Rajma / Red Kidney Bean Gravy

Rajma / Red Kidney bean Gravy

Rajma / Red kidney bean : 1 cup

Tomato : 2

Onion :  1

Ginger : 1 inch

Garlic : 6 cloves

Green chilly : 1 ( slit )

Cumin seeds : ½ tsp

Coriander powder : 1 tsp

Jeera powder : 1/4 tsp

Red chilly powder : 1 tsp

Turmeric powder :  ¼ tsp

Rajma masala powder : 1/2 tsp

Sugar : ¼ tsp

Tej patha / Bay leaf : 1

Badi ilaichi / Black cardamom : 1

Salt to taste.

Oil : 1 tbsp

Coriander leaves : 1 tbsp

Some Ginger Julienne for garnishing.

Water : 1 tea cup

Soak Bean overnight.

Cook soaked bean with Tej pathaa, Badi ilaichi without salt for 5 whistles adding sufficient water.  

 In a cooker  add oil and temper cumin seeds . Add finely chopped onion, ginger and garlic, green chilly … sautee till onion becomes golden brown.   Add  tomato puree, sugar and fry in low flame, till it becomes mushy.

Add red chilly powder, salt, coriander powder, turmeric powder , Rajma masala and give a nice stir.

Mash few beans and add it ,along with cooked water . 

 Close the lid and Cook for 2 whistles 

Garnish with coriander leaves and ginger julienne .

Serve Rajma with hot Rice or Roti .

Melon smoothie

Melon Smoothie

Musk Melon :  1 cup ( chopped )

Banana :  ½ cup ( chopped )

Cold Milk :  ½  cup

Honey :  1 tbsp

Green Cardamom : 1 ( powder it )

Dry ginger powder : 2 pinches.

Pumpkin seeds :  1 tsp ( optional )

Blend everything together nicely and pour on a tall glass. 

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Note :

Use well ripened banana for making smoothie or milkshake.

Bread Medhu Pakoda

Bread Medhu Pakoda

Recipe courtesy :  Hebbers kitchen.

Ingredients:

Bread slice : 4

Rice flour :  1 tbsp

Rawa / Sooji :  1 tsp

Green chilly : 1

Onion ( chopped ) : 2 tbsp

Coriander leaves ( chopped ): 1 tbsp

Pudhina leaves : 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds : ¼ tsp

Salt to  taste

Fresh Curd to mix everything.

Oil for deep frying.

Crumble the bread and mix with all the ingredients using fresh curd into a thick paste/dough so that you should be able to pinch out from the mixture.

Pinch out some portion and deep fry in medium flame till it become light brown in colour.

Bread medhu pakoda is a quick evening snack that can be made within few minutes and also tastes good.

Serve Pakoda with Ketchup and a hot cup of Tea or Coffee.

Papaya Pazharasam

Papaya Pazharasam

The health benefits of papaya include better digestion, relief from toothache, improvement in the immune system and the promotion of better heart health.

Papaya (chopped ):  1 cup

Red Currant : 6

Honey : 1 tbsp

Water :  ¼ cup

Salt :  a pinch

By adding water pulse the red currant.  Strain it.

Mix red currant juice with chopped papaya and blend well .  Do not drain. 

Mix with honey and salt ….. enjoy tasty & thick Papaya juice.

If needed, add Ice cubes before serving.

Note :

Eating a whole fruit is better than drinking the juice. If you should drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it.

Raw Tomato Chutney

Raw Tomato Chutney

Heating food destroys its nutrients and natural enzymes, which is bad because enzymes boost digestion and fight chronic disease. In short: When you cook it, you kill it.
A raw food diet can clear up headaches and allergies, boost immunity and memory, and improve arthritis and diabetes.

Recipe courtesy : 

http://letslivewithnature.blogspot.in/2016/06/raw-tomato-chutney.html

Tomato : 1

Grated coconut : 2 tbsp

Chopped coriander leaves : 2 tsp

Garlic : 1 clove ( optional  )

Chopped Ginger:  ¼ tsp

Green chilly : 1

Mustard seeds : ¼  tsp

Coconut oil : 3 drops

Salt to taste.

Water as per need.

Grind chopped Tomato, grated coconut, chilly, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves to a nice paste using very less water.

Add salt .

Using 3 drops of oil , temper mustard seeds and garnish the Chutney.

Enjoy this chutney with Tiffin.

