Archives for August 2015

Mushroom Cutlets

August 31, 2015 by Suki 8 Comments

Fantastic little treats for appetizers packed full of goodness.I am sure this is one of the finger food that is finger licking good.

Finely chopped mushroom laced with mashed potatoes and spices.These are perfect appetizers and super easy to prepare. Mushroom cutlets are packed with great flavor. You can add veggies or minced meat to this if you want 🙂 for meat lovers. And vegetarians, you can mix some all purpose flour and water, replace egg dip with the all purpose flour dip.You can very well pan fry by drizzling some oil over a hot pan and arrange 3-4 at a time and cook in a medium flame both sides, until crisp. My mother always used to prepare cutlets this way.

When I used to come from school around 4 pm, my Mom makes some snack for me 🙂 totally for me. My sister is not crazy about food like me 😀 so it is totally for me. And I would just guess each day at the door from the smell each day. I totally miss it! I love you Amma (Mom). Mothers are the best in the creator’s 😀 hand.

Other Mushroom recipes: Mushroom Biryani, Vegan tofu mushroom dumpling potstickers, Mushroom green toast, Mushroom Spring onion masala, Mushroom Mini Quesadilla, Malai pepper mushroom, Garlic Creamy mushroom spaghetti

5.0 from 1 reviews

Mushroom Cutlets

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian Fusion

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

Mushroom - White button - (You can use any variety) - 200 gm
Cumin Seeds/ Jeera - 2 tsp
Onion - ½ cup - finely chopped
Fennel seeds - 2 tsp - crushed
Green chilli - 3 medium sized, finely chopped
Garlic - 3, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch, finely chopped
Potato - 2 medium sized.
mint - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Coriander - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Pepper powder - 2 tsp.
Salt - to taste
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
All purpose flour - 2 tbsp
eggs , slightly beaten (or) all-purpose flour &water
Breadcrumbs - 3 tbsp
Vermicelli - 2 tbsp
Oil - for deep frying and 1 tbsp for sauting.

Instructions

Boil the potatoes, season with salt until tender. Then drain, peel and mash.
Heat 1 oil in a pan in medium flame, add cumin seeds and when it changes color, add the onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic with little salt. Saute them till the onions becomes translucent.
Add the finely chopped mushrooms now and saute they dry out all water and get cooked.
Now add the mashed potato, mint, garam masala, fennel seeds, pepper powder and coriander to the pan. Mix well and switch off. Check for salt and add at the step according to your taste.
Take the mushroom potato mixture, make it to small balls. Place in your hands, now press it gently to flatten it to round thick cutlets. You can make it to any shape you fancy.
Dust it to flour, then dip it in egg mixture and shake off any excess for a thin coating and then dip in the breadcrumb mixture to coat evenly.
Place them into a baking sheet or a plate till you finish all. Keep it aside for 15 minutes if possible to make it dry for deep frying.
If you want, you can freeze the cutlets at this point up to one day. You do not need to thaw before frying. They can also be frozen up to 2 weeks and defrost completely before frying.
Heat oil in a large pan in medium-high heat. Deep fry the cutlets till they are crisp and golden brown on all sides, turning once in between. Drain the excess oil by placing on kitchen paper.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup or yogurt mint dip and thinly sliced onion rings and lemon slices.

Notes

1. If you are pan frying then just drizzle with some oil over a hot non stick pan and arrange 4 at a time and cook in a medium flame both sides,until crisp.
2. You can add veggies or minced meat to this if you want 🙂 for meat lovers. And vegetarians, you can mix some all purpose flour and water, replace egg dip with the all purpose flour dip.
3. Adjust the quantity of chilis and black pepper powder according to your taste.

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Spicy Honey Garlic Rack of lamb

August 28, 2015 by Suki 7 Comments

This oven roasted elegant rack of lamb is quick to make, juicy and will impress anyone! 🙂

Rack of lamb, I need to talk about this elegant juicy meat. When I was given an offer from Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency to cook something with Lamb, I wanted to make something only with Rack of lamb and nothing else. It is purely because I wanted to make it for a long time looking at the beauty of Rack of Lamb. Usually Rack of lamb tends to be a little more expensive but it is purely worth the taste. I wanted to prepare something less complicated and intense in flavor. When you want to buy rack of lamb, it mostly comes frenched which means the fat and meat that is attached to the rib bones is removed making it a fresh and classic. You can prepare this recipe by scoring (take a knife and cut diagonal cuts on the thick white fat) and season with your favorite seasoning, seal and bake in oven. A piece of cake? Right 🙂 I know it is really simple to make and taste delightful!

