Baba Ghanoush

This bizarre sounding dish is a awesome Mediterranean dip. I adore Middle eastern food. The flavour's are mild yet robust.
The basic preparation of this dip is similar to Baingan Bharta -(Smoked Eggplant Curry).
Do give it a try.

BABA GHANOUSH 

• 3 aubergines Roasted and peeled
  2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  1 tbsp tahini
  1/2 chopped onion 
  2-3 tbs lemon juice
  1 tsp ground cumin
  1-2 tbsp olive oil and little extra to pour on top
  Chili flakes to sprinkle on top
  Salt
  Finely chopped parsley (optional)
  
  
  Roast the aubergines over a open flames until the skins are blackened and the flesh soft. Cool and 
  peel.Put all the ingredients along with the roasted aubergines in a chopper/blender and blend till a coarse paste.Dish it out and pour some olive oil and garnish with chili flakes and chopped parsley (optional)
  You can serve this with toasted bread, salad sticks.. or simply use it as a sandwich spread.
  
  
  
  This post is off to Serve it -Blended on Oh Taste and See, and to Krithi.
  
  And to.... Sorisha & Surabhi for their event Fusion Food.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Hummus

 This creamy dip is heavenly. I could eat it any time of the day. I would name it as convenient food, always have it in my fridge. 

You could use this High -Protein versatile dip with any kind of sandwiches, salads, breads, or just chopped carrot and celery sticks. 

The best part about making hummus is .. its just a Whizz away !!

You could choose to do a regular version or a low calorie version. The oil here is totally unavoidable. 

I am posting a regular version here... in Oder to do a low calorie version just cut down the oil to your convenience.

Hummus

• 1 can canned chickpeas/Garbanzo, drained & rinsed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2cup olive oil
• 2 tbs tahini paste*
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Paprika

Place the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini paste, cumin and lemon juice in a food processor and process until combined. If its a very thick paste add little water to make it a smooth paste.

Garnish it with poured olive oil and paprika.

** If you do not have tahini paste you could use 1tsp roasted sesame seed or 1/2 tsp sesame oil.

This post is off to a amazing event Serve it -Blended on Oh Taste and See and to Krithi.

And...  Sorisha & Surabhi for their event Fusion Food

Daal Tadka

 Daal Tadka- a resturant dish which is stapel in almost all households today.
I always opt for this daal to Makhani daal if i want to go light on the menu.
This daal is not only simple to cook but also has robust flavours.

You can enjoy this with Piping hot rice, paratha, naan, roti.... and not to forget little bit of pickel along with this can twich your pallet!

11/2 cup Moong Daal
1/2 cup orange Masoor Daal
1/4th cup Chana Daal
2 Tomatoes (chopped)
1 Onion (chopped)
1 tbs Ginger minced
3-4 Green Chillies chopped

1 tbsp Jeera

1tsp Haldi pwd

1tsp Garam masal pwd

2 whole dry chilies

Pinch of asafoetida

3-4 tbsp Ghee/Oil

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves  and sliced onion to garnish.

Wash all the 2 lentils well and pressure cook them with a pinch of salt till tender.

 In a pan add ghee and let it heat well-(till smoky hot), turn off the gas and add jeera, asafoetida, and whole red chilies. Turn on the flame again and add the chopped onion , ginger, garlic and green chilies and saute until golden brown, add tomatoes and the rest of the dry masalas.

Cook till the oil separates and u shall get a nice aroma.

Add this cooked tadka to the boiled daal. Cook on low flame for bout 1-15 min.

Garnish with fresh coriander and onion rings.

Eggless Wheat-Choco Muffins

Happy Birthday Maaaaaaaa :)Wish u all the love and luck in the world and Thanks a lot for everything! u all mean the word to me :)
This post is dedicated to my Maa :) i got late today to wish her :( sorry for that :) here's a small lil way we enjoyed your day!! With some Low fat Wheat-Choco Muffins!! Hope u had a great day today!!
I am also forwarding this post to Madhuram;s Event for this month!! Shes hosting this wonderful event to use Whole Grains as ur main ingredient! i m absolutely going to try hard and post as many recipes as i can :)
Here is the recipe for

Eggless Wheat Muffins.

1Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Sugar
1/4th cup Coco-pwd
1/4th cup Oil
1/2 cup water
1/4th cup Milk
1/2tbs Baking Pwd
1tbs Vanilla essence
2tbs Honey

Mix all the above ingredients and blend well until smooth. Pour in your muffin moulds and bake at 180 deg for about 30 min.
Garnish with M&Ms :) and loads of love!

Happy Birthday Nani! :) from Kaira and her friend Kishi :)!!!

Malpua/WHole wheat pancakes.

These sweet wheat pancakes are my favourite. I had not made or u can say had them in ages, So yesterday was one occasion i thought was perfect to make them on. It was Guru purnima, and had to make some prasad and the first thing in the morning when i woke up was MALPUA :) so it had to be it ! :)

I made a very instant version of it just mixing the batter and frying them. Its pretty instant so ya u don't have to wait too long to eat this yummy treat :) which u have to otherwise until u make ur sugar syrup. Traditionally they are deep fried and dipped in sugar syrup to sweeten them.

