Who wants hot hot green pepper fritters???

It’s very hard for me to say NO to fritters and I never seem to get tired of it. And it tastes more delicious on a rainy day or on a cold freezing day. In winter, I get the craving for having fritters and I feel so cozy after having them. Fritters are very common in my hometown. We make fritters with raw and ripe plantain, onion, mixed veggies, chicken, banana peppers, eggplants, lentils, chick peas etc. Serving fritters along with hot cardamom tea in the evening is an usual scene in Kerala. If you walk through the streets in the evening in my hometown, you could see street vendors and small cafeterias selling hot fritters along with piping hot tea.

I love fritters made with almost everything, after all frying makes everything tastes delicious. For making the batter, you can either use all purpose flour or gram flour. Usually, ripe plantain, dates and anything that’s sweet is coated with all purpose flour batter. If vegetables are used, mostly gram flour batter is used.

The other day, I  made fritters with green pepper and it tasted unbelievably delicious. Most folks in South India are die hard fans of banana pepper fritters or Mulaku bhaji. Well, the good news is this green pepper fritter tastes very similar to banana pepper fritters as the green peppers have a mildly spicy and crunchy flavor. Try this and sure you’ll be hooked on it.

I do have a collection of fritter recipes, have a peek.

Green Pepper Fritters

Ingredients

• Green pepper, cut into thick wedges- 2 to 3
• Oil- for frying

For making batter

• Gram flour- 1 1/2 cups
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Asafetida- 2 pinches (optional)
• Ground cumin- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Water- 3/4 cup or just enough to make a thick batter

Preparation

• In a large bowl, combine all the above mentioned ingredients to make the batter.
• Add water slowly and combine with the flour till you have a thick batter.
• It’s very important that the batter should be thick else it won’t coat well on the green pepper.
• You could add any kinds of spices or herbs to the batter, if you want it spicy add more of the chilly powder.
• Remove the seeds from the green pepper and cut into 1 inch thick wedges.
• Heat a frying pan and add oil to it.
• Dip the green pepper wedges in the batter and evenly coat it.
• Place it in the oil and fry till it turns golden in color.
• Transfer to a paper towel and serve hot.
• Hot hot green pepper fritters and a cup of hot cardamom tea…Mmmm, YUM!

Textured soy chunks or soy protein are perfect meat substitutes…

Soy chunks or textured soy proteins are not new to me. I’ve tried cooking with it a few years ago, but the taste of it didn’t excite me that much. I think I made a vegetarian curry or something with that. After that I didn’t care nor make an attempt to try something new with soy chunks. Last weekend, while flipping through the TV channels, as usual my flipping came to an end when I saw a cooking show in one of the Indian channels. I got glued to that show for sometime. In that, the chef made kebabs using soy chunks. I never thought that kebabs or cutlets can be made out of soy chunks, that definitely encouraged me to buy soy chunks. I have seen soy chunks at the Indian store, so I just have to go straight to that store. Without any delay, I tried the soy cutlets or kebabs in my own way.

Believe me, I didn’t feel like I was having vegetarian cutlets, the ground soy chunks had the texture of ground chicken. I shallow fried the cutlets and it tasted really delicious. If you are looking for a meat substitute for making cutlets or kebabs, without any doubt soy chunks is the perfect match. These can also be used for making burgers or sandwiches or just wrap these in a pita bread or tortilla, perfect for lunch, dinner or even for breakfast.

Soy chunks are rich in protein and is vegetarian. Even though soy is gluten free, I learned from some blogs that these soy chunks are not 100% gluten free.

Soy Cutlets or Kebabs

Ingredients

• Soy chunks or textured soy protein- 2 1/2 cups
• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Cloves, whole- 2
• Cardamom, whole- 3
• Cinnamon, whole- 2 inch slice
• Bay leaf- 1
• Whole black peppercorns- 6 to 7 or (use 1/2 tsp ground pepper)
• Onion, chopped small- 1 large
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 2 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Fennel powder- 2 tsp
• Dalia flour or roasted chana dal flour- 2 1/2 cups or depending on how much you need to make round shapes
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
• Salt- to taste
• Oil- for shallow frying or deep frying

