Being busy doesn't necessarily
mean being productive but it surely does involve being mentally fatigued and it
is after a week full of days where I juggle between court rooms, rushing to office,
managing overenthusiastic clients, demanding seniors and piled up work of
all-is-important and all-cases-are-urgent-files that when I finally approach
the weekend, all I crave for is a day of doing absolutely nothing. However the
one thing with which I don’t mind busying myself on such weekends is – Cooking!
Although I end up eating a lot of extra calories the pleasure that it gives me
is immeasurable just like my BMI :D
So one such weekend I decided to treat myself
to an extra-large size sizzler! Though it is time consuming but when the aroma
of sautés and burnt butter fills up your kitchen you know that all the
elaborate preparation are absolutely worth it!
For me sizzlers are a
combination of all the things that I love to eat, potato wedges, sautéed veggies,
the scrumptious veggie cutlet, pastas and sauce and that is what I have done in
this recipe (refer pictures). I've combined all the things that I love to eat.
You could substitute them with garlic sauce noodles, rice and Manchurian, or a steak
or satay and your choice of stir fried veggies, you can add mashed potato and
peas if you aren't a fries fan, a side salad, spaghetti instead of macaroni, stuffed
capsicums or tomatoes, cottage cheese with gravy, or maybe you can have a
Mexican version with nachos, tacos, bean salads and rice. The list of
variations is endless! For now I hope you enjoy my version of made-to-choice
sizzler J
It took me quite some
time, lots of cups of coffee and patience to pen down this five-in-one recipe
as it has a lot of elements to it, hope it’s worth the amount of trouble and caffeine.
Hearty Cooking J
For the stir fried veggies:
Ingredients:
1 cup of baby corn, par-boiled
carrots, green beans, red and yellow bell peppers cut in thick juliennes
1 ½ tbsp butter
Salt and pepper as per
taste
1 small cup of broccoli,
cauliflower florets and baby onions and baby tomatoes (optional)
Method:
1. Melt some butter in a
thick bottomed pan and then add all the veggies and sauté till all the veggies
have softened but still maintain their crunch.
2. Add some salt and pepper
as per taste.
For the veggie cutlet:
Ingredients:
2 cups boiled and mashed
potato (4-5 potatoes)
1 cup very finely chopped/grated
boiled veggies (carrot, beans, peas)
A small handful of some
chopped coriander
½ - 1 tbsp cornflour
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 pinch of turmeric
powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger and green
chilli paste
1 tsp minced garlic
(optional)
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Oil for frying
Method:
1. In a bowl add the mashed
potato, chopped/grated veggies, all the masalas
ginger chilli paste and minced garlic. Mix all the ingredients uniformly.
2. Now once the mixture is
ready, divide the same in equal portions and make medium sized round flatten
cutlets out of it or you can give it an oval shape like I have done for my
sizzler.
3. Take a flat bowl and
pour in some water and the cornflour to make a thin paste of the cornflour and
take another flat bowl and put in the breadcrumbs in it.
4. Now carefully drop the
cutlets in the cornflour paste, coat it well and then drop it in the bowl with
the breadcrumbs, make sure that the breadcrumbs get applied on all sides of the
cutlet.
5. After all the cutlets
are nicely coated with the cornflour paste and the breadcrumbs, turn on the
flame and in pour in some oil in a wok.
6. Carefully deep fry all
the cutlets till they turn golden brown and drain out the excess oil on a
tissue paper.
Tips:
ü In order to get crispy
breadcrumbs what you can do is first toast the breads in a toaster or an oven and
then crumble/grind it.
ü Do not overmix your
potato and veggie mixture or else it will turn sticky.
For the pasta in arrabiata sauce:
Ingredients:
1 – 1 ½ cup penne pasta
5-6 medium sized
tomatoes
1 medium sized onion diced
5-6 cloves garlic finely
chopped
1 tsp ginger and green
chilli paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt as per taste
Oregano, mixed herbs and
red chilli flakes
Some Oil
(vegetable/olive)
1 tsp sugar
Method:
1. Begin the blanching of
the tomatoes by cutting an ‘X’ on the bottom of the tomatoes skin. Heat some
water in a pan, add the tomatoes into the water once it starts to boil.
