Shaam Savera (Spinach Kofta in Tomato Gravy)

A lot happened since my last post. I was blessed with a baby boy and time just with my little bundle of joy. I got so busy tat I had no time to cook and try new recipes or I never wanted to leave my baby alone. But now he is 4 months old so i am back with one of my most favorite recipes.
This is the dish which I always order whenever I go for dinner at Yellow Chili- Sanjeev Kapoor's Restaurants. Sham Savera is their signature dish. Made up of Spinach and rich tomato gravy this dish is surely the master of all the kofta recipes.

This recipe is adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's website with little variations here and there.

Shaam Savera

Ingredients:
For Koftas:
500gms Spinach Leaves
2tsp Gram Flour (Besan)
Salt to taste
2tbsp Oil
1tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Green Chilly (finely chopped)

For the filling of Kofta:
100gms Fresh Homemade Paneer
Green Cardamom Powder
Salt to taste

For the tomato Gravy:
5 Ripe Tomato (made into puree)
1tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
3tbsp Cashew Nut Paste
Salt to taste
2tbsp Butter
1 Green Chilly

Procedure:
For the Koftas:

• In a bowl add in the grated paneer. 
• Add in green cardamom powder and a pinch of salt.
• Remove the stems of the spinach leaves.
• Boil them in 4 cups of water.
• When cooled finely chop them
• Take a pan, add in 2tbsp of oil, add in cumin seeds + Ginger garlic paste + Chopped Spinach + 2tbsp of besan. Mix them well.
• Cook till all the water evaporates.
•  Add in salt + turmeric powder.
• Remove from stove Allow it to cool down
• Divide the spinach and paneer mixture into equal balls.
• Now take each spinach portion, press it on your palm, place a ball pf paneer in it.
• Gather it together, make into a ball.
• Do the same with the remaining spinach and paneer mixture.
• Roll the balls in cornstarch if required.
• Heat a kadhai for frying these balls.
• Fry till golden brown.
• Drain on absorbent paper.

For the gravy:

• Heat 2tbsp oil, add in ginger garlic paste.
• Now add in tomato puree.
• let it cook till the oil separates.
• Add in salt + red chilly powder.
• Allow it to cook.
• add in cashew paste. mix well.
• Add in butter. Mix it well.
• Allow it to cook for 2 minutes.
• Half the koftas. Place on the gravy
• Serve

Strawberry Swiss Roll

I remember learning these super delicious Swiss rolls in my first bakery lessons around 6 years back. I was super excited to bake this then, as the way a sponge cake sheet is rolled with fillings of your choice.
I have tried this many times before, but finally created the best possible Swiss roll.
I hope my readers will enjoy this.

Strawberry Swiss Roll

Ingredients:
For sponge Cake:
2 Eggs
50gm Sugar (Grained)
50gm Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
Salt (a pinch)
30ml Water
1tsbp Vanilla Essence

For the Strawberry Filling:
As it is not season of strawberries, I used strawberry syrup. You can use strawberry jam too.

Whipped Cream
Strawberry Syrup or Jam
Sugar Syrup to moisten the sponge sheet.

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven at 225 degree Celsius.
• Line a cake tray with butter in which you need to make the sponge sheet.
• Sieve Flour and baking powder together.
• Whip eggs and sugar for 5 minutes with help of an electric blender till it turns fluffy and moo use like.
• Add all the other ingredients (sugar + flour+ baking powder+ Vanilla Essence).
• Beat the mixture till it becomes smooth and fluffy. ( Do not over mix the batter)
• Fold in water with the batter very lightly
• Pour the batter into the greased tray and bake it for 15 minutes or till it becomes brown from the top.
• Keep checking it from time to time.

For the Filling:

250 ml whipping cream

Food color (Pink) (a pinch)

1tbsp Icing Sugar
Strawberry Syrup (I used Mapro)

Procedure:

• Take 250 ml of any whipping cream.
• Whip the cream with the help of a beater. Make sure the cream is cold
• Add the pink color and the strawberry syrup.
• Fold it in.
• The filling is ready to be used in the roll. 

