Samosa Kadhi Chaat

Samosa is one of the most commonly known indian chaat items or snacks. It has spicy potato filling and plain flour covering. Usually it served with tamrind or mint chutney, but this recipe has one more

For the samosa covering:

1/2 cup plain flour

2 teaspoons butter or oil or ghee

salt to taste

-Mix all the ingredients of covering in a bowl and knead into a dough using water. Keep it aside for half an hour.

-Then divide the dough into equal parts and roll it and keep it aside.

For the filling:

2 boiled potatoes

1/2 cup boiled green peas

1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

1 green chilli(actully according to taste)

1 small onion

1/4 teaspoon hing (asafoetida)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon jeera powder

1 table spoon oil

salt to tast

-Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, after crackles add hing and ginger-garlic paste.

-Add onions soute untill it becomes light brownish.

-Now add the potatoes,peas, all the dry spices and mix it well.

For the Kadhi

2 tablespoon bengal gram flour(besan)

1/2 cup curd

1/2 teaspoon ginger grated

1 green chilli

2 tablespoon grated coconut (optional)

1 teaspoon oil

whole masalas like bay leaf,cinnamon stick,cardamoms etc (optional)

few curry leaves

salt to taste

-Add gram-flour into curd, mix it well and keep aside.

-Heat oil in a pan add whole spices, curry leaves,grated ginger and green chilli.

-Now add the gram-flour-curd mix , coconut, salt and mix it well.

-Keep it on slow flame till it thickens and dont forget to stri in between.

For Samosa:

-Divide each samosa covering into 2 halves.

-Make a cone from each part and stuff with the filling.

-Seal the edges carefully using very little water and deep fry it in hot oil on a slow flame untill golder brown.

How to Serve:

-Place the hot samosas in a serving bowl, pour hot kadhi over it.

-Top with imli chutney and/or green chutney (whatever is avilable). then garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Pumpkin & Broccoli Soup

Pumpkin is quite similar to gourds in its appearance and is believed to have originated in North America. Eating pumpkin has many benefits, to start with its low in calories, good source of fiber,protein,zinc and other vitamins. There are many dishes based on pumpkin ranging from soups to snacks to desserts....

Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family and closely related to cauliflower. Broccoli is rich in vitamin C and is a good non-dairy source of Calcium. Broccoli can be eaten boiled, steamed or stir fried.

My son doesn't like eating pumpkin & broccoli so i thought of preparing soup using it. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin - 1 cup peeled and diced
Broccoli - 1/2 cup florets
Carrots - 1/4 cup diced
Tomato - 1 medium diced
ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Butter 1 tsp
salt to taste
black paper powder to taste

- In a pan add 2 cups of water and boil all the vegetables for 10 mins or untill veges get tender.
- Drain water and keep it aside, let the veges cool for 5 mins then blend it.
- Heat a pan, add butter, ginger garlic paste and saute for a min.
- Then pour in the blended vegetable stock and bring it boil.
- Add salt,black paper powder,lemon juice.

Reduce the heat to low and cover, cook it for 5 mins.
- Serve hot.

Khandavi

Khandvi is a gujarati snack. It can be made quickly using ingredients: gram flour, buttermilk and seasoned with mustard seeds,curry leaves. You can serve it with any chutney or u can have it on its own.


Ingredients :
Gram flour 1 cup
Buttermilk 2 cups
Asafoetida (hing) 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
salt to taste

Seasoning:
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Green chillies 2
sesame seeds 1 tsp
curry leaves
oil 1 tbsp

Mix gram flour, turmeric powder, salt and hing in a pan, now pour buttermilk into it and stir it well.
Keep this batter on medium flame for 5 minutes and stir continuously to avoid lumps. Stir it till a paste like consistency appears.
Now spread this mixture as thin as possible on a greasy plate and leave it to cool.
After 2-3 mins cut it into stripes and roll the stripes.
Now heat oil in a pan for seasoning. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chillies. Immidiately spread this seasoning on rolls.
Garnish it wilth coriander leaves and sesame seeds.
Khandvi is ready to eat.


Khandvi can be prepared in microwave also and steps are:

Mix besan, buttermilk,salt and hing in a pan.
Put this mixture in the microwave for 5 mins.
Take it out and mix well again put into microwave for 2 mins.
Mix it well and put into microwave again for 2 more mins.
Now spread on greased plate and let it cool.
Then make rolls and do the seasoning.

