Veggie Poha (Veggie Rice Flakes)

INGREDIENTS
3 Tbsp oil
1 cup thick poha or rice flakes
1 carrot chopped
1 small potato chopped
1/4 cup green peas
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp green chili paste or according to taste
salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard seeds
6 curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 bunch coriander or cilantro for garnish.

METHOD
Heat oil in a Pan. Add mustard seeds & let it split.
Add chopped potato, green chili paste,ginger paste, curry leaves & some salt.
Cover the lid of pan. Let this cook for about 2 min till the poatoes are cooked and become soft.
Then Add chopped carrots, green peas and turmeric powder.
Cover the lid of the pan and let it heat on low flame for 1 min and then turn off the heat.
Now Take the Poha and wash it well such that it becomes wet and little soft.
Now add salt ,sugar amd lemon juice to this wet poha. Mix it well.
Now add Poha to pan in which vegetables were fried. Turn on the heat.
Mix the poha and veggies well.
Cover the lid of the pan for about 2 min and let it heat on low flame.
Turn off the heat and garnish the poha with chopped corainder/cilantro leaves.

Bottle Gourd Pudding (Lauki Kheer)

The bottle gourd is low in fat and cholesterol yet high in dietary fibre. It contains 96% water and 100gm of it contains around 12 Kcal. It is rich in iron and also has vitamins C and B complex.
Its high water content makes it very cooling.
This vegetable is very good for balancing liver function.

INGREDIENTS
1 and 1/2 cups full fat milk
2 and 1/2 cups peeled & grated bottlegourd
2 Tbsp condensed milk
2 tsp cardamom powder
sugar according to your taste (add less since we are adding sweet condensed milk)
sliced or chopped almonds,pista (pistachios), & cashew nuts
1 cup water for boiling the bottle gourd

METHOD
Heat the water in a pan and bring it to boil.
Add grated bottle gourd to this and let it boil on low flame for 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat & drain the water from bottle gourd.
Now Take another pan and start heating the milk. Add cardamom powder to it.
Boil the milk in a pan upto 15-20 minutes such that it is cooked properly.
Turn the heat to low flame.
Now add boiled bottle gourd to boiled milk.
Now Add condensed milk & sugar.
Keep the pudding(kheer) on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
Add the nuts on top & serve chilled.

Bhel Puri

INGREDIENTS
2 cups puffed rice (mamra)
salt to taste
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp chaat masala powder
1 tsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp coriander(cilantro) mint sauce or according to taste
2 Tbsp Tamarind sauce or according to taste
1 boiled and chopped potato
2 Tbsp roasted peanuts
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 tomato chopped
some coriander leaves for garnish
2 Tbsp  sev for sprinkling on top
5 crispy pooris or papdi

METHOD

For Making Tamarind sauce
Ingredients
1/4 cup tamarind
1/2 cup dates (khajur)
1 cup jaggery (gud)
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp cumin seeds powder (jeera)
Method
Boil the ingredients together in a pressure cooker upto 3 whistles.
Let the mixture cool & then remove tamarind and date seeds.
Then blend this in a Mixer to form a smooth sauce.
Now Transfer this to a Pan and keep it on Stove on low flame or you could heat in microwave for 5 minutes.
Add cumin seeds powder, Red chili powder to it and mix well.
Add some water if you want the sauce to be thin in consistency.
Let it boil for 5 minutes.

For Making Coriander Mint Sauce

Ingredients: 

1/2 bunch coriander leaves

5 mint leaves

small piece of raw mango

1/4 onion chopped

4 green chillies

salt to taste

Method

Grind all the ingredients to form a smooth sauce.

To Prepare Bhel  
Now Take Puffed rice in bowl.
Add potato,chopped onion,tomato,salt,chaat masala,lemon juice,chopped cilantro leaves.
Add crushed poori/papdi.
Add both sauces cilantro(Coriander) and tamarind.
And finally sprinkle with some sev.

Fudge Brownie Sundae

This is very easy to prepare dessert with left over Brownies and Vanilla ice cream easily available.

