Mushroom Spinach Crepes

A recipe from an FB reel made Sunday Breakfast a superhit.

Substituted the All purpose Flour of the original recipe with Whole Wheat Flour for the crepes as well as the white sauce.  

Ingredients :

A) for  around 18 crepes:

• Whole Wheat Flour ...2.5 cups (approx 250gms)
• Milk 2 large mugs or till a dosa like batter is made
• Salt to taste
• Baking powder & cooking soda..a pinch each

B) For the Mushroom Spinach Filling (measurements, ratio of ingredients as per taste and liking)

• Butter / Garlic Butter : 1 tbspn
• Chopped Garlic : a bowl full (around 50gm)
• Sliced Mushroom : 400 gm 
• Chopped Spinach : 1 bunch ...finely chopped
• Milk (original recipe had cream) : 1 cup 
• 2.5 cubes processed cheese : grated
• Chili Flakes
• Dried Hetbs
• Pepper
• Salt
• Ata / Cornflour for thickening (as milk was used instead of cream)

C) White Sauce 

• Butter : 1 tbspn
• Wheat Flour (original recipe: All Purpose Flour) : 1 tbspn
• 2 cups of milk
• Chili Flakes
• Dried Hetbs
• Pepper
• Salt

Procedure : Prepared the mushroom Spinach filling followed by the white sauce and crepes on adjacent gas burners

A) Crepes :

1) Mixed the Whole Wheat Flour / Atta, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt. Gradually added milk at room temperature and whisked the batter well to dissolve the lumps. Should be of flowing consistency

B) Mushroom , Spinach Filling :

1) In a wok, heated garlic butter and added chopped garlic and fried till golden brown.

2) Added the sliced mushroom and tossed on high heat. Added Chili flakes, dried herbs (oregano/Italian seasoning), Pepper.

3) Added the chopped Spinach. Tossed it around till it wilted.

4) Added Salt followed by Milk (substitute of Cream) and grated cheese. In case the filling is too watery, sprinkle some atta or cornflour for thickening 

C) White Sauce :

1) In a wok, heat butter and add a tbsp of Atta / Wheat Flour. Saute till brown. Add milk, salt, pepper, chili flakes, seasoning and bring to a boil till white sauce is ready  

D) Assembly :

1) Add a ladle full of batter to make the crepes.

2) Add the filling 

3) Fold it as you wish or find convenient

4) Serve on a plate and either dunk it in whote sauce or pour some white sauce as garnishing and sprinkle some chili flakes/pepper/chopped parsley or coriander leaves. (Optional...I left out the last bit as hungry eyes were more interested in the food rather than the decor and drama... ;)

Malai Palak or Spinach in Milk Cream

A simple Palak recipe which tastes awesome with both rice & roti

DISCLAIMER : Quite unphotogenic to look at....but definitely delicious to eat!

Ingredients :8-10 bunches of Spinach / Palak / Palong Shaak
Garlic -5-6 cloves chopped fine
1 choppped Onions chopped
Tomatoes  - optional
Salt & Sugar to taste
Green chilies as per heat tolerance
Fresh Malai / Milk Cream / Doodher Shawr - 1 cup
Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure :
1. Wash the Palak leaves well, drain the water and chop.
2. In a kadai / wok, heat oil and add the chopped onions, chopped garlic and a pinch of sugar into the oil. Saute till the onions turn a translucent pink.
3. Add the washed & chopped Palak.
4. Cook with an occasional stir without lid to dry away the water.
5. Once the majority of the water has been vapourised off, add the malai / fresh milk cream / doodher shawr, followed by chopped green chilies.
6. Stir it around till the malai palak is moist but not watery. In case the need arises to drain off the last remnants of wateriness, sprinkle some atta (all purpose flour) on cooked Malai Palak and give it a stir.



The simple Malai Palak is ready to serve with steaming white rice.

Soupy affair 2 - Spinach-Almond Soup

Though it's an ideal winter evening pre-dinner appetizer, if fresh spinach is available, a wet monsoon evening is also 'just right' for this soup. That is exactly what happened. Picked up bunches of fresh spinach. Spinach as it is, is not exactly my elder one's (AD) favourite....hence have to resort to 'soupy' tricks !!
So here goes the recipe....

