Soni's Food

Indian Inspiration!

Easy Home-made Hummus

27 | 12 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

The party season is on full swing and everyone wants easy recipes that can feed a crowd.My recipe today is probably one of the easiest and my most favorite of all time.Hummus!Its great for entertaining,its packed with nutrition, it’s easy to make and it tastes delicious.Hummus is a dip or a spread,made using cooked mashed Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) served alongside some toasted Pita or chips.It finds its origin in the Middle East and has now become an extremely popular appetizer in parties all across the globe.I love serving my Hummus with some Corn Tortilla Chips!

hummus1.jpg

Apart from its delicious taste, Hummus is also very nutritious.Its high in Iron and Vitamin C,and a great source of protein for Vegans and Vegetarians.You can cook the Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) at home (the process begins by soaking the raw garbanzo beans overnight followed by pressure cooking them the next morning).In case you’ve forgotten to soak your Garbanzo Beans (like I invariably do :)), place about 2 cups of raw Garbanzo Beans in your slow cooker.Add 4-5 cups of water.Let it cook for 5-6 hours and you have your Cooked Garbanzos ready to be used!I’ve cooked mine from scratch in this instance and you cannot beat the fresh flavors!Or you can skip the above process and use a Can of Cooked Garbanzo Beans instead.

Easy Home-made Hummus

An easy dip or spread using Cooked Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • Cooked Garbanzo Beans Chickpeas -2 cups
  • Reserved cooking liquid-1/4 cup
  • Tahini Sesame Paste-1 1/2 tablespoon
  • Garlic-2-3 cloves
  • Lemon Juice-3 tablespoon
  • Olive Oil-2 tablespoon
  • Salt-to taste

Instructions
 

  • Place all the ingredients in your food processor or blender and blend until smooth and mixed thoroughly.
  • Add a little cooking liquid if its too thick.
  • Check the seasonings.
  • Serve chilled or at room temperature with some toasted pita or any other chips or veggies of your choice.
As with any home made stuff, its way healthier than store-bought ones, since You control the amount of sodium. I have to warn you though that its highly addictive and you just cannot stop eating once you’ve started 🙂

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Tofu and Vegetables Stir Fry

11 | 08 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

Of late I’ve been trying to make really easy recipes to make my life a bit easier!My previous recipe was a quick no cook/bake dessert and this time I’ve followed that up with an easy Tofu dish that makes for a great weeknight meal with noodles or rice.Tofu is very delicate and tends to break-up many-a-times, but if you brown it in a little bit of oil, it holds it shape much better in my opinion.I also buy extra firm tofu for my stir fries and squeeze out all the water before working with it.
tofu and vegetable stir fry

The sauce that I’ve made here is extremely easy with the main ingredient being this Chili Garlic sauce that I picked up at a Korean Store. I’ve made the same recipe with chicken strips for a different variation and it came out delicious.You could use it for any stir fry for that spicy garlicky heat!

lee kum kee

It has just the perfect amount of heat and spice and its very similar to the Indo Chinese preparations served in Indian restaurants without any effort literally.It could easily pass off as one of my best Tofu dishes!


Tofu and Vegetables Stir Fry

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • Extra Firm Tofu- 15 oz
  • Green Peppers-2 small chopped
  • Scallions Spring onions-2 stalks chopped
  • Chilli Garlic Sauce-2 tbsp
  • Soy Sauce-1 tbsp + 2 tbsp for marination
  • Salt-to taste
  • Oil-2 tbsp

Instructions
 

  • Cut the Tofu in chunks and marinade in 2 tbsp of Soy Sauce for about 10 minutes.
  • Mix 2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce and 1 tbsp of soy sauce in a separate bowl.Keep aside.
  • Heat a tbsp oil in a non stick pan and fry the tofu pieces until golden on both sides.Take it out and keep aside.
  • In the same pan add 1 tbsp of oil and add the Scallions and Green Peppers.
  • Add the chili sauce mixture and stir fry for about 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the Tofu pieces and continue to cook on medium until nicely combined.
  • Check seasoning and add salt if desired.Serve hot with Noodles or Rice!





Yam Salad with Balsamic Dressing-{Guest post at Badger Girl Learns to Cook}

14 | 06 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

Today I’m very very excited!!Reason? I’m doing my first ever
guest post for my friend Kimberly’s lovely blog Badger Girl Learns to Cook !! I cannot explain how excited I was when she asked me if I wanted to be featured!! Thanks so much Kimberly! For those of you who don’t know her I have to tell you that her blog is full of healthy recipes that are good and good for you! Some of her unique creations are her Nettle and Nooch Pesto Pasta and Pineapple infused Vodka that made to the Foodbuzz Top 9! Go on and check out her blog if you haven’t done by now.
I thought of creating something really healthy for this post and was instantly reminded of the Yams that I had recently bought! A nice summer salad came to mind and I decided to go with it.Its absolutely delicious and extremely easy to put together. I couldn’t wait to have a bite as soon as I finished taking the pics!! It made for a perfect and light lunch! It’s got the spice, the sweet, the tart and the crunch! What else do you need?

