Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji is such an easy and tasty dish which even kids will eat without fuss and mothers can be happy that they fed a whole bowl of veggies to their kiddos.I try not to use the ready made masalas much which are available in abundance wherever you look. I tried hard to find a pav bhaji recipe which does not use the Everest/MDH Pav bhaji masala. Alas! Even Sanjeev Kapoor makes pav bhaji with ready made pav bhaji masala. So, I resigned myself to using store bought pav bhaji masala. If anyone knows how to make home made pav bhaji mala, Please let me know. The recipe is usually found on the packet and mine is not that much different.

Pav Bhaji

Ingredients :

Pav Bread or Burger Buns
2 Medium Potatoes
1 Small Cauliflower
2 Capsicums
2 Midium Carrots
10 Green Beans
1/2 Cup Green Peas
2 Medium Tomotoes

1 Handfuls of Coriander leaves

1 medium onion

1 Tsp Ginger Garlic Paste

1/4 Tsp Red Chilli powder

2 Tomatoes

1 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp butter 
2 Tbsp Everest/MDH Pav Bhaji Masala
1 Lime cut it into small pieces
1 Diced onions for serving

Salt to taste

 

Method :

Cook Potatoes,Cauliflower,Carrots,Green beans,Green peas,1 Capsicum with water in a pressure cooker till 3 Whistles.

 

Dice 1 capsicum into small pieces and fry in a tbsp oil and keep it aside.

In the remaining oil,add butter, put cut onions ,saute till translucent.Add ginger garlic paste and saute till couple of minutes.Add pav bhaji masala ,red chilli powder and saute till oil separates. Now add tomatoes and cook. Once tomatoes are well cooked, add all the vegetables and mash well. Add salt and cook well till the masala blends well into the vegetables.Add the fried capsicum and coriander leaves on top of it.

In a pan,spread a little butter on the pav/buns and toast the buns well.

Serve the Pav and Bhaji sprinkled with diced onions and Lime pieces.

Kids Food - Chicken Burger

As every kid my Kid too is a fan of chicken burgers and nuggets which we get in Mac D. I wanted to make it little healthier,so here is my junk food burger which is not so junk. I just do the chicken patties and let my son assemble it himself which he likes to do.

Chicken Burger
Ingredients:
Ground Chicken - 1/4 Lb
Mint - 10-12 Leaves
Coriander Leaves - Handful leaves
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 Tsp
Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 Tsp or to taste
2 Tbsp Chopped Onion
Green Chilli - Optional if you want it spicy
Salt to taste
Butter / Oil- 3 Tbsp
Burger Buns as required
Lettuce leave,cheese optional


Method :
Finely chop green chilli,mint and coriander leaves.

Take Ground chicken in bowl, add onion, ginger garlic paste, mint ,coriander leaves,black pepper, green chillies and salt. Mix them well . Take small rounds and make them into flat patties.

Take a pan , Put butter or Oil and put the chicken patties and shallow fry them well on both sides till they are well done.

Put a little bit of butter and warm the butter buns lightly before assembling the chicken burgers.

Note : I freeze these cooked chicken patties for up to two weeks. When I need them, I usually just roast them again on the pan or grill them in oven.

Pasta - Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce

Pasta is my Son's favorite. I added some greens , If your kid does not like greens, you can skip greens and add Carrot strips (Peel carrot into strips using Peeler). The collard greens used here gave a good crunch to the dish.

Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
100 to 150 grms or 1/4 Lb Whole wheat Spaghetti
3 Tomatoes
Handful Collard Greens or any other Greens
Handful of Green Peas
3 Garlic Cloves
2 Tbsp Chopped Onion
1 Cheese Slice
1 1/2  Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 Tsp Black Pepper or  taste
Salt to taste
2 Cups of water

Chop Garlic into tiny bits. Chop tomato's into small pieces.

Take a deep dish , Put Oil and add chopped Garlic and onion,Saute a little. Add Collard Greens and Peas. Saute a little. Add chopped tomatoes.Add Black Pepper and salt. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add water and add spaghetti to the dish. Just keep sliding the spaghetti into the dish (The bottom ends will become soft and will slide ) until it is fully immersed into water. Cook till the spaghetti is well done. (Follow the cooking time instructions of the spaghetti on the package).  Add cheese slice, Let it melt and serve.

Note : If you are used to boiling Spaghetti separately, you can boil and then add them to the dish once tomatoes are cooked. I boil spaghetti along with the sauce to make it easy.

My experiments with Slow cooker series - Chicken Soup

Today is one of those very cold and rainy days at our place. This calls for hot hot soup, so what better than chicken soup. Soups taste better when done in Slow cooker. Chicken is well cooked and is ready to fall of the bone.

This soup has been my son's favorite from the time he was very small. It has Chicken, vegetables and you can add some spaghetti/noodles if you like.You can increase spice in case you like it spicier.

Chicken Soup

Ingredients :

500 gms Chicken
1  Aloo
1 Medium Onion
1 Medium Capsicum
1 Carrot

1 Tomato
1 Cup Cabbage

1/4 cup spinach

3 whole green chillies
6 curry leaves
2 Tbsp Kothmir
1 Tbsp butter

1 Bay leaf

1 Inch Dalchini
4 Cloves
7-8 peppercorns
1 Tsp Jeera
1 Tsp Ginger Garlic paste
1 Tsp Jeera powder

a pich of Turmeric

Salt to taste

3 1/2 Cups of water
Spaghetti /Noodles - Optional

Take a wide bottomed pan. Put butter. Add bay leaf,dalchini,cloves,peppercorns,jeera,curry leaves. Add chicken pieces,turmeric,ginger garlic paste and jeera powder, Let it roast on medium/high flame. Cut vegetables and add them to the pan as you go.

Give it a good stir and transfer the contents to slow cooker. Add whole green chillies, kothmir , salt and water. Now put the slow cooker on High for 4 Hrs.

If you want to add noodles or spaghetti, add in the last half an hour.

Serve hot with dinner rolls or baguette bread slices.