Basil Pesto sauce

Basil Pesto Sauce

Topping up Pesto before Storing

Fresh homemade pesto from freshly plucked Basil leafs has great flavor and color. I had grown a Basil plant in a pot in my balcony, and the seeds were transported to other pots by wind thus it was like basil basil every where filling my balcony with fragrance. I used it in salad, mushroom baked sandwiches, pasta etc. They would start making appearance in abundance so I decided to make Pesto. After using bottled pesto from market I realized the difference between homemade pesto from garden fresh Basil and the bottled one from market. The addition of few walnuts gives a wonderful earthy taste. I just love this Pesto.

Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes

Making Time: 10 minutes

Makes 400-450 gm of Pesto

Ingredients Required for Making Pesto:

• 100-120 Fresh basil leafs.

Fresh Basil Leafs

• 8-10 pods of Garlic.

Garlic

• 10-15 Almonds.

Almonds and 

• 4-5 Walnuts.
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (or to taste).
• 100 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil for Pesto sauce.
• 10-15 ml. Extra Virgin Olive oil for topping up.

Directions For Making Basil Pesto:

• Remove the stalk from leafs.
• Roast Almonds and soak them in water.
• Once almonds are soaked remove the peel (Brown covering) from roasted, soaked almonds.
• In a mixer-grinder take Basil leafs and grind them thoroughly.
• Add
• Garlic
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Salt
• Grind. If required very little amount of water can be added to make a fine paste.
• Add half the amount (50ml) of olive oil slowly to the paste along with pulsing the paste in mixer. Do not run the mixer at high speed. Otherwise the color of Pesto will become foamy and whitish.

Thick Pesto Paste

• Remove the paste in a big bowl and add the remaining 50 ml of olive oil along with mixing with the help of a spoon.

Pesto After Adding Olive oil

• Fill the container in which you wish to store the Pesto with your freshly made Pesto sauce and top it up with 10-15 ml of olive oil.

Topping up Pesto before Storing

• It lasts for months in freezer and in fridge at least for 6 months, but I bet you it will finish before that long. For experimenting I kept some amount in a little bottle but after 6 months my patients gave way to polising it off.

Tips:

• Make sure the smallest stalk is removed for best texture.
• Garlic can be adjusted according to taste and the size of pods.
• More Almonds can be added if one wishes but do not add more walnuts, they may leave a little bitter taste if added in excess.
• Do not add excess of water, else the Pesto sauce will become runny and no one wants runny Pesto. One or two teaspoon will be enough.
• Suggested Variations: None.

Beetroot Cutlets / चुकन्दर की टिकिया

Beetroot Cutlets Without Sesame Seeds Coating

Cutlets served with Tomato Ketchup

Beetroot is not only nutritious alongwith being tasty, but it is also a very good root vegetable helpful for controlling weight. It is rich dietary fibers, Vitamins, minerals and low on calories. This red tuber can be made to savory, salads, sliced and put in sandwiches, burgers. I love cutlets of beetroot. They can be had as snacks with tomato ketchup or green chutney; they can be placed between slices of bread with chutney, ketchup or humus to make a delicious, healthy nutritious sandwich.

Preparation Time: 10-15 minutes

Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Servings: makes 6-8 Medium size cutlets

Nutritional Value: (Approx.)

• Calories: 550
• Fat: 11gm
• Carb: 100gm
• Sugars: 25gm
• Protein: 10gm
• Calcium: 100gm
• Dietary fibers: 19gm
• Sodium: 1200mg
• Potassium: 2010mg
• Cholesterol: 0mg
• Rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Iron, and calcium

Ingredients Required For Making Beetroot Cutlets:

• Beetroot: 2 medium size or 250 gm
• Potatoes: 2 Medium size or 100 gm
• Ginger: 1inch piece (Optional)
• Garlic: 4-5 cloves (Optional)
• Ginger Powder: 1 Teaspoon
• Green chilies: 1 or according to taste
• Green coriander leafs: 3-4 sprigs
• White Sesame seeds: 2-3 table spoon

Ingredients For Cutlets

• Olive oil/cooking oil: 1 Teaspoon is using nonstick pan else more
• Salt to taste

Directions for Making Beetroot cutlets:

• Peel and grate beetroots. Keep aside.
• Peel potatoes and grate them, Keep aside.
• Heat a pan (no oil required) and put grated beetroot in it. Cook on medium heat with stirring till most of the moisture evaporated and the grated beetroot become soft. Do not cover while dry cooking. It will be done in 8-10 minutes.

Raw grated Beetroot being cooked to rteduce the juice

Ready to make cutlets mixture

• Roast sesame seeds on low flame till they gain light brown color.
• Chop coriander leaves finely.
• Chop green chilies finely.
• Grate or chop ginger as per your liking.
• Take the grated potatoes and beetroot in a bowl and mix 
• Salt
• Ginger 
• Chopped ginger
• Green chilies
• Dry ginger powder
• Garlic (Optional)
• Corianders leaf and mix well.

• 

  Mixture of cutlets

• Make 6-8 balls from the mixture.
• Flatten the balls between your palms to give the shape.
• Coat each raw cutlets with roasted sesame seeds. (Optional)

Ready to be cooked (Without Seesame seeds)

Rounds of cutlets coated with White Sesame seeds

• Take a non-stick pan and heat on high flame.
• Sprinkle few drops of olive oil on the pan once it is hot.
• Bring the heat to medium and place the raw cutlets on the hot pan with oil.
• Cook on medium flame for two minutes and then flip them carefully. Making sure they do not break.

Cutlets Being Cooked in Spoonfull of Oil

Cooked on one side

Cutlets ready for serving

Cutlets Ready To be Served

• Cook the other side also for two minutes. By now both side of cutlets should be brownish.
• The cutlets will be on soft. Do not cover them once they are done.
• Take then on a plate serve them hot with chutney/ketchup or if you want to store let them cool without covering before storing.

Beetroot Cutlets (Without sesame seeds) With Raw Mango Chutney

Cutlets With Coriander-Mint Chutney

http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-coriander-and-mint-chutney.html

MY favorite breakfast is grilled sandwich (Call it a taco) made by palcing these cutlets between two folds of chapati, grilling it and pairing it with homemade humus or coriander-mint chutney.

Tips:

• Do not overcook beetroot and potatoes else the cutlets mixture will become too wet and gooey, resulting not so firm cutlets.
• Dry ginger gives good flavor and absorbs moisture thus is essential to be added.
• Red chilies powder spoils the flavor so avoid it.
• All chopped ingredients should be chopped finely , big pieces of chilies, garlic are very unsavory in soft cutlets.
• Adjust the flame according to your cooking equipment, that is pan and gas stove/hot plate.

Suggested Variations:

• I am a big fan of garlic and ginger thus I have added chopped ginger also, if you wish you can avoid chopped ginger.
• The cutlets after being coated with roasted sesame seeds can be coated in egg white, then with all purpose flour and deep fried.
• To a cup of all-purpose flour add salt and make batter using soda. The batter should be thick but of flowing consistency. Dip each sesame coated raw cutlets and deep fry them. I prefer my cutlets pan fried with as little oil as possible, this is simply to keep them on healthier side.
• Butter can replace olive oil. It certainly adds a wonderful flavor to the cutlets.