I made this recipe using a combination of my few favorite ones. I like spicy honey garlic sauce in few of my recipes so I made this lamb recipe. And I guess my choice was totally right. It turned out so beautifully and also totally dainty. You can find this recipe along with other recipes on the Ontario Lamb Website.

If you want some good taste, we need some good color on the lamb. So, it is a mandatory step to sear the lamb in the pan before keeping it for baking. I proudly want to say that I am using Canadian-raised lamb for this post. People tend to cook more chicken or beef as few people tend to get intimidated by it and think it involves a lot of hard work to cook lamb. It is really easy and quick to make lamb. For Indian recipes, you can pressure cook it for 4-5 whistles before adding them to the gravy. And if you are baking it, seal it and roast it in pan and bake according to the way you want the lamb to be cooked.

For every 500g of meat, a rough guide to cook your lamb in oven is about 40 minutes for well done, Medium is about 30 minutes, Medium rare is about 25 minutes and rare is about 20 minutes. Everyone has his or her own preference of cooking the lamb.

Other favorite Lamb/Mutton Recipes: Restaurant style lamb biryani, Lamb pepper curry Roast, Kadai Ghost/Lamb Curry.

4.5 from 2 reviews

Spicy Honey Garlic Rack of lamb

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Main

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 600 g

Ingredients

Rack of lamb – 600 gms
Fennel seeds - 2 tsp , Crushed ( I used mortar and pestle)
Salt & pepper – to Season
Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp, chopped, for garnish.

Sauce:
· Brown sugar – 1 tbsp
· Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp
· Dijon Mustard – 1 tbsp
· Honey – 3 tbsp
· Sodium soy sauce – 2 tbsp
· Rice vinegar – 1 tbsp
· Ginger – 1 tbsp, freshly grated
· Sriracha – 1 tbsp
· Red chilli Flakes – 2 tsp
· Garlic – 5 cloves, minced
· Freshly ground black pepper – to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Pat the lamb dry with a paper towel.
Heat a small pan with all the ingredients under “sauce” in medium heat for 6-8 minutes till it reduces a little and gets thicker.
Meanwhile, Place the lamb on cutting board with fat side up. And lightly score the upper (fat layer ) with a knife.
Sprinkle some salt and paper on the lamb and mop up all the excess salt & pepper with the lam so that it is thoroughly coated.
Heat some olive oil in a pan. In medium to high heat, add the fennel seeds powder and place the lamb. Seal the lamb each side till it changes it color to golden. I did this by holding it in hands. You can use thongs.
Rub the sauce to the lamb. Coat it completely and top it with the oil from roasting in the pan. Place in the baking dish into the oven.
Place in the oven for 40 minutes for “well done” lamb.(or Medium is about 30 minutes, Medium rare is about 25 minutes and rare is about 20 minutes. ). I did well done.
Serve hot by garnishing with chopped coriander leaves and with some roasted veggies on side

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Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency and I have been compensated monetarily! However all opinions are my own as always.

Baked Pasta in creamy spinach Rose sauce

August 25, 2015 by Suki 23 Comments

A lovely Italian rose sauce recipe for any night of the week.

When I get bored of rice and if I want to have something classic, I always choose pasta. I have my few favourite recipes like mushroom creamy pasta, eggplant pasta, pasta aglio e olio, penne arrabiata, fettucine alfredo, ravioli with pesto & pine nuts and the list goes on. These are my most favourites. But I don’t mind 😉 to add few more to it. My friend krips took me to a restaurant in little Italy here before few months and we had a pasta based on rose sauce. And we both got crazy about the sauce. It was totally yum, simple, tasty and classy. So, we wanted to try it at home and we did try the very next week. We just loved it. She made it with some chicken and I made it with mushroom. 🙂 I did not take pictures when I made it the first time, I wanted to try and taste it first. So, this time I made with spinach and I baked it with some cheese on top and again it tasted scrumptious. This sauce is really good. You should try it! It’s an addiction I would say!

The way to season everything perfect is by seasoning everything along the way. Season your tomato sauce with salt and pepper, and also your pasta water with salt. Be careful not to season them more as we are adding cheese at the end which will give some additional salt.

