paneer toast

Paneer in any form is accepted by me and my family,just cant avoid anything with paneer :) , i usally make this toast in my b/f ,also i make the filling more and the leftover i use it sometimes to make parathas also, we all like this indianized french toast very much ,my daughter loves this with butter and tomato kethcup.This toast is my all time favourite,even we can have it for light dinners.This toast is on its way to priya's global kadai - indianized french toast event started by cilantro.

ingredients :
1 cup grated paneer
1 small chopped tomato
1 small chopped onion
1-2 finely chopped green chillies ( pls adjust acc to your hotness )
2 tbsp rava
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
5-6 bread slices ( i used sliced white sandwhich bread ,any bread is fine )
butter for frying

method :
Mix all the above ingredients except bread and butter,take some mixture ,say about 2-3 tbsp,apply on one side of the bread and slap that side on a preheated non stick tawa,greased with little butter,just press the bread gently with spatula, toast for 5-6 mins on medium flame till the paneer filling sticks to the bread and is easily flipped over by a spatula.Spread little butter on top of bread too,then flip over the plain side of bread on the tawa  and fry till it turns to a crisp toast.Serve hot with green chutney and tomato ketch up or butter.

lauki ke chilke ke pakode / bottle gourd peel fritters

Lauki  is very healthy and contains lot of nutritional value,its juice is useful as medicine also bottle gourd have loads of vitamins and iron ,the peel is also of same nutritional value hence it should not be thrown and used everytime.There is no need to add water in these pakodas as already lauki is high in water content and it  will moisten the batter automatically,this pakodas are more or less same as lauki koftas only thing is, here i have used only the peel and not the whole lauki so have tried to make something best out of waste and was a perfect snacks in this chilled winter.Sending these pakodas to nithu's best out of waste event.

ingredients :

1 cup lauki/ bottle gourd /ghia/dudhi peel

1 cup  besan /gram flour

2 tsp red chilli pwd

1 tsp hing/ asafoetida pwd

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

method :

Wash and grate lauki ,just the peel ( grate only upper green portion,remaining lauki can be used for curries or stir fries ),add in all the remaining ingredients except oil,the mixture will be little wet and will mess all ur hands but dont worry,you can add some more besan and deep fry ( no need to give any shape ) ,just drop them little little with your fingers into hot oil and deep fry in medium flame till brown in colour.Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

mirchi ka salan

Mirchi ka salan is a perfect side dish for hyderabadi dum biryani ,it is quite hot and specially the fresh roasted and grounded spices are very well infused with the sour taste of tamarind .never new about this until my last potluck,one of my friend made this dish and i was quite impressed and then through her i came to know that here in melbourne theres one restaurant called as biryani house which is quite famous for their hyderabadi dum biryani ,which is served with mirchi ka salan,so last weekend i took my hubby there for lunch to specially try this salan and it was awesomely good,though the amount served  was quite less but the taste was superb,it was purely spicy and sour ,i could taste the corriander,sesame and peanut flavours in it and i somehow didnt find any kind of sweetness in it , when i went through the recipe link given by my friend i found the red chillies amount was too less  in the ingredients list and also few days ago preeti had posted the same mirchi ka salan recipe in her relishing recipes blog and i went crazy ,ohh man !!still cant 4get her mirchi ka salan pic,iam always  tempted seeing the photos of her dish and i feel like immediately going and making in my kitchen too,im a big fan of her photography skills as well,the main ingredients of  her dish was very catchy and i thought it was perfect according to what i had tasted,so used the same quantity to roast and make the paste,though my method of cooking is bit different but somehow i guess i managed the right taste in my first attempt,i and my hubby just loved it,even with carrot rice it was tasting awesome and little leftover we had the next day with rotis too.Sending this to veggie platter for side dishes event.

serves 2-3 ppl

ingredients :

5-6 jalepeno green chillies/ any green chillies

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp mustard seeds

2-3 broken curry leaves

1/2-1 tbsp tamarind paste

1 onion grated/grinded 

1 small pc ginger 

2-3 garlic cloves

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil 

11/2-2 cups of water  ( adjust more or less acc to the thickness of gravy required )

to dry roast :

3 dry whole big red chillies ( adjust acc to taste )

1 tbsp corriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp white sesame seeds

1/3rd cup roasted and skin removed peanuts

1 tbsp coconut

method :

