Cauliflower Wings - 3 Ways

We love chicken wings and I love to make them at home. But I also wanted to try an alternative to chicken wings that was vegetarian. Cauliflower is a perfect substitute and people who hate cauliflower must have never tasted the amazing Cauliflower 65 or the delicious Indo-Chinese dishes such as Cauliflower Manchurian or Chili Gobi. 

Since the Cauliflower is not as meaty, the best thing to do is coat it in a thin batter to bring that firm texture to the vegetable.

I used 3 different Sauces:

Buffalo Sauce

BBQ Sauce

Asian Sweet and Spicy Chili Sauce

You can fry the Cauliflower or bake them. I baked them, since I am not big on frying stuff. Left to me, I would bake every single thing. I think it's obvious looking at the number of baked recipes on my blog.

Ingredients:

Cauliflower - 2 small

Batter:

All Purpose Flower - 1/4 Cup

Corn Flour - 1/4 Cup

Rice Flower - 1/2 Cup

Salt - To Taste

Pepper Powder - 1 tsp

Mix all the ingredients for the batter with water. It shouldn't be too thin. Wash and cut the Cauliflower into florets. Heat the over to 400F and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Dip the florets into the batter and place on a single layer on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 15 to 20 min until slightly firm and crisp.

Meanwhile, have 3 bowls for the sauces. Remove the florets from the oven, dip into the sauce until well coated and place them back onto the baking sheet. Place it back in the oven and bake for an additional 10 min or so, until the wings are cooked through and the sauces are well coated and start to dry up.

Remove and serve with a ranch dip.

Sauces:

BBQ Sauce: 

Phil's BBQ Sauce

I used store bought BBQ sauce. Phil's Devil's spit. Fair warning, this is an extremely spicy BBQ sauce, but they have milder varieties as well.

Buffalo Sauce:

Frank's Red Hot

I used 4 tbsp of Frank's Red hot, mixed with 1 tbsp melted butter.

Asian Sauce:

Hoisin Sauce - 2 tbsp

Chili Garlic Sauce - 1 tbsp

Honey - 1 tbsp

Soy Sauce - 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp

Mix all the ingredients, taste and adjust seasoning.

Mango and Avocado Sushi - Vegan

This is a delayed post, since Sushi makes a regular appearance on our dinner table. I only make the Veggie ones at home and I have not ventured into making the ones with fish yet. Yeah, ok, I haven't even tasted the ones with fish. Maybe one day I will. I really enjoy the vegetarian ones though. 

I use some baked sweet potato to make it a hearty roll.

The Mango and the Avocado give it the texture that can mimic a fresh fish.Cucumber and Carrots give it the needed freshness and Crunch.

I buy most of my Asian ingredients from the Asian Market - HMart. They have endless Isles of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese.........and many more.

The Nori sheets are available at some regular grocery stores too. Sushi rice is good to use, if not, regular short grain or Jasmine rice will work too. The most important ingredient for Sushi in my opinion is Wasabi :) 

I love that hit that the Wasabi has and sometimes I love to go overboard!

Ingredients:
Nori Sheets - 4
Sushi Rice - 1 Cup
Water - 1 1/2 Cups
Vinegar - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Salt - To taste
Sweet Potatoes - 2
Jalapeno - 1
Carrot - 1 big
Cucumber - 1
Ripe Mango - 1
Avocado - 1

For Flavor:
Wasabi
Soy Sauce
Pickled Ginger

Cook the Sushi Rice with the 1: 1.5 Cup water. When hot, mix the Sugar and Vinegar and some salt. Add to the rice and mix well. The rice should not become mushy.

Peel and cut the Sweet Potatoes into 1 inch thick and long strips. Season the Sweet Potatoes with some oil, salt and paprika. Bake in a 400F oven until soft and cooked through.

Cut all the vegetables into thin long strips.

Place a Nori sheet on a Sushi bamboo mat.Place a big scoop of rice on the nori and spread into a thin layer. 1/3 of the way in, place the Sweet potato strips, Cucumber, Mango and Avocado slices.

Place the end of the sheet over the vegetables, pull with the bamboo mat until tight and then roll the rest of the sheet. Wet the edges with water and complete the roll. 

Close with the bamboo mat and pull to tighten. Cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces using a sharp knife.

Serve with the Soy Sauce, Wasabi and Pickled Ginger.

Oats Pancakes/Uthappam

This is a special request from my mom. She has been asking me to make these for a while now and we are not  big on breakfast. As always, this was a light brunch for us on a Saturday morning and it's quick and easy. Nutritious and filled with vegetables.

Ingredients:
Oats - 1 Cup
Sooji/Semolina - 1/2 Cup
Yogurt/Curd - 1/2 Cup
Salt - to taste
Green Chilis - 2
Ginger - 1 inch
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Onion - 1/2 to 2
Carrot grated - 1
Curry leaves and Cilantro - A few

Grind the oats into a coarse powder. Mix with Sooji and yogurt and add water. It will clump up as the sooji absorbs the liquid. Chop all the vegetables finely and add to the batter. Mix and add salt and water as required. 

Heat a pan and add one heaping ladle of the batter and make thick pancakes or oothappam. Fry on one side, filp and cook on the other side. I had a mini oothappam pan and I made these in that pan.  

Serve hot with Chutney or Sambar of your choice.

Mi Goreng: IndoMie with Broccoli

Have any of you tried the IndoMie brand's Mi Goreng noodles? It's a fancier and much tastier version of our own Maggi noodles. This has got to be the tastiest instant noodle out there. 

You boil the noodles separately and mix the sauces that come with it. There is a spice mix, a chili oil and a sauce that comes in the pack. If you can get your hands on these noodles, do try them.

Serve with blanched Broccoli or any other vegetable and top with a fried egg for a complete meal.