You can just have this pasta without baking. I just took an extra step to make it even more delicious. I understand that this recipe has cheese, heavy cream and it makes many guilty. But once in a while we need to treat ourselves with these :), it will surely make you happy and complete! 🙂

4.5 from 6 reviews

Baked Pasta in creamy spinach Rose sauce

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Italian

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 5-6 servings

Ingredients

• Pasta – farfalle variety (you can use any variety) – 650g
• Olive oil – 2 tbsp
• Red chilli flakes – 2 tsp
• Garlic – 3 cloves, minced
• Onion – 1, medium sized, finely chopped
• Tomato sauce – 450 ml ( I used Hunt’s)
• Heavy cream – ¾ cup
• Sour cream – ¼ cup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sugar – a pinch
• Spinach – 2 cups
• parmeggiano reggiano/ Parmesan – 1 tbsp, grated, For garnish
• Fresh basil – 1 tbsp, chopped, for garnish
• Mozzarella –½ cup, grated for baking

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. Boil water and add the pasta with the salt needed for pasta. Then remove and run the pasta through cold water. And toss with a little oil to prevent sticking.
Take a pan in medium high heat, add oil. Add chilli flakes, onions, 2 cloves of garlic and sauté it till onions get translucent. Then add spinach and sauté it till it shrinks and get roasted a bit.
Now add the tomato sauce, salt, pepper, sugar for the sauce. Let it get cooked in medium to low flame for 25 minutes until it thickens, stir it occasionally.
Preheat the oven now to 350F.
Add the cream and sour cream mixture and let it cook for 5 minutes. When you think it has got into nicely thick creamy texture, add the pasta to it.
Now transfer this into a baking dish, top it with grated mozzarella and bake for 20 minutes till the cheese melts and turns its color into golden brown.
Top it with fresh grated parmeggiano reggiano, chopped basil and some crushed pepper just before serving.

Notes

1. You can use fresh tomatoes too instead of canned tomato.
2. You can use any kind of pasta you fancy.

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Beetroot vadai / Beetroot Lentil Fritters

August 23, 2015 by Suki 6 Comments

Crunchy,healthy and delicious deep fried lentil fritters using beetroot.

Vadai is a popular snack in southern India. It is super addictive snack. Perfect party snack and also it taste best with tea time snack. So, when I was asking my best friend, Divya casually what to make with beetroot that I have at home, she suggested Beetroot vadai. And 🙂 the next day I made this. 🙂 Thanks to you my sweety! 😀

And if you make these for parties, sure it is a great hit. The tips to make these vada tasty are by adding the shallots, and fennel seeds. And also people think it’s hard to make these. If you make them once, you will know how easy it is to make them. But make sure to not add water when you grind them. I have mentioned some tips in the notes. Do look at it 🙂 to make it perfect.

This red color vegetable is linked up with lot of health benefits like better stamina, improved blood flow and lower blood pressure. The beetroot has a sweet taste and is earthy and tender to eat. Beets are highly nutrious and healthy. It is a great dish for kids. Kids don’t love beetroot a lot, so it is a good way to sneak it into their diet. Even beetroot tikki, Beetroot Halwa, Beetroot coconut stir fry, Beetroot paratha are good ideas to make them have this veggie.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Beetroot vadai / Beetroot Lentil Fritters

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 2 hours

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 2 hours 40 mins

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• Channa Dal – 1 cup
• Shallots/Small onions – 1 cup, chopped
• Red Chillies – 3, broken
• Beetroot – 2, small, grated
• Curry leaves – 1 sprig
• Green Chillies – 2
• Fennel seeds/ Soambu – 1 tsp
• Ginger – 1 inch piece
• Garlic – 6 cloves
• Rice flour – 2 tbsp
• Salt – 1 ½ tbsp

Instructions

Soak channa dal with red chillies for an hour.
First grind ginger, chillies, garlic and fennel coarsely in a blender jar.
Drain channa dal completely and keep aside 5-6 chana dal whole. And blend the rest of the soaked dal with the ginger paste in the same blender jar. Do not add water at all when you blend the dal.
Mix the blended batter with finely chopped onion, grated beetroot , coriander, salt, rice flour and curry leaves.
Heat oil in pan/kadai.
Meanwhile Keep a bowl with water and wet both hands. Make equal sized balls first for uniform sized vadas. Shape each ball to flat patties of medium thickness.
The oil should be hot and when it is hot, Drop the vadas. Simmer the heat and deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown in color, flipping once in between. It is always good to cook in medium flame to ensure even cooking and golden red colour.

