Colorful Lettuce Salad

Colorful Lettuce salad

Ingredients:

• Lettuce - 2 cups chopped
• Yellow bell pepper - 1/2 cup coarsely chopped
• Orange bell pepper - 1/2 cup coarsely chopped
• Grape tomatoes - 1 cup whole
• Red Onion - 1/2 cup coarsely chopped
• Cilantro - 1tbsp chopped
• Assorted shredded cheese - 1 tbsp.
• Almonds - 2 tbsp. sliced

Salad Dressing:

• Olive oil - 1 tbsp.
• Lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp.
• Fresh ground pepper  - as required
• Fresh ground sea salt - as required
• Parmesan cheese - 1/2 tbsp. shredded

Method:

• In a salad bowl, whisk together the salad dressing in the order of the ingredients listed above.
• One the dressing is mixed well, add the Salad ingredients beginning with lettuce and following the order as listed.
• Every time toss the salad in the bowl as you add a new ingredient. If tossing is difficult, gently mix the salad using a wide spatula.
• Care should be taken the salad is not crushed while mixing or tossing.
• Make sure most of the salad is coated with the salad dressing.
• Add more salt, pepper or lemon juice if needed.

Serve:

• Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for 15 minutes and serve cold.

Notes:

• Choice of lettuce is as per your liking. I like Iceberg lettuce in salads since it is more juicy. You can use Romaine Lettuce too.
• You can add some cooked salad shrimp or grilled chicken breast to add more proteins to the salad.
• Lemon juice can be substituted with vinegar.

Tom Kha Chicken Soup

Tom Kha Soup - with Chicken (Thai coconut soup)

Ingredients:

• Oraganic Chicken Broth - 32 oz
• Unsweetened coconut milk - 8 oz
• Lemon Grass - 1 long leaf (about 12 inch long)
• Kaffir lime leaves - 2-3
• Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
• Ginger - about 2 inch piece, sliced
• Cilantro leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Green chillies - 2-3 whole
• Chicken - about 4 oz chopped in small pieces
• White button mushrooms - 2 oz chopped (1 mushroom into 4 or 6 pieces)
• Salt to tatse

Method:

• In a stalkpot, add chicken broth and chicken pieces.
• When the chicken is cooked, add mushrooms, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves,ginger and chillies and salt.
• Continue to boil for another 5 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to meduim and cover the stalkpot with a lid. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes for the flavors to mix.
• Add coconut milk, stir and cook on medium for another 2-3 minutes.
• Strain out the lemon grass and kaffir lime pieces. You can strain out the chillies and ginger if you want.
• Add lemon juice and cilantro and serve hot.

To serve:
Serve hot.

Tom Kha Soup - with Tofu

Tom Kha Soup - with Tofu (Thai coconut soup)

Ingredients:

• Organic vegetable broth - 32 oz
• Unsweetened coconut milk - 8 oz
• Lemon Grass - 1 long leaf (about 12 inch long)
• Kaffir lime leaves - 2-3
• Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
• Ginger - about 2 inch piece, sliced
• Cilantro leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Green chillies - 2-3 whole
• Tofu - about 4 ix chopped in small cubes
• White button mushrooms - 2 oz chopped (1 mushroom into 4 or 6 pieces)
• Salt to tatse

Method:

• In a stalkpot, add vegetable broth bring to boil.
• Add tofu, mushrooms, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves,ginger and chillies and salt.
• Continue to boil for another 5 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to meduim and cover the stalkpot with a lid. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes for the flavors to mix.
• Add coconut milk, stir and cook on medium for another 2-3 minutes.
• Strain out the lemon grass and kaffir lime pieces. You can strain out the chillies and ginger if you want.
• Add lemon juice and cilantro and serve hot.

To serve:
Serve hot.

Black Beans Fried Rice

Black Beans Fried Rice (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• Basmati rice -  2 cups
• Organic Vegetable Broth -  4 cups
• Canned cooked black beans - 1/2 cup
• Colored bell peppers (yellow, orange, red and green) - 1 cup cubed
• Red onion - 1 sliced lengthwise
• Mushrooms - 1 cup chopped (1 mushroom cut in 4 pieces)
• Broccoli - 1 cup cut in medium size pieces.
• Organic frozen peas and carrots - 1/2 cup
• Roasted peanuts - 1 tsp
• Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
• Vinegar - 1 tbsp
• Sriracha red chilli sauce - 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Curry powder - 1 tsp
• Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

