Yummm... Vegetable Soup!!!

Serves two (people on diet will love this one)

Ingredients

1&1/2 glass of water

2 tbsp chopped french beans

2 baby corns

2 tbsp chopped carrot

2 tbsp fresh green peas

3 tbsp boiled channa dal/moong dal (tastes good with any of the dals/pulses)

1 small tomato- blanched

1 small onion

1 tsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic- roughly chopped

1/2 tsp dry fenugreek leaves (kasturi methi) - dry roast

Pinch of black pepper powder

Pinch of white pepper powder

1 green chili- cut into two pieces vertically

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Pinch of oregano

Salt to taste

Method:

Take a pan and add water. Add all the veggies into it and boil it for 10 minutes on slow flame. 

Take another pan and add oil to it. Add cumin seeds and immediately once they start crackling, add garlic, chili and onion. Saute it for three to four minutes till the onions and garlic turn into translucent color. Remove the pan from the flame.

Roughly chop the tomato into 4-5 big pieces and put into the food processor. To this add onion garlic mixture and roasted fenugreek leaves. Add little water to this mixture and make it into a nice thick paste.

Add this paste to the boiled vegetables without draining the water.

As per taste add salt, black and white pepper. Add oregano and let the soup simmer for 4 minutes on slow flame. 

Finally add slightly mashed channa dal to it, let it boil 2 minutes and turn off the flame.

Soup is ready to serve.

Serving Suggestion: Can be served with soup sticks or even baked and herbed arabic bread.

Bhatia Curry

Bhatia Curry

Cooking time - 1 hour
Courtesy Mrs. Sharda Bhatia

Ingredients:

1 tsp Jeera/cumin seeds
1/2 tsp methi dana/corriander seeds
1/2 tsp Heing/asafoetida powder
4-6 Curry leaves
4 Red chilli whole
1-2 Green chilli (depending upon how spicy you like it)
1 tsp Haldi (turmeric powder)
Salt to taste
1 inch Ginger piece
1 &1/2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp Moong ki dal 
1 tbsp Chole/ chickpeas
4 tbsp besan/gram flour
Water as needed
1 small potato cut into big uneven pieces
Suran/Yam 2 inch piece
8-10 cluster beans whole (guar-phali)
2 Drumsticks cut into 4 inch long cylindricals
8-10 Lady's fingers/okra whole with one slit vertically
10-12 leaves fresh Corriander
3-4 Cocum/kokum ke phool
5 tbsp or 1/4 cup Tamarind pulp (depending on you how sour or khatta do you like)
2 tbsp grated jaggery  

Method:
Soak moong ki dal and chole in water for 2 hrs.
Mix water and besan into a medium consistency.
Take oil in a pan on a low flame, add methi dana, jeera, heing, red chili whole, curry leaves, grated ginger, add chole and moong and slightly saute.
Add gram flour mix,  haldi,  cocum, and change the flame to high. 
Add suran and let the curry boil, after it comes to its boiling point and bubles start coming up then add drumstick, guar and potato, let it boil for 20 minutes again.
Add tamarind pulp and jaggery, & again boil the curry.
After two minutes add okra and boil it again for 10 minutes.
Add curry leaves and corriander and let it boil for 5-10 minutes.
Curry is ready to eat!!! 
Best tastes with jeera rice or plain rice.

Winter special - Gurari

Ingredients ( makes 1 gurari) :

150 gms of wheat flour
50 gms of jaggery (finely grated)
Water for dough as needed
Few drops of water 
1 tbsp of Amul Ghee for shallow frying.

Method:

Mix wheat flour and water. Make a dough and keep it aside.
With the help of a rolling pin make 2 small equal sized rotis (indian bread made in round shapes).
Take 1 roti, place grated jaggery in the center of the roti in such a way that it almost covers the roti but leaving the sides of it (aprroximately leave 2 cm space from its ends).
Now sprinkle few drops of water on  the jaggery and the sides of the roti.  
Cover it with the 2nd roti. 
Close the ends of it by slightly pressing both the layers together.
Take a flat pan (tawa) and add 1/2 tbsp of ghee. Then put the gurari on the pan.
Once the gurari turns golden brown, add 1/2 tbsp of ghee on it and change the side.
Once it is golden brown from both the sides remove it from the pan and serve it hot.
You can also serve it with roasted papad.

