Mint and Cucumber Raita

This is one of those super refreshing accompaniments that go so well with the afternoon meal. And ready in a jiffy.

You need:
3 cups of curd - sieve it to remove any lumps
1 cup finely chopped/ grated cucumber
1/4 cup mint leaves - finely chopped
Sugar - 1 tsp
Roasted cumin seeds (jeera)- slightly ground
salt - to taste

How to:
Mix curd, cucumber, sugar and mint together and chill in the fridge for some time. Just before serving add the salt and garnish with the roasted cumin seeds.

Stuffed Paranthas - Palak

Parantha's (a kind of griddle cooked flat bread) are an evergreen north Indian breakfast option. There are a variety of stuffing one can use to make delicious and healthy paranthas. My breakfast for tomorrow is stuffed palak paratha. This one is a little tricky so I'll put in an how to make it easy tip at the end ;) read on:
You need:
Wheat flour - 2 cups
Curd - 1 tbsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
1 green chilly - finely chopped
Palak (spinach) - chopped finely 2 cups (wash really well before chopping)
Oil for cooking
Water for kneading the dough

How to:
Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp oil and curd to the wheat flour. Mix slightly and then with water knead into a tight dough. Cover and keep aside.
Drain the washed and chopped spinach really well to remove all water. Add red chilly powder, turmeric powder, green chilly, and cumin seeds. Mix well. DO NOT add salt at this point. If you do, the spinach will leave water and cannot be used as stuffing.
Take the dough and knead it some more till it is smooth. Divide into fist size parts. Roll out each part with a rolling pin into small circles. Put a drop of oil in the middle of the circle, add a pinch or 2 of salt (according to your taste) and spread evenly on the circle. Put a little of the spinach filling in the center and fold the edges to close the ball. Roll out again into a flat round bread. Sprinkle some wheat flour while rolling to avoid the bread sticking to the surface.

Heat a griddle and put the rolled parantha on it to cook. Spread a little oil on both sides and cook till they are nicely crisp and brown.

An easier way to make it is to mix all the ingredients together (even the spinach) while kneading the dough. Then you only need to roll it out and cook it and avoid the messiness of the stuffing. tastes are different though and I prefer the stuffed version :)

More stuffing recipes coming up :)

Eggless pancakes

I got this recipe from the net. Added a bit of my twist to it.. and here it is :)
For the pancake you need:

• Maida (self raising flour) - 1 cup


• Whole milk - 1 cup


• Water - 1 tbsp


• Oil - 1 tbsp


• Baking soda - 2 tsp


• Sugar - 1 tsp


• Honey - 1 tsp


• Cinnamon powder- 1 tsp


• Salt - 1/2 tsp


• Butter - 2 tbsp

For the filling you need

• Honey - 6 tbsp


• Strawberries - 6 chopped


• Bananas - 2 chopped


• Chocolate sauce/ Strawberry syrup - as much as you like :)

How to:

• Put honey, strawberries and bananas in a jar and shake well. Keep aside


• In a bowl add maida, salt, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon powder and mix well


• Add the remaining ingredients except butter and mix lightly. Do not mix too much. It's ok if you see lumps. Set aside for 5 minutes.


• Heat an non stick griddle and add butter to it. Heat till the butter just melts. Add the butter to the pancake mix and stir well


• Heat the griddle again. Add 1/4th of the pancake mixture to the griddle, spread in a thick circle and cook till bubbles appears on the surface. Flip and cook till the other side is done.


• Take the pancake out on a plate bubble side up and spread half the filling mixture on it. Cook another pancake and use it to sandwich the filling. Top with a generous helping of chocolate sauce/ strawberry syrup. Ready to eat. Can make another sandwich from the remaining mixture :)

Kairi ki Launji (Sweet and Sour raw mango chutney)

This is my favorite accompaniment with lunch in summers. Its tangy and sweet and fresh and just the thing that'll make you lick your fingers.
You need:
Raw mango (kairi) - 2 diced
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Sauf (fennel seeds) - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Dry ginger (Saunth) - 1tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

How to:
Heat oil in a pan and add the saunf and dried ginger. Add the chopped kairi, cover and cook till it is slightly soft. Add the other ingredients (except sugar) and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and cook till the oil leaves sides. Mash the mango pieces a bit to give a pulpy consistency.

