Light and Tasty Starter

Over the weekend I was invited to a dinner get-together at my uncle's home where the whole family met. My uncle is known for his lavish and warm hospitality which ensured that there was an array of interesting starters followed by a large, sumptious, buffet dinner. While I liked all the snacks, I found one particular starter tasty, easy-to-make and light on the stomach. I am sharing it, so you can try it when you are entertaining guests at home and are thinking of what to serve.

Take a packet of Britannia Cream Cracker biscuits. Cut each biscuit into four quarters. Cut cheese slices into similar sized quarters and place one on each biscuit quarter. Top with couple of drops of honey and a small sprig of Dil over the cheese.


Serve on a platter with drinks.

Pep up your food with Papads

Most Indian meals also include Papads either as part of the meal or as something to wrap up the meal with. Papads are also served as starters with alchoholic and non-alchoholic beverages. What makes Papad so popular is that they are light, tasty crisp and versatile. There is a mind boggling variety of papads available today in various sizes, flavours and tastes. Right from the tiny bite-size cocktail papads to the large, spicy almost plate-size Rajasthani & Amritsari papads and several others like South Indian Appalams to the Sindhi Moong Dal papads. Papads when served with drinks or food can be roasted or fried and served by themselves or with toppings of finely chopped onion tomato, green chillie and coriander or sprinkled with dry spices like chillie powder and chat maasala. Papads also taste great when dipped in chutni, pickle or dip. People in different parts of the country have their own special way of relishing papads. South Indians love their curd rice with pickle and papad, while Sindhi's love papads with khichadi and dahi. In the olden most Sindhi homes had a dabba full of roasted papads from which the family would pick up papads even to go with a glass of water. In some parts of the country, papad is also used as key ingredients in vegetable curry. I have also heard of people making bhel out of crushed, roasted papad.

So this weekend, let your creative juices flow and in the cool weather make your own variation with papad and enjoy!!

Masala Koki

We finally seem to be experiencing cool weather in Mumbai with evenings and early morning being very pleasant. With the weekend approaching, I share a recipe of Masala Koki, which is a great Sindhi Breakfast option. The recipe suggest having it with curd and papad, but it also goes very well with egg bhurji and boiled/fried eggs.

Weekend is the time to relax and indulge, so go ahead add a few calories once in a while and enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• Small bunch of coriander leaves finely chopped
• ¾ cup pure ghee
• Salt & pepper to taste

Heat ½ cup ghee and add to flour. Mix in onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, salt & pepper and knead it into soft dough with some water. Divide dough into 6 portions. Heat tawa/griddle and reduce flame, flatten each portion into a round thick chapatti ¼ inch thick and cook on tawa over slow flame moving gradually. When both side are evenly covered with brown spots fry each side with ½ tsp. pure ghee till crisp and golden brown. Serve hot with curds and papad.

Healthy and oil-free carrot pickle

Fresh, juicy red carrots have started coming into the market over the last few days and one realises that cooler days are here. Carrots are a versatile vegetable and can be used interesting in salads, soups, main courses, pickles and desserts. I am sharing today a very quick and easy recipe for a water based, oil free carrot pickle that is healthy, tasty and goes with all dishes. Here’s what you do:

Ingredients:

3 to 4 long, fresh carrots
8 to 10 flakes of fresh or dry garlic peeled and slit into halves
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt

Method:

Scrape the peel of the carrots and cut into 1 cm thick slices. Put in a casserole with 2 cups of water and boil for a 5 minutes on a low flame till carrots are cooked, but not over-soft (there should be about 1 cup of water still in the carrots. Allow to cool. When absolutely cool, add chilli powder, turmeric, salt and garlic. Partially grind the mustard seeds and add to the carrots. Empty out the carrots with the water and spices into a glass jar with a tight lid and keep in the sun for a few hours.

The pickle will be ready on within 36 hours and can be had with any dish. The water can be drunk as a tasty add on to the meal. You can also make very tasty pakodas by soaking bread slices in this carrot water, covering them with a gram-flour batter and deep fried. This pickle needs to be consumed in 3-4 days as with each passing day, it will become more sour. It taste best when finished in 3 – 4 days and preserved in the fridge. Over the next couple of days, the carrots and water.

