Winters for me are all about hearty warm breakfasts. The weekend breakfasts are extra special because you can just snuggle inside that warm blanket and enjoy a hot meal. And what better ingredient than eggs?
This Italian mushroom frittata recipe is a blessing for those who want to whip something up quickly. It is surprisingly tasty for the amount of effort that goes into making it, which is quite honestly not much. I have made an Italian version with some basic Italian ingredients. I hope you try it.
Here’s the recipe:
INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
5-6 garlic pods, crushed
200 g button mushrooms, each cut in half
20g chopped spring onion leaves
20 g chopped Italian basil leaves
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chilli flakes
100 gm grated Parmesan cheese
Sale to taste
PROCEDURE
Heat olive oil in a pan. Add the crushed garlic and fry for about 10 seconds.
Add the button mushrooms to this and fry for about a minute.
About a minute later, add chopped spring onion leaves and chopped Italian basil leaves to the mushroom. Stir well.
Season with salt, pepper, oregano and chilli flakes. Set aside. Make sure you do not over cook the mushroom and the crunch remains.
In another bowl, break six eggs.
Season the eggs with salt and pepper and whisk till mixed well.
Take a baking tray and add the mushroom mix to it. Spread it evenly across the baking tray.
Pour the egg mix evenly over the mushroom mix on the baking tray.
Garnish with some cheese all over the tray.
Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees. Bake this for about 20 minutes.
Once done, garnish with fresh Italian basil leaves,
Baking is truly an art and this most-rich chocolate chip cake is just the perfect dessert to have around at this time of the year. If you are an amateur baker trying to get that perfect chocolate cake out of your oven, you have come to the right place. This is one of the simplest chocolate cake recipes out there.
I have been a cook all my life, but my interest in baking has only developed recently. For some reason, I always thought I’ll never be good at baking. Perhaps that was because I grew up in a time when cakes and pastries were only meant for birthdays. My mother has been baking tea cakes for as long as I can remember. I love her nutty flavored cakes, filled with dry fruits and spongy textures. They smell like a dream, filling the whole house with a familiar aroma. I also remember the huge oven we had in the ’90s. All the neighborhood aunties used to borrow it during birthdays to bake cakes for their children.
It’s not like I have never tried my hands at baking. Just like cooking, I tried baking a couple of times even as a kid, but I have never really been successful in any endeavor. Until I laid my hands upon a vegetarian cookbook in the early 2000s. My mother had got this book as a gift from work and it opened up a whole lot of possibilities for me. I do not remember the name of this book, and I haven’t ever been able to find it at home (considering we have moved so much). But this is one book that taught me so much about cooking. It’s really unfortunate that my memory doesn’t bring back the name of it.
This book had the most amazing chocolate cake recipe, with a delicious and gooey chocolate glaze. I started following the recipe step by step, failed multiple times. I still remember how I told my friend in school that salt is also an ingredient in cake. Her eyes expressed disbelief. I finally cracked it in my 9th standard. I still remember my family’s reaction to it. They were stunned! My brother’s friend had a bite and said “Stop kidding me. I’m not a fool. You didn’t bake this!”
This chocolate tea cake is that very same recipe but kept simple and humble. There are no layers or glaze (maybe I will do it later someday). It is simple to make, provided the techniques to be followed are adhered to.
Here’s the recipe:
Preparation time – 20 minutes
Cook time – 30-40 minutes
Serves – 4 people
[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]
3 eggs
200 g flour
100 g melted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
200 g powdered brown sugar
80 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
150 g dark chocolate chips
100 ml of warm milk [/ingredients]
[directions title=”Directions”]
Mixing the liquid ingredients:
In a glass bowl, whisk three eggs until smooth.
Pour in the melted butter and vanilla essence into the whisked eggs. Mix till everything comes together smoothly.
Mixing the dry ingredients:
In a glass bowl, add the flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
Mix everything together.
Time to add the liquid to the dry mixture.
Gently pour the whisked egg mixture over the flour mixture. Take your time and mix this well with a spatula till a thick batter is formed.