For assembling the rolls:

Strawberry Swiss Roll

•     Remove the sponge from the tray once it is cooled down.
•     Place the sponge over a butter paper.
•     Moist the sponge with sugar syrup. (You can add strawberry essence in the syrup if u want to)
•     Apply the whipped cream with a palate knife.
•     Spread it all over smoothly.
•     Now roll the sponge alongwith the butter paper with light hands.
•     Seal it from both ends. 
•     Keep it in the freezer for 30 minutes so that it sets and cutting the Swiss rolls becomes easier.
•     After 30 minutes remove the butter paper.
•     With the help of a pallate knife do the icing of the Swiss roll with the remaining cream.
•     Cut into slices and serve.
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Kurukuri Bhindi with Rich Cashew Gravy

I tasted this kind of Bhindi for the first time in Pune, Maharashtra. I came to know tat this is some speciality in the restaurants of Pune.
I got bored of making the regular bhindi so tested this one at home. Its different. The crispiness of the ladyfinger when it blends with the smooth and tangy tomato and cashew nut gravy gives a very rich taste.

Kurkuri Bhindi with rich Cashew Gravy

Ingredients
250gms Ladyfinger (Bhindi)

For frying the Ladyfinger
2tbsp Gramflour (besan)
Salt to taste
1tsp Red Chilly Powder
1tsp Mango Powder (Amchur)

For the Gravy

3 medium sized onions
2 medium sized tomatoes
2 green chillies
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
12-15 Cashew nut
Milk to soak the cashews
2 tbsp Fresh Cream
Salt to taste
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilly Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Cumin seeds
2 Whole Red Chilies
Fresh Coriander Leaves
1 cup water (or as you want the consistency of the gravy to be)
1 tbsp Ghee

Procedure:
For Frying the Bhindi:

• Cut the bhindis lengthwise.
• Sprinkle besan + salt + amchur + red chilly powder. Mix it well.
• Heat oil for frying
• Deep fry the bhindis till its crispy.
• Remove on towel paper.

For the gravy:

• Soak the cashew nuts in milk.
• Peal the onions, finely chop them.
• Heat ghee in a kadahi, add in the cumin seeds + whole red chillies. when they stop cluttering add in the chopped onion + green chillies + ginger and garlic paste.
• Mix them well, let it cook on low heat till the onion turns pink.
• Then add the tomato puree. 
• Add in salt + turmeric powder + cumin powder + coriander powder + red chilly powder.
• Mix all this well. Cover the lid so that the tomatoes are cooked properly stirring continuously.
• When the mixture is cooked. Switch off the gas stove.
• Let it cool.
• Then put the mixture into the blender to make it a fine paste.
• Again in the same kadahi, add in 1 tsp ghee again then add in the cooked onion tomato paste + the cashew paste.
• Mix it well. let this mixture cook for 10 minutes.
• Then add in fresh cream and 1cup water. 
• Add in the coriander leaves.
• Close the lid let it simmer on low heat for another 5-8 minutes.
• Put the gravy in the bowl.
• Top it wid the fried crispy bhindi.
• Serve hot with Chapatis.

Kurkuri Bhindi with rich Cashew Gravy

Marble Cake

Being pregnant makes you indulge in all that is rich in calories. I had this terrible craving of eating a freshly baked homemade cake. And nothing better than eating a cake which has a blend of both vanilla and chocolate flavours.
Its the best alternative, if you  cannot decide on to what flavour you want to have in cake. The cake is rich in its flavours, buttery and moist.
Normally it is baked in a bundt pan, but due to its unavailability, I baked it in a normal round baking dish.
If u have it then go for it.

Marble Cake

Inspired by : Joy of Baking Website

Ingredients:
295gms Plain Flour (Maida)
170gms Butter (Salted or Unsalted) at Room Temperature
250gms Castor Sugar
3 Large eggs
2tsp Vanilla Extract
2tsp Baking Powder
1/4tsp Baking Soda
120ml Milk

For the chocolate batter:
140gms of Semisweet Dark Chocolate

1 Baking Dish
Butter or non stick spray for lining the pan

Procedure:

• Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes.
• Butter the pan in which you need to bake the cake.
• Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl using the double boiler method or simply heat it in a microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients together (Flour + Baking Powder + Baking Soda)
• Now, with the help of a hand blender beat the butter until smooth.
• You can even use your hand to cream the butter. I prefer using hand and blender both
• Now add eggs one at a time, make sure it does not cuddle up.
• After the eggs alternately add the maida and the milk.
• Keep stirring slowly.
• Now divide the mixture into two portions. Depending on to which portion you want more, vanilla or chocolate.
• Now in one portion mix in the melted chocolate.
• Place the batters into the Pan which u have prepared alternating with vanilla and chocolate batters.
• In the end with help of a knife or a fork draw light swirl to give the marble effect.
• Place it inside the oven.
• Bake it for about 35-40 minutes or till the toothpick comes out  clean when inserted.
• Remove from oven and place it over a wire rack till it cools down completely.
• De-pan it.
• Dust it with icing sugar or cocoa powder.

