I never imagined that egg roll can mean so much to bengalis :) Recently when I went to Puja Pandals, I saw most people at roll stand than in pandals :) Earlier ajoy use to ask me for egg roll and I use to thing he would love parathas more than egg roll. Probably you can say I didnt understand the roll importance :) But after attending puja this year, the first thing I had made my mind to surprise some day with rolls. So today for breakfast when I had almost nothing left at home I prepared this and he indeed was pleasantly surprised :)


Ingredients
3 Spoon Heaps of Maida
1 Spoon Heaps of Wheat Flour
3 Eggs
1 Onion
2 Green Chillies
Hot and sweet Tomato Ketchup
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Mix maida and wheat flour with salt to taste and little oil and knead the dough. Keep aside for atleast half an hour
• In a small pan, add little oil around half spoon or little less and heat it.
• Add sliced onions and green chillies to it and cook them till onions lose their rawness and look light brown. Keep aside
• Make 3 balls out of the dough and roll them thin one by one.
• Heat tawa and transfer the rolled roti on to the tawa. Put little oil from sides
• When one side is almost done flip the roti and let the other side cook for a while.
• Break the egg directly onto the cooking roti and spread it all over the roti and let it cook for a minute or so.
• Flip it, add oil from sides and cook from the egged side till egg is cooked completely.
• On a plate keep a kitchen towel such that it covers the 2/3rd of the plate.
• Transfer the cooked egg roti on to this plate. Egg side on top.
• Spread the 1/3rd mixture of cooked onion and chilli in the middle as one line. Add single ketchup line to taste.
• Now roll the egg roti into the egg roll with the kitchen towel and close the napkin from the bottom.
• Repeat same process for remaining two rolls.

Notes
I didnt use complete wheat flour for roti as otherwise you tend to get wheat flour taste in the roll which I dont like in the roll. I didnt use complete maida because otherwise after cooking the rotis tend to get too hard. Hence this combination.
While rolling the roti, the best way to get perfect roll is to first put one side over the other such that mixture is covered and is tightly filled in from one side. and then roll it into the roll from same side.

Lot of friends had been asking for easy breakfast recipies.. I mean some simple yet tasty day today breakfast recipies. So here I am posting recipe for simple yet delicious maharashtrian breakfast/snacks.. This item is so common that whenever people get unexpected guest or there is "Ladaki Dikhana" program at ones place this is must :)


Ingredients
2 Cup Pohe
1/2 Cup Muttor
1 Onion
A pinch of Turmeric Powder
1/4 Spoon Mustard
1/4 Spoon Jeera
4 Green Chillies
4 Spoon Grated fresh Coconut
4 Spoon Corriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Wash the pohes and drain out excess water. Keep aside.
• Heat oil and let mustard and jeera splutter in it
• Add chopped green chillies and fry for a minute
• Add onions and cook them till they are translucent
• Add turmeric powder and cook for a minute
• Add washed poha and muttor in it adn mix well.
• Cover it and cook for couple of minute
• Open the lid, mix well, add salt to taste and again cover and cook covered for 3-4 minutes on low flame.
• Garnish with grated coconut and finely chopped corriander leaves and serve

Notes
Washing pohes and keep aside at first is important. It gives enough time for pohas to soak in the washed water to become soft. If you find your pohas are not enough soft just sprinkly little water before covering and cooking. But I never needed this if I washed them at first place. Dont forget to remove excess water. Washed water is just enough for them to be perfect soft.
Instead of muttor you can add groundnuts in the oil before adding pohas and fry them well. These are also tastier and ajoy's favourite. But authentic pohas are with muttor :) and I love them that way.
You can also add 1/2 cup potato cubes in oil and cook them before adding Pohas to it to get Kanda(Onion) Batata(Potato) Pohe :)

I had been thinking of preparing cup cakes since I prepared muffins. But its only today I actually materialised the thoughts into the action :) :) So here is cherry - cashew cup cake recipy for you all.


