Vegetable Burger with Yellow peas

There are very few recipes that taste good and do good, vegetable burger is one among them. I always love making veggie burger patties before and refrigerate them, because they make my work simple for the next day lunch box. Yellow peas are readily available in marked in tins, but I prefer soaking the dry peas myself and preparing them for making patties. This is the first time I tried to make a burger with yellow peas, always I used to make with chick peas. Believe me they tasted wonderful.

Ingredients

Yellow peas-dry-100 grams

Soft boiled small potato mashed

Lemon juice 1/2 tbsp

oil 6 tbsp

walnuts-hand full

onion-1/2cup

cilantro-1/4cup chopped

cumin powder-1/2tbsp

coriander powder-1/2tbsp

green chili t taste

turmeric-pinch

cumin seeds few

ginger garlic paste to taste

Method

Soak dry yellow peas for at least 8 hrs and pressure cook them for 3 whistles (or until soft). Let the pressure in the cooker come down then in the mixi jar take all the above mentioned ingredients along with peas and grind them coarsely. Now in a pan heat 2tbsp of oil and add few cumin seeds and allow them to splatter and immediately add ginger-garlic paste and cook under medium flame till the raw smell disappears. Finally add the ground mixture, lemon juice and turmeric and mix well. 

After 10 min of frying under low flame, take this mixture in to separate bowl and allow it to cool. Finally divide the mixture in to 4 equal parts and flatten them in to Patti shape with your hand. Grill them on both sides with sufficient oil. Now the patties are ready and when they cool down to room temperature place them in zip lock bags and freeze them. you can use them for one week if you perfectly freeze them. when you are about to use take them out from freezer 30 min before you serve and microwave them fro 20 sec. Now, place them in the bun with your favorite toppings and dressings. Hope you like my recipe.

Click here for Chickpea Vegetable Burger
Click here for blackeyed peas burger
Click here for Indian food calorie chart

Tip: Kindly note it please, these burgers are very tender, they break easily since there is a very little binding, if you do not mind having egg then I recommend you to add one egg along with onions and carrots and mix well. Egg acts as a super binding agent and also adds moisture and great texture to your patties. If you do not like adding egg then add more wheat flour, if your patties are tender.

Tandoori Chicken legs With Puff pastry

Tandoori chicken is always my hubby's favorite snack. I prepare this for every special event in my house. This time I want to try something different but I do not want to disappoint him, by not making tandoori chicken. So, I tried keeping the tandoori taste same but wrapped it in a puff pastry and he liked it very much. It not only tasted wonderful but also looked like something that a professional chef presents. He was so surprised to learn that I made it. My love and bond for cooking is very strong, and getting very intense that it is  making me very professional everyday. If I were allowed to do something other than studies, then I would  immediately take spoon in one hand to cook and camera in one hand to capture frame to frame of my recipes and share with you all. My passion for cooking and photography is that zealous.

Now coming to the recipe


Ingredients:
Chicken legs---7
Curd/Yoghurt---1cup
Tandoori barbecue/barbeque masala----4ts
salt to taste
chili powder---1ts
coriander powder--1ts
Lemon juice---4ts
paprika/red color--pinch (optional- i did not add)
onions, cilantro and lemon for garnishing
Ginger garlic paste-2ts
Zip lock bag
Puff pastry sheet-1

Method:

1. Remove skin and clean the chicken drumsticks.
2. Make 6-7 deep cuts on each drumstick and keep aside
3. Now prepare marination by adding all ingredients(Curd+BBQ masala+salt+chili powder+coriander powder+lemon juice+color) in a large bowl and beat them till it attains uniform color.(2-3min)
4. Now coat each drum stick with this masala.
5. Add remaining marination along with drum sticks in to zip-lock bag and close the bag.
6. Mix by turning bag upside down 2-3 times.
7. Keep this in the refrigerator and incubate overnight.(or minimum 2-6hrs)
8. Next day, take the drumsticks out of the bag and place it on the tray that is warped with aluminium foil and greased with oil.
9. Bake at 500F for 20-25min turning at regular intervals.
10. Now, when the Tandoori chicken is almost 90% done take it out and let it cool to room temperature.  
11. Take the puff pastry out, cut a 1/2 inch strip along length wise (The longest side of pastry).
12. Now take this strip and roll it around the pastry. 
13. Refrigerate for 10min and bake it for 20min at 450F (or follow the instructions on the pastry box). 
14. When done take them out and serve hot. 

I hope you like this recipe and please leave your comments as a token of appreciation. Thank you for visiting my blog, and keep visiting for more wonderful recipes.

Dry fruit & nuts semiya Payasam!!! yum yum

Semiya Payasam (Kheer), was all time favorite for me to cook, because it is simple and delicious. I prepare this yummy payasam for my hubby, he is not-so-sweet tooth but loves this payasam. Dry fruits are very healthy as they provide instant energy along with good fats and  proteins. So, I always try to combine dry fruits with almost all the sweet dishes I prepare. We all know that eating sweets is unhealthy, so I substitute 1/4th of the payasam with all the dry fruits that I have and make it little healthy.