2. After about 5 minutes
the skin of the tomatoes will start to loosen and peel, once that starts remove
the tomatoes from the pan and immerse into ice water for about two minutes to
stop the cooking process. Peel off the skin of the tomatoes and cut them horizontally
into two halves and scoop out the seeds. Thereafter roughly chop the tomatoes. Puree 1/3 of the chopped tomatoes and leave
the rest as it is.
3. Simultaneously boil some
water in a stockpot, add 1 tsp of salt to it. Once the water starts boiling add
the pasta to it. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, stir occasionally. Check if
the pasta is cooked by tasting it. Once cooked, drain out all the water with a
colander pour about a tbsp of butter/oil on the pasta, shale well and put aside
so that the pasta doesn’t stick to each other.
4. Now heat some oil in a
wok, add the chopped garlic, sauté for a while and then add the diced onions to
it, sauté till softened. Add the ginger-chilli paste, stir.
5. Now add the diced
tomatoes to it, stir. Then add the pureed tomatoes, red chilli powder, salt and
sugar and let it cook till the tomatoes gain a saucy consistency.
6. Once the sauce is ready
add the red chilli flakes, oregano and mixed herbs to it. Now throw in the
pasta, mix gently and garnish with oregano.
For the Baked Macaroni:
Ingredients:
1 cup macaroni
500 ml Milk
2-3 tsp All purpose
flour
1 tbsp Butter
½ tsp Sugar
½ cup Cheese
Salt and black pepper
powder as per taste
Method:
1. For the white sauce:
mildly heat up a thick–bottomed pan, add the butter and let it melt. Once the
butter is melted add flour to it and whisk it well (do not let the flour
brown).
2. Once the butter and
flour is whisked properly and forms into a smooth thick paste, start to add the
milk slowly (preferably your milk should be warm). Stir the milk and the
mixture nicely till no lumps remain.
3. Once the milk is added
whisk the mixture and dissolve all the lumps that may get formed. Use an
electronic whisk for great results. Once the sauce is smooth, let it simmer on
medium heat to thicken to your desired consistency. Next add some salt to
taste, some pepper to taste as well, about ½ tsp sugar.
4. Now cook the macaroni
pasta. Cook the pasta as shown in the recipe of pasta in arrabiata sauce. Once
the macaroni is cooked pour it into the white sauce and mix gently.
5. Now take an oven proof
bowl. Pour the macaroni in white sauce in it and top with some grated cheese. You
can also add some canned pineapple to it if you desire.
6. Bake in the oven for
about 5-10 minutes till the cheese turns golden brown.
For the potato wedges:
Ingredients:
2-3 par boiled potatoes
cut into thick wedges
some Salt, black salt,
red chilli powder & black pepper powder, as per taste
Method:
1. Cut the potatoes into
thick wedges and place in a bowl of cold water.
2. Now heat some oil in a
wok, once the oil is hot, fry the potato wadges in it till golden brown.
3. Now throw in all the
spices in a bowl and mix it up. You can also add some garlic powder to it.
4. Take the wedges out of
the wok and drain the excess oil on a tissue paper, sprinkle the spice mix on
it. And that’s it!
The Final Plating:
ü Take a sizzler plate, in
case if you don’t have one then use a large flat bottomed frying pan, place
some cabbage leaves on it, nicely arrange the sautéed veggies, potato wedges,
veggie cutlets and pastas on it.
ü If you want your home
made sizzler to sizzle, you’ll have to use a hot iron plate (sizzler plates are
easily available in the markets). Heat up the iron plate till very hot, plate
the dishes on a cabbage leave and then put a blob of butter on the really hot
iron plate and that should make it sizzle.
ü Be really careful so as
to not burn your fingers! And in case you do, apply some white toothpaste on
the burns, it’s a quick healer.