Notes

1. Make sure not to add water while grinding.
2. Make sure to soak vada for three to four hours. It is hard to grind them otherwise and also if it is not soaked well, it may turn hard and too crisp.
3. Rice flour helps to make it crispier. It is optional. You can soak 1 spoon for rice with the dal and grind instead.
4. Garlic is optional too.
5. Shallots can be replaced with normal red/white onions. But shallots give great texture and flavor.

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Spicy Honey Garlic Salmon in foil

August 20, 2015 by Suki 17 Comments

It’s loaded with garlic, sweet and heat that tastes a million times better than take-out. Spicy, crispy, sweet with ginger and garlic flavor. Truly finger licking salmon, and also one of those dishes that don’t require too much standing nor spending time in the kitchen. You can serve it with veg fried rice, rice noodles, or simple sesame noodles, or even some plain rice or quinoa. This is an easy dish you must try in summer. It is one of the easy dinner recipes that you can make without standing much on kitchen. Kids would love it and surely not only kids. I have few more Chinese Asian Inspired recipes that you can look on.

I have not cooked salmon many times but I think and believe the best and facile way to make salmon is by cooking in foil. The flavors will steep right in, leaving us with the most flavorful and tender salmon ever. If you want a quick, easy and a fancy dinner, just go for this. You can make it for someone special and you can make it quick and spend some time with him/her. Let it be for a date night, game night, pot luck and I would say this salmon is the best to go for!

I placed this on a bed of salad and it was perfect for a healthy quick dinner. And salmon is totally healthy, I have heard it promotes joints, reduces inflammation and improves the memory.

Other favorite baked recipes: SWEET AND SPICY GARLIC CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS, ROASTED CAULIFLOWER CHICKPEAS TACO WITH CILANTRO LIME CREMA, ROASTED EGGPLANT MOZZARELLA PASTA, CHEESY ROASTED BABY POTATOES WITH SOUR CREAM, SPICY BAKED CAULIFLOWER BITES

5.0 from 1 reviews

Spicy Honey Garlic Salmon in foil

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Salmon Fillets – 4 (around 5 ounce)
Sesame seeds & chopped coriander leaves – for garnish

For sauce:
Brown sugar – 2 tbsp
Lemon Juice – 1 tbsp
Dijon Mustard – 1 tbsp
Honey – 4 tbsp
Sodium soy sauce – 2 tbsp
Rice vinegar – 1 tbsp
Ginger – 1 tbsp, freshly grated
Sriracha – 1 tsp
Red chilli Flakes – 1 tsp
Garlic – 3 cloves, minced
Oregano – ¼ tsp
Kosher salt – to taste
Freshly ground black pepper – to taste
sesame oil – 2 tbsp
Lime zest – 1

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Pat the salmon dry with a paper towel.
In a small bowl, whisk ingredients under “the sauce”.
Dip each piece salmon into the sauce and place in the prepared baking sheet. Spoon the leftover mixture over the salmon.
Fold the sides of the foil over the salmon, cover it completely and seal the packed closed.
Now place into oven and bake for about 15- 20 minutes until cooked through.
Open the packed and broil for 2 -3 minutes for it to get caramelized and slightly charred.
Serve hot by garnishing with chopped coriander leaves and sesame seeds.

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Indian Style Mixed Veggies stir fry/ Poriyal/ Thoran

August 19, 2015 by Suki 1 Comment

Steamed veggies are seasoned and garnished with fresh coconut in this classic south Indian stir fry. Perfect Vegan healthy dry curry recipe using all veggies!

Today I wanted to post a comfort food from my home. You can make this in few minutes. This stir fry is healthy and goes well with plain rice or any gravy. I always prefer individual veggies stir fry than the combination of few veggies. But this time I wanted to have it all healthy, and tried combining all veggies that I thought of which will go well together. I was not even fond of veggies few years back. But thanks to my boyfriend for making me like it. In India, my Amma( Mom) made sure that I always had healthy food. She used to incorporate veggies into my food somehow. My dad always makes sure I have fruits. He used to chop some fruits in the morning and give us. And also whenever we have Indian breads like chapathi, parathas he used to give some cucumber and tomatoes on sides. So I was never conscious about all that. Now I make it a point to have veggies 😀 life changes once you stay far from your parents.