Yam Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Japanese Yams medium- Peeled and cubed
  • Cooking spray
  • Salt
  • 2 tsp chopped thyme
  • 1 Yellow Pepper diced
  • 1 Green chili or jalapeño chopped
  • 1 onion diced
  • Basil-for garnish
  • Balsamic dressing:
  • 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Prepared mustard
  • 1 tsp Brown sugar
  • ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Mix together the dressing ingredients.
  • Place the yams on a baking sheet. Drizzle with cooking spray and mix salt and thyme all over.
  • Cook for about 30 minutes until fork tender.
  • Mix all the veggies with the cooked yams. Drizzle the dressing all over. Garnish with basil and enjoy!!

Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Patties

20 | 04 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

My newest craze these days are Sweet Potatoes.So rich in texture, taste and a nicer and healthier alternative to Potatoes.Packed with nutrition, rich in fiber, vitamins and beta carotene, this is a wonder vegetable that you can incorporate into your family’s diet. Its a versatile vegetable, that can be used in many different ways right from cutlets,to a simple mash, casseroles or desserts.

sweet potatoes

I’d originally planned on making sweet potato mash for dinner.The idea of making these into patties popped in when I’d peeled them up and I instantly changed my plan.I opened up my spice cabinet and threw in some coriander and cumin to give it a kick.The result is a luscious healthy appetizer or snack that you can enjoy guilt free!

The patties taste best when the natural sugars in the sweet potato caramelizes and imparts an earthy slightly charred flavor!The ginger kicks in along with the spices and the corn starch works as a binder.Its rustic and delicious!!I have been making it ever since and I’m sure you will too!

Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Patties

Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Patties

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Ingredients
  

  • Sweet Potatoes-3 Medium or 4-5 small makes about 8-10
  • Potato any kind-1 medium boiled
  • Ginger-1 inch crushed
  • Green Chillies jalapeños-2 chopped finely
  • Ground Cumin-1 tsp
  • Ground Coriander-1 tsp
  • Cornstarch-2-3 tbsps
  • Salt-to taste
  • Oil-for shallow frying

Instructions
 

  • Wash the Sweet potatoes and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees F for 50 mins- 1 hour until cooked.
  • In the meantime boil a potato either on the stove-top or in a microwave.
  • Peel off the skin of the sweet potatoes and the potato, mash it and mix all the ingredients except oil.
  • Take some of the mix and flatten it between your hands, into round shaped patties.
  • Heat oil in a non stick pan over medium heat.
  • Shallow fry until nicely brown and caramalized on both sides.Serve hot with some ketchup!
Notes: For best results 
  • refrigerate the ready patties for about 20 minutes before you fry them
  • Use a Non-Stick pan to prevent them from sticking (do not use too much oil, just 2 tbsp on each side should suffice)
  • Let the patties develop a nice golden color on one side before you flip them.

Indian Spiced Quinoa Patties/Cutlets

23 | 02 | 2012
By Soni Sinha

Of late, every other recipe you come across is made using Quinoa the “super grain”, but did you know, its actually a relative of green leafy vegetables like spinach and Swiss Chard?I had never made Quinoa, until the inspiration came at a recent gathering, when a good friend brought the most delicious Quinoa salad with cucumber, onions, avocadoes etc and it just tasted wonderful.I came home and my imagination started running wild with all the things I could do with Quinoa.That’s the beauty of this grain.Its versatile enough to be incorporated in many ways from salads, to pilafs to cutlets and the options are endless.

I wanted to make it with an Indian twist and my first experiment with Quinoa began (I know, it really took this long ;))!The addition of peas was a great idea, since it perfectly balances the nutty flavor of the Quinoa with its sweetness and gives a perfect texture to the cutlets.The spices add that earthy taste and flavor the whole dish.The ginger and garlic is crucial for that smoky deliciousness that is so important for an Indian recipe and finally coriander gives it the much required freshness.

Talking about its health benefits, I could fill pages worth of goodness, but I’ll keep it short!Its not only high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein which means that it has a well balanced amino acid profile that is essential for tissue growth and repair.Rich in magnesium it also helps people with migraine by reducing the frequency of headache episodes.Its good for the heart, rich in anti-oxidants,full of fiber and the list goes on!Its definitely one of the healthiest foods around.
The cutlets were a success and even my picky eight year old loved it.That tells me I need to come up with even more exciting variations of Quinoa.Watch this space!(Source-WHfoods)

Indian spiced Quinoa Patties/Cutlets

Print this Recipe

Ingredients:

Quinoa-1 cup 

Frozen Green peas-1/2 cup

Ginger-1/4 inch crushed

Garlic-2 cloves crushed

Ground cumin-1 tsp

Ground Coriander-1 tsp

Green Chillies (optional)-2 chopped 

Coriander leaves-1/2 cup chopped

Oil- for shallow frying

Salt- to taste

Breadcrumbs-2 cups

 

Batter:

All purpose flour/maida-1/2 cup

Water-1 1/4 cup

 

Process:

Cook the quinoa according to instructions.Microwave the peas in a bowl for about 2 mins.

Mix the flour and water and keep the batter ready in a bowl.Keep the breadcrumbs ready in a plate.

Take a deep dish.Mix Quinoa, peas and all the ingredients except oil.

 

Flatten between your palms to make round patties,

Dip these patties into the flour batter and roll into the breadcrumbs.

  • You can either bake them in a 400 degree oven.Spray with cooking spray and bake until they’re golden brown.
  • You can deep fry these in a deep skillet until golden.
  • You can shallow fry like I’ve done here.

Serve hot or at room temperature with some ketchup or chutney!Enjoy!