String Beans!

Never heard of it?

Think again! (Or just look at the picture below :) )

Ingredients:

250 gm String Beans

2 Tomatoes

2 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped

2 tbsp Soy sauce

2 tbsp Oil

Salt to Taste

Method:

• Cut the string beans into 6 cm long strips and boil them in bubbling salted water for 5 minutes and no more.
• While that is cooking, blanch the tomatoes in the same water and peel them and then make a puree.
• Strain the beans and put them into ice cold water immediately.
• Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and saute the garlic and tomato until the tomato puree has lost its raw appeal.
• Add all the remaining ingredients to it and then cook covered for 6-8 minutes.
• Serve hot!

Instant Mushrooms!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Butter

1/2 cup Milk

1/2 cup Cream

1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup Yogurt

1 Large Onion finely chopped

3 cups Button Mushrooms finely chopped

Salt to Taste

Pepper to Taste

A pinch of Mustard Seeds

Method:

• Heat a frying pan and melt the butter in it. 
• Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle.
• Then add the onions and the mushrooms and saute it over medium to low heat for around 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft and tender.
• Then add the milk and bring it to a boil while stirring continuously.
• Add the cheese and cook for another few minutes. If it is sticking at the bottom then lower the heat.
• Now add the remaining ingredients and cook for another minute or so.
• Remove from heat and serve it in a plate along with flat bread or stuff it in a sandwich and toast it in olive oil.

Works as both breakfast and lunch!

Try it!

Yummy Lasagne!

I always try and keep my recipes simple and quick so as to be helpful to the working woman of today or a doting mother or a beginner who has just stepped into the magical yet bottomless world of cooking. This recipe is my all time favorite as it is very quick yet filling and also can be served as a one dish meal, which in today's world is a luxury! And i know that it has a lot of cheese in it but hey we all love cheese once in a while... okay may be more then once in a while! My suggestion, have a smaller serving if u are on diet but do have a serving! :) So lets have a look at what we have got here....

Ingredients:

450 gm Lasagne pasta

4 cups Cottage Cheese

4 cups Mozzarella Cheese

2 cups Cream Cheese

3/4 cups Parmesan Cheese

3/4 cups Full Fat Milk

1/2 cup Tomato Salsa

1/4 cup Tomato Ketchup

1/2 cups Grated Onion

1 tsp Dried Basil Leaves

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp Dried Oregano

1 cup Broccoli

1 cup Cauliflower

1 cup Grated Carrots

1 cup Sliced Mushrooms

Salt to Taste

Method:

• Grate all the cheeses separately and keep them aside.
• Grate the onion and squeeze it to remove the excess water but don't squeeze too hard.
• Finely chop the broccoli and the cauliflower so as to have no large chunks of them.
• Now boil the lasagne sheets as per the directions given on the cover and while that is happening mix all the ingredients together. Keep a little amount of cheese aside for spreading on the top of the pasta.
• Now grease a baking tray and then spread a layer of this mixture and then spread a layer of the lasagne sheets so as to fully cover it. 
• Continue spreading alternate layers and make sure that the top most layer is that of the lasagne sheets.
• Now on top of that, spread the cheese mixture that we had previously kept aside and then bake it in a pre-heated oven for about 50 minutes over 180°C.
• These Proportions serve 6-8 people.

Tip:

1. Instead of lasagne sheets you can even make this dish with shell shaped pasta or the spiral (fusili) pasta.
2. If it so happens that the lasagne is too much for you to handle at one time, don't worry, you can use the leftover lasagne as a stuffing for your lasagne sandwich the next morning!

Happy Cooking!

Green Pea Soup!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Fresh Green Peas

1 Medium Onion Chopped

1 Clove of Crushed Garlic

4 Cups Water

4 tbsp Butter

2 tsp Oil

1/4 Cup Cream

Salt to Taste

Pepper to Taste

Method:

• Heat the oil in a sauce pan and saute the onions for about a minute until they are translucent.
• Now add the garlic, peas and water and bring to a boil and then let it simmer until the peas are tender. 
• Drain the water and then add salt and cream and blend it in a mixer.
• We want a smooth consistency and you can sieve the mixture if you want to.

Tip:

Use small tender peas for this soup instead of those big hard balls of peas. this would taste much better with small peas and also it would reduce the cooking time. 

Cottage Cheese Ice Cream!

