FRUITY YOGHURT

Thought of doing something refreshing, I just came into my kitchen. Got an idea of doing fruity yoghurt since I had many fruits in the fridge. Its pretty light dessert because I used low fat yoghurt. As we know 2 servings of vegetables and fruits has to be taken each day this satisfies atleast fruit part and this is so fun, delicious and also make kids involve in arranging. Here I used three fruits kiwi, blueberry and oranges. But there is no hard and fast rule in using the fruit combinations. So simple, easy to do and it is also delightful to end any meal. Give them a go!!!!

INGREDIENTS :

Kiwi chopped - 1/2 cup

Orange - 1/2 cup removed without skin

Blueberry - 1/2 cup

Vanilla Yoghurt - 2 cups

Honey - 1tbsp

Roasted walnuts - chopped 2 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop all the fruits.

2. Whisk honey with yoghurt and keep it aside.

3. Roast walnuts or nuts of your choice, chop them finely

4. Take a serving glass arrange fruits and add whisked yoghurt to it

5. Now garnish with roasted nuts on the top

6. Chill and serve

Note:

Garnish nuts at the time of serving, so that we can feel the crunchiness of nuts.

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SAGO (SABHUDHANA) UPMA

Sago or Sabhudhana is widely used in south asian cuisines. In India pearl sago is called as 'SABHUDHANA' which is used in variety of dishes with different combination like kichidi, kheer, savoury snack etc. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China they are mainly used for making noodles, bread and delicious desserts. Sago is widely available in different sizes and colours. So here I have used nylon sago which we traditionally make at home combined with moong dhal to make more nutritious. Nylon sago is polished pearls which is fine than normal one. Sago when soaked becomes soft and spongy tastes yummy too.

Ingredients:

Nylon(fine) Sago - 1 1/2 cup

Water - 1 1/2 cup for soaking sago

Moong dhal - 1/2 cup

Green chillies - 6 slit or grind it

Coconut grated - 2 tbsp

Lemon - 1

Salt - as required

oil

Tempering :

Mustard - 1 tsp

Channa dhal - 2 tsp

Urad dhal - 2 tsp

Cashewnuts - few

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Coriander leaves - chopped for garnishing

Method :

1. Wash sago and drain well , then add 1 1/2 cup water and little salt, soak it for atleast 4 hours

2. Cook moong dhal in water so that dhal should be soft and splitted(dont overcook the dhal then it becomes mushy) . Drain and cool it.

3. Heat oil in the frying pan season with the ingredients adding one by one in given order

4. Now add soaked sago in low flame stir for few minutes. In one stage they becomes transparent and start sticking each other.

5. Now add the dhal, required salt, lemon juice, grated coconut. Mix well so that they have to be nicely blended.

6. Garnish with Chopped corianders and serve

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RICE DHAL UPMA

RICE DHAL UPMA is different from normal semolina and wheat rawa upma which is one of our traditional item we make at home. This is really flavorful and hearty with nice texture. If you haven't tried this yet i recommend to try this. Cumin and pepper in this gives good flavor to it. Its neither dry nor mushy.

INGREDIENTS:

Raw Rice - 3/4 cup

Toor dhal - 1/4 cup

Channa dhal - one Handful

For Tempering :

Cumin - 1 tsp

Whole pepper - 1/2 tsp

Red chillies - 1

Curd chilli(optional)- 1

Curry leaves

Mustard - 1 tsp

Channa and urad dhal - 1 tsp

Water - 2 1/2 cup

Coconut grated - 1 tbsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Oil - 2 1/2 tbsp

salt - as required

Method :

1. First coarsely powder the rice and dhal separately, the texture should be like wheat rawa.

2. Coarsely powder cumin and pepper

3. Heat 1 tbsp ghee and oil in a frying pan

4. Add mustard, dhals later add cumin+pepper powder

5. Then Curry leaves and chillies

6. Now add measured water and add salt as needed.

7. Now here is the tricky part , while water is boiling add coarsely powdered rice dhal mixture slowly to water, parallely you have to stir water so that lumps will not be formed.