Ingredients
2 Cup Canned Cherries
1 Cup Canned Cherry Syroup
1 Cup Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Cup Maida
2.25 Spoon Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Cashews

Method

• Blend butter, castor sugar and eggs well.
• Sieve Maida and Baking Powder together
• Add it to the sugar-egg-butter mixture and blend it till it just folds in
• Remove the seeds from the cherries
• Add deseeded cherries, cherry syroup and milk to the mixture and blend till mixture folds in well and cherries are half crushed
• Add Cashew pieces
• Prehead Oven at 200C
• Grease the Cup Cake Pans
• Fill in the cups with batter about 2/3rd
• Bake it at 200C for about 20 minutes

Notes
Cherry Syroup and Blended Cherry gives it amazing Taste of fresh cherries :) You can add Almonds or Walnuts as well apart from cashews. I wanted to add them but didnt have them available that time hence added just cashews
Also I used Salted butter hence didnt mix salt with the maida, if you are using unsalted butter, add salt to taste to the maida while sieving

I love chinese and its been ages since I had it outside. Yeah we had gone for it couple of weeks back but whatever we had ordered wasnt upto the mark and hence didnot count :) Hence yesterday I thought lets give it a shot at home. I have earlier tried these stuff at home as well, but then the taste wasnt authentic. But yesterday I can say I mastered it. So here is the recipe for you.


Ingredients
400gm Paneer
1 Onion
6 Chillies
15 Garlic Cloves
A Pinch of Black Pepper Powder
2 Spoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Spoon Tomato Ketchup
1 Spoon Corn Flour
2-3 Strands of Spring Onion
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Cut the paneer into medium sized cubes and fry them in oil over medium heat till light gold in color. Keep aside
• In same oil fry onions till translucent.
• Add chopped chillies and garlic and cook till fragranant
• Add black pepper powder and Soy sauce and cook for a minute
• Add paneer cubes and tomato ketchup. Cook for 2-3 minutes
• Mix corn flour in a cup of water and add it to the paneer mixture.
• Add more water if needed and cook the paneer with closed lid for 3 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve

Notes
Chop the green chillies in slanted fashion for this so that you get the same look and feel that you see in restaurants.
Do not fry paneer till its completely crispy from outside. You want to keep it as soft as possible and yet fry it so that it gets the proper texture.
Also if you are looking for it as starter which is dry, add little less water and cook for some more time if required so that the final result is dry :)

In Chinese I love Soft noodles. But, I havent yet been able to prepare them of the level of nice chinese restaurant. So most of the time I end up preparing fried rice instead. So here is recipy for the veg fried rice.


Ingredients
2 Cup Rice
1 Onion
1 Cup Cabbage Shredded
1/2 Cup Carrot Shredded
1/2 Cup Muttor
A pinch of Black Pepper Powder
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Cook rice and keep aside
• Heat oil and add chopped onion and shredded carrots. Saute till onions are translucent
• Add and cook till cabbage is done
• Add muttor, black pepper powder and salt and cook for another minute
• Add cooked rice and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes

Notes
Adding carrot at start makes sure that carrot is cooked well as it will take longest time to cook.

Whenever we get bottle gourd, ajoy has this demand of Koftas and so yesterday was the day when I obliged and made it for him. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients
4 Cup Grated Bottle Gourd
1.5 Cup Bason
2 Tomatoes
1 Onion
1/2 Spoon Garlic Paste
1 Spoon Jeera
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/4 Spoon Turmeric Powder
1/4 Spoon Garam Masala
1/4 Spoon Aamchur Powder
1/4 Spoon Corriander Powder
Corriander Leaves for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method

