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

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.

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.

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.