Almond Honey

As I stepped out this morning at 6am for my Yoga class, I could feel a cool breeze and a slight nip in the air. I think we are finally approaching the so called Mumbai winter where late nights and early mornings are pleasant.

As the weather cools one feels more energetic, hungry and in the mood for more outdoor activities. But all of these need us to be fit and strong, eating a nourishing and healthy diet.

I'd like to share a very simple, age-old family practice which will help to keep you healthy. My mother introduced this to us as children and it has continued to become a practice followed every winter.

Fill a glass jar to 2/3 level with almonds and fill it up with honey. Let the almond soak in the honey and every morning with your breakfast have a tablespoon of the almonds and honey (5 - 6 almonds). It's delicous, easy to eat and great for your system. I am getting my jar ready today. Will you too?

Cream Apple Cookies

At our weekly Bridge game at my friend Neilu's home day before yesterday, as usual she served us delicious snacks with tea, which included brown-bread sandwiches with cheese and capsicum filling, light and crisp veg rolls and Cream apple cookies, an innovative sweet snack. Finely chopped apples were stewed with very little sugar and cinnamon and used as topping on Britannia cookies, over which she had poured a little fresh cream.

Methi

Last weekend when I went for my vegetable and grocery shopping, I picked up very fresh methi (fenugreek) and decided to use it a number of ways for guests that I was having over.

Over two days, Methi found its way into a nice fish main course, paneer, as well as parathas that could virtually be had with any dish or just by themselves with a bowl of yoghurt and papad.

Methi has a rich flavour, but can make the dish a little bitter if not used in the right quantity. When used in the right proportion, it can give a very distinctive flavour.

Here are my two recipes with Methi.

Fish In Methi


Ingredients

4 - 6 slices of Surmai / Pomfret
2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger garlic / paste
2 green chillies chopped
1 small bunch Methi leaves (Fenugreek)
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
3 tsps oil
Salt to taste
Few coriander leaves chopped

Procedure

Wash the fish slices, sprinkle salt on both sides and keep aside. Take out all the Methi leaves from the stems, wash and chop finely. In a kadai heat oil. Add ginger garlic and green chillies. Reduce flame and stir for a minute. Now add methi leaves and cook in open kadai for five minutes. Add chopped tomotoes and dry spices. Cover with fitting lid and cook for a few minutes till tomatoes and methi are well cooked and soft. Now put in the fish, add a little salt and cook on medium flame for 3 - 5 minutes. Serve hot decorated with fresh coriander leaves.

Methi Paneer



Ingredients
250 grams paneer (cottage cheese)
2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger garlic / paste
2 green chillies chopped
1 small bunch methi leaves (Fenugreek)
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
3 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Few coriander leaves chopped

Procedure

Cut paneer into one inch pieces and keep aside. Take out all the Methi leaves from the stems, wash and chop finely. In a kadai heat oil. Add ginger garlic and green chillies. Reduce flame and stir for a minute. Now add Methi leaves and cook in open kadai for five minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and dry spices. Cover with fitting lid and cook for a few minutes till tomato and methi are well cooked and soft. Now put in the paneer, add salt and cook on medium flame for 3 - 5 minutes. Serve hot decorated with fresh coriander leaves.

HAPPY DIWALI!

Wishing all my dear friends a fun-filled Diwali weekend and great year ahead. Enjoy the goodies and all the lovely food without worrying about the calories. Also, let's a spare a moment to think of those less fortunate who cannot experience any of these pleasures and do our little bit to bring joy to them in our small way. Let's all get back to the healthy food and exercise regimine with excitement Monday onwards.

A wonderful Diwali to all!

Wholesome, Healthy and Ready in a Jiffy

Over the last few days, I have been putting my Braun hand-blender to very good use, making in a jiffy the most delicious, nutritious and easy to have milkshakes, just perfect for breakfast on-the-go.