SO here's my instant recipe for :

Malpua's/Whole wheat pancakes.

1 cup whole wheat

½ cup sugar

1 tsp fennel crushed.

¼ cup curd

½ cup milk

Pinch of cardamon pwd.

Ghee

Nuts to garnish

Mix all the ingredients except the nuts and ghee, blend well in a blender or mix well until smooth. Let it stand for 10 min or more, In the mean time heat some ghee in a pan on medium low heat. Pour a tablespoon worth of batter in the pan and let it cook, Flip on the other side to cook evenly until golden brown. Remove on a kitchen paper and plate them, while garnishing with ur choice of nuts :)

Thats the pic of my daughter while her mouth is stuffed with malpua;s 2 at a time :)

The best option is to serve it with chilled RABDI :) (Indian sweet made with milk)

Mixed Marwadi Dal

Somehow i get a urge to cook something different everyday. Something which is not too fancy, can be packed for hubby;s lunch-box, Tasty and goes with the theme of a weekday lunch/dinner. He loves all kinds of dal's, and it gets so boring to make the same thing again n again. I keep craving for diff kind of lentil recipes.

This was the best time to bump into the Tried and Tested event which is hosted byAparna this month which is featuring Lisa's Kitchen.I visited Lisa's blog for the first time and was stunned seeing the variety of vegetarian food. Loved her collection!! Me being a vegetarian myself made it easy to choose a recipe from her blog to blog for.

I choose the Mixed Marwadi daal.. It tastes heavenly with hot roti;s splashed with ghee. I followed lisa;s recipe to the T. Here; the recipe http://foodandspice.blogspot.com/2008/04/marawadi-mixed-dal.html
Trust me its a must try!!

Crream of Mushroom Soup

Creamy, smooth, heavenly.... I simply adore the flavour of mushroom soup. During winters Soups are just so blissful. Loved the aroma spreading around of the house of butter sauteed mushrooms :) hmmm i know it sounds tempting. Well it sure is creamy but not fatty. I just did not have the heart to binge into cream, butter, cheese ...so made a nice low calorie soup.

It had a delicate flavour with a dash of spice of black pepper.

Lets get to the recipe:

One cup chopped button mushrooms

Half cup chopped white onion

1/4 cup chopped unpeeled potato

3-4 pods of crushed garlic

Dash of black pepper

Salt to taste

One cup low fat milk.

Water

One tsp butter

In a pressure cooker add mushrooms (leaving a few aside for garnishing), onions, potato, garlic and salt. Add enough water to cook the ingredients. Once cooked cool and blend them to a smooth paste.

In another pan heat some butter and saute the chopped mushrooms for about 2 minutes. Then add the blended veggies to it, Add milk and water. (Adjust your consistency) and let it boil for at least 15 min. Garnish with black pepper, parsley and a small glob of butter :)

Peppery Basil Spaghetti

I love the flavour of paprika. The colour and the flavour both add a zing to the dish. This spaghetti is one of the most quickest and delicious recipes, Its spicy and creamy at the same time. the sweetness of basil brings out the flavour of the dish.I don't think i have ever cooked any dish without this particular ingredient. :) Paprika !!
So this ones for MIMI



Enjoy!!


Peppery Basil Spaghetti
For the sauce:
7 to 8 leaves of fresh basil
1/4Th cup of almonds
1/2 cup fresh cream
Crushed red pepper flakes (adjust to ur taste)
Olive oil
3-4 tbs of Chopped garlic

Grind Almonds, basil, fresh cream in a blender, add some olive oil to it.Boil Spaghetti mean while.In another pan add garlic and saute well, add the blended basil paste. and saute for about a minute. Then add crushed chili flakes and boiled spaghetti.Saute well till the paste blends well with spaghetti. Sever hot!

Vermecilli Upma

I simply love this simple and healthy dish :)
Its sooo quick to make that ud b shocked trust me!
I like it spicy so i made it vvv spicy :) n that made it more appetizing :)
U can vary the content of veggies in it to make it wholesome.
I used minimum cuz i enjoy the taste of vermicelli a lot.:)
A must try!!

1cup Vermicelli Roasted (if u don't have roasted then first dry roast the vermicelli until brown)
1 tsp Chana dal
1 tsp Urad dal
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
1 medium Onion thinly sliced
Green chillies
Ginger
1/4 cup Peas
1/4 cup Beans
1 Carrots chopped finely
2+ cups Water
Ghee
Curry Leaves
Salt to taste

Heat ghee and add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and curry leaves. When they start to crackle , add peanuts sand saute for a min.
Then add chillies, ginger & onions, saute until onion is translucent.
Add carrots, peas and beans. Cook until tender.
Add salt and vermicelli, saute well and add water, keep adding water until vermicelli is cooked.
Mix well and Cover with a lid, cook on low flame for about 5 min.
Serve hot with chutney :)

