Garden salad with Yogurt Mustard dressing

As you all know salads can be made of different ingredients.I prepared a green salad for dinner to cut down some calorie intake at nights.

I have used limited veggies or can say like those are available in my refrigerator.

The dressing has been altered with some ingredients to cut calories. For a mayonnaise & sour cream I used home made low fat yogurt.

 

Ingredients :

Veggies

1 cup of Shredded Carrot 

1 Cup of Shredded Red Cabbage 

1/2 cup chopped Onion 

1 cup of chopped Lettuce

1/2 cup Cherry Tomatoes 

Dressing 

1/2 cup Low fat free yogurt  

2 Tbs Lemon juice 

1 Tbs Mustard powder

1 clove of Garlic minced

1/2 Tbs Red chili flakes

1/2 Tbs ground black pepper

Salt acc to taste

Take a big bowl with all the veggies mixed in it expect tomatoes. 

For Tomatoes

Cut cherry tomatoes in to half n place them on a baking pan. Drizzle a little of Olive oil. Bake tomatoes @ 350 degrees for 15mins.

For Dressing 

Take a bowl n mix up all the dressing ingredients together to a smooth paste. 

Take the tomatoes out of oven. Let them cool for few mins. Mix up dressing and veggies together. 

* Cover the salad bowl and allow it to sit in a refrigerator for a tasty salad.

Out come: After tasting it my hubby said let's skip dosa's for dinner & replace them with Salad :) 

Eggless Honey Mocha Cake

Weight watching is a Obsession. Isn't it??? At least that's what I feel about my self. 

The day I have started a concept of healthy diet I have been going crazy about whatever I cook & eat.The concept of this " Honey Mocha Cake " has just came out from one of those obsessive ideas.

Coming to the main point here I wanted to get rid of sugar which is a culprit ( In my view...) and that one got replaced by " Honey". 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup All purpose flour ( Maida)

1/4 cup of Low fat milk 

2 Tbs of Melted Butter 

4 Tbs of Honey 

1 Tbs chocolate powder 

1 Tbs Coffe powder 

1/2 Tbs Vanilla Essence 

1/2 Tbs of Apple cider Vinegar 

1/2 Tbs Baking soda 

1/2 Tbs Baking powder 

2 Tbs Almonds (optional)

Preheat Oven to 200 degrees. 

Powders: 

Sift flour, baking powder, soda, Chocolate & Coffe powder in a bowl and keep it aside. 

Wet Ingredients:

In another bowl mix  low fat milk, butter, apple cider vinegar, honey & vanilla essence.

Mix both (powder & wet ingredients) in a bowl without lumps. 

Grease a pan with little butter and pour the cake mix in to it. Garnish with almonds.Place the pan in preheated oven. 

Bake it for 20mins at 300 degrees. 

Tooth pick should come out clean when inserted. Switch off oven and allow the cake to cool down.

Cut it in to nice pieces & serve it. 

Out Come: The cake is just sweet enough and yummy :)

Gobi Carrot Kurma

Ingredients: 

2 Cups of Gobi

1 Cup of chopped Carrot  

1 Cup chopped Onion 

2 Medium Tomatoes 
Coriander leaves for Garnish 
For Gravy Masala

2 Tbs of Cashew 

2 Tbs of Gasagasalu (Poppy Seeds)

1 Tbs Ginger Garlic Paste 

2 Tbs of Coconut Powder 

1 Tbs Garam Masala Powder 

1 tbs Coriander Cumin Powder

Chilli Powder (According to taste)

3 Tbs of Oil

Salt ( Varies with taste)

1/2 tbs Turmeric 

To start with let's boil 4 cups of water with pinch of salt. Switch of the stove then add Gobi to pot and switch of the heat. Allow it to sit for 10mins. Then stain water and  keep gobi aside

Heat a pan with 1 tbs of oil add onions to it and saute them till are transparent. Remove onion and put them in a blender. 

Grind:

Add Cashew,Poppy seeds,Tomato, Coconut powder to the blender. Blend them to a paste.