Take one large banana or two small yellow bananas. Peel and cut fine and put into the blender bowl. Add 3/4 glass of cold milk, half tsp of sugar / honey as per taste and blend for a minute and you have a wonderful drink ready. If you feel like indulging add a spoon of vanilla ice-cream.

You can also substitute banana with chickoo, strawberries or mango to stir-up mouth-watering milkshakes.... good for breakfast, after a workout or in-between meals.

Base Mixture

I'd like to share today a quick and easy recipe of a very versatile dish - Tasty Tomatoes, which can be had with bread or chappati, used as a pizza sauce and as base to make masala scrambled eggs or potato / cauliflower dry vegetable.

Ingredients

5 medium sized tomatoes
2 green chillies
Few coriander leaves
2 tbsps oil
1 medium sized onion
1/2" piece ginger
1/2 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste

Procedure

Chop all vegetables fine and keep them separately. in a thick bottomed kadai heat oil. Add finely chopped ginger and green chillies. When light brown add onions and stir on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, coriander powder, salt and half the coriander leaves. Cover with tight lid and cook on low flame 10-15 minutes, stirrig occassionaly. Mix well with wooden blender. The tomatoes should now have a thick consistency. Serve hot, topped with remaining coriander leaves with plain or toasted bread and potato wafers.

It's a good idea to make this before the weekend, so you can enjoy several tomato based dishes with little effort.... a tasty breakfast, a quick fix snack (pizza) when guests arrive at short notice or when you want to have a dry vegetable with rotis or paratha. I find making tomatoes in this form very convenient... hope you too...

Phirni

The past week has seen all of us get into the festive mood with the beats of the Navratri Garba and bright illumination all across at Navratri celebrations! All of this culminates with enjoying Dassera on Sunday with family and friends. However, much all of us try to refrain from sweets and maintain a healthy diet to keep fit, festive days are meant to be enjoyed with abandon.

So this Dussera if you are thinking of a quick and easy desert to make and share with your loved ones, I suggest you try my recipe of Phirni. Hope you enjoy making and having it.

Wishing you a joyous weekend!

Ingredients

1 tin condensed milk
1 litre milk
1 tablespoon basmati or fine rice
6-8 cardamoms (remove seeds)
Few strands saffron (optional)
Few raisins (optional)
10-12 almonds and 10 - 12 pistachios for decoration

Procedure

Cut almonds and pistachios into thin strips and keep aside. Soak rice in a small bowl of water for about 10 - 15 minutes. Put milk in a pressure cooker. Add soaked rice after draining out water. Close the pressure cooker and cook for ten minutes after the first whistle. Open the cooker when cool and empty the can of condensed milk into it and cook for a few minutes with saffron and cardamoms, till the milk thickens to a sauce like consistency. Let it cool. Pour in a glass-serving bowl and chill in refrigerator. Decorate with chopped almonds and pistachios before serving.

Kaju Burfi

Ingredients

500 gms Cashewnuts (you can buy the broken variety, they are cheaper)
225 gms sugar
8 - 10 cardamoms (deseeded and powdered)
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
3/4 tbsp pure ghee
8 - 10 almonds and pistas each (finely chopped)

Procedure

Grind cashnew nuts in a mixer to a powder. Please be careful not to over grind, as oil will start to come out. Grease a large round steel plate / thali and keep aside. Place a thick-bottomed non-stick kadai on the flame. Put sugar and water and heat. As soon as the sugar dissolves, put in the milk, reduce flame and boil. In a minute or two you will have a frothy layer on top with some dirt particles. Remove the frothy layer with a seive and let the sugar syrup boil on low flame till its sticky and of one-string consistency. Now put in the ground cashew nuts, cardamom powder and pure ghee. Mix well for a couple of seconds and put off the flame.

Immediately remove mixture on a greased thal. Pat with hand to flatten and make a circle of 1 cm thickness. Sprinkled chopped almonds and pistas and press with hand. Allow to cool. Cut into diamond shaped pieces and serve.