Note : 

Ø When using coconut avoid using brown part of the coconut. Use only white part.  Brown part of the coconut is not good for digestion

Ø Peel the skin of the ginger always before using it.  Ginger skin is bad for health.

Ø Country tomatoes give nice and rich colour.

Ø Increase or decrease the quantity of tomato or coconut or coriander leaves and enjoy different taste. 

Ø Use less green chilly as you are including it just to satisfy your taste buds.

Kiwi Cucumber Cooler

Kiwi Cucumber Cooler

Golden Kiwi  :  1

Cucumber :  1

Water :   1/2 cup

Ginger ( Chopped ) :  1/4 tsp

Salt to taste.

Remove skin of Ginger, Kiwi and Cucumber.  Blend everything adding water.  Mix with salt.

Can be served adding ice cubes. 

This tasty Green Juice will help to ensure beautiful skin and will smooth wrinkles and improve overall skin texture.  

Can use normal kiwi instead of golden kiwi . 

Kaara Kuzhambu

Kaara Kuzhambu

Veg :  

Brinjal Chopped :  1/2 cup

Drumstick :  1 ( chop )

Stir fry in oil

Red chilly :  4 or 5

Red gram / Tur dal :  1 tsp

Black gram / Urad dal :  1 tsp

Raw Rice :  ½ tsp

Curry leaves :  10

Til Oil :  ½ tsp

Grind along with fried items:

Black Pepper :  4

Cumin : ¼ tsp

Deep fried Urad dal Papad/ Ulundhu appalam  :  ½

Other ingredients :

Tamarind paste : 4 tsp

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder : ¼ tsp

Jaggery:   ½ tsp

Water :  ¾ cup

Curry leaves : 6

For Tempering :

Til / Gingelly Oil : 4 tsp

Mustard seeds:  ½  tsp

Fenugreek seeds :   ¼ tsp

Red gram / Tur dal :  ½ tsp

Red chilly : 1 ( broke into 2 pieces)

Hing / asafetida  :  ¼  tsp

Method: 

Deep fry Urad dal Papad .  We need half of it for this recipe.

In 2 ltr cooker add ½ tsp of oil and fry Red gram, Black gram, Red chilly , Rice , Curry leaves for a couple of minutes and grind along with pepper , cumin and fried papad.

In the same cooker add 4 tsp of Til oil and temper with mustard seeds .  When it starts popping add red chilly, red gram, fenugreek seeds , hing .  Fry till the ingredients starts changing its colour. Add veggies and stir for a couple of minutes.

Add water , tamarind paste, salt , turmeric powder, jaggery , curry leaves, ground masala powder . Close the lid and cook for a whistle.

Flavorful Kaara Kuzhambu is ready to serve with hot rice and with fried appalam / papad and veggies.  

Note : 

Instead of adding veggies , you can add sun dried veggies ( vaththal ).  Add sun dried veggies while tempering.

Carrot Soup

Carrot Soup.

 1/4 kg - Red Carrot ( chopped )

 2 tsp -  White unsalted Butter

 1 tsp - Ginger (chopped)

 1/2 tsp - cumin seeds

 1/2 tsp - Pepper

 1/2 tsp - Sugar

 1/2 - Red chilly 

 Salt to taste.

 Put everything in 2 ltr pressure cooker.... Cook for a whistle in medium flame.

 Open .... Blend nicely with 2 cups of water and strain (optional).

Heat and  Serve hot with coriander garnishing .

Note : 

Can add tomato while cooking to get rich colour.

Ginger Lemon Tea

Ginger Lemon Tea

Ginger is rich in Vit C , Magnesium and other minerals and is extremely benefit for health.  Health benefits of Honey and Ginger in treating respiratory problems are unmatched by any other concoction .   Preparing Ginger Lemon tea with the combination of honey is a healthier option as it is free from Lactose.   

And also the combination of Ginger + Lemon + Honey is often used to help relieve cold and flu symptoms.

There are many health benefit of Ginger Lemon tea like :

 Relieve nausea ,  Improve stomach performance,  Reduce inflammation ,   Fight respiratory problems,  Improve blood circulation ,  Relieve menstrual discomfort,   Strengthen immunity ,  Relieve stress. 

Ingredients for Tea :

Water : 2 tea cups

Ginger  :  1 inch

Tea powder :  1 tbsp

Honey :  1 tbsp

Lemon juice from half of the lemon.

Remove skin and crush ginger .

Add crushed ginger with water and bring to a nice boil.

Add tea powder and when it starts boiling nicely switch off and close with a lid.

