Karvachauth-Ladies special day

In my first post regarding my festive mood, I talked about few of my strange cravings and the strangest was the urge to buy some traditional outfits. So to satisfy this craving I tried searching latest movies that are loaded with heavy traditional fashion show but unfortunately movie makers are making movies with a different trend  these days so ended up watching few dance songs on you tube. During my New Jersey trip I also did some window shopping with a hope of finding something good and suitable to my taste but that was useless. Later in the evening at my friend’s house, I tried searching for the Saas-Bahu serials to have look of the latest fashion trend but to my dismay these days they have changed the trend of serials as well. Most of the serials aired on Indian channels these days are trying to depict the Rajasthani culture and traditions but distorting the fact to quite an extent.  Being a Rajasthani, I am not happy with the way they try to reflect my culture in their serials. Ok let’s not sit in the criticizing mood and continue to our festive mood.

                                                 After seeing the title of this post, I don’t think I will have to explain the reason for my strong urge of shopping. Yes, it’s for Karvachauth. In northern India, Karvachauth is the festival when ladies or I should say their husbands and in-laws adore them with lots of shopping, mehendi and no work for the whole day. In fact J mehendi itself is an excuse to take full rest on Karvachauth.To add some festiveness to my blog, I went to an extent of going to my friend Ritu’s house with camera to get some pictures of her vast bangles collection that you can see in above pic.

Festivals are never complete without the sweets and I always go for the short cuts when it comes to sweets. So for Karvacauth I decided to make my favorite karvacauth special Fenni, instead I should say simply decorate it because I didn’t have to do much in making Fenni. Fenni base are available in stores and you have to only soak them in chashni. In fact I should say thanks to my fried Shruti, who gave me idea of soaking Fenni in chashni when she saw me this crazy for this sweet few days back.

Dahi-vade is something that is made in all the festivals in my family as almost every  family member is fond of dahi-vade.                         

                                                        

Kuttu ke Pakore

So today is the last and the eight day of Navratri fasts and here comes my eight Falahar recipe. While starting Falahar recipes although I decided but never hoped to finish eight recipes for eight fasting days. Although I was little bit tired yesterday with lot of parties, my son’s holidays and half days. I was not much in mood of continuing further with the falahar recipes but after seeing the overwhelming response from you all encouraged me to pen down another recipe for the last day of Navratri. It also gave my husband a good opportunity to have some warm fried snacks for rainy eve. So let’s say bye to this navratri with kuttu ke pakore.

Ingredients: 1 Cup kuttu flour, ½ cup water, 3-4 long and thick peppers, 2 boiled and mashed potato, 1-2 potato sliced in circle and vertical strip, sendha namak per taste , crushed pepper per taste, ginger powder or ginger juice ½ tsp, oil for frying.

Method: Slit the long peppers vertically. Mix the desired amount of sendha salt and black pepper to boiled and mashed potato. Fill the peepers with potato filling and keep aside. Mix the kuttu  flour, desired amount of sendha salt and pepper, ginger powder or juice together to make a smooth and thick paste. Coat the filled peppers and potato slices with the kuttu batter and deep fry on medium flame. Serve the kuttu pakore with green chutney.

You can also serve the kuttu pakore as chat platter mix with sweet yoghurt and some fruits.

Aloo ka Halwa

Yesterday I was invited to a friend’s house for Navratri Pooja. First I started preparing a fruit basket for Prasad but then came the idea of preparing some vrat food that can also make entry in my Falahar special series. I tried remembering the other dishes that my mom use to make and a two minute flash back play of childhood days was enough to bring this dish back to my memory. Below mentioned ratio is for 2-3 people.

Ingredients: 7-8 Boiled potato, ½ cup milk, sugar 1/3 cup or per taste, ghee 3 tbsp, 6-7 crushed cardamom, 7-8 saffron flakes,  ½ cup chopped mix of almonds, cashews, 8-10 raisins.

Method: Grate or mash the boiled potato and keep aside. Soak the saffron flakes in milk and keep aside. In a pan heat ghee and add the grated potato. On medium flame roast the potato for 10 minutes or till the time potato starts leaving ghee and changes a color and aroma. Make sure to stir potato continuously while roasting to ensure even roasting of potato. When the potatoes are well cooked with ghee, add sugar dry fruits, cardamom and milk with saffron flakes and mix properly. Let the halwa cook for another 5 minutes and make sure to stir it. Garnish the halwa with dry fruits.