My recent trip to the US

I am just back from a two week visit to the US, where I spent a few days each in Cleveland, Rochester and New York. All the three cities are beautiful in their own way and give you a completely different experience. Having very warm and hospitable host, I had the opportunity to try out varied types of food. However, I must admit that being a vegetarian sometimes offered very limited choices, as most menus are predominently non-vegetarian, but I have to admit that the best vegetarian meal I had in my entire trip was at an Ethiopian restaurant called Abbysinia in Rochester. Not only was every dish delicous, non-spicy and not oily, but the way the meal was served was also unique. Three of us went for dinner there and ordered five vegetarian dishes. We were served in one large plate (the size of three dinner plates). A large absorbant dosa like bread covered the plate. Our five dishes were brought in smaller plates, each of which was emptied separately on the bread. We were then given a basket of the same bread cut into rolls with which you ate the various dishes. The combination of the soft bread and the vegetables was absolutely delicous and in a matter of 10 minutes we had polished them off and were feeling absolutely satiated.

Bhindi Fry

Am out of the country till month end... will share some interesting recipes on my return....meanwhile here is a simple yet tasty dish for beginners to try out.


Ingredients

250 gms Bhindi (Lady Fingers)
Pepper
Coriander Powder
Amchoor Powder (Dry Mango) to taste
Oil for deep-frying
Salt

Procedure
Wash ladyingers and dry with a clean cloth / tissue. Cut off the cap and tail end of each ladyfinger and then cut each in 3-4 pieces.

Heat oil (put oil to cover about 1/4 of the kadai. When hot, add chopped ladyfingers and fry on low flame for about 10 minutes turning them now and then till they are crisp and brownish in colour. Drain out from oil and place on tissue or paper. Sprinkle salt, pepper and other masalas and mix well. Serve hot.

Wada Pav

I think all of us agree that Wada Pav is perhaps one of Mumbai's tastiest street food which we relish as an on the go snack or sometimes in desperate situation even as a meal. While buying it off the street vendor gives it the Mumbai flavour, I am sure we would all welcome a cleaner healthier alternative.

So here's a simple recipe to make mouth-watering Wada Pav in your own kitchen with quality ingredients and fried in oil that's good for your heart to enjoy on any occasion with friends and family.



Ingredients
4 medium sized potatoes boiled and cut into fine pieces
1 onion finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 green chillies finely chopped
1/2" piece ginger finely chopped
6-8 Curry leaves
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp amchoor powder
Salt to taste
Few coriander leaves finely chopped
One cup flour
1 pinch soda bicarb
Oil for frying

Procedure
Put 3 tbsp oil in a kadai. When hot add mustard seeds, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and chillies. When mustard seeds stop spluttering, add chopped onion. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add potato and other spices. Mix well and keep on slow flame for a few minutes. Remove, cool and make small ball like ladoos.

Make gram flour batter with water, salt chilli powder and soda bi-carb. Heat oil in a kadai. Dip each ball in batter and deep fry till golden brown on all sides.

Peshawari Murg Tangdi

Weekends are to chill and do all the nice things that you can't do on packed weekdays... one of them being eating fresh and yummy delicacies. So here's recipe that's delicious and easy to prepare. Goes well with an Indian meal and can also become the main course of a light soup and one course meal that one would very often want to have on a Sunday evening.

Enjoy!





Ingredients

Four Chicken Legs
1/2 Cup Curds
1" piece ginger
6-8 cloves garlic and two green chillies
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
2 onions chopped into rings
2 lemons
Coriander leaves
1 tbsp butter

Procedure

Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies into a paste or cut very fine. Wash chicken legs and prick each at a few places with fork. Place in a large bowl or container and apply the ground paste/chopped ginger garlic, chillies to the chicken pieces. Now add curd and all other powdered spices and rub chicken legs well with mixture. Cover the bowl and keep in refrigerator for a couple of hours to marinate.

A little before you want to serve the chicken remove from refrigerator, put in pressure cooker, add one cup water and cook for 5 - 7 minutes after first whistle on low flame. When the cooker cools cook remove chicken pieces. Now heat a non-stick pan with butter and put chicken legs. On low flame turn around till chicken legs are golden brown. Remove from fire. Squeeze juice of half a lemon on chicken. Serve on a plate decorated with onion rings, lemon slices and garnished with coriander leaves.