• Apply salt to the grated bottle gourd and keep aside for few minutes.
• Squize out water from the bottle gourd and mix bason, 1/2 spoon jeera, 1/2 spoon red chilli powder, garam masala, aamchur powder
• Prepare lemon sized ball out of this mixture and deep fry them in oil over low-medium heat. Keep aside
• Heat little oil in a pan and let the jeera splutter.
• Add the finelly chopped onion and garlic paste and cook till golden brown
• Add turmeric powder, remaining red chilli powder, corriander powder and salt
• Add tomatoes and cook well. Add water and bring to boil. Once the tomatoes are cooked well keep the mixture aside to cool down a bit
• Put the mixture into the mixie and grind to fine paste
• In a pan add this grinded mixture, enough water to make running gravy and koftas and bring to boil
• Garnish with corriander leaves and serve

Notes
I tried to keep the kofta spicy and gravy very less spicy so that one can enjoy koftas rather than gravy. You can vary it to your taste though

Since long time ajoy had been asking for bhendi deep fry. Not the vegetable and now he took one more step ahead to get the bhendi that was tender and nice when he was suppose to go and get Curry Leaves :) So I thought lets grant his wish but instead of just frying bhendi pieces lets give it some extra taste by stuffing it. And here is what i came up with and it was lovely.


Ingredients
1/4 Kg Bhendi(Lady's Finger)
1 Tomato
1 Onion
1/2 Spoon Garlic Paste
1/4 Spoon Turmeric Powder
1/2 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Spoon Jeera
1/4 Spoon Corriander Powder
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Wash bhendis and pat dry by tissue.
• Remove the head and tail for the bhendis and give them a slits.
• Apply salt and keep aside.
• In a pan heat little oil and let jeera splutter in it
• Add grated onion to this and cook till onion turns golden in colour
• Add garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, corriander powder to it and stir well.
• Add grated tomato to this and salt to taste and cook for 4-5 minutes till mixture is cooked well. Keep aside for cooling down
• Stuff this little mixture to bhendis one by one
• Heat oil in a pan and fry the stuffed bhendis on medium heat.

Notes
Giving slits that do not slit the ends is the best way so that while frying bhendi doesnt open up.
For best results, fry only from the opposite side of stuffing and also arrange the bhendis in a row so that they dont turn the direction while frying. Once the side is cooked completely, just turn them for a minute max and take out to the tissue.

This one is prepared using the remaining water from the daal that is used to cook the Puran and puran itself. The aamati is sweet and sour in taste and goes amazingly well with the puran poli.


Ingredients
2 Cup Water from Cooked Chana Daal
1/2 Cup Puran
1/2 Cup Jaggery
2 Spoon Tamarind
1 Spoon Corriander Seeds
1 Spoon Jeera
1/2 Spoon Mustard
1 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
4 Spoon Grated Coconut
15 Curry Leaves
Salt to taste
Oil

Method

• Soak tamarind in a cup of water and keep aside.
• Heat a spoonfull of the oil and add corriander seeds and jeera.
• Add grated coconut and fry the mixture till golden in colour.
• In a mixie, add this coconut mixture along with tamarind. And grind to smooth paste. Keep aside
• Heat another half spoon of oil and let mustard splutter in it.
• Add curry leaves and fry for a minute
• Add the tamarind - coconut paste and fry for another minute
• Add the red chilli powder and saute for another minute.
• Add daal water, puran and jaggery. If needed add more water if it lookss thick.
• Add salt to taste and bring it to boil. Serve the sweet and sour curry with puran polis

Notes
You can use normal water if you do not have cooked daal water left over.
For preparing puran refer to Puran Poli recipe.

In our house puran poli without Ras is "Not" Puran Poli. So I cannot imagine eating puran poli without Ras and enjoying it as much as I do with it. So here is the recipe for you.


Ingredients
4 Cup Grated Coconut
1.5 Cup Jaggery
Salt to taste

Method

• Preapre the coconut milk out of the grated coconut by grinding it in mixie with enough water and squizzing juice out of it. Repeat on same coconut for 3 times to get complete juice out of it.
• Stir in the jaggery and salt to this milk till its completely dissolved. Ras is ready to serve

Notes
Its best to prepare this fresh, the quantity I mentioned is enough for puran polis that will be made out of the given quantity in Puran Polis recipe. So adjust your quantity accordinly.