Ingredients :

Spinach - 6-7 bunches washed and roughly chopped
Almonds - 10-12 - blanched to remove the skin
Onion - 1 small, chopped
Garlic - 2-3 cloves - chopped (Optional)
Pepper corns - freshly ground - to taste
Milk - 600  ml
Cream - optional - 1 tbsp
Grated cheese - depends....cheese always tastes great
salt - to taste & sugar - a pinch
red chili flakes - 1 tsp - optional
Ghee/Butter/Olive Oil - 2 tsp

Procedure :

1. In a wok, heat butter/ghee/oil and add the chopped onions, garlic, almond and a pinch of sugar. And fry till the almonds & onions are golden brown.
2. Add the washed & chopped spinach. Stir it around a bit and continue cooking till the water evaporates.
3. After cooling, grind the fried/sauted almond-onion-garlic-spinach into a smooth paste
4. Transfer back to the wok and slowly add warm milk and keep stirring to ensure no lump forms. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Now add the salt. Let it simmer for a minute more
5. Take it off the flame and serve after garnishing with freshly ground pepper & grated cheese.

This post is off to Weekend Herb Blogging #291 started by HAALO and  hosted for the week by PAULCHEN'S FOODBLOG

Palak Paratha

Indian Bread with Spinach filling

When the kitchen inventory on a Friday evening is dwindling, and the only ray of hope is some Palak, other than Potatoes, Onions, not much choice is there for dinner. Normally when such ocassion arises, we eat out or order for a takeaway...but the mood wasnt right for either.

So decided to prepare ONLY PARATHAS....Palak Parathas to be precise. To be had with a bowlful of homemade curd with a sprinkling of masalas!

So here goes the recipe for the Palak Paratha :

Ingredients
A. For the Dough:
* Ata / whole-wheat flour - 2 cups
* Salt - a pinch
* Water to knead

B. For the Palak/Spinach filliing:
* Jeera / Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
* Hing/Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
* Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
* Black pepper powder - 1/2
* Salt to taste
* green Chillies - chopped finely (optional)
* Spinach - 12 small bunches ; washed and chopped finely

C. Others
* Oil - for frying the Palak filling & for frying the Parathas
* Ghee
* Ata for rolling the parathas

Procedure : In the sequence I made
DOUGH

1. For making the dough, mix flour, salt and water and knead well to make a soft dough.
2. Cover and keep aside for about 15 minutes till you prepare the Palak filling

FILLING
3. Heat oil in a wok. Add all ingredients at 'B' except the chopped Palak

4. Fry for 5-10 seconds on medium

5. Add the palak.

6. Increase the flame to high and stir the palak and keep frying for around 7-8 minutes or till the water has evaporated. Lower the heat and continue frying till the palak is a devoid of most of water. Take off the flame and cool it.

7. Divide the cooled Palak filling into 10 parts.

THE FINAL PRODUCT STUFFED PARATHA
8. Like in making roti/paratha, pinch of balls off the dough, roll them into smooth balls.

9.Roll them into small rotis, place the palak filling in the centre. Fold up the small roti with filling in centre into a bowl and finally seal it and again roll into ball. Repeat this with all the 10 balls.

10.Keep the stuffed balls for about 5 minutes and then start rolling the parathas

11. Take an iron tawa and heat it. Place each paratha on the tawa and turn it around. Smear some oil/ghee (I used oil) on each side by flipping the paratha

*When serving, smear each paratha with a small spoonful of hot ghee.

*I served the Parathas with homemade curd with a sprinkling of black salt, chilli flakes and roasted and ground Jeera powder

Note : I made 10 parathas using the above measurements and a small quantity of dough (for 1 and 1/2 rotis) was extra

This recipe is my entry to SWC-Cooking with Greens, an event hosted by Sowmya of Creative Saga. The logo of the event is....

Palong Shaak Sheddho

Steamed Palak with Peas, garlic and garnished with fried onions

A healthy, tasty and most importantly easy and fast-to-cook dish.

In traditional Bengali cuisine, we begin the lunch meal on a bitter note followed by any leafy greens....or shaak in Bengali. Spinach (Palong shaak), radish greens (Mulor Shaak), Fenugreek leaves (Methi shaak)...the list is endless.

So to say that Bongs are carnivorous and love their meat (especially fish) only, is absolutely wrong! Bengalis are omnivorous...'Shorbobhook'!...We love our veggies as much as we love our fish and meat! And we prefer the veggies in less spice so that they retain their natural flavour!