Pizza Toast

It's Friday evening and time to think of a relaxed weekend and yummy food. Here's a recipe that you could try for Breakfast or an evening Snack!

Ingredients

Four Large tomatoes grated or finely chopped
Two large capsicums very finely chopped
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon (Dalchini)
1/2 inch piece ginger finely chopped
1-2 green chillies chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
Grated Cheese

Procedure for Sauce

Heat Oil in a Kadai or thick-bottomed pan. Add chopped ginger, green chillies and onion. Stir on low flame for a couple of minutes. Add tomato and cook with onions on low flame with kadai covered. After 5 - 10 minutes when tomotoes are soft and well blended, add capsicums salt and cinnamon powder. Cook on low flame till capsicums are cooked and you have a thick soft mixture. Emty this mixture in a container. This sauce can last for 2 - 3 days if kept in the refrigerator.

Procedure for Toasts:
1. Toast bread in toaster. Apply butter followed by a layer of Pizza sauce that you have kept aside. Sprinkle grated cheese and serve.

2. In case you have an oven you can apply the butter and pizza sauce on fresh bread or pizza base, sprinkle grated cheese and toast in oven/grill.

Bahar-E-Seviyan

As we get set for Raksha Bandhan tomorrow, a time to celebrate the unique bond between a brother and sister, here's a simple, delicious, quick to make recipe perfect for the occassion. Celebrate this happy occassion with my recipe of Bahar-E-Seviyan. If you have some seviyan leftover (not likely)you can make kheer out of it the next day by adding it to boiling milk and cook for a minute or two.





Ingredients

200 gms Vermicelli
1 cup Sugar
5-6 tbsp melted pure ghee
8 cardamoms
6 almonds and a few pistachios finely chopped

Procedure

Put sugar, blanched cardamoms and 2 1/2 cups of water in a pan and heat till sugar is totally dissolved. Keep aside. In a thick-bottomed kadai or pan heat ghee. Add vermicelli and keep turning on low flame till golden brown. Add sugar syrup increase flame and cook. Reduce flame when sugar syrup is fully absorbed. Cover and keep on low flame for 5 - 7 minutes till you see steam coming out. Serve hot garnished with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Over the last few days I have seen and bought excellent quality and very fresh vegetables like green peas, capsicum, carrots and tomatoes and I would recommend that if you go vegetable shopping this weekend, definitely pick up some of these as they are all very versatile vegetables which can be used in different ways.
Some suggestions:


1. Tomatoes – excellent in soup, curry, stuffed or steamed etc.
2. Capsicum – stuffed with delicious filling of cooked potatoes, onions etc or, bhajias, salad, as a dry dish with Paneer
3. Carrots – sliced or grated in salad, in soup, with methi as dry vegetable; with other vegetables as filling for Biryani and in delicious halwa
4. Green Peas – Boiled and mixed with mashed potato, in salad, in soups, with paneer or potato, cauliflower, in pulao, with potato as pattis

Would love to get feedback from bloggers on their ways of using these four vegetables.

Have just got home after a long exhausting day and am relishing my bowl of Tomato Soup and thought I would share the recipe for you to try out too!

Ingredients

3/4 kg Tomato chopped

2 Onions grated

2 Carrots grated

1 Tablespoon Yellow Moong Dal

1 Tablespoon Gram Flour

1 Tablespoon Butter

Salt, Pepper & Sugar to taste

Procedure

Put tomato, onions, carrots, dal and 5 cups of water in a pressure cooker and cook for about 15 minutes over medium flame. Remove and strain through a soup strainer, seiving as much pulp as possible.

In a pan heat , butter, add gram flour and stir on a slow flame for a minute or two. Add salt, pepper and sugar and bring to boil. Serve garnished with fried bread croutons / bread rolls.