Healthy and tasty! Less oil, vegan and perfect for Saturday afternoon lunch. Today I wanted to post a comfort food from my home. You can make this in few minutes. I would say the main task is to chop those veggies. But pain is gain! Have to do something to make our life healthier. Poriyal/thoran is a preparation where the chopped or grated vegetables are sautéed in spices and topped with grated coconut sometimes. You can make poriyal/stir fry with almost all veggies like beans,carrot, cabbage, chow chow/chayote, bitter gourd/pavakkai,bottlegourd,beetroot,okra,potato,broccoli,zucchini, cauliflower, arbi/seppankezhangu , raw banana/ vazhakkai, cluster beans/ kothavarangai poriyal and so on.

I have been thinking of posting this recipe for a long time, then thought it’s too simple to post. But now I thought it can surely help beginners or bachelors. You can substitute this with any veggie you fancy and make this same stir-fry. You can even use frozen veggies, then you have to just 1 tbsp. of water, add the coconut and switch off. There is no need of boiling and the whole recipe just takes 5 minutes to do. It tastes best with rasam, dal,Onion kuzhambu/curry, spinach curry, pepper kuzhambu/curry or sambhar. You can also have this with roti or just with plain rice.

Other favourite stir fry recipes are here: STIR FRY/ DRY CURRY Recipes.

Indian Style Mixed Veggies stir fry/ Poriyal/ Thoran

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 cups

Ingredients

• Mustard seeds – ½ tsp.
• Urad dal/split black gram – 1 tsp
• Asafetida – ¼ tsp
• Onion – ½ cup, chopped (1 small)
• Green chilli – 2, chopped
• Curry leaves – 1 spring
• All veggies - 4 cups, chopped, I used beans, cabbage, carrot and peas
• Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
• Sambhar powder – ½ tbsp
• Salt – to taste
• Red chillies -3 , broken
• Fresh coconut – 1 tbsp
• Oil - ½ tbsp
• Coconut oil – 1 tsp

Instructions

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida, red chilli and let it splutter. Add curry leaves and fry for a min. Now add chopped onions and green chillies and salt and sauté well till onions gets slightly browned.
Now add the chopped veggies, sauté for a minute. Add the turmeric powder and sambhar powder. Mix it well. Add water till it is almost covered. Close the lid and let it turn soft and raw smell leaves.
Once all the water gets evaporated, add dry coconut and give a quick stir fry. Finish off by adding 1 tsp of coconut oil and switch off.

Notes

1. You can substitute this with any veggie you fancy and make this same stir-fry.
2. You can use 1 tsp of coconut oil to garnish. It gives extra flavor.
3. You can use frozen veggies also, then you have to just 1 tbsp of water, add the coconut and switch off.

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Basundi/ Condensed Milk Pudding

August 14, 2015 by Suki 9 Comments

Sweetened Thickened milk flavored with cardamom and saffron.

Basundi Video

I don’t do desserts or sweets without reason. I really need a reason to make them !:) And the reason today is “RELISHTHEBITE Blog 1^st YEAR ANNIVERSARY”! Do I need more reason to celebrate? I will share about the recipe and then will share the happiness of the blog anniversary 🙂

Basundi is also called Rabdi. Rabdi is flavored sweetened thickened milk by boiling milk for hours and finished up by adding sugar to it. It is one of a rice Indian delicacy. You can even add edible rose petals, but I just added rose water because I personally don’t like to have rose petals. You can even skip sweetened condensed milk and boil milk for some more time and add sugar to it. The name basundi looks complicated but it is so simple to make. I am adding sweetened condensed milk because the usual rabri procedure is to boil milk for hours, but by this method you can boil milk for few minutes and add sweetened condensed milk which makes thick and you can make this recipe in 40 minutes instead of hours. You can also make the recipe with unsweetened condensed milk and then add sugar as per your taste.

You can make this for any festivals dessert recipes. This recipes makes us to spend more time with people and still make some desserts for festivals! Other favorite dessert recipes: Coconut Ladoo, Coconut Burfi/fudge, Rice Kheer/Pudding, Rasmalai, Rasgulla, Aval kheer, carrot ladoo, semiya kesari/vermicelli sweet, Beetroot halwa

5.0 from 1 reviews

Basundi/ Condensed Milk Pudding

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: Indian

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 7 servings

Ingredients

Milk – 1 litre, full fat
Sweetened condensed milk – 350 ml
Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
Saffron – 6 strands, soaked in 1 tbsp of warm milk
Nutmeg powder – a generous pinch
Rose water – ¼ tsp
Pistachios & almonds – 20, chopped
Saffron – a few strands for garnish