• Cook rice in vegetable broth in an open lid pot. Add a pinch of salt while cooking. Make sure rice is not overcooked.
• Transfer the cooked rice in a plate and spread it out for the steam to escape. Separate the rice using a fork carefully so the no lumps are formed.
• On high heat in a wok, heat the oil and add onions. Fry for a minute and add black beans and roasted peanuts.
• Continue to stir fry for another 1/2 minute.
• Add chilli sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1/2 tbsp vinegar and continue to stir fry.
• Add the bell peppers and mushrooms and continue to stir fry for another 1/2 minute.
• Add cooked rice, mix well with the veggies and sauce.
• Add remaining soy sauce and vinegar, broccoli and mix well.
• Cover the pot for about 1/2 to 3/4 minute for the flavors to mix.
• Remove the lid and serve.

To serve:

Serve hot.

Notes:

• It is important that all the mixing and stir frying must be done on high heat. Else the result can be a soggy mixture of rice and veggies.
• You can use any combination of vegetables. Some suggestions are  - baby corns, snap peas, cabbage etc. I just used what was available in the refrigerator.
• It helps avoiding lumps in rice, if you put the cooked rice in the refrigerator.
• Sometimes I make fried rice out of left over rice from previous day and it tastes just the same.
• Along with the veggies, you can always add some chicken or shrimp.

Chicken Masala

This is a very quick recipe for spicy chicken curry. If I have to cook this in the traditional way like my mom or grandmom, it will call for a serious 2-3 hours effort before the delicious chicken curry is ready. Thanks to my mom, she has shortened the process and yet it tastes just as good - although not as good as the original grandmom's recipe. 

So here it goes:

Chicken Masala (serves 4)

Preparation time - 30 mins

Cooking time - 15 mins

Ingredients:

• Organic chicken - 2 lb  (combination of boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs)
• Red onion chopped - 2 medium sized
• Dry coconut grated - 4 tbsp
• Garam Masala - 3 tbsp
• Oil - 4 tbsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric - 2 tsp
• Salt to taste

For green masala:

• Garlic cloves - 5-6
• Ginger - about 2 inch piece
• Chopped red onion - 2 tbsp
• Serrano peppers - 2
• Coriander chopped - 2 tbsp

Method:

•  In a cooking pot, roast coconut and onion and transfer into a plate to cool.
• Grind the green masala ingredients and coconut and onions into fine paste.
• Clean and wash chicken and chop the chicken into pieces (not too small though, since they shrink after cooking)
• In a mixing bowl, add 2 tbsp oil, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, ground marinate paste and chicken pieces and mix well.
• Marinate chicken pieces in the mixing bowl for about an hour.
• In the cooking pot, heat remaining oil, saute remaining chopped onions.
• Add the marinated chicken and shallow fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Add garam masala and fry for another 2 minutes.
• Add 2 cups of water and cook for another 15 minutes or till the chicken is cooked.

To serve:

• Serve it hot with rice or naan.
• Add a side of sliced raw onion and lemon juice.
• A drop of homemade ghee in each serving bowl enhances the taste 200%

Notes:

• Adjust the light meat (chicken breast) and dark meat (thighs) combination depending on about of fat you want to use. More dark meat obviously tastes better, but also adds more fat (just in case you are watching the calories)
• Add more water and while cooking if you need to adjust the consistency if the gravy. You might need to add salt and spice to adjust the taste.

Quick Chicken Soup

This recipe is real simple and quick. The recipe calls for lots of garlic and turmeric. So it automatically becomes a fix for your itchy throat especially during allergy season. My baby loves this soup especially when she is down with cold and wants just something warm to drink.

Ingredients:

• Swanson Organic Chicken Stalk - 1 carton (32 oz)
• Garlic cloves: 8-10 
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Crushed black pepper:1 tsp
• dash of Sea Salt
• Oregano: 1/2 tsp
• Onion  1/2 cup fine chopped
• Organic boneless skinless chicken thighs: 8-10 oz
• Egg - 1 count
• Oil - 2-3 tsp

Method:

• Rinse and chop chicken into bite size pieces and marinate with a pinch of salt, turmeric, oregano and about 1/2 tsp of oil and set aside.
• Heat remaining oil in a vessel and add garlic cloves when oil is hot. Crush the garlic cloves inside the oil using a potato smasher. Stir fry garlic cloves till they turn golden brown.
• Add turmeric, chopped onions and oregano and stir fry till onions become translucent.
• Add marinated chicken pieces and stir  fry till chicken is had cooked.
• Add chicken broth and bring to boil.
• Boil for about 10 minutes or till chicken pieces are fully cooked.
• Beat egg is a bowl and pour it into the boiling soup.Stir continuously so that egg spreads out well in the boiling liquid.
• Add sea salt and black pepper.

