Homemade Croutons

When we make sandwiches we cut the hard brown edges of it and we throw them. Don't do that from now on. You can make croutons with that. Croutons are crispy cubed and baked bread which can be added to soups and salads. You can also make croutons with the left over white or brown bread pieces but I prefer making these with the edges of the bread because of the texture. 

 Today I made croutons with a flavour of Italian Herbs and Coriander. You can try your flavours with garlic, ginger etc.

Ingredients

Edges of 10-12 Bread Slices or 4 Slices of White / Brown Bread  

1/2 cup Melted Butter 

1 teaspoon Italian Herbs 

1 tablespoon Chopped Coriander

3/4 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Ground Pepper Powder

1. Cut Bread Slices into small cubes. In a bowl, add corinder, herbs, salt and pepper to melted butter. Mix it well.

2. Add bread slices to the bowl and mix it. Pre heat oven at 180 degrees. Place an aluminium foil on baking tray and spread bread cubes on it. Bake them till the bred cubes turn golden brown. Takes about 10 -12 minutes. Turn them in between. 

3. Store these in an airtight container once they are cool. Add these croutons to salads or hot soups .

Punjabi Aloo Paratha - Indian Flat Bread stuffed with Spiced Potatoes

Aloo Paratha is a staple food in North Indian menu and Punjabi food. Indian Flat Bread stuffed with spiced, boiled potatoes tastes a little spicy, tangy and yummy. Paratha is served with butter, yogurt, sliced onions, green chillies and any pickle and of course lassi. 

You will enjoy this very, very tempting food during winters. Adding oil to the wheat flour while making dough makes the parathas very soft. Adding lemon juice, to the stuffing makes the paratha a bit tangy. 

You can have parathas for breakfast, lunch or for dinner. My kids like to take parathas in their lunch boxes. It is so fillings and gives them enough energy for their extra murals.

Click on the links for Sweet Lassi , Mango Pickle , Yellow Cucumber Pickle , Lemon Pickle and Amla Pickle recipes.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of Wheat Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

Water
Oil / Ghee as required for roasting the parathas 

For Stuffing

1 Big Potato 

1 onion

2-3 green chillies

1 tablespoon chopped coriander

1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

juice of 1/2 lemon

1. Add Salt and 2 teaspoons of oil  to Wheat flour, mix it and then add water little by little to make a soft dough. Cover it, keep it aside for atleast 30 minutes. Meanwhile cut the potato into 4 pieces, pressure cook it for 3 whistles. Let it cool and remove the skin.

2. Chop onion, green chillies and coriander. Mash potato, add red chilli powder, salt and coriander powder.Mix it. Add chopped onion, green chilli, coriander, turmeric powder and lemon juice. Mix it well.

3. Now the stuffing is ready. Keep it aside. Now divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Flatten each part, dust it with flour.

4. Roll the dough to a circle. Place 1/4 of the potato stuffing on it in the middle. Cover it with dough by bringing the dough from all sides to the center. Remove the extra part. Dust the surface with flour, keep the dough with stuffing upside down.

5. Flatten it by hand and then roll it gently with roller pin to a circle. Heat a skillet / tawa. The tawa shouldn't be too hot. Place the paratha on it. When it is partly cooked flip it spread some ghee or oil on it flip it again and do the same thing on the other side. Cook it till you see crisp dark brown spots on both sides.

6. Serve it hot from tawa, or keep it in casserole. Serve it with some butter on paratha and some lemon or mango pickle. Punjabis like to eat these parathas with yogurt, sliced onion and green chillies.

Sooji Appam / Ravva Appam

 

Appam stuffed with Sooji Halwa. I have posted Sooji Halwa already. I made that with lot of ghee which I felt is not a good idea to use as stuffing, so I made another sooji halwa version here for the stuffing. 

Sooji Appam is crispy on the outside and chewy inside. Everyone including kids will love it.

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Sooji / Ravva

3 1/2 cups Water

2 cups Jaggery

6 Cardamoms

Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Dry roast sooji till  light golden brown. Transfer that into another bowl and keep it aside. Chop Jaggery to small pieces.Keep it aside.

