Vegetable Pie

One fine day I was so bored to cook the same stuff over and over again and I had lots of vegetables that stayed in the refrigerator. I did not want to waste them all. Lots of vegetables and tomato puree and grated paneer is all we need to get this delicious and healthy vegetable pie. Eat this with rice or as a sandwich or just as an evening snack.



Ingredients:
Chopped vegetables - carrots, beans, cauliflower, broad beans, peas, yellow, red and orange sweet peppers, potatoes, cabbage - 3 cups
onions chopped - 1/2 cup
tomatoes crushed in a blender - 2 cups
chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder - a pinch
grated panneer - 1/2 cup
olive oil - 2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Microwave the chopped vegetables until half cooked and then add the masala powders and keep the vegetables aside.
2. Heat oil in pan and fry the chopped onions, add tomatoes and when it comes to a sauce consistency add the panneer.
3. Take a cake baking pan and layer it with the vegetables. Then add the stuff from step 2
4. Bake in the oven @ 350 for 15 minutes.
5. Let it cool and the tomato layer on the top will thicken to form like a topping.

Apple Cake

I am back after a long break :) Here is a simple recipe for a tasty and easy apple cake. Thanks Sudha for your eggless recipe for this cake and my strictly vegetarian mom loved it :)

My elder one who is a big dora fan loved this dora shaped cake.



Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp baking powder
Walnuts
1 stick butter - or 1/2 cup oil
1 red delicious apple - grated
milk - if required for consistency


Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients and bake at 350 for about 40 mins.

Magic Cookies

Home made cookies !!! Don't they sound great?? They taste awesome. Here is the recipe from my friend Soumya.



Ingredients:
1) 1.5 cup graham cracker crumbs
2) 0.5 cup all purpose flour
3) 2 tsp baking powder
4) 1 cup chopped walnuts
5) 3/4th cup grated dry coconut
6) 3 tsp butter
7) 0.5 cup chocolate chips (I used the white ones)
8) 1 can sweetened condensed milk



Preparation:

1) Mix all ingredients together.
2) Preheat oven to 375 F,
3) Drop cookie sized mixture into cookie sheets.
4) Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the dough is brown

Fish Salad

If you are trying to turn towards the healthy side of eating with minimal cooking, here you go,



Ingredients:
Lettuce leaves - handful
Grape tomatoes - 5
Cucumber - 10 slices
baby carrots - 5
Salmon - 5 pieces
ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
chilly powder - 1 tsp
cummin powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
salt

Preparation:

1. Mix ginger garlic paste, chilly powder, cummin powder, turmeric powder, salt into a smooth paste and marinate the fish pieces with the paste for 1 hour
2. Bake the fish at 375 F in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes
3. Arrange the lettuce leaves, cucumber, carrots, grape tomato in a salad bowl and the bakes fish. Enjoy your salad with your favorite salad dressing

Pongal Special

Our pongal celebrations started with offering of ven pongal/sambar and sakara pongal to god.





Ven Pongal:

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Moong dal -1/4 cup
Cummin seeds - 1 tsp
peppercorn - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 10 leaves
casews - handful
ghee - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Cook the rice and dal together until it mashes.
2. In a pan heat ghee and add curry leaves and the coarsely ground cummin and pepper
3. Fry casews separately in ghee
4. Add the cooked rice to the pan and mix well and decorate it with casews


Sakara Pongal:

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
vellam - 1 medium sized
coconut grated - 2 tbsp
caswes - handful
ghee - 2 tbsp
elachi - 4

Preparation:
1. Fry casews separately in ghee and keep aside
2. Cook rice separate and keep it aside
3. Add very little water to vellam and heat it in low flame
4. Let the vellam completely dissolve in water and keep stirring until it reaches the string consistency
5. Grind the coconut and elachi in the mixie without adding any water so that the coconut gets grated
6. Heat the ghee in a pan and add the cooked rice, the vellam from step 4 and the ground stuff from step 5.
7. Add the casews and turn off the stove when the required consistency is reached

Chicken and Egg Fried Rice

After many tries found this recipe for chicken egg fried rice exactly like the ones we get in the restaurants in India. Everybody at home loved this.




Ingredients:

Chopped carrots - 1/4 cup
chopped beans - 1/4 cup
peas - 1/4 cup
chopped spring onions - 1/4 cup
chopped onions - 1/4 cups
pepper - 1 tsp
Basmati Rice - 2 cups
eggs - 4
finely chopped chicken - 1/2 cup
chopped ginger and garlic - 2 tbsp


Preparation:

1. Marinate the chicken with turmeric, salt and yogurt for 1 hour
2. Wash the basmathi rice in hot water. Heat 6 times water in a thick bottom open pan and add the washed rice. Let it cook for 10 minutes or until its almost done. Turn off the stove, drain the water, spread the 3/4th cooked rice in a board vessel and let it dry.
3. Add the chopped vegetables (carrots, beans and peas) in a bowl and add water just to cover the vegetables and microwave it for 5 minutes.
4. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions, ginger and garlic.
5. Once the onions turn golden brown, add the chicken.
6. Fry til the chicken cooks completely and then add the eggs, adding pepper and salt fry until the eggs are cooked along with the chicken.
7. Once the eggs are done, add the boiled vegetables from the microwave.
8. Now add the spring onions and in medium flame mix the cooked rice and serve.

Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a very simple and healthy appetizer or a snack. This surely is a great treat for the mushroom lovers. Enjoy.




Ingredients:

Button mushrooms - 1 pack (From Sams Club)
Organic baby spinach - 1 pack (From Sams Club)
Butter - 1 tbsp
Garlic and herb seasoning (I use the Tone's with no salt and no msg from Sams club) - 1 tsp
Grated cheese - 1 tbsp (any kind will do)


Preparation:

1. Heat butter in a pan and add the spinach. Cook for 5 minutes until the spinach is done.
2. Add the garlic and herb seasoning and the grated cheese in low flame and let the stuffing become little sticky.
3. Wash and clean the button mushrooms. Remove the stems and use only the caps.
4. Stuff the mushrooms caps with the spinach stuffing from step 2
5. Line up the mushrooms with the stuffing in a tray and put it inside the oven and cook in 350F for 15 to 20 minutes until the mushrooms are done.