Spaghetti Fritters

Last week I was busy baking after a very long time, although I couldn't take any pictures of what I baked.  Wondering why I was so busy in baking ?  Yes, for the first time in India,  I involved myself in some cookies and cakes sale.  So I had some activity to keep me active last week, thanks to Priya for giving me this opportunity.

Coming to the recipe, when I was browsing through some food pictures in pinterest, I found this.  At a first glance, I almost thought it was like Murukku ( Indian Rice flour fritters ).  Sometimes  some recipe tempts to try it immediately, this is one among them.
Although it looked similar to Murukku,  it tastes completely different.  The crispy sides and the soft centered with cheesy flavours hitting in between is yummy to snack, especially on a cold evening or even as a brunch.

Recipe adapted from GirliChef

Makes 8-10
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients :
Dried Spaghetti-  150 g
Garlic- 2 cloves grated
Parmesan cheese- 2 tbsp
Eggs- 2
Egg yolk- 1
Chilly flakes- 1 tsp
Italian seasoning- 1 tsp ( optional )
Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp ( finely chopped )
Oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Break the spaghetti into half and cook it in hot boiling water, once cooked, drain it from water and set aside.  Break the eggs into a large bowl, add the seasoning, chilly flakes, cheese,  spaghetti and salt and pepper to taste.

Take a flat non stick pan, add about a tbsp of oil.  Pour a ladle of spaghetti mixture in hot oil, once sides looks crispy or brown, turn it around and cook it for further few minutes.  The fritters should be crispy around the edges and soft in the centre.  Serve while they are still hot with ketchup or any hot chutneys.

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Turkish Lentil Soup

Tired after  working all day, or a lazy weekend, not feel like cooking then this is the recipe for you. Easy, delicious  and healthy. I actually got this recipe from one of my friend here in Germany Reshmi of lecker and yummy recipes, who is been heavily influenced by lots of Turkish and Arab cuisine by all her friends. First time I had this soup for Iftar in the Turkish mosque, which tasted absolutely amazing, immediately the very next day I made this. But I couldn't make or buy some fresh bread so I just used some normal white bread which tasted very good too.
  So for a quick healthy meal, just grab a couple of  bread, salad and some vegetables from shop and make this soup. A hot bowl of this soup with some nice crusty rolls will be a perfect and satisfying lunch, brunch or a dinner.
Serves 2
Preparation Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 to 20 minutes( If using a pressure cooker)

Ingredients:
Red lentils- 1 cup
Onion- 1 chopped
Carrot- 1 chopped
Potato- 1 small sized chopped
Celery, leeks any vegetable of your choice- about 1/2 cup chopped
Garlic- 3 cloves
Olive oil- 3 tsp
Rice- 1/2 tbsp
Paprika powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk
Salt as required
Method:
Chop the vegetables roughly, it doesn't have to look neat. Wash the rice and lentils and put them in a pressure cooker. Add all the chopped vegetables, paprika, salt and 2 1/2 cups of water. Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles. Let it cool down for a while, then blend it in a blender.
Return to the cooker again. In a separate pan, add olive oil and then add the finely chopped garlic and fry it for  while. Add this garlic oil to the soup and finally add the chopped coriander leaves.
Serve the soup warm with some bread.

This recipe goes to my own event Any One Can Cook and Souper Sundays by Kahakai Kitchen.

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Beet Falafel Lollies

Falafel is a Middleastern fritters made with chickpeas is well known among foodies. Middleastern foods like pitta breads, kebabs, hummus... are becoming very popular around the world and there is no exception for these falafels.

 Once we invited a Arab friend to our home and I made lentil fritters( parpu vadai) made with Chana dhal, he had that and immediately said, huh this is something similar to our falafel. Off course falafels are most more soft texture compared to vadai, still they are spicy and really good.
 In this falafel I have made a tiny little change to the traditional one , I added beetroot, after all we bloggers always like to give a twist to the traditional one, don't we :-)
Ingredients:
Chickpeas- 1 cup( canned), If using dried, soak them overnight and cook them until it's soft
Beetroot- 1 grated
Garlic pods- 4 finely minced
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk
Paprika powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp
Onion- 1/2 finely chopped
Flour- 1 tbsp
Salt as required
Oil for frying
Method:
If using a canned chickpeas, boil them for 5 to 10 minutes, if it's dried and soaked overnight, then cook up to 4 whistles in a pressure cooker. Drain the water completely, add all the ingredients other than oil and beetroot. Blend it in a blender like a smooth paste. Then add the grated beetroot and mix well.
Heat the oil in a pan enough for shallow frying, when the oil gets heated, add small size balls in the oil and fry until golden all around.
Serve the falafels warm with mint yogurt or ketchup.
This recipe goes to Colour your Palate' A Visual Treat@ by Creative Sanyukta, CWF-lb, Chickpeas event hosted by Nithu bala originally started by Kiran, Kids delight- Finger Foods hosted by Srivalli and to Healing Foods- Beetroot hosted by Priya originally started by Siri.

