Aloo Tikkis – Potato Patties

by Trisha Vaz
The last couple of weeks have just passed me by. There are so many goodies that I’ve whipped up during this time, but I just haven’t gotten around to posting any of them yet. To top that I had the craziest weekend. We had the family over for lunch on Saturday, it was so much fun having them over, that’s 11 people and 3 dogs in all. Once they left, I had to focus on a real quick clean up since I had to complete an order of a kilo of handmade liqueur chocolates and a couple of dozen thank you bars for a Monday pickup. By the time Monday  arrived, I was ready to sleep it off. Of course, that was not possible. Even though things were so hectic, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Since I had very little time to put meals together in the last few days, I whipped up some of the quick but good stuff. One such treat is the Aloo tikki, or a potato cutlet. Its comes together fairly quick and is really tasty. I served it as a side but I think it would be really tasty in a vegetarian burger as well. This tikki is fairly versatile and you can add a few finely chopped veggies to it if you’d like. You need to add some bread crumbs to make these a little sturdier than they would ordinarily be. It also adds a lovely crunch to the tikkis.  This would be a great way to serve the kiddies their veggies, in a burger. I think they’d enjoy it. Try it out and let me know how it goes.
Aloo tikkis before frying
Aloo Tikkis

2 potatoes, washed, boiled and mashed
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 green chilly, finely chopped (optional)
Some fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
A pinch of chat masala (optional)
1/2 tsp red chilly powder or to taste
A couple of pinches of cumin powder
1-2 tbsp bread crumbs
Oil, for frying
Mix all the ingredients except the oil well. 
Check for seasoning and adjust if needed.
Shape into small cutlets.
Shallow fry in a pan.
Serve hot.

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Sides, Starters / Appetizers, Vegan

Tricolored Vegetable Pulao

by Trisha Vaz
This is a recipe I came up with on the go. This Saturday, I was presented with a situation where I had a couple of really great side dishes(one of them being fish cutlets and the other I will share with you shortly) for lunch and I  needed to whip up a nice rice dish. I didn’t want to use my regular pulao recipe (which I’ve just realized I haven’t shared with you yet, but I will), so I decided to try making a vegetable pulao. Usually I only ever use peas in my rice, but this time I felt a little adventurous and used some corn kernels, peas and chopped up carrot. I ended up with a tricolored medley of vegetables in my rice, hence the name Tricolored Vegetable Pulao. Doesn’t it look pretty. I was very happy with the way it looked and it tasted great. I think I’d be able to eat this by itself. This dish is also ideal to prepare if you have kids in the house that don’t each too much spice, I’m sure they’ll love it. Try it out and you’ll see for yourself why this is a kid friendly recipe.

Tricolored Vegetable Pulao


1 cup rice
2 bay leaves
2″ cinnamon
6 cloves
4 pepper corns
2 pods of cardamom, whole
Salt, to taste
1 tbsp vegetable oil (You can use ghee/clarified butter if you prefer)
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 cup green peas (You can adjust this quantity to suit your liking, I used a little more)
1/4 cup corn kernels  (You can adjust this quantity to suit your liking, I used a little more)
1 onion, chopped

Wash the rice and soak it in some water while you prepare the other ingredients for the pulao, about 15 minutes.

Heat some oil in a vessel and add the bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and pepper corns. Let it infuse the oil with its flavors.

Once you can smell the aromas from the spices, add the onions and saute till they are soft and translucent.

Add the vegetables and stir fry them for a couple of minutes. Add salt to taste.

Drain the rice and add it to the veggies. Stir gently.

Add 2 cups of water. (I use a 1:2 rice to water ratio while making a pulao.)

Stir gently to mix everything. Cover and cook till all the liquid is absorbed.

Turn off the fire and fluff the rice up using a fork.

Serve hot!

This recipe is linked to –
Mouthwatering Mondays
Just Another Meatless Monday
Mangia Mondays
My Meatless Mondays

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Mains, Recipes, Vegetarian

A ridiculously good sandwich

by Trisha Vaz
This is going to be a quick post, because I was having my doubts about whether or not I should post something so ridiculously simple. But in the end the freshness and the taste of this sandwich triumphed.

Back when I was in college, we had this amazing cafe really close by that served some of the most amazing snacks and it was a fact that if you couldn’t find a person on campus, you’d definitely find them at this cafe. On offer was a range of savory puffs, rolls, cutlets, sweet stuff and sandwiches. This humble tomato cheese sandwich was my favorite. Just recently, out of nowhere I really wanted to have one of these and there was no way that I was going to travel 1 hour to and another hour back just to get a taste of this, considering how easy it was. So I ran to the kitchen and in less than 5 minutes I was happily munching away on one. At that moment nothing could’ve tasted better. This sandwich is so simple, that nothing can go wrong really.

