A bowl of goodness

Salad is a very important part of a diet. Every nutritionist or a dietitian would advise you to include raw vegetables, fresh fruits and nuts in your diet. A very interesting book that i am reading now by the name of "Curry" talks about how food culture evolved in India. Though there was a significant influence of the Portuguese who invaded the southwest India, the Great Mughals who invaded the North of India and the British Raj who ruled us, the importance of "Ayurveda" and "vegetarianism" was very much rooted in the country who preferred and ate "Saatvik" food. Saatvik food is basically "pure food" - that which doesn't impure your body, and is hence able to improve your thoughts making you more kind, generous and calm. It was also believed that growing vegetables or fruits and eating them raw was much more beneficial, as it captures the essence of the soil and water and connects you to your roots.

So, a normal saatvik diet would consist of seasonal foods, fruits, vegetables, oil, dairy products, nuts, whole grains and legumes - basically a non-meat diet. It becomes a little difficult to follow a saatvik diet when we are overpowered with the cravings of eating "masaaledaar" and "lajjatdaar" food :) But to maintain a balance, having a salad is always helpful. Even if one or two fruits a day, and a simple cut vegetable salad is added to our meals, it balances out all the sinful cravings that we indulge into otherwise. 

Normally, i always have a koshimbir in our meal. Some of the koshimbir posts from before : Kakdichi koshimbir, Tomato carrot koshimbir, Fruit salad .

But at times, i make a wholesome salad which serves as a complete meal. Here i have added boiled peanuts and boiled chana, but you can get as creative and replace/add/reduce the nuts and other ingredients according to personal preference.

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1/2 cup

Kala chana (Black chickpea) - 1/2 cup

Lettuce leaves - to garnish ( or you can even chop them and add to the salad)

Walnuts - 3-4 chopped (optional)

Almonds - 3-4 chopped (optional)

Onion - 1 small chopped

Tomato - 1 small chopped

Green chilli - 1-2 chopped

Red chilli flakes - to taste (Add red chilli powder if you don't have flakes)

Oregano - to taste

Black salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Lime juice (optional) - 1/2 tsp

Pomegranate - 1/4 cup (optional)

Recipe:

Wash the black chana and soak it overnight.

Drain the water, pat them dry and keep it in air tight container at room temperature or in refrigerator if you want them to sprout. 

Even if they are not sprouted, they taste great.

Wash the peanuts.

Boil the black chana and peanuts till they become soft. The peanuts will start losing colour and become pale. Alternatively, you can also pressure cook them for one whistle.

In a mixing bowl, mix the boiled chana and peanuts. Add the chopped tomatoes, onions, green chillies, salt, pepper, pomegranate, walnuts, almonds and mix it all well.

Line the serving bowl with washed lettuce leaves. Add the salad into the bowl. Now sprinkle oregano and chilli flakes and finish it with some lemon juice.

Mix it all well and enjoy the bowl of goodness as one wholesome nutritious meal.

Happy Cooking :)

Food from waste: Paratha rolls

Well, i am of the opinion to use as much natural things as possible and to make sure the waste happens to minimum. To the extent, that i recycle my kitchen waste for composting (nothing big to brag about, as everyone should do this) and making sure to eat fresh and natural than the processed stuff. I am reading a lot about homesteading these days, and as much as i want to have my own kitchen garden here, i can't! All thanks to the cute 4 legged's i board who keep going to the balcony either to eat the leaves or at times even release their nature call. :P So, now i am trying to develop our fish room balcony into a kitchen garden. Though it's small, i am sure i can at least harvest some basic herbs in it. Just waiting for the weather to get a little better as it rained here today, and the wind chills have increased. So cosying up below my blanket, here i am writing today's post.

Cooking, i believe, is an art learnt by practicing. It's all about sharing, observing and practicing as compared to any other art of craft, drawing or music where people have an innate talent. I can say this, as through my 2 years of cooking journey (yes, if you have read my first few posts, you would have known that i started cooking only after marriage!), i have observed my own growth. The way food tasted when i cooked first and now, has improved tremendously and am sure 5 years down the line, i would have had much more expertise with experience.
Just as our mothers and grannies don't cook with 'measurements', but 'judgments', we too would reach that level with patience and practice. 