8. Stir it continuously until all water is absorbed.  Do this is low to medium flame.

9. Now add grated coconut stir well.

10. Transfer in a container which fits in the pressure cooker and pressure cook like rice. (3 to4 whistles)

11. After pressure is released take out give a stir and then add remaining ghee.

12. Stir it often when its cooling.

13. Its now ready to serve with pickle, sugar even I like to serve with rasam, curd too.

14. This taste so good next day too.

15. If the rice and dhal rawa is ready this can be done in 15 minutes. So you can even do this rawa ahead of time and store in airtight container.

Note:

If your not having the pressure cooker this can be done in frying pan by stirring continuously until it is cooked and reaches semolina upma consistency. But you have to do in low flame. This process is quite long then pressure cooker.

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CHAPPATHI TOFU ROLL

Chapathi or Roti is Indian flat Bread made with whole wheat flour. They are served with curries, raita and in many forms. So I made scrambled Tofu with some spice powders which I rolled inside the chappathi with Mint Chutney. As again it is good to have soya daily I try to use them with some variations and also making them delicious. When I tried this for first time it was big hit!!! everybody liked it very much so I do it often. It tastes awesome. Hope you all will enjoy this recipe !

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Water- To knead

Some flour for dusting

Ghee for brushing

Method :

Mix flour, salt and water together to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on a lightly greased surface to make the dough smooth. Set the dough aside and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rest for at least ten minutes or more. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Take a ball, press it in dry flour on both sides. Roll into a circle. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling surface, lightly dust it with dry flour. Heat the skillet . Place the chappathi over skillet. They start puffing with small bubbles now flip over another side press slightly with spatula so that it puffs well again, Now brush some ghee and keep it aside. This is how normal chappathi is made.

SCRAMBLED TOFU/ TOFU BHURJI

An Indian Way of Making Tofu..

Ingredients:

Firm Tofu - 1 (12 0z)
Tomato - 1 big
Onions finely chopped - 1
Green bell pepper - 1 small cubed (optional)
Green peas - 1/4 cup (optional , microwave for few seconds and keep ready)
Cayenne pepper/chilli powder  - As required
Coriander powder -1/2 tbsp
Cumin Powder - 1/4 tbsp
Turmeric powder - little
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds for tempering - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing and stuffing - few stalks for garnishing
Salt - As required
Oil


Method:

1. Heat oil in frying pan, add the cumin seeds when it starts crackling,  add onion saute till light brown.
2.Add tomato and salt, saute well until all the moisture is absorbed.
3. Now add all the spice powders, mix well.
4. Now its time to add scrambled tofu fry well adjust salt and fry well until all the moisture is absorbed and masala is blended nicely. (If you are adding bell pepper and Green peas add at this stage)
5. The texture should look like scrambled eggs, so in this stage put off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves, Mix well. Keep it aside.

Use this Tofu Bhurji as filling for pita, bread sandwiches.  You can also serve this with any spiced rice, Naan, Roti.

Here is some more ideas of using this filling :

1. Apply mint chutney, and tomato sauce in toasted bread keep the tofu filling grill it.
2. Take a tortilla , apply the tomato sauce, ketchup, raw onions,  coriander leaves, add tofu bhurji, roll it and warm it in a pan. Serve hot.

Mint chutney:

Ingredients:

Mint leaves- 1/2 bunch

Coriander leaves-1/4 bunch

Garlic - 1 pod

Ginger - 1/4 inch

Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Green chilli - 1

salt as required

Blend everything in the blender only using little water because it should not be thin. So try to get thick chutney. Keep it aside.

To serve:

Chappathi

Tomato sauce

Finely chopped raw onion

Coriander leaves

Mint chutney

Method :

Take a chappathi, apply 1/2 tsp of tomato sauce and mint chutney spread over the chappathi, then to one end of chappathi keep tofu mixture, some onions and coriander leaves. Close the left and Right edges and start rolling tightly. Then cut into 2 halves. Stuffing can be adjusted according to our taste, If you like more mint chutney you can apply, same with onions and sauce.