Add powders:

Heat a pan with 2 Tbs of Oil add Ginger garlic paste to it. Fry it till the raw smell is gone or say 1 min then mix coriander cumin , Garam Masala,Turmeric, Chilli powders to the pan and fry them for 2 sec's.
Now add the ground paste fry it for few seconds. Then carrots go right in to the gravy. sprinkle enough salt and close the pan with a lid. Allow them to cook for 15mins.Check for carrots then add Gobi to pan.Let it cook for another 5 mins. Then garnish with Coriander leaves.


* Can be served along with Roti,Poori & Rice. 



Out Come: I just couldn't take a nice pic with a garnish as we licked off whole curry in few mins along with hot roti's.

Bangaladumpa Kura | Simple Potato Curry

Ingredients

2 Potatoes ( Cut them in to small pieces)

1 medium Onion diced

Cumin Coriander Powder

2 Tbs Coconut powder

Curry leaves   

1 Crushed Garlic Pod 

Red Chili powder 

Turmeric

Salt 

Seasoning  

2 Tbs Oil 

Channa Da 

Urad Dal 

Mustard 

Jeera 

 

1. Heat a pan with oil and add seasoning to it. Once the mustard starts spluttering add crushed Garlic & Curry leaves  to the pan allow  to fry for 1 min and add Onion to the pan.

2. Fry them till they are transparent & add Potato to pan. Sprinkle a little salt & turmeric then close it with a lid. 

3. Once the potatoes are done add Cumin Coriander powder , Coconut pwder & Mirch powder mix it well with curry.

4. Fry it few mins and the curry is ready to serve. 

* This goes well with Rice, Roti & Poori

Madatha Kaja

These are the mini version of famous andhra sweet " Madatha Kaja". They are one delicious sweet that will just melt in your mouth.

Ingredients : 

For Kaja 

1/2 Cup Maida  

Pinch of Baking soda

1 Tbs Ghee 

1/2 cup Curd ( Varies while mixing the dough)

Oil to fry

1 Tbs Elachi Powder

3 Tbs of Rice flour

3 Tbs of Ghee for rolling the kaja's

For Sugar Syrup 

1 cup Sugar 

1/2 Cup Water 

1. Mix all the Kaja ingredients except the rice flour and 3 tbs of Ghee. I used curd to mix the flour but not water. If the dough becomes sticky just sprinkle little maida and make a soft dough.

2. Allow the dough to stay for 2 hrs in a bowel covered with wet cloth. 

3. Now take a deep vessel & heat it with water & to that add sugar. 

4. Boil the sugar syrup to string consistency and add elachi to it. 

5. Now divide dough and make 3 equal balls ( the 1/2 cup maida makes 3 balls ). 

6. Now spread the dough like a mat and apply 1 tbs of Ghee and sprinkle some rice flour on the dough like shown in the image.  

7.Now roll them as shown in the figure and cut them in to small pieces. 

8. Deep fry them in the oil till they turn brown. Now add them to the sugar syrup. Leave them in syrup for 15mins & remove them in to a container.

9. You can store them in a container for more than a week.

Baked Semolina/ Sooji Cakes

This dish goes very well as a appetizer or a evening snack. 

The actual recipe I came across was made of " Polenta" though I have replaced  Polenta with Semolina for my convenience. I tried transforming this to a pure Indian dish with some Italian touches. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup Semolina

2 Tbs Corn flour 

1/2 Cup Peas  

1/2 cup milk

3 Tbs Olive Oil 

2 Tbs Butter 

3 Garlic Cloves (Crushed)

1 Tbs Mustard 

For Stock

3 Red chillis 

Small bunch of Basil leaves 

2 Tomatoes 

Salt

Baking 

1/2 cup All purpose flour

Oil

Bread Crumbs 

1/2 cup of cheese 

1. Heat a pan with oil and add mustard. Once they splutter add crushed garlic and allow it to fry for few seconds. 

2. Grind the stock ingredients. Add 1 1/2 cup of stock to the pan along with milk & peas.Bring to boil. 

3. Add Semolina to the pan slowly whisking the stock.

4. Here I added the corn flour directly to the stock and kept whisking it till it semolina becomes thick. 

( Till here it's same as we make upma)

5. Once it's thick switch off the pan and transfer your ingredients to a pan. 

6. Refrigerate them for 5 hrs and cut them to square pieces.

7. Roll each piece in Flour and pan fry them with little oil on 2 sides till they turn brown. 

8. Take a baking pan arrange them in the pan and sprinkle with Bread Crumbs and Cheese on top. 

9. Bake them at 370 degrees for 15 mins. 

* Serve hot they are crunchy out side and smooth inside.

Egg & Green Bean Curry

 Ingredients

2 Unboiled Eggs 

1 cup Chopped Beans

1/2 Cup Chopped Onions 

1 Cup sliced Tomatoes 

Chilli Powder 

Salt 

Seasoning  

2 Tbs Oil 

1 Tbs Mustard 

1 Tbs Jeera 

2 Red Chili's

Curry leaves 

1. Heat a pan with Oil. Add mustard, Jeera & Red Chili's to it.

2. When the mustard starts jumping add onions & Curry leaves to the pan and fry them for few seconds. 

3. Now add tomatoes and beans to the pan. Sprinkle a little salt and close it with a lid ( Salt makes veggies soft). 

4. Meanwhile break both the eggs in a bowls and beat them to a nice mixture.

5. The veggies will be cooked by now. Move the curry to the pan edges making a space in the middle. 

6. Now pour the beaten egg in the pan and allow to cook for few mins. 

7. Once the egg mixture is cooked mix curry to the eggs. 

8. Add salt and chili powder to the curry and cook it for few mins. 

* Serve with Rice or Roti. It tastes yummy.

Kanda Poha

Poha is a simple & easy to make snack for evenings.Though I don't like to limit myself just for eve's I prefer having it for lunch and dinner too.

Ingredients 

2 Cups Beaten Rice / Poha

1 Cup Chopped Onion

4 Green Chili's sliced nicely

1/2 Cup Grated Coconut

2 Tbs lemon Juice

Seasoning 

2 Tbs Oil

2 Tbs Mustard 

2 Tbs Peanuts 

Curry Leaves 

Salt

Directions:

1. Take poha in a bowl wet it with some water and keep it aside. 

2. Heat a pan with oil add mustard's to it. Once the mustard starts jumping add peanuts and fry them till they are done. Now add onions to the pan & a little later add green chili's and fry them. 

3. Add turmeric and curry leaves to the pan and switch off the heat.

4. Mix poha,lemon juice, Salt & coconut in the pan.

*** It's ready to serve.

Rasgulla (Low Fat Version)

There is a first time for everything isn't it. So here is one of those recipes I tried in my kitchen for this Diwali and came out yummy.

Ingredients 

1 litre Milk (Used 2% fat milk)

11/2 cups Sugar

31/2 Cups Water

1 Lemon 

2 Elachi pods 

Walnut to Garnish 

Paneer 

1. Heat milk in a pan.Once it starts boiling add lemon juice to it. 

2. Mix well. Let it be on heat till the milk & water separates.

3. Allow it to cool a bit and drain the milk in to a cloth. ( I used a cotton towel ).

4. Wrap the cloth and keep it under water for few seconds. ( This helps to remove the lemony taste) 

5. Now take a heavy pan and squeeze the cloth with it. Leave it for 1hr to removes the excess water. (I used my mortar to squeeze all the water).

Making of Rasgulla's

1. Take the paneer and kneed it well & make a soft ball out of it. 

2. Now make some small balls with the paneer and keep them aside. 

3. Meanwhile take water & sugar in a pressure cooker and boil it.

4. Now add the paneer balls to the cooker and close it with a lid. Cook it till you listen the first whistle and switch off heat. 

5. Open the cooker lid once the pressure is reduced and you can see the balls floating on top.

Garnish according to your taste. 