After a couple of minutes strain the tea decoction and add lemon juice and honey . Mix nicely and have a warm ginger lemon tea.

Enjoy this soothing Ginger tea whenever you feel like having it.

Note : 

Increase or decrease the quantity of Lemon juice or Honey as per your taste.

Curry leaves / Karuveppilai Thokku

Curry leaves / Karuveppilai Thokku

We can’t imagine a meal without Curry leaves flavor , if it is especially a South Indian meal.  Today I got really a very big bunch of Curry leaves from South Indian Stores .  So I planned to make it as a thokku after keeping some for day to day use.

Ingredients for Thokku :

Curry leaves : 2 cups

Tamarind Paste  :  1 tsp

Red chilly :  4

Black gram / Urad dal  :  2 tsp

Ginger ( chopped ) :  1 tsp

Hing Powder :  ¼ tsp

Salt to taste

Jaggery powder :  ½ tsp

Mustard :  ½ tsp

Til / Gingelly Oil  :  3 tbsp

Water :  ¼ cup

Mix tamarind paste in water and soak the well washed curry leaves, for an hour.

In non-stick pan , add half a tsp of oil and roast black gram .  When it starts changing colour , add chilly , hing and ginger. 

Fry it till chilly starts changing its colour.  Remove from flame.

Let it cool down.  Grind the roasted ingredients to a fine powder.

Take out curry leaves from tamarind water and add it along with ground powder and grind everything nicely to a smooth paste.  Add little bit tamarind water if needed while grinding. 

  Keep the leftover tamarind water in reserve.

In the same non-stick pan , add 2 tbsp of oil and temper with mustard seeds.   Add the ground paste + remaining tamarind water + salt to taste + jaggery powder. Close with a lid and cook in medium flame till it becomes fairly thick.  Now and then stir for uniform cooking.  At the end add 1 tbsp of oil and cook for a minute and remove from flame.

Very flavorful Thokku is ready to serve with Curd rice.   It goes well with Tiffin like Idly , Dosa , Upma too.

Curry leaves thokku helps in digestion and can have it in our daily meal.

Note : 

Ø   Increase the spice level as per your need.

Ø   This Thokku can be stored for a week in refrigerator.

Ø   Instead of tamarind paste , you can soak raw tamarind with curry leaves in water and grind it along with  curry leaves.

Onion Cheese Rings

Onion Cheese Ring

Already monsoon started here and time for us to enjoy fried hot Snacks .  Chewy inside with crunchy outside Onion cheese rings can be prepared very easily with the items readily available at home and kids will enjoy this snack for sure.

Ingredients :  

Big Onion  :  1

Cheese Slice  :  1

All Purpose flour / Maida  :  ¼  cup ( for paste )

Cornflour :  ¼ cup ( for coating )

Bread crumbs :  ½  cup

Salt :  a pinch

Chilly powder : ¼  tsp

Cooking oil for deep frying.

Slice onions into thick rings .  Remove each slice carefully and arrange alternate rings together so that you will get space between the two rings.    

Cut cheese into thin strips to match with the thickness of onion rings.

Insert cheese strips in the gap between onion rings. 

Keep all the onion cheese rings and freeze it for an hour.

Make a thick paste out of Maida using less water and add salt ,chilly powder .

Corn flour,  Maida paste,  Bread crumps

Take onion rings from the freezer and first coat nicely in corn flour . 

Then dip in Maida paste nicely.

Finally coat in bread crumps and cover evenly on all sides.

Deep fry in Oil in low flame till it becomes golden brown.

 Serve yummy snack with Sauce .

Papaya Smoothie

Papaya Smoothie

Papaya ( chopped )  :  1  cup

Carrot  ( grated )  :  1  cup

Fresh Pumpkin seeds :  2 tbsp

Honey  :  2 tbsp

Water :  1  cup

Some papaya pieces for garnishing.

Remove skin and seeds from Papaya fruit.  Chop into big pieces.

Peel skin from carrot and grate it.

Grind Papaya, Carrot and pumpkin seeds nicely adding water in Juicer.  Do not strain.

Add honey and mix thoroughly.

Garnish with some Papaya pieces.

This Smoothie is filling and also a healthy option for breakfast .

Note :

Replace Pumpkin seeds with overnight soaked and peeled Almonds.
I have used Red carrot to gives rich colour.  Can use Orange Carrot too.