Chilla from Kuttu Flour

In one of my previous posts about Vrat food, I made kuttu ka parantha. To make puri and parantha from kuttu flour is bit tough as this flour don’t bind easily. My mother use to make lot of falahar food for my grandmother and instead of puri and  parantha, she use to make this chilla very often as it’s easy to make and can be made in a little oil with a good non-stick pan. You can make the chilla from kuttu flour, just the way you make besan chilla or the pan cakes.

Ingredients: Kuttu Flour 1 cup, water ½ cup, 1-2 chopped green chilli, chopped coriander leaves, 1 tbsp chopped tomato, sendha namak per taste, crushed black pepper,  ½ tbsp oil.

Method: Mix the chopped chilli, coriander, tomato and water in kuttu flour to make a thick consistency batter. On the hot pan pour this batter and spread it evenly. Cook the chilla from both sides on medium heat. This chilla can be served with various chutneys.

Makhane ki Kheer

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I am not a big fan of fasting and fasting food myself. But to help some of my fasting friends and all my blogs visitors, I finally decided to introduce Falahar or Vrat ka khana till the end of Navratri. So today I am here with “Makhane ki Kheer”. I am quite sure that some people might have not even heard about Makhana as it’s not generally used in much of the recipes. Makhana is a white color, fluffy and light weight dry fruit.

Ingredients: Makhane 1 cup, Milk 4 cup, Chopped dry fruits ½ cup, Sugar per taste, 4-5 crushed cardamom, Few Saffron flakes.

Method: Soak the Saffron flakes in 1 tbsp water. Dry roast the Makhane on medium flame for 6-7 minutes and keep aside. In a heavy bottom pan, boil the milk till the time it reduces to half. Now mix the Makhane, dry fruits, sugar, cardamom and saffron water. Tastes best when served chilled.

         

Makhane can also be dry roasted and used as mid day snacks with other dry fruits.

              

Samak-Vrat ke Chawal

Today is the first day of Navratri so first of all Happy Navratri and wish you all the happiness with the beginning of Festive season. In this post, I am adding another Falahar recipe named as Vrat ke Chawal made from small white rice like grains known as Samak. Samak grain is shown in the above pic if someone is unaware of it. Below mentioned ratio is for 2 people.

Ingredients: Samak  1 cup, water 2 cups, 1 tomato diced, 3-4 chopped green chilli, 2 potato boiled and cubed, 1 tbsp oil, sendha salt per taste, black pepper per taste, cumin powder 1tsp ,curry leaves 4-5.

Method: Wash the samak grains and keep aside. In a pan heat oil and splutter the curry leaves and green chilli. Add cumin powder and tomato. When the tomato are little tender, add the samak and water. Also add desired amount of black pepper and sendha salt. When the water starts boiling, lower the flame and let it simmer on low flame for 5-8 minutes. In the last when little water is left, add the boiled potato and let it simmer till all the water is dried up. Serve the samak rice with plain curd, raita, green chutney or tomato chutney.

Navratri Special- Falahar

Here comes Navratri, the first visitor on the door steps of my festive mood. Navratri is celebrated in lots of states of India and is celebrated with little different trend in every part of India. Like in some parts of India, Navratri is a festival of dance and music where as in some parts people simply observe fasting during these nine days. Although these days dance and music have associated itself with most of the festivals and so the Navratri is also more famous because of the”Garbha dance” or  “Dandia Nights” held during these nine days. Today in this post I will be talking about Navratri’s special Falahar (dishes made from fruits and few vegetables that comes into the fruit category like potato, arbi, tomato, petha (green pumpkin), arbi etc. Generally during the fasts people avoid onion, garlic and instead of wheat flour  Singhare ka atta, kuttu ka atta, rajgiri ka atta, are used.  Although I am not a big follower of fasts but have always liked the dishes made during the Navratri and other fasts.  These days I am trying to remember all those dishes from my childhood that I have seen my mother cooking during Navratri and other fasts.

In above thali, I have prepared kuttu ki roti and vrat ke Aloo served with lauki ka raita. Below are the methods for preparing the above dishes.

