Schezwan Cut Dosa

The world is going through one of the worst crisis of our times. The COVID-19 has taken toll in everyones lives in one way or the another. Everyone is at home trying to stay safe and keeping their loved ones safe. However, one positive way to look at it is- We all now have ample family time to do that craft with the family that we wanted to do, to play games with the kids, to create that art project, to pursue that hobby that we look forward to, to develop a new skill that otherwise got pushed to the back in our busy lifestyles.

For me, amongst the most satisfying and gratifying thing is that, I am able to help the community through the COVID-19 efforts through my work place and through some personal efforts along with my husband to show a small gesture of gratitude to the healthcare workers, who are the real heroes and fighting on the frontlines. Another bright side is that I am able to pick up on my cooking and blogging hobby again which had become a rare opportunity amidst the busy lifestyle! So expect new stream of posts over the next few days:)

In the current situation....Trying to eat healthy, conserve groceries and still keep the food interesting and delicious is surely a challenge on its own 😟
Repurposing yesterday’s ‘Kobi chi bhaji’ can’t get better than this!😁Mommy happy... little ones happy 😛Try it... you will love it!!! 😋

Yellow moong-Brown rice Dosa layered with schezwan sauce and then stuffed with filling of Sautéed cabbage-carrots and peas😋😋

• Recipe-
2 cups yellow moong dal
1/2 cup brown rice
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp green chili
1 tsp cumin
Salt to taste
Leftover cabbage bhaji ( I added carrots and peas too) Or You can make Chinese style stirred veggies
Schezwan sauce 

1) Soak dal and rice together for 6-8 hrs. Grind into fine paste along with rest of the ingredients.
2) Heat non-stick pan. Apply some oil. Make dosa. Add few drops of oil on the sides. Spread schezwan sauce and add leftover sautéed Cabbage chi bhaji. 

3) Roll the Dosa when golden brown.
4) Serve hot and cut before serving. 

Enjoy!!! 😋😋😋

Almond Nankatai

The world is going through one of the worst crisis of our times. The COVID-19 has taken toll in everyones lives in one way or the another. Everyone is at home trying to stay safe and keeping their loved ones safe. However, one positive way to look at it is- We all now have ample family time to do that craft with the family that we wanted to do, to play games with the kids, to create that art project, to pursue that hobby that we look forward to, to develop a new skill that otherwise got pushed to the back in our busy lifestyles.

For me, amongst the most satisfying and gratifying thing is that, I am able to help the community through the COVID-19 efforts through my work place and through some personal efforts along with my husband to show a small gesture of gratitude to the healthcare workers, who are the real heroes and fighting on the frontlines. Another bright side is that I am able to pick up on my cooking and blogging hobby again which had become a rare opportunity amidst the busy lifestyle! So expect new stream of posts over the next few days:)

I baked these Almond Nankatai yesterday. These delicious nankatai cookies have a distinctive almond flavor and are packed with protein due to the almonds (There is more almond powder in the recipe than the flour!) 😋

• Recipe: (Makes about 25-30 cookies) 

1 and 1/4 cup Almond powder
1 cup Powdered sugar
3/4 cup All purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup milk (may need little less)
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 tsp Baking powder 

Preheat oven to 250F. Apply little butter to baking sheets. 

1) Mix / fold the butter till smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix well by folding.
2) Add vanilla essence, powdered almonds, Flour, Baking powder and mix. Add milk little by little to the batter. Batter will be slightly sticky but not too loose. (Don’t use all milk if not needed! )
3) Place small dollops of batter on baking sheet. Flatten with buttered hands. Put some almond slices on top.
4) Bake at 250F for 30-45 mins till golden brown.
Don’t let the cookies burn! They remain light on top and golden brown on the bottom.

** Oven and baking sheets can vary. So baking time may have to be adjusted slightly accordingly. 

5) Remove when golden brown and let them cool completely before storing in airtight container. Enjoy with the little ones/ loved ones :)

*****More Nankatai Recipes: 

http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/search/label/Nankatai…

The Sizzling Pan is 10 Years Old!!!

TheSizzlingPan is celebrating 10 years!!!

