Baby Corn Manchurian

One of my favorite crispy dish from Indo-chinese cuisine.This is a very simple and easy to make recipe.You can serve it whenever you have unexpected guests at home.

Tastes best when used as an accompaniment for Veg Hakka Noodles and Veg. Fried Rice.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

1. Baby corn- 8-10 (chopped as shown in pic)
2. Oil for deep frying
3. Salt as needed

Batter Ingredients

1. Cornflour - 1/4 cup
2. Maida/All Purpose flour - 1/4 cup
3. Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
4. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
5. Black pepper powder- 2 tsp
6. Salt needed

Manchurian Sauce

1. Garlic Pods-5-6 (Chopped finely)
2. Ginger- 1 inch (chopped finely)
3. Green Chilies-2 (chopped finely)
4. Soy Sauce - 2 tsp
5. Vinegar - 1 tsp (Rice vinegar or any)
6. Spring Onions-Finely chopped(Both leaf and the onion part)
7. Cornflour paste- 1 tbsp + 2 tbsp water
8. Tomato Ketchup- 1 tbsp
9. Red Chili Sauce - 1 tbsp
10. Pepper Powder - 2 tsp

Garnishing

Spring Onion leaves &  the spring Onions bulb- Chopped

Method

1. Mix the ingredients under batter with required amount of water.The batter should be of thick pouring consistency.

2. Chop the baby corns into medium sized length.Boil the cut Baby corns in water for 5 mins with a tsp of salt.Pat dry them.

3. Dip the Baby corns in the batter and coat them well with batter.

4. Deep fry the coated Baby corns in hot oil till the color turns light golden brown and keep it aside.

5. Heat some oil in a pan.Add spring onions and normal onion,garlic,ginger, chilies and saute till the onions turn transparent and the garlic turns light brown in color.

6. Add soy sauce,tomato sauce,vinegar and red chili sauce sauce and cook for about a minute.

7.  Add 1/4  cup water,salt,pepper powder and cook for another few minutes.Add cornflour paste for thickening and also to get a glaze saucy texture.

8. Add the fried  baby corns and saute well till they are coated completely with the sauce.

9. Add chopped spring onion leaves and serve hot.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Soy sauce already has salt and hence adjust the salt accordingly.
2. You can also garnish with normal onions and capsicum after sauteing them for a min with salt for additional add-on's.
3. Make sure the oil is hot before frying the baby corns,else the masala mixture may come off
4. Tomato ketchup can be adjusted according to the taste.

Gobi Manchurian

This is one of the most important recipe from the Chinese Cuisine and always kid's favourite.Goes very well as a starter and also as a side dish.Tastes best when used as an accompaniment for Veg Hakka Noodles and Veg. Fried Rice. This recipe is very similar to my recipe Baby Corn Manchurian.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

1. Chopped Cauliflower - 10 florets 
2. Oil for deep frying
3. Salt as needed

Batter Ingredients

1. Cornflour - 1/4 cup
2. Maida/All Purpose flour - 1/4 cup
3. Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
4. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
5. Black pepper powder- 2 tsp
6. Salt needed

Manchurian Sauce

1. Garlic Pods-5-6 (Chopped finely)
2. Ginger- 1 inch (chopped finely)
3. Green Chilies-2 (chopped finely)
4. Soy Sauce - 2 tsp
5. Vinegar - 1 tsp (Rice Vinegar or any vinegar)
6. Spring Onions-Finely chopped (Both leaf and the onion part)
7. Cornflour paste- 1 tbsp with 2 tbsp water
8. Tomato Ketchup- 1 tbsp
9. Red Chili Sauce - 1 tbsp
10. Pepper Powder - 2 tsp

Garnishing

Spring Onion leaves &  the spring Onions bulb- Chopped

Sauteing of vegetables in sauce

Adding fried Gobi and stir frying

Garnish with spring onions

Method

1. Mix the ingredients under batter with required amount of water.The batter should be of thick pouring consistency.

2. Boil the cut cauliflower in water for 2 mins with a tsp of salt.Pat dry them.

3. Dip the cauliflower in the batter and coat them well with batter.

4. Deep fry the coated cauliflower till the color turns light golden brown and keep it aside.

5. Heat some oil in a pan.Add spring onions,ginger,garlic,chilies and saute till the onions turn transparent and the garlic turns light brown in color.