2. Boil 3 cups of Water. Then add Sooji. Keep stirring it continuously so that no lumps are formed and cook it till till it is almost done.

3. Then add jaggery. Cook it till Jaggery melts and sooji becomes non sticky and starts leaving wall of the pan. Keep stirring till then. Let it cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, make the outer layer. Add 2 teaspoons of Oil to all purpose flour. Rub it into flour. Add 1/2 cup of water to flour (1/4 cup of water at a time) and knead it well for 5 mins. Keep it covered for 45 minutes. Then divide the dough into 8 parts and make balls with it. Make 8 lemon sized balls of Sooji halwa. (I have almost 1/3 of sooji halwa left. You can reduce the quantities if you want).

5. Now grease a plastic sheet with little oil. Take a maida ball flatten it by hand on the sheet like a circle keep sooji halwa ball on it. Cover it with outer layer from all the sides make a ball again and flatten it. 

6. Keep oil for deep frying. Now take the appam onto your hand and gently drop it hot oil. Deep fry it till both sides turn golden brown.

7. Tasty and yummy festive food.

Palak Paratha / Spinach Paratha - Indian Bread

 

I want to include palak in our meals as much as possible. Palak paneer and Palak dal are our favorites. This time I tried my friend's recipe Palak paratha. Palak Paratha tastes good with any spicy chutney or pickle and curd. My husband likes it with just a green chilli and sliced onion.

I think a lot to make different varieties for my kids lunch boxes specially on the days when have extra murals and they come late from school. Kids enjoyed it. You can add green chilli paste to make more spicy. Try this easy paratha.

 

 

2 cups of Spinach

1 1/2 cup Wheat Four

1 1/2 cup Maida / All Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon of Green chilli paste (Optional)

1 teaspoon Oil

1 teaspoon Salt

Wheat flour for dusting

Ghee / Oil for cooking

 

1. Clean and cut Spinach to small pieces. Boil spinach in water for 10 mins , drain the water and then keep it in cold water. This procedure is called Blanching and it makes spinach smooth and soft. Squeeze out the water completely and then process it to a smooth paste. Add lemon juice not water. 

2. Mix Maida, Wheat flour, salt, oil with enough water and make a smooth dough. Cover it and keep it aside for 10 mins.

3. Add spinach paste to the dough and mix it well.

4. Divide the dough into 6 parts. Dust it with wheat flour. Flatten them with a roller pin.

5. Heat a tawa (flat pan), place spinach paratha on it spread ghee or oil in it and turn it after a min.. Spread ghee or oil on the other side and cook this for a min.

6. Easy palak paratha can be made for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Triangle Sugar Paratha / Sweet Paratha/ Chini ka Paratha

Paratha is a thick stuffed wheat bread usually stuffed with various ingredients. Sugar paratha is a paratha stuffed with sugar, an absolute kids favorite.

From the time I tasted these at a friend's place, I just fell in love with parathas. I am not a big sweet fan but these parathas are really very tasty and yummy. I started making it quite often for my kids. It is made with simple ingredients and easy to make. 

Sugar parathas become hard once they are cold. So better to serve them with 2-3 minutes after it is made. But other parathas can be packed for lunch box.

(Makes 8)

2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour  + Flour for dusting

3/4 cups of Water (or as required)

3/4 teaspoon Salt

2 tablespoon Ghee / Oil

Sugar as required

1. Mix wheat flour, salt and water with a teaspoon of ghee and make that smooth dough by adding enough water. Keep it covered for 15- 20 minutes.  Make 8 lemon sized balls of the dough. Press that into a circle and dust it with flour. Now roll it into a flat circle on a dusted floor using a rolling pin.

2. Spread sugar on half of the circle and fold it. Spread sugar again on half of the semi-circle. You can put as much as sugar as you want. Press the ends.

3. Dust this triangle with flour and press it again as thin as possible (Don't loose the triangular shape).

4. Heat a pan / tava. Place this paratha on it. When it puffs up (if the tava is hot enough it just takes a minute to puff up), flip it and cook on the other side for a minute. Repeat this procedure to make all other parathas.

5. Serve them hot.