Croquette Sambar

Ingredients:
Oil - 3 - 4 tsp
Onion - 1 small chopped
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
Curry Leaves - a few
Hing - a pinch

To Cook:
Croquette - 1 big
Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 1

To Grind :
Grated Cocunut-2 tsp
Samabar powder- 1 tsp
Tamarind - 1/2 tsp. If using regular tamarind, use 1/2 lime size and extract juice from it.
Coriander Leaves chopped - 2 tsp

Method:

Cook the ingredients in the 'To Cook' section in a pressure cooker. Grind the ingredients in the 'To Grind' section to a fine paste.

Now heat oil in a pot. Once the oil is hot, throw in some mustard seeds and curry leaves along with chopped onion. Once the onion is sligthly brown, add the ground mixture and fry for a little while on low heat. Now add the cooked mixture and Hing and boil until cooked.

Serve with hot rice/roti. Makes a yummy sumptuous meal.

Cream of Brocolli Soup

Ingredients:
Brocolli - 1 medium chopped
onions- 1 small
garlic - 2 pods finely chopped
soup stock - 1
pepper - to taste
salt - to taste
milk - optional

Heat some oil in a pan and saute onions and garlic. When onion is slightly brown, add brocolli and saute for 10 mins on medium heat. Now pour 3 glasses of water and soup stock and let it boil until cooked. Now filter the soup and grind to coarse the brocolli mixture. Add the wtare to the ground mixture and boil again with salt and pepper, add milk if desired and serve hot with some garlic bread. Healthy and yummy soup is ready to attack! :-)

Tomato Baath

Ingredients:

Rice - 2 small cups
Tomatoes - 4 big finely chopped
Onions - 1 big finely chopped
Coriander Leaves - 1/ 4 cup finely chopped
Pulav masala - 2 Cinnamon sticks, 2 cloves, 3-4 bay leaves, a few fennel seeds, 1 Marati Moggu, 1 cardamom
Curry Leaves - 10-11 leaves
Salt to taste
Oil - tsps

For the Masala:

Onions - 1 big finely chopped
Red chillies - 5-6
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 1 whole (medium sized)
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon sticks - 2
cloves - 4
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - 1/ 4 cup finely chopped
Oil - 6 tsps

Heat 2 tsps of oil in a wok and add red chillies and 1 onion finely chopped.Saute on medium heat until the onions are translucent. Remove from heat, cool and grind to a paste with the other ingredients.Keep this aside.

Now heat 4 tsps of oil in a cooker, add all the pulav masala, add chopped onions with the curry leaves, saute until done and then add chopped tomatoes, saute for 5-6 mins in medium heat, now add the ground masala paste, heat it for a 2 mins and then add washed rice.Add water as required(usually double the quantity of rice), i usually add a little less (than i normally do) for pulav made in cooker, so that the rice is not sticky. Cook until done, i usually turn off after two whistles usually about 10 mins. Dish it and decorate it with fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with papads and raitha.

Cream of mushroom soup

Ingredients:

Button Mushrooms - 250gms
Onion - 1/2 or 1 small finely chopped
Cornflour - 1 tsp
Milk - 2 cups
Pepper powder -to taste
Salt to taste
Bay Leaves - 3
Cloves - 3
Onion shoot - 2 shoots finely chopped
Coriander - finely chopped

Method of Preparation:

Saute the cornflour in butter/olive oil, make sure not to burn it.Then add milk and water as required, add bay leaves, cloves,pepper powder,salt and bring to boil, remove the bay leaves and cloves and set aside. Heat some olive oil in a pot and saute the chopped onions and once they are soft add the mushrooms and half the quantity of chopped coriander and saute them until cooked, now take 1/3 of this mixture and grind coarsely. Add this ground mixture to the milk along with the sauteed mushrooms and chopped onion shoots and bring to boil until it thickens.Now garnish with remaining chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with garlic bread or toast.