6. Add soy sauce,tomato sauce,vinegar and red chili sauce sauce and cook for about a minute.

7.  Add 1/4  cup water,salt,pepper powder and cook for another few minutes.Add cornflour paste for thickening and also to get a glaze saucy texture.

8. Add the fried  cauliflower and saute well till they are coated completely with the sauce.

9. Add chopped spring onion leaves and serve hot.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. While deep frying the florets,ensure the oil is at the right temperature and perfectly hot.If the oil is not hot, the florets will draw in more oil and it will become soggy.At the same time, too much heat can cause the florets to burn.
2. Soy sauce already has salt and hence adjust the salt accordingly.
3. You can also garnish with normal onions and capsicum after sauteing them with salt for a minute.

Spiced Cajun Potato Wedges

If you want to make an easy crispy quick bites for your guest, this is an apt choice. Potato wedges are a frequent menu in any of the Italian restaurants or pizza corners.This is an easy quick and simple recipe and can be made in no time. If you are planning for a quick and interesting starter, check out this recipe right away.
There are 2 methods listed here in the below post, one is baked method which consumes less oil. The other one is deep fry method. The deep fry method is a fool proof method and you get nice crispy potato wedges in a jiffy. People who don't have oven can use this method.The disadvantage is that it consumes more oil. On the other hand, baked wedges consumes less oil, but crispiness depends on each oven settings.Do try out both the methods and adopt whichever is convenient for you:):)

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1. Non starchy Potatoes-3 medium sized
2. Red Chili Flakes-1 tsp
3. Mixed Italian Seasoning -1 tsp
4. Pepper powder-1 tsp
5. Garlic-5 pods (minced finely)
6. Oil-3 tbsp (Olive oil or any other cooking Oil) - If used in oven
7. Cornflour - 2 tbsp (required if deep frying method used)
8. All purpose flour - 2 tbsp (required if deep frying method used)
9. Oil for deep frying
10. Salt to taste

Method 1- Bake using Convection Mode Oven

1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly.Cut them into wedges as shown in the picture without peeling the skin.

2. Par boil the chopped potatoes wedges in water for 2-3 mins with some salt.

3. Strain them,pat them with a dry towel and place them in a bowl.

5. Take oil in a bowl. Add the red chili flakes,pepper,salt, minced garlic,seasoning to the oil and mix well. Now, marinate the potato wedges with this mixture such that the potato wedges are covered nicely with the marination.

6. Spread these wedges on an oven safe tray.

7. Pre-Heat the oven for 200 degrees C.

8. Once the pre heat temperature is reached,place the tray inside the oven and bake them for 20-25 mins until the edges turn golden and crispy.

9. Once they are baked,pat them with dry tissue to remove excess oil.

10. Serve the hot potato wedges with sauce or any other Cheesy dip.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Boiling the potatoes initially helps in reducing the baking time and also makes the wedges crispier.
2. Since, we use baking technique, this consumes less oil.
3. Pre heat temperature varies from oven to oven.Hence,you need to study your oven settings.

Method 2 - Deep Fry Method

1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly.Cut them into wedges as shown in the picture without peeling the skin.

2. Par boil the chopped potatoes wedges in water for 2-3 mins with some salt in hot water.

3. Strain them,pat them with a dry towel

4. Take a mixing bowl, add cornflour, flour,salt , pepper,chili flakes,garlic pods and seasoning. Mix well.

5. Take a zip lock cover, add the above mixture and the par boiled wedges to it and shake well. Ensure the wedges are coated well with the mixture.