To serve:

• Serve hot.
• To add a little extra taste, add a teaspoon of vinegar and Serrano peppers when serving.

Baby food recipe 6: Chicken Pasta

Baby food recipe 6: Chicken Pasta

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup cooked pasta
• 1/4 cup cut vegetables (grated carrot, sliced yellow squash, chopped spinach)
• 1/4 piece cooked chicken breast
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• 2 tbsp pasta sauce

Method:

• In a skillet, heat olive oil, add cut vegetables and herbs. 
• Add fine chopped chicken. 
• Add pasta sauce and stir fry for 2 minutes. 
• Add cooked pasta and cover and cook for another minute. 
• Add little water or more pasta sauce if you need more moist pasta.

To serve: 

Transfer pasta in a plate and place a cheese slice immediately on the top and let it melt.

Please note:
I usually pressure cook the chicken to make sure the meat is well cooked.  Also, I use the left over water for moistening the pasta.

Usually I use any organic pasta.
If its not tiny shaped like mini pasta shells, then after the pasta is cooked and cold, I pulse it in vegetable chopper, to chops it in tiny pieces. It saves me time to cook 2 different pastas,I for the baby and one for us.

Any mom out there is welcome to try these out - of course as always, do keep in mind what your baby might be allergic to and as always, consult the pediatrician before introducing any new food.

Baby food recipe 5: Boiled egg in pasta sauce

Okay I think I mentioned how much shreeya hates eating boiled egg. But we recently found a trick to feed her the boiled egg. This worked like charm. Here it goes:

Baby food recipe 5: Boiled egg in pasta sauce

Ingredients: 

• 1 hard boiled organic egg
• 1 tbsp tomato garlic pasta sauce
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• Pinch of oregano and parsley
• One Cheese Slice

Method:
In a skillet, add olive oil,add a pinch of oregano and parsley and saute the pasta sauce for about a minute. Add mashed up boiled egg and saute for another minute.

To serve: 
Place the cheese slice in the bowl, add the egg pasta and Serve warm.

Any mom out there is welcome to try these out - of course as always, do keep in mind what your baby might be allergic to and as always, consult the pediatrician before introducing any new food.

Baby food recipe 4: Vegetable - egg omelet

Well, when it comes to eating eggs, Shreeya is not a big fan of eating boiled egg. But you make an omelet and just watch! Out of no where we suddenly get all interested in eating :).

This is a very simple omelet recipe which seems to be her favorite too.

Baby food recipe 4: Vegetable - egg omelet

Ingredients:

• One Organic egg
• Organic baby spinach leaves 2-3
• Tomato 1/2 peeled and diced
• Green bell pepper 1 tsp chopped
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil
• Cheese single

Method:
In a skillet, saute tomatoes, spinach and bell pepper till they are tender. Add beaten egg. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Let the omelet cook till the mixture thickens. Flip the omelet. Cook it for another minute. Make sure the egg is no longer raw. Flip it back and remove it on the serving plate. Place a cheese single immediately on the omelet and let it melt.

To serve: 
Cut the omelet to bite size pieces and serve warm.

Any mom out there is welcome to try these out - of course as always, do keep in mind what your baby might be allergic to and as always, consult the pediatrician before introducing any new food.

Baby food recipe 3: Zucchini in olive oil with cheese

Baby food recipe 3: Zucchini in olive oil with cheese (Age 8 months and up)

Ingredients: 
Organic zucchini
Olive oil
Cheese single

Method: 
In a skillet, add a tsp of olive oil. Grate zucchini and stir fry for a minute or till zucchini becomes tender. You may cook it covered if you prefer. Once cooked, add a slice of cheese single and let it melt.

To Serve: 
Serve as snack or as a side with soup.

Please note:
Salt is not required here, since the salt in cheese is just enough to make up the taste.

Any mom out there is welcome to try these out - of course as always, do keep in mind what your baby might be allergic to and as always, consult the pediatrician before introducing any new food.

Aloo Palak Thepla (Paratha)

Instead of making plain chapati everyday, adding little flavor to it makes your mealtime (and cooking) more interesting. This is a great way to add spinach to your baby's meal too. This recipe makes about 12-13 thepla.