Dry roast sesame seeds ,when half roasted add corriander,cumin,dry red chillies and roast for a while,switch of the flame and then add coconut,mix well,let it cool down and grind all together with peanuts,grated ginger and garlic into a paste adding little water.Heat oil .Wash green chillies and wipe it dry,slit them length wise and fry till soft in hot oil ,remove from the oil and keep aside.In the remaining oil ,splutter mustard,curry leaves,grated onions and fry till brown,add the turmeric, ground paste and fry for a while.Add tamarind paste and water and mix well.Add the fried green chillies into the gravy,salt and simmer for a while.Serve hot with hyderabadi dum biryani/rice .

carrot rice from dilse :P

Carrot rice ,i had first tasted at my friends place few days ago,since then i was planning to make but somehow  it just escaped through my mind and suddenly when i was going through divya's dilse blog,again i saw this rice variety in her recipe list and was excited as this was a better version with ginger -garlic flavour in it,i thought i should give it a try this time and  made for our dinner,the best thing about this rice is ,its very simple and easy to make yet very healthy , beautiful colour and was kinda very fresh,i thank her for this delicious and wonderful recipe.I made mirchi ka salan with this rice and so was short of green chillies hence i added little red chiili pwd and garam masala to balance the spicyness init,rest all the ingredients are same,also this rice can directly made in pressure cooker as divya had made this rice in the same but i cooked the rice seperately as i usually cook rice with extra water and then straining and using it so that we dont consume extra carbohydrates  :P,this is my entry for this month's tried and tasted event  hosted by champa of verastile kitchen started by zlamushka.

ingredients :

2 cups basmati rice

1 cup grated/shredded carrot

1 medium size onion chopped

1 tsp red chilli pwd

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

salt to taste

2 tbs oil

cilantro for garnishing

method :

Wash and cook rice seperately ,heat oil,add cumin seeds,let it splutter,add ginger-garlic paste,saute for a while,add chopped onions and fry till transparent.Add grated carrots,chilli pwd,garam masala,salt and fry till carrots are tender and cooked.Mix in the rice and gently stir with the paddle or a fork  so that the carrots are evenly spread with the rice,garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Also sending this to vegetable marathon -carrot event started by silpa and hosted by pj for this mth and to sara for hosting think spice-think garam masala event started by sunitha

muli ka paratha / stuffed raddish paratha

This muli ka paratha is my mom's recipe and is very famous in our family,all my cousins used to luv my mom's food and specially this paratha is also my father's favourite,he likes it with dahi-shakkar ( sugar in yoghurt ) and cherishes like anything,i usually dont get here nice thin raddish and so its been long i made this paratha but for my surprise yesterday i found some good ones in some chinese vegetable market and immediately grabbed it and made this paratha in our lunch today ,i miss you so much papa..luv you,this is specially for you,i hardly made anything before my marraige,but whatever i use to make my father always ate it happily without any hesitation  and use to encourage us more by saying its very tasty and perfect ! .He is the best father i could ever wish for,he is just like a friend and not etall bossy and dominating,he is very down to earth person and have given us full freedom and made us independent in all ways .He luvs spicy food to anything sweet and he loves icecream the most,so will try and make some icecream soon for him,no matter im far far away from him but still he is just a phone call away :).Sending this to jay's i love my day event.

makes 7-8 parathas

 ingredients :
11/2 cup grated muli / raddish
1/2 cup besan / gram flour
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tsp corriander pwd
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ajwain / carom seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1/4 tsp hing/ asafoetida pwd
1-2 tbsp lemon juice or to taste
salt to taste
2tsp oil + ltl oil for frying parathas
wheat dough / regular chapati dough
method :
Heat 2tsp oil in a kadai/pan,splutter cumin,add hing,carom,fennel seeds,add besan and mix well,press and strain all the water from muli with both your hands and then add muli,turmeric pwd,chilli pwd,corriander pwd,garam masala,salt and mix well,keep stirring to avoid lumps and sticking on the bottom,add lemon juice and cover and keep on a low flame for 5-8 mins ,keep stirring in between to make sure it doesnt not stick and cook till it becomes little dry and all the raw smell has gone from the besan.Let this filling cool down,after it gets cool just slightly crumble it with your fingers as it may become a  dough like .Divide the dough into lemon size balls,roll them into small puri shape size,place about 2 tbsp of muli filling in centre and join all the edges togther,remove the extra dough from it and flatten the ball .Roll again into cirular chapati size shape and slap it on a preheated tawa/griddle ,cook both the sides,drizzle some oil all over ,flip over and drizzle some more oil and fry parathas till you get brown spots all around.Serve hot with yogurt / pickles.

