Veggie Pasta

This is a an easy and quick recipe that is loved at our home. I use the bow-tie pasta as my daughter likes that shape but you can use any type of pasta for this recipe. I generally dont use any cheese as the white sauce gives a creamy taste but if you do like to have a cheesy pasta, then in the end add some grated rennet free cheese just before serving.

Ingredients

For Cooking Pasta

• 1 cup Pasta
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• Water (to cover the Pasta)

For Pasta Sauce

• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp All Purpose Flour (Maida)
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 tbsp Tomato Paste (or 1 Tomato pureed)
• 1/4 tsp Oregano 
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1/4 tsp Red Chilly Powder (Adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)

Additional

• 1 cup chopped Vegetables (Cauliflower, Carrots, Peas, Beans, Corn)

Paneer Butter Masala

This does not require any introduction as this is the most popular side dish for Rotis/Chappatis/Naan.
I wanted to retain the awesome taste of this dish and keep it nutritous as well, so I have replaced the heavy cream with sweet potatoes and skipped the red coloring that is generally added in the Indian restaurants.

Ingredients

• 4 medium Tomatoes
• 1 small Sweet Potato
• 1 medium Carrot
• 1 tsp Butter
• 2 Cardamom
• 1" piece Cinamon
• 4 Cloves
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 tsp Kasuri Methi
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric
• 1/4 tsp Red Chilly Powder (Adjust to Taste)
• 1/4 tsp Asafoetida
• 1/4 cup Cashews
• 1" piece Ginger
• 1 Green Chilly (Adjust to taste)
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to Taste)
• 1 cup Paneer cut into cubes

Method

1. Wash and peel the carrot and sweet potato and cook them in a pressure cooker along with tomatoes, ginger, green chilly and cashews for 3 whistles.
2. While this is getting cooked, boil the paneer cubes in water with a pinch of turmeric till they become soft. (Alternately you may deep fry the paneer pieces)
3. Once the veggies are cooked, blend that mixture in a blender along with cardamom, cinnamon, cloves.
4. Heat a deep pan and add the butter, asafoetida  and bay leaf. Then add the blended mixture to the pan along with turmeric, red chilly powder, salt and kasuri methi, Heat on a low flame for a few minutes so that the tastes blend in. Add the paneer pieces and allow it to simmer for a few more minutes and serve hot with Roti/Chappathi/Naan.

Celebration Chocolate cake

This is the most yummiest eggless cake I have ever eaten. It reminds me very much of the chocolate cake from Sweet Chariot in Bangalore. This awesome recipe has been adapted from DivineTaste and you can use it to make a 9" round cake. I doubled the ingredients to make a layered cake with chocolate frosting for my daughter's 5th birthday.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1 can (400 ml) Condensed milk
• 1 cup Milk
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
• 2 tsp Baking powder
• 3/4 tsp Baking soda
• 8 tbsp Cocoa powder
• 8 tbsp Sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Sift the dry ingredients i.e. flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cocoa powder in a large bowl. 
3. Add the wet ingredients, i.e milk, vanilla, melted butter and condensed milk and mix well. (You can use a whisk / beater to mix it well but since I dont have both, I just use my hands and it tuns out good too)
4. Pour the batter into a greased and floured (or parchment lined) cake pan.
5. Bake for around an hour or till the toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack and decorate the cake if you would like with your choice of frosting. 

Suggestion / Notes

if you would like a soft wet cake, then make a sugar syrup by boiling 1/4 cup of sugar in 1 1/2 cup of water and once cooled completely, pour the syrup on top of the cake before frosting the cake.

Kunuku

This is a deep fried delicacy made at our homes especially when we are expecting a lot of guests. This recipe is easy to make and the Kunuku remains crispy and tasty even when it cools off. The ingredients are the same as Adai except that the Kunuku batter should be thick.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Idli Rice
• 1 cup Toor Dal
• 1 cup yellow Moong Dal
• 1 cup Channa Dal
• 15 Red Chillies (Adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• 1/4 tsp Asafoetida
• 1 spring of Curry leaves chopped (Optional)
• Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Soak the Rice and Dals separately for 2-3 hrs.
2. Drain the Rice and grind it coarsely along with the Red chillies, Asafoetida and Salt and keep the ground mixture aside. Now drain and grind the soaked dals coarsely and mix it with the ground rice mixture. The Kunuku batter should be thick like the Paruppu vada batter. Add the chopped curry leaves to the batter and mix well.
3. Heat the oil in a Kadai. When the oil is hot, spoon the batter into the oil.
4. Once it turns golden brown, remove the Kunuku with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on a paper tissue.
5. Kunuku is ready to serve!

Omapodi

Omapodi or Sev as it is popularly known, is yummy to eat as it is, or with some chat or mixed in curd with some chat masala. This is my mom's recipe for Diwali.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Besan 
• 1/4 cup Rice flour
• 1 tsp Ajwain (Omam)
• 1 tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• Oil to deep fry

Easy Apple Pie

It is Apple picking time!!! My daughter picked a few apples from the orchard when she went for apple picking from school and gave it to me to make apple pie. So I hunted for an easy recipe and came across this one. I made a few changes to the original recipe to suit our taste and it turned out a big hit at home!