Ingredients:

• Organic baby spinach - chopped approx 2 cups
• Organic potato - 1 medium sized peeled (optional)
• Ginger - about an inch
• Garlic - 4-5 pieces
• Chapati flour (whole wheat flour - no maida added)- approx 4 cups
• Besan (Chana flour) - 1/2 cup
• Salt to taste
• Red Chili Powder - approx 2 tsp (optional if this is a baby food)
• Oil - approx 4 tbsp
• Curd - 2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

• Pressure cook chopped spinach and peeled potato.
• Once cold, strain and transfer the spinach and potato in a  large flat vessel to be knead. Save the stained water aside for kneading the dough.
• Mash the boiled potato coarsely.
• Grind ginger and garlic into paste and add it to spinach - potato mixture. Add salt and chill powder. Taste the mixture and make salt and spice adjustments if required. Remember we still have to knead the dough, so this mixture must be little salty and spicy, since adding flour will tone down the taste.
• Add oil, curd, chapati flour and besan to this mixture and head the dough. Add the strained water if needed. 
• Split the dough in small balls and make paratha using a rolling pin.
• Heat a tava/ skillet, and bake one side of the paratha till its slight golden. Flip and bake the other side. Brush oil on both sides and transfer it to a container.

To serve:

• Serve hot thepla with chutney and curd.
• For babies: cut the thepla in bite size pieces and serve it with ghee.

Please note:

• If you intend to cook this as a baby food, do watch the salt and spice before kneading the dough.
• This recipe works without potatoes too. However, adding potato gives a binding and also extra taste to the thepla. 
• This recipe works without curd too. However, Adding curd while kneading the dough will result in softer thepla.

Baby food recipe 2: Mixed daal ghaavan / pancake (unfermented dosa)

Baby food recipe 2: Mixed daal ghaavan / pancake (unfermented dosa) (Age 10 months and up)

Ingredients:

• Toor dal (Split Yellow Pigeon Peas) - 2 tsp
• Moong dal (Split Green Gram) - 2 tsp
• Masoor dal (Split Red Lentil) - 1 tsp
• Chana dal (Split Bengal Gram) - 1tsp
• Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Method:
Dry roast the dals. Grind them to powder once they cool down. Add rice flour to dal powder and mix well.
This is your basic ghaavan mixture. You can now get creative and add any vegetable to it.

Plain ghaavan: Add salt, Jeera powder (Cumin powder) and water to the mixture.
On a skillet or tava, brush some oil and make ghaavan/pancakes.

Zucchini Carrot ghaavan: Grate some organic zucchini and organic carrot into the basic ghaavan mixture. Add some oregano, parsley and make ghaavan/pancakes.

To serve: I like to serve it with ghee. Cut the ghaavans into bite size pieces and generously add ghee and serve.


Please note:
The basic dry ghaavan mixture can be stored in an air tight container and can be used as needed.

Any mom out there is welcome to try these out - of course as always, do keep in mind what your baby might be allergic to and as always, consult the pediatrician before introducing any new food.

Baby food recipe 1: Butternut squash vegetable meal

It has been really really long since I posted a recipe. Well, with a 10 month old baby, the time just flies! Anyways, once we started giving her solid foods, I have been cooking some really nutritious foods for her. Not that I am against store bought ready to eat baby foods, I just prefer cooking and giving her home made baby food. Since I love cooking, why not make different varieties of food and keep her interested in eating? You know babies do get bored of eating same thing every meal (breast milk is of course an exception to this!). Shreeya is no different. She loves trying out new foods, tastes and definitely appreciates the surprises in her meals. This absolutely keeps me motivated to cook different types of meals for her. I am going to try and post some of the recipes which she has loved. Many of these are an inspiration from my mom and grand mom (Thanks aai and aaji !!!), with a variation of my taste. Any mom out there is welcome to try these out - of course as always, do keep in mind what your baby might be allergic to and as always, consult the pediatrician before introducing any new food.

Baby food recipe 1:  Butternut squash vegetable meal (Age 8 months and up)

Ingredients:

• Rice 1 tbsp
• Organic Butternut Squash(or pumpkin) 2 tbsp.chopped
• Organic green beans - 4-5
• Organic baby spinach  4-5 leaves
• Tomato 1 medium size
• Organic Sour cream - 1 tsp
• Salt.

Method:
Pressure cook rice and all the vegetables. Mash them to make a puree. Add salt as per taste.
Let it cool. Add Sour cream before serving.
That is it! It is ready to be served.