thin crust margherita pizza with olives and fresh basil specially for my daughter and her father :)

I had seen this pizza base recipe in one of the gourmet books at my daughter's kindergarten's waiting room ,i was just waiting for her and suddenly i grabbed this book which was lying on the table and as i went through the book i found the margherita pizza recipe though the topping was of spinach and feta ,quite different unlike my hubby and  daughter's choice ,but the base recipe was quite interesting ,till now i never tried anything with wholemeal flour and so i thought  i should give it a try .I changed the topping as per my family's need as they just love the margherita pizza with loads of cheese and tomato flavour but my hubby also likes olives a lot,so i added olives and  we just loved this pizza,my daughter was super excited and was standing near the oven all the time eagerly waiting for her favourite pizza,she literally had no patience ,she wanted to have it as soon as possible and im glad it turned out awesomely good , and in no minutes we all filled our tummy :),i had a perfect sunday lunch and dinner with my daughter and her father on this father's day occassion.Sending this over to chaitra's lovely bread mania event.

( makes 2 medium size pizzas )

ingredients for wholemeal thin crispy crust pizza base :

11/2 cups wholemeal plain flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

7 g sachet dried yeast

2 tbsp  oil ( i used olive oil )

1/2 cup hot water

ingredients for toppings :

1/2 cup canned  chopped tomatoes

1/2  cup pasta sauce /pizza sauce ( i used store bought )

1/2 cup pitted olives,optional ( adjust  more or less acc to your taste buds )

4 cups shredded mozerella cheese 

few fresh basil leaves broken by your hands ( optional )

salt to taste

black pepper pwd to taste

olive oil as per required

method :

Combine oil and water together.Mix flour and salt in a bowl,sprinkle yeast ,make well in centre ,add the combined oil and water mixture and make a dough.Sprinkle some dry flour on a dry clean surface and knead the dough for 10 mins or until smooth and elastic.Oil a bowl and place the dough into it and cover it nicely.Keep in some warm place  for about 1/2-1 an hr or until it is double in size.Knead the dough again for few mins till it is smooth enough.Divide the dough into two , grease two pizza trays ( i used one portion for lunch and refigerated the other portion and used  for dinner again ),first roll out one dough large enough to cover the pizza pan( approx 25cms round ) ,meanwhile the second portion keep it covered with a clean kitchen towel,sprinkle some semolina (rava ) on the greased pizza pan and place the rolled dough,brush it with little olive oil,spread the pasta sauce,little shredded cheese,chopped tomatoes,olives,basil leaves and again some cheese ,drizzle some olive oil and bake in moderately hot oven ( approx 200c) for 15-20 mins or till done.

kheere/kakdi/cucumber ki sabzi

My hubby loves this cucumber vegetable and he usually likes it with plain dal and rice,this recipe is picked up from my mom in law and i usually stick to the same ingredients ,very simple ,healthy and easy to make.

ingredients :

2 medium size cucumbers ( i used lebanese cucumbers )

1 tbsp ground roasted peanut powder

2 tbsp corriander pwd

1 tbsp red chilli pwd ( adjust acc to the taste )

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric pwd

1/2 tsp hing/asafoetida pwd

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

method :

Peel and cut cucumber into cubes.Heat oil,splutter mustard and cumin,add hing,turmeric pwd and cucumber pieces.Mix well,add salt, corriander and red chilli pwd ,mix again and cover and let it cook for a while,keep stirring at intervals,cook till tender,add peanut powder and mix for two mins.Remove from heat ,garnish with corriander  leaves and serve hot with phulkas/chapatis/parathas/dal and rice.

cucumbers peel's spicy buttermilk

Cucumber in any form is highly nutritious  and as we all know it has end number of health benefits ,we three like to eat cucumber mostly raw with salt and pepper but my husband loves the vegetable out of it with dal and rice,today i made it in lunch and  we make this sabzi without its peel and we throw out the peel ,but today when  i was peeling cucumbers i remembered nithu's event and i really felt i should try something out of this peel and this recipe was born,i really thank nithu for hosting such an innovative and nutritious event where we are bound to think and use the waste which are nutritious yet we dont use them in our regular basis.Needless to say this is my entry for her wonderful event "Best Out Of Waste".