Slice of Marble Cake

Tips:

• While baking when u see the color starts to appear, cover the cake with a sheet of aluminium foil, so tat it does not become too dark.
• Marble cake is the best accompaniment with evening tea or coffee.

Kashmir: A Dream Destination

I always wanted to visit Kashmir, but was always apprehensive about the safety issues there. We always thought that going as a couple is not safe one should always go as a group so that if something happens one has people to support. But all these apprehensions disappeared into thin air, when we were actually there.

I am too inspired by movies ;p snow clad  mountains, heroines dancing wearing a saree, bornfire and so on, so we decided to visit this beautiful place during winters, when the temperatures are low, snow everywhere.
So Feb was the right time.

To get to Srinagar the summer capital of Jammu and Kahmir we boarded a flight from Mumbai to Srinagar a direct flight of 2.30 hrs

At the Mumbai airport Good Times Bar

. We finally reached Srinagar and it snowed just 2hrs before our flight landed. The temperatures were already freezing.

Snow at the Srinagar Airport

We spent our first night on a 100-foot houseboat with carved cedar interiors on Nagin Lake., named as Gurkha Houseboats, a property of Welcome Heritage Group. 
Superb display of hospitality was seen at the houseboat. 

Inside view of the Houseboat

Speciality of Kashmir Paper Mache Handicraft

Dinner Laid out.

Just before the sunset we took a shikara ride on d dal lake, the captain of the shikara showed us various places on the lake like the floating garden, kabootar khana. These r the places where many bollywood movies were shot. we saw mughal gardens, which had no flowers but yes snow was all around.

Shikara Ride @ Dal Lake

An awesome view

Dal Lake in the evening

Shopping on the Dal Lake

Few Purchases

Floating Restuarants @ Dal lake

After a fantastic stay at the Gurkha Houseboats we shifted to enjoy the hospitatlity of the Taj Group of Hotels. A beautiful property on the hills. 

Taj Srinagar

Front View of Taj

Coffee Shop @ Taj

Satisfy your Food Cravings by ordering online through Food Panda.

Gone were the days when u were new in a city and you never knew where to have food. You are busy unpacking and have no time to go out and have something. The same thing happened with me when I had moved from Mumbai to Pune, then I came across this amazing website Foodpanda.com which promises to deliver food at your door step.
Before writing about my experience about ordering through the site I would tell something about the company and how it works.
Food Panda has its operations running in 8 countries including India. It has made ordering food more convenient   as you don't need to go the sites of individual restaurants to order food, You just need to register yourself on foodpanda, and thus all your problems are solved thereon.
In India, Food Panda has it oeprations in Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Noida and Panchkula-Mahauli-Chandigarh.

You can order your food in three simple steps: select your area, select the restaurant,  and then order. Many reputed chains of restaurant are registered with food panda like Pizza hut, Subway, Zaafran, mast kalandar, pind baluchi and many others. Depending on the city and the area you are living in u can order. There are around 1820 restaurants registered depending upon the cuisines like mughlai, continental, Italian, sea food, European, Ice cream, deserts and many more. You can browse through the menu of the individual restaurants and order as per your likings.
One more thing you don't need a laptop to go to their website, just download their application on android, ios servers and there you go.
I had a very fine experience while ordering. Due to server problem I was not able to get the unique id which you get when you register for the first time on your mobile network. The customer care was so friendly they called me and accepted my registration and order without any hassles.
Here is the link to this site:
http://www.foodpanda.in/

http://www.foodpanda.in/restaurants link to the restaurants. 

Lettuce & Pineapple Salad

Salads are considered to be the most boring of all the dishes, but  it can be the most adventurous one too. One can do so many experiments with it. Add in colors, different dressings and you can make a treat for your palate. All that it requires a little inspiration from here and there.

Lettuce & Pineapple Salad

Ingredients:
4 leaves of Lettuce
6-7 Cherry tomatoes
1/2cup Pineapple diced

For Dressing:
1tsp Honey
1tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste

Procedure:

• Roughly chop the lettuce leaves. You can do it with hands without using knife.
• In a bowl, add in chopped lettuce + diced Pineapple + cherry tomatoes cut into halves.

To make the dressing:

• Take a bowl add in honey + olive oil + lime juice + salt + pepper. Mix well.

Toss the salad with the dressing.
Serve