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Monday, October 18, 2010

HUMMUS

Serves 4 portions. Great with Pita bread or as sandwich spread or with salad.
Chick peas- 1 Can ,drained and washed
Lemon juice-few tbsps (to your taste)
6 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh parsley-washed and minced(optional)

3-4 garlic cloves -chopped(optional)

salt to taste


In a food processor, puree the chick peas,and rest of the ingredients.
Add little bit of water if necessary. Add salt to taste.

Transfer on a plate . Drizzle with some olive oil. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper, black pepper and cumin if you like.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Chinese Aubergines(Eggplant/Brinjal)

This recipe has always turned out mouth wateringly delicious. Of course, one must enjoy aubergines in the first place!

Can be served with plain steamed rice or ginger fried rice or stir fried noodles.

Ingredients:

1 large Aubergine ( or 200 Gms. chinese eggplants) cut into cubes.
2 inch piece of ginger (minced)
8-10 cloves of garlic (minced)

Sauce:

1/2 cup Soya Sauce ( equal parts of dark and light soya sauce)

2 tablespoons coconut vinegar (or any white vinegar)

2 tablespoons rice wine (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

Combine in a small pan ,bring to a boil and simmer for one minute.

Method:

Heat oil in a wok.

Stir fry onions,capsicum and aubergines one by one.Remove and keep aside on a plate.

Fry garlic and then ginger.

Add finely chopped green or red chillies if you desire.

Mix corn flour and water in a small bowl and pour into the wok. Simmer . Add the vegetables whilst stirring simultaneously
till it thickens.

Add the sauce and mix well.


If the sauce becomes too thick, add stir in some water.

Chick pea,Tomato,Cucumber chaat

Chick peas for protein,Tomatoes and cucumber for the goodness of veggies,yogurt for the protein and calcium.

A very satisfying meal in a jiffy.

Serves 1/2/3 depending on how hungry you are!

Ingredients:

A can of chick peas (drained,rinsed)
Tomatoes (1 or 2 washed and cut into cubes)
Cucumber (An 8 inch piece or more if you like -washed,cut into cubes)

Optional-
Onion (1 - peeled and chopped fine)
Boiled potato (1- peeled ,cut into cubes)

Chopped green coriander

1 or 2 Finely chopped green chilli

Yogurt (to your liking)

1-2 tea spoons of a good authentic Chaat Masaala.

Salt to taste


Take a large bowl.
Mix all the ingredients together.

Sit in front of the TV and indulge!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Away from Mom's kitchen!

I am working on designing my blog especially for young students at University with the least possible time to prepare a meal and a flimsy budget.

Living away from home does give our young adults the much desired freedom ,but they lose the luxury of a warm kitchen and an overstuffed refrigerator!

I believe today's students are our future. If their bodies and minds are well nourished, they will definitely achieve better academically and contribute to a brighter future.




I regularly buy fresh vegetables. If left in the fridge for few days, the leaves wilt or the freshness of the vegetable diminishes.

To maintain a healthy diet,its very important to incorporate vegetables in your meals.

Normally,we tend to shop in the supermarkets where even fresh vegetables are sold pre-packaged. So, even though I cook for two people, I end up buying more than I need for one meal.

I will try to make a list of veggies and other ingredients which freeze very well so instead of using some and trashing the rest, you can freeze them and use at a later time when needed. This way you don't have to run to the supermarket often for perishable items.

Ingredient How to freeze it

Green Chillies 
 Wash. Trim the stem off. Slit in half/cut into pieces/chop finely/mince in an electric machine
Freeze in a plastic freezer bag/any freezer safe container/aluminium foil


Coriander 
Select the leaves along with the tender bits of the greens.
Wash in a colander under running cold water.
Chop finely (or coarsely if you are in a rush)
Freezes best in an airtight plastic container.
Or in a freezer bag.


Celery
Use the leaves first in soups or pasta sauces.
Stalks are great to munch as snacks or with dips .

Separate the leaves,tender stalks and stalks.
Wash,chop and freeze separately.
Just one bunch of celery can be incorporated into several meals without having to buy again for weeks.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

CORN MAKHANWALA

It was one of those evenings when my husband brought a guest along for dinner . I had to make an additional vegetable in a jiffy and it had to be 'Jain' i.e;without any root vegetables. That's how I made this for the first time and it turned out del-i-cious! Soon, it became a hit amongst the children and their friends.

Its a very easy recipe with most ingredients as 'optional'! Don't hesitate to try...it will be yummy anyways!
In my recipes, optional means if you have it ,use it, if you don't, the recipe can do without it.


INGREDIENTS:

1 can of corn / if you prefer frozen, its fine too

1/2 to 1 packet tomato puree (standard 1 packet is 500 gms.)