Please note:
You may skip salt if you prefer.
You can create any combination of vegetables along with butternut squash.
You may puree the cooked vegetables with a blender if you want to really really smooth.

Masale Bhaat

Traditionally no Marathi marriage menu will be complete without a Masale Bhaat (Spiced Rice).
Its basically a version of biryani typically found in Maharashtrian cuisine. Extremely delicious and heavenly. Recently we did Gudi Padwa celebration at our house and invited few friends over. Ofcourse I was in my cooking spree. Made a whole meal with traditional Maharashtrian menu. Everyone, especially, Ganesh LOVED it!

I haven't blogged in a while. But hey.. its never late to start, right? So I decided to put down my recipe of Masale Bhaat.


Although I cooked it for about 15 people, I am giving a scaled down recipe for serving about 3-4 adults. Here it comes -

Masale Bhaat

Serves 4

Ingredients -

For Masala:
1/2 cup Dry coconut powder
4 - 5 cloves (1/4 spoon powdered clove)
1/2 inch Cinnamon stick (1/4 spoon powdered cinnamon)
4 - 5 Cardamoms (10 cardamom seeds)
5 spoons Cummin seeds
2 spoons Coriander seeds
5 Dry red chillies (adjust spice as per taste)

For Rice

2 cups cooked basmati rice.
2 half cooked potatoes (cut into 4-6 pieces)
2 cups mix vegetables (cut into 4 along length) (traditionally Tindora and/or Brinjal (egg plant) or cauliflower is used)
2 green chillies
4 - 5 curry leaves

Salt to taste

Tempering:
Mustard,
Hing (asafoetida)
Jeera (cumin)
Turmeric
Curry Leaves
Oil to fry

Method:

For Masala:

Separately dry roast each ingredient and set aside to cool.
Transfer everything to a chutney vessel (typically the smaller vessel which allows dry grinding) and grind it to smooth powder.
The masala is ready. Transfer to an air tight container to preserve the aroma.

For Rice:

Heat oil in wok (kadhai) and add Mustard, Hing, Jeera, Curry Leaves and Turmeric

Grind Chillies and curry leaves to a fine paste and add it to the oil.

If you are a big onion fan and onions are like a must have ingredients, then this is the time you want to add about 1 medium size thin vertically chopped onion in the oil and fry till golden brown. If not skip this step and move to next.

Add potatoes and fry till cooked .

Add the vegetables and stir fry again.

Key is to make sure you don't smash the potatoes or vegetables.

Now sprinkle the masala powder and salt and marinate the vegetables and potatoes. Transfer the spiced mixtured in a vessel and it with a lid and let the masala do its job for about an hour.

Meanwhile separate out the cooked rice in a plate and make sure its not cold.

Now in the kadhai start adding the marinated mixture to the rice and mix well so that the rice take the color of the masala.

This is time you want to taste the rice for spice and salt and add marinated mixture accordingly. Lesser the masala, lesser is the spice. So if you are not a spice lover, be very conservative in adding the mixture to rice.

Once you add the desired amount of mixture to rice, cook it covered and on a low flame for about 15 minutes (till the rice starts steaming) this will make sure the rice is now absorbing the masala taste. If the rice mixture is too dry, sprinkle some water and cove it again.

If it helps, instead of kadhai transfer it into a baking tray and bake it on 200 F for about 10 mins. or in a microwave safe bowl and cook for about 10 minutes.

Traditionally uncooked rice is used and the marinated rice is then pressure cooked. But this is little risky if you are new to cooking. It can get overcooked and spoil the dish. Thats the reason I am suggesting pre cooked rice.

Once cooked, garnish with grated coconut and chopped coriander serve hot.

When I cooked this, we finished it before I could take a photo. :) So for time being, just that you know how it should look like, I got the photo from another website.






Photo Courtesy: http://www.tarladalal.com/

Spring Onion Jhunka

Let me first tell what "zunka" is. Zunka or jhunka is a very typical Maharashtrian dish and always contains - besan (bengal gram flour or chana daal flour or kadalai paruppu powder) and typically onion atleast. There are varieties of jhunka. Some of my favourites are - onion jhunka, spring onion jhunka, cabbage jhunka, capsicum jhunka or as simple as coriander-onion jhunka.The technique for any of the above is exactly the same. Just substitute the respective vegetables. So here it comes...

