Category Archives: Breakfast & snacks

Breakfast & snacks

Masala Paneer Wraps

February 20, 2013 – 7:40 pm

This recipe is dedicated to all the men and women who are busy taking care of their jobs, household and loved ones. Many a times I have seen women (mostly in India) who have a long scheduled day but hardly a few minutes for themselves. In this rush everyone tends to eat or grab a bite of whatever is available and most of the times it is the greasy fast food that becomes are first choice. In a way I have also been a part of this mad rush.

I firmly believe that there are recipes or ways to prepare many on the go dishes in a matter of max 10-15 minutes. (Oh noo..not ata Maggie!! ).

Here is another recipe that I believe can be prepared before you go to office and begin you hectic day. It can be power packed breakfast or a mood lifting lunch after a boring meeting or a tasty snack after you come back home. Full of nutrients and easy to carry too.

I really hope that after trying this you will say bye to the unhealthy take aways.

Let’s wrap it up and start cooking!!

Ingredients

Onion (small) – 1 finely chopped
Tomato (small) – finely chopped
Chapatis – 4-5
Paneer/ Cottage cheese – 200 gms
Salt –to taste
Garam Masala – 1 teaspoon
Chilli Powder – ½ teaspoon
Coriander springs – to serve

For tempering:

Any vegetable Oil – 1 tablespoon
Mustard Seeds – ½ teaspoon

Procedure:

Crumble the paneer and keep aside.
In a pan heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds crackle add onion and sauté. Then add the tomatoes, garam masala and chilli powder. Sauté till the tomatoes are done.
Add the crumbled paneer and salt. Mix well.
Let it cook on a medium flame for 3-4 minutes.

Assembling:

Warm the chapatis, then spoon the cooked paneer onto a chapatti and top it with few springs of coriander. Add extra chopped onion if you wish.
Ask everyone to help themselves: fill, roll and eat!

Tips:

Instead of using paneer you many use tofu.
If chapatti or roti is not easily available then try pita bread or flour tortillas.
This makes a great snack for children. Adjust or eliminate the chilli powder accordingly.

Tags chapati, cottage cheese, Paneer, paneer bhurji, pita bread, rolls, roti, tofu, tortilla, Vegetarian, wraps | Permalink | Comments (6)

Breakfast & snacks Salads, Raitas & Chutneys

Lemon sweet corn salad

October 4, 2012 – 11:12 pm

Who doesn’t love corn ! it could be corn rice, in a pizza, sweet corn soup or simply a “bhutta”, well it’s irresistible. I haven’t met a person who doesn’t like bhutta. Specially when it’s raining.WOW, bhutta and a mix of salt and chili powder spread over it and a dash of lemon to get it going. Whoohoo . Another favorite of mine is this recipe. I call it Lemon corn salad. Well it’s a real quickie, tangy and very healthy too. It’s that perfect 4 pm food. Very easy to prepare and super tasty too.

It’s been raining in Pune for a few days. And I had got a couple of raw corn on the cobs stacked up. Rains, stacked corn & cool weather a perfect combination to get this recipe going. Well, who said healthy food ain’t tasty. Every mall or theater has a counter which sells this. But Why wait for a movie, go ahead and give it a try. Am sure you’ll like it.

Ingredients –

Sweet Corn Kernels – 1 cup
Chaat Masala – ¾ teaspoon
Lemon – 1 small wedge
Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon
Fresh coriander leaves- a few springs
Water (to boil) – 2 cups

Procedure –

Boil 2 cups of water in a pan. Turn off the gas and then add 1 cup sweet corn kernels to it and cover the pan . Let it soak for 5-8 mins.
Drain the water and transfer the boiled corn in a bowl.
Add the chaat masala, black pepper powder to it.
Squeeze the wedge of lemon and add finely chopped coriander leaves.
Mix well.

Lemon Corn Salad is ready to eat

Tips –

You may use fresh, canned or frozen sweet corn. I’ve used fresh.
Add salt to taste if you need. I haven’t added any to keep my salt intake in check. (Perhaps you won’t miss it since chaat masala is quite sufficient).
If you want you can add a dash of butter for a rich taste. Again I have given it a miss. (Healthy fooooood people, healthy food )

Tags bhutta, cobs, corn, foodlyrics, lemon, makai, salad, sweet corn | Permalink | Comments (2)

Breakfast & snacks Entrée / Starters

Stir fried exotic vegetables

September 14, 2011 – 10:18 am

Last week I wanted to eat something different and healthy. A recipe which I had never tried to prepare. I always had stir fry in my mind, yet never prepared it. It was a perfect day to go ahead and cook. It’s quite simple and fast to cook. So I headed out and bought some awesome looking exotic veggies. Within no time I had them cut, cooked and plated : ready to eat.

It’s very healthy and I have planned to cook it every week. So go ahead and enjoy this tasty yet healthy recipe.

Ingredients –

Broccoli – 1 cup florets, blanched

Red & yellow bell pepper and green capsicum – 1 piece each, cut into 1 inch square

Baby corn – 1 cup, sliced and blanched

Butter – 1 table spoon

Garlic – 1 table spoon, finely chopped

Italian seasoning – 1 tea spoon

Procedure –

Heat butter in a pan.
Add finely chopped garlic, sauté for 1-2 minutes.
Now add all the veggies and give it a nice stir.
Cover it with a lid for about 3-4 minutes and just before serving add the Italian seasoning.

