Homemade tortilla chips

This one struck me in wee hours. What can i say, creativity knows no bounds. Good that i did find courage to get out of the bed to write notes of it.... So here i am after a long break from kitchen.... Longer from the blog....

Homemade tortilla:
Take the chapati from last night, put some ghee on both sides and bake it on tawa or oven till it has browned considerably on both sides and has biscuit like crunch to it.

Avocado Mousse:
Avocado (1 medium)
Onion (1 small)
Jeera Powder (1 tsp)
Salt & pepper to taste.
Sugar (1/2 tsp)
Oil (1 tsp)

Put oil in kadhai and fry onions for 1 min followed by avocado for another min. Remove it from flame and add jeera powder, sugar, salt and pepper. Blend or grind it to a smooth paste. There is no need to add water as the avocado is soft enough to provide fluidity and we want a thick paste out of it.

Topping:
Zucchini (1 small)
Tomato (1 medium)
Onion (1 small)
Lemon juice (2 tsp)
Red chilli powder (1/2 tsp)
Cumin powder 1/2 tsp)
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut zucchini, tomato and onion into very small pieces. Add the other ingredients and toss them lightly.

Cucumber-Curd Dip:
Half cucumber
Curd (1/4 cup) (take hung curd if you want quite thick dip)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Grind the cucumber in mixer till it is flowing consistency. Add other ingredients and blend well.

Assembly and Presentation:
Take the tortilla, and divide it into conical pieces. Put avocado mousse overeach piece, followed by the topping. Garnish with finely cut lettuce and serve with the dip.

P.S.: this recipe makes tortilla chips from two standard size chapatis.

Simple anytime sandwich

This is a sandwich I first ate at my sister-in-law's house. At that time, honestly, I didn't like it. But since we have become extremely health conscious after coming to America I thought let me try to make it my way.
It really came out very well and was a instant hit with my husband. This is a perfect sandwich for breakfast or a light snack in a great hurry. You can also take it with you for outdoor trips as it can stay fresh easily upto a day.
So here goes its recipe:
Ingredients:
Cabbage (purple/green): 1/4 cup
Carrot shredded: 1/4 cup
purple onion finely diced: 1/4 cup
Hung yogurt: 1/4 cup
Salt as per taste
Black salt: 1/4 tsp
pepper: 1/2tsp

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Take two slices of bread buttered on one side and place some mixture in between. Press the top slice lightly and put in the sandwich maker. Keep roasting till both sides have browned slightly and have become crisp. Serve with ketchup or honey mustard sauce.
This will serve 2 ppl.

Info: Hung yogurt is yogurt hanged in a piece of cloth to squeeze out all the water inside. It is thicker in consistency.

Lettuce Paneer wraps

Hi,

There are few recipes which you discover accidentally and they are stuck with you forever.
This is one of those. I just can't stop going back again and again to this recipe and my husband just loves it. So, here goes my first contribution to culinary world.

Ingredients:
Soya Sauce - 2 tsp
Balsamic Vinegar - 2 Tbsp
Salt - as per taste
sugar - 1 tsp
cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
onion - 1 small
garlic - 1 clove
ginger paste - 1 tsp
Vegetable Oil - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1tbsp
Paneer - 6 - 8 oz
lettuce leaves - 5 to 8

Cut the onion into thin slices and make the ginger garlic paste. Cut the paneer into small cubes about 1cm thick.
In a pan, put oil and butter and as it becomes hot add sliced onions to it. Saute for 2 mins, when it just starts to become translucent, add the ginger garlic paste. Saute for another 2 mins until the garlic is aromatic. Now add the soya sauce, balsamic vinegar salt, sugar and cumin powder to it. Give it a stir and add the paneer cubes to it. Put it on low heat and keep stirring till the paneer becomes soft.

Transfer it to the serving dish with the whole lettuce leaves on sides. wrap the paneer in lettuce leaves and enjoy the flavours. This recipe serves 2.

TIP: Dipping the lettuce leaves in icy cold water for about 15-20mins helps them become really crunchy. Soft paneer cubes inside crunchy lettuce leaves go a long way together. You can dip the leaves before you start making paneer and by the time you finish it will be ready.

Indian Style Zucchini

More often than not, recipes are discovered unintentionally in your kitchen. Well this is one that happened to strike me. Or should I say it was the result of my desperation to have a dinner made out of zucchini and my husband's persistence to eat something Indian. I absolutely adore zucchini. Its crunchy, flavorful, its something you can pull out of your refrigerator whenever you feel like taking a bite. But I never thought my hubby would like zucchini made in an Indian style gravy so much. So here it is my tryst with no so Indian vegetable, hope you like it.

Ingredients:
Zucchini (cut into slices 1cm or thicker) - 2
Oil - 2 tbsp + for deep frying
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 1
Bay Leaves - 1
clove - 2
cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
milk - 2 tbsp
garam masala - 1/2 tsp
chilly powder - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt as per taste
mint and coriander leaves for garnishing.

Cut Zucchini into 1cm or thicker slices. Deep fry them till they are lightly browned on both sides. Put them on absorbent paper. Alternatively, you can roast them in oven too by tossing them lightly with olive oil at 400 F.
Finely chop onion and tomato and keep aside.
Take 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, Bay Leaf, cinnamon and clove to it. Fry them for few seconds and add onions. Saute the onions till the are lightly browned. Add chopped tomatoes and chilly powder. Keep stirring the tomatoes till it becomes a thick gravy. Add milk at this point and cook for 2-3 minutes till the gravy gets a smooth consistency. add garam masala and zucchini slices and cook for couple of mins more. Garnish with some fresh mint and coriander leaves. Serve hot.