TheSizzlingPan has been an integral part of my life for the past 10 years! I have loved sharing my kitchen…my recipes…my passion for food through this channel. I am proud of this journey, the delectable meals and recipes created, the delicious food my family and friends enjoyed and the friendships I made along the way.  As we celebrate 10 years of this special connection, here is the story of TheSizzlingPan…

My ‘foodie’ genes

I was raised in a typical foodie family. My mom loved cooking and experimenting on new recipes. She cooked typical CKP style dishes with fish, coconut etc. but also made unique recipes of her own. My dad would encourage her by giving her small prizes when she perfected the recipe… and me and my little sister got the share of our prizes for helping our mom. My mom even took her passion to the next level and started and ran a food business for 15+ years. Her passion became her profession. This is where my interest in food was kindled. As I went to high school/ college I started looking at cook books and cooking and baking on my own. Black Forest Cake baked by me became a birthday staple for everyone in the family Jand homemade mango ice-cream made our summers super delicious!

Making homemade Mango Ice cream back home in Pune 

MyKitchen’sAroma aka TheSizzlingPan

When I came to the US, my interest in food got stronger by watching a lot of international cooking shows. Racheal Ray, Ina Garten, Giada De Laurentiis, Iron Chef were some of my favorite ones to watch after I came back in the evening from work. I worked in a University, so there was a lot of exposure to different cultures and cuisines. I started experimenting with fusion recipes and new ingredients available in the grocery stores here. When I was on a ‘mommying’ sabbatical when my son was born, though I loved being a full-time mom, I missed the social connection in the work environment. I missed chatting with people with similar interests. Being a scientist…I missed experimenting and doing research. That’s when I thought about starting a food blog with encouragement from my husband and some friends…which would allow me to experiment on new recipes and connect with like- minded people through this channel. MyKitchensAroma was born on September 14, 2009 ! 

Lot of the earlier recipes were 'For little tummies' to sneak veggies in my little ones diet. These "Zucchini Fritters" were amongst the early recipes on the blog.

I loved the time …the ‘me’ time I got to document my recipes and connecting with friends and followers of the blog. I loved making delicious recipes are serving food that looked good in eye pleasing presentations. Very soon the scientist in me was intrigued by the ‘science’ of food. I decided to do a certification in food science to learn – the food chemistry...to learn what reactions take place in the food, which ingredients go well together, nutrition, preservation, food technology etc. I was also enthralled to share the science of food with the future chefs and scientists. I arranged workshops to teach kids that food can be magical and a super fun science learning experience. 

To be honest, at one point, I thought about making ‘Food’ my profession…just like my mom. But my other passion…the Love for Science and Research excites me too! I love being a scientist and enjoy my profession. If I took food/cooking business as my profession, I would have to give up my career and profession as a scientist altogether. If I maintained food and cooking as my hobby, I could still be a full-time science researcher while cooking, trying new recipes and blogging in my free time. So that is what I did! This way I can have best of both the worlds J I would feel immensely grateful for my career, if through my contribution to Cancer research, someday an effective cancer therapy is developed. This would be a dream come true J

 Few years ago…MyKitchensAroma had a makeover and a name change …. “TheSizzlingPan” was the new name. Through TheSizzlingPan, I have experimented with bringing in new sections like ‘Food Around The World’, recipes from Guest kitchen’s and the newest-TheSlimmingPan to share healthy and nutritious recipes and my fitness journey.

The new hand drawn logo of the blog

There have been ups and downs, times where I couldn’t share anything for months together due to life’s other commitments and priorities, while at other times I was beaming with ideas and experimenting with super excitement in my kitchen! 

All in all,The Pan has always been Sizzling and making delicious food!J

My family enjoying a home baked chocolate cake :) Those smiles are precious!

It has been a fun 10-year journey of cooking, baking, drizzling and icing. And thank you all for being a part of this with me. I have enjoyed connecting and sharing my kitchen with each and everyone of you J

Thank you for visiting TheSizzlingPan!

Deepti Thete

My first Instant Pot Recipe!!! Instant Pot Chole

Instant Pot Chole

I know I know.... I am jumping onto the “Instant Pot” bandwagon super duper late.😬

But thanks to a very thoughtful gift from a dear friend... I am finally onboard!!! And so excited!!! 😁😁

Okay ... So today was The Day!!! 😀 Made Chole in my new IP! 