Add the choco chips to this batter and mix well without damaging the chips.
Once the batter is done, add the milk. Take your time to mix the two. The milk needs to be completely absorbed by the chocolate chip cake batter.
Time to bake:
Preheat the oven to 180-degree Celsius.
Grease your baking tray with butter or refined oil with a pastry brush.
Put the batter into the baking tray. Bake the cake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Let the cake cool completely before serving. [/directions]
Oats is considered one of the healthiest grain on planet Earth. They are not just gluten free but also a great source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.
But the idea of having oats does not really appeal to all of us. I am no different. But I have fallen in love with this overnight oats recipe. Not only is it simple to prepare, it actually tastes like a sinful dessert. The truth is it filled with the goodness of fresh fruits and dry fruits with no milk involved. I have been having this for breakfast every morning for the past one month and I am not bored!
This recipe is especially best for people who are torn for time in the morning. You can just carry the mason jar with you and have it once you arrive at work.
INGREDIENTS
8 tbsp rolled oats
2 dates, cut into thin slices
3 fresh grapes, cut in half
1 tbsp pomegranate seeds
5 raisins
4 almonds, crushed
2 cashews, crushed
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp jaggery
2 tbsp yoghurt
8 tbsp water
Sliced apples for garnish
PROCEDURE
In a mason jar, mix all the above ingredients in the order mentioned. Give it a good shake after adding the water.
Refrigerate the oats overnight.
Serve it in the morning along with your favourite cut fruits.
You can also add flax seeds or chia seeds to this for an extra dose of health. I sometimes also add a little bit of cocoa powder or connamon powder for a different taste.
Do let me know how it turned out for you. All I can promise is that this yummy recipe will get you addicted to a healthy start to each morning. And keep you full and energised for the day.
Here is another amazing and luxurious egg recipe. This recipe has the goodness of spinach, the crunch of juicy mushrooms, the sweetness of caramelized onions, the taste of melted cheese and the aroma of some killer spices.
Mouth watering already? Here’s the recipe for a mushroom and spinach omelette!
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder
1 cup chopped spinach
1 tbsp refined oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
5 button mushrooms, cut in half
1 tbsp red chili sauce
5 gm butter
Processed cheese
PROCEDURE
There are three parts to this recipe. In the first part, we are going to prepare the base of the wrap. The second part will be preparing for the filling of the egg wrap. The last step would be to bring both of this together.
In a bowl, break three eggs. Season this with salt and pepper and whisk till smooth.
Add the chopped spinach into the egg mix and stir well. Set it aside.
In a pan, heat some oil. Add chopped garlic to this followed by chopped onion.
Fry this till the onion turns brown.
The next step is to add the button mushrooms and fry this till both the mushrooms and onion caramelize.
Season with salt and pepper, followed by red chili sauce. You can add a sauce of your choice and add the quanity depending on how spicy you like it.
Mix everything well together and set aside.
Take another pan and add butter to it. Spread the butter evenly across the flat pan.
Throw in the spinach egg mixture and spread it across the flat pan and let it cook in the butter.
When half done, add the mushroom filling in the middle of the omelette on a straight line.
Wrap the omlette around this and cook till cripsy on the sides.
Serve hot!
Indulge in a delicious and rich weekend breakfast with this omelette recipe and let me know if you liked it!
Winters are my favorite, mostly because of the fresh harvest and options at the local vegetable vendor. I love buying my vegetables on winter days and the options spoil me with choices. A recent visit to my local vegetable vendor exposed me to a variety of greens, from some beautiful spinach, peas, beans and more! Common among all these vegetables was, of course, the color green.
So I thought to myself, what if I bring all these elements together and make a delicious and healthy pulao? This thought made me so excited that I rushed back home with my stock and managed to prepare this moreish spinach pulao.
A note before you start, for the spinach puree that I have used in this recipe, I have blanched it for about two minutes in boiling water, and then ground it to a fine paste.
Here is the recipe.
