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.

Eggless Blueberry Muffin( 0 cholesterol)

Dedicated to all the muffin lovers out there!Especially my husband Nilesh. Its his favourite!
I have tried this recipe with oatmeal+oatbran+bran+linseed (flax seed) powder. Its easy to replace the 2 cups of white flour with 1 1/2cup oatmeal and 1/3 cup of bran+1/4 cup of flaxseed powder.
Oatbran can be replaced with wheatbran.
No kidding,it always turns out delicious!


Blueberry Muffin (Eggless)
(12 muffins)
A very simple recipe. Healthy too!
Try! even if you have never ever baked in your life!

Ingredients:
All purpose flour(Maida) 2 cups
Baking powder 1 - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp.
Sugar 1 cup
Milk 1 cup
Oil (sunflower/corn) 1/3 cup
Vinegar 1 Tbsp.
Fresh Blueberries 1 1/2 cups (washed and drained)

1. Preheat oven to 400 F /200 C
Line a muffin tray with liners or simply grease them.
2. Mix flour,salt,baking powder very well.
3. In another bowl,mix sugar,milk, oil and vinegar very well.(A hand whisk does a great job)
4. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well.
5. Add blueberries and gently mix them in the batter.
6. Fill muffin pan 3/4 th and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
7. Let sit for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

Variations:
Instead of 1 cup sugar, you can try sugar+brown sugar + honey

Instead of 2 cups white flour, you can use 1 cup white flour+1 cup whole wheat flour or 1/2 cup whole flour and 1/2 cup oatmeal flour.

You can add some chopped walnuts/pecan nuts/ flax seed / wheat germ/wheat or oat bran too.

Enchiladas-made easy for students with little time to cook!

Enchiladas

( Can be microwaved in a covered dish for a minute on 900W for a super quick meal)

Ingredients:

flour or corn tortillas

2 tbsp veg/olive oil

tomato puree 500-750ml ( depending on how much hot sauce u want to make)
oregano, salt, pillipilli, basil(optional)

corn (can -washed and drained....or frozen)
onion - finely chopped
tomato-finely chopped
green capsicum- chopped small
red capsicum- chopped small
baked beans/kidney beans

grated cheese for topping

Method:
add the oil in a deep pan (on a low heat) sprinkle oregano, pili pili
and basil. stir quickly and add tomato puree. stir and let it come to
a boil and simmer for few minutes. add salt to taste.
leave aside.

in an ovenproof dish, spread a ladle of sauce at the bottom .
hold the tortilla in your palm or put on a plate . stuff with the
chopped onion, tomatoes,capsicum, corn and baked beans. pour a
tablespoon of the sauce over it, roll it up.
similarly ,arrange required number of tortillas in the dish.
liberally pour the sauce over them, sprinkle little bit of cheese and
bake at medium hot oven (180 degrees) for 10-15 minutes ...(keep
an eye on it....the cheese melts beautifully is a good sign that its
heated through!) BUT.BE ULTRA CAREFUL THAT YOU ARE NOT CLOSE TO THE
OVEN WITH YOUR CONTACT LENSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if u dont have all the ingredients, u can make with onion, tomatoes
and baked beans/kidney beans(rajma)too.

believe me, it will be yummy!
tip. if the sauce is sour, add little bit of cream to take the edge off.

Eggless brownie-Vegan

Dare to try!
Turns out excellent and its very easy to make! Its literally minimum effort and maximum result!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 sachets vanilla sugar/ 2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vinegar

Preheat oven to 180 C
Use small brownie size pan.

METHOD

Mix all dry ingredients right in pan.
Mix all wet ingredients in a separate bowl. EXCEPT VINEGAR
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until all dry ingredients are mixed.
Add vinegar in and quickly stir in .
IMMEDIATELY put in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes
Cool and serve.

optional: if u add vinegar , u can add some frozen cherries,
raspberries or cranberries on top of the batter or u can mix them in
by hand.


Have fun baking!

Tom Yum soup-simplified

TOM YUM SOUP
a very simple version

serves 2 big bowls

wash and finely chop any of these vegetables:

spring onions
cabbage
celery
french beans
carrots
broccoli
cauliflower
spinach
bean sprouts

some grated ginger ( as desired)

tofu-if u have -cut into small pieces

crush 1/2 or 1 soup cube in warm water with a fork and homogenise

light soya sauce


Method
warm 2 tsp oil in a pan
add all the veggies
stir fry on medium heat for a minute
Add 3-4 mugs of boiling water
add tom yum cube paste
add soya sauce to taste
add ginger

boil for a couple of minutes.

its perfect for winter!

Pizza

PIZZA

A Pizza is so easy to make at home, I can't comprehend why people ever think of ordering home delivery Pizzas!

500 gms all purpose flour
1 sachet (10gms) dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
4 tablespoon olive/vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano (optional)
warm water (from a kettle-not hot)/warm milk-results in lighter dough.
( 1 mug in the microwave-more if needed)

Put the flour in a large bowl.
Make a well in the middle. Add the yeast sugar and some warm water.
Mix a bit. Cover with some flour. Leave for a minute.
Mix . Add the oil and salt,(oregano) ,mix.
Add water/milk little by little and knead simultaneously until you
have a soft dough. Knead for a further couple of minutes. Cover with a
wet cloth and leave to rise for an hour or so.( doesn't matter if u
leave it longer)
Grease (oil) your palm and knead the dough till smooth.
Divide into desired size of portions and roll out with the aid of some
dry flour as thick or as thin you want.
Bake in the oven, 180 C , for a few minutes.
Take out.
Spread sauce (oil+oregano+pili-pili+tomato puree+salt-cook for few
minutes to release flavour. If in a hurry, just mix cold and use) ,
desired toppings, cheese and bake further with top and bottom heat on.
Preferably on a wire so that the bottom gets done too.

You can parbake bases and store in the fridge for 5 days,freezer...longer.

If you want, you can make bread sticks with the same dough. Its fun!