Mint Coriander Chutney

This is one easy breezy chutney which comes as a saver when you don’t have a side-dish or even if you don’t have a gravy. You can just have curd rice with this chutney and the combination is awesome.

Mint-Coriander Chutney

Ingredients

I big bunch- Mint leaves
½ bunch coriander leaves
2 pods garlic
1 small ball of tamarind
½ cup grated coconut
1 onion chopped
2 green chilles
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
1tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves

Method

Clean and wash the mint and coriander well. Grind with the rest of the ingredients to a coarse paste. Take oil in a pan and season with mustard and curry leaves and add to chutney.

Mixed Vegetable Cutlet

I usually have a lot of problem in getting my son to eat vegetables. This is a sure way of getting him to have his share of veggies without a fuss. These cutlets are delicious and consume very little oil. You can make the non-veg version of this by substituting the vegetables with fish/chicken/mutton mince.

Ingredients

I cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped beans
2 large potatoes
1 cup green peas
1 cup chopped cabbage
1 chopped onion
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric pwd
1 tbsp red chilli pwd
1 tbsp garam masala pwd
Chopped coriander leaves
200 gms bread crumbs
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method

Boil all the chopped vegetables in the pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Take oil in a pan. Add the chopped onion. Fry for 2 minutes. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry well. Add all the chopped vegetables with the chilli, turmeric and garam masala pwd salt to taste and sauté for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander. When slightly warm add the bread crumbs to this mixture. Make flat cutlets and shallow fry with little oil on both sides. Serve with ketchup or mint chutney.

Green Gram Salad

We all love green gram and since its healthy and gets cooked really fast, I usually make a variety of dishes with us. From the regular stir fry and gravy it can be made into a salad, murukku, sweet and payasam. The recipe that is mentioned here is of a salad. This can be had either as breakfast/dinner or an evening snack.
It is very healthy and filling. The salad will be more nutritious if made with sprouted green gram.

Ingredients

Cooked green gram – 1 cup
1 onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 small cucumber chopped
1 carrot grated
2 dried red chilles
Coriander leaves to garnish
2 tbsp curd
1 tsp oil

Method

Cook the green gram using pressure cooker for 2 whistles. In a pan add oil and fry ½ the chopped onion. Add 2 red chilles and the green gram with salt and mix well for 5 minutes. In a bowl take the green gram mixture and add the remaining chopped onion, tomato, and cucumber, carrot, coriander leaves, salt to taste and mix well. Finally garnish with curd and serve.

This salad tastes best when eaten cold.

Macaroni & Cheese Delight

This was my first attempt at macaroni and the dish was good considering my son enjoyed it... He immediately disapproves of a dish at the first bite if he doesn’t like it and I label him as a fussy eater if he dosent eat or appreciate any dish I make.

Since this dish is mildly spiced and has cheese, it will be a sure hit with kids. If its too mild to suit your taste, you can spike it up a bit and add a tbsp of garam masala pwd, tomato puree, capsicum and garnish it with paneer.




Ingredients

200 gms Macaroni
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp chilli sauce
1 finely chopped onion
1 tsp ginger garlic paste- (Optional)
1 tbsp pepper pwd
1 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves to garnish
Grated cheese for garnish

Method

Boil water and add Macaroni, salt and a tsp of oil and cook for 5 minutes. After macaroni is cooked remove from flame, run cold water, strain and keep aside.

In a pan take a tbsp of oil and add the chopped onion. Fry for a minute then add ginger garlic paste, tomato sauce, chilli sauce, pepper pwd and fry well. Add salt and macaroni and cook for 5 mnts till the macaroni blends with the sauce mixture. Garnish with coriander leaves and grated cheese and serve.

Green & Leafy Vegetables

The easiest way to wash leafy green vegetables is to put them in a sink or large container of cold water. Remove stems by twisting or cutting the leaves just above stem line and immerse them in water. Spinach should be washed as soon as you buy it and thoroughly rinsed.