Oatmeal Cookies

Cookie is a small, flat-baked treat, containing milk, flour, eggs, sugar, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts or dried fruits etc. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.
This recipe of cookie is eggless and it includes oatmeals which are very healthy and good source of fiber.

Ingredients:

160 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
120 gm butter
120 gm ghee
150 gm castor sugar
2 tablespoons of ginger juice
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon golden syrup
220 gm quick cooking oats
80 gm mini choc chips
40 gm sesame seeds

Method:

- Sieve the first 3 ingredients together.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Mix ginger juice, bicarbonate of soda and golden syrup in a very small bowl, add it to beaten butter and sugar and then combine it well.
- Add in the rest of ingredients and combine well to form a soft dough.
- Now preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- Shape into cherry sized balls and place on greased baking tray.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool it before storing in a container.

Mouthwatering Pizza recipe from scratch

For the dough:

2 cups plain flour
1 sachet yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tspoon sugar
1/2 tspoon salt
1 tspoon olive oil

For sauce:

1 tspoon oil
1 onion
1 tspoon ginger-garlic paste
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato sauce
salt,red chilli powder and oregano

For toppings:

chopped mushrooms, capsicum, tomatoes.

Step by step recipe in detail with pics:

• Put plain flour in a bowl and add oil and salt into it.
• Mix the yeast with sugar and lukewarm water and stir, keep it for 10 minutes until it develops a nice foam on top.
• Now add the yeast to flour.
• Mix with your hands and knead until you have a smooth dough.
• Cover the dough with wet dish towel and keep it aside for 1 hour.

• Meanwhile prepare sauce for the pizza and for that take one pan, put some oil. add ginger-garlic paste,greated onions(or u can boil onion and grind it) and fry it for 5 mins. Then add tomato puree,salt,red chilli powder and oregano and let it cool down.
• dough after 1 hour
  
• 

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Take 1/2 portion of the dough and spread it out in to pizza pan with your fingers. and bake it for 2-3 mins.
• Then spread pizza sauce over it and put on your favourite toppings and at the last put greated cheddar cheese.
• Put into oven for 10 mins, mouthwatering pizza is ready to eat.

Vegetable Biryani

Biryani makes a great meal any day. The aroma of basmati rice and all the spices makes it a wonderful dish for any occasion. Its very healthy as it has all the vegs required and takes very ltl effort to prepare. I prepare different types of rice dishes at least once in a week.

This is my dear hubby's absolute favourite biryani recipe. Though this one is quite labourious and the ingredient list is long, the results are well worth.

This dish constitues two colours of rice. This two rice are prepared separetely and mixed
at the end.


Ingredients:
Mixed rice 1 cup
(white rice mixed with small quantity of brown rice)
Basmati rice 1 cup
spinach 1 cup (washed and grinded)
Onions 2
ginger garlic paste 1 tspoon

Carrots 1/2 cup cut into small pieces
Beans 1/2 cup
potato 1 small
green peas
couliflower 1/4 cup
yogurt 2 tspoon
bay leaf,cloves
salt,red chilli powder,garam masala acc to taste
cashew nuts,raisins,ghee

• First boil mixed rice as u do for the nomal plan rice.
• In a separate pan prepare thegreen rice. For that blend the spinach leaves and put it in the pan. Then add washed basmati rice and cook it.
• Meanwhile heat oil in the frying pan, add bay leaf,cloves,onions,ginger garlic paste.
  Fry till the colour of onions gets pink.
  
• Now Add yogurt and all the chopped veges, salt,chilli powder,garam masala and stir it well.
  Cook the veges for 10 mins.
  
• Next add both the cooked rice one by one and mix it well.
• Lastly garnish it with fried cashew nuts and raisins.
• Serve it with raita.
  

Stuffed Bitter gourd (Bharwa Karela) Recipe

Bitter gourd is a tropical vegetable, which is cultivated mainly in the Asian and African countries. It is also known by the name of ‘Karela’ and has a rough, warty skin. As the name suggests, the vegetable is bitter in taste and has a skin that is dark green in color. Bitter gourd has been found to have great medicinal value. In fact, it is said to have antidotal, antipyretic tonic, appetizing, stomachic, antibilious and laxative properties. This is the main reason why the vegetable is used in a number of native medicines of Asia and Africa.

Nutrition Benefits of Eating Bitter Gourd

• Bitter gourd has been associated with lowering sugar levels in people suffering from diabetes. You can make fresh juice with 1 bitter gourd, 1 cucumber and 1 tomato. Drink it every morning.
  