I always loved the puran poli my mom made. Some people prepare it as paratha and I always have the urge to tell these people that puran poli and puran paratha are two different things and Poli as name suggest should be thing and soft. I got the recipy for this one from mom and tried it earlier this year. I could get the taste, but not the thinness and softness the way mom can. So few months back when I was in pune, I learnt the tactics to get the right puran poli and here i am sharing it especially for dasara. Wishing you all Happy Dasara.


Ingredients
4 Cup Chana Daal
3 Cup Jaggery
2 Cup Wheat Flour
1 Spoon Maida
1 Cup Rice Powder
1/2 Cup Oil

Method

• Mix maida and wheat flour and make the very loose dough out of it.
• Put the dough in the steel vessel and press in using fingers to make valleys and hills (:) I love to do this)
• Pour in the oil so that all valleys are filled in with the oil. Keep aside for atleast couple of hours
• Cook chana daal in pressure cooker
• Remove the excess water and put it into pan. (The excess water is used for preparing Katachi Aamati)
• Add jaggery to the pan and cook till mixture is thick
• Strain the mixture through Puran Yantra. Keep it aside to cool down
• While Making puran polis, Heat the tawa on low flame
• Make the puran ball of twice the lemon size.
• Take dough of lemon size and stretch it so that its big enough to cover the puran ball. Close the puran ball with this dough
• Press the ball with palms to flatten it. The elastic cover if goes outwards, press it back inwards gently.
• Apply generous quantity of rice floor on to the rolling plate. Dip the ball into the rice flour and and start rolling the poli.
• Intermittently keep checking that the poli is not sticking to the rolling plate and apply rice floor now and then.
• Rolling should be done very softly and always in outward direction.
• Cook the poli on the tawa over low flame. Cook the one side completely and then turn over and cook the other side. Again turn over, fold it and serve

Notes
The elasticity of the dough helps in making puran poli's cover softer and thinner so make sure the dough is very loose and was let to mix properly by keeping aside for enough time.
While rolling puran poli, start with smaller one, try it out and then gradually increase the size till you are confident. Use generous amount of rice powder initially which later you can reduce to amount you are comfortable with.
While checking if poli is stuck to the rolling plate, put the palm with fingers wide open and tilt the plate to get the poli on your palm. Same while transfering it to tawa. Never try to pick with just fingers, its a delicate afair.
If you see that there is lot of dough on sides of poli, it means you used more than needed dough, so reduce the quantity next time. The best quantity is half or little less of puran.
rolling only in outward direction helps in spreading puran outwards and thus uniform thickness as well as the cover of the puran wont break.
Also the last but not least tip, its very difficult and tidious process, so dont be disheartened if you dont get the BEST results at first attempt you will start getting better. I have tried to point out all minute details my mom told me, so I hope that will help.

Ajoy has got muffin tray this time from US and so I was in search of nice muffin recipe. I had peanut butter at home which I had kept it for some experiment. I thought lets try this out on muffin. So instead of using normal butter I used peanut butter and got nice peanut flavoured muffins with choco chips :)


Ingredients
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Choco-chips
2 Cup Maida
1 Spoon Vanilla
1.5 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1.5 Spoon Baking Powder
1/2 Spoon Eating Soda
1/2 Cup Milk

Method

• Mix peanut butter, eggs, suagar and vanilla in a bowl
• Sieve Maida, baking powder, eating soda together around 3-4 times
• Add maida and milk slowly to the butter-egg mixture with constant stirring
• Stir in the Choco Chips
• Preheat oven at 200C
• Grease the muffin tray and add the muffin mixture to it to full the cups 2/3rd.
• Bake at 200C in oven for 15 minutes

Notes
Here I donot get the choco chips and hence I buy cadboury dairy milk and cut it into medium sized pieces.
Also I thought that if I would have used the half and half of butter and peanut butter the peanutty flavour would have been milder. So I am going to try that out next time. Will post update after the trial