CORIANDER/CILANTRO MINT CHUTNEY
Tuesday, April 22, 2008



Here is the coriander mint chutney recipe. It goes well with any veg or non-veg snacks. We can serve it with stuffed parathas.

Preparation time – 10 min

INGREDIENTS:

  1. Coriander/Cilantro leaves – 2 bunches
  2. Green chilies – 4-5
  3. Ginger piece (about 1”)
  4. Mint leaves – 1 cup
  5. Salt to taste
  6. Lime juice – 4-5 tbsp
  7. Mustard oil – 1 tbsp

METHOD:

Wash carefully all coriander & mint leaves under running water. Chop all leaves, chilies & ginger and place all these ingredients in processor. Add salt in it and grind them to make a smooth paste. If required then add little water and make a smooth paste. Now place this chutney in bowl and add lime juice & mustard oil. Mix them well and serve with kebabs, samosa, fritters, cheela etc.

We can store this chutney for 7-8 days in refrigerator. Keep this chutney in air tight container or bottle and store for a week.


Labels: , ,

posted by Rashmi @ 9:01 AM, ,




DAHI VADA (BLACK GRAM LENTIL FRITTER IN YOGURT)


Dahi vada is a kind of chat which is prepared by soaked Urad daal (black gram) fritter in thick spicy yogurt. This is a very famous dish in all over India and each part of India has its own taste & recipe. In North India we serve this dish by garnishing with tamarind chutney and in Southern part, it is seasoned with mustard seeds, chilies & curry leaves. During Holi in North India this is a very popular snacks.

Serves: 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

For Vada

  1. 1 cup black gram lentil (urad dal) soaked in water for 2-3 hr
  2. 2” piece of ginger
  3. Black pepper -7-8
  4. Salt to taste
  5. Raisins
  6. Oil for deep frying

For Dahi mixture

  1. Yogurt (curd) – 2 cup
  2. Chat masala -2-3 tbsp
  3. Rock salt -1-2tbsp
  4. Tamarind chutney – 5-6 tbsp
  5. Roasted cumin seeds powder – 2-3 tbsp
  6. Red chili powder – 2 tsp

METHOD:

  1. Grind soaked black gram lentil (urad daal) with ginger & black pepper in a food processor by using little water and make smooth paste. Now mix salt to taste.
  2. Now heat deep frying pan with oil. Make small round shaped vadas from the paste you made in the last step. Deep fry them in hot oil until vada turns to golden brown. Drain all vadas on absorbent paper and keep them aside to cool on room temperature.
  3. After cooling vada , add these vadas in hot water for 2-3 min. Take them out from water and squeeze extra water from vadas. Now take one raisin and stuff in center of vada by pressing it with your finger. Repeat this procedure for remaining vadas. Keep them aside.
  4. Now blend the yogurt (curd) with rock salt to taste and little water.
  5. Place all vadas in shallow serving dish and pour blended yogurt mixture over vadas. Keep this dish in refrigerator for 1-2 hr to soak vadas in yogurt mixture and get chilled.
  6. Take out chilled and soaked vada from refrigerator. Now sprinkle red chilli powder, roasted cumin powder over vadas and add little tamarind chutney on each vada.
  7. Serve chilled dahi vada in snacks, starter or as side dish.


Labels: , , , ,

posted by Rashmi @ 8:56 AM, ,




PEARL SAGO PUDDING (SABUDANA KHEER)
Sunday, April 13, 2008


There is always a debate on whether pearl sago is heathy for diabetic people. Some say it’s good for them while others say it gives lots of carbohydrates which is not healthy for people having diabetes. So this is not good for diabetic people.

Let’s don’t indulge in this controversy. My mom says pearl sago is good for growing age of children and specially new moms. They need more & more energy and sago is good source of energy. 100 gm of pearl sago yields 100 calories, including approx 94 gm carbohydrate and very less amount of protein, fiber, fat.

Sago is kind of dry fruit and in India this is especially used during festive occasion like Navratri, Janamashtami…. Some other dishes prepared using sago are PEARL SAGO KHICHADI, PEARL SAGO PUDDING etc. Sago kheer/pudding is served to patients to help recover faster by gaining energy. The kheer/pudding is also served in dessert.

We were celebrating Navratri festival last week and used to prepare pearl sago pudding/sabudana kheer twice a day. This prompted me to share the recipe of this pudding.

Cooking Time: 30 min

Serves: 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

  1. 1 cup of pearl sago
  2. ½ -1 cup of sugar/sugar free (SPLENDA)
  3. 3 cup of whole milk
  4. Cardamom powder – 1 tsp
  5. Pinch of saffron
  6. Chopped nuts (cashew, almonds, pistachio)

METHOD:

  1. Wash the pearl sago and drain out all the water. Keep them aside for 1 hr to set.
  2. Now heat milk in heavy bottomed vessel until it reaches to boiling state . Reduce the heat and add washed pearl sago. Mix them well and keep stirring otherwise sago will stick to the bottom surface. Continue cooking on medium heat until sago turns soft and translucent.
  3. Add sugar/sugar free and chopped nuts. Mix them well and turn off the heat. Pearl sago pudding is ready, but serve chilled pudding. (Remember one thing while cooking this pudding should not be very thick otherwise pudding would be hard and sticky after 2-3 hours of cooking of this pudding.)