And they turned out Peeeerfeccttt!!! 

So tender and flavorful😋😋. I was skeptical whether they will come out perfect in 15 mins pressure cook time plus natural steam release that I set on the IP (since most recipes called for 35 min pressure cook time), but they cooked so well without under cooking or being mushy 👌 They could have had slightly less water, but we didn’t mind the soupy chole. Dinner was a hit! 👌

Recipe-
2 cups soaked Chole
2 onions finely chopped
2 tomatoes finely chopped
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Badshah Chole masala
Red chili powder
Turmeric
Cumin, Bay leaf
Salt
Oil 

- Sauté the onion, tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, cumin, bay leaf for 6-8 mins in sauté function on some oil.

- Add chole masala, red chili powder, turmeric, salt . Sauté for 2-3 more mins

- Add soaked chole and water. 

- Pressure cook on high pressure for 15 mins. Let the pressure release naturally. 

- Tadah... by the time you make rotis... Chole are cooked and ready!

Samosa Pinwheels

One of my favorite party appetizers are these beautiful looking and amazingly tasty 'Samosa Pinwheels'. What's not to like??? Nothing can go wrong with ...Spicy stuffing made with mashed potatoes and warm spices rolled up into puff pastry sheets and then baked to crispy perfection! YUMMMMM..OOO! Baked a large batch for a party at work tomorrow.

The trick however, is getting this beautiful pinwheels pattern. I have had these pinwheels before and not all were able to exhibit this beautiful pattern. So here goes the step by step recipe-

 ** The trick in using 'lump free' filling, spreading it in an even layer and rolling into a tight roll before slicing.

Recipe:
4 Potatoes boiled and washed well (no lumps)
1/2 onion finely chopped
2tsp ginger garlic paste
1tsp chopped curry leaves
1 tsp garam masala powder
1tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp Kasoori methi leaves
Salt
4tsp Oil

1 Puff pastry sheet (Thawed as per package instructions)

Method:
1) Heat the oil in pan. Add mustard seed, cumin seeds, curry leaves and chopped onion. Sauté for 2-3 mins.
2) Add ginger garlic paste, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder, mashed potatoes, salt and kasoori methi. Sauté the filling for few mins. The filling should have no lumps. Let the filling cool for 1hr.

** Pre Heat the oven to 400F

3)  Roll out the thawed puff pastry sheet. Spread the potato filling evenly on to the sheet, about 1.5cm in thickness. Start rolling the sheet tightly from one end, into a roll.

4) Slice the roll in the center. Wrap the rolls into wax paper and chill in refrigerator for 20mins.

5) After 20 mins, slice the roll. Place the pinwheels on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

6) Bake the pinwheels at 400F for 15-20 mins till golden brown. I like to turn them half way through the baking on the other side to bake evenly on both sides.

7) Serve hot along with your favorite sauce. Enjoy these delicious beauties!

And...You know my favorite! I will of course serve these with "Maggie Hot and Sweet" Sauce :))

Tilgul Ladoos- Quick and Easy

Tilgul Ghya Goad Bola!!!

Made these quick and easy Tilgul ladoos yesterday. No sugar syrup and no cooking!

Recipe- Makes 20 small ladoos 

1/2 cup Roasted peanuts (I used store bought)
1/3 cup Roasted sesame seeds 
1/3 cup dry coconut powder 
1/3 cup finely chopped almonds
4 tsp jaggery powder
3 tsp fine sugar
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

In a blender, blend together peanuts and half of toasted sesame seeds till they are powdered and everything starts to slightly stick and come together. Don’t overgrind! 
Add rest of the toasted sesame seeds and the other ingredients and knead with light hands. Roll into small ladoos. Done! 

Other traditional Tilgul recipes:

http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/search/label/Tilgul?m=0

New Years Special Dessert- Icecream Cake!

This is one of the easiest and prettiest dessert that you will ever make! My initial plan for New Years dessert was to bring some dessert shells and do some kind of berry sauce to go top of them along with ice-cream or homemade whipped cream. But as usual, no dessert shells to be found in the grocery store! But I did find 'lady fingers' (soft spongy mini cakes that are used in desserts like Tiramisu) and so came the idea of assembling a easy breezy beautiful Ice cream cake with Vanilla and Chocolate ice-cream layers and top with fresh berries. I wish I had used strawberry ice-cream instead of vanilla to give more color contrast to the cake.