Ready to eat :)

Jalapeno and olive pasta sauce

This is my twist on the regular red sauce that I make to go with pasta. Makes it spicier and yummier.

You need:

• Tomatoes - 4 medium (make sure they are red to give that beautiful color to the sauce)


• Garlic - 10-12 cloves (believe me.. more garlic.. more yumminess)


• Jalapenos - 2 ( I got it out of the can.. so I took 5 pieces)


• Black olives (or green ones or mix both) - a handful (again out of the can here)


• One green chilly (optional)


• A handful of fresh coriander leaves


• Onions - 3 medium - finely chopped


• Olive oil - 1/2 cup (GOOD FOR HEALTH)


• Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp


• Chilly flakes - 2 tsp


• Oregano - 2 tsp


• Salt to taste

How to:

• Put green chilly, tomatoes, and garlic in a mixer and grind to a paste


• In this put in the olives, jalapenos and fresh coriander and just give one turn in the mixer. The paste should be coarse and grainy


• Heat the oil in a pan and saute the chopped onions till they are slightly golden


• Add the tomato paste to it, cover and cook for 5 minutes


• Add the chilly powder, chilly flakes, oregano and salt to it and cook till the oil leaves sides.

Toss in any pasta and serve hot :)

Tri-color pulav

Ok.. this is something that i tried today and it came out really well.. Hence the post :)
You need:

• Long grained basmati rice - 2 cups


• Ghee - 1/2 cup (sorry folks.. i know its too much.. but gotta be done)


• Cashew nuts - a fistful


• raisins - 4-5


• Onions - 3 (Julienne one and finely chop the other 2)


• green chillies - 3 (finely chopped)


• ginger - 1" piece (finely chopped)


• Mixed veg (peas/diced carrots/corn/chopped beans) - total 1 cup.. maxx 1/2 cup


• tejpatta - 1 leaf


• cloves - 2-3


• Badi ilaichi - 1


• cumin seeds - 1 tsp


• juice of 1/2 lemon


• salt to taste


• turmeric powder - 2 tsp


• red food color - 1 tsp

How to (this is my shortcut method so a little unorthodox)

In a pressure cooker add the washed rice and the mixed vegetables. Add salt and 1 1/2 cup of water. Close the cooker and cook on a high flame for one whistle. Immediately remove from flame and let out all the steam. Open the cooker and drain out all the remaining water from the rice.

From this semi cooked rice take a little less than 1/4 quantity in a separate bowl. Add the red food color and mix well. Similarly take another bowl and take out less than 1/4 of rice in that, add turmeric and mix well. Let the remaining rice be white.

In a deep pan, heat the ghee. Add tejpatta, ilaichi, cloves, and cumin seeds. Add the julienned onion and cook till brown. Add the finely chopped onions, cashews, green chillies and ginger and cook till brown.

While the onions are browning.. wash off the colored rice. I.e. add water to the rice where you had added the red food color and the turmeric and wash out all the color. Once all color is washed off.. mix it with the white rice. Add this mixed rice to the browning onions and mix well. Add some salt if needed. Add the raisins. Cover and cook till the rice is tender.

Just before serving sprinkle the lemon juice and mix well.

Tawa Sabzi

Quite high calorie (sorry my low fat diet friends) but awesomely delicious..
What you need:

• Assorted vegetables: Ladyfinger (Bhindi), Bitter gourd (Karela), Mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, beans, baby corn, onions - pick any that interests you or is available


• 4 big tomatoes


• 2 big onions


• 1 green chilly


• 1/2 " piece of ginger


• 2-3 cloves garlic (optional)


• 1/4 cup thick curd


• red chilly powder - 2 tsp


• turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp


• coriander powder - 2 tsp


• garam masala - 1 tsp


• salt to taste


• Oil for frying

How to:

• Grind tomatoes, onions, green chilly, ginger and garlic into a paste


• Heat 2 tbsp oil and add the paste. Cook till oil starts to leaves sides. Add all the masala and


• Clean the vegetables and slice horizontally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Deep fry these slices till tender


• Just before serving, heat a griddle (tawa) and add 1 tsp oil to it. Add the tomato paste and fry for a while. Add the vegetables and keep cooking then arrange the vegetables on the sides to keep hot.


• While serving take a portion of the veggies in the center of the griddle and add a little curd to it. Fry for a few seconds and serve hot.