Hasty Tasty Halwa

Delicious dessert or breakfast that can be dished out in 15 minutes flat. An occasional treat to indulge.
Ingredients

• 1 cup semolina (sooji)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pure ghee
• 6 cardomons shelled
• Few pistachios and almonds finely chopped
• Few raisins optional
• 2 cups water

Procudure

In a pan add sugar to water and add shelled cardamons. Heat over low flame till sugar dissolves completely and water comes to a boil. Keep aside. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed kadai on a low flame. Add semolina and roast on a low flame. Keep stirring till semolina is light golden in colour. Now add sugar syrup and increase flame and stir till the sugar syprup is fully absorbed. Reduce flame to lowest, add raisins, cover and cook for five minutes.

Serve hot covered with chopped pistachios and almonds.

Chatpatta Corn Bhel

It's Friday afternoon and I am sure most of us are thinking of ways to chill and indulge on the weekend, along with some exercise or fitness regimen, which somehow gets a miss on days that are packed.

I am also looking ahead at the weekend with similar thoughts, so here's a very easy to make, light on the stomach and tasty snack which you could try out one evening and share with family and friends.

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized bowl / cup of American Corn
• 1 medium-sized onion finely chopped
• 1 medium-size tomato chopped
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 1 inch piece ginger cut into thin strips
• 1 teaspoon chat masala
• 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder or pepper
• coriander leaves
• juice of one lemon
• 50 gms fine sev (used in bhel)
• and salt to taste

Procedure:

Steam the corn for five minutes. In a wide bowl add all other ingredients except sev. Add the corn. Mix well and garnish with the sev and coriander leaves and serve.

Monsoon Relish

Fresh Ginger Relish
I was having dinner at my friend Hemlata's home on Saturday night and she served a very interesting, tasty and easy to make accompaniment "Fresh Ginger Relish" which she shared is only made in the Monsoons because the ginger at this time of the year is very juicy, tender, without fibres and has a delicate flavour.
All you have to do to make it is take about 200 gms of fresh ginger (moist and pinkish in colour) wash and peel it and cut into very fine strips of about 1 cm to 1 inch in length. To one cup of ginger add a pinch of salt and juice of one lemon and keep it in container which has a fitting lide. Will be ready to eat ina few hours and will last forf 3 to 4 days under refrigeration. The Fresh Ginger Relish goes well with both Indian and Continental cuisines. It can spice up your dals, curries and snacks like upma, poha etc. I would seriously recommend that you try it out soon.

As we get ready to wrap up for the week and look forward to a chilled out weekend, thought I'd share a quick and easy to make, yet tasty and light meal that you could try out for lunch either on Saturday or Sunday. You can wind it up with a bowl of fresh fruit, topped with a little fresh cream or ice-cream.

Dahi Kadhi

Ingredients

1 medium-sized bowl of yoghurt (made from 1/2 litre of milk)

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/2 inch piece ginger finely chopped

6 to 8 curry leaves

Few coriander leaves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

1/4 mustard seeds (rai)

4 tsp oil

1 1/2 tbsp gram flour (besan)

1 pinch turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Put yoghurt in a large bowl and mix well with an eggbeater or blender. Place a thick-bottomed pan on medium flame. Put oil. When hot, add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add cumin seeds. After a minute, add ginger, chillies and curry leaves.

A minute later add gram flour and mix well. Now add blended yoghurt and half a cup of water and mix well for a couple of minutes till it comes to a boil. Add turmeric, salt and coriander leaves. Cover and cook on slow flame for one minute. Serve hot with white rice and dry vegetables.

Kadai Paneer Capsicum

Ingredients

2 medium-sized capsicums

3 medium-sized tomatoes

1/2 inch piece ginger, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon thyme (ajwain)

1/2 tsp cumin seed powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhania)

4 tbspn oil/ghee

250 gm paneer (cottage cheese)

1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped

Few coriander leaves, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Wash and chop tomatoes finely. Wash and cut capsicums into small pieces. Cut paneer into half inch cubes and keep aside. Heat oil in a kadai. When hot, reduce flame and add ajwain. When the seeds splutter and change colour, add green chillies and ginger. Now put in onions and stir till light pink. Add tomatoes.

