This is a very unusual name for a very tasty recipe.But this is how I know this dish.Long ago during my school days we used to frequent this little shop next to our school.This shop sold a variety of snacks like samosas,vada paus, kachori,bhajiyas and this Bombay toast.So during recess we used to flock to this tiny shop and make the owner richer.I know he became rich because he expanded his shop and opened a few more in various parts of the city :)  So Bombay Toast was nothing but dry potato vegetable sandwiches dipped in gram flour batter and deep fried.But this tasted so good,I used to have this everyday till I finished my schooling. I never make this when I am in India as I love to have the street food there.So whenever I feel like having junk food I make this dish and think of the good old days.It tastes really good with a hot cup of tea on a rainy day.

 Ingredients:

2 boiled potatoes,mashed
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 green chillies finely chopped
2 or 3 kadipatta
1 small onion finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
4 bread slices.

For the batter

1 cup gram flour(besan)
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilly powder
salt to taste
1/2 tsp baking powder(optional)

Method:

Heat the oil in a kadhai.When it is hot enough add the mustard seeds,cumin seeds and fennel seeds.

Add in the asafoetida,tumeric powder,chilli powder and curry leaves to the hot oil.

Then add the garlic.Saute for 5 seconds.Then add the onions and fry till they are transluscent.

Add the mashed potatoes and the salt to the kadhai and mix thoroughly.Add in the cilantro and fry for another minute.Remove from flame and allow to cool.

 Make a batter of the the gram flour using the ingredients mentioned into a thick paste.It should be as thick as a pancake batter .

When the potatoes are cool enough,take a slice of bread.Spread the potato mixture evenly depending on the thickness desired.Cover with another slice of bread and press it lightly.Cut into triangles.

This is how it looks before going in the batter

Heat oil for deep frying. Dip each triangle into the gram flour batter and coat it well.Slip in the hot oil and fry on both sides till golden brown.Drain on a paper towel.Repeat for other slices of bread.

Serve hot with ketchup.

PS: I am sending this to DK for “The Potato Fe(a)st” Event

I am also sending this to Sia for the “Ode to Potato-IYP 2008” Event.

This is a nutritious way to start the day.Thalipeeth is served for breakfast and if you have flours like millet,jowar or wheat in your pantry,it can be used in this dish.I usually have only wheat and gram flour at home,so I use these to make thalipeeth.This is very easy to make and can be prepared within minutes.Try to make these with different combinations of flours and the results will be equally mouth watering.Back in India we make thalipeeth with wheat,gram and jowar.You can have it with home-made butter or just plain yoghurt.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup gram flour(besan)
1 small onion chopped
1 small tomato chopped
1 green chilli finely chopped
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method:

Mix all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl and add enough water to make a medium thick batter

Heat a non-stick pan and add the oil.

Spread the batter like a pancake about 4mm thick

Cook on both sides till  golden brown

Serve hot with yoghurt or homemade butter.

PS:I am sending this to Tasty Palettes  for the “Healthy Eats-Breakfast” Event

This was made atleast once a week at my place back in Bombay. I dont like fish with a lot of thorns,so my dad used to buy fishes like promfret,shark,prawns etc and once in a while my parents favourite mackerels and sardines found their way  to the dinner table Whatever fish we bought,half would be made into  curry and the other half would be fried. Fried fish would be my favourite.I would tolerate the curry just to get my hands on the fried fish.Though now I love both the curry and the fried stuff.Here we get promfrets in the Chinese market which is a bit far,so whenever I go I buy promfrets or halwa (black promfrets) and fry them up.We relish it with dal-rice.I think its the most delicious combination one could have.

Ingredients:

2 promfrets cut into steaks.
2 tbsp kashmiri chilly powder
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp tumeric powder
 2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
salt to taste
1/2 cup flour (I use chapathi flour,you can use maida or rawa)
Oil for frying

Method:

Wash the fish and keep aside.

Combine the above ingredients except the flour and oil into a thick paste using only the vinegar.If you think the paste is too coarse you can add a few more drops of vinegar.

Apply the paste to the fish pieces and keep aside for atleast an hour.

Before frying,heat oil in a frying pan.When the oil is hot enough,take a fish piece and roll it lightly over the flour and coat it on both sides.

Slip in slowly in the frying pan. Add as many pieces as can comfortably sit in the pan.Cook over medium heat.Fry on both sides and drain on a paper towel.

Do the same for the remaining fish.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

I joined cake decorating classes this month and we have to bake cakes for each class.So this is the first cake I baked.I had to bake two as we had to put icing between the two cakes and then frost it all over.I found this recipe in my diary and thought of baking it.The recipe looked simple,so I thought if I had to bake and eat two cakes with plenty of icing,I would surely bake these low fat cakes.To cut the long story short,these cakes didnt taste like they were low-fat.They were moist and delicious.Since its only two of us,I sent the cake with my hubby to his office.It was gobbled up in no time The best part was that I didnt have to use the electric mixer,so less utensils to wash!