Labels: , , , ,

posted by Rashmi @ 4:09 PM, ,




STUFFED CHEESE RICE FRITTER (RICE PAKAURA)
Friday, April 4, 2008


Sometime it’s really too hard to consume left over food. If you had thrown party, then I am sure you faced this situation that lots of cooked rice or any other foods left over. Last weekend it’s happened to me. Lots of cooked rice was left in my fridge. I was very confuse, what to do with that rice…… because we really did not want to have that rice again. I thought so much but couldn’t find the right solution and coincidentally by that time my favorite cookery programme was telecasting on TV. In that show chef was talking and preparing this fritter with left over rice. I liked this idea and adapted this recipe from that show. I made some changes and prepare this delicious fritter.If you are in hurry and have to prepare something for your guests then you can try this dish.

Servings: 3-4

Cooking time: 15min

INGREDIENTS:

  1. Pre-cooked rice -1 ½ -2 cup
  2. Boiled potatoes (peeled & grated) – 2
  3. Green chilies chopped - 2-3 (according to your taste)
  4. Onion (chopped) – 2-3 tbsp
  5. Crushed white pepper - 2 tsp
  6. Coriander leaves (cilantro) chopped – 2 tbsp
  7. Cheese cube – 10-12 small pieces (about 1/4”)
  8. Ginger (grated) – 1 tbsp
  9. Salt to taste
  10. Oil for deep fry
  11. Bread crumbs

METHOD:

  1. Take all ingredients except oil and cheese cubes in a large bowl. Mix them well and knead soft dough.
  2. Now divide this dough in 10-12 equal portions. Take one portion of dough and stuff cheese cube. After that, with the help of greased hand make round ball of this stuffed dough. Repeat this procedure for left portions of dough.
  3. Spread the bread crumbs in shallow dish and roll the stuffed cheese rice balls in bread crumbs. Shake off any excess bread crumbs.
  4. Now heat deep frying pan with oil on smoking point. Reduce the heat and deep fry all stuffed cheese rice ball until they turn to light brown in two batches. Try to avoid crowding the frying pan with fritters.
  5. Take out the fritters on paper towel to absorb the excess oil of these fritters. Serve with any sauce and hot ginger tea.

Labels: , ,

posted by Rashmi @ 1:27 PM, ,




SWEET OMELET
Thursday, April 3, 2008


This is my husband's creation and I give him full credit for that. He is diabetic but cannot resist sweets. One morning he asked me to add sugar in the omelet instead of salt. First I laughed at the idea but just for fun I actually tried making a sweet omelet. It was not bad. In fact it was quite good. Even my 2 1/2 year old son liked it.

Cooking time: 10 min

Servings: 2

INGREDIENTS:
1. Eggs – 2 or ½ cup egg white
2. Almonds – 2-3 (chopped)
3. Cashew nuts – 2-3 ( chopped)
4. Raisins – 5-6
5. All purpose flour – 1 tbsp
6. Whole milk – 1-2 tbsp
7. Coco powder – 1 ½ tsp(optional)
8. Sugar/Splenda (sugar free)/brown sugar – 1-2 tbsp
9. Cinnamon powder - ½ tsp
10. Oil for greasing
11. Honey - 1-2 tbsp(optional)

METHOD:
1. Take a bowl and break eggs in it. Add milk, all purpose flour, coco powder, and sugar & cinnamon powder and make smooth batter. Keep it aside.
2. Now heat a flat pan and grease with oil. After that pour half of batter on heated pan and spread smoothly in 6-7 inches diameter. Sprinkle chopped nuts and cooks it on medium heat for 2-3 min or until bottom side turns light brown. Turn to other side and cook for 2 more minutes or until it gets cooked.
3. Sweet omelet is ready to serve. If you want eat this omelet with honey then pour 1 tbsp of honey over prepared omelet. We can serve this omelet in breakfast.

Labels: , , ,

posted by Rashmi @ 9:20 AM, ,




PAPADI(HOME MADE CRACKER)


Papadi is small round shaped crispy salty famous snacks of India. We prepare these snacks on the festive occasion of Holi or Diwali. It is also sold by roadside hockers.We can use these Papadis as evening snacks or we can prepare spicy chat with them.


Time: 20-25 min

INGREDIENTS:

1. 2 cup wheat flour
2. 3-4 tbsp ghee / vegetable oil
3. 1tbsp ajwain
4. Oil for deep fry
5. Salt to taste
6. Water

METHOD:

  1. Take a bowl and mix all ingredients except oil (for deep frying) together. Now add little-little water at a time and make firm & stiff dough.
  2. Now make 50-60 balls from this dough and roll them out in round shape papadi about 2” diameter. After rolling the balls, prick the papadi’s with fork all over. Remember one thing papadi should be very thin.
  3. Now heat oil in deep frying pan. Add 4-5 Papadis in hot oil and deep fry them till they turn to crispy & golden brown. Take them out from oil and place on paper towel to absorb extra oil. Serve these papadi as snacks with hot tea or use in Papadis chat.

Labels: , ,

posted by Rashmi @ 7:54 AM, ,




Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.