CHILLI CHEESE TOAST

This one is now most favourite snack from last few days. In last week, I prepared it almost every another day. It is so fast and easy to make in no time in oven. Love to have them with tomato ketchup anytime of the day as breakfast or evening snack or as a starter. Chilli cheese toast as its name suggest  is a toast made from cheese and chilli spread on the top. They can be prepared for any party at your place like kids birthday party or your kitty Party. This is one of the easy recipe to get perfect tasting chilli cheese toast and yes it is more Indian version of veg chilli cheese toast. Here I used bell pepper as a main ingredient to make it more Indianized. You can even add boiled sweet corns, baby corns, paneer, olives, etc if you like. There are thousands of methods available on internet but this is my most favourite one. Hope you will give this a try and let me know how it turns out for you. Let start the quick and easy step-by-step recipe of veg chilli cheese toast.

INGREDIENTS:

7-8 Bread Slice [white/whole wheat/multi grain]

3 + 1 tablespoon Grated Cheese

2 Green Chilli, chopped very fine

1 Cup Mixed Bell Peppers, cut in to small cubes [red, green and yellow]

 1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour

½ teaspoon Pepper Powder

½ teaspoon Italian Seasoning [optional]

½ teaspoon Chilli Flakes [optional]

¾ Cup Chilled Milk

Salt to taste

1+ 1 tablespoon Butter

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Heat a pan, add 1 tablespoon butter in it.

STEP 2- When it get melted add all purpose flour

and roast it for 20-30 seconds.

STEP 3 – Then add chilled milk in it and stir it well so that to avoid lump formation in it.

Cook till the mixture get thickened slightly.

STEP 4 – Add grated cheese in it with Italian seasoning, red chilli flakes, pepper powder, salt and mix well.

STEP 5 – Now time to add bell peppers in it with chopped green chilli.

Give a nice mix and your spread is ready.

STEP 6 – Pre-heat the oven on 160 degree C for 7-8 minutes.

STEP 7 – Take a bread slice and lightly spread a layer of butter on it evenly.

STEP 8 – Now add some vegetable cheese mixture on it and

 spread it uniformly.

Add some grated cheese on the top.

STEP 9 – Now in baking tray place an aluminium foil and one by one place the bread slices on the baking tray.

STEP 10 – Place the tray in a pre-heated oven and bake them for about 8-9 minutes on 180 degree C or until the cheese on the top get melted and the upper crust will turn light brown colour. Keep an eye on toast while they are getting cooked. Switch off the oven.

STEP 10 – Take out the chilli cheese toast from oven, transfer on plate and

cut them diagonally and serve hot.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup for breakfast with a hot cup of tea or coffee and enjoy.

NOTES: *You can use only capsicum too if not available all coloured bell peppers. I have all coloured peppers in my fridge so used them to make the mixture more colourful.

             *You can also add deseeded tomato cubes in it.

             *You can make them on the tawa on gas stove. Just toast them from one side with butter on tawa, but don’t flip them. Cook them till the cheese get melted. But here you will miss the browning of cheese but it will still taste good.

            *You can used any cheese for this recipe, cheddar or mozzarella. Use less spicy green chilli.

MUSHROOM MATAR MASALA

Mushroom is one of the favourite of my younger daughter. So tried this recipe specially for her only. It came out so delightful. It is very popular and healthy Punjabi amin-course recipe which is available in every Punjabi dhabas or restuarants. You can cook mushrooms in so many ways from stir-fries with some other veggies or make it in Indian style either in dry style or with curries. You can combine it with anything like methi, spinach, capsicum, paneer or green peas. Here in my recipe there is combination of mushrooms and green peas which cooked in onion and tomato based gravy. You can serve this curry with naan, chapatti, rice, etc. As Punjabi cuisines, curries are fully creamy and buttery, you can add fresh cream to this gravy at the last when you garnish it with chopped coriander. I don’t have cream so there is no cream in my recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups Button Mushrooms, fresh and halves

1 Cup Green Peas [fresh or frozen]

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 Onions, chopped coarsely

2-3 Green Chillies

1 tablespoon Garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Ginger, minced

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

10-12 Cashews

¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

2 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon Kasoori Methi

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Chopped Coriander

1 tablespoon Fresh Cream

4 tablespoon Vegetable Oil for curry + 1 tablespoon for roasting onion and tossing Mushrooms

METHOD:

STEP 1 - Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a wide pan.

Add roughly chopped onion, green chilli and chopped garlic in it.