ingredients :

3 medium size cucumbers peel ( i used the lebanese cucumber variety which have smooth texture and dark green in colour )

1/2 cup yoghurt

1 cup water ( adjust more or less acc to the thickness required )

1 tsp grated ginger

2 green chillies ( adjust acc to your taste buds )

salt to taste

1 tsp roasted cumin pwd

1/2 tsp kala namak (black salt )

method :

Wash the peels of cucumber,add ginger and green chillies and grind into a paste,add yoghurt,water,salt,cumin and kala namak to it and grind again till smooth and frothy.Serve immediately or you can chill and have it.

lettuce and cherry tomato salad with tangy lemon dressing

Lettuce is really crunchy and i love simply eating plain too but with these red cherry tomatoes it tasted equally good ,even this salad can be made without any dressing with salt,black pepper pwd and a dash of lemon juice but for a change i tried this tangy dressing which was quite impressive.

ingredients :
1 cup finely shredded lettuce
1/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp finely chopped cucumber
salt to taste
for tangy dressing :
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
chopped cilantro/parsley/mint for garnishing
method :
Mix lettuce,cucumber,cherry tomatoes togther in a bowl,combine olive oil,lemon juice and sugar togther in a jar and shake well,add this dressing just before you want to serve the salad and toss well.Garnish with cilantro.

reposting : nirvana (mocktail)

This incident is quite funny ,once  there was a marraige proposal for my husband's brother,the girl was from kolkatta,but her sister was settled in bangalore and the girl had come to stay at her sisters place for few days,and suddenly we heard of them and we went to meet her,we were really embarrased so as to how to start the conversation ,all these arrange marraiges are so difficult and funny at times,they first served us this drink saying its "nirvana " and we were like grrr...wht...huh! we were like thinking but still smiling at the same time and confused wether to drink or not,but the drink was so attractive that we all cudnt take our eyes off ..and there i had my first sip,hmmm.. yum yum ,and then second ...yummy and immediately had more, just cudnt resist to finish it all :),meanwhile came to know that drink was made by the girl and we were higly impressed with her,also finally at the end of the day we approved her to be my co-sister and within few months they got married,since then i had this drink in my mind and after she came to our house i asked her to share this recipe with me and now its my favourite drink till date.

( serves 2 ppl/2 glasses )
ingredients :
300 ml sprite/limca
2 large scoops of vanilla ice cream
2 tsps khus sharbet ( i use haldiram khus sharbet )
1tbsp lemon juice
for decoration :
few drops of khus sharbet
1-2 small dallops of vanilla ice cream
straws
sliced lemon

This drink is now floating towards madhuri's event " serve me some juices,shakes,smoothies".and daisy blue's "chef of the lounge-summer challenge" event,also to diya's show me your smoothie event .

method :
Blend together sprite,khus syrup,lemon juice,icecream till frothy and smooth and pour into a glass.Add 1-2 tsps of icecream,drizzle few drops of khus syrup,put the straw in the glass,place the sliced lemon on the rim of the glass and serve immediately.

pepper rasam

This is my first ever attempt of making rasam,and yes ofcourse,i have had it many a times but made by my mother in law or at my south indian friends places and even in bangalore restaurants,but never ever tried making myself,being a north indian it was never made at my mom's place in mumbai ,though i am married to a north indian  guy but he is settled  in southern parts of india and so obviously he and my inlaws  have a soft corner towards complete south indian meal and my hubby is also fond of sambhars/rasams/aana-saaru,so i wanted to try rasam since long and had seen this recipe long back on jay's tasty appetite blog and just loved her spicy tangy hot variety of rasam and we had lovely time having a simple and light dinner of steam rice with rasam yesterday in this winter which satisfied our palates and had a soothing cleared throat :),yes she was right my house was literally full of pepper aroma and as soon as my hubby entered in to the house he was immediately tempted to have it,i have made the exact way and ingredients just that i had some  ready made tamarind pulp and canned tomatoes which i needed to finish it up yesterday itself,so used these two things store bought,rest all is same.Sending this over to cws-pepper event started by priya and hosted by padma for this month and also to nupur for her BB4 event.-whats lurking in kitchen  ?

ingredients to dry roast :