6. Freeze the zip lock for an hour.

7. After an hour,heat oil, when the oil is nice hot, add the frozen wedges one by one until they are fried completely and turn into nice golden brown color.

8. The wedges are nice crispy outside and soft inside. Serve them with hot piping sauce.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Since we are adding frozen potato wedges into oil, the oil might splutter. So exercise caution while frying.
2. Ensure the oil is hot before frying, else the wedges might absorb too much oil and may not turn crispy.
3. Adjust the heat of the oil as we do not want the potato wedges to be burnt either.

Tawa Top Paneer Tikka

This is a very special dish and very close to my heart.This was the first recipe I made for my husband and indeed gained all his appreciation.His most favorite dish among all is paneer tikka.My family says that this remains my signature dish till date.Well,I am really not an expert and all.As long as people love our dish and enjoy it.. All of us are super Chefs :)!!!! I have made this in a very simple way using non-stick tawa. I have also managed to click some pictures for better understanding.Do try out this and let me know ::)!!!

Yields: 12 small tikkas

Ingredients:

1. Panneer/Cottage Cheese-200 gms *I used milk mist panneer
2. Capsicum/Bell Pepper-1 (large size Green,Red or Yellow)
3. Tomato-2 (medium sized)
4. Onion-2(medium sized)

Marinade Ingredients

1. Fresh Thick yogurt-1.5 cups
2. Besan/Gram flour-1/4 cup
3. Butter-2 tbsp
4. Turmeric - 1.5 tsp
5. Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
6. Coriander Powde/Dhaniya - 2 tsp
7. Pani Puri Masala/ Chat Masala Powder - 2 tsp *Secret Ingredient*
8. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
9. Garam Masala-2 tsp
10. Kasuri Methi/dry fenugreek leaves - 2 tsp (Crushed)
11. Lemon extract/juice-2 tsp
12. Oil-2 tsp
13. salt to taste

Method

1. Cut the paneer into cubes as shown in the picture.Also, cut the capsicum,tomato and onion into medium sizes for skewing.

2. Roast the gram flour in butter until you get a nice nutty flavor on a medium flame.

3. Mix the roasted gram flour with all other ingredients mentioned under marinade into a smooth batter.

4. Coat the paneer and veggies with the prepared marinade.Keep it aside for 1/2 hour.

5. Heat oil in a non stick pan and place these marinated paneer and veggies on a medium flame.

6. Once they are fried on one side, flip them carefully and fry the other sides until they become nice golden brown.

7. Remove them from tawa/pan and skew it in a tooth pick.

8. Serve the paneer tikka hot with mint chutney or tomato sauce.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

Pani Puri powder is the secret ingredient that I use when I make paneer tikka. This gives a unique street food flavor that tastes magical.Alternatively, you can use a tsp of chat masala powder in the marinade.

Gobi 65

I am very sure there can't be a single person who would hate this dish. Everybody loves Gobi 65 and this is one of the most famous starters in any of the vegetarian restaurants.This is a very simple and easy to make dish,especially when you have large number of guests coming and you are just left with no time.I had prepared this when my friends had come over for Lunch. Here goes the recipe for this sizzling Gobi 65.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1. Cauliflower (small/medium size) -1 (Cut into small florets)
2. All purpose flour /Maida-1/4 cup
3. Cornflour-1/4 cup
4. Kesari/saffron powder/any red food color-A pinch (Optional)
5. Pepper Powder - 2 tsp
6. Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Water as needed

Method

1. Take a bowl of water,add 1/2 tsp of turmeric and 1 tsp of salt to it.

2. Chop the Cauliflower into small florets.Soak the chopped florets in above water for 15 mins.

3. After soaking for 15mins, strain the florets and once again wash the florets in running water.This is a mandatory cleaning process for cauliflower to remove germs and worms.

