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.