2tbsp black pepper corns
1-2 dry red chillies
1 tbsp tur dal
2 tbsp cumin seeds
4-5 curry leaves
for tempering/tadka :
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4tsp asafoetida pwd/ hing
2-3 curry leaves
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp ghee ( i used oil instead )
rest ingredients :
2tbsp tamarind pulp
2 tomatoes chopped and mashed ( i used 1 cup -canned ones )
4 cloves of garlic
4 cups warm water
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
salt to taste
chopped corriander leaves for garnishing
method :
Dry roast all the ingredients (under ingredients for dry roast) till you get the aroma or 2-3 mins ,let it cool down and grind coarsely into a powder.Mix tamarind pulp and water together ,add tomatoes,crushed garlic,salt,turmeric pwd and add the grinded powder ( i used 1 tbsp less as i found it was too much spicy for my family ,using less was also quite spicy but perfect for our palates,so please adjust the powder accordingly )and mix well.Heat ghee/oil,add mustard seeds,let it splutter,add curry leaves,urad dal ,hing and the mixed rasam mixture.Mix well and heat on the low flame till it comes to one boil,switch of the flame and garnish with corriander leaves.Serve hot with steamed rice.

baklava- a turkish delight

Baklava,a turkish sweet ,i had first tasted this with one of my best friend over here in melbourne,she introduced me quite a few mths back ,until then i never heard about this sweet dish before in india,and when i came to know through that friend that she had tried making them at home once when she was amsterdam ,that day itself i decided to make too in my kitchen but was really scared as my dear friend kinda made me nervous saying that it was a big disaster when she made as according to her  using filo sheets are not an easy task but still i felt i should try and the more somebody says me its not an easy thing then toh i definately will make sure to try on my own ,i really dont like to give up things so easily ,and i had many different types of nuts lying in my pantry which my husband loves trying and before finishing the first one he ends up opening a new different type of nut and keeps on buying and tasting all sorts,also had bought the filo sheets some 3-4 mths back and till now i never bothered to try anything out of it,though had bookmarked few of related recipes,neways so finally i decided to make this high calorie sweet which definately made me clear my pantry from all small portions of leftover nuts and mainly my long bought filo sheets pkt which had to be used as early as possible,the recipe is adpated and inspired from DK's chefinyou and i have sticked to the recipe as it is,i really didnt wanted to take any chance,i really had fun making baklava just that initially i wasted 2-3 sheets but later on i realised i need to be very careful and patient and followed the perfect steps and need to have plenty of space while making these,sending this to nupur's bb-4 event.Sending this to this month's AWED-TURKEY event hosted by tastespace ,an event started by DK.

ingredients :

1 pkt filo/phyllo sheets ( approx 22-24 sheets,i used store bought 375gms pkt )

1 cup melted butter

for filling :

1 cup walnuts finely chopped / crushed

1 cup almonds finely chopped / crushed

1 cup brazilian nuts finely chopped / crushed ( or can use 1 cup more almonds instead )

1/4th cup caster sugar

2-3 tbsp bread crumbs

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8th tsp cloves pwd

for sugar syrup :

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 stick cinnamon

1 tbsp lemon juice

method :

Mix walnuts,almonds,brazilian nuts,cinnamon pwd,cloves pwd ,bread crumbs and caster sugar all together in a bowl.Keep aside.Grease a 12x 10 baking tray with butter ,brush and place 10-12 filo sheets with butter all over and place overlapped each other on the baking tray,just place them on one top of the other yet covering the whole tray ,spread the filling all over them evenly.Now again brush the rest 10-12 sheets with butter and cover the filling placing the sheets on top of each other .Trim off the extra hanging sheets outside as well as from inside the baking tray .Butter some more on top of the sheets and cut them diagonally or diamond shapes,bake them on a preheated oven at 160 c for an hour or till brown in colour.While the baklava is in for baking prepare the sugar syrup,mix sugar and water,add lemon juice,cinnamon stick and keep on heat ,stir till sugar dissolves completely and simmer for 10-15 mins.Once the baklava is baked ,remove from the oven and pour the sugar syrup slowly all over and let it rest for atleast 6-7 hrs so that the sugar syrup is completely absorbed.Njoy the delicious lipsmacking delight which is quite addictive :)

Sending this to priya for hosting this mths tried and tasted ,an event by lakshmi.