I always keep dry fruits handy, you can find them in the candy section of every grocery store. This pack shown below was bought from Sam's club. It costs about $7.00, and it was enough for 6months at least for both of us. It got raisins, almonds, cashew nuts, dry mango, dry banana, dry coconut strips, dry pine apple (one of my favourite) and many more fruits. The only thing that biased me with this pack is that, each fruit is coated with sugar, next time I'll make sure that I'll buy non-sugar coated dry fruits.

Now, coming to the recipe

Ingredients:
Ghee/Butter- 1tbsp
Dry fruits & nuts-1cup (160ml cup)
Thin Semiya (Broken pasta, Italian style)- 1cup
Sugar-3/4 cup or to taste
Milk-3 cups
water-1/2cup
Cardamom powder-1/4tbsp (Freshly ground)

Method:

Heat  ghee in a thick bottom pan under medium flame. Add dry fruits and semiya and roast it till the semiya turns light brown. Add 1/2cup water and 3cups milk. Adding water first will protect the milk from sticking to the pan.  Now, cook this mixture till it comes to a boil and add sugar and mix well. when the sugar is completely dissolved add cardamom powder and turn off the stove. Let it remain for about 5min on the heat from the turn off stove. If you like your payasam thick then add leas milk or substitute 3 cups of milk with 1cup condensed milk + 2cups of regular milk.  Serve hot and enjoy with your family.

Amelia's Empanada

Last week we had a fall break, followed by an exam. I know no one likes to enjoy a break if they were going to have a mid term exam after it. So, I and my friends Amelia and Emma gathered at Amelia's home to study. That was my first visit to Amelia's home (In fact, to a typical American home). Their house was decorated wonderfully, I just loved the Chinese arts and shell collections at her home. The house was located in a peaceful environment and all those bird sounds and beautiful fall colors attracted me a lot, apart from it she prepared a wonderful lunch. I tasted very delicious  vegetarian Empanada's (Especially for me)  for the first time. She also made some Chicken cheese Emapanada's too. This is not the sole effort of Amelia, her hubby also helped her in preparing these delicious Empanadas.  
Here is the recipe that I jot down from her.

Ingredients
For Empanada Dough:

• 4 cups all purpose flour (Maida)

• 1-2 teaspoons salt

• 2-3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

• 2 egg yolks3/4 - 1 cup water

Method:

1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Stir in the salt and the sugar. 
2. Blend the butter and egg yolks with 3/4 cups water. 
3. Stir in the 1/2 cup of water/egg mixture, a little at a time with flour, until the dough starts to come together smoothly. Keep kneading the dough, adding more water/egg a little bit at a time as necessary, until the dough is smooth. 
4. The dough will seem a bit shaggy until it has thoroughly chilled. 
5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour. (you can also store it overnight (or a couple of days) in the refrigerator).
6.  Dough should be soft and smooth.
7. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and roll into desired thickness.

For making Vegetarian Empanada -(Corn-cheese)
Makes 12 medium-sized empanadas.

• 3 Cups Frozen corn- coarsely chopped

• 1 small onion diced

• 1 Cup Vegetable Broth (Or chicken broth)

• 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

• 2 tsp Salt (or to taste)

• 1 Tbsp Fresh Thyme, chopped

• 2 tsp Black Pepper

• 2 Tbsp Flour

• 1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 can cheese

• 1/8 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

• Heat pan on a medium-high heat, melt butter and cook onion until transparent.
• Add  vegetable broth and chopped corn. Turn down to medium heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to soften corn.
• Add flour and allow mixture to thicken.
• Add cream, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
• Add fresh thyme, black pepper and salt. Mix well and keep it aside.  
• Take the rolled dough and place the cooled corn filling on one side of the dough and close it, seal the edges by pressing with a fork. 
• Top with egg wash and bake it at 450F for 20min or till the crust turn brown (check in between)

For Chicken cheese Empanadas substitute Corn with oven roasted chicken and vegetable broth with chicken broth. Me and Emma enjoyed this delicious Empanada's and now it's your turn. I also thank Amelia and her husband for sharing the wonderful recipe with us.   

Noodles Vs Spaghetti; Fried egg Spaghetti

Can you identify the picture below? is it Noodles or Spaghetti. I know, it is difficult to find unless you have tasted it. Noodles and Spaghetti both look alike but they have a big difference form the way of cooking, serving and eating. 

The main ingredient of spaghetti is wheat flour, but noodles can contain different types of ingredients such as rice starch, rice flour, potato starch etc., A good quality of spaghetti is prepared of durum wheat. Noodles originated from China, where as spaghetti from Italy. The way of boiling of noodles to different from spaghetti.  Noodles are boiled in hot water with out any addition of flavor, where as spaghetti is boiled in a salted and herb flavored (optional) hot water with few drops of olive oil.


