Kele ki chaat

This is a simple yummy sweet and sour concoction of ripe bananas. Easy to whip up and awesomely tasty.

You need:
Ripe bananas - 2
Salt - 1/4 tsp or to taste
Powdered sugar - 1 tbsp
Juice of 1 lemon
red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

How to:

Chop the banans in to rounds. Add the remaining ingredients and toss well. Ready to eat :)

Serve immidiately else the bananas will turn soggy.

Crispy noodle salad

This is like the Chinese bhel that you might find on the streets of Mumbai. A little bit of effort is needed on the crispy noodle part, but the end result is awesome :)

You need:
Hakka noodles - half pack
Cucumber - 1 cubed
Tomatoes - 2 large julienned
Onion - 2 medium - julienned (make sure you cut thin strips)
Capsicum - 1 julienned
Cabbage - Julienned 1 cup
Soy sauce - 3 tbsp
Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Chilly sauce - 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 4 tbsp
salt to taste
Sugar - 1 tsp
Maida (refined wheat flour) - 1 cup
Oil to deep fry


How to:
Mix all the vegetables and sauces together in a bowl. Add salt, Mix well and keep aside.
Heat a deep pan full of water. When the water starts boiling add a tsp of salt and a tsp of oil in it. Add the Hakka noodles and boil for 8-10 minutes or till done. Don't let them become too soft. Also don't break the noodles while adding them to the water.


Once the noodles are done. Strain and soak in a pan of iced water. Strain out the water again and rub some oil on the noodles.


Heat oil in a deep pan. Spread maida in a plate. When the oil is hot, take a handful of noodles and dust them with maida. shake off excess flour and put them in the hot oil. Reduce the flame and fry till golden brown. Remove from the oil and keep aside. You will end up with a nest of noodles. Make sure you put the noodles in only when the oil is really hot.


Once all the noodles are fried you are ready to serve your salad. Taste the vegetable mix and add more sauce/spice according to your taste. While serving, crush the fried noodles to smaller pieces and mix with the vegetables.


You can add a sprinkling of coriander leaves to garnish.

Crunchy Veg Salad

The health conscious are making me bow to their wishes! So here is a salad that I like to munch on when I am looking for a light eat.

You need:

• Lettuce - 1 cup torn leaves
• Cucumber - 1/2 cup diced
• Tomato - 1 diced and seeds removed
• Onion - 1 finely chopped
• Cottage cheese - 1/2 cup cut into small pieces
• Feta cheese (optional) - just a little bit to sprinkle
• Walnuts - a handful of small pieces
• Black olives - a handful
• Bread cruotons - 1 handful
• Juice of one lemon
• Chilli Vinegar - 1 tbsp
• White pepper - 1 tsp (if you don't have it opt for black pepper)
• Olive oil - 1 tsp
• Honey - 1 tsp
• Fresh coriander leaves - to garnish
• Salt - to taste

Mix everything together, toss well and serve immediately.

Pasta Salad

This one is my all time favorite and loved by people who have tried it. It's a cold salad so very refreshing on a hot day...

Penne pasta - 200g
Onions -2 medium (julienned)
Tomato - 1 medium (julienned - remove seeds as much as possible)
Red/yellow/green capsicum - Mixed 1 cupful (cubed and blanched)
Corn - 1/4th cup (boiled)
Lettuce - few leaves (tear into bite size pieces)
Tomato ketchup - 3tbsp
Mayonnaise - 2 tbsp (or you can add as much as you want depending on the creaminess you want)
oregano - 1 tsp
salt to taste
pepper to taste
red chilli powder to taste

Heat 5 cups of water with 1 tsp salt and a few drops of oil. Add pasta and boil for 10 minutes or till cooked. Drain the water and dip the pasta in ice cold water. Drain this water out as well. Mix rest of the ingredients with the pasta and keep in the fridge to chill. Serve after half an hour or later when the pasta has absorbed the flavors.

Oh Honey!

Honey is one of the oldest foods known to man. The sweet golden syrup was considered a food for the gods and features prominently in religious and medicinal activities. Various cultures have adopted it with relish. Indian's use honey as a vital part of the “panchamrit” used to anoint the deities and drink it as a blessing of the gods. It is also a part of many home-remedies especially for a bad throat. A mixture of honey with warm milk is believed to induce sleep. Honey with water is taken by people wanting to lose the extra kilos and many more. Anyway, this post is not about home remedies... It's about my favorite honey dishes.

Apple and Raisin Salad

2 apples - diced

A fistful of raisins

2 tbsp honey

Salt to taste

Juice of 1/2 lemon

A pinch of cinnamon powder

Mix everything in a bowl and serve fresh

Honey and Lemon Cooler

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsp honey (vary as per sweetness requirement)

salt - 1/2 tsp

Mint leaves - 3-4

Ice

Roughly crush ice and mint leaves together and put in a tall glass. Mix lemon juice and honey and pour over the ice. Add water to fill 3/4th of the glass. Stir and garnish with a sprig of mint and a wedge of lemon.

If you have your favorite honey recipes too, please feel free to share...