KOMATSUNA (japanese mustard)

KOMATSUNA

One thing common between JAPAN and PUNJAB?? GUESS??Sarson :)) can u believe it? Yes it true u do get green mustard here :) known as KOMATSUNA:)It has a lovely sharp flavour to it and recently its been in my weekly hit list :)its yum, easy, and low cal :)) like i want it to be.No pre-preps needed :)

2 bunch Komatsuna chopped and washed.
3 pods crushed garlic
1 tbs wheat flour
green chili lengthwise slit (acc to taste)
1 tomato chopped or 4 tbs canned tomato.
salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
pinch of asefodia
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin and asefodia. Once crackled add crushed garlic
and green chili, and saute for few seconds, then add the chopped komatsuna to it.
Add salt, turmeric and wheat flour to it. Mix well.Adding wheat flour will make a semi thick gravy for the veggie.Keep it covered on medium heat for about 5 min. As the green's simmer down add the tomatoes and cook on high flame :)
Serve with Hot chapatis :)

Tofu sandwich.

TOFU SANDWICHES

Another dish that i made on valentines day:) easy, low cal , tasty:)

Regular bread or long Parmesan bread sliced diagonally.

Salad mix. (you can throw in any greens u like)

Thin slices of Tomato.

Thin slices of red onion.

Jalapenos

Olives sliced.

Hummus.

One pack of hard tofu (momen tofu).

For tofu marinade.

4-5tbs Olive oil.(you could use less if you want it to be low-cal)

2 tbs finely chopped garlic

1 tbs vinegar

sprinkle of mixed herbs(fresh is better)

salt

black pepper

red chili flakes.

First cut your tofu into long rectangles and marinade them for about 2 hours or more.After its stayed on, heat a nonstick pan and put the tofu cubes on them carefully. You do not need oil in the pan because the marinade has enough oil. cook both sides until nice crisp brown.Assemble your sandwiches when you are ready to serve.Spread a good spoon full of hummus on the bread first, throw in your greens, keep a slice of tomato and onion, tofu, olives, jalapenos and cover with another slice of bread spreaded with hummus:)

RAVA IDLI

My cousin asked me for some quick recipes :) well here are some instant posts just for u :) Mrs. U :)

Rava idli, one of my most favourite diet foods:) Its quick and easy to prepare. Tastes yum!,

Goes well with absolutely anything at home. Just a sprinkle of podi powder, any kind of chutney, rasam ,sambar, dal.. jus dip it with anything or not its simple flavours would make you want it more.

RAVA IDLI
2 cups sooji/rava (semolina)
1 cup dahi (yogurt)
1 tbs oil
1 tbs mustard seeds
1/2 tsp hing (asafoedita)

1/2 tsp baking soda (soda-bi-carb)
1 tbs chana dal (split chickpea)
1 tbs urad dal
3 dry red chilies cut into half
Curry leaves,
Coriander
Chopped green chilies
Salt
Heat oil in a heavy pan. Splutter the mustard and hing.
Now add the red chilies and the curry leaves.
Stir for a few seconds and add the dals.
Make a paste like batter of sooji adding curd and a little water if required.
Add the tadka that uve made to the batter and at the end add the baking soda and stir well.
Pour the batter in a idli case or a cake pan n steam for about 10 min :)

SPINACH SOUP

This is my dad;s recipe. He drinks this soup everyday. This trip 2 india my hubby tried this soup n he loved it.Healthy, low-cal, a negative calorie burning vegie:), quick and easy WHAT MORE do u want ?? lol Ofcourse what i make is not even close to what my dad;s recipe is, but m trying:)

SPINACH SOUP

1 tbsp Butter
2 cups Spinach chopped
2 cups Milk
1 tbs garlic paste
1 tbs ginger paste
Oil
Salt & pepper

Heat oil in a pan,
Add crushed garlic and ginger.
Add chopped Spinach and saute well.
Slowly add the milk and water.
Drizzle salt and pepper and let it boil for 15 to 20 min.

**For people who dont care of calories can add cream n hi-fat milk.

BROWN RICE TOFU SALAD

I always wanted to experiment with Brown rice, and make something healthy out of it.
So decided to make a salad of it.I just threw in the bowl what came to my mind and ended up making this:)My hubby loved it.Hope ull give it a try.

Healthy Lemony Brown rice salad.
1 1/2 cup Brown cooked rice
One bowl of mixed salad leaves.
One red pepper cut in strips.
Half a block of age tofu(fried tofu. u could use regular too) cut into small pieces.
Half a lemon skinned and chopped into cubes.

Dressing.
4 Tbs soyu sauce
2 g.chillies finely chopped
1 tsp red paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1inch ginger finely chopped
2 basil leaves finely chopped
Half squeezed lemon.

First prepare the dressing and leave it for half hour for the flavours of garlic and chili
to combine.
Later, when about to serve mix the leaves, rice, tofu, pepper , lemon and the
dressing.You could sprinkle more salt if required.**Optional. Add in whatever veggies suit ur taste.