Tawa pulao

Pulao as street food ? Yes that was my exact reaction when I saw a dish called Tawa pulao on the menu of a stall for the first time in khaugalli (a place in Mumbai famous for street food). One can find Tawa Pulao on the menu of almost every Pav-bhaji stall in Mumbai. Interestingly this dish has almost all the Pav-bhaji ingredients in it. The original recipe involves preparation on a hot flat pan, also called as a tawa and hence the name. We participated in a potluck recently and the theme was Mumbai night. I was the last one to select the menu and decided to make this dish. Spicy tawa pulao can be a one-pot meal. Go ahead and try it if you havent !! Here is the recipe.

Ingredients
Rice - 3 cups (cooked)
Peas - 1/4 cup
French beans - 1/4 cup
Carrots - 1/4 cup
Cauliflower - 1/4 small cubes
Potatoes - 1/4 cup peeled, sliced

Tomatoes- 1/4 cup chopped

Onion - 1/2 cup chopped
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 Tbsp
Pav-Bhaji masala - 11/2 Tbsp
Lime juice - 1Tbsp
Butter and oil
Salt
Chopped Cilantro and onion wedges for garnishing.

Procedure
1. Cook some rice (3 cups). Cut the vegetables and half-cook all the vegetables except the tomato and onions.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Saute chopped onions and tomatoes. Put ginger-garlic paste and fry it well.
3. Put Pav-bhaji masala, salt, half-cooked vegetables and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Then add rice, butter, salt and lime juice.

5. Garnish the pulao with chopped cilantro and onion wedges.

Schezwan potato puffs

The first time I tasted puff pastries was at Monginis, a local bakery chain in India. Hot puffs with coffee is a perfect snack (when you are not counting calories ;) ) Puff pastry is a quick appetizer one can make by using a variety of stuffings, sauces and ingredients. One can make tasty appetizers using spicy stuffings and desserts using the sweeter ones. Here is an idea I thought of to make puffs using chinese sauces. The recipe is given below.
Ingredients
Puff pastry sheets - 1 packet
*Potatoes - 2 medium, sliced and half cooked (3 mins in microwave)
Sesame seeds - 1 Tbsp
Schezwan sauce - 2Tbsp
Cilantro and cheese for garnishing
Oil, salt and sugar
*Potatoes can be replaced with paneer or chicken.

1. Thaw puff pastry sheets for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Put the sesame seeds, salt, sugar and potatoes in the pan. Fry them well.
3. Then add schezwan sauce and cilantro.
4. Cut the puff pastry sheets in 8 squares. Fill the stuffing inside and give the desired shape to the puffs.
5. Bake the puffs for 15 minutes in the pre-heated oven.
6. Garnish with chopped cilantro and cheese.