4. In a large bowl,mix all the ingredients listed under ingredients(except cauliflower) to form a thick batter. Adjust the batter consistency by adding little water. It should be of thick pouring consistency.

5. Pat dry the florets.Dip the florets into the batter.Make sure the florets are completely covered with the batter. 

6. Marinade the contents in refrigerator for 1 hour.

7. Deep fry them in hot oil till it becomes golden brown. 

8. Garnish with spring onions and server hot :)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. While deep frying the florets, ensure the oil is at the right temperature and perfectly hot.If the oil is not hot, the florets will draw in more oil and it will become soggy.At the same time, too much heat can cause the florets to burn.
2. After marinating the cauliflower with batter nicely, refrigerate it for half to 1 hour.This makes the cauliflower much crispier while deep frying.
3. I have used kesari/Saffron powder as food color to give a nice orange red shade.However,you can omit this if you don't have one.
4. Marinating in fridge helps the flavors to be absorbed well by the gobi, and also results in crisp Gobi.

Vegetable Steamed Momos

I had this dish for the very first time at Bylakuppe when I had been there for an excursion. I never knew what momos were till then. My friend was insisting me to try this dish. I still remember, a gang of 8 of us had went to this small canteen like shop near that Tibetan monastery.One of my friend had ordered for a plate of momo which was 85 rs at that time.He served 8 momos which were sizzling hot with a super hot schezwan chili sauce.I was damn hungry and being a foodie, I just can't take when I have to share something that is too delicious with others:P:P Each of us had got just one piece and i had that for the very first time in my life.I closed my eyes and had the first bite of it. Oh my god!!! It was something the best I have ever tasted in my entire lifetime.If I am able to re collect so much about that day,you should realize how tasty those momos were. Till date, I have not tasted a single momo that is as tasty and delicious as the one they serve at Bylakuppe. I thought let me make these at home as the momos you get in chennai malls are so damn expensive. When something is very easy and simple to make at home, why to pay for it at hotels.:)

Serves:16 Momos

Ingredients

1. Salt to taste
2. pepper-1 tsp
3. oil-1 tbsp    *You can use either normal cooking oil or sesame oil
4. soya sauce- 1 tsp   
5.  Cabbage leaf for lining 

Vegetables used

• Cabbage -2 cups (shredded finely)
• onion-1 medium sized (finely chopped)
• spring onion- 2-3  (both onion part and the leaf part finely chopped)
• carrot-2 (finely chopped)
• capsicum-1 (finely chopped)
• Garlic - 3 pods (finely chopped)
• 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)

For dough:

1. Maida(plain flour) -1.5 cups
2. Salt - 1 tsp
3. Oil as needed
4. Warm water as needed

                             

Cooking the veggie stuffing

Momo dough is ready

Stuffed dumplings ready to get steamed

Cabbage leaf greased with oil and lined

Place the momos on the leaf for steaming

Momos after being steamed in a pressure cooker

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add garlic and ginger and saute for a minute. Then add the cut vegetables and saute for few mins till they are semi cooked.

2. Add soy sauce,pepper,salt and saute for 2 mins on high flame with constant stirring.

3. Remove the veggies from flame and keep it aside.Now the stuffing for our momo is ready:)

4. In a bowl, mix maida,salt and warm water and knead the dough well.

5. Use oil as and when you knead as it prevents your hand from getting sticky and simplifies the kneading process.

6.Once you are done with your kneading, keep the dough aside covered with a moist cloth.Now the dough part is ready:)

7. Take a small amount of dough and start rolling in a greased surface. Dust flour as needed to make a thin base for momo. Add about a tsp of stuffing. seal the dough as shown in the picture into your favorite desired shape.

8. Line a cabbage leaf and grease it with oil on a steaming pan. Alternatively, you can steam it in traditional way in a Idli steamer using a pressure cooker. Make sure you grease the container of the steaming pan so that momos do not stick to the container after steaming.