 

Eggless Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients

6 Bread Slices 

1 Tbs Corn Strach 

4 Cocoa Powder 

2 Cups of milk 

Melted Butter

1/4 Cup Sugar  (Varies according to your taste)

Almonds for Garnish 

1. I have a Home made Bread so used it for the pudding.Your can use French or Italian bread. 

2. Remove the brown edges of bread and cut them in to cubes.Place them in oven safe bowels.

 

3. Prepare the mix for the pudding by adding Corn starch , Milk, Butter,Choco powder & Sugar. Mix them well till the sugar dissolves. 

     

4. Now whisk the syrup for 4-5 mins.Add it to the bread bowls.

5. Dip almonds in butter and garnish them on the bowls.

6. Bake them at 350 degrees F for 20min. Mine took 20mins so it should be the same for you too.  

7. Dip a tooth pick if it comes out clean then your pudding is ready.

* Serve warm or cold as you wish. 

Kanda Bachali Kura | Suran/Yam Malabar Spinach Curry

Ingredients

1 Cup chopped yam / kanda 

2 Cups malabar spinach / bachali koora

2Tbs tamarind pulp

1Tbs mustard powder 

1Tbs sugar 

2Tbs oil 

Salt

Seasoning 

1Tbs mustard seeds 

1Tbs jeera

1Tbs channa dal 

1Tbs urad dal 

4Red chilis cut equally

1Tsp hing / asafoetida 

1. Heat pan with oil and add seasoning to it. Once they are done now add greens to the pan and fry it well. 

2. Mean while pressure cook Yam for 1 whistle or cook them in a microwave. Smash yam with a spoon to a rough paste. 

3. Now add pasted Yam to pan and mix it with tamarind juice salt and sugar.

4. Cook it for 10mins and remove from heat. 

5. Add mustard powder to pan and mix well. 

* Serve with Rice.

Note: Yam will have a Slight itchy feel when you touch it and even after cooking. To avoid that you have to add a pinch of tamarind juice while pressure cooking it. ( Tip from MOM)

Vermicelli Payasam (Microwave Version)

It's a very common sweet made in most of the Indian houses as a festive dish.For me it's one quenches my sweet cravings at night. I wonder whether it's just me or any one else also feels the same???

A Simple, Easy & Yummy recipe.

 

Ingredients

1/2 Cup vermicelli 

1 Cup milk

2 Tbs coconut powder

1/2 Cup sugar (Varies according to your taste)

1 Tsp butter 

Few Cashew

1/2 Tsp elachi 

1. Take butter in a glass bowl ( Microwavable ) with cashews and microwave them for 1mins. Repeat it once again with mixing the cashews for 1min. Check if they are nicely done.Remove nuts and keep them aside. 

2. Now in the same bowl take vermicelli and  roast it for 1min. 

3. Now add milk to the bowl and cook vermicelli and cook for 5mins & repeat it again adding Coconut powder till it is done.

4. Mix sugar well.

5. Add nuts and elachi powder to the payasam. 

* Serve hot.

Gorichikkudu Kura | Cluster Beans Curry | Guar Ki Sabji

Ingredients

1 1/2 Cup Cluster Beans 

1 Cup Chopped Onion

1/2 Cup Grated Coconut powder 

2 Tbs Poppy seeds 

2 Tbs Oil

1 Tbs Chili powder 

1 Tbs Mustard 

1 Tbs Jeera 

2 Red chili

Pinch of Turmeric 
Salt 

Curry leaves 

1. Heat pan with oil and add mustard, jeera and red chilli to  it. Once mustard starts spluttering add onion to the pan. 

2.  Fry them till they are cooked and add beans to the pan. Add turmeric, Salt to pan & close it with a lid. Allow it to beans to to cook.

3. Mean while grind coconut and poppy seeds to a smooth paste. (Don't add to much of water)

4. Add paste to the pan and allow it to cook on low heat for 10mins. 

5. Add chili powder to the curry and  allow to cook for 2mins. 

6. Now garnish with curry leaves. 

* Serve with Rice.