Cabbage Kofta Curry

Cabbage kofta (in appe pan)

Ingredients:

Cabbage (grated): 200 gm
Salt to taste
Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp.

For the curry:

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Coriander seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Fennel seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Poppy seeds: 1/2 tsp.
Black peppercorns: 1/4 tsp.
Onion (chopped): 1
Ginger-garlic paste: 3 tsp.
Tomatoes (chopped): 2
Yogurt: 1 cup
Salt to taste
Red chili powder: 1/2 tsp.
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp.
Tamarind: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp.
Kasoori methi: 1/2 tsp.
Cream: 1 tsp.
Coriander leaves to garnish

1. To make kofta, mix the grated cabbage with salt, red chili powder and coriander powder.
2. Mix well with hands and make medium sized round balls and keep aside.  
3. Heat the appe pan on low heat and when warm, add a drop of oil in each cavity. 
4. Put one cabbage ball in each cavity. DO NOT COVER. 
   
5. Let cook for some time and turn the kofta to other side. Let cook both sides and remove from the appe pan and keep aside. 
   
6. To prepare the curry: heat 2 tsp. oil and crackle cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the whole spices: coriander seeds, fennel seeds, poppy seeds and black peppercorns. 
7. Add the onions and saute them until transparent and starting to brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and stir. Let cook until the raw smell goes away. 
8. Add the tomatoes and sprinkle salt. Cover and let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Remove cover and stir. 
   
9. Turn off the flame and let it cool. 
10. When cooled, grind to a smooth paste adding a little water. 
11. Heat the same pan again and add a tsp. of oil. Add the paste and a cup of water. Stir and bring to a rolling boil. 
12. Add the yogurt and mix well. Let cook for about 10 minutes. 
    
13. Add the red chili powder, turmeric powder, tamarind. Mix and let everything cook for about 5 more minutes. 
14. Add the garam masala and kasoori methi and give a stir. Turn off the flame. 
15. Just before serving add the koftas to the curry, garnish with a tsp. cream and freshly chopped coriander leaves. 

Vegetable Manchurian

Hubby has always been fond of Indo-Chinese food and I absolutely detest it! Yeah that's why they say: "opposites attract". I told him I was going to prepare Vegetable Manchurian for him for his birthday and he got really excited. Then I went to shop for groceries for the Manchurian and I saw his eyes lighten up when he saw the cabbage and bell pepper and carrots. But I procrastinated preparing for a whole week and he kept asking me whatever happened to the Manchurian I was preparing. Finally on the day before his birthday, he told me just prepare the damn Manchurian today!! I have been dreaming for it since so long and I have no idea if you are even going to prepare it! I couldn't procrastinate more as it was his birthday and finally prepared these delicacies.

This is a dry version of Manchurian to be had as a snacks and trust me, ME who HATES Indo-Chinese also liked this light, simplified and flavorful version of Manchurian. I made this recipe in my Appe Pan. Do try this recipe and I'm sure you will love it!

Recipe is inspired from www.vegrecipesofindia.com and I made my own modifications.

Ingredients:

For the Manchurian balls

Carrots (grated): 1
Red bell pepper (chopped finely): 1
Cabbage (chopped finely): 1/4
Spring onions (chopped finely): 1
Corn flour: 2 tsp.
All purpose flour: 2 tsp.
Salt to taste
Black pepper: 1 tsp.
Little oil to grease Appe pan

For the Manchurian Sauce:

Ginger (grated): 1 inch
Garlic (grated): 3 cloves
Green chilli (finely chopped): 1
Spring onion (finely chopped): 1
Soya sauce: 3 tbsp.
Tomato ketchup: 2 tbsp.
White vinegar: 2 tsp.
Corn flour: 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder: 1/2 tsp.
Cooking oil: 2 tsp.

1. First to prepare Manchurian balls. Take finely chopped vegetables. 
   
2. Mix together in a big bowl with salt, pepper, corn flour and all purpose flour. Do not add water, the water in the vegetables will be enough to bind them. 
3. Now make balls from all the mixture and keep aside. If you can't make balls then also don't worry as appe pan will help for in the balls.  
4. Heat the appe pan on medium-low heat and after 5 minutes add a drop of oil in each cavity. 
5. Add the prepared balls to the app pan. If you could not bind nicely to prepare balls, just add the mix to each cavity as it is. Cover for 10 minutes. Well that sure looks funny.. haha I could not make balls so just added the vegetable mix. 
   
6. After 10 minutes, remove cover and carefully turn the balls to other side. If you could not make balls, then carefully check with a spatula if the bottom is cooked and ready to be turned. If it's cooked, the slowly turn all the balls to other side. Surprise! You now have perfect rounded Manchurian balls.. Appe pan magic! 
   
7. Cover and let cook for another 10 minutes. Remove cover and the Manchurian balls will be ready. 
   
8. Now we prepare the sauce. As it is dry Manchurian to be had as snacks, so little sauce is enough for the Manchurian balls to coat them with flavor. 
9. Heat oil and add the onion and fry. Add the ginger and garlic and let cook for about a minute.
10. Add the soya sauce and the tomato ketchup. Mix well and add the salt and black pepper powder. 
11. Now add all the prepared Manchurian balls to this sauce.  
    
12. Stir the sauce slowly so as to coat the Manchurian balls evenly.
    
     
13. Turn off the flame and add the vinegar. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot! 

Instant savory appam

On my recent trip to India, I added a new item to my kitchen: an appam pan or aebleskiver pan. I'm loving it for it's so versatile and you can prepare so many items in the pan, which are healthy. That's because you can easily prepare food items which are generally fried in this pan, using just one drop of oil: so it's healthier on your body, healthier on your pocket (you save a lot of money on the oil too). Isn't that awesome?