Ingredients:

1 and half cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup non-fat/low-fat yoghurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze (optional)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

Method

Grease and flour an 8 inch round pan

Sift together flour,baking powder and salt and keep aside

In a seperate bowl mix the yoghurt and sugar till the sugar is completely mixed

Add the eggs,vanilla and lemon zest to the yoghurt mixture and mix together.

Add the flour in which the baking powder and salt is added little by little to the yoghurt mixture.

When everything is well mixed,add in the vegetable oil and whisk it till all the oil is properly incorporated.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the pan and cool on a rack.

For the glaze

Heat both sugar and lemon juice till sugar is dissolved.When the cake is cool enough,remove from the pan and drizzle with this glaze.

PS: I am sending this to Coffe for the “Jhiva for ingredients:Lime/Lemon” event

Edited to add: I found a similar post on Meera’s blog and came to know the recipe source is Ina Garten.I love her recipes….no wonder I loved this cake .For the original recipe you can have a look here.

One of my favourite festival meals is shrikhand puri. I remember the Diwali’s I used to get invited to my friends place for lunch and this dish was always there.Puris are deep fried whole wheat breads. In India ,these are prepared during special occasions like festivals or weddings.My friends mom used to slave over the stove for hours to make the perfect round puris for all the guests at her place.The final stack of puris were a feast to the eyes as well as the tastebuds.I always thought shrikhand was something we buy from the stores,so I was impressed when my friends mom told me she made it from scratch.I didnt really bother asking aunty for the recipe as I thought it would be a long process anyway. So when I got the following recipe for shrikhand I started making puris more often as the shrikhand gets done in under 10 minutes…..Honest . Sometimes we have puris with aamras(mango pulp) and I get transported back to the summer days in India when we used to have hot puris with chilled shrikhand or aamras !!!!! Yummy…

For the Puris

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rawa/semolina
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
Water and oil as required for kneading
oil for deep-frying

Method:
Sift the flour and add all the ingredients except water and oil.Mix together wellNow knead the flour using little water and oil alternately till it becomes a semi soft ball.

At this stage,knead with oil alone as the dough should be slightly more tougher than the chapathi dough.

Divide these into small balls.

Heat oil in a wok or kadhai for deep frying.Heat over medium high heat.

Take 1 ball and roll it into approximately 5 inch circle.If the dough is kneaded perfectly,you should be able to roll it without the use of any flour.

Slip the flattened circle gently into the hot oil.It should puff up.Fry the other side too and drain them on a paper towel.

Do the same for the remaining puris.Serve hot.

Shrikhand

1 cup Greek Style yoghurt
1/2 cup Sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar
Powder of 4 elaichis(cardamoms)
1 tbsp warm milk
a pinch of saffron

Method:

Put the saffron in the warm milk and keep aside.

Combine yoghurt and sour cream together with a spoon.

 Add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time and mix well till all the sugar is incorporated.

Add the elaichi/cardamom powder and mix well.

Add the saffron milk to the shrikhand and mix again.

Chill in the fridge for atleast an hour.

Serve chilled.

PS: I am sending this to Mythili for her “Gujarathi Cuisine” event.

This was my favourite soup when I used to order Chinese in India.I think Indian Chinese tastes the best and I dont really like the Chinese fare available in the US. The only exception to that rule is P F Changs.I love going there and sampling the spicy dishes on the menu.In Bombay there are many red Chinese carts serving delicious fried rice,manchurians,spring rolls and the works.It is quite affordable and there are many Chinese restaurants that have opened up recently.My most favourite was Uncle’s Kitchen in Malad. I must have tasted almost everything on their menu and each and every dish is lip smacking delicious. Since I hardly enjoy Chinese food here, I thought I would give this soup a try.I had some vegetables in the pantry and bought a packet of mung sprouts and mushrooms from the grocery store as I wanted to make it all the more healthy. The mung sprouts were a surprise delight as they were quite crunchy inspite of all the saute’ing and the boiling. The results were delicious and the soup was finished in no time !!!

 Ingredients

1 cup carrots diced
1/2 cup beans chopped
1 cup mushrooms sliced
1 cup mung sprouts
1/4 cup green capsicum diced
2 to 3 spring onions/scallions chopped
1 onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1/2 inch piece of ginger grated
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Louisiana hot sauce (or any other preferred hot sauce)
1 to 2 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp cornflour
4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 tsp ground pepper
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar 
2 tbsp oil

Method:

Heat oil.Add the onions ,garlic and ginger.Saute till onions are transparent

Add in all the vegetables except spring onions/scallions and saute for about 5 minutes on a medium flame.

Then add the soy sauce and hot sauce and stir it for about 2 minutes

Add about 3 and half cups of vegetable stock and boil it till the vegetables are almost done.