This recipe is just an example of how my journey has helped me to think of this innovation. I always used to wonder why we throw away the stems of all the leafy vegetables that we eat - like spinach, methi or even mooli. Is it because they don't taste well? or is it because they are bad for our health? or is it because they don't have any nutritional value? I don't think the reason is any of this, and neither did i find any answers to it in Google except for the fact that they are dirty and they are thick. So what? Wash them thoroughly and make a paste of it! Simple! I tried incorporating it in our diet and here is what was born...

Looks tempting, isn't it? We love it so much that now the stems will never see the compost bin, but our tiffin boxes :) Yes, this makes for a great breakfast or tiffin recipe. Now lets get to method :

Ingredients:

Stems of all leafy vegetables like spinach, methi, mooli etc. - i took remains of about 1/2 bundle of each

Whole wheat flour (Atta) - 1 n half cup (Add more or less depending on the puree that you get)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Corriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger-garlic-green chilli paste ( Just chop them and make a coarse paste in mortar and pestle of about 5-6 garlic, 1/2 inch ginger and 1-2 green chillies )

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tsp in dough plus to fry

Mayonnaise - as needed

Tomato ketchup - as needed

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Ajwaiin - 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

Chop the stems and wash them thoroughly under running water so that no dirt remains.

Now in a mixer grinder, make a fine paste of these stems. Initially don't add water. Then add little water if needed. If the paste is a little coarse, not a problem.

Now in a mixing bowl, add all the dry spices, the stem-paste, flour, salt, ginger-garlic-chilli paste and 1 tsp oil and knead into a nice dough. Add flour little by little checking the consistency of the dough. The dough shouldn't be too sticky, hence add water accordingly too. Knead a nice soft dough as we make a roti or paratha dough.

The dough looks like this :

Now divide them in equal sized balls and roll out into a paratha.

Heat a tava and fry the paratha, adding oil on both sides and frying till you get nice brown spots on each side.

Now spread some tomato ketchup and mayonnaise on the paratha, and roll it. Now cut it in two halves.

You can also add any filling of your choice or even some leftover sabzi or aloo sabzi, just for a different taste.

Now, isn't that interesting? Food from waste!!! Let me know if you have any such more ideas.

Happy Cooking :)

Appe from Readymade Idli Batter

Appe as it is called in Maharashtrian or Konkani language, this is a popular breakfast recipe is South India known as Paddu. They are made of various ingredients - Sometimes with rice, sometimes adding Poha, and at times only with lentils (majorly Urad daal). 

These days, we get readymade Dosa/Idli batter in the market. I have sourced one amazing south indian guy who makes this fresh and sells it near to our home. So, one packet of this in fridge and i can make varied breakfast of idli, dosa, uttapas and at times Appe. My aunt gifted me this special "Appe Tava" that is required to make these. It is a non-stick tava, so naturally makes for a healthy breakfast with less oil. You can make it with no oil too, but i prefer brushing a little oil, just to get a nice brown colour and also to make sure the batter doesn't stick to the tava (as the batter varies from place to place).

Ingredients:

Idli batter - as required 

French beans - a few (chopped finely)

Onions - Half for about 1/4 kg batter (chopped finely)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

Water - little

Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped

Oil - to brush the tava

You can also add pepper for a different taste and replace/add vegetables of your choice like cauliflower, carrots or even peas.

Recipe:

In the appe tava, brush little oil and place it on the stove.

Mix turmeric powder, salt, beans, onions, corriander leaves with the dosa batter and add little water if the batter is too thick. Don't make it too thin like a dosa batter. It should just have the consistency to pour easily.

Once the tava is hot, put small amounts in each mould (about a spoonful), cover the tava with a lid and let it steam-cook till the outer sides become brown. 

Now turn over the appe's, so the other side is cooked. This time don't cover the tava.