Noodles are served after stir frying them along with the ingredients where as spaghetti is served with sauce on topping. Generally, spaghetti is had with fork and Noodles with a chopstick. 

Now, enough of the story about their difference and jumping to the recipe.
As mentioned above the cooking of noodles and spaghetti is very different  But, I treat them the same and some times cook spaghetti like noodles and noodles like spaghetti. I do not mind changing the recipes because all that matters is about satisfying our taste buds. Here, I made a fried egg spaghetti with spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients
Spaghetti-1/2 box (100gr)
onion finely chopped-3tbsp
green chili finely chopped-1/4tbsp
olive oil-1tbsp
salt to taste
pepper powder to taste
spaghetti sauce-2tbsp
ginger garlic paste-1/2tbsp
egg-1

Method:

1. Take a deep bottom medium size pan and and fill it with 3/4 volume of water. 
2. Bring water to boil and add 1/4tbsp salt, 2drops of olive oil and pinch of oregano/thyme (optional).
3. Add spaghetti,  and cook till it is done (Make sure you are not over cooking it.
4. Take another thick bottom deep pan and add 1tbsp of olive oil and heat it.
5. Add onion and green chili and cook till onion turns transparent. 
6. Add ginger garlic paste and when the raw flavor goes away, add spaghetti sauce and mix well.
7. Keep stirring and cook for 2more min under medium heat. 
8. Drain water from spaghetti and add to the pan, mix well till all the ingredients are uniformly mixed.
9. Check for salt and pepper and add if required. 
10. Now in the same pan move  the noodles to one side and create an empty space, break open egg and add it on the other side of the noodles.
11. Cook till it obtains a omelet kind of texture, now scramble it  and mix with the spaghetti.
12. Serve hot, Hope you like my recipe and keep visiting for more wonderful recipes. You can also make Noodles in the similar style. I used tomato, mushroom raghu sauce, you can use any kind of sauce or only tomato puree instead of sauce.      

White sauce spaghetti and Endless wait on my Visa

No one likes waiting! I don't like it too, this wait is making me restless. I feel depressed some times because of my bad luck. Feels like you are seeing much frustrated and restless me, right! well all this anger and distress is due to long wait on my visa status. We’re all aware of the identity crisis that many girls experience after they get married and come to the USA on a dependent visa, famously or infamously known as H4 visa holders. The alarming number of stories about depression and loneliness experienced by H4 wives inspired me to share this part of story of me with you all.

I am also like many girls who come USA on dependent visa. I love working and my dream is to become a successful Biotechnologist. Though I have masters degree in India it is not enough to get a job here. So, I have joined school, for MS degree again. Recently, I have been granted an assistantship by my school, for which I am not eligible since I am on dependent visa. I have to apply for so called student visa F1. It's been more than two months now, still status is stuck at an initial review. I would give a damn to such rules that make the dependents more frustrated. I do not know what to do right now! I should have an SSN by next week to have my assistantship in hand. I would fairly consider this as an injustice to the dependent visa holders that they cannot work. At home I always feel that I am in golden cage where my dreams are being burnt in a charcoal casserole. I am stumbling all along my path towards my dream goal since I am in USA. Life here is not so easy if you come here with a dream, you have to do much more hard work than you think, to make your dollar dreams come true someday., I hope that all will be well soon and ending my story with a positive note and anxiety..

I just happened to see this recipe on some TV show one day and made it yesterday. It was really awesome and I am happy to share with you all, you will definitely love it.

Ingredients
Spaghetti: 1/2 packet
Water as required
salt to taste
milk-1 cup
wheat flour/ all purpose flour/ maida-1tbsp
pepper powder to taste
oregano or your favorite herbs-1/2tbsp
olive oil-1tbsp
garlic crushed-1/2tbsp
cheese of your choice- I used American cheese and suggest you to use shredded cheddar cheese.
If you wish to add veggies you can add them boiled
1tbsp of butter/olive oil
Method
Fill the pot with 3/4th water and bring it to boil. Add 1/2tbsp salt and spaghetti. While the spaghetti cooks we will prepare sauce. it should cook in just 10min. Then you drain 1/2 of water and keep it aside with remaining water left in it so that spaghetti may not stick to each other. But, while serving remove entire water.

For sauce:
Add 1tbsp of butter/olive oil in a medium heat pan and add 1tbsp of maida/wheat flour. Fry till it turns slight brown. Add 1 cup of milk and and keep stirring on a medium flame. Soon the mixture turns to a thick paste and to that paste add herbs, salt and pepper. Mix well and turn off the stove.

Seasoning Spaghetti

Heat 1/2tbsp of oil in a pan and add garlic and vegetables if you wish and mix well. Finally add spaghetti when the raw flavor of garlic disappears.

Serving:

Noe take a serving bowl and add spaghetti. Spread white sauce on top of it and sprinkle come cheese. yummy and delicious white sauce spaghetti is ready. I suggest you to add mushrooms to this recipe, it gives an amazing taste to this recipe.

Hope you will enjoy it.