Preparation

1. Cover soy chunks with water and soak it for 20 minutes. Don’t soak it overnight.
2. Soy chunks will absorb moisture and will have a sponge like texture after it’s been soaked in water.
3. Just before you add soy chunks to the pan, make sure to squeeze the water off.
4. Place a large pan over medium heat.
5. Add oil, let it turn hot.
6. Add cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, whole peppercorns to the oil, saute for a few seconds.
7. Add onion, little salt and saute till it turns translucent.
8. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes.
9. Squeeze the water off the soy chunks and add to the pan.
10. Add coriander powder, fennel powder and salt, combine well.
11. Cook covered for a few minutes.
12. If it’s too dry you could add little water to the pan and cook.
13. Soy chunks will cook very fast.
14. Open the lid and cook till all the water has dried off.
15. Add cilantro and cook for a minute.
16. Remove from the flame and let cool down.
17. Add the mixture to the blender or food processor and grind it to a smooth constituency.
18. You could add just enough water while grinding to get a smooth constituency, but don’t add too much water.
19. Transfer the ground soy mixture into a large bowl.
20. If the cinnamon hasn’t ground well, just discard that.
21. Add dalia flour in small amounts to the soy mixture and combine.
22. You should be able to form balls out of the ground mixture.
23. If the mixture is wet, add more of the flour and combine.
24. Have a taste and add more salt or ground pepper if needed.
25. Make small balls out of the mixture and shape it into oval or round shape.
26. You can make these balls way ahead and refrigerate it.
    
27. Either deep fry the cutlets or shallow fry it, I shallow fried it.
28. Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan, place the cutlets and shallow fry or deep fry till both sides have turned golden brown in color.
29. Transfer to a paper towel and serve warm with ketchup or your favorite dippings.

Tips:

• Make sure you don’t add too much water while grinding the cooked soy chunks, if it gets too watery you need to add more flour to make the balls.
• Dalia flour is available at Indian stores, don’t confuse it with besan or gram flour.
• Or buy roasted dalia and ground it into fine powder in a blender.
• Use these for making veggie burgers/sandwich or wrap in a pita bread, tortilla etc or just serve with salad.

Vegetarian appetizer for Superbowl…

I am planning to be a vegetarian for this Superbowl. Ooops did I just say that?

Much awaited superbowl is just two days away. Not just the game, even the commercials are much awaited. The other day I heard on TV that around 1.25 billion chicken wings will be consumed on Superbowl weekend, according to The National Chicken Council. Well, I am not a wee bit surprised to learn that. For non-vegetarians, without chicken wings superbowl wouldn’t be complete, period! We always  used to hit the sports bar along with friends to watch the game as we love the crowd and ambiance there. But this time we are planning to watch the game through our own big screen. So, I am looking forward to a major shopping tomorrow which obviously includes stacking up of chicken wings on my cart which is definitely going to brighten up my hubby.

For tonight’s dinner I made these veggie tacos. When I served these tacos I was expecting “where’s the meat” scream from my husband. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any scream as my hubby was busy devouring these veggie delights. He liked it, loved it and finished everything in just one sitting. And I felt relieved.

If you are planning for a veggie dish for this Superbowl, this would make a perfect appetizer. You could get the store bought crispy tacos, make the stuffing, stuff the tacos, top with cheese and bake it. It’s that easy and even the hard core non-vegetarians would sneak into it.

Veggie Tacos

Makes: 10 Tacos

Ingredients

For making stuffing

• Olive oil- 1 tbsp
• Carrot, grated- 2 large
• Green pepper, chopped very small- 2
• Tomatoes, chopped small- 2
• Black beans or refried beans, canned (optional)- 1/2 can
• Pickled Jalapeno, cut small- 7 to 8 slices
• Ground Cumin- 2 tsp
• Paprika or chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup

Other ingredients:

• Salsa (optional)- to top
• Cheddar or mixed cheese- to top the tacos
• Crispy Tacos, store bought- 1o no’s
• Sour Cream- for dipping

Preparation:

Making stuffing:

1. Heat a pan over medium heat, add olive oil.
2. Add grated carrot and little water to it, cook covered for a few minutes.
3. Add green pepper, cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, cook covered till mashed up.
5. Add pickled jalapenos, combine well.
6. You could even add black beans or refried beans to the veggies, let it heat up.
7. Add ground cumin, paprika and salt to taste, combine well.
8. Cook till all the water has dried up and veggies have cooked well.
9. Taste and add more paprika or salt if needed.
10. Sprinkle cilantro and cook for a minute.
11. Remove from heat and keep aside.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
3. Stuff the store bought tacos with the prepared veggies.
4. If you want you could top the veggies with salsa.
5. Top the veggies with cheese.
6. Place the tacos on the baking sheet.
7. Since the tacos are folded, to make it stand straight you could lean the tacos to one another.
8. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and is golden in color.
9. Remove from the oven and serve warm along with sour cream.