Cover kadai with a fitting lid, ensure that the flame is low and let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes. When they are soft and puree like, add chopped capsicums and dry masalas - cumin seed powder, coriander powder etc - and keep turning for a few minutes. When capiscums are almost cooked add paneer, coriander leaves and salt. Cover and cook on a low flame for two to three minutes. Serve hot, garnished with coriander.

Plain White Rice

Ingredients

1 cup rice

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt to taste

Wash and soak the rice in a bowl of water for about 20 minutes. Heat oil in a pan. After a minute add the rice, salt and stir. Add two cups of water and let the rice boil on a high flame for a few minutes. When the water in the rice dries up and you can observe holes and do not see any water, reduce the flame and cover the pan with a fitting lid.

Let it cook on a slow flame for five to ten minutes. You may open the lid once and turn around the rice. The rice grains should be soft yet separate not sticking to each other. Put off flame and serve hot.

Tomato Upma

If you are heading home from work and feeling ravenously hungry and want a tasty, not too filling, but nourishing snack, Tomato upma would be a quick and easy dish to make. Follow the recipe and you should soon have your hunger satiated and if there is some Upma left over, would be a good thing to warm up and have for breakfast the tomorrow morning.

Ingredient's

• 1 cup semolina (sooji)
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• 1/2 cup boiled green peas (optional)
• 1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
• 1/2 " piece ginger finely chopped
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 8 tbsps oil
• Few coriander leaves chopped
• Salt to taste
• Juice of 1 lemon

Heat oil in a kadai. When hot, add mustard seeds and reduce flame. When the mustard seeds stop crackling, add ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. After a minute add semolina and stir till tomato pieces become soft and blend with the semonlina. Add green peas, half the coriander leaves and salt and two full cups of water. Increase flame and cook till the water dries up and you see holes in the semolina. Reduce flame, cover and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Before serving, add lemon juice and mix well.

Put in serving dish and garnish with remaining coriander leaves.

Besan Ka Puda

Weekends are for breaking routine and taking things at a leisurely pace...including a relaxed breakfast instead of an on-the-run sandwich or fruit. Here's something tasty and easy to make that you could try out this weekend. Enjoy!

Adding Flavours to your refreshing cup of Tea

A freshly made, hot cup of tea is known to perk you up and make you feel relaxed. Over the years, I have experimented with adding a few natural ingredients to give my daily cup of tea a special flavour that I love. Here are my suggestions....

1. Lemon Grass Tea - Gives you a very soft and fresh flavour. Take a couple of strands of lemon grasss, roll it into a bundle and add to the water when you boil it for making tea. Once the water comes to boil, continue to let it boil for five minutes on low flame till the water has a yellowish tinge. Put tea leaves in a tea pot and pour boiling water over it. Close the lid and cover with teacosy for a few minutes. After which stir the tea in the pot with a spoon, and pour. Add milk and sugar to taste. 2. Mint Tea - Mint leaves added to tea give you a new level of freshness. Wash a few mint leaves and place in a teapot to which you add boiling water and tea leaves. Cover and let it rests for a few minutes. After which stir and pour.

3. Ginger Tea - Ideal for wet mansoon days or when you are feeling dull and lethargic or have a headache. Peel and crush one-inch piece of ginger and add to water and boil for five minutes before putting into the pot with tea leaves. Follow same procedure of allowing it to rest for few minutes and then pour out into cups.

4. Other natural ingredients that can be added to tea include cardamom, saffron.

For a relaxed and chilled out breakfast on Sunday, you could try my recipe of French Toast with accompaniments of mashed potato, boiled vegetables and french fries, if you are in a mood for a heavier breakfast. A glass of orange, sweetlime or watermelon juice would be perfect to complete.

Tasty and Nutritious Raita to Enhance the Goodness of Yoghurt

Spinach & Pumpkin (White Doodhi) when added to Yoghurt makes delicious and highly nutritious Raita, which can go well with both lunch or dinner or can even be had as in between meal-filler. Take one bunch of spinach. Finely chop the leaves, wash well and boil/steam for five minutes. Drain out excess water and add to blended Yoghurt with salt, pepper and ground jeera (cummin seed). Garnish with chopped coriander. Similarly, take quarter kilo (250 gms) Doodhi, peel the skin and grate. Boil with a little water for five minutes and follow the same procedure for draining excess water and adding to blended Yoghurt.

