Indian Style Veggie Lasagna

This is a multi step process at the least for me, if there is an easier way to get the same results then I don't know how, and would love to find out. unfortunately, this works every single time and lately i do not find myself adventurous enough to try out new methods, so I stick to the one that works.

Important: These steps are not in chronological order, I am just stating them here, you decide what makes more sense for you to do when, you will just need all these things ready when you start assembling your lasagna. usually I will start them all together so that they are done together too.

Step 1:

Boil the lasagna sheets and keep aside.


Step 2:
Grill the vegetables : Zucchini, Red, Green, Orange Bell peppers,
onions if you like, and pretty much anything else you want. Dice them and keep aside.

Step 3: Grate or cut lots of fresh Mozzarella Cheese. The pics here will show cut rounds but I think i was just being lazy, grate it :)



Step 4: The tomato sauce:

• Heat oil, add Cumin, whole black peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaf, grated ginger and fry for a bit.
• Add diced red onions and cook till translucent.
• Add lots of diced tomatoes and cook till the oil separates.
• Now add your favourite Indian masala(s) I like to use my ready made Shahi paneer masala, along with some garam masala, kasuri methi, deghi mirchi powder, coriander powder, salt etc and cook a little more.
  
• Add enough milk and cook to make a smooth consistency for the sauce. Keep aside

Step 4: The Spinach Filling:

• Heat some oil in a pan, add cumin, ginger, garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.
  
• I now use this alu masala that I get from Delhi but in lieu of that you could use some turmeric, coriander powder, red pepper powder, garam masala, black sesame seeds, saunf etc.
• Immediately add washed and cut spinach, you don't want the masalas to burn too much.
• Now add a whole tub of good ricotta cheese to the mixture and keep aside.

Assembly:

• Put some tomato sauce at the bottom of your oven proof dish.
• 
• 
  
• Add a layer of the boiled lasagna sheets
• 
  
• A layer of your tomato sauce

• A layer of the diced grilled veggies
• 

• A layer of fresh mozzarella cheese - the kind with high
• 
• 
  
• humidity levels.

• Another layer of the boiled lasagna sheets

• A layer of the spinach ricotta mixture
• Another layer of lasagna sheets and the tomato sauce.

• A final layer of regular mozzarella cheese (grated is better than cut up) and some butter pieces.
• Bake till the cheese melts, or a little longer, but since all the individual components are already cooked you do not have to worry about the baking part too much, unless you made the whole thing up earlier, kept it in the fridge and are now getting it ready to serve, in which case bake till it is heated through.
• Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve hot I guess. Gosh that is such a cliche to write. argh! Besides I need to learn how to take better pictures of food. I guess there is a reason why they show it in those amazing containers and paraphernalia in the books. hmm... next project.

Bruschetta toast

I love these healthy, filling, breakfast toasts, my version of the Bruschettas.

Ingredients:

2 Slices of Bread
1 Tomato
1 Small Red Onion
1 - 2 Green Chillies
1/2 Cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
3 Tablespoons Coriander leaves
A few fresh Mint and Basil leaves

Salt, Black pepper, and fresh bhuna zeera powder as per your own taste.

Method:

1. Finely chop the tomato, onion, green chillies, coriander, mint and basil leaves.
2. Mix in a bowl and add salt, pepper and bhuna zeera powder as per your taste
3. Spread a generous heap of the mixture on the bread pieces, and cover with a thick layer of the grated cheese.
4. Bake at 400 degrees C till the cheese melts and the bread toasts from the bottom.
5. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with orange juice.
   

Picture pending :)

Boncconcini Salad

I have to make all salads spicy and indianized so to speak, or else they will go uneaten. Here is a salad that can very well serve as a complete meal, at least for lunch.

Ingredients:

* Mixed Salad Greens - 1 box 150 gms
* bocconcini cheese - 1 box ( I get the pearls, but any kind should do)
* Tomatoes - 2 cut in large slices.
* orange juice - 10 mL
* Hari Mirchi - 2
* Adrak - 1 " peice grated
* Olive oil - 2 tsp
* the following things add as per your taste:
*Caesar dressing - (any other kind should do well too)
* Salt pepper
* Lal Mirchi
* hing
* zeera
* kadi patta
* rai
* Croutons
* Fried cashews
*Hara dhaniya




Method:

You will need two different bowls to prep the salad. It is best served in individual plates or large bowls, so keep those ready too.

Bowl 1:

* to the salad greens add salt, pepper, orange juice, and dressing.
* Keep aside till plating.

You might want to buy pre-washed greens, or wash and dry yours completely before hand, as the dressing does not evenly coat wet leaves.

Bowl 2:

* Drain the bocconcini pearls and put in a metal or glass bowl
* In a small pan ( i use those small handle wali karahis for tadka) heat some olive oil
* Add jeera, rai, karhi patta, hing, hari mirchi and cook for a minute
* Add grated adrak and cook again
* Add Deghi mirch and pour on top of the bocconcini pearls.
* Mix well and keep aside.

You are now ready to plate the salad. I usually divide each component into equal parts with imaginary lines in my head based on the no of servings I am making, just to ensure that each serving has relatively the same concentration of each ingredient. I don't know why but for some reason it is important to me that all plates are relatively similar heterogeneous mixtures. ahhhh... If that is not a priority you can just keep adding stuff in the same bowl to begin with and serve it as it is.

here is my method, to each plate:

* Add one portion of the greens
* Add half the spiced cheese
* toss half the diced tomatoes
* Garnish with croutons, fried cashews and dhania.
* Voila!! you are done, dig in !

Butternut Squash Soup

Here's my version of the Butternut Squash Soup, and no, I am not going to bother to list the ingredients first that is way too much work for me, I am going to just write it out, and if you have been cooking for a while you know that that is how we cook as we go along we no longer line up everything before we start, those days are long gone :)

1. Cut the squash lengthwise, remove the seeds, place in a 425 C oven till its tender.

2. Scoop the flesh out and place one half in a zip lock freezer bag to use later, the other half to make the soup. (Personally I do my baking on one day and the other cooking on another so I would freeze both halves but, you get the idea.)

3. Heat 1tbs of extra vigin olive oil in a pressure cooker, add 1 small onion coarsely cut --> heat add 1 tsp zeera, 1 stick of cinnamon,5-6 whole black peppercorns, grated ginger per taste --> Heat --> 1 tsp dhaniya pwd, 1/4 tsp garam masala pwd, salt to taste, -->heat -->+ 1 apple peeled and diced, and some fresh green dhaniya leaves -->heat --> + 1 tomato -->heat --> 1/2 or 1/4 cup cashews --> heat --> the butternut squash and some water. Cook till one whistle.

4. When cool enough, use a hand blender to puree the soup in the cooker itself. Thin to desired consistency with milk or water per your taste.

5. Enjoy with fresh baked croissants.