Tips:

• You could even stuff the prepared veggies into a tortilla, fold it and bake.
• For non-veg version: add shredded chicken or ground beef.

Potato Masala: spread over dosa or serve with poori, both are phenomenal combinations…

Since my last post was about egg dosa, I felt that this post should be about making potato masala. Luckily, I had the pictures of potato masala in my picasa album. Yet another popular way of serving dosa in South India is by spreading potato masala over the dosa and rolling it, which is called Masala dosa. Any day, any time masala dosa tastes delicious and is seen on the menu of any South Indian vegetarian restaurants. Both adults and kids can be seen having this with so much enthusiasm. I have to agree that restaurant style masala dosa always tastes better than homemade ones. One of the reasons is that they make the dosa super crispy and it’s huge. Hopefully, someday I can figure out secret behind this.

Isn’t dosa such a versatile vegetarian dish? As there are endless ways of serving it, you could stuff the dosa with literally anything you like. Potato masala, egg masala, chicken, ground beef, mixed veggies, chutneys, cheese etc etc the list just goes on. This potato masala can be called as an Indian style mashed potatoes. This can be served along with poori or chapati as well.

Potato Masala

Ingredients

• Oil-2 tbsp
• Mustard seeds-1 tsp
• Chana dal- 1/2 tbsp
• Urad dal- 1 tbsp
• Red dry chilly- 2
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig
• Onion, chopped small- 2
• Green chillies, chopped- 2 or 3
• Ginger, minced- 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Potatoes, cooked- 4 large
• Green peas, frozen- 1/2 cup
• Water- 1/4 cup
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

1. Peel the skin off the potatoes.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water till it’s fork tender, keep aside.
3. Place a wok over medium heat, add oil and let it turn hot.
4. Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
5. Add chana dal first, saute and when it start to turn light golden in color add urad dal.
6. When the dals turn golden in color, add red dry chilly, curry leaves and cumin seeds.
7. Saute till cumin seeds turn light brown.
8. Make sure not to brown or burn the dals.
9. Add chopped onions and salt to taste.
10. Add minced ginger and green chillies to the onions, saute till onions turn translucent.
11. Add turmeric powder and combine well.
12. Add cooked potatoes and mash it using a wooden spoon, cook for a few minutes.
13. Add green peas to the potatoes.
14. Add water and cook covered till potatoes have almost mashed up and green peas cooked well.
15. You could either mash the potatoes well or partially mash it.
16. Sprinkle cilantro over it and combine well.
17. Have a taste and add more salt if needed.
18. If you are making masala dosa: spread the potato masala over the dosa and fold it.
19. Potato masala can also be served along with poori or chapati.

Tips:

• Adding chana dal and urad dal enhances the taste of this dish.

Dosa stuffed with egg masala, certainly a vegetarian delicacy…

Dosa is one of the popular breakfast dishes in South India. Making dosa batter is quite a breeze, you just have to soak urad dal and rice (1:2 ratio) and grind it to a thick batter. After it has fermented by keeping the batter overnight, you could start making dosas just like you make crepes. The batter can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or so. Usually, dosa which looks like a crepe is served with sambar or chutney. Yet another common way of serving dosa is by spreading potato masala over it and folding it, now this is called Masala dosa.

After a long time I made dosa a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to serve it with sambar, chutney nor as masala dosa. Instead, I served as egg dosa by spreading egg masala over the dosa and folded it. It was different and tasted great.

Egg Dosa

Recipe for making Dosa

Egg Masala

Ingredients

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Dry red whole chilly- 2
• Curry leaves- 1 sprig (optional)
• Onion, chopped very small- 2
• Green pepper, chopped very small- 2
• Tomatoes, chopped small-2
• Chilly powder- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
• Tomato ketchup- 3 tbsp
• Eggs, beaten- 2
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Salt- to taste

Preparation

1. Place a wok or non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Add oil, let it turn hot.
3. Add cumin seeds, dry red chilly and curry leaves, saute for a second.
4. Add onion and little salt, saute till onions turn translucent.
5. Add green pepper, cook for a few minutes till it turns tender.
6. Now, add tomatoes and cook till it gets mashed up.
7. Add chilly powder and coriander powder, combine well.
8. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl.
9. Add the beaten eggs to the veggies, scramble the eggs and cook the eggs.
10. Add tomato ketchup, combine well and cook for a few minutes.
11. Garnish with cilantro.
12. Taste and add salt if needed.