2 tbsp vegetable/olive oil

1 tsp cumin/jeera seeds

few fresh/frozen or dry curry leaves(limda) (optional)

1 green chilli, washed,slit lengthwise (optional)

a pinch of asafoetida (hing) powder (optional)

1/4 tsp turmeric powder


1/4 tsp red chilli powder ( less or more according to how spicy you like)


green coriander washed and chopped finely.(optional)

salt to taste

2 tablespoon cream or soya cream ( soya cream tastes the same as cream, is cholesterol free /saturated fat free)


METHOD:

1. Open the can. Rinse the corn in a colander.

2. In a pan, add the oil. on low heat, let it warm up. Add the cumin.Let it crackle or change colour.

3. Add green chilli and curry leaves

4. Add asafoetida and turmeric.

5. Add the corn and stir well

6. Add the chilly powder and coriander+cumin (dhana-jeeru) powder. mix well.

7. Add the tomato puree ( 1/2 to 1 pack depending upon how much gravy you would like)

8. Add salt and coriander leaves. Stir well.

9. Add cream and mix very well.

10. You can eat this with any indian bread , pita bread or rice.
Regular sliced bread is fine too.


VARIATIONS:



If desired , you can add some frozen peas
and/or
frozen spinach
and/or
capsicum (cut into cubes) after step 4

Friday, February 5, 2010

Capsicum and Potato Fry

Ingredients:

3 capsicum ( any colour)
2 medium potatoes
1 tablespoon fresh(or bottled) lemon/lime juice
Few curry leaves(Limda) -Fresh or dried(Optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Red chilli powder (Optional)
1 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste
2 to 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
Chopped coriander (2 tbsps if you like)


Method:

Note: I prefer to use a non stick pan for this recipe.

Wash the vegetables.
Cut them in long strips.(You can leave the potato skin on if you like)
Heat oil on medium heat.
Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
Add vegetables ,turmeric and salt.
Cover and let it simmer till the vegetables are tender.(You can poke with a knife to check)
Add chilli powder.
Stir a few times.
Add the lemon juice.Stir again.
Sprinkle coriander. Mix well.

Serve with Chapati or Paratha
or
with Rice+Dal or Rice+Kadhi
or
you can even make toast sandwich.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

GUACAMOLE (Avocado Dip)


Guacamole is delicious with corn chips. Avocado is a very rich source of iron,so a must in the diet of all my student friends!

Instead of chips, you can enjoy it with Melba Toasts or any other form of readily available toasted bread.
Its a great accompaniment to Mexican Rice ,Tacos,Mexican Pizza or Burittos.

Ingredients:


1 Ripe Avocado ( You can tell an Avocado is ripe when you press the fruit and it feels a bit soft.If its hard, you can wrap it in
paper to speed up the ripening process)

1 medium onion( finely chopped)

1 medium tomato (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp finely grated ginger (Optional)

1 green chilly very finely chopped or Tabasco ( Optional)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh coriander leaves ( Optional)

Salt to taste

A teaspoon of lemon juice



Method

1. Peel the Avocado. Discard the pit.

2. Mash the flesh with a fork as finely as you can. Alternatively, puree in a small food processor.

3. Add the lemon juice and mix very well. (This will stop it from turning dark in colour)

4. Add the chopped onion, tomatoes, ginger,chilly,coriander and salt.
Mix very well.


TIP: If you like garlic, you can add some freshly crushed/grated garlic too.

Plain White Rice

I have come across quite a few people who dread to cook rice .The reason being that they are either afraid they will overcook it or undercook it!
I have here the easiest method to cook white rice ( basmati,long grain, thai or any other variety of polished i.e; white rice )


Ingredients
1. Rice 1 cup
2. water 2 cups
3. A pinch of salt

Method
1. Wash rice thoroughly.
Drain.

2. In a thick bottomed pan (or preferably a non-stick pan) , add 2 cups of water and the rice with a pinch of salt.


3. On a high heat,bring to a boil.


4. When the water starts to boil,cover the pan with a lid,reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or until all
the water gets absorbed. ( Of course you can open the lid and check!)


5. Turn the heat off and let the pan sit covered for further 10 minutes before serving.


The thumb rule is 1 cup rice: 2 cups water


Quick n easy recipes especially for University students

I enjoy home cooked food.

It doesn't have to look pretty on a plate but must be finger licking tasty indeed!

Students at Uni don't have so much time to shop,cook and clean up. So, its crucial that they get the hang of cooking good , healthy food with minimum ingredients and the least of washing up. I myself do not like lengthy cooking procedures.

My concern is that since students are generally on a limited budget,their tendency is to order cheap takeaways or to eat out at budget friendly restaurants. Little do they realize that in the half hour that the pizza delivery boy arrives, one can easily prepare a healthy,inexpensive,tasty meal.
The downside of eating takeaways or eating out is we tend to be unaware how many excess calories in the form of fat and sugars we consume and of course all the refined carbohydrate and sugars will make one feel really lazy while we need all the alertness for the assignments and deadlines.

I hope my blog will help inspire all my young friends to cook a satisfying plate of food !

Any comments welcome.