Kuttu ki Puri or parantha: One has to be very careful while making dough with kuttu ka atta as it don’t get tie-up easily like other flours. Best idea is to mash boiled potato with kuttu ka atta as potato helps to bind the flour. Also there is no need of using water for making the dough as the moisture from the boiled potato is quite sufficient for wetting the flour. Now with the prepared dough make puri, parantha or roti whatever you like. I generally go for parantha’s as the kuttu itself is little bit heavy and deep frying adds lot of grease to it.

Aloo with tamatar ka jhol: In a pan heat oil and add some chopped green chilli. When the chilies looks fried add the tomato paste. Add roasted cumin powder,sendha namak and black pepper powder per your taste. Add the boiled and mashed potato and little water for gravy.Cook the aloo tomato gravy on low for another 3-4 minutes and mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Lauki ka raita: Grate the lauki and steam them for 5-6 minutes with little water. When the boiled lauki is cooled add whipped curd to it and serve with a sprinkle of roasted cumin powder.

Festive Food

In my previous post I was talking about my strange cravings so my another craving that I have realized yet is not a strange but a common one, to eat few of my favorite sweets like Fenni and Patisa but as these are not so famous sweets so I didn’t had any hope of finding them in US .With all these cravings going inside me, luckily a long planned and a long delayed trip to New Jersey helped to satisfy little bit of these cravings with little window shopping in Indian Outfit shops  and some shopping from the famous “Sukhadia Sweets”. And Yes I was also able to find my favorite sweet Fenni  but as the Indian Sweets becomes quite expensive when they sit on the shelf of some famous sweets shop in US so I was not able to get my huge supply of Fenni.  I will be talking more about festive food and sweets, as and when I try my hands on other preparation for Diwali. Although I am not a big fan of sweets so experimenting on sweets is not my cup of tea but I do make the sweets for my sweet little devil and hubby dear with the help of all that Ready and Instant Mixes. So to celebrate my festive mood I started with Jalebi, one of my son’s favorite sweets although the shapes were not perfect but the taste was quite satisfying.

I hope above pic will add more to the festive mood by reminding the sweets shop in India with big kadhai and various sweets being prepared in front of sweet shops.

Festive mood

With all the festivals round the corner, I am already feeling high in my festive mood. I know some people may find it bit strange with one full month still left for Diwali but in my family, my native place festive season starts with the beginning of October. I think October and November are full of festivals in most parts of India. Also it’s almost two years now that I have been to India and this may be the reason for my “extreme super high festive mood”. I think I have explained enough about my festive mood and how I am feeling with the few adjectives all placed together.

                                                          From last few days I was having some strange cravings like to surf the Indian websites for heavy traditional outfits and to do some online shopping, watch some good movie loaded with traditional fashion show like “Hum Sath-Sath hain”. When this movie was released, people criticized it a lot and named it a fashion show of heavy jewelries and traditional outfits. And let me admit it frankly  even I was part of that group but to my surprise few days back I myself was craving to watch such movie.  It was while changing the linens of my living room last week that I realized about my festive mood. I had a sudden urge of putting some traditional touches to my living room. So did I realized that October has already started and so do the festive season. I will be talking more about my strange and funny cravings in next few posts but to start with, I am simply putting a picture of one corner of my current apartment  that’s reminding me of the Indian homes decorated during this festive season with a warm welcome message.

Bharwan Baingan

I have always seen my mother using coarse onions paste and various dry masala powders for making the filling for stuffed vegetables. But with onion one has to fry the masala before stuffing it in vegetables. This time I was not in a mood of long pre-cooking preparation and it’s also irritating some times to soil the mixer-grinder just for a spoonful of onion paste so I decided to make my stuffed Baingan without any hard work. I used frozen pre-grated coconut, pre-roasted and pre-grinded peanuts along with all the dry masala. J The reason I am using “pre” as prefix for most of the words is that I generally keep things like peanuts roasted and grated in advance to quickly use them for chutneys and gravies.

Poha

In my opinion Poha  is number one  super quick snack to make within ten minutes.  Again, Poha is one another thing that almost everyone makes with a different number of ingredients. Some people like to add lot of vegetables to the Poha and some like it simple with mere dry masala powders.  Generally when I am in a hurry, I make my Poha with chopped onions. But you can always add potato, capsicum, tomato, beans, cabbage and  n number of vegetables to Poha J.