Instructions

Take a thick bottomed saucepan in medium to high heat, Add milk and sweetened condensed milk in it. After it comes to boil, reduce the heat to low.
Taste after few minutes and if you find it too sweet for you, you can add more milk to it and adjust the taste.
Keep on stirring at intervals or else the mixture would get browned or burnt from bottom. Use a rubber whisk to whisk it so that it does not make any scratches in the vessel. Stir at regular intervals so that the milk does not stick to the bottom.
The milk or cream gets collected at the sides and top scrape it every 5 minutes and add it to the mixture. It took around 45 minutes on a low flame for me for the milk to get thickened. The consistency of basundi is a one-step thicker to condensed milk.
Add saffron milk, nutmeg powder, chopped nuts and cardamom powder. Stir well.
Switch off and serve warm or chill with some saffron strands. I like it chill so keeping it in fridge now!

Notes

1. The mixture will thicken a little more when it is cooling. So don’t make the consistency too thick.
2. If you are using condensed milk, and sugar, then use 300 ml condensed milk and 4 tbsp of sugar.

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I like my basundi chill and most people like it chill. So serve it chill!

Now, I am back to celebration mode. Relishthebite 1^st Year Anniversary! I can’t believe I am here. What a quick ride! I still remember the first day August 14^th, 2014 for my first post for Kuzhi Paniyaram/spiced dumplings. I took this picture on my Iphone, and did not know what to type on the first post and I was clueless about everything. And I am still ignorant about most of it. And for my eyes that was the best spiced dumplings picture last year. I feel like laughing out loud for that picture now but I want to keep it as a remembrance. And I am sure after two years I would be laughing at this “Basundi” picture. When I sent this picture to Foodgawker, I got rejected and I was down and furious for that! Hahaha! I was so insensitive! The third day after I posted my recipe, I got 100 views and I was super excited.:D I kept blathering about my blog to everyone I met for first week. I was very enthusiastic!

I know I have a long way to go to develop my writing skills, photography skills, coding skills and everything. But this minute, I am proud of myself! I am so happy that I started a food blog ! I am not very active in posting recipes for the past one month and I feel really bad for that. 🙁 But I am in that spot of my life that I had to go through this gap :(! Thank you all, my family, my friends, my fellow bloggers and my readers for supporting me always!

I wanted to share some of the insights of my blog :). I thought may be that would help some new bloggers and other fellow bloggers. And also I have no idea how these numbers should look for the first year 🙂 If I am going on the right path! I started all this as a hobby but when I see that so many users do check my recipe and try it, it makes me really happy! It gives me an answer to the hard work and time I spend for it :)! My other fellow bloggers and friends are the ones who should advise me on this 🙂

This is this year Google analytics from August 14,2014 to August 12,2015 for Relishthebite:

Last year august my page views was 3,710 and last month it was 76,533. I thought it is not that bad at all! 😉

My Blog is monetized for ads, so your views and the clicks help me earn some money, which eventually helps in running the blog :)! I am working as publishers for Gourmet Ads, Sovrn, Infolinks, Yellow Hammer Media, Foodie Blogroll, Swoop! And some affiliate programs like bluehost, Thesis theme, Genesis framework, Elegant Themes.

Do you love reading food blog? Want to start a blog? Don’t wait. It is simple! Today is your day to start the blog! I have a post on how to start your own blog!

Thank you all for taking the time to read this 🙂 and for supporting me always!!!

Pepper Paneer Do pyaza

August 13, 2015 by Suki Leave a Comment

Paneer or cottage cheese cooked in a rich, creamy and mildly spiced onion based gravy.

Paneer is an Indian cottage cheese, do is double and pyaza is onion. It is paneer curry with twice the amount of onions. I have seen so many different ways to do this recipe, some add tomatoes to it and some don’t. And some mince onions ,some dice onions, some blanche onions and add to the recipe. I guess there is no specific recipe. I saw sanjeev kapoor recipe and it was done on a dum( slow cooking) but there was no chilli powder or bell pepper added to it. I guess everybody has their own way to do this 🙂 So, I did this recipe adapting from all recipes I knew. And I totally loved it. It was perfect for parathas and peas pulao.

Onion based recipe sounds crazy as most of our recipes have onions to it. When I started cooking, I knew most of my recipes with just onion and garlic in it. But in this recipe, it is mainly onions. The onions are added in two different ways for different taste and texture. I added one as a fried onion, blended it and other as diced onions. This is semi dry kind of gravy.