Bakharwadi

Bakharwadi is one of the famous north Indian recipe. If you are among the people who love to eat sweet, hot and sourness together then this serves as a wonderful dish for you. It is a vacation time and I know lot of you will be planning for long trips and you want to make snacks that you can store for a while. Bakharwadi can be stored for a week or more, I feel it is a great picnic snack, every one can enjoy the wonderful spicy Indian flavors. We are planning for a 4 day trip shortly and I made these yummy bakharwadi's. They are simple to make, and one more thing is that you can surprise the guests/family members with this delicious treat if they are having for the first time. Most of the south Indians do not know about this recipe, so if you are a south Indian you can surprise your family with a variety twist like this. Kids will love the yummy fennel seed and sugar flavor in this recipe. I made them for the first time and got lots of compliments, you may better start trying now.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour (generally Maida/all purpose flour is used)- 1 cup
Oil for deep fry
Salt to taste
Caramel seeds/vama-1/2 tap
For filling
Fennel seed-1tbsp
Sesame seed/till/nuvvulu-1tbsp
Coriander powder-1/2 tbsp
Cumin powder-1/4tbsp
Sugar-1tbsp
Salt to taste
Lemon juice 2 tbsp
Method:
For dough:
In a bowl take wheat flour and add salt and caramel seeds and mix well. Then add 2 tbsp of oil and mix we'll. Add water and knead like a chapati dough. Add another tbsp of oil on top of the dough and polish the surface. Put a lid on it and let it rest for 10-15min. Meanwhile add all the filling dry ingredients mentioned  above to the hot pan and fry them at low flame for 5 min. Turn off the flame and grind it to a coarse powder by adding 2 tbsp lemon juice and keep aside.

Take the dough and divide it in to 6 equal portions. Make each of the divided part to round shape and with the help of rolling stick roll them like flat chapatis. Add 1 tbsp of filling and spread it on entire rolled dough.

Roll it inwards and cut them to 1/2 inch pieces each. Repeat this process. Now net oil in a pan at medium flame and fry these prepared bakharwadis till golden brown and take them on to paper towel to drain excess oil and store them in the air tight container for long run. Hope you like  them. Please leave your comments and suggestions.

Dhokla with the readymade flour available in the market

Dhokla is one of the dish I always wanted to try, this time I bought some ready made dokla flour form the "Patel brothers" one of the Indian grocery store in our near by area. The ingredients on the pack say that it contains besin (Gram flour) and rice flour. I was little confused, about the kind of ingredients that goes into the recipe. Later I did a little research and came up with my own recipe. It worked, dokla came out wonderfully. I never tasted dokla before, but now after making this yummy and healthy Indian flour cakes, I regret for not tasting them before. Form now dokla always stays in the weekly snack menu of our home.

I feel so dumb sometimes, because I bought dokla flour but forgot the fact that I do not have dokla plates. If your case is same like me, give me "high-5"!! No problem you can use the idli plates instead. Problem solved!  Now coming to the recipe.

Ingredients:
Dokla flour- 1 cup
Curd/ Yogurt-1/2cup

Turmeric-1/4 t.s
Chilli powder-1/4 t.s 
salt-1 t.s
Curry leaves-8
Green coriander-2 tbls
Eno fruit salt-1 t.s

For seasoning:

Mustard seeds- 1/2tbsp

oil-2tbsp

water-3tbsp

Whole green chillies-4

Coriander/cilantro leaves few

fresh grated coconut (optional)

PROCEDURE-
Take curd/yogurt in a bowl, beat well, then mix dhokla flour, turmeric, salt, chopped green chillies, lemon juice and chilli powder and make a semi thick batter with water. Keep aside for 20 minutes,add more water if it became thick.

Grease the plates with oil , add 1/2 t.s eno to the mixture and mix well and pour in to the greased plates and steam them. I used Microwave Idli maker for this process, I kept on high for 7min. Later when the dhoklas are ready wait for  5 minutes and let them set. When the dhoklas are all set remove them from the plates and cut into square or diamond shape pieces.

For seasoning:
Heat 3 tbls of oil in a small pan,add 1 t.s mustard seeds,pinch of asafoetida,,when done ,add 2 tbls of water in it and then garnish this mixture on the top of the dhokls along with coriander/cilantro and fresh coconut

Serve these yummy cakes with mint or coconut chutney. Hope you like my recipe, please leave your valuable comments and keep visitng.  

Holiday Parfait- With Strawberry and Yogurt

Hello Friends, back with a cool summer Holiday Parfait!
This summer the temperatures are hitting the top records and creating history. During this hot summer cravings for cool eats increases. I always feel like having an Ice cream, but if you are also a calorie bug like me your foot is always a way back. This parfait is for those calorie bugs, It tastes wonderful and fulfills your quench for an Ice cream. It is also the best way to make the kids to eat fruit and yogurt.

