Pudina/ Coriandar/ Curry leaves Rice

Here is an easy recipe that you can have once in a week.
Why would you want to make this ?
1. Health Benefits - Fresh Green Leaves have this distinct flavor and together with ginger it has many medicinal benefits
2. Extremely easy

Ingredients :

Grind with little water :
A bunch of Coriander or Pudina or Curry Leaves
2 Tbsp Grated Coconut
2 Green Chillies cut
1.5 Tbsp of Ginger



Mustard Seeds and little Oil to temper
Salt to taste and Lemon juice (Optional)
Cashews to garnish
Cooked White Rice


Method :

1. Splutter few mustard seeds and add ground paste and fry till raw smell goes.

2. Switch of the stove. Mix cooked rice to this paste with salt, lemon juice and roasted cashews.

You are done :-) You can have this with any raitha or chips or Plain yoghurt !! Without any side dish, it's equally tasty.

Tongue Tickling Pineapple Rasam

Sorry folks, I shall post a picture very soon, but here is the simple foolproof recipe.

Time Taken - 30 mins
Serves 3 ( Sometimes just 2, Tempting !!! )

1. Mix 2 cups water 3/4 chopped tomato, 3/4 cup of crushed pineapple, 2 tbsps of grated green chillies, 1 tbsp rasam powder, salt and hing and heat for 20 mins on medium- high flame

2. Add 3/4 cup cooked tuar daal ( Thuvaram paruppu) to this and heat further... Add more water if it's too thick. 10 more mins on medium flame

3. Now the real magic comes here. In 1 tbsp ghee, put some jeera and mustard and let it crackle and pour this over the boiling rasam.

The hotness of green chilli mixed with sweetness of pineapple makes it a sexy combination. Have it with rice and beetroot / kootu ( lentils and cooked veggies) or have it as a soup. Awesome !!!!!

1,2,3 Kesari

I learnt making kesari from my mother. Ok here goes the easy way to do it

1. One portion rava fried in ghee. For 1 cup rava, I use 1.5 tbsp of Ghee. You can adjust accordingly.

2. Once rava gets mild brown in color remove it from stove, cool it

3. Boil three portions of water in the same wok.

3. Add rava to boiling water. Once the rava absorbs water well, add two portions of sugar. Little less than two would also taste good.

4. Add a pinch of kesari powder and mix well.

Add cardamom powder and roasted cashews to garnish.

Serve hot :-)Now wasnt that easy? It s just an easy interpretation of what I was taught.For those of you who don't know what kesari is, it's a sweet dish served in south india. Without the kesari powder it s called halwa and served in north India.

Dal Fry

Here is a recipe for Dal Fry. I learned it from my aunt. I luvvvv it. I shall post the pictures soon.Some people make it with just one of the dals. Instead we can use as many dals as you want. That can be useful when you have limited supplies of each dal or find one pricey over other.Undoubtedly the following dish is a protein relish. Dals tend to create gas in body. So ginger in dhal fry can offset that problem.Once made, you can store this for 3-4 days in fridge and use, provided it remains ;-)

Ingredients

1:1:1 = Moong yellow : Tuvar : Chana D1 Onion big, cut into small pieces

1 big tomato cut

2 Green Chillies1 tbsp Garlic Ginger paste or grated

1/2 tsp Cardamom powder - Secret Ingredient :-)

2 tsp Garam Masala1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Red chilli powder

2 tspTurmeric powder more

2 tsp Cumin seeds

One inch Cinnamon Stick

Oil

Salt to taste

Method

1. Boil dals with little salt and turmeric powder.
2. Crackle Cumin seeds and cinnamon in a 1.5 tbsp of oil and little ghee. Ghee gives a good aroma, so one can even replace entire oil with ghee. Keep the gas at medium flame.
3. Add cardamom powder. You can break the seeds and add too.
4. Fry green chillies, ginger garlic paste for a minute. Ginger garlic paste due to it's moisture makes oil splutter, so try to use lid.
5. Add onions, fry well and when they are brown add tomatoes.
6. When the tomatoes mash well, add the masalas.
7. Fry well till it looks like one homogeneous paste and oil separates.
8. Mash the boiled dals either with masher or blend them in blender for just 2 seconds, not more. I prefer mashing with either hands or potato masher.
9. Add the dals to the paste in Step 7.
10. Increase the flame and heat the dals. This is where it gets a good taste.
11. Remove from stove in 15 mins.
12. Top with lil Kasoori Methi and chat masala if you want.

Serve with finely cut onions, Slit Green chillies and Lemon.

It goes well with Jeera rice, Plain Rice or Phulkas.

Easy Snack / Breakfast - Sandwich

If you have visited the US or if you stay here, chances are high you have eaten in Mc Donalds or Burger King or other fast food outlets.. Here is something you can prepare at home as an easy evening snack or even as a light dinner or Breakfast.


Ingredients :

Iceberg Lettuce Leaves - for a juicy taste
Red Onion - for a strong flavor
Cucumbers - for it's chillness
Ground Pepper - Gives hotness to the Sandwich
Tomato Ketchup - Sweetness - Optional
Cabbage, Carrot colesaw, Spinach - Optional...My basic recipe doesn't need this
Ranch - Italian Ranch suits best for me, with herbal flavors
Bread - Whole wheat is what I take. You can choose anything.


Method :

Just place one on another.


Yes it's that simple..Start with lettuce, then ranch, then onions, cucumbers, pepper and ketchup.
Place the second bread on the top...That's it..Really.

If you want to make it heavy, you can always use patties and buns. This is something one can make quickly. Stack more veggies for a healthy treat.

Visit this area for easy snack options :-)...