Quick Alfredo Sauce

Cooking Time: 5 min
Serves: 1

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Ingredients: 1 tblsp butter 1 tblsp Philadelphia cream cheese 1/2 cup milk 2 tblsp Parmesan cheese garlic powder to taste salt to taste black pepper to taste

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Method:

Bring all ingredients above to a boil on medium heat. Keep stirring continuously. The sauce thickens in 3-4 minutes. Remember that the sauce will thicken more on cooling - so keep that in mind.

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Veg Manchurian

Preparation Time: 60 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Serves: Makes about 25 balls

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Ingredients: Balls Finely chopped 3 cups mixed veggies - cabbage, carrots, green beans, cauliflower, bell peppers (I got a pre-chopped mixed veggies from Trader Joes and ran it thru the food processor once more to finely chop them) 1 tblsp garlic powder/fresh garlic grated/minced 1 tblsp ginger grated black pepper to taste salt to paste 2 tblsp maida/all purpose flour 4 tblsp corn starch oil to fry Gravy 1 big onion - finely chopped 1 green pepper - finely chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions 2 tblsp garlic powder/fresh garlic grated/minced 2 tblsp ginger grated 3 tblsp soy sauce 1 tbpsp sweet chili sauce (I got from Trader Joes) 3 tsp Rice Vinegar 2 tsp ketchup 2 cups water 1 tblsp corn starch black pepper to taste salt to paste oil to stir fry

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Method:

Balls

1. Mix all ingredients under balls and make round balls.
2. Deep fry these balls at medium-high in oil. Keep aside. You can freeze these balls for later use as well.

Gravy

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Stir fry ginger and garlic.
3. Stir fry onions and spring onions. Keep some spring onions aside for garnish
4. Stir fry pepper.
5. Add all sauces, vinegar and ketchup once the peppers are soft as per your liking.
6. Add water, black pepper and salt and boil. Taste seasoning and adjust sauces and spices.
7. Mix corn starch in a little water (1/4 cup). Add this slowly to the nicely boiled gravy while stirring. The gravy will start to thicken. Boil for some time. Note that the gravy thickens as it cools. So keep it on the more watery side. You can add more water mixed corn start if needed.
8. Add manchurian balls before serving and heat thoroughly. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

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Baked Tofu

Preparation Time: 30 min
Cooking Time: 30 min

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Ingredients: Extra Firm Tofu - I get Trader Joes brand 1 tblsp olive oil 1 tblsp cornstarch for seasoning - garlic powder, soy sauce, salt and pepper

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Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Even the most firm variety of tofu contains a lot of water. So in order to get our tofu nice and crispy, we need to drain some water. For this, lay a paper towel on a flat surface, and place the tofu on top of the paper towel. Cover with another layer of paper towel. Then place a cutting board on top, and stack a bunch of heavy cans or pots or whatever you can safely balance on the cutting board. The idea is to put a lot of pressure/weight on the tofu, which will help the excess water to press out into the paper towels. Let the tofu drain for at least 15-30 minutes.
3. Once the tofu has drained cut the tofu into your desired shapes.
4. Add tofu to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle it with olive oil (1 tblsp), and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle evenly with cornstarch and seasonings (I use garlic powder, soy sauce, salt and pepper). You can use any seasonings you like (Trader Joes 21 spice mix is good too). Toss gently again until the tofu is evenly coated.
5. Arrange tofu on a parchment paper lined baking tray. Do not use aluminium foil as tofu sticks to this. Bake for 15 min. Then remove the baking sheet from the oven, and flip each tofu piece to cook evenly on the other side. Return to the oven for 15 more minutes, or until the tofu reaches your desired level of crispiness.

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