• Bitter gourd is said to be helpful in fighting against cancer and a number of infections.
• Bitter gourd has been known to provide relief from constipation and is also effective in the treatment of psoriasis.
• Bitter gourd helps in improving circulation and in turn, generates slimming effects on the body.
• Regular consumption of bitter gourd has been associated with prevention as well as treatment of hypertension.
• Bitter gourd is believed to be helpful in preventing eye complications, apart from treating neuritis.
• The juice of the leaf of bitter gourd plant has been found to be beneficial in the treatment of alcoholism.
• The essential vitamins and minerals present in bitter gourd help in treating defective metabolism of carbohydrates.
• The bitter tonic properties of bitter gourd have made it effective as a blood purifier.
• Fresh juice of bitter gourd is good for patients suffering from piles.

Here goes simple recipe for Stuffed Bitter gourd:

Karela (Bitter gourd) 5
Ginger garlic paste 1 teaspoon
Tomato 1
Gram flour 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder, salt, sugar, dried mango powder, garam masala according to taste


Wash karela, scrape the skin with knife. cut a slit vertically in to the belly of the karela. Rub salt inside the skin and set aside for half an hour. During this time u can preapare stuffing.

For stuffing take one pan, put 1tbspn oil,ginger garlic paste, gram flour stil well untill golden brown, now add tomato. Mix salt,red chilli powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder,garam masala,dry mango powder,very ltl sugar, saute for 5 mins.

After that wash karela properly 3-4 times. Then deep fry whole karelas for 5 mins.

Now fill karelas with this stuffing. In a pan put 1/2 tspoon oil, stuffed karelas and cook it for 5 mins.
Stuffed bitter gourd is ready to eat with chapati.

Spinach-Tomato-Plum Kabab

Ingredients:
1 bunch of spinach
2 boiled and mashed potatoes
10 cherry tomatoes
10 seedless plums
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon chat masala
1 green chili
red chili and salt according to taste

How to prepare:
- Blanch (boil spinach leaves in water for 30-40 seconds) spinach leaves.

- Now take one pan add mashed potatoes and spinach. Put all spices and mix it well.
- Take a log of this mixture in your palms and make a round, place whole in center and put plum and cherry tomato onto. Then again make it round like cutlet and deep fry it.
- Serve delicious kebab with mint chutney.

Healthy Muthiya

Ingredients:
1 bunch spinach leaves chopped finely
1 carrot greated
2 tablespoons bengal gram(besan)
1 tablespoon semolina(suji)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ajwaein
1/4 teaspoon asefoetida(hing)
1 small cup fenugreek leaves chopped finely
1 1/2 teaspoons green chilli-ginger-garlic paste
4 tablespoons wheat flour(gehun ka aata)
2 tablespoon oil salt to taste

Garnishing (Optional)
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
curry leaves
green chillies coriander leaves

Method
In a bowl, combine all the flour items, greated carrot, spinach and fenugreek leaves. Mix all the ingredients in it and knead into a soft dougn using water.
Apply a little oil on your hands and divide the mixture into bite sized portion and press between your palms and fingers. Then place muthyia in a steamer. Steam for 15 to 20 mintures and serve hot with chutney or ketchup.
Garnishing (Optional)
Cut muthiyas into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, jeera, curry leaves and cut green chillies veritcally into long pieces. Thean add muthia in i. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve with chutney.

Rava Ladoo

Ingredients:

Semolina(Rava/Sooji) - 2 cups
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Ghee - 3/4 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Milk - 1/4 cup
Cashews
Raisins
Cardamom powdere

Method:

Heat ghee in a nonstick pan.
Add rava and stir till the rava is light brown.
Allow it to cool.
Add the greated coconut.
Add cardamom powder along with this coconut to the cool rava mix and mix well.
Sprinkle milk over the mix and add sugar, and keep it aside for few minutes.
Make small balls.
Place one cashew/raisin to each ball.



Note :- Do not use too much milk as the ladoo won`t be firm. Sprinkle the needful to get it mixed.

Indian's favoutie snack "Panipuri"

Pani Puri is a popular street snack in India. It comprises of a round, hollow puri fried crip and filled with a watery mixture of tamarind, potato and chilli. It is a snack synonymous with the beaches of all parts of India. It is a part of the chaat family along with Bhelpuri. It is also known by many names like golgappa or GolGuppe in North India, Foochka (Puchka) in West Bengal, Gupchup in some central parts of India, and PaniPatashe, etc.....The name pani puri literally means water in dough(fried small inflated bread). pani is a hindi word for water and puri is hindi word for dough. Since the dough is served with special spiced water it is known as Pani Poori.

