Sarson Ka Saag

1)  Boil together in a pressure cooker

    1.5kg    Sarson ka saag

     0.5kg   Palak

     150g    Methi leaves

                some coriander leaves along with their stalks

                (everything should bo washed thoroughly in running water and chopped 

                 roughly)

                 Salt to taste

        2       Onions (chopped roughly)

      2/3      Green chillies

      1 inch  Ginger
      

                  1 Ladleful each of rice, chana dal, and moong dal(chilka)

2)    Pressure cook for about 3 to 4 whistles.Let it cool and then blend it in a blender.

       Do not churn it too much so as to make it pasty.

3)    For the tadka

       Take 2 to 3 tablespoonful of oil/ghee in a kadai. 

        When hot add 1 tsf   of jeera

                              a pinch of hing

        Add 2 onions (finely chopped)

               2 green chillies

               1 tsf garlic paste

               1 tsf ginger paste

        Bhunno till light brown

        Now add 2/3 big tomatoes (finely chopped)

        Add the masalas

             1 tsf haldi

             1 tsf red chilli powder

             2 tsf coriander powder

             1 tsf garam masala powder

        Bhunno till the oil leaves the sides.

 4)   Now add the saag and cook it for a while. Cook it on low heat once it boils.

       Precaution:: Always cook the saag covered else it will splatter all over

 5)   Optional :  

       You can give a final tadka with desi ghee , hing, jeera and red chilli powder

       Or  you can have with white butter

Dindigul biryani recipe

Dindigul biryani recipe

Ingredients
Jeera Samba rice: 1 kg (for 10) I Mutton: 1.5 kg
Onion: 400 gm
Tomato: 400 gm
Mint leaves: 1 bunch
Coriander leaves: 1 bunch
Ginger-garlic paste: 6 tsp (approx 30 gm)
Cinnamon: 4
Cloves: 4
Star anise: 4 pieces
Marati moggu (type of caper): 4
Jathipathri: 4
Curd: 250 ml
Oil: 200 ml
Ghee: 50 ml
Chilli powder: 5 tsp
Coriander powder: 7 sp
Pepper powder: 4 tsp

Method
Cut the mutton into small pieces and soak it in curd for 20 minutes. Wash the rice and soak it in water for half an hour. Keep the biryani vessel in the stove and add oil, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, marati moggu, jathipathri, mint leaves (50%) and coriander leaves (50 %). Then add sliced onions. Saute well until it turns transparent. Add ginger-garlic paste, followed by sliced tomatoes. Mix well until it merges together. Add the mutton pieces along with the curd, coriander powder, chilli powder and then add a glass of water. Add the required amount of salt at this stage and cook the mutton. Once it is cooked, add the pepper powder, soaked jeera rice, the remaining mint and coriander leaves. When it starts bubbling, put the lid on the fire and add the weight (in dum style). Leave it for about 20 mins and then add ghee.Serve it with raita or brinjal curry.

Philips Airfryer recipes

Philips Airfryer recipes

 

http://www.pinterest.com/philipshome/philips-airfryer-recipes/

French Carrot Soup

Easy to make and healthy carrot soup.

Ingredients:

• Carrots- 5-6 Orange ones
• Rosemary- 2-3 big sprigs
• Silken tofu 1 cup
• Garlic- 1 big pod
• Ginger- small piece
• Salt to taste

Method:
Wash and cut the carrots into big chunks. I don't always peel them. Steam them in a pressure cooker with little water, Rosemary, salt, ginger and garlic. 2-3 whistles.

Let it cool down. Remove the Rosemary sprigs and grind everything in a mixer with silken tofu. You'll get a silky smooth consistency. Empty the soup into a container in which you can heat it as and when you'd like to have some.

Garnish with a little extra virgin olive oil before eating.

Enjoy!!

Ragi Banana Chocolate Walnut Cake

I came across this recipe posted by a runner in one of the running magazines in India. Made it for the first time on Christmas Eve and it turned out to be much better than expected.