I never used to be a big fan of yogurt before, but after tasting the Dannon's 0% Fat vanilla yogurt I cannot resist my self form having it. According to the nutritional information on the box, it says that 8oz of yogurt contatins only 110calories. What do we need more than this, I decided to take 4oz of yogurt everyday afternoon with different organic berries. Today it is the turn of the strawberries and I feel this is the wonderful combination that I ever had with yogurt. Making of this parfait is very simple, that is the reason why it is called as "Holiday parfait". You can make this on a lazy day, it fills your tummy and makes it cool in this hot summer. There is no seperate recipe for this yummy parfait you can include whatever you like to have with yogurt in this recipe.

Ingredients: (For 8oz)
Low fat light vanilla yogurt- 8oz (app 220grms)
Berries- 10(I used strawberries, you can use any one type of berrie or use mixed berries)
 (In off season: You can find the mixed frozen berries in the frozen section in all grocery stores)
Nuts and rasins of your taste- I used shreaded Almonds and cranberry raisins
Chocolate powder- pinch or to your taste(optional)

If you are not using the vanilla flavored yogurt, you can always use sugar or sugar substitutes as the toppings as the natural yogurt do not contain sugar. Honey serves as a best substitute of sugar.

Directions:
Take a medium size bowl and add 4oz (app 110grms) of yogurt and spread as a bed. Wash and dry berries and cut them in to four large pieces and spread them as a layer on the top of yogurt. Add remaining yogurt on top of strawberrys and sprinkle chocolate powder on top of it or grate a chocolate bar. Finally garnish with shreaded almonds. Refrigerate for 15min or more and serve. You can store this preparation for 3 days minimum.


Hope you like my recipe, please post your comments and keep visitng for more wonderful summer recipes.

Lettuce Rice rolls

For me eating raw vegtables and leaves seemed weird before. This is because I am born and brought up in India where the people cook the food with all those delicious spices and eat. I love my food cooked and flavored, but now after tasting many different kinds of salads which are healthy too, I find myself enjoying these kind of foods either. Especially, Iceburg Lettuce it is wonderful leafy vegetable that you  can enjoy every bite of it with any combination you wish, some people like eating it with salads and some like me love eating with fried rice. Now coming to the recipe.

Ingredients:
 Cooked Rice-4 cups(when measured with 160ml cup)
Mint leaves-4 springs
Parsely/Cilantro leaves chopped-10 springs
Celery- 1 stem chopped to fine pieces
Sproted beans handful washed and chopped to half
Pepper powder-1/2tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander powder-1/4 tbsp
Soy sauce-2tbsp
Green chili-2
Bay leaf-2
Oil-2tbsp
Onions chopped-1/2cup
Lemon juice-2tbsp

For rolling
Iceberg Lettuce-1

Method:
Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaf, beans, celery, onions and green chili. Saute until the raw flavor goes away. Then add coriander powder, soy sauce, salt and pepper powder. Give a quick saute until the all vegetables are well cooked under medium flame. Now add rice, mint leaves and cilantro and mix well. Cook for about 2min under medium flame and squeeze some lemon juice at the end. Let it cool down a little bit because the lettuce leaf is very tender it may loose its crispness when you add hot rice to it.

To seperate leaves from lettuce, hit the stem portion to the cutting board twice then it will become loose and you can pull out the stem easily. Now you are left with leaves and you can easily seperate them. Take water in a bowl and add 1/2tbsp of salt and wash the lettuce leaves in it, keep it aside and let it dry. When the leaves are dry, put some rice in the leaf and fold it, place the folded portion down and serve with your favorite sauce on top. You can enjoy the same with egg fried rice, chicken fried rice etc., it tastes wonderful!!!

Hope you like my recipe, please feel free to post your comments. They are very valuable for me, you can even subscribe by e-mail to my blog, the recipes will reach your inbox. ThanX for visiting my space. Please bookmark it to visit/ remember again. 

Cooking Spagetti with salsa

Spagetti is favorite for everyone especially kids, love to scoop these soft noodles into their mouth. If kids say I am not hungry just make this yummy spagetti and put them on the table, they will run and come to you and finsh the bowl in no time. Spagettin is one wonderful food, that we can make many variations with. I love the way my mother makes, she grinds the tomato, green chili together and adds to the fried noodles by seasoning with salt and pepper. I used to have it very often. The taste of noodles/spagetti changes a lot by the addition of tomato juice, this inspired me to make spagetti with salsa. Now, coming to the recipe

Ingredients:
Spagetti/ Noodles-150 grms (dry weight)
Vegetables (you can prefer any one that you like, here I list the one I took)
Potato chopped in to long pieces-1/4 cup
Onion chopped-1/4 cup
Spring onions chopped-1/2bunch(5 springs)
Capsicum chopped-1/2cup
Pepper powder-1/2ts
soy sauce-2ts
Carrot-1 chopped
cilantro- chop nearly 10 springs
Salt to taste
Salsa(Mild)- 4tbsp
Green chili/ peppers-1 large
vegetable oil-3ts
shredded cheese-1ts (optional)

Directions:

• Take a pan and fill 1/2 a volume of it with water and bring them to boil, add little vegetable oil and very little salt and cook noodles.
• Turn off the stove when the noodles are done cooking, and transfer the noodles to the bowl containing Cold water and keep them aside.
• Now take a skillet and heat 2 ts of vegetable oil, add all vegetables mix and close the lid.
• Saute them in regular intervals under medium flame.
• When all vegetables are cooked add noodles and mix well.
• Add soy sauce, salsa, salt and pepper to taste and mix well..
• Finally add cilantro and turn off the stove, sprinkle some cheese on top and serve hot with cheese/ lemon juice.

Moong Dal Halwa

Halwa is everyones favorite. Making of halwa is very simple process, these preprations make in almost all house holds during festivals in India. If you have a sudden guest in your home, this is the perfect dessert you can make in minutes and serve hot. I love all kinds of halwa, but gajar/carrot halwa is always my favorite. Moong dal halwa tastes wonderful, you can't have just one spoon. I made this yesterday and you all know that my hubby does not have sweet tooth, but he finished the entire bowl that I served in no time. He just liked it soo much. I love watching him, enjoying my recipes :D.

Ingredients
Moong dal/Pesara Pappu -2cups
Ghee-4tbsp
Jaggery grated-1 and 1/2 cups, if using sugar-2 cups...you can also add brown sugar if you like
Milk-3cups
cardamom powder-1/2tbsp
Nuts and dry fruits as per your taste (For garnishing)

Directions
Dry roast Moong dal and grind it in to a coarse powder when it is chill. In a deep, thick bottom non-stick pan boil milk, when the milk came to boil add moong dal powder and mix well. When the moong dal absorbs all milk and starts becoming thick add sugar/jaggery (Bellam)/ brown sugar and mix well. Also add ghee, cook under medium flame and keep stirring the mixture. Now when the ghee starts leaving the halwa from the sides of the pan, add cardamom powder and mix well. Take the mixture in to the serving bowl and garnish with nuts and dry fruits. You can serve it hot or cold.  Kids love chilled halwa. You can also make burfis out of this halwa, by pouring the halwa on a ghee greased plate and allow it to chill in a fridge, cut it in to bars  and serve. Hope you like my recipe. I just enjoyed it!!!!

Please post your comments and like me on facebook.
cheers,
DD

Black eyed peas and Split green gram Burger patties

I love this recipe for green gram and black eyed peas patties because its easy to make as well as tasty, two of my favorite qualities in a recipe! They aren't quite firm enough to toss grill, but are good for and very nutritious.
Want to know about calories in Indian food CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALORIE CHART

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup dry split green gram
• 1/2cup black eye peas
• 2 carrots grated
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 slices bread, crumbled
• 1 tbsp of freshly chopped garlic
• 10 springs of cilantro/parsely/coriander  chopped
• 1/4cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• salt and pepper to taste
• oil for frying
• Amchur powder/chat masala---optional

Preparation:

Soak beans over night and cook them in a cooker, for 2 whistles. Cook them fine but keep an eye on it so that it may not turn mushy. Filter all water after cooking and dry them on a paper towel.

Sautee the onions and garlic till soft, about 3-5 minutes in 1tbsp of oil. In a large bowl, mash the beans until almost smooth(Let the some beans remain intact). Add sauteed onions and the rest of the ingredients, except the oil, adding the flour a few tablespoons at a time to combine well. Mixture will be thick.

Form bean mixture into patties, approximately ½ inch thick. Take plain flour in a bowl and dust the patties with flour and  fry patties in a small amount of oil until slightly firm.
Make veggie burgers with your favorite vegges, I made them with slice of tomato, onion and american cheese, mayo and mustard!
enjoy!!! :)


Click here for Chickpea Vegetable Burger
Click here for blackeyed peas burger
Click here for Indian food calorie chart


Nutrition Information (From calorie count):Servings: 8
Calories per serving: 294
Calories from Fat: 11
Total Fat: 1.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 25mg
Total Carbohydrates: 55.3g
Dietary Fiber:11.3g, 45% RDA
Protein: 16.8g
Vitamin A 0%, Vitamin C 1%, Calcium 10%, Iron 23%, based on a 2000 calorie diet

Sending for the event Fast food not fat food by UMA of My kitchen experiments

Puffed rice- Murmurala upma with celery and capsicum

Puffed rice( muramuralu) 6 cups
Green chili finely chopped 1/2 tbsp
Lemon juice 3 tbsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds 1-2 tbsp
Mustard seeds 1-2 tbsp
Red chili 1
Onion 1 cup divided
Salt to taste
Cilantro/ coriander enough for garnishing optional
Curry leaf optional
Roasted chana dal powder-2tbsp
Celery 1 stalk finely chopped
capsicum-chopped 1/4cup



Method
Soak puffed rice in a vessel with 10 cups of water for about 5 min. Mean while heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and allow them to splatter. Then add cumin seeds & curry leaf and wait till they pop up. Now add 1/2 cup onions, green chili, capsicum &celery and sauté till they are well cooked. Add turmeric powder and sauté till raw flavor goes away. Add lemon juice and salt. Then squeeze out water from puffed rice and add it to the pan and mix well. Cook fow 3 min under medium flame sauting in regular intervals. Add remaining 1/2 cup onions and mix well. You can add 2 tbsp of roasted gram dal powder( putanala podi) which enhances the taste. You can garnish with coriander and serve if you wish. Hope you like my recipe.

semiya spring rolls-Great idea with leftovers

Semiya is Indian Vermicelli made of durum wheat, it is free of egg. Like upma this serves as an easy making breakfast in the busy mornings. You can make this in several variations. I made with mushroom and tofu. Now a days people are taking lot of care on their diet, I am sure that you will also check for the nutrition label before you eat anything. Cultivating these food habits in your daily life is very important, make sure that what ever you eat you know the consequences of it on your health. So, friends eat healthy and stay fit. But I also suggest you not be so strict on your diet, sometimes it is OK to have kind of unhealthy fatty foods. I would like to have jilabi, any time. My all sensory neurons will stop working and only olfactory (Smell) neurons will work at that time, if I'm in front of Jilebi. Don't worry if you skip your strict diet on one day. After all you should enjoy all the pleasures to your life.

Now this recipe is made from leftover semiya upma, seasoned and modified. I already posted the recipe of upma on this blog you can click here to find it.

Ingredients:
Spring roll sheets-6
Mushrooms chopped-1cup
Onion finely chopped-1/4cup
Lemon juice-2tbsp
oil-2tbsp and for deep fry.
Mix 2tbsp of all purpose flour with 2tbsp of water.

Method:

Heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan and add onions. When the onions are tender add mushrooms and keep sauteing them till they are well cooked. Then add leftover semiya/vermicelli. Mix well and turn off the stove. Now take the spring roll sheets, put one tbsp of semiyo on one corner and start rolling. stick the edge of the spring roll with maida/All purpose flour paste. Heat oil for deep fry in a pan and fry them under medium flame. Enjoy with tomato ketchup/green chutney.

Hope you like my recipe.

Sweet Potato curry Puffs

Sweet potatoes are the excellent source of vitamins and nutrients. These sweet potatoes come in several different varieties viz yellow, Orange & purple etc., Orange sweet potato is some times called as Yam in North America. While browsing in the Internet I found out that it serves as a great food for the type-2 diabetes patients. It will induce the production of insulin to certain extent. Apart from this it contains fiber which is a major health beneficiary.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALORIE CHART

In India sweet potatoes are had during the long fasting hours for instant energy. In villages I remember my grand mother used to grill them on a direct flame, and later serve by removing the skin and seasoned with salt. These are cooked in many different varieties all over the world. I am presenting you the little Indianised version of a puff pastry.

Ingredients
Sweet potato-1big
Onion finely chopped-1cup
Green chili finely chopped-1/2tbsp
Curry leafs-finely chopped-10 leaves
Salt to taste
Pepper powder to taste
chat masala-1/4tbsp(optional) or Amchur powder/dry mango powder-pinch(optional)
Lemon juice-2tbsp
oil-2tbsp
mustard seeds-1/4tbsp
cumin seeds-1/4tbsp
Puff pastry sheet-1 (makes 6 puffs)

Method
Cook sweet potato with little salt. Peal skin and mash it. Now heat 2tbsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they splatter add onion,curry leaf, salt, pepper powder, chat masala and green chili. When they are cooked finely add mashed sweet potato and mix well. Then add lemon juice and mix well. Turn off the stove and let the mixture come to room temperature.

Take the pastry sheet out of the pack and wait till it comes to room temperature. Unroll the pastry sheet and cut it into six equal pieces. Place the curry in every sheet and close it. Pre heat the oven to 400F. Mean while place the puffs in the refrigerator for 5min and bake for 20-25min. Till puffs are golden brown. Enjoy these puffs with tomato sauce.

Hope you like it and please do not forget to leave a comment.

Mysore bonda-- instant version

OMG!! Was it really me who made this wonderful bonda. I was just browsing through the Internet for some special kind of instant and filling recipes,this time deep fry food are an excuse since we did not have any deep fried food from few weeks. I never thought making of Mysore bonda was this much easier, until I find this recipe. Here is the wonderful recipe of instant Mysore bonda.

Ingredient
Makes 20 Mysore bonda
Maida/all purpose flour- 2 cups
Rice flour 1/2 cup
Green chili Finley chopped-1/2 tbsp
Finely chopped ginger 1/4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Baking soda 1/2 tbsp
Butter milk for mixing
Freshly grated coconut 1 tbsp optional
Oil for deep fry

Method
Mix all the ingredients mentioned above in a large bowl except butter milk. When all are throughly combined, then add butter milk and mix well. The consistency of the batter should be little thick. Heat oil in a pan. Take small bowl full of water, dip your hand into water every time you take a dough in to your hand. This way your dough will not stick to your hand and we can obtain the bonda with smooth finishing. Take one lemon size batter in your hand and with the help of thumb push it to the edge of your fingers and drop it into oil. Fry them till they are golden brown on all sides under medium flame. If you keep flame on high only outer part gets cooked and inner remains raw. Take them out of the pan when they are done and serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney. Hope you like my recipe.