Note:

1. One small variation for scrambled tofu is either you can add cooked green peas or chopped capsicum while frying tomato.
2. If there is more left over of scrambled tofu, you can use it for Bread sandwich next day and pack for lunch or breakfast. Toast the bread well with little ghee or butter apply chutney and sauce keep tofu and close with other bread.Yummy !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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LEMON IDDIYAPPAM(RICE VERMICELLI) WITH EDAMAME

This is lemon flavoured string hoppers or Iddiyappam or Rice vermicelli . To this I just added edamame which was absolutely delicious and nutritious. Edamame is shelled soybeans. It is a complete protein, containing all the Essential Amino acids. It is a great source of fiber, Essential Fatty Acids and Isoflaves(found only in soy). It is good to consume atleast 25 grams of soy protein everyday. So this way we can add soy to our day today items. Edamame is easily available in super markets in frozen section.

Ingredients:

Instant Iddiyappam - 2 cups

Lemon - 1

Edamame - 1/2 cup

Ginger - 1/2 inch

Green chillies- 3

Few curry leaves

Coriander leaves for garnishing

Roasted cashew for garnishing

Turmeric for colour - 1 tsp

Salt and oil as required

For Tempering :

Mustard - 1 tsp

Channa dhal- 1 tsp

Urad dhal - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - pinch

METHOD:

Microwave the edamame as instructed in the package. Grind ginger, chillies and keep it aside. Prepare iddiyappam by soaking them in hot water for 5 minutes and let it drain well until there is no water. Now in the frying pan heat some oil, add mustard and dhals. Then start adding these ingredients asafoetida, curry leaves, ginger+chilli paste, turmeric, edamame one by one and fry well. Now add prepared iddiyappam, salt and lemon juice mix well, adjust salt and sourness according to your taste. Garnish with coriander leaves and fried cashewnuts. It is ready to serve.

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QUINOA WITH ROASTED BELL PEPPER AND GARLIC

Quinoa, pronounced keen-wah, is rich in protein than most grains. Its delicate flavor makes it a great alternative to rice. It can also be added with vegetables. It has a nice fluffy texture, with a bit of crunch from the grain’s external germ making this is wonderful unique grain. It can be used in soups, salads, breakfast cereal, pulao etc. As it does not have specific taste on its own except the crunch, it plays a good role with any flavor. It’s good to have this at least twice a week . After I started doing this it has become one of our favorite menus.

Ingredients :


Quinoa - 1 cup
water - 2 cup
Bell peppers - 2 of any 2 colours
shallots - few chopped finely
Roasted garlice - 4 or 5
Roasted Bell peppers - 2 tbsp
Basil - few
Dry herbs - 1 tsp
Crushed red chillies - 1 tsp
Pepper and salt to taste.


Method :
Boil the water in a heavy bottom vessel and when it starts bubbling add the quinoa and salt. Cook Quinoa until all the water is absorbed. Close the vessel for 5 minutes. You can get nice fluffy cooked quinoa ,grains have small tails its nice too see and you will feel the crunchiness if you eat. Keep the Quinoa aside.

In a frying pan add olive oil , crushed redchilli flakes , shallots and saute it. Add bell peppers , chopped roasted bell pepper and chopped roasted garlic. Add quinoa, dry herbs and handful of chopped basil , mix well and serve . I served with stir fried asparagus with a touch of pepper and garlic.


Note
You can do many variations in this , i will be posting as soon as i can.

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CAULIFLOWER WITH CAPSICUM CURRY

Cauliflower with capsicum curry is very simple. Its can be served with hot rice and ghee, with keerai pappu (Dhal made with Greens) or podi (Dhal powder) rice. It’s very delicious. The capsicum gives nice flavor to the dish. This is an easy side dish to make at any time of the week. It can be made a bit spicy too. So give a try.

Ingredients :

Cauliflower - 1 small size

Colour capsicums or green colour - 2

Dry coconut powder or dry fry coconut in kadai - 1tbsp

Garlic - 1 pod if small 2 pod

Red chillies - 2 or 3 according to taste

Small bunch of chopped coriander

Method :
First dry roast red chilli and coconut separately then make powder out of garlic, coconut and redchilli. Now in a frying pan add oil and cauliflower and fry until it gets roasted. Then add chopped capsicum (chopped as big cubes), salt and coconut garlic powder, fry will until they are all well blended and capsicum is cooked and roasted. Now add chopped coriander , saute for a minute. Serve with hot rice and pappu(Dhal). It tastes delicious with curd rice and roti too.

