Mexican Hot Chocolate

Thinking of hot chocolate reminds us the cold winter days where you have to have a cup of it. Right now Southern California is maintaining low temps, which made me crave for a hot chocolate. It is suppose to be summer but for past 2 weeks the temps are running little low while reminding of sweet fall time. So I'm sharing a recipe for those days you need a kick to boost your energy. 

Recipe courtesy: Food Network
Ingredients
2 Cups 2% fat milk
1 Cinnamon stick 
1 Anise star
4 Tbs Semi sweetened chocolate powder.
1/4 Cup Brown sugar ( Adjust acc. to your taste)

Heat a big pot with 2 cups of milk. To that add cinnamon & Anise. Stir well & let it boil for 10mins in low heat with closed lid.To that add chocolate & sugar.Stir it to dissolve sugar. Let it boil in low heat for 5mins. Then switch off heat & serve it hot.

Check my other Blogging Marathon friends here. 

Mexican Corn on the Cob

I'm once again back on Blogging Marathon. The theme for this week is Mexican Cuisine. For which I'm sharing a recipe, which was sitting for 2 yrs in my draft. The Mexican Corn on the Cob is a simple recipe, which is easy to make, & and also a delicious indulgence.

Ingredients
2 Corn, husked 
2 Tbs mayonnaise 
2 Tbs non fat yogurt
1/2 Tsp cumin or jeera powder 
1/2 Tsp chilli powder
Salt 
1 Lime cut into 4 pieces 
chopped cilantro for garnish

In a bowl mix mayonnaise, yogurt, jeera powder, chili powder & salt. 

Now grill corn on stove top. Turn it for every 2mins & cook till it's done perfectly. It takes around 10mins to complete the grilling. Switch off heat & allow it to cool down. 

Spread each corn with the sauce & squeeze a little lemon juice. Garnish it with cilantro and serve it right away. 

Healthy Bite

The groundwork of all happiness is health

~~ James Leigh Hunt, an English critic, essayist, poet and writer

“Healthy” is a word of this century. You hear it almost everyday from who ever you meet & greet. It seems as though everyone is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

It made me think what exactly it means to me & how can I be one. There are some inevitable things that we can’t control so leaving them behind here are some things I want to follow myself.

1.    Including fruits, Vegies & grains in my diet
2.    Consuming minimum 8 glasses of water
3.    A 1-hour workout daily or 5days a week.
4.    Keeping calm & quiet even when you feel like sharing a piece of your mind with others.

A simple equation can define as

Good food habits + Work out + self-care = Healthy.

Coming to the event it concentrates on recipes, which are healthy & nutritious. The food that has less saturated fat, trans fat & sugars are the least welcome recipes to the event.

1. Vegan & vegetarian recipes only.
2. Post it in your blog and link back the recipe to my event.
3. Use of logo is appreciated.
4. Can link in multiple entries.
5. Event ends on 31 August 2013.
6. For any queries you can just leave a comment on my facebook page Ammaji Recipes or do mail me. 

Kattu Pongal with Quinoa | Khara Pongal with Keenwah | Quinoa Ven Pongal

Ven pongl is a well know break fast dish in south India.It's a combination of rice & moong dal with a kick of black pepper to it.I'm gonna share a little healthy version of pongal made of quinoa & dal here.The texture looks dry & you can change it to a creamy one by adding a little extra water while cooking. 

2 Servings 
Ingredients
1 Cup dry quinoa
1/2 Cup moong dal 
1/2 Cup coconut powder
1&1/2 Cup water 
Salt 
Seasoning
1 Tbs mustard seeds 
1 Tbs Jeera
2 Tbs ghee or butter
1 Tbs chopped or grated ginger
2 Tbs black pepper powder
2 Red chili's 
2 Tbs peanuts
Few curry leaves 

In a pressure cooker take quinoa, dal, coconut & salt with 1& 1/2 cups of water. Cook it for 2 whistles & switch off heat.

Heat a pan with butter. To that add peanuts and fry them for few seconds & to that add mustard seeds, jeera, ginger, pepper powder red chilis & curry leaves. Fry them till mustard starts jumping & off heat.

Now transfer the contents directly to pan while it is hot & mix well with the seasoning.

Allow it to sit for ten minutes & serve with chutney.

Appetizers

- Grissini - Italian Breadsticks | How to Make Grissini
- Mango Avocado Salsa
- Omelette in Mug
- Veg Momo
- Mini Omelette | Omelette Paniyaram
- Paneer Kabab
- Asparagus Fry
- Gobi Manchuria
- Veggie Dumplings
- Quesadilla with Hummus

BWW #92

Sending this to Susan's BWW event which was passed to Cindystar & being hosted @ Simona of briciole.

Non-fat Yogurt Mango Parfait

Yogurt, which is also an Indian staple, is loaded with calcium, protein & vitamins. It’s nutritious & filled with health benefits. In India it's also believed that consuming yogurt drinks on hot summer days will cool your body temps. 

This recipe is made of non-fat yogurt, which is also believed that consuming a non-fat yogurt will help in your weight loss. So with this little intro I'm getting to the recipe, which I'm here to share.

Ingredients 

Serves:2

2 Ripe mangos pulp

2 Cups non-fat yogurt 

2 Tbs sliced almonds

Few mango pieces for garnish

Arranging parfait is very easy. In first step take a bowl or a glass first lay the mango pulp as base then on top off it with yogurt. Sprinkle few almonds, which will give a nice crunch for the yogurt & repeat the process till the bowl or glass filled.

Once you have arranged your parfait add the mango pieces & sprinkle the almonds on top. Now refrigerate it & serve it chill. 

Note:

For full flavor you can replace non-fat with a full fat yogurt.

Paneer Mutter Sabji | Paneer Peas Curry

This is a easy to go recipe for busy mornings & lazy evenings. The pressure cook method reduces the minimum time to about 15 mins & also assured that it's done perfectly.

Ingredients

1 Medium onion diced

2 Tomatoes chopped

1/2 Cup green peas/mutter

10 Cubes paneer 

2 Cloves 

1 Elachi / Cardamon 

Small pies of Cinnamon

1 Tbs ginger garlic

1 Tsp red chili powder

1 Tsp garam masala

Pinch of turmeric

1 Tbs butter 

1/2 cup water 

1/2 Tsp mustard seeds

1 Tsp sugar (optional)

Pressure cooker

Heat a pressure cooker with butter. Add in mustard,cloves,cinnamon & elachi. Next add ginger garlic paste & onions. Fry that for 1min & next comes tomatoes & mutter. Top them with garam masala powder, turmeric, chili powder, salt & water.Close cooker with a lid & cook for 2 whistles.Switch off heat & allow it to cool for 5 mins.
Mean while fry paneer in a nonstick pan till lite crisp (that way you don't have to add some more oil to it).Now remove the lid of cooker & add paneer & sugar to it. Cook for 2 mins on low heat & switch off heat. 

Note : 
1. You can avoid frying paneer & save some time there. 
2. Adding sugar is totally to balance the taste. So it's optional. 

Andhra Recipes

Kothimeera Pallila Pachadi	Kodiguddu Pulusu	Charu
Omelette in Mug	Menthi Avakaya	Pulihora
Vankaya Pulusu Pachadi

Kothimeera Pachadi | Kottumalli Thuvaiyal | Coriander Chutney | Green Chutney

I'm sharing a simple Green Chutney with you all which is packed with lots of antioxidants.This chutney is made of very simple ingredients & also a non stove top chutney.

Ingredients

1 Bunch of coriander/cilantro

1 Tbs Lemon Juice ( Adjust acc.)

2 Green chili's

1 Tbs Jaggeree powder 

Salt 

Clean the cilantro bunch & dry it on a towel. Now in a blender add cilantro, green chili''s, salt & jaggeree powder. Blend it to smooth paste. Now add the lemon juice to the chutney & mix it well. 
Serve it with hot rice & a little ghee. You can also side up this chutney with idli & dosa also.

Note: Adjust lemon juice acc. to your taste & also the green chili too.