For my non-Indian readers, Paneer is a type of fresh cottage cheese that can be made easily at home. Paneer has a milky flavor on its own, so it taste best when paired with strong spicy flavor like curries or tikka. This is a cheese that won’t melt like mozzarella or cheddar will. We can add them on any curry, or crumble them into flat breads like roti. Or even add them to kebabs and the cheese will keep its shape and chewy texture. I like making paneer at home. But sometimes i do buy them outside if I am very indolent. But I am sure home-made paneer is more hygienic and it saves a lot of money as well. Here is the recipe to make homemade paneer.

After a month, I am posting this recipe. I had lot of personal commitments to work as we all have some 🙂 once in a while. I was off this Monday, and I made this with some parathas and ghee rice. It made my day! And I clicked the pictures and posting it now.

Vegan Note: You can replace paneer with firm tofu for this recipe. And also avoid cream, yogurt and use coconut milk instead.

Other favorite Paneer recipes: Methi malai Paneer, Paneer Makhanwala, How to make homemade paneer, Paneer Biryani, Matar Paneer, cashew paneer

Pepper Paneer Do pyaza

Author: Suganya Hariharan

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: Side

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 3 cups

Ingredients

• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Spices – Cardamom – 1, bay leaf – 1, star anise – 1, clove -1
• Cumin/Jeera - ½ tbsp
• Onions - 1 (diced in a medium size)
• Mint – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
• Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
• Chilli powder – ½ tbsp
• Crushed pepper – 1 tbsp
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Kasuri methi leaves – 1 tbsp, crushed
• salt - 1½ tbsp (or as per your taste/ or add it after the gravy is ready also)
• Green Bell pepper – 1, diced ( I used both green & red to make it colorful)
• Paneer cubes - 15 cubes
• Yogurt – 2 tbsp
• cooking cream - 1 cup
• Coriander - to garnish

To grind:
• Onions – 1, fried.
• Chillies - 3 (chopped roughly)
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Garlic - 5

Instructions

Blend everything under “to grind”.
Heat a pan in medium flame. Add some oil, cumin, onions, and salt. Sauté them till they are translucent. You can add bell peppers in this step also.
Now add the blended paste and bell peppers and sauté for few seconds. Now add the yogurt, mint leaves, coriander leaves, chilli powder, crushed pepper, garam masala, Kasuri methi leaves. Mix well and sauté for a minute.
Add ½ cup of water and close the lid for 4-5 minutes.
Now add the cream and paneer. Add ½ cup of water again and mix gently. Close it and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes
When you see oil oozing out on the top,switch off and garnish with coriander leaves.

Notes

1. Cooking cream gives a rich flavor, so you should add it. Don’t skip it. You can use milk if you don't have cream
2. My salt amount was perfect. But if you want to add more or less, you can adjust as per taste.
3. I wanted it to be colorful, so used green and red bell peppers. You can use any colors or just one.

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Taste luscious with Paratha,parotta or ghee rice,veg fried rice, Restaurant style vegetable biryani.

Dinner Recipes in 30 minutes or Less

August 6, 2015 by Suki 8 Comments

Dinner can be ready in less than 30 minutes with these quick and easy recipes. On week-night, these quick and easy meals are perfect for when you are short on time and most nights aftera long day would like to have a delicious home cooked dinner. Even on the busiest of days, you will have the dinner ready in 30 minutes. Each day when we come back from work, we have only one question on mind, “what should I make for dinner?”! Here are few answers for it!!!

Garlic Creamy Mushroom Spaghetti

Garlic soaked mushrooms tossed with fresh herbs and coated in a creamy sauce on steaming spaghetti! Recipe is here.

Ghee Rice / Nei Soru

Fragrant pilaf with the flavors of spices and ghee shining through and topped with fried nuts and raisins. Recipe is here.

Spicy Arbi Fry/ Seppankizhangu Roast

Perfectly roasted arbi with spices! Recipe is here.

Quick & Simple Egg curry in 20 Minutes

Eggs are simmered in spicy & delicious Indian gravy ! 🙂 Recipe is here.

Spiralized Potato Veggie Cheese Sandwich

Spiralized veggies sandwiched between gouda cheese and spiralized potato patties! Deliciously Simple! Recipe is here.

Drumstick Masala/ Murungakkai Masala

A south Indian vegan gourmet stir fry made with simple ingredients.Recipe is here.

Mini Paneer/Tofu Corn Sandwich

Another quick 10 minute sandwich for breakfast or dinner! Recipe is here.

