Vegetarian Fajita Quesadilla

Quesadilla is one my favorite Mexican dish. It is one such dish where you can make just plain cheese or any stuffing you desire like some grilled veggies, chicken, beans etc.Few months back, I ate this version of quesadilla at a friend's place. I liked it a lot and hence thought of posting the recipe. The original recipe called for taco seasoning. Since I didn't have it, I made my own spice blend with the available spices in my kitchen. It turned out yummy and I was quite happy with the recipe. Do try making this and let me know how it turned out for you :-)

Ingredients:

• Flour Tortillas, big sized - 2
• Red Bell pepper, medium sized - 1/2
• Green Bell Pepper, medium sized - 1/2
• Red Onion, medium sized - 1/2
• Jalapeno, seeded - 1/2
• Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded - 1 to 1 1/2 cups
• Olive Oil - 2 tsp and extra for brushing on tortillas
• Salt - To taste

Spice Blend*:

• Cayenne Pepper - 1/4 tsp
• Garlic powder - 1/4 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Dried Oregano - 1/4 tsp
• Pepper powder - 1/8 tsp
• Onion Powder - 1/4 tsp (I didn't add)

*Alternatively you can just use taco seasoning or fajita seasoning mix instead of the above mentioned spice powder.

Procedure:

Mix all the spice powder mentioned under 'Spice Blend' and set it aside for later use.

Slice the bell pepper, jalapeno and onion.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add in the chopped veggies. Fry until they turn slight brown. Once done, sprinkle little salt. Then add in the spice powder mixture and mix well. Fry for few seconds and turn off the heat.

When you are ready to make the quesadillas, preheat a skillet (I used grill pan) over medium high heat and brush one side of the tortilla with some oil and place it oiled side down onto a plate ( Tortillas were freshly made by me). 

Sprinkle some cheese on one half of the tortilla.

 Then top that with some of the veggie fajita mixture. 

Sprinkle a bit more cheese.

Fold it in half and place it on the plate. 

Continue with another tortilla. Once done, fry them on a preheated skillet until they turn crispy and golden brown on both sides.

Once done, transfer it on a plate. Cut each of the tortilla into 2-3 pieces using a knife or pizza cutter. Vegetarian Fajita Quesadilla is ready!!

Serve it immediately along with Guacamole or Pico de gallo or sour cream. Above measurement serves two people.

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Ambade Nonche (Hog Plum Pickle)

Ambado or Hog Plums are small green colored fruits. They taste sour and mostly used as a souring agent. It is quite popular in the region (Coastal Karnataka, India) I grew up. When it is in season, people make pickle, add it many curries as a souring agent. They also store it in salt water for future use. Whenever my father got hog plums from the market, my mother used to make a batch of pickle. We used to enjoy it.

It had become many years since I ate these plums. Few months back, I saw them in Farmers market but I was not sure whether they were hog plums. After few days I ate Hog plum pickle in a friend's house. So now I was sure that the plums I saw that day was nothing other than hog plums! So kept searching for it and finally got hold of it two days back. So the next thing I did after coming home was to call my mother to get the recipe for the pickle. I am so happy that my pickle turned out the way I remember eating it, made by my mother. This is my first try and I am one Happy Girl!

Ingredients:

• Hog Plums (Ambado) - 14-15 (365g) or around 3 cups chopped
• Lime - 1/2 (optional)
• Lime juice - As required
• Ginger, finely chopped - 1 Tbsp (optional)
• Salt - 2 Tbsp (I used sea salt) or to taste

For the Spicy Paste:

• Dry Red Chilli (Byadgi), medium sized - 17 (25g)
• Mustard seeds - 3 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - A big generous pinch
• Water - As required

Note: If you don't enjoy biting into a lime or ginger piece then skip it completely. It does taste good with or without it. If you enjoy spicy pickles then add finely chopped green chillies.
The hog plum I used was not enough sour to balance the spiciness of the pickle. Hence I added lime juice. So taste the pickle and add lime juice as required.
Add salt little at a time. You don't want to end up with a salty mess.

Procedure:

Few important things you need to keep in mind before making this pickle:

#All the bowls, spoon, blender etc should be clean and dry.

#It is preferred that you start making the pickle in the morning and by evening it will be done. Next day, it will be ready to use.

#Be careful while adding salt. Add it in steps. You can always add more if required.

#The pickle has to be stored in a clean glass or porcelain jar (you can also use plastic containers. remember that it might get stained).

