Stir Fry Vegetables with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Happened to try Stir fry a few months back, came out real good, but since then the quality went down in the subsequent shots. Couldn't figure out what was wrong. Seems that was the reason i stayed out of the kitchen for so long. Today, went through the process slowly and have to say the outcome  was finger licking goood...

Ingredients:

Spices: Everything to taste, for 2 servings, I used a table spoon of everything, slightly less on pepper and chilli

• Dry Basil
• White Pepper Ground
• Chili flakes
• Garlic Powder
• Mixed Seasoning
• Himalayan Salt (Taste)
• Sweet and Sour Sauce
• Corn Starch

Veggies: Any you like, I am more into proteins so lots of tofu and mushrooms for me. This time 

• Tofu -  Medium Slices Toasted on a lightly brushed pan
• washed and chopped Mushrooms(type you like) - 1 cup
• Long cut (Brunoise) Belle Pepper (several colors) - 2 Cups
• Roasted Peanuts (Optional) - handful
• Broccoli (Optional, if you do, use small / medium flowers 5-7 per plate)

Oil/Butter as needed/preferred: I use minimal.

Process:

• Dry roast the spices on a pan at medium flame. 5-7 Mins
• grind the mix to powder 
• put it back on pan on medium flame and mix with Sweet and Sour sauce and / or any other sauce you want. mix for 2 mins 
• Add water to make the sauce. 

At this point, I personally like to bring the mix to boil and reduce the water to half. It just makes the mix more consistent and rich.Once done, keep aside.

Use a Skillet to roast the medium slices. Roast them to taste and liking. Keep aside.

Use a flat pan to saute the veggies. First goes the peppers. Run it dry on the pan for 3-4 mins. Since Pepper will release some water, make sure move it enough so it does not burn. Add Mushrooms to the mix and add a little butter, just enough to glaze the mix. Saute it for another 5-6 mins.

While the veggies are getting saute, take one tea spoon of Corn starch, mix it well with warm/lukewarm water and add to the gravy. This is used to thicken the gravy. Bring the gravy to a good consistency. Add a few pinches of Himalayan salt to both the veggies and gravy.

Mix the veggies into the gravy and stir it lightly for a min.

Dress the plate and throw some peanuts on top. Serve it hot 

PS: I sometime top it with grated cheese :-)😋😋😋😋😋

Various tries below.

Some more tries in the past .

Chocolate Parantha!! Desi Bidesi Fusion!!!

I havn't been very fond of letting Saanvi ooze on chocolates. But as she grows there is less of controlling and more of making lecturing for her on what why how much she should eat. Chocolates being one of her not so good friends but she still ensures she gets one with "Papa...only one plllsssss" :-). We always have dozens of chocolates at home but i am really impressed with this little fella for not digging in.

So have to let her enjoy chocolates in different variations. One such I thought she would like in her favorite morning meal - Parantha (Stuffed Tortilla)

What i used was

1 Small 4gm Orange Flavored chocolate. You can chose any plain chocolate (Non Caramel, Non Nutty...). Try classic Dairy Milk. If you have a nutty chocolate too, grate the nuts along with the chocolate.

Regular Wheat Dough. I am hoping you know how to prepare one.

• Use a thin grater or a sharp knife to grate the hard chocolate. 
• Take a regular size tortilla dough and roll it into a 6 inch circle.
• spread the grated chocolate over it and very gently press the chocolate in the dough, so it just sticks to the dough and doesn't fall around.
• move over the sides towards the center and make a smaller rectangular or square shape.
• Roll to flatten it to about 8-9".
• Do not flatten too thin or too long.
• Now make it like any other parantha on a flat pan (Tawa)

Serve the little one and see how surprised they are by eating chocolate in a healthy way. 

Cheers!!!