Macaroni & Tomato Salad

Summers is setting in, so all of us like to include a good salad in our meal or even make a meal of the salad. Here's something you could try.
Ingredients:
• 1 cup macaroni
• 2 medium sized tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons salad oil
• 1 tablespoon red vinegar
• Few basil leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
Boil macaroni in 4 to 5 cups of water with salt for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain out as soon as done. Chop tomatoes in thin vertical slices. In a pan heat oil, stir macaroni for a minute with tomatoes. Put off flame. Add pepper, salt, vinegar and basil leaves. Serve in a flat tray or glass bowl.

Sindhi Mutton

Most Sindhis love non-vegetarian food and Sindhi mutton is a delicacy that other communities also find delicious. One of the reasons for it being so tasty is the fact that it is cooked on very slow flame for a long time with spices that really get into the flesh and give it a "to die for" taste. We Sindhis generally buy particular pieces of meat called (chops & mushk). In fact most meat shops, at least in Mumbai will give you these, if you ask for Sindhi Mutton.

Ingredients
1/2 kg mutton cleaned and washed
4 medium sized onions finely chopped
10 - 12 garlic flakes
1 inch piece ginger
2 green chillies
2 tsps coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
3 large tomatoes finely chopped
Coriander leaves finely chopped
6 - 8 cloves
4 - 5 tej patta
1 inch piece cinnamon
Salt to taste
4 tbsp cooking oil

Procedure
Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add ginger-garlic paste, lower flame and add chopped onions. On low flame brown the onions to a rich golden brown colour. Add the washed mutton pieces and saute on low flame for a few minutes. Add all the dry spices and continue to saute (bhuno) on low flame for atleast 10 minutes. Now add chopped tomatoes and once again saute (bhuno) till the tomatoes are well blended and has a rich brown colour. Add salt to taste and three cups of hot water and pressure cook for 10 minutes on low flame after the first whistle. The mutton should have thick gravy.

Serve hot with onion rings, hot rotis or rice.

Walnut Roll

Yesterday for Holi I tried a new and interesting sweet recipe, instead of the conventional galebis and ghevar. Its quick and easy to make yummy to taste and nutritious.
Ingredients:
• 1 tin Milkmaid’s condensed milk
• 42 Marie biscuits powdered
• 150 gms of shelled wall-nuts cut very fine.

Procedure:
Pour out condensed milk on a large thali / tray add powdered biscuits and chopped walnuts and knead together and shape into a roll. Keep in the refrigerator for an hour or two. When it hardens, cut into slices and serve with tea.

Crispy Rice Bhajias

Weekend is a time to chill and enjoy leisurely and big meals. All of us tend to cook more dishes and more quantities on weekends, resulting in having a lot of left-overs, rice being one of the most left over dish. The next time you have left-over rice, you could look at making a very crispy and tasty snack out of left-over rice.

Ingredients
1 cup / bowl left-over rice
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup of gram flour or besan
1 inch piece of ginger finely chopped or crushed
2 green peas finely chopped or crushed
¼ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 pinch soda bi-carb
Few Coriander leave finely chopped
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

Procedure
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Slowly add water and blend to a smooth and thick batter (consistency of Mayonnaise). Heat oil a thick kadai. Put one spoon of batter at a time in the hot oil. Turn around and fry till golden brown. Remove on tissue and serve hot garnished with onion rings and green chutney and ketchup.