But don’t take my word for it. Try it out yourself and let me know what you think of it. Its a meatless sandwich that I absolutely love.

Tomato Cheese Sandwich
Makes 1 sandwich

2 slices of bread
Butter, to spread
1 tomato, sliced
A slice of cheese
Salt, to taste
Freshly crushed black pepper corns, to taste

Spread butter on one slice and top that slice with slices of tomato. The butter prevents the slice of bread from getting too soggy from the juice of the tomato.

Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the slices of tomato to season it.

If you’d like, you can butter the other slice of bread and place a slice of cheese over it.

Cover the slice of bread that has the tomato slices on, with the one that has the cheese slice on.

Enjoy!!!

This sandwich (hardly a recipe 😉 ) is linked to –
A Little Birdie Told Me
Tuesdays at the Table
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Sandwiches

Bombay Street Food Special #4 – Sukha Bhel – Light and healthy puffed rice salad

by Trisha Vaz
Today I’m going to actually add another post to the Bombay Street Food Special Series I’d started a while ago. I’ll bet you thought I was done with that. But I’m not. I will keep adding to that section, because I love street food. Today’s recipe, falls under the chaat category and there is a more fully loaded version with a number of chutneys and stuff that I so want to try making at home, I’ve just never gotten around to it, but this version is a quick and easy treat that you can munch away on in about 5 minutes. It has lovely fresh flavors and it makes for a quick, healthy snack.

It is ideally served with some papdi, which is a small crispy puri. I didn’t have any handy and haven’t yet tried making them, but soon will. I did the next best thing. I served it with some of my homemade tortilla chips. The street food stalls in Mumbai sell portions of this chaat in paper cones and patrons use the crisp, but sturdy papdi as a spoon.
Sukha Bhel

1 cup puffed rice, murmura
1/2 onion, chopped 
1/2 tomato, chopped
1 green chilly, chopped fine (optional)
1 tsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped
A pinch of Salt
A couple of pinches Chaat masala
A squirt of lime juice
1/4 cup sev
1-2 papdi/tortilla chips crushed
1 papdi/tortilla chip whole
Mix the onion, tomato, chilly, salt, lime and chaat masala lightly, in a bowl.
Add the puffed rice, crushed papdi / tortilla chips and sev and toss well. 
Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with a whole papdi / tortilla chip.
This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Salads, Snacks, Vegan

Homemade Tortilla Chips – Take 2

by Trisha Vaz
Here’s another take on homemade tortilla chips. You must’ve figured out by now that I like my nachos. Unfortunately, tortilla chips are pretty hard to come by in stores around here. And when you do find a packet, their either insanely overpriced or terribly salty and full of artificial stuff you don’t want to be putting into your system. So a while ago I’d made some Nachos, from scratch. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. The only thing that I wasn’t thrilled about is that the tortilla chips were roasted on the griddle and then deep fried, meaning, lengthy process, not to mention I found the chips absorbed more oil than I’d have liked. So when I was browsing through my recipe book collection the other day, I came across another take on tortilla chips by Nita Mehta. So I said why not give it a try. Here you deep fry the dough directly.

I must say, I was really pleased with this take on homemade tortilla chips and I know for a fact that this will be my go to recipe in the future. For starters, the process was considerably shorter that the first version. These chips can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container. They don’t absorb much oil and are nice and crunchy. A note of caution, these are so darn good, you won’t be able to stop munching on them just the way they are. We went though half of the quantity without even making a single portion of nachos with them. They make fantastic nibbles.

Tortilla Chips
Recipe from: Soups, Salads & Starters by Nita Mehta


1 1/2 cup corn meal (also called maize flour or makki ka atta)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Knead into a pliable dough with water.

Make large marble sized portions and roll them out into thin discs.

Prick it all over with a fork.

Cut into wedges.

Heat some oil in  pan and deep fry on a medium flame till they turn golden brown in color.

Drain them off on some absorbent kitchen paper.

When they’ve cooled off completely, store in an air tight container.

Use as needed.

This recipe is linked to –
Savory Sunday
Mangia Mondays
Hearth & Soul
A Little Birdie Told Me
Tuesdays At The Table

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Snacks, Starters / Appetizers, Vegan

A Weekend Breakfast – French Toast

by Trisha Vaz
Our weekday breakfasts are usually hurried as we get ready to make our way to work and get on with our day ahead. So on weekdays, its usually a couple of slices of buttered toast, a cup of coffee and a fruit or some cereal or porridge and a fruit. So over the weekend, I feel its only fitting to have a more leisurely and stepped-up-a-notch type of breakfast. Some of you will remember that one of these types of breakfast is a helping of pancakes. Another such fairly simple, yet very satisfying breakfast option for me is French Toast.