Pineapple + Melon Juice

Pineapple +  Melon Juice

Pineapple ( chopped ) :  1 cup

Musk Melon ( chopped ) :  ½ cup

Honey :  3 tbsp

Ice water :  ½ cup  

Remove the skin and chop the pineapple and Musk melon.

Grind nicely by adding water in the juicer.

Strain and mix Honey thoroughly .  Add water if needed.

Serve chilled or Plain.

Add Ice cubes before serving , if needed.

This is absolutely energy giving drink with Fiber ,Vitamins and Minerals.

Red Blush Mocktail

Red blush Mocktail

Red Currant  :  ¼  cup

Pomegranate :  1

Beetroot ( chopped ):  1 tbsp

Honey :  1 tbsp

Ice Water :  ¾ cup

‘Pulse’ red currant by adding ¼ cup of Ice water .  It will be bitter if you grind it, so better pulse it in the mixie.  Drain and keep the juice.

Similarly de-seed pomegranate and ‘pulse’ the seeds by adding 1/2 cup of Ice water .  Drain and add the juice with the red currant juice.

Add chopped beetroot and grind it very nicely by adding ¼ cup of above pureed fruit juice to get beetroot juice.  Drain and collect the juice.

Mix all the juices nicely with honey . 

Enjoy yummy home made Mocktail … really refreshing and healthy too.

If needed, add Ice cubes before serving.

Add a dash of colour to your kitty parties with this yummy treat.

Apricot Balls

Dried Apricot Balls

Apricot is good source of Vitamin A and it also contains vitamin C and minerals.  Having dried Apricot along with Almond, Coconut and Dates , this snack is definitely a healthier option for those who crave for Sweets.

Ingredients for dried Apricot balls:

Apricot :  ½ cup

Almond : ½ cup

Coconut : ¼ cup

Black Dates : 5

First grind raw Almonds finely.  But no need to make it almond butter .  Add chopped apricot , grated coconut and de-seeded dates ….  Grind nicely . 

Take the dough and make balls or in the desired shape and enjoy the tasty and healthy nuts and dry fruit ball. 

Note :

As we are using fresh coconut , consume it within 3 to 4 hours.

We can add extra Dates to get extra sweetness.

Can use any type of Dates.

Karamani Kunukku

Lobia / Karamani kunukku

As with all legumes, black-eyed peas are especially good sources of soluble fiber, which helps prevent type 2 diabetes by keeping blood sugar balanced after you eat. Soluble fiber also binds to cholesterol and carries it out of the body.
We can make Sundal out of black eyed peas which is a kind of salad.  We can also prepare it as a deep fried tasty snack which is a healthier option for kids.  
Lets see how to prepare Karamani / black eyed peas Kunukku.

Ingredients:

Small Black eyed peas ( white ) / Lobia /  Karamani :  1/4  cup

Black Gram / Urad dal :  1/4 cup

Green chilly :  3

Ginger :  1/4 inch

Onion :  1

Coriander leaves :  1 tbsp ( chopped )

Salt to taste.

Cooking Oil for deep frying.

Soak small black eyed peas and black gram for 4 hours with enough water.  Drain the water.  

Remove skin from ginger and chop.

Thinly slice onion.

Add chilly, ginger with peas and black gram and grind nicely adding very less water.  Batter should not be watery.

Mix salt and chopped coriander leaves and onion slices with the batter. 

Pinch out small portions from the batter and fry in medium hot oil  and fry nicely till it becomes crispy and brown in colour.

Healthy snack is ready to serve with chutney or ketchup.  

Note : 

Can use big size black eyed white peas or black eyed red peas .  Increase the soaking time to 6 hrs.

Crispy Bindi / Ladies finger Pakoda

Crispy Bindi /  Ladies finger Pakoda

Ladies finger :  100 gms

Red chilly powder :  1 tsp

Garam masala powder :  1 tsp

Besan/ Kadalai maavu  :  2 tbsp

Rice flour :  2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Sunflower Oil  :  3 tbsp

Water : 1 tsp

Oil for deep frying.

Cut the edges and chop the veg lengthwise. 

Mix all the other ingredients thoroughly to coat evenly.

Deep fry the slices in batches in oil till it becomes crispy.   Keep the flame in medium.   Drain the pakoda in the paper tissue to remove excess oil . 

Serve Crispy and tasty Bindi Pakoda as evening snacks or as side dish in a meal.

Note : 

Make sure not to stand very near while frying .  At times we can expect light burst as we are including seeds along with the veggie.

   Optionally we can remove seeds before mixing all the ingredients and then deep fry.