Baby Food - Aloo Palak Paratha

Ingredients:

For Paratha:

• Palak (spinach) - finely chopped - 7 - 8 leaves
• Wheat flour - 1 cups
• Boiled Potatoes - 2
• Onions - 1 small - Very finely chopped
• Water
• Salt
• Oil
• Ghee

For Curd Dip:

• Curd - 1 cup
• Cumin (zeera) powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt

Preparation

1. Wash palak and finely chop it.
2. For the dough : In a bowl add wheat flour, salt, palak and give it a good mix. Now add water accordingly to make a soft dough, in the end apply some oil to the dough, cover it up and keep aside.
3. For the filling: Take a mixing bowl add boiled potatoes and mash them nicely, coriander, onions and mix well.  ( Mash boiled potatoes while they are hot, so that it will be smooth.
4. For the curd dip : Beat curd in a small bowl using a fork or a whisk. Add cumin (zeera) pwdr and salt to it and mix well, curd dip is ready.

Method

1. Make small portions of the dough and  the filling separately.
2. Take one portion of the dough and roll it into a small circle.
3. Place one portion of the filling in the center of the dough circle, bring together all sides of the dough to the center and seal tightly.
4. Roll out again into a bigger circle, with the help of a little flour.
5. Cook the paratha on a hot tava (Griddle), apply some ghee on both sides of the paratha and cook until golden brown.
6. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make more parathas.

                                          Aloo palak parathas are ready for your little one !

Baby Food - Khichdi

My baby's favorite food - khichdi, he just loves it and eats it without making any fuss. The feeling when your baby finishes the entire meal is just divine :)  Baby bhi khush and mumma bhi khush khush :)

Serves : Two meals - Lunch n Dinner

Ingredients:

• Coarse rice powder - 3 scoops - (I use the scoops provided in cerelac boxes)
• Moong dal - 2 tbsp
• Toor (arhar) dal - 2 tbsp
• Finely chopped onion - 1 small
• Finely chopped coriander - 1 tbsp
• Ginger garlic paste - half tsp
• Zeera - a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder -  a generous pinch
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Salt 

Method:

1. Soak Moong dal and toor dal in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes before cooking.
2. Heat oil in a cooker, add zeera, once it splutters add onion and saute them for a minute then add ginger garlic paste and fry this for another minute then add 1 glass of water, turmeric powder, salt, both the dals, rice powder and close the cooker , pressure cook this for 2 - 3 whistles or until its cooked completely.
3. Now add ghee and coriander, mix well, yummy wali khicdi is ready :)

Mango Custard

Just the perfect dessert for the mango season this summer..chilled and delicious..slluurrppp :)

Ingredients:

• Vanilla custard
• Milk
• Ripe mangoes
• Sugar
• Crushed almonds
• Cherries

Method :

1. Prepare vanilla custard according to the packet instructions.
2. Once it is of room temperature keep it in the fridge for an hour or so, now add chopped mangoes, crushed almonds, cherries and other dry fruits of your choice and serve chill :)

Jhatpat Bhel

Made this jhatpat bhel jhatpat se with whatever ingredients i had handy.. I was not prepared to make this bhel, it was unplanned and sometimes unplanned dishes become hit ... hope u guys like it :)

Ingredients:

• Churmura
• Chopped onions
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped coriander
• Grated carrot
• Grated raw mango
• Red chili powder
• Amchur / Dry mango powder
• Butter murukku
• Salt

Method:

Mix all the ingredients except churmura, in the end add churmura and mix nicely .. enjoy with a nice cup of chai !! :)

You can also add chopped cucumber, masala peanuts..etc 

Aloo Cheese Tikki

Made this aloo cheese tikki for my little one .. he loves this so do i ;) i don't know how i ended up creating this or lets say.. figuring out more ways to put on more weight :P  we can call this dish as "Simple and Sober" Lol 

Ingredients:

• Boiled potatoes
• Grated cheese ( i used britannia cheese cubes)
• Chopped coriander
• Salt
• Pepper powder
• Cumin powder
• Bread crumbs for coating
• Oil for shallow frying

Method:

1. In a bowl add boiled potatoes, while they are hot itself add grated cheese and mash it nicely using a spoon or fork, it should become like a smooth paste, now add coriander, salt pepper powder, cumin powder and mix well.
2. Wet your hands and shape them in to tikkis , coat this with breadcrumbs and shallow fry until slightly golden brown. 

Note: Mash the potatoes and cheese while the potatoes are hot as this helps in making a smooth paste of it, if not it might not be that smooth to handle.

Chicken Kabab #2

Ingredients

• Chicken  - 1 kg
• Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp
• Red chili pwdr - 1 tbsp
• Balck pepper pwdr - half tsp
• Cornflour - 4 tbsp 
• Lemon juice - 3 tbsp
• Egg - 2
• Shan tandoori chicken masala - 3 tbsp
• Red food colour - optional
• Salt
• Oil for frying

Marinate chicken with all the above ingredients.
Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the marinated chicken on medium flame for 10 - 15 mins. 
Chicken kabab is ready to eat.

Note: Marinate the chicken and keep it aside for minimum an hour, the longer the chicken is marinated the better the kababs are :)

Instant Mango Pickle

Simply mouthwatering...!!

Ingredients:

• Raw mango - 1 - finely chopped
• Fennel seeds - half tsp
• Mustard seeds - half tsp
• Curry leaves - 12 nos
• Dry red chilies - 4
• Crushed garlic pods - 5
• Turmeric powder - quarter tsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp ( can adjust according to your taste)
• Salt - half tsp 
• Oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan, set the flame to low and add the above ingredients one by one (except mango).
2. Add chopped mango in the end and mix well, do not cook this, turn off the stove immediately after adding the mango.

Note: Can be stored for a week by refrigerating.