Instant Uttapam

Although  there are lots of Instant dosa and Uttapam packets available in store these days. But you can also make the Uttampam like dish without the instant material or pre-soaked and pre-fermented batter. In above preparation I have mixed semolina and sour curd with a pinch of baking powder. I generally use lot of spring onions in my quick snacks as they are fast to cook.

Bhel Puri

Bhel  Puri is one of my favorite mid night snack and is highly associated with my hostel life. Whenever I make Bhelpuri , I could not stop myself going in a flashback of memories filled with my teen-hood  friends and hostel  life. I have spent eight years of my life in hostel and so my school-college friends are like family to me as we have spent so many years together. Hostel Life has a charm of its own. I have also heard from few people who didn’t had a good experience of hostel but  my Bansathali Vidyapidth was just a second home for me. We have done every thing from small mischiefs to big blunders. I could not stop myself smiling whenever I remember those naughty days  painting face of the sleeping girls, ringing the hostel bell in mid night, stealing the food from mess and so called “kanjoosh” friend to the big gang wars. Beside all the fun, hostel  had also taught us some of the important lessons of social life and been a place where I have found the best of friends .

Besan Ka Chilla

Besan  ka  Chilla is another one thing that is quick to make and it is  perfect for a rainy eve.  With a good non-stick pan or tava you  need only few  drops of oil to make this.

My Little devil and his Tiffin

Preparing tiffin for the kids is really a challenging job for all mothers and especially when the kids are lot fussy in eating. My six year little devil really gives me hard time when it comes to eating. When he is at home, I can make him eat anything because he is busy watching TV and I am busy putting all greens and healthy stuff into his stomach.  Although  he starts complaining of all that green things and red things  whenever he gets chance to see in the plate but  generally he get few chances of seeing all the healthy stuff because that’s hidden either beneath the chappati or rice. I have also heard in lot of gyan sessions that letting kids watch TV with food is not a good idea. But my idea is based on the priority, so my first priority is to make sure that all the healthy stuff goes inside his body and second priority will be restrict him from watching too much TV.  I also think that its true with everyone that if you let kids eat their meal by themselves, they will only eat their favorite part and that is definitely minus all the green things.

But it’s also true that moms can win their battle only at home and when it comes to tiffin time, we have to surrender and have to go per the kids choices. So here I will pour some of my easy and kids favorite recipes.  I myself don’t always try these recipes with my son because he is super fussy and  his  first choice is always Maggie and aloo ka paranthas.

Bread Chat

Many times it happens that people visit us at a very short notice or a five minute visit from friend or relative turns into a nice get together. I am bought up in a family where mere biscuits and Namkeen served with tea are not regarded that welcoming especially when your visitor is not coming from a walk able distance. One doesn’t have to be formal with the friends and relatives living around you because very often you meet with them. But when people comes specially to visit you with a long drive then definitely they need some warm or welcoming snacks with tea. So here I will be putting some 10 minute recipes or ideas that I and my mom have been practicing. All most all of  my blog visitor’s hail from the culture where “Atithi Devo Bhava” is incorporated in a person from childhood. So let’s start adoring our guests with these quick recipes.

Generally we have bread available in our refrigerator week long. Bread Chat is the quickest way to add something warm with tea. Her in bread chat I have fried onions, capsicum and have added bread pieces to it.

Mushroom with Palak

Mushroom and Spinach, both are my favorite vegetables and I love doing experiments with all my known vegetables so why not my favorite vegetables mixed together.

Idli Chat

Recently one of our family friends was visiting us so I prepared the idlis in advance for dinner. But as usual after a heavy and late lunch no one seemed ready for the dinner. A big box of idlis was waiting for its turn to go on table in my refrigerator and so came the idea for the  idli chat. In this idli chat I have mixed the prepared idlis with fried Onion and Capsicum.

Badi with Squash

This was a time of mixing one American vegetable with one Indian vegetable so I chose Squash to mix with my desi Badi's. You can also try the Badi's with Bottle Guard and Zucchini.

Potato-less Pav Bhajji

Again Bhajji is one another dish that everyone makes with different ingredients. I generally make my

Bhajji with Bottle Guard or Pumpkins mixed with other vegetables. People like me, who want to avoid potato, can use Bottle guard, pumpkin and variety of squash to give that starch like texture in bhajji.