Ingredients:

1 liter Milk

50 gm Cottage Cheese 

1/4 Cup Sugar

4-5 Cardamoms Crushed

Method:

• Bring the milk to a boil and then let it reduce to half its quantity over a medium flame.
• Add the sugar and crushed cardamom (only the seeds) and stir continuously for another 6 to 7 minutes.
• Smash the cottage cheese with your hands and then add it to the milk.
• Now when the mixture turns thick, remove it from the flame and pour it into a tin and then place it in the freezer for an hour or so.
• When it is half set, remove it from the freezer and blend it in a mixture jar to a smooth consistency.
• Now again pour it in the tin and this time cover it with a lid or a cling wrap so as to avoid ice crystals.

Do tell me how do u like dat....

Mango Orange Sorbet!

Ingredients:

5 Cups Mangoes chopped

2 Cups Orange Juice

2 tbsp Lemon Juice

Sugar to taste

Method:

• Blend the mangoes in a mixer until they turn soft.
• Now add all the remaining ingredients and blend until a smooth consistency is reached.
• Freeze the mixture and don't forget to cover it or you ll have an ice candy rather than a sorbet. Half an hour or so should do it!

Happy Summers!

Italian Rice.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Rice

5 Cups Water / Vegetable Stock

2 tbsp Butter

1/4 Cup Cheddar Cheese

1/8 tsp Paprika

1/8 tsp Pepper Powder

Method:

• Heat the butter in a pan and add the rice. Saute for a minute or so until the rice develop a glaze.
• Add the stock and bring to a boil.
• Simmer the heat and add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil once again.
• Now cook the rice covered in an oven at 200°C for 60 minutes or until the rice are done.
• Serve with salted yogurt or any gravy and enjoy the aroma of Italy...

Indonesian Rice.

Ingredients:

3 Cups Rice

3 Cups Water

1 Cup Coconut Milk

10 Curry Leaves

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

6 Cardamoms crushed

1 Small Onion finely chopped

A pinch of Clove's powder

A pinch of Pepper

Salt to taste

Method:

• Was the rice, drain the water and keep aside.
• Take a sauce pan and cook the onions in oil until translucent.
• Now add all the remaining ingredients to the onions except for water and mix well.
• Then add the water and cook until the rice are well done.
• Serve hot with any gravy or curry!

Bonbons.

A simple recipe of chocolate which can be or rather which is enjoyed by all age groups...

Make this one for your childhood memories!

Ingredients:

3/4 Can of Condensed Milk

1 Cup crushed Marie Biscuits

1/4 Cup Roasted Almond Flakes

1 Cup Coconut Powder (Optional)

1 Cup Drinking Chocolate Powder

75 gm Chocolate

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients except for the coconut powder in a food processor and give the shape of bonbons. 
• Add a bit more of the crushed biscuits if you feel that the mixture is too soft to hold form.
• Now coat them with the coconut powder and place them in small paper cups.
• Refrigerate them overnight and store them in a container once they are set and keep them in the lower section of the fridge.

Hands Down! Nothing can be as quick and delicious both at the same time. And your children will think of you as the worlds greatest mom! At least i did! :)

Pickle Cucumbers at Home!

Love cucumbers?

Well now that they are available in summers, we can preserve them for quite sometime or at least until you let them survive in their jars! :)

Ingredients:

2 Cucumbers peeled

2 Small Onions finely chopped

4 Cloves of Garlic finely chopped

5 tsp Sugar

3 tsp Salt

5 tsp Vinegar

2 Red Chilies finely chopped (Optional)

Method:

• Wash the cucumbers properly and de-seed them.
• Now cut them into 1 inch roundels so that they look like very small tubes!
• Mix all the remaining ingredients and fill the center of the cucumbers with this stuffing.
• Jar them and keep them in the refrigerator.

Tip:

Sterilize the jars so as to avoid any fungal growth in future.

You can easily store this pickle in the fridge for 8-10 weeks!

Spaghetti Balls.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Boiled Spaghetti

2 Cups Milk

5 tbsp Refined Flour

5 tbsp Butter

4 Green Chilies Finely Chopped

150 gm Grated Cheddar Cheese

2 tbsp Freshly Chopped Coriander

3 Sticks of Celery Finely Chopped

100 gm Bread Crumbs (Fresh)

Salt to Taste

Oil for Frying

1 1/2 Cups Refined Flour

2 Cups Water

Method:

• Take a heavy bottomed pan and heat the butter until soft. Then add the 5 tbsp of flour into it and mix over a low flame until the flour is cooked. This should take about 3-4 minutes. Then add the milk to it and slowly cook until all the lumps are gone and the mixture is thick enough. This is the basic white sauce and we want it of a dripping consistency.
• Remove from the flame and transfer it into another mixing bowl and let it cool down or else it will keep cooking.
• Now add Spaghetti, Coriander, Cheese, Salt and Green Chilies to this mixture.
• Mix well and make small balls out of this mixture.
• Now mix 1 1/2 cups of flour with 2 cups of water and make a fine paste.
• Now dip the balls in this mixture and coat them in the bread crumbs and repeat this process for three times.
• Deep fry them in hot oil over medium to low heat so that they are cooked inside out and form a crisp layer on top.
• Serve them with any sauce and fried rice and you have a complete meal!

Instant Ice Cream!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Frozen Fruits / Fresh Fruits

(Mango Or Strawberry)

1 Cup Full Fat Milk / Cream

200 gm Condensed Milk

Method:

• Mix all these ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
• Serve them as it is or freeze them in a blast freezer for 20 minutes!

Tip:

Who needs a tip for so short a recipe?? :)

Ice Cream Cake!

Have a sweet tooth? Well this one is for those whose entire range of teeth is sweet as sugar! Let me share my secret of the easiest way of making ice cream cake at home! Summers or no summers... this is always a hit!

Ingredients:

500 gm Marie Biscuits

Ice Cream of your choice!

Whipped Cream

Method:

• Take a zip bag and add the biscuits to it and then crush them with the help of a rolling pin. We want a combination of very small chunks of biscuits to a fine powder. No big pieces should remain.
• Now take a loose bottomed/detachable cake pan and crease it with butter.
• Take your ice cream and whisk it until it forms soft peaks.
• Now add the crushed biscuits to the ice cream mixture and mix well. 
• Spread this mixture in the cake pan and then top it with whipped cream and even it with a spatula.
• Keep it in the freezer for 3 hours to set.
• Voila! Your ice cream cake is ready to be appreciated!

Tip:

1. 20 minutes before serving, take the cake out of the freezer and place it in the lower section of the fridge so as it would attain the consistency of the cake or else you would feel as if you are eating plain frozen ice cream!
2. Warm your knife over a low flame before slicing for nice even slices of cake. DO NOT HEAT IT TOO MUCH!
3. Help yourself with generous portions of chocolate syrup or strawberry sauce over your slice of cake!

Corn Cheese Canapes.

Ingredients:

1 can Corn Kernels (225 gm)

1/4 cup grated Cheddar Cheese

1/4 cup Paneer/Cottage Cheese

1 Onion finely chopped

1 Green Chilly finely chopped

2 tbsp Coriander finely chopped

2 tbsp Corn Starch

2 tbsp Butter

1 cup Milk

1 cup Yogurt

Salt to Taste

Canapes

Method:

• Heat the butter in a sauce pan and add the onions, green chilly, corn starch, milk, yogurt, cheese and salt and mix well.
• Remove from heat and add the mashed panner/cottage cheese and the corn kernels to the mixture and return to heat and then cook until the mixture thickens and the corn starch is completely cooked.
• Now take the canapes and fill them with generous portions of this mixture.
• Places the canapes in a baking tray and then bake them in an oven over medium heat until the top layer of the canapes is just golden.
• Remove from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.
• Serve them with tomato ketchup or any salsa dip!

Tip:

1. Mix the corn starch in the milk so as to avoid any lumps.
2. If you are using fresh corn kernels then boil them in slightly salted water for about 10-12 minutes.

Minestrone Soup.

This is a very popular soup that is made with very finely chopped vegetables and a few strands of spaghetti but none the less tastes wonderful and is most importantly very quick and utterly simple to make! Lets roll then...

Ingredients:

4 Carrots peeled and finely chopped

2 small Turnips peeled and finely chopped

2 Potatoes peeled and finely chopped

3 stems of Celery finely chopped

4 big Tomatoes pureed

1 small Leek finely chopped

1 cup Cabbage finely chopped

3 cups Water

25 gm Butter

2 cloves of Garlic

25 gm Spaghetti

Salt to Taste

Pepper to Taste

1 cup Cream Cheese

Method:

• Take a thick bottomed pan and heat the butter.
• Then add the carrots, potatoes, celery, turnips and garlic and cook until translucent.
• Then add the water and bring to a boil and cook covered for another 15 minutes over medium heat or until the vegetables are cooked through.
• Then add the tomato puree, cabbage, leeks and spaghetti and again bring to a boil and then cook uncovered for another 15 minutes over low heat.
• Add the seasonings.
• Add the cream cheese and serve hot!

Tip:

1. Blanch the tomatoes for a minute or so in boiling water and remove their skin before pureeing. This will improve the taste and texture of your soup.
2. You can use spring onions if you do not have leeks and if you do not have those... well just add onions :)
3. For those on a diet... needless to say... avoid the cheese darlings!

Happy Eating!

Peach Ice-Cream!

I bet this one is as simple as it can ever get!

Ingredients:

1 can Condensed Milk (400 gm.)

1 can Milk Powder (400 gm.)

2 cans Nestle Cream (340 gm)

1 can Sliced Peaches (800 gm)

Roasted Almonds (Peeled and Sliced)

Method:

• Mix the Condensed Milk and Cream in a bowl and keep aside to chill.
• Drain the slices of Peach off the syrup and then churn them in a mixer. Do not make a puree but let it remain a bit chunkier.
• Now mix all the ingredients and let them set in a freezer. Do not forget to cover the bowl or else you will have a frosty ice cream!

Mango Ice-Cream!

With summers almost here already and with the fresh mangoes of the new season now available in the markets... y not treat ourselves tonight?? :)

Ingredients:

1 ltr Milk

1/8 cup Milk Powder

1/3 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp Cornflour Powder

1/2 tsp Custard Powder

1 cup Fresh Mango Pulp

Method:

• Boil the milk and reduce it to half its quantity and then add the sugar to it.
• Then add the custard powder and stir continuously for a minute and then bring it to a boil.
•  Then add the cornflour, stir well and remove from the heat.
• When cooled, add the milk powder and the mango pulp and then whisk the mixture until it forms soft peaks.
• Then cover it with a foil or a cling wrap and let it set in the freezer for half an hour or so. Do not let it set completely.
• After half and hour or so, when the ice cream has started to set, take it out and again whisk the mixture until it forms soft peaks.
• Now let it set in the freezer and again cover it with a foil.
• After 2-3 hours of rest in the freezer, your delicious home made mango ice cream will be ready to serve! 

Tip:

• Use fully raw mango pulp as it would be more sweet .
• Mix the custard powder and the corn flour separately into two tsp of milk and then add them to the mixture so as to avoid any lumps.
• Use an electric whisk if you can as the whisking process can tend to be quite tedious.
• Always cover your ice cream while refrigerating it as that would avoid the ice crystals from forming and make your ice cream soft and smooth.

Mango And Yogurt Cooler...

A delicious delight for all those who absolutely adore mangoes but do not appreciate its pulp being diluted by something as liquid as milk! Well here is what i did...

Ingredients:

250 gm Yogurt

50 ml Water

Pulp of 2 Mangoes

Crushed Ice

Sugar to Taste

Pinch of Cardamom Powder

Method:

• Take a mixer jar and add all the ingredients to it and blend until a smooth paste is obtained.
• Serve chilled in long glasses or stemmed glasses with a slice of mango to go on top!
• Voila! You are good to go.

You can make 6 to 8 glasses out of these proportions.

Tip:

• Use Alphonso mango if available.
• You can make this drink with mango flavored yogurt too!
• Dont add too much cardamom or it will spoil the taste of your mango! 

The Buttermilk Drink...

Summers have finally arrived!

Ingredients:

400 ml Milk

2 ltrs. Buttermilk

1 cup Sugar

3 cups of chopped Pineapple

Method:

• Take a blender jar and mix all the ingredients until there are no pieces of pineapple visible in the jar.
• Chill the mixture in a freezer.
• Serve them in long glasses with a garnish of Pistachios if you like.

You can make 10-12 glasses with these proportions.

Tip:

You can squeeze a lemon on top while serving it! Just try it!

Moong Masoor Khichadi

Fall ill a lot and dnt like the regular "Khichadi" anymore?

Or just bored out of it?

Well heres smthing new and simple along wid being quick for you to savour!

 

Ingredients:

1 cup whole green Moong

1 cup whole Masoor

1 cup Rice

5-6 cloves of Garlic

1 1/2 tsp Jeera/Cumin

1 tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

Salt to Taste

Oil for Tempering

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients with 3 cups water except for the mustard, cumin and oil and bring 2 whistles and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
• Let the pressure drop on itself and then add 1/2 cup water and mash everything togther to bring it to the consistency of a khichadi.
• Prepare a tempering with the remaining ingredients and pour over the mixture.
• Sprinkle some coriander over it, mix well and serve hot!