Now coming back to the preparation-

First heat 1-2 cups of water and bring it to a boiling point and then turn off the heat. Bring this water to room temperature. This water is used to make the red chilli paste (this boiled-cooled water helps the pickle to last longer).
While the water is cooling, wash the hog plums and ginger. 

Pat them dry with a towel and then chop them into small pieces (Hog plums have seed in the middle. So remove the edible part as much as you can. Luckily my hog plums didn't have any seed. You can add the seeds to the pickle or just discard it. Seed cannot be eaten but you can suck the yummy juice).

Now put the chopped hog plums, lime and ginger in a clean, big bowl. Then add salt (1 Tbsp) and toss well so that all of them get a coating. Cover and let it rest for 3-4 hours.

After 3-4 hours, prepare the Chilli paste.
To Make Chilli paste - Take dry red chilli, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida, salt (1/2 Tbsp) in a blender. 

Now grind them into a fine powder. Then add little amount of the reserved water (boiled and cooled) and grind. The resulting paste should be smooth.

Then add this chilli paste into the bowl containing chopped hog plums, lime and  ginger mixture. 

Mix well. Add water little by little to achieve the desired consistency. I kept it medium thick. Check the taste. At this point I added 1/2 Tbsp of salt and lime juice (from 1/2 of a lime).

Let this mixture sit for a day or 5-6 hours in a refrigerator, so that the hog plums and lime pieces gets time to absorb the flavors. After 5-6 hours taste it and add salt or asafoetida or lime juice, if required. Ambade Nonche is ready!!

Store it in a glass/ porcelain jar. Refrigerate it for future use. It stays good up to a month or two.

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Veggie Fajitas

Veggie Fajitas is one of the dishes which I make very often from a long time. I used to stir fry bell pepper and onions, place them in tortilla and top it off with guacamole. Then I started to look for a variation as I got bored of this dish. So as I started to look up for recipes, I stumbled upon this recipe. It looked very promising and hence I tried making it. We fell in love with the marinade and have been making it almost 2 times a week since then. 

Do give this a try and I hope you will enjoy as much as we do :-)

Ingredients:

• Corn or Flour Tortillas, small sized - 5
• Guacamole (Using one avocado)
• Poblano Pepper - 1
• Colored Bell peppers, small sized - 2
• Jalapeno,seeded -1/2
• Red Onion, Medium sized - 1

For Marinade:

• Olive Oil- 2 Tbsp
• Lime juice (freshly squeezed) - 1 Tbsp
• Roasted Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Red Chilli powder - To taste
• Salt & Pepper - To taste

Note: Taste the marinade and add more lime juice or spice powder, if desired. 
            You can also use portobello mushroom along with the peppers. But make sure you marinate the mushrooms in a different bowl and saute it separately. This is because mushroom has way too much moisture and makes the other veggies soggy.

Method:

Chop the onion, bell peppers, poblano and jalapeño. You can slice it but we like it in cubes. Transfer the chopped veggies into a mixing bowl.

Preparing the marinade - Add all the ingredients listed under 'For Marinade' in a small bowl. Mix well. Marinade is ready.
Now add this marinade over the chopped veggies and mix it gently so that all of them get an even coating. Set it aside for 10- 15 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the guacamole and stick it in the refrigerator until required.
Now heat a wide pan (I used cast iron pan). Once hot, add in the marinated veggies.

Saute it until a few pieces starts to get charred (you can saute the veggies until your heart desires. We like it little bit on the charred side). Then turn off the heat.

For Assembling: Warm the tortillas in a microwave or on direct flame. Then place little amount of the sauted veggie mixture on the middle of the tortilla. Then top it off with desired toppings like guacamole, pica de gallo, cheese, sour cream, lettuce etc. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Veggie Fajitas is ready!

Serve it warm. Above measurement serves two.

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Homemade Roasted Cumin Powder

Cumin is one of my favorite spices. Roasting the spice, brings out the flavor. Hence I always make this powder in small batches and use it in Chaas, Chaats etc. A little sprinkling of this powder elevates the dish. Making this powder requires only few minutes. Once you start using this powder, you will never want to buy it from the stores.

Ingredients:

• Cumin seeds - 1/3 cup

Procedure:

Take cumin seeds in a frying pan.

Start frying it on medium heat until it turns brown and fragrant. Keep stirring constantly for even browning.

Once done, turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl. Allow it to cool completely. Then transfer it into a blender.