tofu and eggplant 65 or shall i say tofu and eggplant chilli

I had some leftover tofu and ever since i saw preeti's tofu and mushroom 65 ,i had to made that one but i didnt had any mushroom and saw some thin ,long lebanese eggplant and thought why not give it a try,as wanted to use my tofu that very day or else would have to throw it in rubbish ,and had no time to go out and get mushrooms,i wasnt sure etall that how will it taste with eggplant but still wanted to give it a try and it really turned out superb,more or less the taste was of paneer chilli and we loved eating this as an appetizer ,my daughter enjoyed wating the fried tofu very much ,while making this recipe i was happy as i managed to declutter my fridge by using the sauces and tofu which were quite close  to their expiry dates,sending this over to nupur's BB-4 event.I have used the same recipe just some few changes here and there and also shallow fried in 1/2 cup oil and made the sauce in the remaining leftover oil instead deep frying them.

ingredients for marination :

200 gms  cubed tofu 

1 tbsp corn flour

1 tbsp plain flour / maida

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli pwd

salt to taste

1-2 tbsp water 

 ingredients for the sauce :

2  sliced eggplant ( mushrooms were used in the original recipe )

1 chopped onion

2-3 broken curry leaves

3-4 chopped green chillies ( adjust more or less according to your taste )

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp red chilli  sauce ( optional,i added though it is not in the actual recipe )

2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp grated garlic

1 tsp black pepper pwd

pinch of red colour ( i didnt add though it is highly recommended )

salt to taste

1/2 cup oil for frying /oil for deep frying

method :

Cut the tofu in cubes,mix cornflour,plain flour,salt,ginger -garlic paste,red chilli pwd with little water just make a thick paste,add the cubes and dip evenly and keep aside for half an hr. ( i had refrigerate it for half an hr )so that tofu is well marinated.Carefully and gently roll over the tofu in the paste and  fry in a medium flame,just make sure they dont break and strain aside on a paper towel.( i took 1/2 cup oil and shallow fried the tofu cubes and in the remaining leftover oil i made the sauce ,you can deep fry the tofu chunks and can use 1/4th cup oil to make the sauce .)In the remaining oil add cumin seeds,onions,ginger,garlic ,green chillies,curry leaves and fry for few mins.Add the egg plants,vinegar,soya sauce,tomato ketch up and chilli sauce and food colour,mix well and fry for 2 mins or till the eggplant are tender enough.Add tofu,pepper pwd,chilli pwd,salt and mix well,fry for 2-3 mins and serve hot.

baked samosa

Now a days many of my friends are going back to india and settling down there and few are gone for a month's vacation,so all of them have handed me their leftover pantry stuff ,i guess they know that im a big foodie and now that i have started blogging ,i try many new dishes and they were very confident that i would make good use of it rather than wasting and throwing such useful nutritious and expensive stuff ,and so these days my kitchen is full of different kind of mix groceries though in small quantities ,one of my friend gave me her home made maharashtrian kala masala,which is just mind blowing and tastes just perfect,this time when i was making samosas i added this masala and to my surprise they tasted awesomely good .Actually  this masala is very useful and handy while making amti,kala chana,masala bhaat etc,many people still make this at home though its a bit long process and requires umpteen number of spices but let me tell you its worth it,and i was quite lucky to recieve this ready made from my dear friend sheetal ....miss you yaa :(

ingredients : 

2 ready rolled store bought  puff pastry sheets

2 potatoes boiled and cubed

1/2 cup boiled fresh peas or thawed frozen peas soaked in hot water for few mins.

2 tsp home made maharashtrian kala masala ( you can find the recipe here ) or if u dont have it use garam masala instead ( adjust according to your taste )

1/2 tsp turmeric pwd

1 tsp red chilli pwd

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 broken curry leaves

1/2 tsp amchur pwd / lemon juice to taste

salt to taste 

chopped corriander leaves

2 tsp oil

method :

Heat oil,splutter cumin,curry leaves,add potatoes,peas and all the masalas and mix well.Let it cool down.Thaw the pastry sheets for 5-10 mins,take one sheet and cut in any desired shape ,spoon a potato and peas filling and seal the edges with water ,grease a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200 c for 10-15 mins or until brown in colour ( pls keep an eye as different oven may vary the temp.).I luv using puff sheets in  different shapes ,so i made the filling and tried using it in various shapes ..serve hot with tamarind chutney without any guilt feeling ;)