Macaroni with Cheese

The original recipe is from Bawarchi.com. I wanted to make a macaroni dish and i found this recipe quite interesting. I made it with the vegetables i had in my refrigerator. The outcome was great.

Ingredients

Macaroni - 1 cup
Onion - 1 medium, cut lengthwise
Beans- 1/4 cup, cut into thin strips
carrots - 1/2 cup, cut into strips
Peas- 1/2 cup
Corn - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Grated cheese - 2 tbsp and more for garnishing
Maida - 1 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup - 2 tbsp
Red chilli sauce - 1 tsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt and white Pepper as per taste

Boil Macaroni till tender. Drain the water. Run cold water through it. Drain and add few drops of oil and keep aside.
Wash the vegetables.
Heat oil in a pan. Starting with onions saute all the vegetables. Add salt and pepper and keep aside.
Now in another pan add one tbsp of butter and put it on a low flame.
Add maida to it and fry for a while. Then add chilled milk and stir till mixture becomes little thick.
Remove it from stove and add macaroni and cheese and little salt and pepper.
Now take an appropriate baking dish and grease it with oil or butter. Then spread a layer of the stir fried veggies. Then spread half of the macaroni mixture. Cover it with little tomato ketchup and chilli sauce. Put the remaining veggies and top them with the rest of the macaroni mixture. Garnish with some grated cheese. Dot it with some butter and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 min or till cheese melts.

Note: The original recipe has capsicum and cabbage. I have replaced it with some frozen veggies. I have reduced milk from 2 cups to 1 cup. The original recipe has macaroni as the bottom layer. I have used veggies for the bottom layer as i found macaroni sticks to the base.

BANANA WALNUT LOAF

As the name suggests this cake has banana, walnuts and is made in a loaf pan. This is the first cake i tried. Before this i made a chocolate cake using a cake mix. I am quite new to these ovens. Back in India i had never used any kind of ovens. When i saw the photo on Sapna's blog i knew i had to make this. We liked it so much that i have made it thrice till now. This is even a good food item to carry while traveling.
I have followed the recipe as it is. The only change i made is i added little more sugar.

Ingredients:
Wet Ingredients:

Ripe bananas - 2
Melted butter - 6tbsp
Vanilla essence - 1tsp
Eggs - 2 (large)

Dry Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 and 1/3rd cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 cup (original recipe calls for 2/3 rd cup)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped

Combine all dry ingredients except walnuts.
Mash bananas. Add butter and vanilla extract to bananas and mix well.
Beat eggs lightly.
Mix banana mixture and eggs till smooth. I did this with the help of my blender.
Then slowly fold small portions of the dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix well.
Add the chopped walnuts. Reserve a few for addding on top of the cake.
Apply butter to all sides of the loaf pan and sprinkle some flour.
Pour batter into the pan. [Note: There should b ample space in the pan for the batter to rise]
Sprinkle walnuts on top.
Bake in a preheated oven for approximately 55 min at 350 F
A wooden toothpick or a knife when inserted in the center should come out clean.
Cool the cake for 10 min. Remove loaf from pan.
Can b stored at room temp for 4-5 days.

I am sending this to Mansi's Vegetarian Thanksgiving event.

Goli Baje

Goli Baje is another famous Mangalorian snack. Goli means round and baje means bhajias.

Ingredients:

Maida/All purpose flour - 1 cup
Besan/Chickpea flour - 5-6 tsp
Salt
Sugar- 1 teaspoon
Green chillies- 1
Ginger- 1/2 tsp
Baking soda- 2 pinches
Buttermilk (dilute) - as needed

Grind green chilly, ginger, salt, sugar in mixer. To this add maida, besan, soda and make a thick batter adding buttermilk as needed. Keep aside for an hour. Heat oil for deep frying. And release small quantities of mixture into the hot oil using a spoon or carefully by hand. Once it golden brown remove on a paper towel and serve with chutney.

Watermelon Surnalli

Surnalli is a thick dosa. It can b made using watermelon/ Cucumber/ash gourd. Watermelon surnalli will have an orange colour while the other ones will be white. A pinch of turmeric powder can also be added to the batter for a yellow surnalli. Surnallis sold in Mangalorian restaurants are yellow in colour. This is my mom's recipe for soft spongy surnallis.

Ingredients:

Rice- 1 cup
Coconut powder - 1/3 cup
Bread - 2 slices
Beaten rice(Poha) - 1 fistful
salt
Jaggery- 2-3 tbsp grated
Watermelon red and white part near the skin - 2 or 3 big pieces

Soak rice in plenty of water for 3-4 hrs. After it is soaked grind it with all the above ingredients. Add water only if necessary. Watermelon already has enough water. Make a smooth thick batter. Ferment overnight.
Heat a tava. Pour a spoonful of oil. Drop in a ladle full of batter. Dont spread it. Cover it and cook till the lower side is golden.
Serve with chutney.
Tastes best when served with a small dollop of butter.

Note: The dosa should have small holes in it. If u dont observe holes add a pinch of baking soda to the batter and remove dosas. Surnalli is usually cooked only on one side.