Kumpir...A Turkish Fast Food

This recipe, I pick up from Sunday DNA. The author, Jayoti Soor, savours her Turkey experience and writes about Kumpir. I wish, in her next article on Turkish food, she writes on Baklawa

1 Potato (medium to big size) or 1 Sweet Potato (Shakarkand / Ratalu)
1 TS Butter
2-3 TS Cheese, shredded/grated
Tomato Ketchup, Mayonnaise and Mustard sauce for finishing


Filling
1 c Carrot, grated
4-5 Olives, black, sliced
1 c Bell pepper (shimla mirch - Red or Green or Yellow), finely chopped
1 c Sweet Corn, boiled
1 c Cabbage, shredded/finely chopped
1 c Sweet Peas
Salt to taste (a pinch is sufficient)

Pierce the unskinned potato with knife at several places and bake it till soft. Now cut the potato in equal halves, length wise. Scrape the inside of the potatoes. Keep the shells aside. Add salt, cheese and butter to the scrapped potatoes. Mix them well to make a thick paste (no potato lumps). Put this paste back in the potato shells. Now add the filling of your choice and in your sequence. Be creative in decorating it. Top it off with Ketchup, mayo and mustard sauce. Serve hot.

The fillings listed here are for illustration. You can have as many or as little filling you have at home. Can include chopped onions, tomatoes, grated beet root, grated cucumber, chopped spring onions etc. Can also add black pepper, chat masala, etc to enhance its taste. 

Simple Veg. Lasagna

The earlier recipe requires one to put patience and lots of efforts, ingredients to enjoy the lasagna. It took me three hours before I could enjoy my vegetable lasagna (baking time for approx 1 hour extra). So I tried this simple yet tasty variety of vegetable lasagna. Thanks to BBC's Food Recipe website.

1 Cucumber (medium sized), sliced

1 Aubergine (Eggplant, Baingan, medium sized), sliced

3-4 TS extra virgin olive oil

1 kg Tomatoes (firm and ripe), sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 TS Vinegar, balsamic

10-12 fresh basil leaves, torn

Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 to 5 Cheese slices

10 to 15 fresh lasagna sheets

100 gm Cheese/Paneer, grated

In the earlier post of Vegetable Lasagna, I have shared the recipe to prepare the lasagna sheets at home. We use the same recipe to prepare the lasagna sheets. If you are using the ready-made lasagna sheets, you will have to cook the lasagna noodles/sheets in a large pot of boiling water with salt and butter for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cold water, and drain

Heat a pan, brush the slices of cucumber and eggplant with olive oil and grill/roast for several minutes each side until char-grilled, then remove. You will have to do this in batches.

Now Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C/ 375 deg. F. Brush the inside of a large baking dish with a little oil. Place a layer of sliced tomatoes (about one third of the total) on the bottom, slightly overlapping.Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Next, layer with half of the courgette and aubergine slices. Sprinkle with half the chopped garlic and one tbsp balsamic vinegar. Scatter over half of the torn basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Layer half the mozzarella slices on top, then cover with half the lasagne sheets. 

Continue layering with the remaining of the ingredients, in the same sequence and ending with a layer of tomatoes on top. Sprinkle over the grated cheese/paneer.Alternatively, you can also cover the tomatoes with cheese slices (in that case, you will require more cheese slices)

Cover with foil (ensure it doesn't stick to the cheese) and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese bubbling and golden on top.

Vegetable Lasagna with Lasagna Sheets

Lasagna one of the many Italian delicacies, is my favorite amongst pastas. I have had Lasagna at various places in Mumbai, PopTates, Malad, Pizza by the Bay (erstwhile Pizzeria), Churchgate, JugHeads, Powai, to name a few. Each of these Lasagna tastes yummy, though different. I myself like the one served at Pizza by the Bay.

For a learner like me, preparing Lasagna was a tedious task, and I had messed up the whole kitchen (which eventually I only had to clean). This is a must when you experiment with cooking.


This recipe has the following sub recipe
1. Lasagna sheets
2. Red curry
3. White curry
4. Roasted vegetables
5. Lasagna Layering and baking

Ingredients

for Lasagna sheets
2 C All purpose flour, extra for dusting
1 TS Olive oil
1/2 ts Salt
1 TS Mayonnaise

for Red curry
1 Carrot, small to medium size, roughly chopped
4 Tomatoes, roughly chopped
50 gm Paneer ( Gouda Cheese, optional),
100 gm tomato ketchup
2 Onions, medium size, finely chopped
2 to 3 Garlic Cloves, medium to large size, chopped/minced/sliced
1 TS Olive Oil
Salt to taste
White Pepper 1 T
Italian Seasoning 1 T (Optional)
for White curry
85 gm Butter
85 gm All purpose flour (Maida, I used regular wheat flour though)
750 ml Milk
1 ts Salt (to taste)

for Roasted vegetables
1 Aubergine (eggplant, baingan, medium size), sliced
1 Cucumber (medium size), sliced
1 ts Olive oil
for Lasagna Layering and baking
5 to 6 Spinach leaves (fresh, medium to large size)
Salt & Black Pepper for seasoning
1 ts Olive oil
4 to 5 Cheese slices
50 gm Grated Paneer or Cheese