Bread pakoda chat

Bread is obviously every ones favorite base for making many different kind of recipes. Bread pakoda is a very crunchy appetizer, you can add more magic to this recipe by adding little freshly made salad to this and enjoy your evenings with a cup of tea.

Ingredients
Bread- 2slices
besin/ gram flour-3tbsp
oil for deep fry
Ajwain-pinch of seeds
Salt to taste
red chili powder to taste

For salad
Onion finely chopped-4tbsp
finely chopped coriander/cilantro leaves-1tbsp
lemon juice-1tbsp
salt to taste
chat masala-pinch
pepper/red chilli powder-pinch

Method
Take the besin flour in a bowl and add ajwain, salt and red chili powder and mix with water. The consistency should be very little thick. Now take the bread slices and cut them diagonally, forming 2 triangles from each slice and dip the slice in the batter and deep fry them under medium flame in oil. Take them out when both sides are golden brown.

 Now mix all the salad ingredients in a bowl. Take 1tbsp of this salad/chat and garnish on the top of each bread pakoda and enjoy with s cup of tea. The lemon and chat masala in the salad gives a different taste with the crispy bite of pakoda. we loved it and we wish that you love it too!!!

Soya chunks Vegetable Biryani

Soya chunks works wonderful when you like to have something different kind of vegetable biryani. Just throw in few cooked soya chunks in the curry you make for vegetable biryani and there you go!!! yummy biryani is ready, which is healthy too!!!

Ingredients:
Soya chunks cooked in 1/2tbsp of salt-1 cup
Vegetables of your choice-3cups
I used 10 beans chopped, 1 small potato chopped, 1 big carrot chopped
Green peas-1/4cup, Cauliflower-1/2cup, capsicum chopped-1/4cup
Onion-1/2cup chopped
Tomato-1cup chopped
Yogurt/curd-1cup
Oil-2tbsp
Butter-1tbsp(Please do not skip this, this butter gives a special flavor to this recipe)
Salt to taste
Cloves-4
Elachi/Cardamom-2
Cinnamon stick-1 inch
Bay leaf-2
Pudina/mint fresh leaves-20 springs
Cilantro 10 springs chopped
Garam masala-1/4tbsp(Mild spicy)
Coriander powder-1tbsp
Cumin powder-1/2tbsp
Green chili-3
Basmathi Rice-3cups(1cup=200ml)
Cumin seeds/Black Cumin-1/2tbsp
Turmeric-1/8th tbsp
Ginger garlic paste-1tbsp

Method:
Wash and soak basmati rice in 5cups of water. Add 1tbsp of salt and cook until 80% done. Take a large skillet and heat 2tbsp of oil and 1tbsp of butter. Then add cumin seeds and when they start splattering add Clove, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaf. Add onion, soy chunks and green chili cook till they become transparent. Add ginger garlic paste and turmeric. When they are well cooked, add all the vegetables and saute them. Cover the skillet and cook till all vegetables are 70% cooked. Then add yogurt/curd, cumin powder, coriander powder & garam masala. Mix them all and cook well. Add salt to taste and cook till all vegetables are cooked well. Finally add cilantro and mint leaves and cook till raw flavor goes away.
Arrange rice and curry layers alternatively in a large thick pan and cook under medium flame till the rice is well cooked.

When the rice is done, Serve hot with raita/ mirchi ka salan. you can find these recipes in my blog. trust me it will taste awesome, I just sqeezed little tomato juice on top and had it hot hot!!!!!!!
hope you like it too!!!


 

Stuffed bread fritter (stuffed Bread pakoda)

Bread is the best base to try any kind of recipe with it! I already made bread omlet, sandwich and bread curry. Now it is time to make a crispy and yummy snack with it, this is fabulous appetizer for kids. We loved it, hope you love it too!!!

Ingredients
Bread(any preferably sandwich bread)-2
Potato 1 big grated
Carrots 1 big grated
Cabbage 1/2 cup finely chopped
Onion 1 big finely chopped
Salt to taste
Green chili 2 finely chipped
oil for deep fry
If you like to make little spicy add ajinamoto or chat masala

Method
Add thrice volume of water to potato, cabbage and carrot grated mixture. Boil it and strain it. If possible add this mixture to the kitchen towel and wait till all the water is drained out. Later add green chili and salt. Mix well. Then take a small lemon size mixture in your hand and roll it like a ball. Put this mixture at the center of bread( make sure you remove the brown edges) along the length wise then roll it cut it to the center and fry it till it turns golden brown under medium flame. Drain it in a paper towel and enjoy with sauce. Hope you like my recipe, please leave your comments while you leave.