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Golden Onion Quiche- Sweet Punch Challenge for September 2010

This is my second challenge with Sweet Punch Team, this time our challenge is savoury by Ria of  Ria's Collections.
 We have to bake a savoury quiche with veg or non veg, as I have all meat eaters in my family I have to make only with chicken. Quiche is something which used to fear to make it , due to the tart base. I never felt comfortable with the blind baking the tart case, and I have gone wrong a few times when I tried it. This time with Ria's recipe, I found that it can be done without blind baking yet delicious and melt in the mouth pastry. Actually I haven't tasted yet, just now I made it and I'm posting it immediately since I'm a bit late with this month challenge.

The buttery pastry, tandoori chicken filling, cheese and the Italian seasoning... Oooooh! I just have to wait a few more hours until Iftar :-(
If you want to start baking with Sweet Punch click here.
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Plain Flour- 200 g
Butter- 100 g ( frozen)
Baking Powder- 1/4 tsp
Egg- 1 beaten Lightly
Cold water- 1 or 2 tsp
For the filling:
Tandoori chicken shredded- 1/2 cup( I used 2 to 3 thighs of chicken)
Milk- 3/4 cup
Cheese- 1/2 cup( the actual recipe suggested cheddar, I couldn't get that so I have used emmentaler)
Eggs- 3 lightly beaten
Onion- medium sized sliced thinly
Red, Yellow and Green Pepper- 1/4 of each chopped
Italian seasoning- 1/4 tsp( mixture of dried herbs like dried red pepper, garlic, black pepper, oregano)
Salt and Pepper for seasoning as required
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Method:
For The Filling:
Shred the chicken from the bone completely. Slice the onion thinly and chop the peppers. Heat the oil in a pan, add the chicken and fry for 2 minutes, since it's already cooked it dosen't need much time. Add the onions, keep the heat in medium and stir until the onion reaches golden brown, take care not to burn the onions. Finally add the chopped peppers and take it off from heat.

In a large bowl mix together the eggs, milk, cheese and seasoning. Then add the chicken mixture and mix well.
Keep it separately
For The Pastry:
Preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Sift the flour and baking powder in a bowl, add the grated butter, rub between your finger tips to resemble like a fine bread crumbs. Add the beaten egg and bring the dough together, if it didn't come like a dough, add a few drops of cold water and bring the dough together. Roll out the dough to fit your baking tin size, carefully lift the dough and slide it inside the tin and press the edges.

Pour the filling inside the pastry case and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling is set and pastry looks slightly brown on sides.
Serve the quiche warm with some side salad.

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Mixed Pulses Vadai

TRIED AND TASTED FROM DIL SE.....

This recipe is tried and tasted from Dil Se . Divya has a very good collection of mouthwatering and healthy recipes. When i was going through her recipes it was quite hard for me to choose, all recipes were unique, finally i went for this nutritious mixed pulses vadai. I was amazed to see her creation of this vadai recipe with all mixed lentils.
This is one among her must try recipes. The different mix of pulses make this vadai much more healthier than the normal vadai.
To give it a natural twist they are presented in reused, eco-friendly, economic regular Indian kiosks' packaging :-).

Lentils are rich source of protein and iron so it plays  a very important  role in vegetarian diet. To read more about lentils click here.
To see the original recipe of Divya click here.
Ingredients:
Chickpeas- 1/2 cup soaked overnight
Green Moong dhal-1/2 cup soaked for 10 hours
Moong dhal Split- 1/4 cup
Channa Dhal- 1/2 cup
Urad Dhal- 1/2 cup
Whole black pepper corns- 6 to 7
Ginger- 1/2 inch finely chopped
Onion- 1 small sized finely chopped
Curry leaves- 1 stalk
Salt as required
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Soak the chana dhal, urad dhal and  split moong dhal for 2 hours. Grind it along with chick peas and moong dhal to a coarse paste. Add onions, ginger, crushed black pepper corns, curry leaves and salt , mix well.
Heat oil in a kadai, take a teaspoonfull of mixture in your hand, drop it in the oil. After 2 minutes turn to the other side and cook till it turns golden brown. Serve warm with chutney.
Note: The Temperature of the oil should be such that when you drop  a small portion of the mixture, it should come up immediately. This is the right temperature to fry.
This recipe goes to the event Tried and Tasted hosted by Versatile Kitchen.

Nigella Chutney:

To accompany this vadai i made some nigella seeds chutney, recipe follows.
Ingredients:
Nigella seeds- 1 tsp
Coconut- 2 tbsp
Tamarind paste- 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves- 1
Peanuts- 1 tbsp
Dried red chilli- 1
Salt as required
Method:
Grind together all the ingredients in a blender to a smooth paste. Serve with vadai, dosai or idli.

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