balls and the list goes on.

You can serve these Paneer Poppers to kids if you want to add veggies to their diet. I'm sure they will thoroughly enjoy them. 

Crispy Onion Rings

            

Onion Rings is a very easy snack item and it is great for any occasion. You can enjoy them with all your friends and family members. Kids love them too. 

Perfect onion rings should be super crispy, have some spice and heat to it. You can adjust the spice level and heat according to your liking.

These onion rings are made with very basic ingredients and you can easily make them at home within a very short span of time. These onion rings are even better than any restaurant because most of the restaurants use frozen onion rings. 

Give them a try and let us know your feedback.

Crispy Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings.....The Healthier

             

Who doesn't love Chicken Wings. They are crispy, spicy and full of flavors. When you lick those flavorful wings there is a burst of flavors in your mouth.

But every good thing has a bad side too and if you ask me about these Chicken Wings then I would say the calorie part. So, I decided to recreate this recipe but this time in a healthier manner. 

I decided to bake these chicken wings instead of frying them. I have used minimal oil here just to brush the wings and later on in the sauce. So we don't have to worry about the calorie part.

Buffalo Chicken Wings require minimal effort to cook just add in all the ingredients and  pop these wings in the oven. Prepare the sauce and coat these wings and you're sorted. 

Traditionally these wings are served with ranch, blue cheese and a side of carrots and celery. But; I like to enjoy them as it is and feel the burst of flavors while having them.

So, without any further ado let's jump right into the recipe:

Chicken 65

Hello my foody peeps, hope you'll are doing good and enjoying spring and summer in your respective regions. Recently, I visited my home town Kolkata, India but before the summer would start showing it's temperament we returned to Boston, though it is spring here and the temperature is in single digit yet. 

Anyway, I have enjoyed lot of good Bengali food during my vacation and satisfied my craving for the Kolkata style street food but what to do YEH DIL MAANGE MORE!!!!! 

After getting over the jet lag, unpacking things and other chores finally I decided to work on  my blog which had gained a back seat in my life :( 

This time I decided to make Chicken 65: A popular hot, spicy and delicious South Indian Snack. There are numerous ways in which this scrumptious dish can be made; I tried few of them and finally settled on this recipe and trust me you don't need any other recipe after this.  

The origin of this dish is still unknown; there are number of theories associated with this recipe but who cares when you're a food enthusiast what matters for you the dish should satisfy your craving.

So, let's begin with the recipe:

Gulab Jamun Cake......Let's celebrate New Year with some Fusion Food

Hello All, finally I'm back after an ultra long break and managed to get some time and jot down a recipe which is very close to my heart. I'm very fond of fusion dishes and I always find myself experimental with this type of cuisine. Fusion Cuisine doesn't fall under any particular cuisine style and has played a part in innovations of many contemporary restaurant cuisines since 1970's. 

It's really very innovative and at the same time challenging to fuse elements of different culinary traditions into one style of cooking. I usually try to experiment with some traditional dishes and give it a new look and feel. 

This time I tried to experiment with a basic Vanilla cake and Gulab Jamuns. When it comes to cakes you can have zillion of creative ideas. I did it with Gulab Jamuns this time. Yes, a Gulab Jamun Cake....it sounds so Royal, isn't it?

You can make this scrumptious cake with store bought cake and gulab jamuns but I like to do everything from scratch so I made a basic Vanilla cake, mini gulab jamuns, buttercream frosting and finally assembled them.

So, let's get started: