Hello to all Bloggo-buddies...This is just to let you all know that I would be taking a break from my blog for a while as I would be shifting from Germany and the packing - unpacking would require lot of my time. Gosh, packing is so boring !
Anyway taking break does not mean I will not keep trying out new dishes; I definitely will ; and click them but only will be able to post after 15th December tentatively and will soon visit all your lip smacking and amazing posts....
Till then Take good care of yourself...Happy Blogging...See u all soon in a while...Miss u all...
Palak is one of my favourite green veggies and endorsed by Popeye- The Sailor Man. But apart from all that it has high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled.
In case I am too lazy to make Palak Paratha or Aloo Palak or Dal Palak or plain Palak subji, I make Palak Rice. The main advantage is I need not make any side dish separately to go with this. What's more, if you have leftover rice, this is more easy to prepare. Read on further for the recipe:-
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Spinach - 1 Bunch
Onion - 1 big sliced
Ginger- Garlic - 2tbsp. finely chopped
Green chillies - 2-3
Salt as per Taste
Sugar 2 tsp.
garam masala powder 1 tsp.
Whole Garam Masala
Cumin seeds
Oil/ Ghee- 1 1/2 tbsp. (I used ghee as it gives superb flavour)
1. Wash and soak rice for 30 mins. In a microwave bowl add the soaked rice and enough water to cook the rice, add salt and a tsp. of oil. Cook it for 8 mins on microwave high. Make sure that the rice does not become too soggy. Keep it aside.
2. Blanch spinach. Drain and blend into the blender along with 3 green chillies and a pinch of salt.
3. In a pan, heat up ghee/oil and add whole garam masala and cumin seeds; saute it for a minute.
4. Then add sliced onion and saute till translucent. Add ginger-garlic and again saute till the raw flavour of ginger- garlic goes away.
5. Now add 3/4 palak puree and saute for 2-3 mins. Now add rice, salt, sugar, garam masala powder at once and light mix everything without breaking the rice grain.
6. Now add the remaining palak puree and just toss everything together. Cover and cook for 2-3 mins and remove from gas. Serve hot.
Note:-
1. While serving pour a tsp. of ghee on hot palak rice for better taste.
2. Do not add to much of palak puree; it should be just enough to give colour to the rice and make it little moist.
I know Diwali's come and gone, but indulge me with this post. I had a busy week making the faral (snacks or munchis, mostly fried, like this one), cleaning the house and cooking for the Diwali bash. So did not get time to make these karanjis. I made them earlier this week; with the twist of baking them and not frying. Also I used the Stuffing of fresh grated coconut and Jaggery; not sugar. This is not a completely healthy or diet recipe as I have added lot of ghee while making the dough. Without ghee karanji will become dry and may get burned while baking. Just read on for the recipe:-
For Covering:-
3/4 cup Fine Sooji/Rava
1/4 cup Maida/ Refined Flour
Pinch of salt
4 tsp. Ghee (Clarified butter)
For Stuffing:-
2 cups of Grated coconut
1 cup grated Jaggery
Dry Fruits of your choice ( I used almonds and cashewnuts)
A pinch of Saffron
1 tsp. Cardamom Powder
Make the Dough:-
1. Mix in all the ingredients mentioned above for covering and with the help of milk; knead into a semi soft dough.
2. Keep it covered with a damp cloth at least for 30 mins.
3. Divide into equal portions and shape them into balls. Keep them covered with a damp cloth.
Make the Stuffing:-
In a microwave bowl, Mix in the ingredients listed for stuffing and microwave it about 7-8 mins. string it after every 2 mins.
Make the Karanjis:-
1. Pre-heat the oven at 180°C.
2.Take one ball of dough and using rolling pin, roll it into a puri .
3. Place stuffing on the puri proportionately and fold the puri to form a semi circle (karanji).
4. Fold and press the edges of the karanji. Make design by using fork.
5. In the similar way prepare all the karanjis.
6. Now place all karanjis on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil.
7. apply some ghee on top of karanjis. (optional; I didn't...instead I added this extra ghee into the dough earlier)
8. Bake them at 180°C for about 40 mins or till the karanjis get light golden brown colour from both sides. Do not make them too brown as it will burn the filling. The Baked Karanjis are now ready to serve.
The Sunshine Award, is awarded to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world. The rules for accepting this award are:- Put the logo on your blog or within your post, Pass the award on to 12 bloggers, Link the nominees within your post, Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog,
Share the love and link to the person from whom you have received this award.