I also don't use butter and white bread can also be replaced with the variety of other healthy breads.

With my job, I use to prepare Bhajji almost every week as sometimes brown bread is boring to eat but with bhajji it always tastes good.

Papad Ka Jhol

This gravy is very easy to cook for the people who know this but I have also seen some people bit shocked with the name of “Papad ki Sabji” and I have often heard them saying "Is there a sabji of Papad as well". I generally go for this gravy when I don’t have any fresh vegetables in my refrigerator. So here is the simple and plain “Papad ka jhol”.  Jhol is a Rajasthani  word and it means gravy.

Ingredients: Papad 2-3,  Onion 1 medium size, Tomato 1 medium size, turmeric Powder 1 tsp, Coriander Powder, Cumin seeds 1 tsp, Red  Chili Powder per taste, Salt per taste, Oil 1 tbsp.

Method: Dry Roast the papads directly on flame and break into big pieces. In a pan heat oil and splutter the cumin seeds. Add the chopped onions and when the onions are translucent, add all the dry masala powders. When the masala starts leaving the oil, add the chopped tomato. Once the tomato is  little tender, add 2 cups water and bring the gravy to boil. Add the papad pieces and let the gravy simmer for next five minutes on low heat.  Garnish the papad  jhol  with coriander leaves and enjoy with chapattis.

Penne Pasta with Chinese Flavour

Making Chow-Mein in large quantity is bit tough, so sometimes I use Penne Pasta instead of noodles for my parties, potlucks and picnics. Also this is a quick recipe to add something Chinese on your table.

Chow-Mein

Recipe for Chow-Mein is quite simple and is very clear from the picture. Moreover Chow-Mein is very common Chinese dish and almost everyone have their own style of cooking it. So here instead of recipe I will share some of my fond memories related with Chinese food. Chinese Food is one of my old-time favorite and experimenting on Chinese food was my first venture into the kitchen. One of my aunts used to live in Northern-eastern states of India. During the vacations she used to bring all the varieties of noodles and Chinese seasonings and hence the Indo-Chinese cuisine was incorporated in our household . It was in the 1980’s and Chinese food was not that easily available in our town so I always used to look forward for my aunt’s visits and all kind of Chow-Chow and Wai-Wai packets. Manchurian used to be my only dish for my lunch and dinners whenever we used to go to any Chinese restaurant. It was after one of my trips to a Chinese restaurant that I asked my mom if she could make unlimited supply of Manchurian for me. But my mom was bit clueless about the ingredients so during my next few trips to Chinese restaurant , I dissected the Manchurian from every angle . Thus began my never ending experiments with Chinese ingredients. In the last I would like to thanks all the people in my life who became victims of my first few miserable experiments including my family, my relatives , my college friends and the most important my hubby dear, who always tolerate my all experiments without any complains.

Mangodi ki Sabji

Ingredients: Mangodi ½ cup, Green peas 1 cup, onion paste ¼ cup, tomato paste ½ cup, finely minced ginger 1 tbsp, red chilli powder per taste, turmeric powder ½ tsp, coriander powder1 tsp, Garam masala powder ½ tsp, salt per taste, cumin seeds 1 tsp.

Method: Dry roast the mangodis on medium flame for 5 minutes. In a Cooker heat oil, splutter the cumin seeds. Now add the onion paste and fry it on medium heat. After 2-3 minutes add all the dry masala and stir it properly. When the onion paste starts leaving oil add the tomato paste. When the tomato paste is cooked add the mangodis , peas and 3 cups of water. Put the lid of the cooker and set it on high flame for one whistle. After one whistle leave the cooker on low flame for another 3-4 minutes. Enjoy Mangodi with chapatti. You can also cook mangodi with Potato instead of peas.

Stuffed Capcicum

Stuffed Capsicum is another thing that I always go with when I am running short of time and have some guests at short notice. It’s very easy to stuff the capsicum with a filling of boiled and mashed potatoes. This saves lot of chopping time and it can be cooked with a very little oil. This recipe can be made in an oven as well along with stuffed tomatoes. Best idea is to take small capsicums for stuffing but one can go with the big one’s as well if small are not available.