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GRITS WITH SCRAMBLED EGGS

White Corn Grits are simply plain white corn that has been ground until it has the consistency of coarse sand. It is used as a side dish, as a breakfast cereal or as an ingredient in baked goods. I used quick grits , which is very healthy. This became one of our healthy breakfast.

Ingredients :

Quick grits - 1/4 cup

Water - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

salt - as required

pepper - little

Butter (optional) - 1/2 tbsp

Cheddar cheese(optional) - 2 tbsp

Eggs - 2

Spring onion for garnishing


Method :

Mix grits with the liquids and microwave for 5 minutes stirring every two minutes, or on stove top until cooked. Then add butter and cheese to it. Now scramble eggs in the pan with some salt and pepper. In a bowl or glass pour some silky smooth grits top with eggs and garnish with spring onions.

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MY FARMERS MARKET SHOPPING

I love to go shopping to farmers market to see new vegetables. So when I went there I was surprised to see colored cauliflower. The colors are orange and purple. We can find green too in many places which is hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower. Here is another color....for viewing

Is it wonderful? Yah the texture and taste was also good to cook and eat, the color remained the same when cooked too. Eating colorful vegetables is good for health. Red, green and yellow vegetables have different nutritional values , so making food colorfully is interesting to see and taste.

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VISUAL TREAT

We had a get together at our home. Did pulao, mint rice, chappathi, raita, kesari, paneer butter masala and curd rice with pickle. Appetizer was corn soup and pappad.


Masala pappad is toasted in flame. Its topped with finely chopped onion, deseeded tomato, coriander with hint of lemon and green chilli topped over the pappad. Good accompaniment for soup in cold weather and rainy days.

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PUMPKIN SOUP

Pumpkin is a gourd like squash. In Tamil it’s known as "Parankikkaai". Pumpkin is loaded with beta-carotenes, vitamin A, C, K, and E and lots of minerals, including magnesium, potassium, and iron. So whenever I buy pumpkin one item which I do for sure is pumpkin soup. This soup does not contain oil and no frying required. It’s good to have soup daily. So I am posting this recipe hope you all will try and feed back is welcomed.

Ingredients :

Pumpkin - 1 cup

Tomato - 1/2 or one small

onion - quarter chopped

Jeera (cumin seeds) - 1/2 tsp

Bay leaf - 1

Milk - 1/2 cup

Butter and coriander for garnishing

Salt and pepper

Method :

In a pressure pan or frying pan, add little butter then add Jeera (cumin seeds) and bay leaf. When jeera splutters add vegetables and saute for 2 minutes now add water and cook until soft. If you are cooking in pressure pan , close and keep for 1 whistle. Let it cool down. Then blend it in the blender into fine paste. Pour it in a vessel and dilute with some milk and water to the required consistency. Add salt and pepper, warm it. Garnish with tsp of butter and coriander, serve with soup sticks or good accompaniment.

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ALOO PARATHA

Aloo(Potato) paratha is stuffed bread or chappathi. Who won’t like Aloo? There are many methods and variations of making this paratha. Adding different ingredients with Aloo varies in taste. As this stuffed paratha has all spicy and masala flavour it can be served with curd or simple raita. So that we can enjoy the taste to the fullness. My way goes like this, enjoy!!!!


Ingredients :

Dough :

Wheat Flour- 1 1/2 cups

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Oil - little

Water - as required

Dry Flour

Stuffing :

Boiled potato - 2

Onion - 1

Coriander leaves - few chopped finely

Chilli powder - as required

Garam masala

Fennel seed (optional)

Salt

Method:

Prepare the dough using the dough ingredients. For stuffing add tsp oil in a frying pan then add fennel seeds, when it splutters add onions and saute till light brown. Now add this mixture and chilli, garam masala powders to the mashed potato. Add coriander leaves and divide them to the size of chappathi. More stuffing more taste.