Sauf (fennel seeds) ka Paratha

Ingredients for dough:

175 gms wheat flour
130 ml water (approx or as needed)
1 tsp of oil
Salt to taste 

Ingredients for stuffing:

2 tbsp of fennel seeds
2 tbsp of besan (gram flour)
2 tbsp of oil
1 tsp red chili powder
Salt to taste

Method:

Mix all the ingredients for dough and make it like a normal roti's (indian bread) dough. The dough will be sufficient for making two small parathas. Keep it seperately.
Mix all the ingredients for stuffing and keep it seperately.
Make small round balls of the dough. Then flatten the balls with a rolling pin and form thin circular shapes like small rotis (indian bread).
In the center of the paratha add half of fennel seeds stuffing and make all the ends meet. Twist and slightly press the joint formed to the centre of the stuffed paratha. Now slowly roll and make a nice round paratha out of it. Be careful you don't roll it too much or else the stuffing will come out of the paratha.
Take a flat pan ( tawa) and heat it on high flame for three minutes. Now add 1 tbsp of oil and place the paratha. After few seconds flip the paratha upside down and again spread 1 tbsp of oil all over it and repat this procedure without adding oil till the paratha is nice crispy and brown in color.
Paratha is ready to eat!!! You can serve it with any pickle or with yoghurt.

Egg-less Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup icing sugar approx. (add more if u like it more sweet)
280 ml whipping cream
85 gm Puck cream
3 tbsp Cadbury coca powder

Method:

Whisk the butter and sugar till soft peaks are formed and keep it aside.
Whisk the whipping cream till thick and soft peaks are formed and keep it aside.
Stir the cream properly so that all the lumps are removed. Sieve the coca powder and mix it properly with the cream.
Now mix all the above mixtures together and slowly fold all the mixtures. Since the whipping cream is already whipped you have to be careful not to mix it hard or else it will ruin the mousse batter.
Refrigerate it for 3-5 hours.
Add chocolate syrup or chocolate flakes or galaxy flutes to decorate it.
Yummy chocolate mousse is ready to eat !!!

Christmas special muffins

Mixed fruit Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
1 & 1/2 can of Nestle condensed milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup readymade mix of mixed fruit jelly 
3/4 cup butter melted
3/4 cup approx buttermilk (unsalted) 
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven for 180 degrees Celsius for 15 mins.
Mix all the liquid ingredients together- butter, condensed milk, vanilla essence & buttermilk.
Sieve flour, baking powder & baking soda together. Add this mix slowly to the above liquid mixture.
The batter will be a nice thick and smooth one.
Then add mixed fruit jellies to the batter.
Line the muffin moulds with butter and sprinkle little plain flour.
Then put the batter into the muffin moulds with the help of a tbsp and then bake these muffins in the oven for 15 mins at same oven temperature.
Make a quick toothpick test i.e, if the toothpick comes out clean then the muffins are ready or else let the muffins bake for few more minutes until the the toothpick test is complete.

Yummy mixed fruit muffins are ready!!!

Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all !!!

Chocolate butter cookies

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter (softened)
50g icing / powdered / confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
225g plain flour
100gm baking milk chocolate, melted using a double boiler
2 tbsp of coca powder
1 tbsp of yoghurt

Method:

Lightly grease baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Place the butter and sugar in your mixing Bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.

Beat in the vanilla essence. Add the flour, remaining ingredients and continue mixing on minimum speed until a dough is formed.
Divide the dough into 4 balls.
Flatten each of them seperately and use cookie cutters to cut the dough into ur desired cookie shapes.

Bake them for 15- 20 minutes, or until nice crispy. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Yummy chocolate butter cookies are ready to eat!!!