Aloo Sandwich | Potato Sandwich

Potato sandwiches are a great option for weekend brunch or weekday dinner.These are our current favorite! I pack them for my hubby's lunch too. These are quick to make & quite filling.

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Adapted from: Manjula's Kitchen

Ingredients: (Makes 3 sandwiches)
Bread: 6 slices (I used Aunt Millies Potato Bread)
Melted butter: 1 tbsp
Boiled & mashed potatoes: 2 cups
Salt: As needed
Chopped coriander leaves: 2 tbsp
Chili powder: 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Cheese slices : 3 nos (I used grated Cheddar & Mozzarella Cheese)

Method:
Mash the potatoes thoroughly. Add in the coriander leaves, chili powder, lemon juice, cumin seeds, and salt to the potatoes & mix well.

Heat the tava/griddle.
Take 1.5 to 2 tablespoon of potato mixture & spread the mixture onto the bread. Press the mixture hard onto the bread. The potato mixture should stick to the bread.

Do the same on the other slice too.
Smear the butter over the potato spread.
Place both the slices of bread on the griddle (Potato spread should be facing down).

Cook on medium heat until the potatoes are cooked & turn crisp.

Flip one slice of bread. Add in the cheese & cover it with the other slice.

Cook again on both the sides till the sandwich turns golden brown.

Make two more sandwiches similarly.
Serve them hot with a dip/green chutney or tamarind chutney.

Notes:

• Along with the cheese, you could add slices of tomato, cooked beets slice, and a slice of paneer(cottage cheese) too. I often add paneer to this. It tastes great!
• The potato mixture is very flexible. You could play with a lot of flavors. I have tried adding carom seeds/ajwain instead of cumin seeds. I do add jalapenos for the extra kick sometime.
• The above ingredients & recipe is just to give an idea. You could use your imagination to build your own grilled potato sandwich.

Palak Cabbage Pakora | Spinach and Cabbage Fritters

I made these pakoras on a cold snowy & a lazy Sunday afternoon. They are a breeze to make & absolutely delicious!! Go ahead...It's alright to indulge in these fried beauties once a while.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

Shredded Spinach: 2 cups
Shredded Cabbage: 1 cup
Carom seeds/Ajwain/Om kalu: 1 tsp
Red chili powder: 1 tsp
Salt: As needed
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Gram flour/Besan: 1 cup
Rice flour: 2 tbsp
Fine Rava/Chiroti rava/Cream of wheat: 2 tbsp
Hot oil: 1 tbsp
Water: Approximately 1 to 1.25 cups

Other ingredients:
Oil for deep frying the fritters.

Method:

Mix in the shredded spinach, cabbage, carom seeds, red chili powder, turmeric powder & salt in a large bowl.

Let the mixture sit for 5-10 mins. The mixture will ooze out water.
Next, throw in the rice flour, cream of wheat, gram flour to it.

Pour in the hot oil & mix them all together.
Now, slowly add the water & make a thick batter. The batter should be of dropping consistency.

Heat enough oil in a kadai/wok for deep frying the fritters.
When oil is hot enough, drop in a tbsp of batter at a time to the oil.
Cook the fritters on med-high heat, on all the sides until the fritters are golden brown & crisp.
Remove the fritters using a slotted spoon & let them dry on a paper towel.
Serve these fritters hot with a dip/chutney or ketchup.

Cornmeal idli | Steamed Savory Cornmeal Cakes : Gluten free and vegan recipe

I am experimenting a lot with the corn meal these days. I tried adding them to rice flour roti, rava idli, muthiya and many more. Couple of months back, I thought of making idlis with the corn meal. I replaced the idli rava with the corn meal & got great results!

Here is my version of the corn meal idli.

Preparation Time: 30 mins (Excludes fermentation & soaking time)
Cooking Time: 30 mins

Ingredients: (For about 40 idlis)

• Skinned black gram/Urad dal: 1 cup
• Corn meal: 2.5 cups
• Rice flakes/Poha/Avalakki: 1/2 cup
• Salt: As needed

Other ingredients:
Oil: To grease the idli moulds.

Special utensils needed:
Idli plates with the stand
Steamer

Method:
Wash the urad dal throughly. Soak it for 3-4 hours.
Mix together the corn meal & the rice flakes. Wash it & drain the water. Soak the corn meal & rice flakes mixture for an hour.
Drain the water from the soaked lentils & add them to the food processor jar.

Add 2-3 tbsp of ice cold water to the lentils & pulse for few seconds. Add few tablespoons of ice cold water to the very coarsely done lentils & pulse again. Repeat the whole process of adding ice cold water & pulsing for at-least 5-6 times. 
The lentils paste must be very smooth & frothy. Refer the notes here to know more about how to grind the urad dal.

Scoop out the paste to a broad vessel. 

Add the corn meal + rice flakes mixture to the food processor & grind them to a coarse paste. Do not add more water while grinding.

Pour this coarse paste over the scooped lentils mixture.

Mix well & adjust the consistency of the batter.

Allow the batter to ferment for 8-10 hours or overnight.

Add salt to the fermented batter & gently mix the batter.

Grease the idli plates & pour a ladle full of batter onto each mould.

Steam the idlis for 10-15 mins.

Allow it to cool for another 5 mins.

Remove the idlis with a spoon and serve them hot with chutney/sambar/dip or chutney powder.