Serve hot along with coconut chutney or tastes great with any chutney :)

Happy Cooking!!! :)

Koshimbir special

Maharashtrian cuisine is full of flavours and spices, and a thali (a meal for the day) includes all the nutrients in a balanced way. Since childhood, having koshimbir on the side was always a part of meal. Though served in limited quantity, this was what i loved, especially the kakdichi koshimbir. Kakdi is cucumber and koshimbir is salad. But it's not just about cutting or chopping fresh vegetables, but they are always topped with green chillies, corriander leaves, peanut powder and sometimes with curd and at times with Phodni (Known as tadka). The one made with curd is popularly known as raita. But you can do variations by adjusting the amount of curd and see the magic!! The taste changes dramatically and what you get is different flavours each time.

Salads are always healthy, as they are fresh, raw and light. But at times, they would get boring. So, my mother usually makes tons of varieties, sometimes by adding sprouts, sometimes by mixing two vegetables, sometimes grating them or at times chopping them. And every time the taste is different.

So here i am presenting two different types of koshimbir. Both are made with Phodni (Tadka), but you can skip adding the tadka and add curd instead. Or add tadka and add little amount of curd. Choice is yours.

Kakdichi Koshimbir: (Cucumber salad)

Ingredients:

Cucumbers - 2

Peanut powder - 3 tsp (If you don't have this, you can even add crushed roasted peanuts for a cruncy effect)

Green chillies - 2
Onions - 1 small (optional) 
Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Salt - to taste
Kadipatta (Curry leaves) - a few (Optional)
Lemon juice - about 1/2 lemon

Recipe:

Wash and slice the cucumbers. Now you can either chop them into small pieces or grate them. Either way tastes great and different i would say. Leave them aside for 15 minutes or so, so that they leave water. 

Squeeze out all the water from the cucumber and take them in a fresh bowl.

Chop the onions and green chillies and add them to the cucumber.

Add the peanut powder. Mix well.

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add asafoetida and cumin seeds. After about 10 seconds, add in the curry leaves and take off heat.

Add this to the cucumber mixture. Mix well. Add salt and lemon juice at the time of serving as it would make the salad watery (Cucumber leaves a lot of water).

Healthy koshimbir is ready :)

If you want to add curd, just add a spoonful for a different taste.

Tomato Carrot Salad (Tomato chi koshimbir) :

 

Ingredients:

Tomato - 2 medium

Carrot - 1

Rest all the ingredients are the same :

Oil - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - a few

Peanut powder - 1-2 tbsp (optional)

Salt - to taste

Recipe:

Wash the carrots and tomatoes.

Chop the tomato. Peel the carrot and grate it. 

Take the tomatoes and carrot together in a bowl.

Now heat oil in a pan. Make Phodni by adding mustard seeds, asafoetida, cumin seeds and curry leaves.

If adding the peanut powder, add now.

Add this to the carrot and tomato. Mix it well. Add salt according to taste.

Isn't this easy?

You can change the taste and flavours by adding lime juice, or sometimes curd, sometimes not adding fodni and adding only curd or at times, just adding salt, pepper and lime juice. 

Whichever way you make it, it tastes great :)

Happy Cooking :)

Fruity Sponge Cake

Very Berry Healthy : A Great Day begins with a Healthy yet Tasty breakfast, but is more good when you have a Healthy snack to munch on when you have that in-between hunger cravings! Me and hubby get those a lot! And instead of having the regular buiscuits and chips, we decided to opt for something healthier and Smarteats came right in ! 
http://smarteats.in/ 
They have some really tasty wholesome snacks which you can carry in your tiffin or the packaging comes so neat with a seal-zip bag that you can carry it anywhere just like that ! They have Diet snacks, Cookies, Granola Bars, Tangy mixtures and dried fruits/dry fruits ! The combinations are so interesting that it really doesn't get to that "Boring snack to watch my diet"!!