As serving authentic 6-7 course traditional meals is way out of my limited capability on a routine basis, it is either a bitter start OR a leafy one that is our first course on a Sunday / holiday lunch meal..

So yesterday it was Paalong Shaak sheddho (steamed Palak/Spinach) with Peas, Garlic slices and garnished with fried onions, as the first course in lunch

The recipe....

Ingredients :
*Spinach/Palak - 10 small bunches
*Garlic - 2 pods, sliced finely
*Peas - a handful
*Onion - half - chopped
*Green chilli - 2
*Salt-to taste
*Sugar-a pinch
*Mustard Oil - 1 tsp

Procedure :
1. Wash the Palak and chop the leaves into small pieces.

2. In a wok, take the finely chopped Palak, add the peas, green chillies, sliced garlic, salt & sugar.
No Oil or water is to be added.

3.Lower the flame and cover the wok. The Palak will cook in its own water. Once the palak has softened, increase the heat to dry the water given out by the Palak.

4. After the water has dried, take it off the flame.

5. Fry some chopped onions in a little oil till it is brown in colour. A pinch of salt & sugar may be added.

6.Garnish the steamed palak with the fried onions.

It tastes great with steamed rice.

This recipe is off to '15 minutes Cooking' hosted by Mahimaa of Indian Vegetarian Kitchen

And also sending this recipe to SWC-Cooking with Greens, an event hosted by Sowmya of Creative Saga. The logo of the event is....

The Evergreen Palak Paneer

Cottage cheese in a spinach gravy


The forever favourite Paneer dish is what I made as the main course when a vegetarian couple came over for dinner last week. Without much ado, I'll get down to business and jot down the recipe.....

Ingredients :
A.For the Green paste :
*Palak : 12 small bunches
*Pudina - a small sprig (Optional....my vegetable vendor always gives me a complimentary sprig or Pudina ;))
*Green Chilli -1 or 2
*Salt - 1 tsp
*Sugar - 1/2 tsp

B.Other Ingredients :
*Paneer : 400 gms (cut into small cubes or any shape you desire)
*Kesuri Methi - 1 tbsp (Optional), soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water

*Whole garam masala - 2 elaichi; 1 medium stick of cinnamon; 2 cloves*Bay Leaf -1
*Onion paste - 1 bowl
*Tomato paste - 1 bowl
*Ginger past - 1 tsp
*Cumin (Jeera) powder - 1tsp
*Coriander (Dhaniya/Dhone) powder - 1tsp
*Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp (Since I did not have it, I substituted as given in 'C')
*Ghee - 2 tsp
*Roasted and powdered Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
*Flour :3-4 tbsp
* Oil - 4 tbsp

C.Fresh Cream Substitute :
*Fresh malai obtained after milk is boiled - 2tbsp
*Grate cheese : 1 cube
In a pan add the blended fresh malai and the grated cheese. Bring to a boil. Spinkle some water if to thick. Keep aside.

Procedure :
1. Blend all ingredients at 'A'. Keep aside.
2. In a wok, heat the Oil and throw in bay leaf, whole garam masala and whole jeera and a dash of sugar. Let them splutter and give off their lovely aroma
3. Add the onion paste and fry till it turns a light brown.
4. Add the ginger paste
5. Add the tomato paste and stir for sometime.
6. Add the masala paste made of jeera+dhaniya and cook the masala well.
7. Add the blended green paste. Add salt. Stir well to mix the masala and the palak paste for 3-5 minutes.
8. Add the cubed paneer and continue stirring slowly to ensure that the paneer does not break.
9. Add the soaked kasuri methi along with the water. Mix well
10. Cover the wok with a lid, lower the flame and let it cook till it comes to a boil. Check once in a while so that the gravy doesnt burn at the botton.
11. Mix the flour (ata) with some water to make a medium consistency past. Add to the boiling gravy and mix very well. This gives the gravy a smooth and creamy consistency.
12. In a small skillet, heat the ghee and add the roasted garam masala powder and add to the palak paneer gravy is it boils in the wok. Mix.
13. Take it off the flame and add the fresh cream or the substitute I made as at 'C'

Palak paneer tastes good with Paratha, Roti or Rice

This recipe is my entry to SWC-Cooking with Greens, an event hosted by Sowmya of Creative Saga. The logo of the event is....