Put the word Thai on any recipe and many of us nod our heads, “Yes!”   I have made a number of pasta salads with Thai flavors but when I saw this one, I also saw some differences and had to make it.  I prefer it warm to cold and usually heat it, a little, before serving the salad.

As is most of my cooking, this is gluten-free.  Sometimes, I forget to add the words gluten-free next to my baked goods or pasta but, almost exclusively, it is GF.  The exception, is the rare occasion when I bake a chocolate dessert.

Thai Pasta Salad (adapted from Food.com)

Method:

Ingredients:
Big white onions 2
All purpose flour 1cup (for dipping the onion rings)

To make batter:

All purpose flour 3TBSP
Bengal gram flour(chickpeas flour) 1TBSP
Ground coriander 1/2tsp
Ginger garlic paste 1/2tsp
Pinch of salt and a pinch of sodium bi carbonate
Sour yogurt
Pepper powder 1/2 tsp

To make powder mix:

Corn flacks 1 cup
Salty crackers small 5-6
bread crumbs 3-4TBSP( i used store bought)
Red chilly powder 1/2tsp
Ground corinder 1tsp
Black pepper powder
salt if required

How to prepare:
First take corn flacks and salty crackers in zip locker bag and make powder by using rolling pin(or use food processor to make crumbs) and keep it aside in a bowl.also add other ingredients like bread crumbs, red chilly powder and ground coriander and mix them well

Now in another bowl add all the ingredients under ‘to make batter’ and mix well. Add little water if the batter is too thick ,,and keep that aside for 10 mins.

Meanwhile prepare the onion ring,cut both the edges of the onion and unskin it..now make 2 to 3 in each onion and separate them all.

Now every thing prepared let us start with preparing onion rings….First preheat the oven at gas mark 6
Take a ring and first dip it in the flour and then

Dip in the batter

Lastly Dip it in the corn flacks crumbs

And keep it in the baking tray…once ur tray is filled with the ring then bake this rings for 15 mins then

Take out the tray from the oven and turn around all the rings by using fork and then agin bake it for 10 mins…..

The crispy and healthy baked onion ring is ready to serve,,,,,,,,

Linking this to the event ‘from fried to Favourite’..

from-fried-to-fav-part-1

glitter-graphics.com

This month, our Improv fun is Strawberries and Cream which simply has to be good.  Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Housewife does an admirable job with these delicious assignments and we have fun making a variety of dishes.  If you would like to join us, let Kristen know.  You won’t be sorry.

Creamy Strawberry-Marshmallow Dessert

Ingredients

• 1 cup mashed strawberries from fresh berries(I chopped them with a bench scraper)
• 1 8-ounce package of whipped cream cheese (low fat)
• 1 cup Marshmallow Creme of Marshmallow Fluff 
• 1½ cup sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup sugar
• diced strawberries (about 1/2 cup)
• strawberries for decoration (optional)

• Dice the strawberries, measure out until you have one cup. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whip the cream cheese until soft.
• Add the strawberries and whip until smooth.
• Add the ½ cup sugar and continue beating for a short while (30 seconds) until incorporated.  Add marshmallow cream and continue beating until everything is well blended.
• In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form.
• Mix together and if you want, add diced strawberries to the mixture.  The amount is up to you.  I did and it was even better.
• Remove and decorate with strawberry halves if desired.
• You can put this in sherbet glasses, champagne glasses, dessert dishes, any small dish or in a container or in a mold.  

  I will probably try different flavors, orange, chocolate, peach, mint, etc.  There are endless possibilities.  I like the idea of mint chocolate chip frozen.

Full Plate Thursday  
Trick or Treat Tuesday      Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Paneer as I have already told is a Cheese made the Indian way, which is usually used to make sweets and to loads of curries with spices.  This is also called Cottage Cheese, It is very easy to make.  I love paneer basically in sweets, most of the bengali sweets are made from this sweet.

This all idea of making Mint paneer came out after this post, Now thinking about it you can make coriander, dill, curry leaves Paneer what do say …. ?, watch out I will be posting some recipes out of these too )…, But right now we will stick to this and go on reading about what and how I made this……
Basically I need to thank Kalyani, her event Monthly Mingle made me try out this, I haven’t regretted as my kids loved and enjoyed it…
Look out what I have made from this recipe I tried two new bakes and I have loads of ideas on trying out this Minted Paneer in various ways!
Hope you all like it…..


Ingredients for Mint Paneer
1 lt Full cream milk
1 to 2 tbsp Lemon juice / vinegar / whey water / yogurt
washed 3 to 4 sprigs of Mint leaves

METHOD:





TO MAKE MINT PANEER:
To make Mint paneer, it is very easy.., Take a litre of milk in a bowl insert a ladle and heat up the milk with cleaned, washed and wiped Mint leaves, when it starts boiling, add the lemon juice ( I also added 2 tbsp of home made yogurt/curds), within few minutes, water splits from the milk and you will see the cheese.