Khatta Meetha Baingan (Sweet n Tangy Eggplant)

On trying this recipe, the Eggplant/ Baingan fan following would definitely increase. And this, ofcourse, is a google find...though have changed it a bit

4 Baingan (Eggplants), small to medium size, trim the stems slightly at the tip and then slit them into quarters, leave a bit uncut to hold them together
2 Tomatoes, medium to large size, chopped
6 to 7 Kadhi Patta (Curry Leaves), cut into small pieces
2 Green Chillies, cut in small pieces
1 ts mustard seeds
1 ts cumin seed
6 Garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 TS Ginger, grated
4 TS of Cooking Oil (can reduce it to 2 TS if you want to make it less oily)
1 ts Vinegar, White
2 TS Tomato Ketchup
4 TS grinded peanuts (roast a handful of peanuts and grind them upon cooling)
Turmeric Powder  (over flowing 1/2 TS is usually sufficient)
Red Chilly Powder to taste  (over flowing 1/2 TS is usually sufficient, can add more to make it spicy)
Corrainder Powder (Dhania Powder) to taste (overflowing 1 TS is usually sufficient)
Garam Masala Powder to taste  (over flowing 1/2 TS is usually sufficient)
Salt to taste ( (over flowing 1 TS is usually sufficient)
Chopped Corriander/parsley for garnishing

Heat oil in a deep fry pan and add the mustard, cumin seeds to it. Once the spluttering stops, reduce the flame to low and add the ginger garlic to it. Fry it for almost 1 minute. Stir occasionally. Then add the curry leaves and green chilly pieces and stir fry it for a minute or so.

Now add the tomatoes, vinega, tomato ketchup, grinded peanuts, corriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt. Mix well and stir fry it for a minute or so.

Add the eggplants (baingan) and cook covered till soft. Sprinkle Garam Masala, mix well and let it stand covered for a few minutes before removing from flame.

Garnish with freshly chopped corriander leaves. Serve hot with steam rice, chapati (Indian flat bread) or paratha (pan fried Indian flat bread). Serves 4

Salad Dressing - Mint Yoghurt

A very tasty dressing though simple and effortless to prepare

1/4 cup Plain Yoghurt
2 TS Mint Paste*
1 TS Fresh Mint, chopped
2 ts Lemon Juice (fresh)
Salt as per taste (over flowing 1/2 ts is usually sufficient)
Pepper (black) to taste (over flowing 1/2 ts is usually sufficient)

Mix thoroughly all the ingredients in a bowl and the dressing is ready. To make it minty, increase the mint paste quantity.

* For making the mint paste, grind mint leaves without adding water, salt etc.

Eggless Cake

Here comes a cake recipe...this one obviously after trying out 3 to 4 googled recipes...and more importantly its eggless cake

1 & 1/4th c flour (preferably maida, though I used regular gehun ka atta a.k.a wheat flour)
1 TS Baking Powder
1/2 TS Baking Soda (I used khaneka soda)
1/8 ts Salt (a pinch of salt)
2 TS Sugar, Powdered (only if you are going to do icing of the cake, else use 3/4 c sugar)
1 c Milk
1/2 c Water
1 TS Vinegar, White
1 TS Vanila essence
1/2 c Butter, unsalted (melted, or semi solid)

Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, soda, salt, sugar) in a large bowl/ plate. Make a well in this mixture and pour the liquids (milk, water, vinegar, essence, butter). Stir the mixture till it is consistent in color and composition.

Preheat the oven at 180 C for 15 minutes. If using a microwave, set it to convection mode and then preheat it to 180 C. While the oven heats up, grease/butter the cake bowl/tray and pour the batter. Tap the pan to even out the surface and remove air bubbles if any.

Bake the cake at 180 C for 25 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a prick in the center of the cake. If it comes out smooth and clean, then the cake id done. If not bake for a few more minutes.

Once the cake is done, let it stand in the oven for five minutes. Then transfer the bowl/tray to a cooling rack and allow it to cool for 15 minutes. Loosen the edges with a butter knife before you flip it onto a platter. Allow the cake to cool completely before icing it, else the icing will melt.

I did try a few variations in the recipe and you can experiment on your own too.

First - I added coarsely chipped dairy milk chocolate in the cake batter (choco chips cake)
Second - Added 3 TS of coco powder and coarsely chipped Amul milk chocolate (chocolate flavoured cake)
Third - Coarsely chipped dry fruits (dry fruit cake)...

Salad Dressing - Peanut Yogurt

Another delicay to add taste to your salads from Google. Simple, tasty, and easy to prepare.

1/4 c Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1/4 c Plain Yogurt
1 TS Lemon Juice (Fresh)
1 Garlic Clove (crushed)
Salt as per taste (over flowing 1/2 ts is usually sufficient)
Black pepper as per taste (1/2 ts is usually sufficient)
2 TS grounded peanuts (roast a handful of peanuts and grind them. Ensure that the peanuts are coarsely grinded)

Mix all the ingredients in the container with a tight fitting lid or a shaker. Shake until throughly blended. Can be preserved refrigerator