Stuffed Buns

I was very scared of baking buns until I tried this recipe. I have made some changes with this one to suit my taste...it was a real challenge!.. but it came out really well.

Ingredients:
1 medium potato
1 cup water
1/2 tsp dry yeast
3 cups Maida
1/4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup wheat flour
2 tbsp seaseme seeds ( til)
salt

Procedure:
Boil the chopped potatoes with salt till it becomes tender.
Mash the potatoes. use the salty drained water. If it is less than 3/4 cup, add extra water to get a total of 3/4 cup.
Take the mashed potatoes and water in a big bowl. When the mixture is cooled to about room temp, add the yeast, maida and mix and leave for 5mins Add remaining salt, softened butter and wheat flour and mix well.
Knead the dough well till it is soft, Leave the dough in a warm place for about 2hrs.
Preheat the oven at 400F for 10mins.
Divide the dough in 8 equal parts. make big balls.
Take one ball of dough and keep one part of stuffing on it. now here the stuffing can be anything like mixed vegetables, chicken kheema, anda bhurji, cheese,wutever u want.
Cover with second half of dough and Cover properly from all sides. Make sure all the edges are sealed properly, otherwise the buns open up while baking. Slightly flatten with hand.
Drizzle some olive oil or butter on top of the bun. Spread some seasame seeds (optional) on top . Repeat same for remaining dough and stuffing to get 4 buns.
Bake in the oven for about 10-12 mins (or the top becomes brown).
Serve it hot.

Bell Pepper Rottini

Ingredients:
4 big capsicums
1 cup sundried tomotoes
1/4 cup peanuts
1/2 cup Parsley
5 cloves garlic
1 cup Mozrella cheese
olive oil
salt
2 cup cooked rice ( Rissoto rice preferred)

Procedure:
Roast capsicums on high flame till the outer layer turns black.
Let it cool, remove the black layer with wet hands.
cut the stems and clean the capsicum from inside to make space.
Blend sundried tomotoes, olive oil, garlic, parsley and peanuts into coarse paste.
stufff this mixture in the capsicum , top it with some mozrella cheese.
Bake this for 15 mins.
Serve it with rice

Chatpata kurmure upma ( spicy puffed rice)

One more simple and tasty recipe,can be eaten in breakfast or evening snacks or even as light lunch when you dont have much time in hand.

Ingredients( Serves 1)
2 cups of kurmure ( puffed rice)
1 small onions chopped finely
1/2 small tomoto chopped finely
2 green chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp hing
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp corriander powder
1 tsp jeera powder
lemon juice
corriander leaves
salt
oil

Procedure:
soak kurmure in water for 5 minutes. drain and squeeze out the water.
heat 1 tsp of oil in kadai, add mustard seeeds. once it crackles add hing and curry leaves, now add chopped green chillies.
add onions, stir for 5 mins till the colour turns pink, add tomotoes, stir for 2 mins.
add puffed rice, corriander powder, jeera powder, salt and lemon juice.
close the lid and let it cook for 5 mins.
serve hot with corriander leaves

Curd Rice

Curd rice is an easiest and filling tiffin recipes.Assad likes it most.

Ingredients: ( serves 1)
1 cup cooked rice
curd(yogurt)
4-5 green chilies
5-6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp urad dal
2 tbl spns oil or ghee
A pinch asafoetida
coriander leaves
Salt

Method:

Pressure cook rice till it is soft and mushy.
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and urad dal, add curry leaves, asafoetida and chilies.
Put this mixture in curd, add salt.
Mix this curd nicely in rice.
Garnish with corriander leaves.

