Pavva paneer or Empanadas

Empanada is stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried.
Empanadas are made by folding dough or bread with stuffing consisting with a variety of meat, cheese, vegetables, fruits and others.

Preparation time : one hour
Makes : 12

Ingredients :

Maida (or) All purpose flour : 1 cup
Room temperature Butter : 1 Tbsp +  3 Tbsp
Salt : 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice : 1 Tbsp
For Stuffing :
Paneer : 1/2 cup
Cheese : 3 slices
Capsicum : 1/2 (medium size)
Onion : 1/2 cup (chopped)
Coriander leaves : 2 Tbsp
Chili powder : to taste
Chili sauce : 1 Tbsp
Tomato ketchup : 1 Tbsp
Sabji masala : 1 Tbsp (or any other masala that's in your kitchen)
Salt : to taste

Method :

Take a bowl. Add flour, one Tbsp of butter , salt and mix it good so that all butter is incorporated in the flour.
Now add lemon juice and mix it once again.
Add water and make a nice dough. (dough should not be too soft or not too hard, it should be medium)
Cover it and let it rest for some time.

Take a bowl, add all the ingredients listed under stuffing.
Check for the taste.
Keep this aside.

Now take the dough .
Flour your surface , and roll your dough into a thin sheet.
Use more flour if needed, so it doesn't stick to the surface while rolling.
Apply a layer of butter on top of the sheet,
Then sprinkle flour on top (i.e a thin layer of flour on top).

Now roll the sheet into a log.
Keep this in fridge for one hour or so.( For the butter to be hard a bit and to rest the dough)

After 1/2 hour or one hour take the dough out and cut it into one inch pieces .

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Roll these into a roti like round (Not too thin, not too thick)

Put 2 tsp of stuffing in centre, apply little water on the edge and seal the edges.

Bake it in oven for 10 to 15 mins or until its golden brown in colour.

(Or you can even deep fry these if you want)

Yummy and mouth watering pavva paneer or Empanadas are ready to serve...
Serve them hot .....
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you , do post your comments !!!

Left over roti Laddu

Preparation time : 15 mins
Makes : 10

Ingredients :

Left over roti : 2
Sugar or jaggary : 1/2 cup or to taste
Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp
Ghee : 1 Tbsp
Cashew nut and Almonds : 10

Method :

Grind the roti in a mixie and make it into crumbles.

(You can even measure the roti crumbles and add sugar or jaggary accordingly i.e like 1 : 1 or 1 : 1/2 depending on how sweet you like, i added 1 : 1 , but its a bit sweet for me .. even fine ;P)
Take a pan , heat it , Add ghee, cashew nuts and almonds, let them fry a bit.
Add sugar or jaggary when it starts to melt , add crumbled roti .
And saute it for one minute, till you get a thick dough kind of consistency.
(don't over do this other wise you end up in hard chewy laddu)
Add cardamom  (elachi ) powder.
Take it off the stove.
Let it cool down a bit.
Make lemon size balls.
Your left over chapati laddu's are ready to serve.
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you, do post your comments !!!

Left over roti pakodi

Preparation time : 15 mins
Serves : 3

Ingredients :

Left over roti (or) Tortilla : 4 - 5
Oil for shallow frying (May be 1/4 cup or less)
For stuffing :
Boiled mashed potato : 1cup
Finely chopped onion : 1/4 cup
Dry mango powder (Amchoor powder ) : 1 tsp
Chat masala : 1/2 tsp
Finely chopped green chilis : 2
Finely chopped coriender leaves : 2 Tbsp
Salt : to taste
For Batter :
Gram flour ( or besan) : 1 cup
Red chili powder : 1/2 tsp
Ajwain seeds : pinch
Water : as needed
Salt : to taste
For sticking :
All purpose flour : 2 Tbsp
Water :as needed

Method :

In a mixing bowl mix together potatoes, onions, green chili, coriander leaves, dry mango powder, chat masala and little salt.
(You can also add boild green peas in the potato mixture that gives it samosa like taste.)
In a seperate bowl mix together besan, salt, red chili powder, ajwain seeds, and little water at a time and make a batter (like dosa). Mix it for 3 to 4 minutes till batter becomes little fluffy and keep it aside.
In a seperate bowl mix together all purpose flour and water and make a thick paste.
Now take roti, put genourous amount of potato mixture on one side of roti or torilla or chapati.

Put all purpose flour paste on the rim of the roti.
Roll it from one side to another and make a tight roll.
At the edges put some more all purpose flour paste and turn the edges as shown in the video.
Let it rest for few minutes so that edges get completely sealed.
Heat the pan at medium heat and add oil.
Dip the roll in besan batter and get it nicely coated from all the sides.

