Cheesy Cauliflower Bake

Who doesn't love cheese??!!! And specially if you talk about kids, they hate veggies but love cheese :) A combination of both in one casserole - "Cheesy Cauliflower Bake"! Very mild flavors of Italian seasoning... Smoky flavors of baked cauliflower n creamy texture of cheese... Yummm, a perfect bake to include as a side on main course!

Already had a half head cauliflower in veggie rack n I got one more! Couldn't think of anything else than combining it with cheese n simply bake, to accompany my creamy shell pasta for dinner :P

INGREDIENTS:

15-20 Cauliflower Florets
2 tbsp Grated Cheese
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Chilly Flakes
2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt, to taste

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

- Preheat the oven on 200º for 5 mins.
- Take cauliflower florets in a big bowl and add olive oil, oregano, chilly flakes, lemon juice and salt into it.
- Mix everything well and transfer it to a baking bowl.
- Put this bowl in oven to bake for around 30 mins (turning it once in between).
- Sprinkle cheese over it and bake it for 5 more mins.
- It's ready to serve as a side for your family dinner! :)

SJ's NOTE: 

- Adjust the amount of cheese as per your taste. Kids would love it more!
- I used a combo of 3 cheese: Mozzarella, Cheddar & Parmesan here.

Chana Dal Stuffed Paratha

I'm fond of trying various stuffed paratha!!! I never prefer having leftover items on the next day and so I hardly have something in freeze from previous lunch/dinner :) A little extra rice I had this time, which I definitely wasn't going to have on plate again... So I thought of making quite a different paratha stuffed with a combo of chana dal n leftover rice! 

On the very 1st bite, I got negative vibes from my husband, so was disappointed a little. But the next moment, he said... It's super-tasty n healthy one, I was so relieved! Making sure of his expressions, I gotta know he was expecting it to be Aloo Paratha, so the expressions changed :P 

Paratha-lovers, try it out! This is definitely a healthy n delicious alternate of 'Aloo Paratha' :)

Makes: 6

INGREDIENTS:

For Dough--

1/2 cup Wheat Flour

1/2 cup Plain Flour (Maida)

1 tsp Chopped Coriander Leaves

Salt, to taste

2 tsp Oil

For Stuffing--

1/2 cup Chana Dal (Bengal Gram)

1/2 cup Boiled Rice (I used leftover-rice)

1 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder

1/2 tsp Red Chilly Flakes

1/2 tsp Amchur (Dry Mango Powder)

Salt, to taste

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

- Soak chana dal in water for an hour and pressure-cook it for 1-2 whistles only.

- Drain excess water and rinse it. Keep it aside.

- Mix all the ingredients of dough in a big bowl and knead a soft dough by using lukewarm water as required.

- In another mixing bowl, take cooked chana dal and add rest of all stuffing ingredients. 

- Mix everything well but make sure it's not completely mashed.

- Divide the dough and stuffing into 6 portions. Take one ball, roll it out to make 4" in diameter. 

- Place a stuffing ball onto it. Fold it from all the sides to make a lemon-sized ball again.

- Roll it one more time to make paratha of 7"-8" in diameter. Repeat the same process for other balls.

- Pan-roast it by drizzling a little oil every time till you find brown-spots on both the sides.

- Serve hot with Coriander-Mint Chutney or a Yogurt bowl :)

SJ's NOTE:

- You can add one small-sized boiled potato for binding, if you are not using rice.

- For rich flavors, use clarified butter (desi ghee) to replace oil. 

Gobhi 65

Got a request to post some Indo-Chinese dish in Jain Series, and here I'm with a restaurant style "Gobhi 65", deep-frying cauliflower florets and then stir-frying it with Chinese spices makes a wonderful appetizer! This dish can be prepared in many ways, but I love fried one out of all... Optionally, you can bake or grill them as well for a healthy-version :)  

When I had it 1st time, I wondered why is it called Gobhi '65' and not '19' or '22' or anything else??!!! And I google-d it to find out a reason, which confused me more n more as there are number of reasons given by people. 

i.e. Because it was a replica of Chicken 65! Some lady of 65 yrs invented this for his son! Original recipe had 65 different ingredients for making! n what not... Too funny, isn't it??   