Moong dal Dahi wada

This recipe is another tiffin recipe which i have tried.
Everyone in Assad's office simply loved it.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1 cup urad dal
1/4 cup yellow moong dal
Oil
1 and 1/2 cup yogurt(curd)
3-4 green chilies chopped finelly
1/4 tea spn cumin seeds
coriander leaves
Salt

Method:
Soak dals in water for around 2-3 hrs.
Grind them to a very smooth paste by adding very little water, add salt
Mix yogurt with around 1/2 cup water to make it watery.Heat a tea spn of oil and add cumin seeds. When they start popping, add this to the yogurt and mix well. Add green chilies and chopped coriander to this and mix well.
Heat oil to deep fry.Deep fry these vadas in hot oil.I also use the appe pan instead of deep frying. I add about a drop of oil in each depression on medium-low flame and once the batter is filled, cover with a lid and allow to cook till light brown. Flip over and cook the other side as well.
Drain oil and when they are stilll hot, put them in water mixed with 2 tbsp of yogurt and salt.
Take out the vada on left palm and press right palm on it to squeeze off all water from the vada.
Put these vadas into the yogurt mixture.
Leave it for atleast 4-5hrs so that the vadas soak yogurt very well.
Enjoy.

Sweet Potato Roti

Since Assad is travelling everyday to Abudhabi these days, I am trying different tiffin recipes which he can eat easily. Here's my first attempt with sweetpotato. sweet potato is low in calories and a good source of complex carbohydrates and fiber. Rich in vitamin A and C, a good source of calcium, iron, and thiamine, the sweet potato is health food. Sweet potatoes are also a source of beta-carotene, which may reduce the risk of some cancers.

Sweet Potato Roti

Ingredients (Serves 2)

2 medium sized sweet potato
2 cups Wheat Flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tea spn baking powder
1/4 tea spn salt
Ghee or oil

Procedure:
Cook and mash sweet potatoes.
Mix all other ingredients to make a dough.
Take a ball of the dough and roll into a thin Chapatis.
Apply ghee or oil on both sides and fry till you get crispy bown layer.
Serve hot or at room temperature

Palak Kheema

Ingredients: ( serves 2)

1 bunch of fresh palak
3 cups of kheema ( chicken/ mutton), or soyabean kheema for vegetarians
1 big Onion finely chopped
2 big tomotoes finely chopped
2 tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
1/2 cup of Pudina leaves chopped
1/2 cup of corriander leaves chopped
2 green chillies
4 tsp red chilli powder
4 tsp corriander powder
1/2 tsp haldi
2 tsp fennel powder
1 tsp zeera powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp aamchoor powder
lemon juice
salt

Procedure:
Blanch palak and make puree. keep it aside
put oil in nonstick kadai, add onions, fry till it turns golden brown
add tomotoes, fry till it turns mushy
add ginger garlic,green chillies,chilli powder, haldi corriander powder, fennel powder, zeera powder, aamchoor powder. fry on medium heat till it leaves oil.
Add corriander and pudina leaves, fry for 5 minutes.
Add palak puree and garam masal.
Let it simmer with lid closed for 10 mins.
Add kheema without adding warer, add salt, mix it well.
Let it cook on low heat with lids closed for 15 minutes.
If some water is remaining, dry it on high heat.
Add lemom juice and serve it with parathas, roti or rice.

Luqaimat

We had this in Dubai Heritage Village...awsome tasting...so finally I got this recipe and tried it...

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Wheat flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tsp sugar
salt
1/3 cup yogurt
3/4 cup warm water
oil

Procedure:
In ¾ cup of lukewarm water, add sugar and yeast and stir well. Keep aside for around half an hour until a thick layer of froth forms over the yeast mixture.
Take a large bowl, Add flour, salt and mix well. Then add yogurt and yeast mixture and stir well until you get a sticky batter. You can mix the batter in the food processor if difficult to mix them by hand. I usually use hand for mixing the batter, but it takes quite longer time. Keep it in a warm area for about 4-6 hours.
At this stage you can see bubbles formed in the batter. Knock down the bubbles and stir well again
Heat oil in a kadai until it really gets hot.
Dip the fingers in water and take a good size pinch of batter(a teaspoon size) and drop in oil slowly. Since the batter is sticky and has dropping consistency, it will be difficult to handle the batter without dabbing the fingers with water. Add few more pinches of batter in oil by dabbing finger in water every time you take the batter.
Once they fall in oil they will puff up and take round shapes or almost round shapes. DOesnt matter if it doesnt come into exact round shapes. Deep fry them until they turn golden on all sides. It is very important not to make it golden brown cause it will be hard rather than crispy. Strain them using slotted spoon and place them on kitchen towel to drain out excess oil.

Transfer into serving dish and pour datesyrup or honey or sugar syrup all over.