The cake uses all healthy ingredients  and can be made in vegetarian / vegan way.

Ingredients A:

• 1 cup ragi flour
• 1 cup wheat flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 2 level tea spoons baking powder

Mix the above and sieve all together.

Ingredients B:

• 1-1/4 cup jaggery powder (I used "bhoora" powder)
• 1 cup oil / melted butter
• 1 cup milk / smooth beaten curd / soy milk
• 3 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed (leftover over-ripe will also do just fine)
• 1 level tea spoon vanilla essence (optional, as the chocolate and bananas already lend plenty of flavour)
• 1 cup walnut (lightly crushed)

Mix the above with a wooden spoon stirring in one direction only. You can use a cake blender, if you use one. It should be well blended with no big lumps. The small lumps of jaggery (about the size of a wheat grain) are hard to avoid. But that’s fine. They will dissolve slowly or melt when baking and meld with the cake.

Fold ingredients A into ingredients B. By fold, we mean add the flour a spoonful at a time and gently incorporate it into the wet mixture using the side of your spoon while continuing to stir in one direction only. You will be maneuvering the spoon with your wrist.

When all the flour is incorporated, pour it into a baking mould of around 10 inches in diameter, lined with aluminium foil or butter paper at the base. (This is my no-fail way of ensuring cakes willingly slide out of their pans when done. You don’t need to oil the pan.)

Bake for about 40-45 minutes at 180 C. You know its done when a cake tester (or small knife) inserted into the cake comes out clean. If the tester still has liquid dough on it, let it bake for another 5-10 mins. Due to the mashed bananas, the cake will tend to have a moist texture, so the tester might not come out fully dry like traditional cakes, which is okay.
If using a microwave convection oven, you may need to grill it for about a minute to get the top of the cake fully cooked.

You can eat it hot or cold, separately or with vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!

Raita Booster

I have been using the Christmas break to try out some new recipes. Also, it's a good time to post some old ones.

Starting with this very simple, easy to make and nutritious Raita recipe.

Ingredients:

• Sprouts (1 cup)
• Finely chopped cucumber (1 cup)
• Pomegranate seeds (1/2 cup)
• Roasted peanuts (1/2 cup)
• 1 green chilli
• Curd (2 cups)
• Rock Salt (kala namak) as per taste

Process:

• Remove the skin of the peanut and break into halves.
• Mix everything together.

Try not to mix too much of the usual Raita spices, since this tastes fresh and best with just green chillies and some rock salt.

Enjoy the fresh flavors !!

LEHSUN DAHI BREAD PAKORAS

Ingredients

 For batter 

·         Rice -1cup

·         chana dal -1/3 cup

·         garam masala pd

·         chilly pd

·         salt -to taste

·         coriander leaves

 For filling

·         onion -2

·         tomatoes-4

·         ginger- 1" piece

·         garlic- 10 to 12 cloves

·         green chillies- 2

·         jeera-1tsp

·         salt to taste

·         coriander leaves

·         oil 2tb sp

 BREAD - 6 slices

Curd -3/4 cup

Oil for frying

Method

·         Soak rice and chana dal overnight and grind to a fine batter with enough water to make it coating consistency. Mix all masalas and chopped coriander leaves.

·         Heat 2tb sp oil, add jeera, chopped onions and crushed ginger ,garlic & green chillies. Fry till brown, and add pureed tomatoes. Cook till oil separates. Add salt, filling is ready.

·         Beat the curd in a bowl and keep aside.

·         Remove the crust of the bread slices and cut each slice into four rectangles.

·         Heat oil in a kadhai for frying the pakoras.

·         Now take two small rectangular pieces of bread, spread a tbsp. of filling between them, slightly first dip in the curd and then the rice batter and deep fry until golden brown.

·         Repeat as long as the ingredients last.

·         Serve hot sprinkled with a little chat masala and green chutney.

Variation : Add boiled potatoes or paneer to the filling.