Stuffed Platter

One day a family friend was visiting us. With other two main entrees on table, I was trying to put the third one with a little different taste other than the shahi creams. From the vegetable basket I saw some vegetables peeping at me each in a very small quantity and so came the idea for a stuffed platter with mushrooms, parwal and tomato.

Gobhi Ki Bhujji

If you are tired of making Aloo-Gobhi and want to try something different with Gobhi/Cauliflower, try this simple bhujji which is made of grated gobhi.

Stuffed Karela and Bhujji from the peel

Generally People throw away the peel of karela/bitter guard but people like me, who are very fond of karela and want make the optimum use can make bhujji out of the peels.

Kundroo-Potato Fingers

Want to add something green to your kid’s plate, try making kundroo-potato with vertical shapes like kids favorite French fries.

Shahi Gatte

Ingredients: 1 Cup gram flour/besan, 2 tbsp vegetable oil , 1 tsp aijwain seeds , 1 dried whole red chilli, salt per taste, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp coriander powder , 1/2 garam masala powder, red chilli powder per taste, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp dry mango powder, 2 tbsp cashew powder or paste , 7-8 raisins, 2 tbsp heavy cream, 1 tbsp whole garam masala, ¼ cup onion paste, ¼ cup tomato paste.

Method: Mix besan, pinch of turmeric powder, aijwain seeds, ½ tsp cumin seeds, salt per taste, 1tbsp oil and make a tight dough. Press the dough into cylindrical shape with hand and cut them in circles like coins with a thickness of ½ inches. Boil 4-5 cups of water and put the besan gatte in boiling water so that they don’t stick to each other. Boil the besan gate in water on medium for 10 minutes. Drain the gate pieces aside. In a pan take 1 tbsp oil, splutter the whole garam masala including dry chilli and ½ tsp cumin seeds. Add the onion paste into the oil. When the onion paste is well cooked add all the dry masala powders. When the masala starts leaving oil add tomato puree, cashew paste,cream, raisins and mix it well. Cook for another 2 minutes and add 2 cups water. When water starts boiling add the besan gate and cook for another 10 minutes. Enjoy the Shahi gatte with Parantha/Chapatti.

Palak ki Kadhi

Ingredients: ½ Cup gram flour/besan, 2 cup curd, 4 cup water ,1 tbsp mustard or vegetable oil , 2 cup chopped spinach, 1 small onion finely chopped, 3-4 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp aijwain seeds , ½ tsp methi seeds, 1 dried whole red chilli, salt per taste, 1tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp coriander powder , red chilli powder per taste, 1 tsp cumin seeds, pinch of astofedia.

Method: Whisk together besan, turmeric powder, salt, curd ,water and make sure no lump of besan remains. Keep the prepared mixture aside for 30 minutes-1 hour. Mixing the curd with besan 1 hour prior to cooking gives smooth consistency to kadhi. Meanwhile wash and chop the spinach finely. Keep the chopped spinach in a strainer so that water is properly drained. In a big pot heat 1 tbsp oil on high and splutter whole chilli, astofedia,methi seeds, aijwain seeds, cumin seeds, crushed garlic in a serial order and immediately add chopped onions. When the onions are translucent add the coriander powder,chilli powder. After 2 minutes add the curd-besan mixture and stir it continuously. When kadhi mixture starts boiling reduce the flames to medium but continue stirring occasionally for another 10 minutes. Again lot of stirring in beginning gives a smooth consistency to kadhi otherwise curd-besan doesn’t mix well with water. After 10 minutes there is no need of stirring the kadhi and you can leave it on medium heat for another 20 minutes. Add the chopped spinach leaves during the last 10 minutes of cooking so that the spinach is not over cooked. Enjoy the palak kadhi with rice or chappatis.

Aloo-methi

Ingredients: 1 Cup dried kasoori methi or fresh methi leaves, 3 boiled potato, 3 cloves crushed garlic, 1 tbsp mustard oil,1-2 dried whole red chilli, salt per taste, red chilli powder per taste, pinch of astofedia, ½ tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp dry mango powder.

Method: Wash the kasoori methi in warm water properly and soak it for 10 minutes. If you are using fresh methi then wash the methi leaves before chopping to retain the aroma. Peel the boiled potato and cut into big pieces . In a pan heat the oil on high. Put the cumin seeds, whole chilli in the hot oil. Now add the astofedia, crushed garlic. When the garlic is little brown add the methi leaves and fry them for 4-5 minutes on medium heat so that water is evaporated. Add chilli powder, salt and boiled potato to the pan and stir well. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. At the last add the dry mango powder.