So I couldn't wait to cook just about anything in my appam pan but at the same time also wanted it to be quick. So, over the weekend, I made these instant savory appams. I did not follow the traditional way but I just used the Gits instant mix for idli. You can also use the instant mix for dosa or uttpam for these, just add the spices according to taste. If using idli mix, you don't need to add spices but the dosa mix is bland so I did add salt, red chilli and garam masala. Explaining the step-by step process which will be helpful for the beginners.

Ingredients:

Instant mix (I used instant idli mix, you can use uttpam or dosa mix too): 1 cup
Beaten yogurt to soak the mix
Onions (finely chopped): 1
Green chilli (finely chopped): 1
Spices to taste
Little oil to season the appe pan

1. Soak the instant mix with yogurt and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. It will absorb the liquid and will become thick. 
2. After 15 minutes, add a little water if required to make a batter-like consistency so it's neither very thick nor runny. Add the onions, green chili and spices to taste. Mix well.
3. Heat the appe pan on medium-low heat: this is the most important part so I'm explaining in detail. I use a glass top electric cooking range. The temperature knob goes from 1-12, 12 being the highest temperature. I heat the pan at 4.5. 
4. After 3-4 minutes, lower the temperature to 3. Add a drop of oil in each mold. 
   
5. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into each mold. 
   
6. Cover and let cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove cover and turn with the help of a wooden chopstick. 
   
7. Cover and let cook for another 5-7 minutes till they become golden brown from both sides. Remove cover and check if done from inside by doing a toothpick test. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is done. Turn off the flame. 
   
8. Serve hot savory appe with Restaurant style coconut chutney. 

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Malai Kofta (in Appe pan)

Malai Kofta is a classic North Indian dish originated from the Mughlai cuisine. Basically the dish consists of fried dumplings, the "koftas"; which are served dipped in a wonderful aromatic tomato curry with wonderful Indian spices, and topped with fresh cream, i.e. "malai".

This makes a wonderful main course meal as the fried dumplings in the curry make a heavy meal. It goes well with roti/paratha/naan and even rice. In the recipe, I have used fresh home made cheese + boiled potatoes for the dumplings. I have made the koftas in appe pan which is a healthier option as it requires just a bit of oil and tastes absolutely perfect. I have tried this by frying many times but have updated the post with the appe pan method.

 Ingredients:

For the koftas:

Potatoes (boiled): 5
Home made cheese (paneer): 2 cups
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Mango powder: 1 tsp.
Garam masala: 1/2 tsp. (Punjabi garam masala recipe)
Kasoori methi: 1/2 tsp.
Oil to grease appe pan

For the curry: 

Cooking oil: 3 tsp.
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp.
Onion (chopped): 2
Ginger (chopped): 1 inch
Garlic (chopped): 4 cloves
Tomatoes (chopped): 3
Green chilli (chopped): 1
Salt to taste
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp.
Coriander powder: 1 tsp.
Bay leaf: 1
Black cardamom: 1
Cloves: 2
Yogurt: 1 cup
Garam masala: 1 tsp. (Punjabi garam masala recipe)

For garnish: 

Fresh cream: 2-3 tsp.
Coriander leaves

1. Firstly we prepare koftas. Add the boiled potatoes and the paneer together in a bowl. Add the spices: salt, red chilli powder, mango powder, garam masala and kasoori methi. 
   
2. Mix everything well to make a uniform dough. 
   
3. Grease your palms and pinch a small portion from the dough. Roll it smoothly between your palms so there are no cracks in the ball. 
   
4. Prepare balls from all the dough and keep aside. 
    
   
5. Heat the appe pan on medium-low flame and add a drop of oil in each cavity. Place all the balls in the cavities of appe pan. 
   
6. Let cook for about 10-12 minutes. Do not cover. 
   
7. Flip the koftas carefully to the other side and similarly let cook for another 10-12 minutes. 
   
8. Remove from the flame and keep aside. I use a tablespoon to scoop out the balls carefully from the pan so they don't break. They usually tend to break or disfigure if try to remove with help of wooden spatula provided with the appe pan. 
   
9. These balls can also be deep fried if you don't have an appe pan. 
10. Now we prepare the curry. Heat oil and crackle the cumin seeds. Add the bay leaf and cloves. 
11. Add the chopped onions and fry until they turn transparent. 
12. Add the chopped ginger and garlic and fry for about 2 minutes. 
13. Add the tomatoes and green chilli. Sprinkle salt and cover. Let cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. 
14. Remove cover and add red chilli powder and coriander powder. Mix well and turn off the flame after a minute. 
15. Let this masala cool completely and then grind to a fine paste in the mixer. 
    
16. Now heat the same pan again. You won't need to add more oil if using a non stick pan otherwise add a little oil. Add the black cardamom and the ground masala paste. 
    
17. Mix well and sprinkle a little water. Mix again. Again sprinkle little water and mix. Let cook for about 30 seconds. Repeat this 5-6 times, this will make the curry creamy without making it watery. Do not add water at once. Now the curry consistency will be perfect. 
    
18. Add the yogurt and mix well. Let come to a boil and then add the garam masala. Mix well and turn off the flame when it reaches desired consistency. Generally the curry is creamy thick and not watery so the adding little water in stages will help to make it creamy. 
    
19. Add the koftas to the curry and garnish with fresh cream and freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve immediately. 
    
20. Don't add the koftas to the curry if not serving right away as it will make the koftas soggy and they will break. If serving later, warm the curry and koftas separately and serve hot. You can even prepare and refrigerate the koftas a day before to add to the curry. 

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