Semi Home Made Event Round Up

The Semi Home Made Indian Recipes event is officially over and I am pleased to present to you the creative, smart and delicious round up. I am so glad I hosted this event coz this way I gotto know lots of new blogs and made new friends.

I would personally like to give a big hug and thank every one who did send in their contributions, who said they would try and even the ones who emailed me saying why they couldnt :)

One thing I would like to mention before going to the round up is that I am trying to include all the readers who comment (even if its only once) in my fellow bloggers list, if you have sent in your entry / commented and dont see your blog in the fellow bloggers list, please let me know.

Following are the entries in order I recieved them :


Yasmeen -- Salmon Burgers with Butternut Squash Fries

Ambika --- Egg Curry

Tazaika -- Egg Sandwich

Nithu -- Chilli Paratha

Priya -- Chilli Chicken 65

Priya -- Prawn Tikka Pizza

Asha -- Cinnamon - Brown Sugar Rolls

Asha -- Pickle Masala Dal



Kalai -- Fantastic Croissants

Swathi -- Vegetable Puffs

Ruchika -- Paneer Calzone

Divya-- Tomato Sevai

Priyanka -- Spiced Vegetable Couscous

SE-- Almond and Chocolate Rugelach

Preethi -- Chicken Tikka

Tazaika -- Curd Raita

Cham -- Vegetable Samosa

Cham -- Rasmalai

Jyoti -- Vegetable Stew

Cool Lassi(e)-- Tandoori Chicken

Cool Lassi(e) -- Chicken 65

Cool Lassi(e) --Ice cream lollipops

Cool Lassi(e) -- Sugarplum balls

Cool Lassi(e) -- Bread Pudding

Cool Lassi(e) -- Baked Mini Samosas

Cool Lassi(e) -- Malai Kofta

Nithu-- Pav Bhaji

Following are my contributions to the event

Grilled Indian Pizza

Raita

Vegeatble Korma

Gulab Jamuns

To choose a winner was the toughest, so we went for the lucky draw method and every entry was listed. If you sent more than one entry your name was included for every entry individually, and so the badge of honor goes to .....drum roll .... Cool Lassi(e) !!!

Congratulations, this is yours to keep :)

Have a great week y'all , hope to see you soon :D

Tangdi Kabab

This is one of my favourites when it comes to Chicken. For this particular recipe I always deep fry the chicken but you can choose to bake it or grill it. If you don't have Greek yogurt handy you can use plain yogurt, just make sure to drain all the excess water overnight, so its really thick n creamy. One thing I like about this recipe is , it makes a great finger food and is ideal for entertaining, coz once you marinate the chicken, all you have to do is fry it.

Ingredients:
(all measurements are approximate, please feel free to suit your taste)

6 chicken drumsticks,
1 (5.3 oz) container plain Greek yogurt, (I used Oikos)
1 tbsp.ginger paste,
1 tbsp. garlic paste,
1 tsp. chili pdr, or as per your taste,
1/4 tsp. garam masala powder,
2 tbsp. tandoori chicken masala,
salt, to taste,
few drops red food coloring,
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice,
2-3 tbsp. cornstarch/ white corn flour.
chaat masala , for garnishing (optional)

Method:


Make a few deep slits in the chicken drumsticks and keep aside.


Its very important that the marinate is thick and not runny, so even if I use Greek yogurt I drain it for some time in a colander with paper towel. Now to the thick yogurt add ginger , garlic pastes, all the spices and lemon juice and mix well. Now add the chicken drumsticks n toss them so as to coat them with the marinate. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4-6 hrs. or overnight for best results.

Bring it to room temperature, sprinkle cornstarch, mix well before you deep fry or bake or grill them until nice and crispy. Serve with a lemon wedge. You could also garnish it with some chaat masala.



Enjoy !

Tandoori Lasagna

Yes this is lasagna with a twist, a fusion of Indian and Italian cuisine.

I wanted to make a lasagna, spice it up, give it a "desi" (generally used to refer to Indian) touch, but was skeptical about the outcome. Well, the outcome was wonderful , it was a hit and liked by the ones I made it for. Though I could not take decent , "blog-worthy" pictures , the recipe was too good not to share.

Lasagna is made in stages, then assembled and baked, so the list of ingredients may seem pretty long but it actually is a very quick, easy, no-fuss preparation. Using no boil noodles also cuts on the cooking time and process.

Ingredients:

7-8 no boil lasagna noodles,
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese,
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese,
non stick spray, (optional)

For the meat sauce:

2 - 3 tbsp. oil,
1 medium onion, chopped,
1.5 tbsp ginger paste,
1.5tbsp garlic paste,
1.5 lbs minced meat, (lamb/beef/turkey/chicken),
3 medium tomatoes, ground to paste without using water,
6 tbsp. tandoori chicken masala, (I used 2 different brands, 3 tbsp. of "Shan" and 3 tbsp. of "Badshah"),
2 tbsp. tomato ketchup,
salt, to taste,
chili powder , to taste (optional)
4 tbsp. coriander leaves, chopped
3 tbsp. mint leaves, chopped,
juice of a lemon/ lime

For the ricotta mix:

1 15oz. container of ricotta cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten,
few mint leaves, chopped,
few coriander leaves, chopped ,
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese,
salt and pepper to taste.

Method:

Cook the meat sauce, make the ricotta mix, assemble the noodles and bake.

To cook the meat sauce:

Heat oil , add onions and fry till translucent. Add the ginger , garlic pastes and fry for a min. Then add the minced meat and cook till its no longer pink. Add the tandoori masala, chili powder if you want it more spicy, salt , coriander and mint leaves and fry for some time. Now add tomato paste and ketchup and cook on low /med. heat until the meat is cooked. Add lemon juice and mix.

To make the ricotta mix:

Beat together all the ingredients .

To assemble and bake :

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F

Spray a 8"X 11" glass baking dish with non stick spray. This is totally optional, i like to do it to make sure the food does not stick and the slices come out easily . Pour some meat sauce and arrange the noodles. Pour some more meat sauce, then layer it with ricotta mix, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and repeat the layer one more time starting with the noodles . Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for an hour or follow the baking instructions on the box of noodles. Remove from the oven and let it rest for few mins. before you serve. Enjoy !

Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to a week, it does reheat beautifully.

The tandoori chicken masala is a real saver. I suggest even the vegetarians to keep a packet of this in their pantry. It can be used to flavor paneer, roasted vegetables,potato fries, chips, burgers, soups, sauces, curries, parathas, salads, nuts, vegetable biryani, breads/ rotis etc. etc.

This is my contribution to the following events :

Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Amy originally created by Ruth
and Original recipe created by Lore of Culinarty.

I am also sending this recipe as an entree menu to Yasmeens Health Nut Challenge where she asks us to prepare a heathy three course meal . My appetizer would be the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and for dessert its Healthy Choco Logs.