Eggs Boats

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes
• 1/2 tsp cummin seed
• 2 green chillies chopped, few coriander leaves chopped
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• 4 slices of bread
• Salt to taste
• 6 eggs boilded and peeled
• Oil to fry

Procedure:

Prepare potato mixture as in recipe of Aloo Tikiya. When the dough is ready divide into 6 portions. Flatten each portion as a thick chapatti. Place one boiled egg in the centre and close up the base so that the egg is fully covered by the potato mixture on all sides and is not visible at all. Similarly do the remaining 5 eggs. Heat oil in a kadai on high flame. When hot add one ball at a time turning carefully. Fry till golden brown. Drain oil and remove from kadai. Place on a tissue and cut vertically into two. Arrange in a plate and decorate with a small tomato ketch-up on the egg yoke. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Cooking is something I find very enjoyable, relaxing and satisfying. In spite of a full time career, that involves long working hours and travel, I find time to cook for family and friends and experiment with new recipes. A self taught cook, I like to make traditional as well as modern dishes, both vegetarian and non vegetarian. I have learnt what I know by watching elders in the family and others and also by trying to figure out ingredients and the method of making a dish by analysing the taste. Being a Sindhi, authentic Sindhi food finds a prominent place on my menu.

Over the years, I have realised that that you may travel around the world and try out the most exotic and diverse cuisines and enjoy them, but eventually the pleasure of having a simple, home-cooked,tasty, light and nutritious meal is to die for. And putting together such a meal is not really laborious or time consuming. With a little planning you can dish up an appetising meal in less than an hour; and with some imagination make a completely different offering out of it, if there are any leftovers!

Through this blog, I would like to share easy to make, tasty recipes and trivia with food lovers and learn more about their experiences in the wonderful world of food flavours.

Cheers,
Veena Gidwani

Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

· ¾ kg tomato chopped
· 2 onions grated
· 2 carrots grated
· 1 tablespoon yellow Moong Dal
· 1 tablespoon gram flour
· 1 tablespoon butter
· Salt, Pepper & sugar to taste

Procedure:

Put tomatoes, onions, carrots, dal and 5 cups water in a pressure cooker and cook for about 15 minutes over medium flame. Remove and strain through soup strainer, sieving as much as pulp as possible.

In a pan heat butter, add gram flour and stir on a slow flame for a minute or two. Add salt, pepper and sugar and bring to boil. Serve garnished with fried bread croutons / bread rolls.

Aloo Tikiya

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sized potatoes
• 2 green chillies finely chopped
• ½ tsp. cummin seeds
• ¼ tsp. red chillie powder
• 4 small slices of bread or one Pav bread
• Few coriander leaves finely chopped
• Few tbsps. oil for frying
• Salt to taste

Procedure:

Put potatoes in a pressure cooker, add three cups of water, close and pressure cook for ten minutes after the first whistle has gone off. They should be boiled well by then.

After a few minutes, remove potatoes from the cooker. While still warm peel and mash them with a fork and ensure that there are no lumps. Add cummin seeds, green chillies, coriander leaves and chillie powder. Soak the bread in a bowl of water for a minute or two. Squeeze out water and add to potato mixture. Add salt and mix well, so that there are no lumps and you have a smooth dough like mixture.

Rub a little oil on your hands and on the mixture. Divide into 10-12 portions. Flatten each portion into a round cutlet.

Heat a non-stick pan with a little oil. When hot put 4 to 6 tikiyas/cutlets at a time and fry on medium flame, turning over till both sides are golden brown. Alternatively, the tikiyas can be deep fried in a kadai with oil filling about a third of the kadai. If you decide to deep fry them do so on high flame and put in the tikiyas when the oil is really hot.

Serve hot with tomato ketchup, green chutney or pickle and bread.