Aditi's kitchen

Idli Upma

Do you have left over Idlis and not sure what to do? Well, here's a simple recipe for Idli Upma.

Ingredients -

Left Over Idlis (can't make it with fresh idlis as it is difficult to grind it to powder)
Red Chillies - 2
Red Onion - 1
Coriander
Lemon juice
Mustard Seeds
Jeera Seeds
Peanuts
Urad Dal
Turmeric

Method -

Break the idlis into big chunks and grind it to a coarse powder in a food processor.
Put little oil in the pan (5-6 tbps) and heat it. Add mustard seeds, jeera seeds, red chillies, urad dal. Once they crackle a bit, add the peanuts and chopped onions.
Once the onions have a light brown color, add turmeric powder, idli powder, salt to taste, a little sugar and mix well. Mix well for 5 mins.
Before serving add a little lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander.
Serve hot and enjoy! This can be served as breakfast or as an evening snack.

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Grilled Mumbai Sandwich - Deetz Style

Ingredients -

Bread Slices
Tomato - Sliced thin
Capsicum (also know as Green Bell Peppers) - Sliced thin
Boiled Potato - Sliced thin
Red onion - Sliced thin
Mozzarella Cheese slices
Green Chutney Paste
Ketchup
Chat Masala
Butter

To make the green chutney paste -

Coriander - 1 bunch
Garlic cloves - 2 to 3
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Green chillies - 2 to 3
Jeera seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt - To taste
Mix all these in a mixer with little water and make a smooth paste. You can even store this in the freezer for 1-2 weeks.

To make the Sandwich

On 1 bread slice - apply the green chutney paste.
Top it by adding the veggies - thin sliced potato, tomato, capsicum and red onions. Sprinkle some salt to taste and little chat masala.
Add a cheese slice.
Now take another slice of bread and apply ketchup. This becomes the inside of the top part of the sandwich. On the top side, apply butter.
Grill this sandwich for few minutes on the sandwich or panini griller till you get a nice golden brown color.
Cut into 4 pieces, sprinkle some chat masala on top and serve hot with ketchup/hot and sweet sauce. Enjoy!!! This can be served as a snack or even a great option for a quick weeknight dinner.

Veggie Burger Patties

Burgers are a hit with both kids and adults. Great option to make for a game day party or fix a quick dinner. Try out this simple Veggie Burger Patties recipe. Hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients -

2 potatoes
1 cup - boiled mixed vegetables (includes peas, carrots, corn, beans)
Chopped coriander
Jeera seeds - 1 tbsp
Chopped garlic (per your taste, suggested 2-3 cloves)
1/2 tbsp Garlic paste
1 tbsp - Curry powder
1/2 tbsp - Red Chili powder
Cheese slices
Tomato slices
1 small - Chopped Red onion
Optional - 1 cup of boiled black beans
Corn Flour (for coating)
Optional - Sesame Seeds

Method -

Crush the mixed vegetables in a food processor to make a coarse paste.
Heat oil/butter in a pan. Add jeera seeds and let them crackle. Then add some chopped onions, garlic and ginger paste and let the onions become light brown.
Add the mixed vegetables paste and then the boiled potatoes. Add salt to taste, curry powder and red chili powder. Optional - To make it more healthy and tasty, you can add coarse black bean paste.
Saute it for 5-10 minutes, make sure you mix it well. Finally add some chopped coriander and remove it.
Let the mixture cool and then make burger patties out of it.
Heat some oil/butter in the pan. Coat the burger patties with corn flour, sprinkle some sesame seeds and shallow fry the patties.
In the last few seconds, cut some cheese slices and lay it on top of the patties, add a cover on top for 5-7 seconds to let the cheese melt.
Serve hot in between burger buns , add tomato slices, red onion slices, ketchup, mustard, mayo (basically whatever you like on your burger ! )
Enjoy!!!!

Chana Masala

Ingredients -

Chickpeas (soaked in water for 7-8 hours) - 2 small cups
Jeera Seeds - 1 tbsp
Red Onions - 1 large
Tomatoes - 2
Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Ginger Paste - 1 tbsp
Chana/Chole Masala Powder - 4 tbsp
Amchur powder - 1/2 tbsp
Turmeric
Red Chili Powder

Method -

This is a quick recipe, which I make in a cooker when am short of time. Alternatively you can boil the chickpeas and add it to the masala (mentioned below),water to make your desired consistency.
In the cooker, heat some oil and add jeera and onion paste.
Add the ginger and garlic paste and saute for some time till the onion paste is light brown. Then add the chopped tomatoes.
Add the masalas - red chili powder, turmeric, chana masala, amchur, salt and saute it for 7-8 mins.
Add the soaked chickpeas and saute it for another 5 mins.
Add water - level it with the mixture. Add salt to taste.
Put the cooker cover and cook it till 3-4 whistles.
Serve hot with puris/chapatis with red onions and lemon. You can also serve with jeera rice.

Malpua

Ingredients -

Maida - 2 cups
Suji - 1 cup
Sugar
Raisins - Soak them in water for atleast 20 mins
Fennel Seeds (Saunf) - 1 tbsp
Small Elaichi - 2/3

Method -

To make the batter, mix the maida, suji, 1/2 cup sugar and water to make a medium consistency batter. Keep it aside for 15-20 minutes.
During this time, you can prepare the sugar syrup. Add 1 cup sugar, 2 cup water in a bowl, small elaichi seeds and heat it make a thin consistency sugar syrup. Set it aside.
Now, its time to fry the malpua's. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Add the raisins in the batter and mix it well. Fill a round ladle with the batter and pour it slowly in the centre of the oil(keep the center thicker than the sides). Fry the malpua one at a time. Once golden brown, remove from fryer and dip it in sugar syrup.
Soak each malpua in sugar syrup for atleast 5 mins, remove it and serve ! Yummm!

Aloo Vada

One of the most favorite street food in Mumbai is vada-pav and I simple LOVE it. Here's my take on making the vadas. Simple, yet such a great snack.

Ingredients -

Potato - 4
Onion - 1
Besan
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander leaves
Green Chilies
Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tbsp
Chili powder
Udad dal seeds - 1 tbsp
Oil

Method -

Boil, peel and mash the potatoes.
Finely chop the onions and green chilies.
Heat oil in a pan on medium heat, add mustard seeds, udad dal seeds, ginger-garlic paste, onions, chilies, turmeric.
Add the potatoes, salt to taste and coriander leaves.
You can add some lemon juice (optional).
Mix it for 5 minutes, remove from heat and let it cool.
For batter - Add besan in a bowl, 2 tbsp oil, salt, chili powder, salt to taste and add water.Ensure the consistency is medium thick, we need to use this batter to coat for frying.
Heat oil in pan for frying.
Make small round balls out of the potato mixture, dip it in the batter and fry it at medium heat.
Serve hot with sauce or green chutney....enjoy!

Coffee Cake

Simplest Coffee cake recipe ever!

Ingredients -

Yellow Cake Mix
Instant Coffee - Nescafe
Chopped Almonds

Method -

Prepare the yellow cake mix batter per instructions on the box. Save some water to make the coffee. Example - If the box says add 1 cup water, add 1/2 cup to the batter and save 1/2 cup for coffee.
Pour the water in a cup and add 2 tablespoons of instant coffee. Microwave it for 1 minute. Remove and stir it to ensure the coffee has completely dissolved. Let it cool for 5 mins.
Add the coffee to the cake batter,chopped almonds and mix it properly and bake as per the instructions on the cake mix box.
Enjoy the cake with tea or coffee. Simple....but tastes delicious!