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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.