INGREDIENTS

1 Brownie cut into small pieces

2 Vanilla icecream scoops

5 Strawberries sliced or cut in small pieces

4 Almonds sliced or cut to small pieces

4 Cashewnuts cut to small pieces

4 Roasted peanuts cut to small pieces

4 Walnuts cut to small pieces

2 tsp Choclate sauce

METHOD

Just add all the ingredients one by one in a bowl and serve it the way you prefer. 

  

Lentil (Daal) Paratha

This is very easy to prepare paratha(Bread) from Left over daal or lentil and healthy too,specially for them who dont like to have lentils or daals. This can be enjoyed with Pickles.


Lentils are a good source of protein, fiber, and folic acid.  They also contain many trace minerals.  
Since lentils contain a large amount of fiber, they are effective in lowering cholesterol and managing blood sugar disorders.  

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cooked  toor daal or moong daal(Lentil) or any daal you prefer
2 cups whole wheat flour
salt to taste
1/2 onion chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 Tbsp oil

METHOD


Kneading the dough
Take Whole wheat flour in a bowl and add to it all the ingredients mentioned above.
Add some water and knead the dough such that it becomes soft.

Flatening the dough to give shape to paratha
Now make small balls of dough.
Apply dry flour.
Now flatten the ball with the help of Rolling Pin(Belan) to form small round.
Now cut the Paratha in four pieces, first vertical then horizontal such that it is divided into four triangles.
Keep the traingles one above the other like a four layer paratha.
Apply some dry flour and again flatten it with Rolling Pin (Belan) to form triangle like shape.

Cooking the paratha
Now put the paratha on heated pan.
After 10 seconds turn the paratha , apply 1/2  tsp oil on all over the paratha.
Again turn to other side and apply oil on this side too.
Keep the heat to low flame.
Press with spatula on both sides so that paratha becomes crispy and cooks properly.
And the paratha is ready to be served.

** Don't add more water  to wheat flour to avoid it from tearing off, since cooked daal is also added to flour. 
** You can see the basic Daal (lentil ) cooking under the Lentils Category in my blog.

Veg Grilled Bun Sandwich

This Bun Sandwich is very easy to prepare and tastes very much like Burger.

INGREDIENTS
1 Wheat bun
2 round onion slices
2 round tomato slices
4 round cucumber slices
5 tinned jalapeno slices (optional)
4 round boiled potato slices
2 round capsicum slices
1 lettuce leaf
2 Tbsp grated cheese (any cheese of your choice)
2 Tbsp coriander mint sauce
salt to taste
pepper to taste
red chili powder to taste

METHOD
For preaparing bun sandwich we need:

• CORIANDER MINT SAUCE

Ingredients: 
1/2 bunch coriander leaves
5 mint leaves
small piece of raw mango
1/4 onion chopped
4 green chillies
salt to taste
Method:
 Grind the all the ingredients in a mixer to form a smooth sauce.

• FRIED POTATO SLICES

          Now take round cut boiled potato slices.
          Take a Pan , heat oil in it about 1 Tbsp.
          Add potato slices to it.
          Add salt & red chili powder. let this fry for a minute.

• Now Take the burger bun and apply the coriander sauce on both sides inside the bun.
• Arrange the round slices of onions,tomato,cucumber,jalapeno,capsicum, grated cheese & fried potato slices.
• Sprinkle some salt and black pepper.
• Add Lettuce leaf.
• Now Preheat the oven to 350 deg F/ 170 deg C.
• Keep the Bun in the oven for 5 -7 minutes . This step is optional. If Oven is not available you could heat in a pan for 5 minutes on low flame.
• Keeping the Bun in Oven or Grill Sandwich maker makes it very crispy and grills the Vegetables & melts the cheese.

White Chickpea Rice (Chana Pulav)

This is very easy to make rice with left over chole curry (white chickpeas curry).
You can check out the White chickpea curry (Chole) recipe in my blog.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup rice
1 and 1/2 cup Left over chickpeas curry
1 medium onion chopped
1 tomato chopped
salt to taste
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp oil

METHOD
Take  Pressure cooker and heat oil in it.
Add chopped onions and let it fry till the onions turn golden brown.
Add some salt while the onions are getting fried.
Add chopped tomatoes.
Add Chick peas curry (Chana curry) to it.
Wash the rice & add to pressure cooker.
Add water ,salt,red chili powder to it.
Close the pressure cooker lid and let it give one whistle on high flame.
Turn the flame to low after one whistle and let it be for 30 seconds.
Again turn to high flame to give one more whistle & turn off the heat.