How to spread on Dosa:

1. Spread the dosa batter on the tawa or non-stick pan, let it cook.
2. Spread the egg masala evenly over the dosa, let cook for a few seconds.
3. Turn the heat to low.
4. Fold the dosa over and flip to the other side, cook for a minute.
5. Serve warm along with raita or yogurt.

This makes a healthy evening snack…

Rice flakes or flattened rice can be used for making snacks and is very popular in India. Many kinds of snacks can be prepared using rice flakes, the simplest one is made by wetting rice flakes with water which is then combined with coconut, banana and jaggery. Another variation is rice flakes stir fry, which is made by combining the rice flakes with veggies or nuts and seasoned with some spices. Some people even have this for breakfast instead of cereal, when mixed with milk or water it will absorb the liquid and becomes soft and can be eaten after seasoning with sugar. Since it’s easily digestible, even kids can have it. The other day, I made this veggie rice flakes stir fry. I added mixed veggies and seasoned the rice flakes with some spices. I wanted to retain the crispiness of the rice flakes so I didn’t add too much water while stir frying it. It turned out to be a healthy delicious evening snack.

Here is the recipe for Ghee Fried Rice Flakes Balls

Rice Flakes Stir Fry

Ingredients

• Oil- 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
• Red dry whole chilly-1
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Mixed veggies- 1 1/2 cups
• Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Rice flakes, white or brown- 2 cups
• Water- 3 tbsp
• Cilantro, chopped- 2 handful
• Lemon juice- 1 1/2 tsp
• Sesame seeds- 2 tbsp (optional)

Preparation:

1. Place a wok or non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Add oil, let it turn hot and add mustard seeds, let it splutter.
3. Add dry red chilly and cumin seeds, saute for a second.
4. Add mixed veggies and cook till veggies get tender.
5. Add chilly powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder and salt, combine everything well.
6. Add rice flakes, combine well.
7. Sprinkle 3tbsp of water over the rice flakes, it will absorb the moisture and turn slightly soft.
8. I wanted to retain the crispiness of the rice flakes so didn’t add too much water.
9. Add cilantro and drizzle lemon juice over it, combine well.
10. Garnish with sesame seeds.
11. Remove from the heat and serve.
12. If you want you could drizzle some more lemon juice while serving.

A bowl of this chowder on a freezing winter night and you get the cozy feeling…

Yes, you can call me a soup addict. I love to make soups with almost everything and I don’t mind having soups almost everyday. Soups comfort me on a freezing winter day or night, when I am down with flu or when I am feeling low. Having said that, since last night I’ve been on a soup diet as I am down with flu. Just like I love soups, flu loves me too. When there is a flu season I’ll be the first one to get embraced by flu. Yup, we get along really well. I took the day off from work and was trying to take some good rest. I am so weird that when I am sick I feel like doing a lot of things and when I am absolutely alright I want to sit idle. I tried hard to stay cozy inside the blanket, I felt so bored that I woke up and started writing about this chowder.

Last week, I made this chowder with cauliflower and corn. This is a very simple recipe which calls for only basic ingredients. Anyone who loves the combination of cauliflower and corn, would love this soup to the core.

Cauliflower and Corn Chowder

Serves: 5 people

Ingredients

• Olive oil- 2 tsp
• Onion, chopped- 1
• Thyme leaves- of 2 stalks
• Cauliflower florets separated- 1 medium
• Corn kernels- 1 can
• Skim milk or coconut milk- 1 cup
• Water- to thin down soup
• Ground pepper- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Sesame seeds (optional)- to garnish the soup

Preparation:

1. Place a large pot over medium heat, add oil.
2. Add chopped onion, little salt and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add thyme leaves to it.
4. Add cauliflower florets and cook covered till cauliflower has turned tender and slightly mashed up.
5. If it gets dry add little water and cook.
6. If using canned corn kernels, rinse it with water, drain and add to the cooked cauliflower.
7. Cook the corn for sometime.
8. Add 1 cup of milk or coconut milk, sprinkle ground pepper and salt.
9. Let the milk come to a slight boil.
10. Remove the pot from the heat and let the veggies cool down a bit.
11. In a blender, puree half of the veggie mixture to a coarse paste.
12. Add the paste to the remaining veggies in the pot.
13. Place the pot with the soup over medium heat.
14. Add water to thin down the soup and cook for a minute.
15. Taste and add more ground pepper and salt if needed.
16. Serve in a soup bowl and garnish with sesame seeds if needed.

