Bechamel Sauce (Cheesy White Sauce)By Meg's KitchenIf there is a quick, delicious, easy to whip up sauce recipe, it’s Bechamel sauce. It may be intimidating for some to try and get it right but follow this recipe to the T and you will never fail. Well, that’s what I always do – share only fool proof recipes, and this is one that is absolutely creamy, cheesy and yumm. Your kids are going to love for you it.
Pizza, Pasta, Lasagne SauceBy Meg's KitchenSharing with you today one of my most favourite sauces. I use it for almost any Italian recipe which requires a tomato-based sauce, marinara, pomodoro or arrabbiata. It’s been a favourite from our Dips, Sauces & Spreads workshop, and once you try it, it’ll be your home favourite too!! You will never ever again buy pizza sauce form the market, after tasting how delicious this is, I give you my word for it!
Dal BattiBy Meg's KitchenDal Batti is a traditional Rajasthani dish which is an absolute delight to have. It’s indulgent, yum and extremely comforting to have on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Accompanied with a glass of chaas it’s perfect before a rejuvenating siesta. Each household has their own version of it. Some people make it with 3 different mixed dal and serve along with gatte ki sabzi or aloo sabzi or garlic chutney. How we eat at our home is with sliced onions, green chutney, tinda in tomato gravy, ghee, whole green chilly and some lemon! Its an easier meal to make than simple pulav with lots of vegetables to chop or dal, roti, sabzi and rice meal. Its quick, easy, a fabulous change and so so yummm. If you haven’t made it at home yet, you gotta do it today! I completely simplified it.
Street Style Hakka NoodlesBy Meg's KitchenPresenting to you my version of the Indianized, desi, street style ‘Hakka Noodles’ or ‘Chow mine’. This recipe belongs to my Stir Fry Cooking workshop and is really the easiest, quickest recipe to make when you are craving garlicky, spicy noodles. I highly recommend you to, go through the replay of the live session we held on Facebook since I have shared VERY important tips and tricks to make this recipe a success for you!! The key lies in the technique involved in making a bowl of stir fry. Have a look at the video for sure. The chilli garlic paste that we have used is fabulous. The recipe is available on our website www.megskitchen.in. Check it out!
Instant Pizza RecipeBy Meg's KitchenWho does not love a good pizza? In these times of lockdown, we all have craved for things we love to eat, and pizza is surely one of them. Though deliveries are open, I wouldn’t recommend risking it AT ALL! Instead why not simply learn how to bake a yummy pizza with easily available ingredients. Usually pizza bread is made with yeast as a leavening agent. However, since most of us don’t have yeast available, I am sharing in instant pizza recipe which takes less than 30 minutes from start to end!! How cool is that?? The bonus tip is that this recipe can be used to make yummy stuffed garlic bread too!! To make things even simpler, I have a fabulous pizza sauce recipe shared on my Instagram highlights. You HAVE TO try it out if you haven’t yet! It works great for pastas, pizzas, lasagnes, and open toasts etc. definitely check it out!
Mexican Lemon QuinoaBy Meg's KitchenIt's an extremely healthy, vegan and gluten free version of it. Mexican Lemon Quinoa is my version of a quick, yummy and easy one pot meal. Believe it or not, lemon zest is the hero of this dish! Don’t miss out on adding it. The freshness it lends to a dish is unmatched and very different from the lemon juice flavour! Must try!!
Thin Crust Ragi PizzaBy Meg's KitchenEasy to Make 100% Ragi/Nachni Roti This pizza recipe isn’t just any recipe! Let me tell you why. For the longest time I personally struggled to make millet rotis and other stuff I keep experimenting with using millet flour. Millets are very low in gluten or completely gluten free making it very difficult to knead a dough and roll them out for roti, pizza, tortillas etc. This technique enables you to make soft, puffed rotis that are quick and easy to make. For making a pizza you just need to roll out a bigger and thicker roti like a parantha and cook it. That becomes your pizza base. Let’s begin with the recipe.
Dal PalakBy Meg's KitchenPulses are rich in protein and added greens into it, will only make your dish more nutritious and wholesome. This recipe can be converted into dal palak khichdi so easily. My favourite 2 dals that I use are Split Green Moong Gram and Arhar (Toor) Dal. When you have some left-over dal, add chopped onions, green chillies, some spices and make a dough for dal parantha out of it and you’ll a delicious breakfast option ready! So let’s begin with this easy wonderful recipe..
The Humble Bhindi/Lady Finger/OkraBy Meg's KitchenBhindi is definitely the staple food of my house like hundreds of other households in our country. It is so versatile and cooked in various forms regionally. I am sure we all have our favourites. In my mom’s house its almost always made with either sliced onions or small sambar onions (used as whole, stuffed with spices) and is delicious. I usually cook it without onions since my daughter prefers it like that (and she can eat bhindi EVERYDAY, like her father!!).. Personally, I am not a very big fan of bhindi but don’t mind it occasionally. So, when I initially tried making bhindi, in UK as a student (I couldn’t cook much then), I always ended up with a mushy mess and maybe that’s why I stopped enjoying it! But of course, I made my mistakes and, in the process, learnt small little tricks to get it right each time. Let me first share those tips with you:
  1. Wash and clean your bhindi well and dry it COMPLETELY before chopping.
  2. Apply some lemon juice on the knife blade while chopping and it wouldn’t be very slimy while cutting.
  3. Try and keep the pieces small and most importantly EVEN sized.
  4. If adding sliced onions, then add after the initial 5-7 min of cooking the bhindi.
  5. Use an iron kadai if possible, adds to the flavour and colour of the dish.
  6. DO NOT cook covered in the initial 5-7 min.
  7. Cook on medium high heat and not low initially.
  8. Be very gentle while cooking and careful not to smash the bhindi.
  9. When I add my spices, I actually hold the pan from its handle and toss the bhindi to blend spices rather than using a spoon to mix.
  10. Use a good quality non stick or cast iron pan, or you’ll need to use more oil.
Rajasthani Gatte Ki SabziBy Meg's KitchenI am Punjabi!! and I am originally from Delhi… So for the most part of my life, regional food and other Indian cuisines didn’t really exist. I had heard about a lot of dishes, but that wasn’t food that we went out to eat or was cooked at home. I got married into a Marwari Jain household and you won’t believe how my palette transformed!! Another massive change happened when I moved to Mumbai.. this city is just amazing and the kind of cultural diversity it has, I doubt any other part of India can match up. Thanks to my mother-in-law and her mother-in-law (my husband’s dadi) and this city, I now know so much more about another world of food that I hadn’t experienced before. Gatte Ki Sabzi is one such dish.. I have developed my own version of it and absolutely love it! Glad to be sharing with you all.
Eggless Savoury TartBy Meg's KitchenFor first timers, just the thought of making a tart can be daunting but is that not what I am here for?? Simplifying recipes to the point that anyone can make! So that’s what I did. It’s eggless, mess free, very quick, vegetarian and super versatile. Below is the version I did but go ahead and give it a try with your favourite fillings.
Dry Masala ArbiBy Meg's KitchenArbi is one such vegetable that some people hate it and some people absolutely love it. The recipe I am sharing here today is one that can convert the haters! Well, at least I sure hope so. By the way, I learnt this recipe from my mom and she learnt it from her mom!! I’ve made a small change though – I did not deep fry it but used the air fryer for making it.