Tasty and Cooling Raita !!

Summer will soon be upon us and time to look for cool and light dishes that are easy on the stomach and ready in minutes. Dahi or yogurt is highly recommended in different forms : plain, lassi, a variety of raitas, dahi wada, dahi papdi chaat etc. A nutritious and tasty raita that is not very common is the cabbage and carrot raita!

Ingredients

1/2 cup of grated cabbage

1/2 cup grated carrot

2 cups yogurt

Salt and red chilli powder to taste

1 tblspn Oil

1/4 tspn mustard seeds

few curry leaves

Method

Blend the yogurt in a bowl. Add grated vegetables, salt and chilli powder. Mix well.

Heat oil in a small kadhai. When hot add mustard seeds and curry leaves and allow to splutter. Mix hot oil with the dahi and serve chilled.

Dal Khichdi - Mouthwatering and Healthy !!

Ingredients:

1 cup Rice (preferably Basmati)
1/4 cup yellow moong dal or mixture of moong and tur daal
1 cup very finely chopped vegetables (carrot, beans, cauliflower, green peas, potato, dudhi etc)
(You can take any vegetables of your choice)
1 onion finely chopped
1/2 inch piece ginger finely chopped
1-2 green chillies finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
few coriander leaves finely chopped
3-4 table spoons of pure ghee/oil
1/2 tspn jeera seeds
1 tspn coriander powder
1/4 tspn turmeric
Salt to taste

Method

Soak rice and dal in a bowl of water for 20-30 mins. Heat ghee/oil in a pressure cooker. when hot, add jeera seeds and let them crackle. Add ginger, green chilli, onion and saute for a couple of minutes on low flame. When translucent add chopped vegetables. Mix well and add dhania and turmeric and chopped tomato and stir for a couple of minutes. Drain out water from rice and dal and add to the vegetables. Add Salt and 3 to 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 10 minutes after first whistle. Turn off flame. Open cooker when cool and blend with a hand blender to a thick puree like consistency. Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves and accompanied with bowl of dahi/yogurt, roasted papad and pickle.

Moong Dal and Cabbage salad

Most of us like to have a salad with our meals , but most often end up serving a fresh vegetable salad with the regular vegetables like carrot, cucumber, onion , beetroot, tomato etc The fresh green salad is  easy to make , but gets monotonous and we look for refreshing ideas for a change,

I recently had a Moong dal salad which was tasty and very healthy. Here's how you can make it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup moong dal  soaked in a bowl of water for 1 to 2 hours

1/2 cup finely grated cabbage

2 tbsps grated coconut

1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled & finely chopped

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp oil

 1 to 2 tsps lemon juice, and a few finely chopped coriander leaves ( optional) 

Procedure:

Drain out the water from the Moong dal and put in a bowl. Add cabbage, coconut, ginger and mix well. In a fodni kadai , heat oil . When hot, add mustard seeds  and allow to splutter. Turn off flame and pour oil with mustard seeds  on the dal mixture. Stir well and add lemon juice  if you would like to. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Baked Bean Mexican Starter

Had an absolutely yummy and great looking starter a friend's place over the weekend and just have to share it with all because it is ohh so simple to make, healthy and a great appetizer. 

Looks best when served in a small transparent goblet accompanied with a small spoon. Can also be served in a taco shell or pani puri.

Ingredients 
Baked Beans
Finely chopped bell peppers
Finely chopped ice berg lettuce
Grated cheese
Few nachos/tacos

Method
At the base of the goblet or puri, put a layer of baked beans, over it a layer of chopped bell peppers and over that a layer of chopped lettuce.
Next liberally add grated cheese and top it up with finely crushed tacos/nachos to give it that fresh and crunchy texture.
You can also mix up all the ingredients and serve it as a bruschetta topping.