9. Allow the momos to get steamed for at least for 10 mins.The white outer layer of momos start becoming transparent. This is the indication that your momos are getting cooked.

10. Once, the momos are fully cooked, it fully becomes glossy and transparent.

11. Momos are now ready to be served hot with GB'S  spicy hot Momo Chutney.

American Corn Cheese Balls

My friends gang had planned for a pool dinner and each of us had to cook some menu and bring it.I was looking out for an interesting starter which was quite easy to make as I had to make it in large numbers.I came across this recipe and found interesting. I had made this for the pool dinner and trust me...This was a super hit:):)!!!! My friends just loved it and ate in a jiffy:):)!!! You will also find this starter in the menu cards of some of the most sought after Veg. restaurants in chennai with off course an expensive price tag :P.Here is the recipe for a cheesy and crispy muchies-Corn cheese balls.

Serves 15 balls

Ingredients

1. Potato - 3 Nos (Big)
2. Corn flour-1 tbsp
3. Cheese Cubes-> cut into smaller cubes - 30 nos.
4. Sweet corn kernels-3/4 cup (I used the frozen ones)
5. Coriander-1 tbsp (finely chopped )
6. Green chilies-1 (finely chopped)
7. Mixed Italian Herb Seasoning - 2 tsp
8. Freshly crushed pepper - 2 tsp
8. Salt to taste
9. Bread crumbs-any bread for your choice powdered
10. Oil for deep frying

Batter

1. All purpose flour (maida)- 1 cup 
2. Water-3/4 Cup

Method

1. Boil the potatoes and smash them nicely.

2. Now add corn, coriander, green chilies,seasoning, pepper, cornflour and salt to the smashed potato.

3.  Combine well, the texture resembles that of soft clay as shown in the picture above.

5. Roll them into small balls and flatten them. Stuff 2 small cheese cubes and cover them to again form small balls.

6. Dip the balls into the batter and roll them over crushed bread crumbs. Ensure the ball is completely covered with bread crumbs.

7. Deep fry the balls in oil on medium or low flame till they become golden brown.

8. Serve the hot cheese balls with ketchup :) Not to forget pulling your cheese balls apart, the cheese ooozes out...yummmmy!!!!!:)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. I used frozen sweet corns and hence I didn't have the necessity to boil them.In case you don't have frozen ones,please ensure you boil them before using it.
2. I used brown bread as they give a nice color on deep frying.
3. While rolling the cheese balls,oil your hands so that the balls don't stick to your hands.

Baby Corn Fritters

I planned to host a dinner for my in laws with end to end cooking done completely by me. I have posted my recipe and the way how I do it. This is very easy and a simple one and can be readily made even as a tea time snacks.This is again a very famous starter ordered in most of the restaurants.For all the baby corn lovers,here goes the recipe for spicy,hot crispy baby corn fritters.

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1. Baby Corn - 8-10 (Slit lengthwise)
2. All purpose flour /Maida - 1/4 cup
3. Cornflour - 1/4 cup
4. Kesari/saffron powder/any red food color - A pinch (Optional)
5. Pepper Powder - 2 tsp
6. Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Water as needed

                         

                         

Method:

1. Cut the baby corns as shown in the picture. Boil them with pinch of salt for about 2 mins. Strain them and pat them dry.

2. Add all the ingredients listed to the above baby corn with required amount of water to form a thick paste. The batter should be of thick pouring consistency.

3. Baby corn should be coated well with the batter.

4. Refrigerate the content for an hour.

5. After taken out of refrigerator, deep fry them in hot oil until they turn golden brown and crispy.

6. Serve hot with ketchup :)

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. The oil should be hot wile deep frying, only then the corns will turn crispy. If oil is not hot, then they might take a lot of time to get fried and turns soggy.
2. Refrigerating helps the baby corn to get mixed with batter well and also turns crispy while dropping in hot oil.