Preparation time – 30 minutes
Cook time – 45 minutes
Serves – 3-4 people
[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]
2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 bay leaf
30 g cashews
30 g soaked raisins
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 cardamoms
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
20 g ginger garlic paste
50 g fresh peas
50 g green beans, chopped
1 tsp sugar
1 green chilies, chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp cumin powder
200 g soaked basmati rice
150 g spinach puree
500 ml water [/ingredients]
[directions title=”Directions”]
Heat the ghee or clarified butter in one large pot.
Add the bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves and fry for a few seconds in the hot ghee till you can smell the aroma.
Next, add the cashews and the soaked raisins. Again, fry it for about ten seconds to give a slightly brown layer to the cashews.
Add the diced onions to this and fry till they begin to caramelize.
Throw in the ginger garlic paste and fry it with the onions till the raw smell disappears.
Once the onion is cooked, add the peas and the chopped green beans. Stir well with the onion.
For the touch of heat, add some chopped green chilies as well.
An Indian pulao is usually sweet, so add a teaspoon of sugar to this and fry.
Season with salt and cumin powder.
Next, add soaked basmati rice to this vegetable mixture and stir well.
Now it’s time for the magic ingredient – the spinach puree. Add the puree to the rice and mix it all up gently, till it all comes together.
Pour in some water and give it a gentle stir.
Cover and cook for about 20 minutes and let it rest for another 20 minutes after that.
Goa is heaven on earth. But this place is not just beautiful for the pristine beaches, but what sets Goa apart like any other Indian state is also its unique cuisine. For those who have tasted Goan food would know what I am talking about.
I am a big Goa buff and every time I visit this heaven, I ensure that I eat a lot of local Goan delicacies. I also learn from the home chefs over there about food traditions and recipe secrets. My last visit to Goa helped me explore the secrets to a great prawn xacuti curry. So here is my version at home.
INGREDIENTS
For the xacuti paste:
1 tbsp oil
50 gms poppy seeds
50 gms desiccated coconut
For the curry:
300 gms prawns
2 onions, ground to a paste
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
PROCEDURE
Dry roast the coconut and poppy seeds in 1 tsp oil in a pan. Once done, let it cool and grind it to a fine paste with a little water.
Marinate the prawns with salt and turmeric powder and set it aside.
In a pan, heat oil and fry the marinated prawns for about five minutes. Set them aside.
In another pan, heat some oil and fry the onion and ginger garlic paste till the raw smell disappears.
Next, add the xacuti paste and fry for a few minutes.
Season this with the rest of the spices and fry for a few more minutes. Add some water if necessary.
Add the fried prawns to this mixture. Taste the salt and add more if needed.
Throw in some more water into this. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes till everything comes together.
Switch off the gas and garnish this with fresh coriander leaves.
A poha with a twist – this brown bread poha is a unique rendition of India’s favourite breakfast recipe. Poha is usually made with flattened rice. This recipe replaces the flattened rice with brown bread slices. I usually make this brown bread poha when I have bread left in my refrigerator that I need to use up. It is delicious, easy and can be made with your choice of vegetables. This recipe is kid friendly and makes for a great lunch box option.
Let’s take a look at the recipe.
Preparation time – 10 minutes
Cook time – 20 minutes
Serves – 3
[ingredients title=”Ingredients”]
5 brown bread slices, teared into small bites
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 dried red chilli
5-8 fresh curry leaves
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup potato, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup fresh peas
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup finely chopped tomato
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste [/ingredients]
[directions title=”Directions”]
Heat oil in a skillet or kadhai.
Temper the oil with mustard seeds and dried red chilli. Let the seeds splutter.
Add the curry leaves and stir for a few seconds.
Add the onions and fry for 2-3 minutes till they start to brown and turn translucent.
Next, add the chopped potatoes and peas and fry for another minute on medium to high flame.
Season with sugar, salt and turmeric. Mix well.
Chop some tomatoes and add to the kadhai. Stir for another ten seconds.