Spring onion or scallions Jhunka


Serves 4
Ingredients:

2 bunches of spring onion with leaves

1 medium sized onion coarsely chopped

2 cups besan

2 spoons grated peanuts

2 spoons chilli powder

Mustard seeds

Hing (asafoetida)

Turmeric

Salt to taste

Oil to fry

Method:

1. In a heated kadhai (wok), roast the besan (flour). Keep aside to cool.

2. Wash spring onions thoroughly to remove any soil near the roots.

3. Chop off the roots. Cut remaining tiny onions and the leaves in medium sized pieces.

4. Transfer the chopped spring onion in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle chilli powder, salt, crushed peanuts and besan on the cut spring onions and toss well. Mix carefully with out crushing the leaves. Set aside for 10 mintues.

5. Meanwhile, heat oil in kadhai and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard stops sputtering, add hing and turmeric.

6. Add chopped onion and try till onions soften.

7. Add the mixture from the bowl to the kadhai and mix carefully.

8. Sprinkle about half cup water in kadhai and cover the kadhai for about 5 minutes or less. Do not over cook.

9. Remove the lid and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

Tips:
1. Roasting besan brings out the flavor. But if you dont ahve enough time, you can skip this step.

2. When making cabbage jhunka or capsicum (bell pepper) jhunka, onion is not required.

3. Serve with chapati or bhaakri or curd rice.

Try this out and send your comments!

Palak Paneer? No! Its Palak-Tofu...!!!

Palak-Tofu

Since my last post, there have been some requests to post healthy recipes. So here it comes. Its a paneer-less version of palak paneer. Instead of fat filled Paneer, I used Tofu. For those who are not very familiar to tofu - Tofu is a soy bean extract, packed with protiens. It is very commonly used in Thai cuisine. Looks like paneer, tastes like paneer, only a much much healthier substitute. More on Tofu - http://www.soya.be/what-is-tofu.php


Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 bunches of spinach (palak) coarsely cut. (You can just tear off the leaves into smaller pieces since we will be anyways grating the spinach later)

1 onion, fine chopped
1 tomato, fine chopped
an inch of ginger, fine chopped
2 green chillies (add more depending on level of spice)
salt to taste
1 medium block of extra firm tofu
Oil to fry
2 spoons Garam Masala

Method:

For base:
1. In a wok( kadhai ), fry ginger and onions till golden brown.
2. Grind chillies into fine paste and add to oil.
3. Add tomatoes and stir into paste.
4. Add Garam masala and salt and cover the gravy for 5 minutes.

For Palak:
1. Boil water in a vessel and put the cut spinach. Cover it with a lid and let is steam in for 5 minutes.
2. Take out the spinach and dip it in cold water immediately and leave it immersed for couple of minutes. This helps preserve the green color of the spinach.
3. Take out the spinach and grind it in mixer to fine paste.

For Tofu:
A thing to remember is - unlike paneer, tofu is very delicate to handle and is full of moisture. There is a technique to fry tofu. I usually buy extra-firm tofu, since its easy to cut in cubes.
So here is how you fry tofu:
1. Wrap the big block of tofu with a clean, fine cotton cloth or a tissue paper. The key is to remove moisture tofu as much as you can. Handle it carefully without smashing it.
2. Cut tofu in small cubes - may be about an inch in size.
3. Remove more moisture from the cubes if required.
4. Heat oil in a flat sauce pan.
5. Put few cubes in the oil and leave them till a thin golden layer is seen. Flip over the cube and repeat the process till whole cube changes color to light golden. Do not keep flipping over the pieces since they are very delicate and will get smashed.

Finally:
1. On medium heat, add palak paste into the base gravy and mix well.
2. Adjust the salt and spice.
3. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add fried tofu to the gravy, cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve hot.

Tips:
1. Switching palak from hot water to cold water preserves the fresh green color and prevents the palak to turn into darker shade after cooking.
2. All the water (hot and cold) used as a base for any other recipe - like vegetable soup, may be in dal. Its really nutritious and should not be trashed.
3. Substitute red chillies for green. Fry red chillies separately and grind into paste before adding to oil. It brings out the flavor.
4. If you want really smooth gravy, after tomatoes are cooked, wait till the gravy is cold and then grind it.

Try this dish and let me know. Tofu is a really great substitute for paneer. If you like, you can add tofu almost anywhere instead of paneer. Let me know, I will post some more tofu/paneer recipes.