When cleaning green vegetables, add a handful of salt to the second water. The sand from the vegetables will sink to the bottom of the pan so another rinsing will make vegetables thoroughly clean.

To keep green leafy vegetables fresh for a week discard the stalk and store only the leafy portions in a steel container in the fridge. Ensure that the leaves are completely dry.

Always keep mint and corriander leaves seperately whether in the refrigerator or not, they keep longer this way than when stored together

Spicy Liver Potato Masala

This dish goes well with Chapattis or as an accompaniment with rice and dal. Since liver takes very less time to cook this gets ready in 15-20 mints.

Ingredients
250 gms- Mutton liver
1 onion chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
1 potato chopped
1 pod Garlic
1 inch piece- Ginger
2-3 Green chilles
1 tsp Cumin pwd
1 tsp Turmeric pwd
1 tsp red chilli pwd
Coriander leaves to garnish
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method
Take oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and fry well. Make a paste of ginger, garlic and green chilles. Add the paste, cumin pwd, turmeric pwd and chilli pwd and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are mashed well. Add potatoes and liver and cook for 8-10 minutes till potatoes are nicely cooked. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

Do not cook the liver too much else the liver tends to get hard.

Red Chicken Kababs

My son loves these kababs and always asks for them when we buy chicken. He somehow is fascinated by red and always asks for Red Biryani, Red Kabab…… I made these specially for him and he enjoyed every bit of it.

Ingredients
750 gms boneless Chicken

For Marinade
2 tbsp – Ginger Garlic paste
2 tbsp – Red Chilli pwd
1 tbsp – Garam Masala Pwd
1 cup Corn flour
2 Eggs
Pinch- Red food color
Oil- To Deep fry

Method
Cut the chicken into small cubes. Mix all the ingredients for marination and soak the chicken in this mix for 2 hours. Preferably keep it in the refrigerator. Deep fry in oil. Serve garnished with onions.

Honey & Cinnamon

I got this on the e-mail a while ago from a colleague and found it really useful. This was published in a famous magazine named Weekly World News in Canada in 95.What a little honey and cinnamon can do.

It is found that mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most of the diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a very effective medicine for all kinds of diseases. Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients also.

HAIR LOSS – Those suffering from hair loss or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil one tablespoon of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for approx 15 min and then wash the hair. It was found very effective if kept for 5 mnts also

BLADDER INFECTIONS – Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs of the bladder.

TOOTHACHE – Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be done 3 times a day daily till such time that the tooth has stopped aching.

CHOLESTEROL – Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, if given to a cholesterol patient, it reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within 2 hours.

COLDS – Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cold, cough and clear the sinuses.

UPSET STOMACH- Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and clears stomach ulcers from the root.

INDIGESTION – Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

PIMPLES – Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

Quick & Easy POHA

We were all hungry this evening and I wanted to make a quick snack but fried items were a big No considering all the fat already added on to my waist and back. I’ve considered numerous forms of diet and exercise to reduce the inches but to no avail. To keep myself happy I just think of the adage

“Eat Healthy, Stay Fit, Die Anyway”. So I keep eating and staying FAT.

This evening we had Poha. Poha is a Maharashtrian dish which I got introduced to 10 years ago from a tenant of ours who was a Maharashtrian. She used to make this frequently and always gave me a bowl which I enjoyed. I remember asking her the recipe then but never gave it a try until recently. She’s also given me a few other recipes like sabudana kichidi and bread roll which I will post soon. Coming to the poha I’ve added a few ingredients of my own and tweaked it a bit. It tastes good and is quite filling as a snack or breakfast.

Give it a try and I’m sure you’ll like it.

