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.