So here I would like to share with you a simple & quick recipe of panipuri.

Ingredients:
1 cup Fine Semolina (Rava)
1 tbsp Plain Flour (Maida)
1 tbsp Bi-carb soda
Salt to taste

For Pani:
1 cups Chopped Mint Leaves
1 tbsp Red Chili Powder
1 green chilli
1/2 tbsp Coriander (dhania) Powder
4-5 Crushed coriander seeds
1 tbsp roasted cuming seeds
black salt to taste
Salt to taste

Filling:
2 Mashed potatoes with salt, red chilli to taste
1 cup overnight soaked and Boiled bengal grams or cheak peas

Method:
For Puri:

- Mix semolina, plain flour, soda water and salt. Knead well to make a dough. Cover it with clean wet cloth for about 1 hour.
- Divide the dough into forty equal portions and roll each portion into circles. Place each circle under damp cloth right after rolling.
- Heat oil in a kadhai. Deep fry these circles, slightly pressing with a slotted spoon, until they puff up and are golden brown.
- Place the puffed circles ("puris") on absorbent kitchen tissue.

For pani:
- Soak the tamarind in 1/2 cup of warm water for approximately 1/2 an hour. - Strain out the pulp to get tamarind water.
- Add mint leaves, chopped coriander, ginger, chillies and cumin seed. Add a little water and mix to a smooth consistency using a blender or in a grinder.
- Transfer the paste into a large bowl. Add 1 litre of water, continuously mixing the contents with a spoon. Add black salt and mix well.
- Refrigerate for about 2 hours to ensure proper blending.

For Filling:


In a pan take boiled & mashed potatoes and cheak peas or bengal grams. Add salt, green chilli(or else for spice u can add green chutney), mango powder and coriander leaves.





Serving Panipuri:

- Poke a small hole in the center of each puri.
- Add small quantity of stuffing. Add a little tamarind chutney. Dip in pani so that puri is filled with it. Then Serve.

Writting Clear and Maintanable Java Code

This is my first technical java blog. Today I would like to share some ideas about how to write clear and maintainable code. As a Java developer we have to keep in mind some programming style considerations.General programming style considerations includes proper syntax, reusability of code, proper error-handling etc...

The syntax of a programming language tells you what code it is possible to write- what the machine will understand. Style tells you what you ought to write- what the humans reading the code will understand. Code written with a consistent, simple style will be secure, maintainable, robust and bug-free. We can make our application more strong by following some conventions. Here are summary of considerations, which I came across while going thru one of the chapters in Kathy Sierra’s book titled SCPD Java 2:

• A class is supposed to represent a particular thing which has its own state and behavior, so while constructing class keep asking yourself, as you write each method, if that behavior might not be better suited for some other thing.
• Keep variable scope as small as possible it means don’t use an instance variable when a local variable will work.
• Consider overriding toString() to produce a useful description of the object. Use abstract classes when you need implementation functionality.
• Use getters and setters that follow the Java Bean naming conventions.
• Use Core APIs as it will lets you take advantage of a ton of expertise and testing, plus you are using code that hundreds of thousands of other Java developers are familiar with.
• Avoid designing a class that has no methods, use proper design pattern, which is best suited to your application.
• Use overloading rather than writing different logic and avoid long argument lists while encapsulating your class.
• A good framework can sometimes help developers by avoiding you having to reinvent the wheel each time, but a bad framework is infinitely worse than no framework at all. Designing good frameworks is very, very hard. Consider this point carefully and draw your own conclusions.
• Java is not C++. It's generally good practice not to check for error conditions all over the place unless you expect the condition to occur and plan to do something specific with that knowledge. Let the VM take care of array bounds and null pointer checking while you concentrate on your design.
• Create and throw your own Exception when needed and for this keep in mind one thing that your exception should "Catch Low-Level Implementation Exceptions and Throw a Higher-Level Business Exception". Don’t return error codes. Use dialog boxes instead Excessive command-line messages.
  

My First Blog

Well....my first blog entry. I am a Software professional based out in Singapore. Basically I am from India and have done my degree in Computer Application from Gujarat. My interests: Java/J2EE technologies, web development and PL/SQL.

Apart from tech stuff, I have been fascinated by cooking. I like to experiment different recipes with various ingredients every time. So probably in this blog I would be posting on both tech interest and cooking.