Apple and Peach Cake

Ingredients:

Cake Flour - 250 gms
Castor sugar - 250 gms
Eggs - 4
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1tsp

For dressing:

Peaches - peeled and chopped finely
Apples - 1 big peeled and chopped finely
Fresh cream - whipped
Orange juice + Sugar water - water boiled with 1tsp of icing sugar
Grated chocolate (optional)
Bottled cherries

Method of Preparation:

Mix Cake flour with baking powder and vanilla essence, take another bowl and whisk together eggs and sugar, whisk thoroughly and mix the cake flour mixture into it, fold it in and whisk such that the air does not escape.

Now grease a baking tray and pour the above mixture and put it in a pre heated oven at 180 degree centigrade for 30-35 mins. Prick using a knife to check if the cake sticks and bake until it does not.

Now cut the cake into two portions. Moist one portion of the cake with some orange juice mixture. Spread a layer of whipped cream. Over that sprinkle the chopped fruits and sprinkle some grated chocolate if you like. Over this keep the other moist slice and layer it similar.Sprinkle with grated chocolate and finally place bottled cherries on top for decoration.

Vegetable Bake

This is one of the recipes i found on another blog, i have lost the link to it. This is a modified version of the same according to our tastes.

Serves : 3-4 people

Ingredients:

Carrots - 2 big
Beans - 1/4 kilo
Brocolli - 1 big
Cauliflower - 1 big
Peas - 150 grams
Mushrooms - 200 grams
Red/Green Peppers - 2 big
Onion - 1 Big
Mozzarella Cheese - grated according to taste and preference
Oil - 2 tsps

White Sauce Ingredients:

Milk - 2 cups
Pepper - to taste
salt - to taste
Plain Flour - 2 big spoonful
Butter/Olive oil - 2 tsps

Method of Preparation:

Chop all veggies, steam all veggies with salt except onions, Green/Red Peppers, Mushrooms. Keep it aside. Now to prepare the white sauce, mix the plain flour with milk with no lumps and then take a pot and heat some butter, add milk mixture and boil for a few mins, then add salt and pepper. Boil until the sauce thickens.

Now take some oil in a pan and saute the onions, peppers and mushrooms until soft.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, grease the baking tray with butter/olive oil and place the steamed veggies, layer it with half the sauce, now place all the sauteed veggies and layer it with the remaining sauce. Finally top it with as much cheese as you like and leave it in the oven for about 15 mins or until the cheese melts. Now that's a yummy bake.

This is a favourite in our home since my hubby loves it and it is nutritious for my son since it has all veggies with cheese and of course my fav since its a quickie and makes my life easy!

Hope you enjoy this dish. Let me know if any of try this.

P.S. - For people who would like some chicken, you could add some pre-cooked chicken to this and adjust the quantity of veggies accordingly.

Methi Rice

Ingredients:

Methi leaves- 1 Big Bunch
Garlic - 1 Whole medium sized
Ginger - 1 inch
Cloves - 5-6
Bay Leaves - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1 inch 4 sticks
Fresh grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Rice - 2 cups (medium sized cups)
Onions - 2 Big and 1 small chopped finely
Green chillies - 5-6
Pudina/Mint Leaves - 4-5 strands
Other pulav masala - few fennel seeds, 1-2 Cardamom, 2 cloves, 2 bay leaves, 2 cinnamon sticks

Method of Preparation:

Grind 1 small chopped onion , green chillies, 2 Cinnamon sticks, 3 cloves,Ginger, Garlic, Pudina, Coconut, Coriander leaves and keep aside.

Now heat some oil in the cooker and add mustard seeds, once they splatter add 2 onions finely chopped now add pulav masala like cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves etc.Saute till onions are transparent and then add methi leaves and the ground masala. Now add washed rice and saute for a min/two and then add water and close the lid and cook till rice is done.

Serve hot with raitha.

Note: This is real tempting and you might end up over eating....me n my hubby do that most times, so i make it only once in a while.