I decided to order the "Very Berry Strawberry" and the "Fruity Granola Bar", just to try it out! The Granola Bar which was a mixture of Oats, coconut powder, and the sweetness of apples, grapes and dehydrated peaches coated with honey, brown sugar and butter was one simple yet delicious bar! That's not exactly a meal substitute but makes up as a snack or a lunch supplement.
And the chewy dehydrated strawberries were so flavourful that i finished them off in almost 3-4 days! And not only pop them as a snack, i used them in a recipe !!!!

So here i am making a SmartEat recipe with the dried Strawberries :) As Chai-Buiscuit ( Buiscuut, as it is called :)) is a very common household evening favourite snack, our home has the Chai-Cake fever ! So baking a cake every week is mandatory :) You can add any dried fruits of your choice and make this one, the basic ingredients remains the same.

Ingredients :

Maida /All purpose flour - 1 cup

Yogurt - 1/2 cup

Butter - 1/4 cup

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup ( Add 1/4 cup more if you have a sweet tooth )

Egg - 1

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Dried strawberries - a few chopped

Tutty fruity - a few

You can also add nuts if you wish to.

Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp

Recipe :

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius for 10 minutes

Grease and dust a cake tin with butter and flour and keep aside.

Sieve together Maida, Baking powder and Baking soda.

In a bowl, Beat Butter and Powdered sugar together. Now add the egg and beat again. 

Add in the yogurt and mix it all well into a nice creamy mixture. Add vanilla essence and nutmeg powder. 

Slowly add the flour mixture and mix it well with a spatula.

Lastly, add in the dried strawberries, tuttyfruits and nuts.

Put this mixture into the baking tray and bake at 180 degrees celcius for 45-50 minutes.

Remove and set aside to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the cake tin.

Now remove from the cake tin and let it cool on a wire rack.

Soft spongy cake is ready, which tastes and smells like heaven :))

Happy Baking :)

Idli chilli : Yenna Rascala

Indian- Chinese : A common cuisine in India, where chinese food is adapted according to Indian taste. Not only Chinese, but even pizzas and burgers at popular food-joints like Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut or Dominos are made in such a way that they suit the taste of us Indians...Yes, we like spicy food and yes, we love the way we are :))) I remember a lot of my relatives and friends staying abroad, on their visit to India, want to visit Mcdonalds once, to see how the Burger tastes here and are surprised to see the Maharaja Mac and Paneer Salsa wrap..!!! Though they find the burger too spicy, they would still want to eat it with water running down their nose, for the enjoyment of taking back home memories of eating at Indian-Mcdonalds :) 
Similar way, they are surprised to see the Chinese- thelas ( open-carts ) at every nook and corner, selling chinese noodles, manchurian and American Chopsuey. Indian chinese is definately spicy ( lot of spicy sauces ), more vegetables and i think, they add more of ajinomoto ( seasoning ). There are authentic chinese restaurants too which serve the perfect dishes as they should be ( Dimsums served in covered baskets keeping it warm and soft, Noodles served with the right amount of spice and correct seasonings, and always a green tea or a jasmine tea refill throughout your meal).. But just as we love dining here, we also love the thela-wala's taste :)))

South indian-chinese combo : How Indian can you get, that you think of making idli in a chinese style...It's just impossible to think about... we have heard about chilli chicken, paneer chilli or even veg chilli... but Idli chilli? The name itself sounds strange...
Just as Rajnikant ( the south Indian super star who is also THE "God" for many ) is capable of doing any action stunts (To name a few...his cigarette stunts are the most famous, he travels faster than light, he defies gravity and he doesn't need a bullet-proof jacket because he can stop bullets with his mind!). Rajnikant is known for all his unbelievable and impossible action sequences that he acts. So here is a humble tribute to Rajnikant ( Rajni-anna as we call him ), a terrific actor and full-on entertainer!!! Just as he makes impossible things possible, does fusion-acts and it always turns out to be a super combo, we tried making this south indian-chinese combo and turned out to be a hit!!!