Oil-free mango pickle (Amba Loncha, Manga Thokku)

Since I was a kid, I have always being looking forward for summer season. Coming from Kokan (coastal strip in Maharashtra) - where mangoes are in abundance, our summers have been all about mangoes. Eating Alphonso mangoes, fresh mango pickles -this is one thing I really miss being in US. I don't know about rest of US, but I can say that, the variety of Indian vegetables and fruits sold in Indian Grocery Stores in Dallas-FortWoth area has tremendously improved over last couple of years.This summer I got these amazing raw mangoes from one of the Desi stores. The moment I saw them, all my cravings of amba-panha (its a raw mango drink we make typically in the month of Chaitra), ambe-daal (again, another dish made from raw mango and channa daal during Chaitra) and ofcourse fresh mango pickle were revived. I decided to make mango pickle like my mother and grandmother makes. Only this time I decided to go oil-free. Turns out - this pickle was really a very healthy version of pickle since all the oil factor was ruled out. So I decided to post it and share the recipe.

Oil-free mango pickle (Amba Loncha, Manga Thokku)

Ingredients:

2 large Raw Mangoes (peeled and cut in fine pieces)

4 table spoons lemon juice

3 table spoons ready made achar masala (I personally like Bedekar Loncha Masala)

Salt to taste

Chilli powder to taste

Method:

1. If the mango peel is too thick, lightly peel it to remove the bitter taste.

2. Chop mango into really fine pieces. Finer the pieces, softer and flavorful will they get.

3. Add Salt and Chili powder and set aside for 30 mins.

4. Add pickle masala (achar masala, loncha masala) to mango and mix well.

5. Finally add lemon juice.

6. Leave the mixture at room temperature for about 3 hours.

7. Store the mixture in fridge.

This instant pickle should be ready to eat after approx 12 hours from the mixing time.

Tips:

1. Its a good idea to store the pickle in porcelain or glass containers to avoid any metal reactions.

2. Pickle stays fresh for about a month.

3. Instead of readymade pickle masala, you can grind and make your own pickle masala.

4. This exact same recipe can be made by substituting mango with carrot for carrot pickle, cauliflower for cauliflower pickle, or combination of few vegetables like cauliflower, carrot, mango, peas for mix veg pickle. Remember to cut cauliflower real small to enjoy the pickle taste.

Next in my agenda is to make raw turmeric and ginger pickle. I will post the recipe as soon as I have some photos ready.

Meanwhile, try out this pickle. I am sure it will satisfy your craving for pickles, at the same time, provide a relatively healthy alternative for oily pickles.

Guiltless Gobi Manchurian (Manchurian style cauliflower Stir fry)

Me and Ganesh are big fans of Gobi Manchurian. Whenever we go to any indo-chinese food joint, this is definitely top in our list.But being health conscious, it feels guilty eating deeply fried food. Its hard to convince your mind and yet enjoy the amazingly tasting Manchurian. So I figured out a recipe which tastes pretty close to the REAL gobi manchurian, made in minimal oil. So here is my recipe for Guiltless Gobi Manchurian:

Guiltless Gobi Manchurian (Manchurian style cauliflower Stir fry)

Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 large Cauliflower cut into medium sized pieces.
1 large Onion cut into large square pieces
1 large Capsicum (Green Bell Pepper) cut into large square pieces
1 pinch Garam Masala
Soy sauce or salt to taste

For Marinating:
2 cups Maida (All purpose flour)
pinch of turmeric
salt to taste
Approx. 2 spoons of chilli powder (varies as per spice levels)
Approx. 1 spoon of crushed black pepper
Oil spray (the 0 calories ones you get in grocery stores - I specifically like the butter flavored ones). If Oil spray is not available, you can substitute it with 2 spoons of regular cooking oil.

Method:
1.Cut cauliflower in medium sized pieces.
2. Wash and keep aside to drain off excess water.
3.Spray oil on the cauliflower pieces. Alternatively, add oil and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, mix maida, salt, chilli powder and black pepper.
5. This is the time you want to adjust the spice and salt level of the mixture.
6. Sprinkle the mixture on the cauliflower pieces while tossing them carefully, such that all the pieces have a thin layer of marinate mixture. You can spray another layer of oil spray in the end if you feel the mixture is too dry and wont stick to cauliflower pieces.
7. Set aside this marinated cauliflower for about 2 hours.
8. In a flat wok (kadhai), heat some oil and fry onions and capsicum (bell pepper). Sprinkle a pinch of garam masala to add the flavor. Add soy sauce or salt depending on your preference. Make sure onion and bell pepper are still half cooked.
9. In a separate wok (kadhai), semi-cook the cauliflower mixture. Additional oil is not necessary. Alternatively, you can spread the cauliflower pieces in a plate and microwave it for 5 mins on high.
10. In a broad pan like tava or a skillet, on high heat, mix the cauliflower and onion-capsicum mixture such that it sizzles. Serve sizzling hot.

