Baked Mushroom Sandwich

A rainy evening, a lazy and stressed out mommy after a long day’s work who decided to pass the cooking buck to him, a pack of recently bought succulent mushrooms, a packet of bread, and an oven. Flash popped an idea. He spruced up and put his gray cells to work. Thus born the recipe of baked mushroom sandwich.

Ingredients

Bread slices
Mushroom
Boiled sprouts
Capsicum (any color)
Onion
Tomatoes
Garlic
Green chillies
Coarsely powdered pepper
Butter
Olive oil

Heat olive oil in a kadai. Add salt, pepper and finely chopped garlic, onions, capsicum, part of the tomatoes and sauté for a min till the typical olive oil-garlic-onion-pepper smell comes. Turn off the flame and immediately add a dollop of butter (we want the butter to melt not clarify). Let this cool for 3-4 minutes.

In a bowl, put in the sliced mushrooms and thrown in the sprouts as well. Add the mixture that is relatively cool now to the bowl and toss well. We want it all over the mushroom. You can sprinkle more pepper at this point if u like the raw taste. Hold one or 2 green chillies in a chimta (tongs for chappati) over a flame till you hear some crackling. Chop the green chilles and toss it with the mushroom. Meanwhile preheat your oven to 200 Degrees Celsius. Take a greased baking dish (with butter or olive oil) and line the bottom with bread slices. Add the mushroom salad and make a layer (you could alternatively do another layer of bread and salad as well. If the dish is deep enough) cut just one or 2 cheese slices into narrow slices and put it on top (grated cheese is another option if u like a lot of cheese) the rest of the chopped tomatoes go on top of this (this is optional if u like the red color) and bake at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Your baked mushroom sandwich is ready to eat!!

Let your neighbors go green with envy while you eat the aromatic baked mushroom sandwich.

PS: The picture has suggested garnishing (sauce).

Dal Dhokli - The Gujarati Delight!!

After tasting Dal Dhokli and falling hook, line, and sinker for its simple yet lip-smacking taste, I decided to try it myself and put my culinary skills to test. The Gujarati dish’s recipe is as simple as simple can get and is very easy to make. I cooked Dal Dhokli for dinner although I think it will make a sumptuous meal anytime of the day.

Since it has wheat and Dal in generous proportions, a cup of Dal Dhokli is as good as two rotis and a bowl of Dal. Try it yourself. Here is the recipe my friend’s mom bequeathed me.

For Dal

Toor / Masoor / Moong Dal – 1 cup
Chillies – 2 medium sized
Ginger – one small piece
Tomato – one medium sized
Onion – one small sized
Peanuts – 10 - 15
Chilly powder – one tea spoon
Coriander powder – one tea spoon
Salt – to taste

For Tadka

Oil – one table spoon
Turmeric powder – one tea spoon
Chilly powder – one tea spoon
Cum seeds – as required

For Dhoklis

Wheat flour – 1 cup
Chilly powder – ½ tea spoon
Turmeric powder – ½ tea spoon
Salt – to taste
Butter – one table spoon
Coriander leaves – as required

Preparation:

Dal

Coarsely grind chilly and ginger and add to the washed and ready to cook dal. Chop onion finely and add the tomato to the dal. Pressure-cook the dal, mash it when done and keep it aside.


Dhokli

Mix all Dhokli ingredients to wheat and knead the dough. Make medium sized roti-balls and roll out rotis. Heat the rotis both sides for just 5 seconds. (This is done so that the Dokhlis won’t stick to each other when you throw them into the dal).

The final touché

Heat the pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot enough, add mustard seeds and when they start spurting, add cumin seeds. Now add the mashed dal with chilly powder and turmeric powder. You can add water liberally since Dhokli’s tend to absorb water. When the dal comes to a boil, add the Dhoklis one by one stirring occasionally. Cook for 5 minutes before turning the stove off. Add chopped coriander leaves to garnish and serve hot.

Your Dal Dhokli is ready to eat now!!