Put the rolled roti in hot oil.

Cook it from both the sides till roti pakora become golden brown and crispy.

Once done take roti pakoda out on a paper towel.

Yummy yummy and belly filling roti pakoda is ready to serve .
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you , do post your comments !!!

M and M Cookies

Preparation time : 20 mins
Makes : 20

Ingredients :

All purpose flour : 1 1/4 cups
Baking soda : 1/2 tsp
Brown Sugar : 1/2 cup
White sugar : 1/4 cup
Butter : 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Eggs : one large
Vanilla Extract : 3/4 tsp
Salt : 1/2 tsp
M and M (or) Gems : 1/3 cup

Method :

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
Take a bowl. Add in brown sugar, white sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract.
Beat it with electrical mixer well (or mix them really really good till they all combined very well) .
Now add flour, baking soda, salt and beat it once again with electrical mixer (or mix it very well till you get a nice mixture)
Now add M & M 's and mix everything very well.

Drop table spoon of cookie dough on to baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Press few candy pieces on top of each cookie dough.

Bake the cookies for about 9 to 11 minutes or till the edges are lightly brown and centers are still soft.
Rotate the cookie sheet half way through to make sure cookies bake evenly.
Do not over bake or else the candy pieces dry out.
Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet.
(If you want you can even add some chocolate chips in the dough - i personally liked them when chocolate chips added )

Enjoy your cookies :)
Thank you, do post your comments !!!

Pineapple cake

This is so simple and very easy to make. I like pineapple taste when it is used in cakes or pastries.

Preparation time : 40 mins
Serves : 12 people

Ingredients :

All purpose flour : 1 cup
Baking soda : 1 tsp
Sugar : 1 cup
Pineapple pieces : 1/2 cup
Pineapple juice : 1/2 cup
Butter : 1/2 cup
Eggs : 2

Method :

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix all wet ingredients in another bowl. Whisk them once.
Mix both of them and make nice batter.
Bake in oven for 30 minutes Or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Yummy yummy pineapple cake is ready to eat ....

Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you, do post your comments !!!

Left over roti kids pizza or Snack with left over roti

When i first came across this recipe , i thought i will give it a try and then when ever roti is left over it will be converted as this :)

Preparation time : 10 mins
Makes : 2

Ingredients :

Left over roti or chapati : 2
Besan or gram flour : 4 Tbsp
Curd : 4 Tbsp
Chopped onion : 4 Tbsp
Ajwain seeds : 1/8 tsp
Coriander leaves : 2 Tbsp
Salt : to taste
Chili powder : to taste


Method :

Take a bowl add besan, salt, chili powder and curd.
Mix it well with no lumps.
Add ajwain seeds, chopped onion.
Mix them again.
The batter should be of medium consistency, it should not be too thick or not too thin.

Apply this as a nice coating on roti till end.

Heat a pan on medium flame and put the batter side onto the tawa.
Add liitle oil around.
Turn it over and roast it for 20 seconds or so....
Take it off the flame.
Make it into pieces.
Your dish is ready to serve, Serve them hot :)
Enjoy your dish ...
Thank you , do post your comments !!!

Purnam burelu

'Purnam boorelu ' (or poornam burelu) is an authentic Andhra sweet, especially prepared on pongal (or sankranti festival) or in occasions like marriage ceremonies etc...

Boorelu is a sweet with smooth crispy delicious coating outside and a sweet filling inside.

There are two types of boorelu one is poli boore other is poornam boore. 

For poli boore stuffing is prepared by using yellow split moong dal and grated coconut , where as for poornam boore stuffing is prepared by using chana dal .

Preparation time : one hour
Makes : 22 or 24

Ingredients :

Chana dal : 1 cup
Sugar : 1 1/2 cup
Water : 1 cup
Cardamom powder : 1/2 tsp
(You can prepare coating in two ways, one is traditional way , other is instant way)
For Coating 1 :                                For Coating 2 :
Urad dal : 1/3 cup                           Wheat flour : 1/3 cup
Rice : 2/3 cup                                  All purpose flour / Maida : 1/3 cup
(Urad dal : rice = 1 : 2)                    Rice flour : 1/3 cup
(It is like if you are taking one cup of chana dal then for coating you need all together one cup)

Method :

Boil chana dal and cook till it is well cooked and drain all water when hot.
Make it into paste using grinder with out adding water.
Take a pan, add sugar and chana dal paste.