Make a fine powder.

Transfer it into an airtight container. Roasted Cumin powder is ready!!

Use this powder in Chaas, chaats etc. This powder stays good up to several months. 

Notes: #Flavor of cumin powder decreases with time. So make small batch of powder as needed. 

#You can also use a mortar and pestle to crush the roasted cumin seeds.

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Palak Phulka (Spinach Flatbread)

Phulka is an unleavened flatbread. The rolled dough is partly cooked on a skillet and then put directly on a high flame, which makes them blow up like a balloon. It is very commonly prepared in northern parts of India. Being a South Indian, rice is our staple. But for health reasons, I make this flatbread every night. To make it even more healthier I sometimes add spinach puree. It looks good and makes it easier for a person like me who doesn't like spinach. Do try making this and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Spinach (Palak), tightly packed - 1 cup
• Wheat flour - 1 cup
• Flaxseed powder - 1 tsp (optional)
• Oil - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - To taste (I didn't add)

Procedure:

Heat 1/4 cup of water. Once hot add in the washed spinach leaves. Once it wilts, turn off the heat. Allow it to cool.

Once it cools, transfer the leaves (leaving behind the water) to a blender and make a fine paste.

Now in a mixing bowl, add flour, oil, flax seed powder, palak puree, salt. 

Mix gently and work in so as to get a soft, non-sticky dough. Add water, if required. Once done, add few drops of oil on the dough and spread it so that it forms a coating and prevents it from drying. Let the dough rest for 10- 15 minutes.

Then divide the dough into six equal portions.

Dip one of the dough ball in dry flour and start rolling it into a circle of diameter 6-7 inches.

Roll rest of the dough balls. 

Then place one of the rolled flatbread on a preheated skillet. 

Once it is slightly starts getting light brown spots, flip it to repeat on the other side.

Then transfer it on direct flame using tongs, until it puffs up.

Once done transfer to a closed container lined with paper towel or kitchen towel.
Continue with the rest of them.
Palak Phulka is ready!!

Serve it with any curry of your choice. Above measurement makes six phulkas.

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Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

After posting the recipes for soup and quesadilla, you must be thinking that this girl is obsessed with sweet potato and back beans. And yes, I am so in love with them. Until couple of years, I was not a great fan of sweet potato. I once bought it and tried making fries. It tasted so good that I started to buy sweet potatoes often. Once it so happened that I stumbled upon this recipe. I tried it with less confidence as I was not sure how it would turn out. Surprisingly they turned out so tasty that I make it quite often now. Do give this a try and let me know how it turned out for you!

Ingredients:

• Corn Tortillas, small sized - 5-6 (I used homemade)
• Guacamole (Using one avocado)

For Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

• Sweet Potato, big sized - 1
• Olive oil - 1 Tbsp
• Red chilli powder - To taste
• Salt - To taste

For Black Bean Mixture:

• Cooked (or canned) Black beans - 1 cup
• Onion, medium sized - 1/2
• Olive oil - 2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - To taste
• Lime juice - 1 tsp
• Salt & Pepper - To taste
• Water - 1/4 cup

Procedure:

Prepare the guacamole and stick it in the refrigerator until required.

I also made corn tortillas beforehand and stored in a tortilla warmer.

For making black bean mixture:

Chop the onions and set it aside. Then heat oil in a pan. Once hot, add the chopped onion and fry it until it turns translucent.

Then add cumin powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix and continue frying the mixture for half a minute. 

Then add in the cooked black beans along with water.

Mix well and smash half of the beans using a fork. 

Let this mixture cook until most of the moisture evaporates. Then turn off the heat. Squeeze in lime juice and cover this mixture and set it aside until required.

For making roasted sweet potato:

Wash the sweet potato and peel it. Then chop it into desired shape and size.

Then heat oil in a skillet (I used Cast iron). Once hot, add in the chopped sweet potato pieces . Sprinkle salt and red chilli powder.

Roast the sweet potato pieces until  tender and caramelized at the edges (alternatively you can roast the sweet potatoes at 425F temperature, in an oven).

Assembling the tacos:

Warm the tortillas.

Now place a tortilla on a plate.

Then spread the bean mixture on the middle of the tortilla.

Then place roasted sweet potato pieces.

Finally top it off with guacamole. Garnish with fresh lime juice and continue with the rest of them.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos are ready!!

Serve it immediately. Above measurement serves two.

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