Tips:
1. For cauliflower : Fill a large bowl with water and salt and soak the cut cauliflower for 15 mins to kill germs inf any. (I don't know if this works, but I have seen my mother doing this for years and I picked it from there). Wash the cauliflower thoroughly and set it aside for excess water to drain out.
2.If you like the garlic-like smell and taste, mince some garlic and fry it with onion.
3. To add more restaurant-like look, add edible red color to the cauliflower. Personally, I never add color since I like the colors from chilli powder and turmeric.

I have tried this recipe alteast 10 times till date will slight variations each time. So far we have been liking it. Yesterday I cooked it for a few friends. I would say it was well appreciated. So give it a shot and let me know.

Zatpat Veg Fried Rice (Quick Veg Fried Rice)

I don't like to eat the same menu for two consecutive meals. So what do you do when you have some leftover? Well...I try to mix and match, come up with some weird recipes. Like yesterday for instance... I had some leftover sambhar with zucchini, carrot and onion. I tried this fried rice and viola! I just treated myself with a tasty restaurant style veg fried rice. It became even worth the effort when my husband complimented it saying - no need to go out to thai/chinese places and spend on food. So I decided to call it "Zatpat (Quick) Fried Rice" So here it comes.

Zatpat Veg Fried Rice (Quick Veg Fried Rice)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
Approx 2 cups cooked rice
2 cups sambhar with zucchini, carrot and onion pieces

1 cup broccoli pieces (steamed for about 2 mins in microwave)

1 cup cut onion

1 cup cut tomato

2 tbl spoon Sriracha Chili Sauce

2 tbl spoon Soy sauce

1 tbl spoon oil

Method:

Heat oil in a wok (kadhai) and stirfry onions till golden brown.

Add sambhar and continue stir-fry on high heat till excess water in sambhar (if any) evaporates.

Add soy sauce and continue to stir.Add rice and mix thoroughly. If rice has lumps, make sure to put the rice in a plate and break the lumps.

Carefully stir the ingredients in wok (kadhai).

Add Sriracha Chili Sauce and finally add tomatoes and brocolli. Stir carefully for approx 3 mins - such that all of the ingredients are heated well. Care should be taken that none of the ingredients are overcooked. Soy sauce and chilli sauce should be added as per desired spice and salt level. Serve on lunch plate while hot

Tips:

1. All stirring should happen on high heat. Medium or low heat will call the mixture to get soggy. We want to leave it with separated consistency, yet mixed enough to exchange flavor within the all the items.

2. If cooked rice is at or below room temperature it helps in mixing well in wok (kadhai).

3. I served rice with mint chutney on the side and it enchanced the flavor big time.

Try this out and let me know if you liked it. Its one of great ways when you really crave to eat restaurant style food and yet worry about spending. Using your imaginations and the leftovers in the fridge can be a great way to treat your taste buds as well as save a few bucks and a visit to a restaurant or a fast food place.

Tondli Bhaat (Tindora Rice)

Tondli Bhaat (Tindora Rice)

Serves 5

Ingredients:
3 Cups Basmati Rice - washed and kept aside for 30 mins
2 Cups Tondli (Tindora) - sliced along length into 4
2 Cups Onion - thin sliced
1 Cup Potato - sliced along length into 4
2 Table Spoon Garam Masala
Salt to taste

Tempering: Mustard, Hing (asefoetida) ,Jeera (cumin),Turmeric,Curry Leaves
Oil to fry

Garnishing - chopped coriander.

Method:
Heat oil in wok (kadhai) and add Mustard, Hing, Jeera, Curry Leaves and Turmeric
Fry sliced onions till golden brown. Add and stir fry sliced potatoes till they are partly cooked.
Now add cut tindora and stir fry
Add garam masala and salt and cover the wok (kadhai) for 2-3 minutes.

Add soaked rice and stir fry till water evaporates.

On the side, boil 6 cups of water.

Finally, transfer mixture from wok (kadhai) to rice cooker, add boiling water and stir well. Taste the flavored water and add salt and spice if required..

Once cooked, garnish with chopped coriander.

Tips:
Top it with few drops of lemon juice for added taste
Add cashew pieces for flavor
Garnish with grated fresh coconut.