Then add the cornflour to the remaining 1/2 cup of vegetable stock and dissolve it.

Add this to the soup alongwith vinegar and ground pepper.Check for salt.Add in the sugar.

Stir it and bring to a boil.Add the chopped scallions and remove from flame after a couple of minutes.

Serve hot.

PS:I am sending this to the “No croutons required” event at Lisa’s Kitchen.

I am also sending this to Bindiya for her “Chinese Food” event.

These are a spin-off from the famous Linzer cookies.My friend gave me this recipe a while ago and I believe the recipe source is Ina Garten.This is just basic shortbread cookie recipe shaped into hearts and filled with red raspberry jam.I have not cooked on Valentine Day since my wedding so this is a little something I baked today. Happy Valentine’s everyone.

I dont know if I am late but I am sending this to Pooja as my entry to the Valentine Day theme.
Ingredients:
3/4 pound butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 and half cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
Raspberry jam

Method

With an electric mixer,blend together butter ,sugar and vanilla till well mixed

In a seperate bowl,sift all purpose flour and add salt to it.

Add the flour on  low speed to the butter and blend till all comes together in a dough.Remove and divide into 2 flat balls.

Wrap each of them in a plastic wrap and refridgerate for about 15 minutes.

Remove one ball and roll it to 1 cm thick.Take a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut the shapes. Take a small cookie cutter and cut the center of half of the cookies.When done refridgerate for another 15 minutes

I love chicken wings.It gels perfectly with pizzas but I sometimes make these when I make a vegetable curry or dal rice.This is really very simple without the headache of marinating and doesn’t require a whole lot of preparation.You just need chicken wings and a really hot sauce.I like to use Louisiana hot sauce but I am told even Tobasco sauce tastes good.

Ingredients:

10 to 12 Chicken Wings
Louisiana hot sauce
oil for frying.

Method:

Take a paper towel and just remove excess moisture from the wings.

Heat oil in a pan over medium-high flame.When the oil gets hot enough gently slip in the chicken wings.The oil may splatter so be careful.

When one side is done,turn over and fry the other side too.When both sides are slightly brown and cripsy,remove from the pan and drain on some paper towels.

Place the wings in a bowl or saucer and pour the hot sauce all over it,coating it properly.

Serve hot with Ranch dressing.

These were the first cookies I tried to bake for Christmas last year.I had been reading many food blogs and wanted to try my hand at baking some simple but delicious cookies.I came across this recipe through Tina’s blog and had to try it.The cookies were buttery soft and had a crunch to it.We had some kids over at our place during the Christmas season and it was finished in no time.This is the recipe for these amazing cookies.

This dish was prepared at my place every alternate sunday.We used to relish it with fresh sannas(idlis) or neer dosas.In Mangalore whenever we visit anyones place,this dish is served without fail.During Christmas and Easter,I make this in addition to pork and it reminds me of the feasts we used to have.I try to make this dish atleast once a month as I love the flavours of fresh coconut mingled with hot spices and I am transported back to the lazy days spent in Mangalore during the summer holidays.This definitely is one of the foods which I associate with pleasant days in my life.I learnt to prepare this curry from my dad and I remember many Sundays chopping everything just right and then standing beside the stove next to my dad and noting the precise movements with which he used to make the curry.During dinner parties ,here in the US,I always make this dish and it is a hit with everyone.

For marinating the chicken
1 pound chicken with bones. 
1tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp tumeric powder
salt to taste

Marinate chicken with the above ingredients and keep aside for atleast an hour.

For grinding to a fine paste.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 small ball of tamarind
a pinch of tumeric pdr
1 big red onion sliced
5 cloves of garlic
5 cloves
1 inch cinamon stick
1 bay leaf
4 elaichi
5 to 6 kashmiri chillies
1 tsp poppy seeds
2 cups shredded coconut.

In a pan,dry roast seperately cumin seeds,fennel seeds,coriander seeds and poppy seeds till each of them is fragrant.

Then roast the coconut without oil,till it is lightly brown.Remove and keep aside.

Add some oil and ghee to the pan.Fry onion till lightly brown.Add garlic and the garam masala(spices).Remove from fire and cool.

In a mixie add the all the ingredients mentioned above alongwith coconut,onions and dry roasted spices and grind to a fine paste adding sufficient water.

Final

1 small chopped red onion
2 ripe tomatoes
1 green chilly
6 cloves
1 inch cinamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
2 tbsp oil
2 potatoes
Coriander leaves(for garnishing)

Take a vessel in which the chicken is to be cooked.Put oil and ghee.Add cloves,cinamon stick,bay leaf and  green chilli.Then add the chopped red onion and fry till transparent.Then add the chopped tomatoes.

When the tomatoes are soft add the marinated chicken and potaoes,mix together,cover and cook.Add the ground masala after 5 minutes and cook till chicken and potatoes are done.You can garnish with coriander leaves.

Remove from fire and serve hot with pulao or bread.