Crispy Noodles

Ingredients

Rice noodles: 100 gms

Paneer: 1 cup, cut into strips
Oil: For deep frying

For Sauce
Chopped garlic: 1 tsp

Chopped onion: ½ cup

Soy sauce: 2 tsp
Sugar: 2 tsp
Lemon juice: 2 tsp
Vegetable stock: 1 cup

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Olive oil: 2-3 tsp

Salt: To taste

For Garnishing
Diced cabbage: 1 cup
Bean sprouts: ¼ cup
Chopped spring onion: 1 cup

Boiled cauliflower florets: ½ cup

Slit red chilli: 2

Method
Heat oil and deep fry the noodles till crisp, drain and keep aside. Deep fry paneer till crisp, drain and keep aside.

To prepare sauce, heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and onion and sauté till onion turns translucent. Add soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, stock and salt and stir till the mixture starts to thicken. Add the fried paneer, chilli powder and mix well. Add the fried noodles, just before serving. 

Serve garnished with the cabbage, bean sprouts, spring onion and cauliflower and top with the slit red chilli.

Stir Fried Vegetables

Ingredients
Cubed cabbage: 1 cup

Cubed carrot: 1 cup

Baby corn: 1 cup

Mushroom: 1 cup

Broad beans: 1 cup

Cauliflower florets: 1 cup

Cubed capsicum: 1 cup

Oil: 2-3 tsp

Soya sauce: 2-3 tsp

Ginger, garlic and chilli paste: 2-3 tsp

Roasted sesame seeds: 3-4 tsp

Pepper powder: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Method

Fry the vegetables on high heat for 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and chilli paste. Add the roasted sesame seeds, pepper powder and salt and sauté well till all the vegetables are coated well. Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Veg Momos

When my hubby told me that he wants something light for tonight’s dinner, I thought of preparing some Dim Sums. They are light and easy to prepare. I first tasted veg dim sums in 2003 in Bangalore. Trust me, I had not liked them, but had loved the chilli-garlic dip that was given with it. Those dumplings were not steamed properly and the dough was too thick. Later, I had them at a different Chinese restaurant and I absolutely loved them so much so that I started preparing them at home once in a while. The reasons are, they are light, can have lots of vegetables, less oily, steamed plus they are yummy. Dim Sum, a Cantonese delicacy which means “a little bit of heart”, originated in China hundreds of years ago. Oh, let me tell you one more thing, there is no difference between dim sums and momos except for the name! I usually prepare dim sums in three ways – deep fried, pan fried and steamed – depending on my mood and time available. I use different fillings at different times. Usually, I prepare vegetarian dim sums and depending on the availability, I use broccoli, radish, cabbage, cauliflower and sometimes even pineapple. Here is the recipe for veg dim sum I prepared for tonight’s dinner.

Steamed dim sums

Veg Dim Sum 

Ingredients
For Dough

Maida: 1 cup

Salt: ¼ tsp

For Filling

Finely minced any mixed vegetables: ½ cup

Finely chopped onion: ¼ cup

Finely chopped garlic: 1 tsp

Vinegar: ¼ tsp

Pepper powder: ¼ tsp

Olive oil: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Method

Add enough water and salt to maida and prepare stiff dough and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add onion and garlic and sauté well. Add vegetables and fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the flame and add salt, vinegar and pepper powder.

Roll the dough very thin and cut four inch circles with the help of a bowl. 

Take a round, wet edges and place some vegetable filling in the centre, bring edges together to cover the filling and press to seal it and twist it lightly giving the shape of a dim sum. 

Steam for about 10 minutes and serve hot with hot sauce.

Deep fried dim sums

Deep fried dim sums in a different shape ;)

Vegetable Kebab

Ingredients
Potatoes: 2 medium sized, boiled and peeled
Paneer: 1 cup
Cauliflower: 1 cup
Cabbage: 1 cup
Green chili: 2, finely chopped
Coriander leaves: 2 tsp, finely chopped
Maida: 1 cup
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Ghee: 2 tsp
Salt: As per taste
Water: 1 cup
Oil: For deep frying



Method
Grate the boiled potatoes, paneer, cabbage and cauliflower. Heat ghee in a pan and fry both cabbage and cauliflower for 4-5 minutes. Then add potato, paneer, green chilies and salt. Check the salt at this stage and cook till all the water from the vegetables dries up. Remove from the fire and allow it to cool. Make small balls of the mixture and flatten between your hands and keep aside. Make a batter by mixing maida, ¼ tsp salt, chili powder in 1 cup of water. Heat oil in a frying pan, dip all the kebabs in the maida batter and deep fry them till golden brown. Serve them hot with pudina or tomato sauce.