Ingredients
2 cups- Paper rice flakes ( or avalakki in kannada)
1 onion – finely chopped
1 tomato- finely chopped
2 green chilles- chopped
½ tsp turmeric pwd
1 carrot- grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp sugar
Bunch of coriander leaves for garnish
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
Oil for seasoning

Method

Take the rice flakes in a bowl and sprinkle water on it to make it slightly wet. Be careful add very little water else the poha will become soggy. Add the grated carrot, green chilles and tomato to the poha along with salt and sugar. Take a tsp of oil in a kadai and season it with cumin seeds. Add onion and fry slightly. Add turmeric pwd and transfer this onion mixture to the poha. Garnish with coriander leaves and lemon juice. Mix nicely using hand if possible so the ingredients blend well. You can add fried groundnuts and grated coconut for extra taste. Poha is ready.

Methods of Cooking

I know most of you are aware of the different methods of cooking but just for info let me highlight some of the common forms of cooking.

Boiling - This is the oldest form of cooking and is cooking the meat/vegetable in water or stock. To make a good flavoured stock start with cold water and then boil and simmer till the flavours from the meat/vegetable have blended well and your stock is ready.

Only sufficient water should cover the article cooked. Over cooking should be avoided as it will lead to loss of protein.

Steaming - This is cooking in moist by placing the article in a container or on a covered plate over a pan of water or in a steamer with little pressure.
While steaming puddings the dish must be covered with a foil to prevent water from getting in the pudding.

Stewing - In stewing the food is always cut up and served along with the liquid. In this process the food is simmered gently in little water or stock. In this slow process of cooking the protein is retained and the food becomes easily digestible.

Frying - There are 2 types of frying – Shallow and deep frying. Shallow frying in frying in a saucepan using very little oil. Deep frying is cooking in deep oil. It is important that the oil selected should be raised to high temperature to avoid burning. The normal frying temperature is between 175 degrees and 195 degree C.

Microwave Cooking - The advantage of microwave cooking is its speed and in this form food is cooked using high frequency power. Food cooked should be placed in a glass, or proper plastic microwave container before being put in the oven. Metal containers should not be used.

These are the common forms but there are also other methods like Roasting/Pot Roasting, Braising, Baking, Grilling, Poaching etc. Any queries on these please let me know and will explain the same to you.

Crab Curry

I want to start my first post with my favourite crab curry. All my life crab was an alien creature to me something found on the beach and was not a pretty sight. I first tasted this dish when a colleague of mine offered it to me at work and liked the taste but never mustered enough courage to cook it myself since I thought cleaning crabs are a tedious process.

While buying fish on a cold morning from my friendly fisherman, he had crabs and mentioned they were perfect for the cold weather. He said he would clean them for me and I could make it like my regular fish curry and also suggested what masala I could use. I was reluctant but the taste of my colleagues crab lingered on and I thought I could just give this a try. I’ve never looked back since then and this dish has been a regular at our home though I must sadly admit that my husband and son don’t fancy crab and curl up their noses every time I cook this dish. Well!!! They don’t know what they’re missing.

Now for the recipe

Ingredients
6 crabs
4 tomatoes
1 onion
2 tbsp freshly ground ginger garlic paste
Coconut – ½ scraped- To make paste
2 tsp chilli pwd
2 tsp coriander pwd
½ tsp turmeric pwd
1 tsp garam masala (1 stick cinnamon, 3 cloves, a little fennel seeds powdered)
3 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method

Take 3 tbsp of oil in a pan and add sliced onions. When brown add ginger garlic paste, curry leaves and fry till the raw smell disappears. Add finely chopped tomatoes and fry well. To this mixture add chilli pwd, coriander pwd, turmeric powder, garam masala. Fry well till the oil separates. Make a fine paste of the coconut and add to this masala. Add a little water and make it of gravy consistency. When it begins to boil add the cleaned and cut crabs. Add salt to taste .Close the lid and cook for 15 mnts. Garnish with coriander leaves. Crab curry is ready. The consistency of the gravy should be thick and it should ideally be served after 2-3 hours when the crabs have absorbed the gravy.