This wonderful Award was shared with me by Kurinji Kathambam. Thank you sooo so much dear for sharing this award with me. Do visit her blog for lovely collection of recipes and more than that her wonderful Kolams (Rangolis). Thank you Dear Once again...
I'm forwarding "Sunshine" award to the following bloggers. Dear recipients do forward this award to 12 other bloggo-buddies.
Minestrone soup is the name for a variety of thick Italian soups made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes. It is the National Soup of Italy ; assorted vegetable broth served with macaroni. It is very simple to make and gets ready in few minutes. Read on for the recipe..
Tomato 1 medium Carrot, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 1/2 medium French beans, 1 cm pieces 3-4
Cabbage shredded 1/2 cup Zucchini, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 1 medium (optional) Potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes 1 medium Green peas 1/8 cup Fresh basil leaves 2-3 (optional)
Dry basil (option for fresh leaves) a pinch
Oregano (Dry) a pinch
Tomato Puree 2 tbsp. Oil 1/2 tbsp.
Garlic, chopped 4-6 cloves Onion , chopped 1 medium
Vegetable stock / Water 1 1/2 cups Macaroni 2 tbsp.
Salt to taste White pepper powder 1/2 tsp.
Parmesan cheese, grated for garnish
1. Wash and cut half of basil leaves into strips and keep in cold water (if you are using fresh leaves).
2. Blanch tomato and once it cools down remove its seeds and skin and chop roughly.
3. Now in a Pan boil Vegetable stock/ water and add the macaroni, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, french beans, green peas and let it boil for about 5-7 mins.
4. Add the blanched chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and let it boil for another minute. Make sure the potatoes are cooked but at the same time not mashed up and likewise other vegetables.
5. In another pan; heat oil (preferably olive oil) and add chopped garlic, saute it for a minute. Then add chopped onions and saute for another minute; now add the dry oregano and pour this over the vegetable broth mixture.
6. Season with salt and white pepper powder. Serve hot, garnished with fresh basil strips and grated Parmesan cheese.
Sending this for my The Soup Event and also Let me remind you all the the event gets over within 2 days..so hurry up with your entries.
Is Chop Suey American or Chinese? It definitely tastes Chinese and “Chop Suey” has a Chinese ring to it. But, many actually believe that Chop Suey is an American dish.
The story goes that once in San Francisco, when a restaurant was closing down a few sleazy customers bullied the chef into serving them. Since he was out of food he improvised using the leftovers in his kitchen and came up with what became America’s authentic 'Chinese dish'. American Chop Suey!
Anthropologist, M Anderson who disagreed with this popular belief and came to the scene with the Chinese tale of Chop Suey. According to him Chop Suey was born in a county called Taishin in China. 60% of migrants to America from China were from this city. This county is renowned for dishes that use an assortment of vegetables that are stir fried.He believes, that since the arrival of the migrants from Taishin, this dish was adopted and then adapted to the American taste.
So finally, is Chop Suey American or Chinese??...and you thought only humans suffer from identity crisis!
American Chopsuey usually is made with crunchy stir fried vegetables, topped with fried noodles and then topped with the chopsuey sauce. This used to be one of my favorite items to order when I visited any Indo- Chinese restaurant in India. There was something about this sweetish slightly spicy sauce that really appealed to me and there is no denying the crunchy fried noodles had something to do with my interest in this dish too :-)
Just read on further for the delicious recipe:-
Noodles 2 pkts. ( I used Maggi Noddles....Well I had some packets of tasteless pakistani Maggi noodles; So I used the noodles and threw away the Masala. You can use regular noodles as well)
Salt to taste
Oil 6 tablespoons + to deep fry
Cornflour/ corn starch 2 tbsp.
Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Onion , Diced 1 medium
Carrot, diced 1 medium
Bell Peppers Diced 1/2 cup (all 3 Colours)
Cabbage, Diced 1/4 medium
Corn and Green Peas - 1 tbsp. each
White pepper powder 1/2 tsp.
Sugar 1 tsp.
Tomato Ketch-Up 4 tbsp.
Water / stock 1 cup
Eggs 2
1. Boil noodles in water by adding salt, oil until almost cooked. Remove, drain and cool.
2. Divide the cooked noodles into four equal portions, form into a nest and deep fry in hot oil till light brown and crisp. Remove and drain on an absorbent kitchen towel.
3. Blend cornstarch in quarter-cup water and set aside.
4. Heat two tbsp of oil now, add chopped ginger, garlic and stir-fry briefly.