Tips:

• You could replace cauliflower with potato.

A very simple and humble dish…

Last weekend I had been following quite an unhealthy diet so to compensate that I wrapped up the weekend with a healthy sea food dinner. I had  a bag of tilapia fillet in my freezer, hence it was my pick of the night. I love to store fish fillets in my freezer as I don’t have to spend much time cleaning or cutting the fish and in no time a healthy meal can be prepared. Last night, I made this baked cumin tilapia, I love the smokey flavor of the cumin. There is nothing fancy about this dish, it’s a simple, humble and a healthy dish.

Baked Cumin Tilapia

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients

• Tilapia- 3 large fillets
• Ground cumin- 2 tsp
• Ground pepper- 1 tsp (or according to your needs)
• Olive oil- 2 tbsp
• Salt- to taste

Preparation:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Spread ground cumin, ground pepper and salt over the tilapia.
• Drizzle with olive oil.
• Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease it with non-stick cooking spray.
• Place the tilapia on it.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and using a flat spatula gently slide the baked tilapia to a serving plate. Be very gentle else it would fall off.
• Serve warm with roasted veggies or over salad.
• I served along with pan roasted kohlrabi.

Why does frying make everything so delicious???

I had already posted the recipe for making Orotti or rice roti, one of the famous rotis in Malabar cuisine. This is very popular in my family as well. Orotti along with chicken/mutton or fish curry tastes extremely delicious. There is another variation of orortti which is called Ney orotti or Fried orotti in which the orotti is fried rather than just cooking it. While making fried orotti, the rice dough is seasoned with some spices which makes it flavorful and delicious. Ney orotti is yet another famous dish in my dad’s family. I still remember the first time I had this at my aunt’s house when I was a kid, I loved it so much that I was seen eating quite a lot which surprised my mom.

The other day while making fried orotti, I made a twist by adding chicken while making the rice dough. Rolled the dough into small patties and fried it. I have no words to express how delicious these fried chicken orotti tasted. I have to tell you that frying makes these crispy and flavorful. However, if you are too concerned about frying you could even cook it just like regular rotis. I have to tell you that it wouldn’t be that tasty as fried ones though.

Fried Chicken Orotti or Rice Roti

Makes: 16 no’s

Ingredients

For cooking chicken

• Chicken breast, boneless, cubed- 1
• Chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder- 1/8 tsp
• Fennel powder- 1 tsp
• Coriander powder- 1 tsp
• Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
• Salt- to taste

For making chicken masala

• Oil- 2 tsp
• Onion, chopped small- 1, large
• Ginger-Garlic paste- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves (optional)- 1 sprig

For making rice dough

• Rice flour-  2 1/2 cups
• Water- 2 cups
• Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
• Coconut, grated- 1 cup
• Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
• Cooked chicken masala- 1 1/2 cups
• Salt- little
• Oil- enough for frying

Preparation:

• Marinate the chicken with the above mentioned ingredients ‘for cooking chicken’, keep aside for 15 minutes.
• Cook the chicken covered in a saucepan till the chicken has cooked well.
• Using a fork, gently shred the chicken and keep aside.
• Place a wok over medium heat, add oil.
• Add chopped onion to it, add little salt and saute for a few minutes.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and curry leaves, saute.
• Cook till the onion has turned translucent.
• Add the shredded cooked chicken and combine well.
• Cook for a few minutes, remove from the stove.

For making rice dough:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the water.
2. Add coconut, cumin seeds, garam masala, 1 1/2 cups of the prepared cooked chicken and little salt to the water, let it come to a boil.
3. Lower the heat and slowly add the rice flour and combine it using the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the rice dough on a large baking sheet or platter.
5. Let it cool down a bit.
6. Knead the dough when it is still warm until it has well incorporated.
7. The dough should be soft and not too sticky, it it’s too sticky add some more rice flour.
8. Make medium balls out of the rice dough.
9. Grease the hands with little oil and flatten each balls between the palm of your hands into patties, it should’t be too thick.
10. If you have a tortilla maker or poori maker, you could fatten the dough in that.
11. Heat a frying pan and add enough oil for frying.
12. Fry the patties in oil till both sides have turned golden brown in color.
13. Transfer to a paper towel.
14. Serve warm by itself or along with chicken curry.