What you need:
Lady Fingers- 2 packets
Vanilla ice cream (or Strawberry ice-cream will make it more colorful and prettier)
Chocolate ice cream
Fresh berries ( I used raspberries and black berries)
Loaf pan
Plastic wrap


How to assemble the cake:

1) Soften the ice-creams in the refrigerator for 1/2 to 1 hour.

2) Line the loaf pan with plastic wrap. Then line up the lady fingers on the side and bottom of the
pan.

3) Spoon the soften vanilla/strawberry ice-cream to cover the bottom and smoothen it out.Layer with few lady fingers. Then spoon in softened chocolate ice cream.

4)

Smoothen the top of the ice-cream. With a fork make lines on the ice cream top to make criss-cross patterns. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze the pan in the freezer for 3-4 hours.

5) When ready to serve, garnish with fresh berries of your choice.

6) Slice horizontally to cut and serve with extra berries! Enjoy the ice cream cake with your loved ones :)

Wish You All a Very Happy, Healthy and Delicious New Year!

Happy New Year 2018 !!!

Wish You All a Very Happy, Healthy and Delicious New Year!!!

I am hoping to be able to find some more time to cook delicious food and blog in this new year!

-The Sizzling Pan

"Rasmalai Cake" - An Indian version of the Mexican 'Tres Leches' cake

The newest trend in the world of cakes are the fusion cakes, where they combine best flavors from two or more cuisines to create one of a kind masterpiece. The one I tasted recently was the 'Gulab Jamun Cheese cake' at an popular Indian restaurant in Nashville,TN at the famous Chefs restaurant- Chauhan Ale and Masala house.Another beautiful cake was baked by a contestant at the cooking competition here for the Ganesh festival.The cake was called 'Gajar Halwa' cake- White moist cake with layers of gajar halwa and whipped cream made it delectable! She won the first prize:)

A friend had send a picture of the new popular cake in Pune- "The Rasmalai cake". Since then, I wanted to try my take on this cake and  we had the perfect occasion on this weekend that deserved a special cake! A 70th birthday party!

Here is my version of the Rasmalai Cake which is a spin on the Mexican 'Tres Leches' cake.

Ingredients:

Step 1: Plain Sponge Cake 

*You can prepare the base Sponge cake from scratch with this recipe. Instead of vanilla, add 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 

https://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2009/10/pat-cake-car-vanilla-cake.html?m=1

OR For Easy version- Use Cake Mix 

1 eggless cake baked in a glass tray (I used Pillsbury white cake mix to bake the cake. Prepared the cake as per instructions, but substituted eggs with ¼ cup Greek yogurt)

Step 2: For Malai/ basundi 3 milk soak

1.5 cups evaporated milk

0.5 cups condensed milk

0.5 cup whole milk

0.5 tsp cardamom powder

¼ tsp nutmeg powder

(For more sweeter taste add more sugar/condensed milk. But remember the cake itself will be sweet too!)

Step 3: Saffron whipped cream:

1.5 cups heavy whipping cream

4 tsp powdered sugar

1 tsp saffron

Garnishing

8 Rasagullas (I used store bought)

Few drops of yellow coloring (optional)

Chopped pistachios and almonds for garnish

Saffron for garnish

Method:

1) Prepare cake as per box instructions. Use Greek yogurt to substitute the eggs. Let the cake cool completely.

2) Prepare the malai/basundi by boiling the evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk along with cardamom and nutmeg powder. Let it cool completely.

3) Pour the Basundi over the cooled cake.Let it soak overnight in the refrigerator.

4) Whip the cold heavy whipping cream with a electric mixer with the powdered sugar and 4 tsp milk with saffron strands.If the color is not yellow enough, add few drops of yellow food color. Beat till stiff peaks appear

5) Pipe the saffron whipped cream on the milk soaked cake in desired patterns. Garnish with half sliced rasagullas, chopped nuts and saffron.

6) Chill in the refrigerator for few hours. Serve chilled.

Enjoy the delectable moist cake with luscious whipped cream and warm and delicate Indian flavors of cardamon, nutmeg and saffron!