Now divide the dough to equal sized balls and now roll them flat. keep the filling in the rolled chappathi.wrap it like we keep for dumpling or kozhukattai. Dust with dry flour, slowly roll it again by dusting with dry flour. Don’t press it hard slight pressure is enough make it round and flat. Now put it in hot griddle toast both sides. Apply ghee atlast on the top of paratha. Serve with raita and pickle. Here I served with cucumber onion raita which is garnished with coriander and pinch of roasted cumin powder, chilli powder.

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HEALTHY BREAKFAST

This is healthy breakfast we can have atleast 2 days a week , bowl full of nutritious fruits with cereal. These are the ingredients which I added to make cereal more healthy form.

Ingredients :

1. Fruits : Any kind of fruits atleast 3 to four varieties. Chopped

2. Cereal : Any kind

3. Milk : As needed

4. Vanilla essence : few drops

5. Dry fruits : I used raisins, dates chopped finely , apricot,figs etc

6. Nuts : walnut , silvered almonds .

7 . Flaxseed : for toppping i used roased flaxseed.

8. Honey for topping.

Method :

Chop nuts and fruits. In a bowl add cereal, top of that add fruits, then nuts, pour milk mixed with vanilla essence.Sprinkle some flaxseed finally and add a tbsp of honey. Yummy colorful delicious, healthy breakfast is ready to serve.

Note :

Some benefits of flaxseed are especially for vegetarians it is good because it contains lot of omega -3 and essential fatty acids, it may help fight everything from heart disease to diabetes even breast cancer. So just a tbsp in cereal or egg makes a difference.

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SWEET AND KARAM PANIYARAM(Gunta pongadalu)

Paniyaram or in telugu called gunta pongadalu is both childrens and adult favourite. There are different method of doing this. Some do it using dosa batter by adding onions, coriander leaves,chillies etc. But this is one of the method which we do at home, it taste yummy and very soft. The recipe which i am giving for sweet is made out of cracked wheat(samba rawa), that is whole wheat craked and looks like granules which is healthy too, jaggery is added for sweet it has more iron content.

Karam paniyaram :

Ingredients :

Raw rice - 1 cup

Boiled rice - 1 cup

Urad dhal - 1 handful

Rice flakes - 1/2 cup (aval or poha)

Green chillies - 5 or 6

Salt

Seasoning :

Onions raw - chopped finely

Mustard seeds

Channa dhal -Handful soaked in water

Curry leaves

More coriander leaves chopped finely

Method :

Soak the above ingredients in water for 2 hrs then grind it with salt and chillies, keep it overnight for fermenting, next day season with mustard, add chopped onion, few curry leaves, soaked channa dhal, coriander leaves. Now mix well. Pour the batter in small kuzhis in paniyaram pan, close it with lid for one side when one side is brown turn over the other side and make little crispy and brown on everyside. Outter side will crispy and inside is very soft. Serve with onion or coconut chutney.

Sweet paniyaram :

Cracked wheat(samba rawa) - 1 cup

Raw rice - 1/2 cup

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Elaichi - 2

Jaggery - 1 cup  to 1 1/2 cup (Depends on type of Jaggery you use)
(If you find this as less sweet add more acccording to your sweet level)

Ghee

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Method :

Soak rice for few hours, Now melt jaggery adding tbsp of water and strain in strainer. Use this water for grinding. Now in blender add coconut, rice ,elaichi grind them smooth then add cracked wheat(samba rawa). Grind well the consistency should be thinner then dosa batter and should be coarse. Make this batter atleast 2 hrs hour before to get soft paniyarams(even you can make the batter in the night ,refrigerate and can be used for morning breakfast), if the batter is thickened loosen by adding little water to get pouring consistency. Before start doing paniyaram add baking soda and mix well. Now fill each holes of paniyaram pan with ghee then pour the batter and cook both sides till light brown and crisp.

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CHOPSUEY

Chopsuey is a chinese dish. Most of the restaurants in India they have two types of chopsuey one is American chopsuey which is served as deep fried noodles with tomato based sauce and Chinese chopsuey which is soya based sauce served with deep fried noodles. Both are fusion because they prepare according to our taste buds. Here I am giving the recipe for American chopsuey. Which I wanted to share with you all. So give a try. Please feel free to drop your suggestions.