There are a few variants to this basic French toast that I’ve tried and I’ll list them at the bottom of the post. Something that I’ve been longing to try is a stuffed French toast. I seriously hope I get around to trying that sometime soon; I have so many ideas for those. This basic recipe I picked up from watching my mother in the kitchen. People find it hard to believe that when I was a kid, I didn’t fancy spending much time in the kitchen watching my mother cook. One exception was  when she was making something sweet. So when she was making us French toast for breakfast or when we were making goodies to go on the Christmas platter, it was hard to get me out of the kitchen. Till this day, I really enjoy making the sweeter stuff, desserts, cakes, cookies etc. Its the everyday cooking that sometimes leaves me lacking inspiration. 
Anyway back to the French toast. What I really like about making this at home is that you get to decide what flavors you want to work with and just how sweet you’d like it to turn out. When frying the slices of bread be sure to let it color a little. Its the browning that caramelizes the sugar and gives it a delightful crunch. 
What’s your favorite French Toast recipe? Drop in a line in the comments section and let me know. I’d love to try some new variants.
French Toast
(This recipe should make enough to dip about 4-6 slices of bread)
4-6 slices of bread
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
Sugar, to taste
A few drops of vanilla extract
Butter / oil to fry
Heat a knob of butter or a little oil in a pan.
Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla till well combined. Use a shallow bowl that is wide enough to fit the slices of bread in.
Dip the slices of bread in this mix, one at a time to cover well on both sides and soak in some of the liquid. I usually do a double dip on both sides. 
Carefully place the slice in the hot pan and let it cook on a medium flame till it caramelizes a little. Flip and cook the other side as well. 
If your griddle or pan is large enough, you can do multiple slices at a time. You’ll finish off faster. 
Enjoy it warm with a nice cup of coffee. 
If you’d like, you can drizzle some honey over the slices when you’re ready to eat. Don’t drizzle the honey before hand, it will make your toast soggy. If you don’t fancy honey, you could dust it with some powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar as well.
Variants
– You can substitute the vanilla with some cinnamon powder. You could also use a combination of both.
– You can also substitute the vanilla with some freshly grated nutmeg. 
Both this variants are gloriously flavorful. Try them all and see which one you prefer.
This recipe is linked to – 

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Recipes

Bombay Street Food Special #3 – Rava Idli

by Trisha Vaz
I know, it seems like I’ve abandoned this series on Bombay street food. I haven’t, but sometimes theres just so much going on that its not possible to fit everything into a twenty four hour day. In the past few days since I’ve returned, the day seems to have somehow shrunk and become even shorter. Anyway, the news is that I’m going to try and squeeze in some time for this serious. 


South Indian fare is very popular street food in Bombay. Today, I’ve got a little twist on the the traditional fare, but I promise you it is good, so very good. Typically, South Indian snacks like dosas and idlis take a while to make. The batter is made with a base combination of rice and urad dal (black gram). The ingredients have to be soaked, ground and fermented etc. (not necessarily in that order). In time, I’m itching to try out the traditional method. This take, however, is a quicker, simpler version. Its almost an instant recipe. The idlis turn out really delicious and I made a quick coconut chutney that my mum always made to go along with dosas and idlis. My mum has this amazing lady for a neighbor. She is from South India and ever so often whenever she has time away from school, where she’s a full time teacher, assistant head mistress and I don’t know what else, she’d treat us to a huge portion of breakfast snacks like this that she’d make for her family. I miss those days. And honestly, she was the first person I thought about while I was eating these. I should try and coax her to give me her recipe for the traditional rava idli.


But back to the instant rava idlis, they make a quick healthy snack with rava (semolina) and it is steamed. What could be healthier? For me, this is like soul food.



Rava Idli

(Makes 8)
1 cup rava or semolina
1 cup curd or plain unflavored yogurt
Salt to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup water (I used a almost half)
A pinch of soda bi-carbonate

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and make sure there are no lumps.

Let it stand for 20-30 minutes. During this time you can make the chutney (Recipe below).

Pour the batter into idli moulds and steam for about 10 minutes.

Open the steamer and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Then take the idlis out of the moulds. A small spatula or the blunt end of a knife should be just right incase you need to help the out of the moulds.

Enjoy them hot with some Coconut Chutney.

Coconut Chutney

1/2-3/4 cup of freshly grated coconut
1-2 green chillies
Salt, to taste
1/2″ ginger
A ball of tamarind, the size of a large marble, soaked in a little water

Blitz all the ingredients together in a blender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

And thats it. In half an hour you can treat yourself to something yummy and wholesome.