Cover with a lid and cook on low flame for 5-7 minutes or till potatoes and peas are tender.
Add the teared brown bread slices and mix till everything comes together and the bread soaks up all the spices.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup. [/directions]
I hope you try this delicious brown bread poha for breakfast soon! If you have any doubts, comments, or feedback, please reach out to me in comments or my social media handles.
I am not a morning person. I find it extremely difficult to drag myself out of bed at the ring of the alarm clock, get ready and get out of the house.
At the same time, I also know the importance of having a good and hearty breakfast every single day. This is why I love this recipe. And I am a big fan of scrambled eggs. This unique version of scrambled eggs extremely time effective and gets ready in 5 minutes. There is absolutely no compromise on taste and it will keep you sorted for long.
All you need are some eggs, mayo and mustard! Let’s go.
INGREDIENTS
3 eggs
1 garlic pod, crushed
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp mustard
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
Salt to taste
PROCEDURE
Whisk three eggs until smooth.
In a pan, heat oil. Fry the garlic in this for a few seconds.
Add the egg mixture to the oil and stir gently to make scrambled eggs.
Season with salt and pepper. Do not overcook. Turn off the flame after about a minute.
All you need to do now for the magic is to add the mayonnaise and mustard to the scrambled eggs and mix!
Make yourself a sandwich or eat it just like that. It tastes DIVINE!
Try out this scrambled eggs recipe as I am pretty sure you already have all the ingredients lying in your refrigerator. You will not regret it, I promise. Grab a few toasts and some fresh juice or coffee with this. And run to work!
I absolutely love Mexican food! And this love has is new as I got exposed to this cuisine only recently.
Tacos have to be one of my favorite food when it comes to global cuisine favourites. The reason why I have come to like Mexican cuisine so much is because everything is so fresh and refreshing!
So here is the recipe of crispy chicken tacos that I make at home. This is a crunchy taco shell recipe, you can replace it with soft tacos as well.
INGREDIENTS
200 gas boneless shredded chicken
Salt to taste
1 tsp black pepper powder
100 gms bread crumbs
1 egg
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp taco seasoning mix
1 cucumber, chopped
Lettuce
Grated cheese
PROCEDURE
For the chicken:
In a bowl, mix the shredded and boneless chicken with some salt, pepper and bread crumbs.
Throw in one beaten egg into this and mix well.
In a pan, heat oil and fry these chicken pieces till they are crispy. Set it aside.
For the taco sauce:
In a pan, heat oil and add the chopped onions.
Fry this for about two minutes and add the chopped tomatoes.
Stir this till tomato melts.
Add the taco seasoning mix and stir well.
Final step:
Taje a crispa taco shell. Fill it with the taco sauce, followed by some. crispy chicken.
Add a final layer of cucumber, tomato and lettuce on top.
Add some grated cheese and voila! Your taco is ready!
You can also add some sour cream to this. But I liked mine without it.
I love fritters in all its glory and variety! In India, fritters, or pakodas, are a common thing. It has unique renditions in different states, using local produce and spices, and varying from season to season. The craze for this snack heightens during monsoons and winters. But no one really says no even other times.
Here is a fusion recipe that combines the goodness of corn, spinach and other vegetables with cheese. Yes, you read that right.
Presenting the recipe for this amazingly simple and delicious cheesy corn and spinach fritters.
INGREDIENTS
100 gms all purpose flour
50 gms boiled sweet corn kernels
50 gms bread crumbs
100 gms chopped spinach
20 gms chopped spring onion leaves
10-12 raisins
20 gms fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
Salt to taste
100 grams cheese, grated
100 ml milk
PROCEDURE
All you need to do is mix all of the above ingredients together. That’s it!
Once a thick consistency is formed, fry these fritters in your favourite shape. Well, I didn’c choose any particluar shape.
Fry till both sides are golden brown.
Enjoy the cheesiness ooze out!
I hope you try this cheesy corn and spinach fritters at home. Let me know how it went for you. ALways a pleasure to heat from you guys!