* * if the chickpea curry you are using for rice contains tomato no need to add extra tomatoes.

APPY FIZZY MOCTAIL

INGREDIENTS
1 apple
1 tsp sugar
1/2  lemon
1 and 1/4 cup Sprite or Mountion Dew
5 ice cubes
1/4 tsp masala salt or according to taste.
(mixture of  Black salt,cumin seeds powder,black pepper powder)

METHOD
Add  an apple, some sugar, lemon juice & ice cubes in a mixer.
Blend this to form a smooth paste.
Now take some Sprite in a glass.
Add about 4 Tbsp crushed apple mixture in Sprite.
Add some salt  & mix well.
And Cool Appy Fizzy Moctail is ready to be served in this scorching summer heat.

Honey Cinnamon Milk Shake

The magic mixture of honey and cinnamon is known for hundreds of years for their miraculous curing power.
         
 Honey

• Honey is nature’s energy booster
• Honey is a great immunity system builder 
• Honey is a natural remedy for some ailments

  Cinnamon

• Cinnamon is used as a remedy for diabetes, indigestion, and colds.
• Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory properties meaning it reduces our chances of suffering from heart diseases as it lowers LDL cholestrol (bad cholestrol).
• Cinnamon is an excellent source of manganese, dietary fiber, iron and calcium.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cold milk
1 scoop vanilla icecream
1 tsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 small choclate pieces
2/3  ice cubes

METHOD
Take all the ingredients and blend in a mixer to form a smooth milk shake.
Serve the Honey Cinnamon Shake chilled.

White ChickPeas curry (Punjabi Chole)

White ChickPeas are a good  source of fiber, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) can help lower cholesterol. Garbanzo beans are an extremely-low-fat, complete protein food.

This dish goes well with Puri, Bread, Bhatura, Paratha, Chapati & Rice.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups white chickpeas (chole)
2 Tbsp oil
2 bay leaves
2 green cardamom pods (choti elaichi)
2 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 black cardamom pod (moti elaichi)
2 tsp pomegranate seeds powder
2 tsp Chole masala
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp corainder powder
1 tsp red chili powder
2 large size onion chopped fine
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup coriander leaves for garnishing
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp green chili paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tea bag or 2 tsp tea powder
pinch of asofetida (hing powder)

METHOD

• Wash the chickpeas & soak them overnight for atleast 6 hrs.
• Do not drain the water when boiling. Boil with same water & add more if required.
• When boiling the chickpeas(chole) add one tea bag in pressure cooker. if you dont have tea bag you can boil tea powder in 1 cup water, seive the tea water and add to chickpeas when boiling. This gives dark brown color to chickpeas. 
• Then add salt and keep the cooker containg chole on stove for boiling.
• Let it be on stove for about 30 minutes.Give it 2 whistles in pressure cooker on high flame.
• Then let it be on low flame and then again  give 2 whistles on high flame.
• Then turn off the heat. Keep it aside.
• Now take a Pan. Heat oil in it.
• Add hing,cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, & green chili paste. Let it fry for 30 seconds.
• Then add chopped onion , bay leaves & salt. Let the onion fry for 7 minutes till golden brown.
• Then add pomegranate seeds powder. let it fry for 2 minutes.
• Add chole masala & red chili powder.
• Now turn off the heat and keep this aside.
• Take all spices green cardomom,black cardamom,cinnamon sticks & cloves.Crush it little bit in a mixer. 
• Take a Pan & heat about 2 cups water in it & let it boil. Add the crushed spices to boiling water.
• Let it heat for about 5 minutes.
• Then seive the water containing spices & keep aside.
• Now take the Pan that contains fried onions.Put on stove and on the heat.
• Add to this boiled chickpeas and water containing all spices.
• Mix well. Add some more salt if required. Add more water if required depending on the consistency of curry you want. Its better to add some more water as Chickpeas absorb lot of water. If you dont add the curry dries off fast.
• Let this cook for 20 minutes & then turn off the heat.
• Add lemon juice & garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves.
• And the Chole is ready to served with bhatura ,puri , rice or any Bread of your choice.