Rice Soup (Pej)

Yum.... This is not only tasty but helps get back our health after sickness. This also neutralize acidity.

Ingredient:
1 cup Rice flour
4 cup water
1/2 table spoon cumin seeds
1 small Green chilly (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped Coriander (optional)
Salt and/or sugar to taste
Oil / Ghee 1/2 table spoon

Method:
1. Mix Rice flour in 1 cup of water. Mix it well to make a smooth paste
2. Take 3 cups of water in pan.
2. Add oil/Ghee, salt &/or sugar, cumin seeds, coriander in 3 cups of water
3. Keep it for boiling.
4. Add the paste prepared in step-1 in the boiling water slowly. Stir the mixture while pouring.
5. Now allow the mixture to boil. Keep boiling for 2 minutes
 
Serve the Soup in Soup bowl. Add more Ghee from top as per the taste. Garnish with mint or coriander leaves.  .

Pasta in white sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion

4 cups pasta (macaroni/penne/ fusilli /farfalle /ruote)
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp cracked black pepper
2 cups milk
3 tbsp plain flour (maida)
30 gm butter
1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
1 cup broccoli florets
1/4 cup sweet corn
1 cup chopped/sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup chopped french beans

Optional - 2 tbsp grated cheese (processed/cheddar/ parmesan)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil/veg oil

Method:

1. Cook the pasta in boiling water with some salt. Drain and set aside.

2. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the broccoli and steam cook for 3 minutes.

3. Heat the olive oil in a pan add the onions, cook on low heat until the onion is transparent, add garlic and cook on low heat for another minute.

4. Add the carrots and french beans, stir, cover the pan and cook for 5 min or till the carrot is almost cooked.

5. In the meantime - in a bowl, sieve the flour, add 1/3 of the milk and beat or stir to a smooth paste, gradually add the rest of the milk while stirring and ensuring there are no lumps. Melt the butter and add while stirring into the flour-milk mix. Set aside.

6. Add the sweet corn, mushroom and dried herbs to the pan - cook for a further 3 minutes on medium heat.

7. Add the flour - milk- butter mix gradually to the pan, stirring constantly. Cook for a couple of minutes or until the liquid starts to bubble.

8. Add the pasta, stir, add salt to taste, add the pepper and then the broccoli. Turn the heat off and mix everything.

9. Serve hot and sprinkle the grated cheese on top if you wish.

Note: If the white sauce becomes lumpy, pass it through a sieve to get rid of the lumps. The white/bechamel sauce is made in different way to ensure the butter is kept to a minimum. You can add some diced chicken with the onions if you like and follow the rest of the recipe.

Delicious Maida Vanilla Cake

Ingredients:
1/4 kg All purpose flour
1/4 kg Sugar-powdered
1/4 kg Butter
5 Eggs
3 tsp Baking powder
2 tsp Essence-vanilla
1/2 cup Milk-Boiled
A pinch salt

Method
1.Mix together the sugar powder, butter and beat them well until it becomes light, white and fluffy.
2.Slowly add the beaten egg one by one and mix well.
3.Sieve the maida along with baking powder 3 to 4 times and add to the above ingredients.
4.Again mix the batter vigourously well with milk.
5.Pour the cake batter into the greased baking container.
6.Bake the cake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit
7.Icing sugar can be added on top after the cake cools down.

Chakali Bhajani

2 Bowls Rice
1 Bowl Harabara dal
1/2 Bowl Mung dal
1/5 Bowl Udid dal

3/4 Bowl Poha
3/4 Bowl Cumin seeds
3/4 Bowl Coriander seeds.

Roast everything and grind.

Rasam pawadar

Coriander seeds (Dhane) 1 and half cup
Tur dal : 1 cup
Red dry chillies : 1 cup
Chana dal (Harbara dal) : 1 tbl. spoon
Cumin seeds (Jeere) : Half cup
fungreek seeds (Methi dane): 1 tbl. spoon
Black pepper (Kali miri) : 1 tbl. spoon

Roast everything with little oil on tawa with low flame.
Then grind it either at home mixi or in the mill if in large quantity.
While making rassam... take little tur dal (4-5 spoons) and lots of water and put it in cooker.
Then make Tamrin water (Chincheche pani)and keep it aside.
Put big pot on stove...
then add one t.spoon of oil..
Mustard and cumin seeds for tadaka (jeere mohari)
then put curry leaves (Kadipatta)
lot of hing (asafoetida) 1 t.spoon (this gives nice fragrance and flavor to the rassam)
Haladi, red chilli powder, rassam masala powder (prepared above) as per our taste.
Add chopped or grated tomatos if you want to as I use very little or no tamrin water so we can also make whole Tomato rassam wo tamrin water also.
Add cooked dal water from cooker and tamrin water if you want, salt, Jaggery as per our taste.
chopped coriender
make it to boil on v. low flame....   and its really Yum to sip........

Sabudana vada (sago patties)

Yum.... the title itself is mouthwatering. Favorite recipe for special friend... along with chat.... chat... chutney.

Ingredient:
1 cup Sabudana
1/2 cup Peanuts or Cashew nuts (roasted & crushed coarsely)
2 medium size Potato (boiled, peeled & mashed)
7-8 Green Chilies (crushed)
1/2 cup chopped Coriander
Salt and/or sugar to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method:
1. Wash sabudana thoroughly and drain excess water. Keep just as much water as required to keep sabudana under water. Soak it for 4-5 hours.
2. Add all ingredients to it except oil. Mix well.
3. Keep the oil in a deep frying pan to heat.
4. Moist hands and make small flat side rounds... vada shape.
5. Carefully put the vadas in the heated oil on medium flame. Fry till they are crisp and light brown in color.

Drain them well using a sieve type ladle. Serve with peanut chutney or Tomato ketchup.

Smashed Potatos

This recipe I first ate in Royal hotel 'The Fairmont Royal York' in Toronto. The taste of any menu there is exceptionally great. Specially smashed potato was melting on tongue.
I tried making following recipe and I would say the taste came very close to it surely.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
• 1/2 kg peeled baby red potatoes or any potatoes, cut in 4-5 pieces if large
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup Milk / Milk cream
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• 1/2 cup chopped spring onion
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Gently boil red potatoes and grated garlic in salted water until tender. Drain.
2. Using the back of a large spoon, smash each potato pieces. Add butter, cream, chopped coriander, chopped spring onion, salt, and pepper. Stir gently to combine. Gently reheat for 3-4 min. Serve hot.

This dish goes well with pasta with bolognese and apple soup for which I will be writing recipe in my next posts. Visit again.