Tips –

You can add zucchini, mushrooms.
For garnishing you can you lettuce.
Oh and did I miss mentioning, we had some too good, roasted garlic bread with it. Yummy.

Tags bell pepper, broccoli, exotic, food, foodlyrics, garlic bread, healthy, lunch, musrooms, snack, snacks, vegetables, Vegetarian, zukini | Permalink | Comments (12)

Breakfast & snacks Salads, Raitas & Chutneys

Chatpata chana

January 31, 2011 – 5:44 pm

I was traveling from Mumbai to Pune. While the driver took a break for filling the fuel my tummy started demanding it’s own fuel. Going around various stalls I laid my eyes on this wonderful snack item which I do not know how I forgot for years together. I love this ! It’s a fantastic, tasty and chatapata snack which can be prepared in couple of minutes (ofcourse you got to have the chana boiled hehe) which can bring your taste buds back to action.

This is a little spicy, tangy and a yummy salad snack. I came back and the first thing next day I did was get this dish ready. I don’t remember how much I had missed this, but now I will be preparing it quite often. I dedicate this recipe entirely to the chana walla who flooded me with memories and got them back to life.

So enjoy….till next time keep stirring keep cooking !

Ingredients –

Black gram / kale harbhare / kala chana – 1 ½ cups
Tomato (finely chopped) – ½ cup
Potato (medium sized and boiled) – 1
Onion (small size and finely chopped) – ¼ cup
Salt – to taste
Red chili powder – 1 teaspoon
Chaat masala – 1 teaspoon
Lemon juice – 2 teaspoons
Coriander (finely chopped) – 1 teaspoon

Procedure –

Soak the black gram in water over night. In a pressure cooker boil it with adequate water for 4-5 whistles. Let it cool.
Peel the potato and cut it into small cubes.
Once the chana is cooled drain the water and add the chopped tomato, onion, red chili powder, chat masala, salt and lemon juice to it.
Mix well. Sprinkle coriander and serve.

Tips –

Do not discard the boiled water from the chana. It could be used while cooking.
You can add finely chopped cucumber as well.

Tags black gram, chatpata chana, foodlyrics, indian cuisine, kala chana, kale harbhare, salad, snacks, sour, spicy, tangy, tasty | Permalink | Comments (19)

Breakfast & snacks

Foodlyrics turns 1, celebrating with Sev Puri

August 31, 2010 – 7:17 pm

Foodlyrics is 1 year and 19 days to be precise. Yeah I know I just forgot about it and even didn’t mention it in my earlier post as it didn’t strike me at all. Can you believe it!!! :-0

Last year Pune was panic striken with the Swine Flu epidemic and we had a compulsory stay home week. I was so.. so.. bored. Nothing to do and no where to go. So I started making different dishes reserved for those weekends every day. . That’s when my husband suggested about starting a foodblog. This is how Foodlyrics was born. I started my blog with the free version of Foodlyrics on wordpress. Kudos to Wp for such a amazing venture. In December ’09, Foodlyrics was officially on the web. And here I am today with my 1 year and 19 days baby. Phew time flies by so quickly isn’t it? Thanks so much to all my friends who have helped in nurturing and bringing up Foodlyrics with lot of love and support.

Recently, I had less time for the blog and hence there have been less posts and replies as well from my side. I am so awed by the scraps, comments on Facebook and the emails I have received regarding my absence from all of you. It really means a lot to me and gives me a sense of responsibility to keep posting regularly.

So better late than never. I thought of celebrating the birthday of my blog with all my favorite dishes. May be bake a cake later this weekend. But for now here is one of my favorite chaat dishes, to which I can never say no to. Sev Puri!!!

Ingredients –

Left over chapattis – 2 -3
Onion (finely chopped) – ½ cup
Tomato (finely chopped) – ½ cup
Boiled potato (peeled & mashed) – 1 cup
Tamarind / Imli – ¼ cup
Dates / Khajur – ¼ cup
Mint leaves/ Pudina – 3 tablespoons
Coriander springs – 3 tablespoons
Green chili – 2
Salt – to taste
Thin Sev – ½ cup
Coriander leaves (chopped) – to garnish

Procedure –

Using a cookie cutter or a small bowl with sharp edges cut the left over chapatti into 3 centimeter (maximum) diameter circle (puris).
Roast these circles on a tava (skillet) or in an oven until they are crispy.
Date and tamarind chutney - Deseed the dates and tamarind. Cook both together in a pressure cooker and once cooled grind it to make a fine paste.
Mint coriander chutney - Grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, salt and green chilies with some water to make a fine paste.
In a big plate place all the roasted puris. On each puri place some mashed potato, chopped tomato and finely chopped onion.
Now over this add little bit of each chutney.
Finally sprinkle thin sev and garnish with chopped coriander.

Tips –

You could get the ready made puris from the market.
Increase or decrease the quantity of mint chutney and date and tamarind chutney according to the desired hotness and sweet and tangy taste respectively.
You may also deep fry the puris instead of roasting.