Drain the cheese into a cheese cloth or any soft cloth, what I do is……, Take a colander/sieve cover it with a cheese cloth and place it on a bowl, then pour the split milk into it when all the water drains out, take the colander / sieve to the sink run water on it at least two to three times this helps to get rid the smell of vinegar.
You can keep the whey water which is helpful in making chapatis, or this can be used when making paneer again and also in many various ways.

Once it is drained, tie it tightly and leave it for sometime using something heavy on top of it, this helps in drain ing out the liquid completely. Now this can be used as you want it…

This is plain Paneer.. where you don’t add anything to it… ) also called Cottage Cheese

This Mint Paneer goes to Monthly Mingle #5 of Kalyani’s

When Kalyani announced Monthly Mingle, I was really not into it, as my kids are not a big fan of Paneer, So when I wore my thinking cap, everything seemed alright, put two and two together and I thought it will work..
I get so involved every time she announces that I indulge myself in trying out new ways, techniques and become more creative in thinking what I can do.., this is what  I tried and turned out very well, my kids just loved it so much, It’s such a keeper recipe, This monthly mingle of Kalyani’s is such an enjoyable event as I keep trying new methods of cooking and baking.., here is one such thing.., I took a chance and it really worked out, go and try it out and tell me if you liked it.

Let us go straight to the recipe…

PANEER AND MINT FLAVOURED GARLIC ROLLS -EGGLESS

INGREDIENTS:
75 grms Minted Paneer 
300 grms White Bread flour
125 grms Plain flour
2 tbsp oil
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Sugar
2 and 1/2 tsp Active Yeast
100 grms water roux ( Rice flour water roux )
1/4 cup water / or whey water from making paneer
1/2 Cup Milk
Rice flour water roux**
2 tbsp of Chilli flakes

Method for Making Garlic butter
peel and chop around 6 to 7 cloves of garlic
chop 2 to 3 tbsp of coriander leaves  / mint leaves
25 gms butter


Method for Mint Paneer
Check out this Link for making fresh Minted Paneer at home.

Method for making Water Roux 
Check out this link for making Rice flour Water roux (will post the link soon)

METHOD:





TO MAKE GARLIC ROLLS
First mix both the flours using a sieve or with hand until well combined.
In a large bowl, take 1 tbsp of warm water ( luke warm ) add yeast and a tsp of sugar, leave it for sometime in a warm place, you will notice the yeast bubbling up, this way we will be sure that the yeast is still active.
Meanwhile, In a mixie / food processor take minted paneer  and 1/2 cup of milk, blend them together.
Pour this into the yeast bowl.
Add salt and flours into the bowl of yeast with water using a spatula or using your hand mix them together
to this add Rice flour water roux , mix them well together.
Then start kneading the dough, dust the surface and hand with flour and knead and stretch for 10 minutes, in few minutes you will see that the dough becomes soft and beautiful.
Oil the same bowl and roll this dough in it, and cover it with a cling film and leave it to raise in warm corner for at least 1 and 1/2 hours (depending upon the altitude and temperature of the place you are living ), you can mark the bowl or guess by eyeing that the ball has doubled in shape.
While the dough is rising make Garlic butter, Blend garlic cloves and chopped coriander and Mint leaves into a paste with a tsp of water.
mix this paste with butter and keep aside until needed.
Next punch the dough so the gases are released and spread the dough to a rectangle shape, spread Garlic butter on top of it and some chilli flakes to get a kick out of the rolls when biting into them!!
Now roll out the flattened dough from the longer side when you come to the end pick up the end portion lift it and join it to the top, this way you can be careful that nothing leaks out.
Dust the surface with flour and roll the rolled dough so they are evenly distributed and you would get a perfect log shape, cut them into equal portions.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/180 degrees, place a bowl of hot water underneath.
Place these portions on a parchment paper giving gaps, and allow it to raise again around 1/2 an hour, you can see that it would have swelled up again.
Brush it with milk and place the tray into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes depending upon the temperature of your oven or insert a skewer which comes out clean  telling you that the roll is done.
Take it out of the oven , leave it on the wiring rack for 5 minutes then slide them on to the wiring rack for it  cool down, otherwise the bottom will get very soggy. as the bread still cooks because of the heat from the tin.
Serve it warm or cold with a hot cup of soup, or just eat it with sauces..

My verdict : My kids fell in love with these rolls, these rolls stayed soft. Keep it in a airtight container. serve it with soup or with ketchup, They even took it for their lunch boxes!!

Stay tuned  I will soon be posting an other recipe with Minted Paneer….., later in the day…

     

I am still out of breath.  We were out of town for a few days and expected to be back, a few hours, earlier.  I wasn’t worried about getting this up, thinking I had plenty of time to take care of it.  That was not in the master plan.  With my apologies, I ask you to link up to My Meatless Mondays.

Jeera Rice from Follow Foodie

Beet and Citrus Salad from Iron Rich Foods

Ratatouille for breakfast from dishes and dishes

Cinnamon Bun Cake from Talking Dollars and Cents

Mango Melon Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 slice of melon, cut into chunks
1/4 mango, cut into chunks
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup low-fat  vanilla yogurt

Method:

Place all ingredients into a blender.  Turn on and run until the consistency, you prefer, it to be.
Drink up.