STEP 2 – Cook it well till the onion becomes translucent and the raw smell disappears.

STEP 3 – Then add roughly chopped tomato, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder in it

and mix it well by giving a nice stir

and cook further until the oil starts separating from the sides.

STEP 4 – Now remove it in another bowl or plate and let it cool.

STEP 5 – Wash the mushrooms well and cut them into halves. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a pan

and add mushrooms and lightly toss them on high flame.

Remove and keep them aside.

STEP 6 - Blend the onion-tomato mixture in a blender and make a smooth paste with it.

Keep it aside.

STEP 7 – In the same mixer pot make a smooth fine paste with cashews and little water and keep aside.

STEP 8 - Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

STEP 9 – Then add the smooth onion-tomato paste in it. After that add cashew paste and cook it well till you can see the oil separating from the sides.

Cover it and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add cashew paste in it and mix well.

Cover it and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add some water on the lid and further you can add this water to your gravy.

STEP 10 – Now here time to add green peas and season the gravy with salt and sugar.

Mix it well and again cover it with a lid and cook for few minutes.

STEP 11- Add tossed button mushrooms in it and give a nice stir.

STEP 12 – Add water according to liking consistency and let the gravy simmer.

STEP 13 – Finally add garam masala

and kasuri methi [see notes] in the mushroom gravy and combine everything well by giving a nice stir.

Cook it for next 2 minutes and then switch off the flame. 

STEP 14 – Garnish with chopped coriander and your dish is ready to serve.

Serve this yummy mushroom matar masala with any Indian bread like butter naan, roti, parantha or chapatti or simply serve it with steamed rice.

NOTES:  *Whenever you add kasuri methi to any of your dish, just crush it in between your palms and then add. It will help to enrich the aroma of the dish.

METHI MURG / METHI CHICKEN

Methi Murg or Methi Chicken is a delicious and very simple dish cooked with chicken and fresh methi/ fenugreek leaves, a win win combo for sure. It is certainly not the most popular green leafy vegetable out there, but its strong flavour and aroma will definitely make you love this recipe. If you are looking for something different then this is the perfect heart winning dish. Methi  Murg is quite a popular dish in India. There are several versions and ultimately, I found mine. Picking the leaves is a boring task but other than that, the curry gets ready effortlessly. Typically, for chicken curry, I like to add a lot of spices but with this one, I avoid. Chicken and methi complement each other really well. The unique twist of methi leaves cooked with chicken pieces will definitely leave you salivating.  Here chunks of chicken cooked in spices, herbs, tomato, yogurt and methi leaves. It is very easy and quick recipe so I personally insist you all to give a try once. Enjoy it with any Indian flat bread like naan, tandoori roti, chapatti or with steamed rice, it’s quite a delicious treat.

INGREDIENTS:

½ kg Chicken pieces

2 Cups or 1 Bunch Methi Leaves / Fenugreek Leaves, chopped

2 Onions, sliced finely

2 Tomato, pureed

2 tablespoon Curd

1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

2-3 Green Chillies, slit vertically

½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder

1 teaspoon Garam-Masala Powder

½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds

½ teaspoon Chaat Powder

Salt as needed

2-3 tablespoon Oil

Water as Needed

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Wash and pat dry the chicken pieces. Keep aside.

STEP 2 – Wash Methi leaves and blend them in mixer pot

and make a paste with it.

STEP 3- Heat oil in  a kadai, lets crackle cumin seeds in it.

STEP 4 – Add chopped onion in it and sauté well till the raw smell goes off.

STEP 5 – Then add slit chillies and ginger-garlic paste in it and cook well.

STEP 6 – Now add tomato puree in it and cook well for few more minutes.

STEP 7 – Here we are going to add methi puree in it

and mix well and cook it for 3-4 minutes.

STEP 8 – Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and chaat masala

and mix and add curd in it.

Give a nice mix so that everything get mixed well. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

STEP 9 – Add chicken pieces in the gravy

and stir it well so that chicken pieces get coated well with the green masala in the pan.

STEP 10 – At this stage, add 1 cup water in it,

mix well and cover it with lid

and cook for 10-15 minutes. You should cook the chicken in the methi  gravy till the chicken get cooked completely.

STEP 11 – Lastly add some chopped coriander

and switch off the flame and methi chicken is ready to serve.

Serve it with tandoori roti, chapatti, jowar bhakri or rice.Here I served it with sukka chicken and homemade tandoori roti.

NOTES: *You can make the consistency of the gravy thick or thin as per your liking.