Not Fried Chicken Orortti:

1. If you don’t want to fry it, you could cook the patties on a pan just like you make orottis or chapatis.
2. Place a cast iron skillet or non-stick skillet over medium heat, let it turn hot, grease the pan with little oil.
3. Place the patties on the pan and cook over low heat till both sides turns golden brown in color.
4. Make sure that the inside has cooked well, don’t cook at high heat.

Tips:

• For making vegetarian version: Season the water for making the dough with grated coconut, cumin seeds, garam masala, fennel powder, coriander powder, small onions and salt. Add the rice flour, knead it, make into patties and fry it.

Homemade sushi rolls couldn’t get any better…

I still remember how I used to frown at sushi, however it didn’t take too long for me to turn into a sushi addict. Now, I often get the sushi craving and I am so glad that there is a really good sushi restaurant near to my house. I had been under the impression that making homemade sushi is something beyond my expertise, so I didn’t even think of making it in my kitchen. Well, I was more concerned about the handling and the storage of the raw fish. Yes, it’s very very important that the fish you use for making sushi is fresh or it’s frozen really well so that it’s safe to consume. Honestly, I am still don’t know how to handle the raw fish for making sushi. That’s the sole reason why I made the vegetarian sushi roll.

Sushi making is such a breeze, you don’t have to deal with sautéing, grinding or any of those major cooking techniques. You just need cooked sushi rice, seaweed or nori, sushi mat or bamboo mat and the fillings. In just a matter of minutes you will get to enjoy homemade sushi that tastes just like restaurant style. When it comes to filling there are no rules, you could get creative and place anything you like in the sushi. While making vegetarian sushi rolls, some of the common veggies used are avocado, carrot and cucumber.

You should be very careful while choosing the fish, for more information about what all kinds of fish can be used and about handling them read this.

Sushi rice or sticky rice, roasted seaweed sheets or nori, sushi mat or bamboo mat are available in almost all Asian stores and in some of the North American stores.

Vegetarian Sushi Rolls

Makes: 14

Ingredients

For cooking rice

• Sushi rice or sticky rice- 1 cup (add more for making more sushi)
• Water- 1 cup
• Vinegar- 1 1/2 tbsp
• Salt- little

For filling

• Avocado, cut into thin stripes- 1
• Cucumber, cut thin long stripes- 1/2 cucumber
• Carrot, cut thin long stripes- 1/2 carrot

Other ingredients

• Sushi mat or Bamboo mat or rolling mat
• Roasted seaweed or Nori- 2 sheets or more
• Sesame seeds, black or white to sprinkle over rice- 2 to 3 tbsp
• Soy Sauce- for dipping sushi

Preparation

1. Cook the rice along with the water in a rice cooker.
2. After the rice has cooked, add salt and vinegar to the rice and combine well, let cool down for sometime.
3. Place the sushi mat or bamboo mat on a clean cutting board or on counter top.
4. Layer it with a clean plastic cover or wrap.
5. Place the seaweed on the plastic wrap.
6. Evenly spread half of the rice over the seaweed. Wet your hands with water to prevent rice form sticking to your hands.
7. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the rice.
8. Gently turn the seaweed with the rice upside down so that the rice layer will become the bottom layer.
9. On the middle of the seaweed, line the avocados and top it with carrots and cucumber.
10. Gently, fold both ends of the seaweed over the filling.
11. Starting from one end roll the sushi mat along with the plastic wrap tightly.
12. When the sushi is completely rolled, tighten the sushi mat.
13. Gently, unroll the mat and peel off the plastic wrap.
14. You’ll have a nice tight long sushi roll.
15. Using a sharp knife cut the sushi into 6 or 7 pieces depending upon how thick you want. Wet the knife before cutting the sushi so that the rice and filling won’t stick to the knife.
16. Serve with soy sauce and pickled ginger.
17. Dip the sushi in soy sauce and gracefully put it in your mouth and enjoy the delicacy.
18. You could use any kinds of fillings you want mayonnaise, cream cheese, cooked shrimp, crab etc.