Ingredients
No Roll Pastry 
1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup Ghee
2 tbsp Milk

Pie Filling
3 Apples grated
1/2 cup Sugar (Adjust to taste)
A pinch of Cinnamon powder (Optional)
A pinch of Cardamom powder
2 tbsp Butter

Topping
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Sugar or Brown Sugar
1 cup All Purpose Flour

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the Pastry and press the dough into a greased pie pan with your fingers to line the bottom and sides of the pan.
2. Mix the ingredients for the Pie Filling and pour it into the crust prepared.
3. Mix the ingredients for the topping and sprinkle them on top of the pie to cover the pie.
4. Bake the Pie at 350F for around 20 min or till the crust turns a golden brown.
5. Yummy Apple Pie is ready to be served!!

Aval Vadai

If you are bored of making the same vada for all the festivals, then try this one next. It remains crisp even after it becomes cold.
 

Ingredients

• 2 cups Poha/ Aval/ Avallakki
• 1/2 cup Channa dal 
• 1 tbsp Toor Dal
• 4 Green chillies  
• 1" piece ginger 
• 1/4 tsp Asaofoetida
• 1 handful Coriander leaves chopped
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• Oil for deep frying

Method

1. Wash and soak the channa dal and toor dal for 30 minutes.
2. Wash & soak the poha/Aval for 15 mins
3. Grind the dals along with green chillies and ginger, coarsely without adding much water. 
4. In a bowl, add the ground mixture, the soaked aval, coriander leaves, salt, asafoetida and mix everything well to form a dough.
5. Heat oil in a wok /kadai for deep frying.
6. Make small balls and flatten them and fry till golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on a tissue paper.

Homemade Chocolates

My mom always made these for our birthdays and we all used to love it because we can get to eat more. Now as a mom, I would still prefer giving these chocolates to my daughter than the store bought ones as it is made without artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup or any other preservatives. This is a simple recipe that takes less than 10 min to make and you can use your creativity to make a variety of chocolates.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk powder
• 2 tsp Cocoa powder (Adjust to taste)
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1/2 cup Sugar (Adjust to taste)
• 1/4 cup chopped dry fruits & nuts like Cashews, Almonds & Raisins (Optional)

Paruppu Vada

Another easy recipe from my mother's treasure chest with only very little ingredients and the best part is, the vada stays very crisp even when it is not hot. 

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Toor Dal
• 1/2 cup Channa dal
• 2 tsp Urad dal
• 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
• 2 Green Chillies
• 1/4" piece of Ginger
• 1/2 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• Oil to deep fry

Method

1. Soak all the dals for 30 min.
2. Coarsely grind the dals along with green chillies, ginger, salt and asafoetida with just enough water. The batter should be thick.
3. Mix the chopped Coriander leaves to the batter.
4. Heat oil in a kadai and when the oil is hot, make small patties in the palm of your hand and drop it in the oil carefully. When the vada turns golden brown flip it and remove it with a slotted spoon and drain the excess oil on a paper tissue.
5. Serve crisp vadas hot or cold.

Vegetable Biriyani

Vegetable Biriyani is an exotic dish with the inviting smell of saffron. It makes a very good party food. It may look a little time consuming but in the end, you will feel it was definitely worth your time. Enjoy cooking!!!

Ingredients
For Rice:

• 1 cup Basmati Rice
• 2 cups Water
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tbsp Oil (Preferably Olive oil)
• 2 pinch Saffron threads
• 2 tbsp warm Milk

For Marinating:

• 4 cups chopped Vegetables (Carrots, Beans, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Green Peas, Potato)
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Chilli powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Curd

To Grind:

• 1 Cardamom
• 1" Cinnamon
• 2 medium Tomatoes
• 3 cloves
• 1/4 cup mint leaves
• 1" Ginger
• 2 Green chillies

For Vegetable Gravy:

• 2 tsp oil
• 1 Black Cardamom
• 1 Star Anise
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1/4 tsp Salt (Adjust to taste)

For Garnish:

• 1 tbsp Sliced Almonds
• 1 tbsp Melted butter

Method:

1. In a big bowl, add the ingredients for marinating except the vegetables and mix well. Now add the chopped vegetables and mix well so that the vegetables are coated well with the masala. Close it and keep aside to allow it to marinate for 30 min. 
2. Now wash and cook the rice separately with oil, salt and water.
3. Soak the saffron threads in warm milk for 15 min.
4. In the mean time prepare the ground paste with the ingredients to grind.
5. Heat a large wok and add the oil. Add the black cardamom, star anise, bay leaf, cumin seeds and asafoetida.
6. When the cumin seeds start crackling, add the ground paste and stir well till it begins to leave oil.
7. Add the marinated vegetables, salt, Garam masala and cover and cook on medium heat till they are tender but not mushy. Switch off and keep aside.
8. Now gently fluff the cooked rice with a fork and fold in the saffron milk.
9. Now take a huge bowl that is oven safe and put half the cooked vegetables and spread it into an even layer.
10. On top of the vegetables, add half the cooked rice with saffron and spread it into an even layer.
11. Add the remaining vegetable gravy on top of the rice and spread it evenly.
12. Now add the remaining rice and spread it evenly.
13. Spread the melted butter evenly on top and add the chopped almonds.
14. Preheat the oven to 350F and cover the bowl with aluminium foil and place it in the oven for 30 minutes.
15. Yummy Vegetable biriyani is ready to serve.

Suggestions / Notes

1. If you don't have an oven, you may use a microwave safe bowl and arrange the biriyani and place it in microwave (covered) on high for 5 min.