My friend had made this recipe for her grandmother who was a strict vegetarian and didn't like paneer...She highly recommended it to me and i decided to give it a try.... Trust me, it turns out to be a great starter recipe or even as a snack... You can even pack this in a tiffin for breakfast or lunch... Its healthy, its yummy and its easy-to-cook :)))

Ingredients :

Idlis - 4

Capsicum - 1 small

Spring onions - 2 

Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 ( or according to taste ) - Chopped finely

Corn flour - 1 tbsp

Soya sauce - 1/2 tbsp 

Chilli sauce ( i used the thai chilli sauce, and because i like spicy i added 1 tbsp... You adjust according to taste )

Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp

Salt - To taste

And of course....

Pepper - According to taste

Oil - to fry

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Recipe :

Cut each idli into 4 parts and deep fry them till they are golden brown. Remove on a kitchen tissue that takes out excess oil.

Slice the capsicum and spring onions lengthwise. Also use the green leaves of the spring onions, they are healthy and add taste.

Mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 2 tbsp of water well and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add ginger garlic paste, and saute for 30 secs. Now add the green chillies and saute for 15 secs. Add the capsicum and spring onions and let them cook for 10 mins. Don't cover the pan. Let it cook in open, stirring occasionally. This maintains the crispiness of the vegetables.

Now add the cornflour- water mixture to this and immediately throw in salt, pepper and mix it all properly.

Now add the soya sauce, tomato ketchup and chilli sauce.

Mix all the ingredients well and let it cook for 1 minute.

Finally, add the idlis and mix well.

Happy Cooking :)

Hara Bhara Kebab - True to its name !!!

When i told my mother today, that i have started with a food blog, she said " Sanjeev Kapoor zindabad "!!! Yes, i truly adore that man and love his recipes. I followed a lot of his baking recipes and they always turned out yummy ! Recently, i am also hooked on to the Food Food channel. Not only his recipes, but he hosts the show so well. All respects and love to him !

I remember he mentioned in one of the shows that he loved kebabs. So here's a dedication to him..Lets make Hara Bhara Kebabs today.

True to its name, this kebab is all greens... yes, a combination of palak, green peas and you can even add beans if you like ! Greens are always healthy and i have had these kebabs a lot of different restaurants ! Infact once i had decided to try out hara bhara kebabs in all the restaurants in my area and choose the best. Every restaurant had a distinct different taste and shape... yes some had even made rounds balls of them and deep fried !!!! 

Hara Bhara kebabs are easy to make... Just boil the vegetables, mix in the spices, make tikkis and stir fry ! 

Ingredients

1 medium bunch spinach 

2 medium sized potatoes ( Boiled )- Mash or grate them.

1 cup green peas/ if you are adding french beans take 1/2 cup beans and 1/2 cup green peas ( Boiled)

1 tsp amchur powder or according to taste

1 tsp chaat masala or according to taste

2 green chillies chopped finely

3 tbsp besan ( gram flour) - Dry roast this till the nutty smell goes away. Dont make it too dark. You can even use cornflour for binding

Salt to taste ( i prefer rock salt - sendha namak- to normal salt as its healthy and enhances taste too )

Oil to shallow fry

Recipe

Remove the stems of spinach and wash it 2-3 times. Boil some water with a pinch of salt. Add spinach leaves and boil for 3-4 minutes. Drain and immediately put the leaves under cold water or immerse them in cold water. This is called blanching.

Squeeze extra water from the leaves and chop them finely.

Mix spinach, boiled peas and potatoes. Add the green chillies and all the dry masalas. You can even add 3-4 pieces chopped ginger and 1 inch grated garlic for taste if you want. Mash the mixture well, add besan and  mix everything together with masher or spoon or hands.( I always prefer hands as i love to feel the food on my hand, guess it adds personal touch :))

Apply some oil on your palms and shape medium sized tikkis. Heat oil in a tava/ pan ( around 2 tbsp) and place the tikkis over them and shallow fry from both sides flipping them. Make them little dark golden brown as they turn crispier this way. Do not cover and cook.

The kebabs are ready!!! You can serve it with green chutney or ketchup. If you like tangy taste, put some lemon juice on kebabs.

And yes, sprinkling "Pepper " on top ??? No, not in this one !!! :)))

Happy Cooking :)