This recipe is linked to –
Tuesdays at the Table
Delectable Tuesdays

Tuesday Night Supper Club
Whats Cooking Wednesday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Recipes, Snacks, Vegan

Beef Cutlets

by Trisha Vaz
This is another treat, thats really tasty, very moreish and can be served as a side at a meal or coupled with some homemade fries or mashed potatoes and a salad, is a meal in itself. Whenever I make these, I always like having a few extra, which I simply refrigerate and keep for another day. It stays good for about 3-4 days, it may last longer, but we always manage to finish it off by then. You simply bring it to room temperature and heat it in a skillet, covered, and you’re good to go.

P.S. I won’t be posting for the next few days, since I’m headed out of town for a week. See you when I get back. I have so many recipes lined up to share with you guys, I can’t wait to get those posted. So make sure you come back. 🙂

Beef Cutlets
(Makes about 10 depending on size)

250g ground beef (beef mince)
1 large or 2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2″ ginger, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 egg
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4-1/3 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
Salt, to taste
2 slices of bread
Bread crumbs, to coat the cutlets
Vegetable oil, for frying

Soak the slices of bread in water for a few seconds, drain out all the liquid and crumble. Mix together all the ingredients except the bread crumbs and vegetable oil.

Make sure all the ingredients are well mixed and evenly distributed.

Shape into cutlets.

Coat with bread crumbs.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Carefully place the cutlets in the pan and let it cook on a medium heat till its done to your liking. Turn over and cook the other side as well.

Repeat till you’re done with the meat mix, adding more oil to the pan as and when you need to.

Serve hot with some fries and a salad, and some spicy tomato ketchup.

Enjoy!!!

This recipe is linked to –
What’s Cooking Thursdays
Full Plate Thursdays
Thrilling Thursday
It’s a Keeper Thursday

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Beef, Goan Recipes, Mains, Recipes, Sides, Starters / Appetizers

Skillet Grilled Cheese Sandwich

by Trisha Vaz
Today’s post posed quite a dilemma for me. I almost didn’t do this post, but then I decided that this delicious sandwich was too good to pass up. Its such a simple sandwich to put together, which is why I had second thought about posting it, but the taste obviously won that battle. I couldn’t help thinking of those that might be out there that haven’t tried this sandwich before. I know I hadn’t till a couple of weeks ago.

It so happened that early one evening, I was famished. I needed to eat something and I needed it at that very moment. I had just returned home from grocery shopping and didn’t bother to pick up anything to munch on. I’m glad I didn’t. Not eating junk food is always a good thing, isn’t it? So there I stood, before my open refrigerator, staring blankly at what was on the shelves, willing for something to shout out and relieve those hunger pangs. And friends, its during those moments of almost delirious desperation, that I decided to try this sandwich out. It took me just a few minutes to make since theres no need to wait for the butter to soften or even grate the cheese, and when I tasted it, it was so much better than I could’ve ever imagined. It was pure bliss. Later that evening, I treated my husband with one and he asked for a second one after just taking a bite. Thats how good it was. This has become a favorite in my house. I hope you will try it out too.

What I like about this particular grilled sandwich is that you don’t need any fancy equipment. Everyone has a skillet lying around in their kitchen, so this is a grilled sandwich that everyone can enjoy.

Skillet Grilled Cheese Sandwich
(Makes one sandwich, but you can easily make as many as you wish)

2 slices of sandwich bread
1 slice of cheese (you can use any variety you like)
A couple of tsp butter

Place the slice of cheese between two slices of bread.

Place a dollop of butter in a skillet over low to medium heat. You don’t want the butter to burn.

Place the sandwich in the pan and let it brown off, uncovered till a little crisp.

Carefully turn the sandwich over, place a couple of smaller dollops of butter on the sides of the pan and lift the edges of the sandwich to help it under. Brown off that side of the sandwich as well.

Take off the heat. I cut it into two rectangular pieces, but you don’t have to, cut them any way you like, if you want to cut it, or leave it whole.

Eat while its still hot.

Look at all that golden melted gooey goodness of the cheese.

This recipe is linked to –
Recipes I Can’t Wait to Try
Whats Cooking Wednesday
Real Food Wednesday
What’s On The Menu Wednesday
Hearth And Soul

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Recipes, Sandwiches

Pancakes for the Breakfast Club!

by Trisha Vaz
I’m reposting these for a fun event I’m participating in called “The Breakfast Club” hosted this month by Krithi of Krithi’s Kitchen. This wonderful event was started by Helen of “Fuss Free Flavors”. Do head over and participate. This month you need to link up Pancakes.

I can’t wait for the round up. This is going to be so much fun!!!

Trisha Vaz

This post was posted in Breakfast, Recipes