Cook till it is thick. (you can know that when you stir it, cook it till all smell goes and the mixture thickens)
Add cardamom powder and mix it real good.
Cook it for few seconds and take it off from stove.

This mixture is called as "purnam".
(When you make less quantity you get light color mixture , but if you prepare in more quantity you will get little dark yellow color mixture - this is an observation that i made )

Let it cool down completely before proceeding.

Make nice round balls from this mixture.
Keep them aside.

If you are preparing coating by method one , that is by using urad dal and rice, then -
   Soak urad dal and rice together for a minimum of 4 hours.
   Grind them into a smooth batter, like dosa batter, but not too runny.
   Take it into a bowl,add a pinch of salt to this and keep it aside.
If you are preparing coating by method two, that is by using flours, then -
   Take a bowl, add all three flours and a pinch of salt, mix them.
   Prepare the batter by adding water little by little, consistency should be like a dosa batter
   (or) like bajji batter ...
   Keep this aside.

Take a deep pan, add oil that is enough to deep fry boorelu.
Dip the ball in batter and deep fry them in oil.

Tasty tasty and yummy yummy boorelu are ready to eat.

Make a hole in middle, add tsp of melted ghee and eat when hot. This tastes best,believe me eat like this and you will tell me how heavenly it is ...
Serve them hot or cold.
You can keep them in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks and in shelf for up to 4 - 5 days.
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you , do post your comments !!!

Sweet Gavvalu Or pakam gavvalu

In my childhood my mom and my grand mom used to prepare this on summer holidays and we used to have them. (Even now they will prepare of coarse. Give these a try and i am sure you gonna like.

Preparation time : 30 min
Makes : 2 cups or so

Ingredients :

All purpose flour (or) Maida : 1 cup
Ghee or oil : 2 Tbsp
Salt : pinch
Water : As needed to make the dough
Sugar : 1/2 cup

Method :

Take a bowl pour maida into it , add ghee and mix it very well.
(Till all ghee incorporated into the flour very well)
Now add water to make dough, the dough should not be too hard or too soft.

Knead the dough , make it like rope and cut into small pieces.

If you have gavva press (gavvala balla) then roll the dough away from you, on it to make shell shape.

If you don't have one like that you can even use a fork.
Take a fork turn back side, then take one piece of dough into hand and press at the back side of the fork and remove it from opposite direction , repeat the same way for all the dough.

Some I just made them with my hand. The are big and when you eat them, you will get little doughie taste.

Keep the shells aside.

(When i first made these , while keeping them aside they all stuck to each other and again formed like a dough :( , so if possible make them fast or roll one batch while they are frying, roll 2nd set of dough into shells, when i made 2nd time i made like this and they came out really good)

Take a pan , add oil heat it while you are making shells.
When oil is hot add shells to the oil and deep fry till light golden brown color , fry in a medium flame for about 5 minutes or so..

Make all of them keep them aside.
Now take another pan, add sugar and little water and let it boil till you get a thick consistency and remove from the flame.
Add the fried shell to the sugar syrup once the sugar sticks to shells transfer them to another container.

Yummy yummy teepi gavvalu are ready to serve .
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you, do post your comments !!!

Gavvalu or Shells

In my childhood my mom and my grand mom used to prepare this on summer holidays and we used to have them. (Even now they will prepare of coarse. Give these a try and i am sure you gonna like.

Preparation time : 30 min
Makes : 2 cups or so

Ingredients :

All purpose flour (or) Maida : 1 cup
Ghee or hot oil : 2 Tbsp
Salt : to taste
Chili powder : to taste
Water : As needed
Sesame seeds : 2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds : 2 Tbsp

Method :

Take a bowl pour maida into it , add ghee and mix it very well.
(Till all ghee incorporated into the flour very well)

Now add salt, chili powder, sesame seeds, cumin seeds.

( I used seema mirchi karam, you can even use normal chili powder)
Now add water to make dough, the dough should not be too hard or too soft.

Knead the dough , make it like rope and cut into small pieces.

If you have gavva press (gavvala balla) then roll the dough away from you, on it to make shell shape.

If you don't have one like that you can even use a fork.
Take a fork turn back side, then take one piece of dough into hand and press at the back side of the fork and remove it from opposite direction , repeat the same way for all the dough.

Keep the shells aside.
(When i first made these , while keeping them aside they all stuck to each other and again formed like a dough :( , so if possible make them fast or roll one batch while they are frying, roll 2nd set of dough into shells, when i made 2nd time i made like this and they came out really good)
Take a pan , add oil heat it while you are making shells.
When oil is hot add shells to the oil and deep fry till light golden brown color , fry in a medium flame for about 5 minutes or so..
Take them onto a paper towel to catch excess oil.