Ingredients :

Egg noodles - 1 packet

For sauce :

Onions - 1

Capsicum - 1

Carrot -1

Cabbage - few

Ginger and garlic grated - 1 tsp

Tomato sauce - 5 tbsp

Vinegar - 1 tsp

Soya sauce - 1 tsp

Salt and pepper - as required.

Cornflour 1 tbsp mixed with water

Spring onion - chopped finely for garnishing

Topped with egg omelette while serving.

Method :

Half cook noodles in big pot of hot water and drain well until it is dry. In hot oil deep fry the
noodles in batches. Drain it in a tissue then store it in a airtight container. You can do this process ahead of one day if you feel them complicated.


For making sauce :


In a frying pan add onions then garlic ginger, now add carrot saute for few minutes, add capsicum and cabbage, then all the sauce pepper and salt. Now add a cup water and when it comes to boil add the cornflour mixture.The sauce starts to thicken. If they do not thicken just add some more cornflour mixture.Now in the serving plate crush fried noodles pour the hot sauce over it garnish with spring onion and top with egg omelette or scrabbled eggs .Serve this piping hot.


Note:
Pour the sauce only when you serve, otherwise noodles becomes soggy. With vegetables you can add sliced mushroom too.Do not saute the vegetables for long time it should be crunchy and do this in high flame.

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OLIVE CROUTONS SALAD

Salads are very healthy to eat with every meal, So I used to make salads with dinner atleast 4 to 5 days a week. This salad is bit filling too which we can have it with light dinner. Croutons which i made is olive artisan sourdough bread which is day old bread. Artisan bread are hard enough to with stand its texture even if we add dressing to it. This is easy to make with the simple dressing.

Ingredients :

Any bread or artisan bread - cut as cubes

Lettuce - chopped

Cherry tomato - few halved

Cucumber - cubed

Parsely or cilantro - few for garnishing

Dressing :

Olive oil - 3 tbsp

Lemon - 1 tbsp

Garlic - Finely chopped or greated

Salt and pepper

Whisk everything together and keep aside.

Method:

Crisp the bread in 400 c oven by spraying some olive oil, salt and pepper . Now in the big bowl add all the vegetables and bread. Add the dressing mixture toss well and garnish with parsely or cilantro, serve chill.

Note:

We can do this even with store bought croutons.

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FIVE TASTE OOTHAPPAM

Five taste oothappam is easy to make if we have dosa batter ready, which is topped with 5 kinds of topping. Makes great dinner if we feel bore with same normal dosas.

Ingredients :

Dosa batter - as required

Topping No .1 - Tomato + coriander chopped finely

Topping No.2 - Dosa podi mixed with pepper

Topping No.3 - Color capsicums chopped finely mix some salt

Topping No.4 - Finely chopped coriander leaves mixed with podi

Topping No.5 - Pepper mushroom.

Pepper mushroom : In a frying pan add finely chopped shallots saute then add finely chopped mushroom, fry until the mushroom oozes water and again becomes dry. Now add pepper and salt. Use as topping.




Method :


In hot griddle pour as small dosas and top with above toppings and turn carefully .Let them get crispy in the edges. Serve with chutney.

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BEETROOT DOSAI

This beetroot dosai is which I often make at home , this is really delicious and healthy. Even peoples who don't like beetroot they love this. This is so easy to make. It will very well crispy. So go ahead and try. Leave a feedback if you really like it. This can be made easy when you have dosa batter at home. A variation for usual white dosai with more healthy form.

Ingredients :

Dosa batter - 2 cups

Beetroot - 1/2 cup chopped

Jeera - 1 tsp

Green chilli - 2

Coriander leaves - chopped finely

Method :

Puree the chopped beetroot, jeera(cumin) and green chilli. Mix it with dosa batter and add little salt, coriander leaves. Make dosas thin and crisp. Serve with either coconut chutney or garlic chutney.

Variation :

Similarly we can do with carrot, mixed vegetables, Tomato. Top this with onions to make beetroot onion dosai .

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