Veggie Concoction

Summer season has come! Its time to enjoy the greenery... green trees, grass, seasonal veggies. Vegetable markets are filled with lush green seasonal veggies. This time I decided to use some seasonal fresh vegetables and turn them into a delicious dish.

I think a lot of non-veg dishes have been put up on this blog, it's time for some veggies concoction. Idea is very simple, just take out any or all veggies from your fridge and lets make a veggie concoction out of it.

My parents are here in Vienna these days. And my mother-in-law is a vegan. Any veggie lover would love this dish. For non-vegetarian, you can later add boiled chicken or boiled meat of your choice or even boiled eggs topping will do.

It's not just good wholesome veggies you will eat, rather you will eat Vitamin A, C, K, B1, B6, Fiber, Copper etc.

Here is what I took from my fridge. 

Ingredients

• 12 - 15 Cherry Tomatoes 
• 1 Green capsicum - cut into long strips 
• 1 Yellow bell pepper - cut into long strips 
• 2 Potatoes with skin on - cut into quarters 
• 1 Onion, cut into long strips 
• 1 Carrot, finely chopped 
• Pineapple diced - For an extra punch of flavor
• 5-6 cloves on garlic 
• Ginger grated 
• 1 Lemon zest, 1 Lemon 
• Olive Oil 
• Season it with garam masala, red paprika, black pepper, salt to taste
• Coriander, Rose marry, Mint leaves - all optional.

Here is how the beautiful cut veggies looks like:

Method

• Mix all the veggies together in olive oil, and dry spices.
• Pre-heat the oven at 4 level.
• Let it bake till 40 to 45 minutes.
• Give it a stir after around 30 minutes.
• Once done, squeeze the roasted lemon juice on top of veggies.
• Once done, serve it hot in a plate.

Let's plate up:

Hey #MNoExpert, but I hope you will like it. Please give it a try and let me know how it turned out for you.

Oven made Tandoori Chicken

Since I started my own little blog and have put up few recipes, I could feel how hard it is to maintain your blog and be creative every time you put up a new recipe. Especially if you are handling all the departments by yourself (i.e. Cooking, Food Styling, Plating, Food Photography etc.).

Writing and maintaining this blog is trying to get the best out of me :-). On the face it may look like writing a food blog is like a work flow, or a flow chart with a series of steps to follow. You simply follow the steps and you are done with it, right? Wrong... :-)

It actually takes a lot more than just following a flow chart :-).

Here is how...

First you have to come with an amazing recipe which you can pursue. Spend a good amount of time to cook it. Find creative ways to plate your dish. You name your dish like a new born baby. Narrate a story or history behind the dish as an introduction to the dish. Click some amazing pictures of your dish so that they look appetizing. 

So a food blog helps you to learn in every department. I am learning especially around plating and food photography. I have searched and gone through various YouTube videos and other web contents to gain some more knowledge around them.






















I would like to say in a very humble manner, that these pictures are best of me so far. I am still learning though... :-).

This time I decided to give it a try to Tandoori Chicken, in an oven. You might find a lot of recipes of Tandoori Chicken out there. However here is my attempt on home made Tandoori Chicken in an oven. This is the first time I tried Tandoori Chicken in an oven. 

The results were delicious, I hope you will like it too :-).

Ingredients:

Chicken Legs (I took 3) • Give it a few cuts • 3 tsp mustard or olive oil • 2 tsp yogurt • 2 tsp chicken masala • 2 tsp red chili powder (adjust as per your taste) • 1 tsp coriander powder • 1 tsp cumin powder • Juice of 1 lemon • 2 tsp ginger and garlic paste • 1 tsp soy sauce (optional) • 1 tsp black pepper (optional) • salt to taste 

Marination

• Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix them well. 
• In the mix, add chicken legs, coat all the spices well on the chicken legs.
• Either use hands or a brush to massage it the chicken legs.
• Set it aside for at least 1/2 hour. The longer it marinates the better off it is. I marinate it for 3 hours in a fridge. Take it out 1 hour before cooking.

Method

• Pre-heat the oven at 375 degrees.
• Place the chicken legs on a oven tray.
• Place it in the oven and cook them for 40 to 50 minutes. Check it after 30 minutes and see if it needs more cooking.
• Take it out, plate it and you are done.

Photo Techniques:

• I decided to take this photo by my kitchen window, from where direct sun light comes in.
• I used aluminum foil, crushed it and used as light reflector to balance out the light.
• Photo is taken using iPhone 5 and edited using Google's Snapseed.