Yummy yummy gavvalu are ready to eat. 

Enjoy your dish :)

Thank you, do post your comments !!!

Pretzels

Pretzel is a type of baked bread product made from dough most commonly shaped into a knot.
Pretzels originated in Europe, most likely among monasteries in the Early middle ages. Now a days pertzels are coming in different shapes. Salt is the most common seasoning for pretzels, complementing the soda that gives pretzels their traditional skin and flavor through the Malliard reaction; other seasonings include sugar, chocolate, glazes, seeds and / or nuts.

Preparation time : one hour
Makes : 12

Ingredients :

Warm water : 1 1/2 cup
Active dry yeast : 1 /8 tsp
Brown sugar : 2 Tbsp
Salt : 1 1/8 tsp
All purpose flour : 4 cups

Hot Water : 1 1/2 cup
Baking Soda :  1/4 cup

Butter : 1/4 cup melted (4 to 6 Tbsp)
Coarse Salt : 1Tbsp
Cinnamon sugar : 1 cup (Sugar 1 cup , Cinnamon 1 Tbsp)
Sesame seeds : 2 Tbsp
Jalapenos : 3 slices

Method :

Take a large mixing bowl, add 1 1/2 cups of warm water, add yeast to it.
Stir it to dissolve.
Add sugar, salt and stir again.
Add flour and knead dough until smooth.
Cover and keep it in warm place for at least 1/2 hour for the dough to raise.

Mean while take another bowl add 1 1/2 cups of hot water and add baking soda.
Mix it well and stir it often.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

When the dough is risen, knead it once.
Take a handful of dough and roll a long rope (about 1/2 inch or less thick) and shape.

(The longer and thinner you can make the dough rope, the more like Aunti anne's pretzels they will be.)

Dip pretzel in soda solution.

Place it on a cloth for 10 sec to catch excess water.

Put it on baking sheet.

Allow pretzel to raise again for 5 mins.
I sprinkled sesame seeds on some pretzels, and for some of them i sprinkle salt and for some i sprinkled jalapenos.
Most of them i just left them because i love cinnamon sugar pretzels :)

Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until golden.
Brush with melted butter and enjoy !
( I found they are really good when they are dipped in butter than brushing them with butter)

For parties or get to gathers you can just make pretzel pieces , make a rope cut it into 2 inches long pieces. After making 8 pretzels i made rest of the dough like this and you know these got consumed first because they are bite size pieces and we had them when moving around just like that.

Cinnamon sugar pretzel:
   Take two bowls , that are big enough to fit the entire pretzel.
   In first bowl melt the butter, in second bowl add cinnamon sugar.
   Take a pretzel dip it in butter and then in cinnamon sugar mixture.
   Coat both side of the pretzel very well.

Lovely pretzels are ready to serve.
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you, do post your comments !!!

Churros

A churro is a fried dough pastry. Churros are popular in Mexican, Spain, France, Philippines, Portugal, and US.
They are normally eaten for breakfast dipped in hot chocolate , but you can just serve them as dessert.

Preparation time : one hour
Makes : 40

Ingredients :

Water : 1 cup
Brown sugar : 2Tbsp
Salt : 1/2 tsp
Butter : 1/3 cup
White flour : 1 cup
Eggs : 2
Vanilla extract : 1/2 tsp
Sugar : 1/2 cup
Ground Cinnamon : 1tsp

Method :

Take a bowl mix 1/2 cup of sugar with ground cinnamon and set aside.

In a pan add water, brown sugar, salt, and butter.
Heat it to a good boil.
Remove from the heat and add the flour.
Stir in the flour and mix it in until well blended.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together and then add this mixture to the flour mixture.
(Flour mixture should not be very hot to mix in eggs, it should just be warm to add in eggs or else you will end up in scrambled eggs in mixture)
Stir until well blended and all the egg is completely mixed in.

Heat oil in a pan. (Oil should be hot such that when you drop in your batter, it should come up immediately)
If your oil is not hot enough you will end up in a soggy churro .
Fill your tool with the dough.

Squeeze some dough into the oil about 4 inches long. ( I made it like rounds and i cut them into pieces)
Cook them till it is golden brown in color.
Turn it and cook it other side also.

Remove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
While still warm, roll each churro into the dish which contained sugar and cinnamon, until coated.

You could serve this churro recipe with Mexican hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.
Enjoy your dish :)
Thank you, do post your comments !!!