I know, you must have started thinking by now :P Add a list of your reasons to this dish... 

INGREDIENTS:

15-16 Cauliflower Florets

1 tsp Ginger paste

1/4 cup Capsicum (cut into cubes)

1/2 tsp Cornstarch

1/2 tsp Soya Sauce

1 tsp Red chilly sauce

1/4 tsp Black pepper powder

Salt, to taste

2 tsp Oil

For Batter--

1 tsp Plain Flour

1 tsp Cornstarch

Salt, to taste

Oil, for deep-frying

METHOD:

- Wash all the florets under tap water and parboil them for 4-5 mins.

- Drain and rinse with cold water.

- Mix plain flour, cornstarch, salt in a bowl and add water to get a thick batter consistency.

- Heat oil in deep-frying pan. Once oil reaches smoking point, turn the heat to medium-high.

- Dip each cauliflower floret in batter and slide 4-5 at once carefully for deep-fry.

- Turn it around and fry till they are golden-brown in color and crisp from outside.

- Take them out on absorbent paper to drain excess oil.

- Mix cornstarch, soya sauce, red chilly sauce, salt and pepper powder in a small bowl. And make a slurry by adding water.

- Heat 2 tsp oil in a stir-fry pan and add ginger paste, capsicum in it. 

- Saute it for a while and add fried gobhi (florets) along with cornstarch slurry.

- Mix well to coat all the florets with brown paste. Cook for a few seconds on high heat and serve hot!!! 

SJ's NOTE (for non-Jain version):

- Optionally, spring onion whites and garlic paste can be used added with ginger paste. 

- In that case, turn off the heat and sprinkle spring onion greens as well before serving.

Undhiyu

Sometimes it happens that I don't remember what all I have in my freezer!!! Yesterday only I saw a pack of frozen mix veggies, which is never my first preference for cooking :P But as my husband loves it, I thought of making his favorite dish, linked with his favorite festival - Uttarayan... 

You must have guessed it by now, it's "Undhiyu"! If you are looking for an authentic one, it's not... This is my version with all the flavors that I love in any core-gujju gravy :)

And yes, it comes to be a Jain dish if you eliminate potatoes in it!!! Wooo... what a great start of 'Jain Series'... 

Serves: 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

500 gm Surti Undhiyu Mix (I had potatoes, small brinjals, broad beans, lilwa, yam and methi dumplings)

2 tbsp Canola Oil

1 tsp Chopped green chillies

1/2 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Red chilly powder

1 tsp Cumin powder

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/8 tsp Hing

1 tbsp Lemon juice

2 tsp Sugar

Salt, to taste

For Dry Masala--

1/4 cup Roasted Peanuts

2 tsp Fennel Seeds

1 tsp Besan (Gram flour)

1 tsp Anardana (Dried Pomegranate Seeds)
1 tsp Dessicated Coconut

1 tsp Sesame Seeds

1 tsp Kasoori Methi

METHOD:

- Take all the ingredients of dry masala in a mixture jar and grind them finely.

- Heat oil in a deep pan and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds and hing. 

- Once it splutters, add chopped green chillies and saute it for 30 sec.

- Add mixed veggies (thawed out if frozen) and add salt, turmeric powder and sugar. Mix well.

- Cover with a lid and cook it on slowest heat for around 10 mins. 

- Check if all the veggies are soft (cooked well), add red chilly powder, coriander powder and cumin powder along with ground dry masala.

- Mix it all together and cook it again for 2-3 mins.

- Turn off the heat and mix lemon juice in it. Serve hot with puffed poori!!! :)

SJ's NOTE:

- Raw banana (cut into cubes) can be used as a replacement of potatoes for Jain version!

- Fresh methi leaves can be added along with all veggies, which will infuse a nice aroma. 

- Recipe for making methi dumplings at home will be posted soon!

Linking this recipe to Foodabulous Fest Event organised by Simply TADKA and hosted by Shruti’s rasoi: