Food Makes Memories: Make it Quick and Easy

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Shortcuts to Cooking

Since food isn't about just cooking, and eating. It's more about making memories and pleasant moments. So, it should be quick and easy. The aim isn't to adorn a role of chef per se but just to give a little surprise, and make a lifelong memory of togetherness.

Friends, here is my post on smart and quick recipes. As the smart phones and "I have no time" phrases trend too often, I thought of sharing my own tried and tested recipes that cook in the least time, and taste good too! 

Frankly, I thought of dedicating it to my male friends but to my surprise, some of them boast of great culinary skills these days. From the time men have come to know that it's no more just cooking but an essential skill to possess, and also can’t just help them earn respect among ladies, but money too with big businesses, they have just started loving it. That was just on lighter note. There are no shortcuts to success they say, but then cooking needs just an active interested person with loving intentions to do it with shortcuts too.

I am sharing some easy and quick some mocktails, snacks, salad, main course vegetables and desserts too. Lets begin with them one by one:

Mocktails:

1. Green Punch: Pour in 2 tbsp of Kiwi crush, lime juice, crushed mint leaves and soda.
2.  Passion Drink: Put mixed fruit juice, ginger juice(1 tsp), and ice cream, and blend.

Snacks:

1. 
   
2. To make those crispy potato tikkis, you don't need to do a hundred things. Just mash potatoes with soaked poha, and put salt and chat masala to knead it into round balls. Press them slightly and fry. You wouldn't have tasted crispier potato tikki before this.
3. Just fry any ready to eat snacks available in market, and make it your own by playing a little trick with it. Fry potato wedges, spring roll or any other ready-to-eat frozen snacks, and cut it into small pieces. Thereafter put oil in pan, and put ginger-garlic paste, pizza-pasta sauce, thinly sliced onions and capsicum to it. Just sorte it for a minute, and add the fried cut pieces of snacks. sumptuous snacks are ready.

Salad:

1. Beetroot Salad: Grate beetroot and mix coarsely crushed peanuts, and fresh coconut. Add a spoon of honey, black salt, and a tsp of salad dressing/ mayonnaise. Your beautifully coloured salad with a twist is ready to be served.
2. Green Salad with Twist: Cut cucumber and tomato in small pieces. Mix sweet corn, Mint chutney and salt to it. The same green salad with a little different taste is ready.

Main Course:

1. Paneer Dish - I am not giving it a name as you could always creatively name your own dish. Before starting just ensure that paneer is fresh and soft, and if you are using frozen ones, then place them in microwave for 2 minutes. just put oil in pan followed by large pieces of onion, garlic-ginger, tomato, and some cashews. After they get softened, make their paste in mixer. Now, add oil in another pan, and put this paste in it. Add salt, one tablespoon of malai/cream, Everest Shahi Panner Masala, and 1 tsp of mango pickle gravy. let it cook and release oil. just add paneer. keep it covered with lid for just 2 mins. If your paste seems too thick or you want more gravy, then before adding paneer, add boiled milk to gravy by continuously stirring.

1. Kurkuri Bhindi- Thinly slice lady finger into vertical halves. Sprinkle some curd with all spices like besan(Gram flour), salt, red chilly powder, amchur powder. Mix everything up. Just heat oil, and carefully deep fry them. Take them out on tissue paper, and sprinkle some chaat masala. Crispy and spicy bhindi is ready to be served.

Dessert:

1. Buy readymade plum cake, Britannia cakes or any other cupcake from bakery. Just microwave them, put a scoop of icecream of your choice followed by chocolate sauce or any other syrup of your choice.
2. No Bake Cake: Just crush the digestive biscuits. pour micro waved dark compound chocolate with castor sugar into it. Mix your favourite nuts. Set it in the freezer for an hour. Your cake is ready.
3. For the ones with higher experiment taste and endeavour, put slices of ready made plum or any other cake at the bottom of dish. pour molten chocolate icecream. Put another layer of cake followed by mango/ kaju icecream. Let it set in freezer for a while. Cut it into pastry sizes. Pour chocolate sauce over it and serve multi-coloured and  multi textured pudding to your guest.

 Assuming that my male friends would attempt these in an endeavour to impress their lady love, I have just penned down a few lines:

To impress a woman

you need skills

If that's what you thought

in innumerable circles you are caught.

Day-in and day-out

many ideas pour throughout

But nothing will work

as in the expression you lurk.

Intelligence is something

and money another

Do you have patience and time my dear

to listen her is all you have to bear.

Find a ring, or  a dress

flaunt a big car if you guess

When women found way to heart through your stomach

Why don't you copy and try your luck!

If you happen to try any of these, please share your experience. Happy cooking!