Whole Green lentil recipe/ Punjabi Sabut Moong Dal Recipe

Insanely delicious & addictive Indian classic dal. Perfect for weeknight! So easy & healthy, no more takeaway! Recipe is here.

It’s loaded with garlic, sweet and heat that tastes a million times better than take-out. Spicy, crispy, sweet with ginger and garlic flavor. Recipe is here.

Curd Rice/ Thayir Sadham Recipe/Yogurt rice

A perfect South Indian Style one pot meal with tips for making it for lunch box and parties. Recipe is here.

Honey Garlic Eggplant

Fried Chinese eggplant coated in honey garlic sauce, topped with sesame seeds and served with rice. Fragrant and delicious! Recipe is here.

Ginger Rice

Ginger rice is quick and aromatic, cooked with ginger, cumin and onion. Recipe is here.

Red Thai Tofu Curry

Fried Tofu and bell peppers in a spicy thai curry with high flavors of coconut milk induced in it. Recipe is here.

Spicy garlic Tofu in 10 minutes

Tofu with some chillies , spicy and yum ready in 10 minutes! recipe is here.

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry Egg Noodles

This dish is sneakily easy. 30 minutes to finish and you are done you can use any vegetable that gets wasted in your refrigerator. Open it there will be something! recipe is here.

Coconut Rice/ Thengai sadham

It’s an authentic rice variety from south India. When i get busy on week days, they are my life saviours. recipe is here.

Balsamic Peach Spinach Salad

It’s a refreshing summer salad. The dressing used is jam packed with all sorts of ingredients that just come alive when you eat it. recipe is here.

Veg Fried Rice (Indian Style)

Best rice to have when you want to have something healthy. recipe is here.

Sides: we can enjoy these with plain rice/Indian bread or bread

Trevti dal/ Three Lentil Dal

Classic north Indian dish bursting with flavours, healthy and comforting. recipe is here,

Spinach with Lentils/ Keerai Molagootal

Simple and flavorful dish with spinach, lentils and coconut! recipe is here.

Gujarati Surati Dal / Peanut Tomato Lentil Recipe

Sweet, sour and crunchy lentil curry with peanuts and tomatoes – simple, flavorful and delicious!recipe is here.

Aloo Rasedar Recipe

Easy spiced potato curry from Uttar Pradesh cuisine – Winter special.recipe is here.

Spinach Garlic Curry

A simple garlic spinach curry, uniquely flavored with milk. I’ll place this right up with my most-loved comfort foods.recipe is here.

Kadai Ghost / Lamb Curry

Tasty, easy Mughlai lamb curry recipe !recipe is here.

Egg Pepper Roast / Muttai Milagu Varuval

Easy, spicy egg pepper masala made with simple ingredients.recipe is here.

Cauliflower Potato Peas Masala / Aloo Gobi Matar Masala

Simple stir fry of potatoes, peas and cauliflower flavoured with aromatic Indian spices.recipe is here.

Mor Rasam / Buttermilk Rasam

Buttermilk with freshly grounded spices!recipe is here.

Cashew Paneer

Fried cashew and paneer pieces simmered in rich and creamy tomato cashew gravy!recipe is here.

Masala Stuffed Baby Eggplants

Purely vegan.recipe is here.

Vengaya Kuzhambu / Onion Garlic Curry

An authentic south Indian, tamarind based tangy curry with onions and garlic.recipe is here.

Kozhi Milagu curry / Pepper Chicken Curry

Made with freshly grounded whole black pepper and Fennel seeds with a hand full of curry leaves.recipe is here.

Matar Paneer/ Paneer Peas Masala

Pan fried paneer with peas and spices in rich cashewnut gravy.recipe is here.

Milagu Kuzhambu / Pepper Curry

Traditional south Indian kuzhambu – A blend of black pepper corns with other spices and ingredients.recipe is here.

Baby Corn Makhani

Crunchy Baby Corn in creamy Makhani gravy.recipe is here.

PALAK PANEER/SPINACH WITH INDIAN CHEESE

Delicious creamy spinach with cubes of Indian cheese – takes only 30 minutes to make.recipe is here.

RIDGE GOURD CHUTNEY/ PEERKANGAI THOGAYAL

One of the easiest spiced healthy dip made with few ingredients smile emoticon Absolutely delicious!recipe is here.

Lasooni Dal Tadka/ Tempered lentils

It has only a handful of ingredients but yet the garlicky flavour and the spices tempered in the ghee make the dish finger licking good for all seasons.recipe is here.

Paneer Makhanwala