Enjoy the Aloo-methi with Parantha/Chapatti. This one is one of my favorites veg and I simply enjoy it with a bowl full of plain curd.

Tava Fry Barwan Mirch

Ingredients: 4-5 Long and big peppers in any color, ½ tbsp oil, 2 boiled and mashed potato,chilli powder per taste ,1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder,1/2 tsp garam masala powder, salt per taste,

Method: Mix together mashed potato and all the dry masala. Slit the peppers from middle and stuff them with the prepared filling. Now roast the stuffed peppers on hot tava for 5 -8 minutes and make sure to flip them in between. These peppers can be cooked in a pan as well but I have always seen my mom roasting the stuffed peppers as well as plain peppers on tava once she was done with chappatis.

Dieting made Colorful

Sprouts and Salads have been my favorite since my childhood. The only difference is that earlier I use to eat my sprouts with lot of potato and now I try to avoid potatoes in most of my food. Generally I have heard from People that dieting is very boring and tough. But I believe if diet food is made little colorful and tasty, dieting can become interesting as well. So here I am with few of my favorite diet foods that I generally practice in my daily life.

Sprouts

While I was working, I generally used to carry sprouts for lunch. I also used to see people little bit amazed with the idea of having only sprouts as lunch or breakfast. Traditionally people used to think sprouts as some medicine taken as 10-20 in numbers with an empty stomach and some people still believe that. So here are some colorful ways of using sprouts.

Vegetable Sprout Chat/Mix made of green whole mung beans/Daal,Onion, tomato, Cucumber, green chilli, corriander leaves, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, roasted cumin powder and chat masala. For making  Sprouts little tasty, steamed  the sprouts for 4-5 minutes before adding other ingredients.

Fruits sprouts chaat/mix made of whole moth daal/small red beans, apple, pear,banana, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, roasted cumin powder and chat masala. For a little tasty texture I have also added half boiled and diced potato. For making Sprouts little tasty, steamed the sprouts for 4-5 minutes before adding other ingredients.

Vegetable Sprout Chat/Mix made of black/brown whole chickpeas/Chana Daal,Onion, tomato, Cucumber, green chilli, corriander leaves, salt, black pepper, lemon juice, roasted cumin powder and chat masala.For a little tasty texture I have also added half boiled and diced potato. I also half boil the sprouted beans before adding the salad.                                                                                                            

Salads

To me salad means all the vegetables that can be eaten in raw form or half cooked. I have often seen and heard people getting bored of salads after few days. And yes any food can become boring if repeated over a long period with no variations. Also for some people salad is only a summer food. Generally I love eating half cooked vegetables like Broccoli, mushroom, cabbage, carrots, spinach etc. In winters I switch to the warm version of the salads made with half cookable vegetables . So here are few hot salads from my kitchen for the winter season.

Rainbow Salad made of various color half cooked capsicums and paneer pieces. A little sprinkle of salt, garlic powder, black pepper powder and chat masala gives it a taste of  paneer tikka.

Cabbage Salad made of various color half cooked capsicums, cabbage and finished with a  little sprinkle of salt, garlic powder, black pepper powder , chat masala.

Mushroom and pepper sauted in olive oil for little tenderness and finished with a sprinkle of chinese seasoning. This salad is a mild version of chinese dish Mushroom-Chilli.

Adore the Fiber

Fiber is beneficial to the body in many ways. Getting enough fiber helps protecting from many diseases like cancer, increase level of Cholesterol, diabetes etc. Besides preventing the diseases fiber plays important role in controlling weight gain. Dietary fiber includes all parts of plant foods that your body can't digest or absorb. Unlike other food components such as fats, proteins or carbohydrates — which your body breaks down and absorbs — fiber isn't digested by your body. Therefore, it passes relatively intact through your stomach, small intestine, colon and out of your body. Thus fiber adds little to your calories and is good for satisfying hunger during dieting. Fiber can sometimes slow the onset of hunger. High-fiber foods generally require more chewing time, which gives your body time to register when you're no longer hungry, so you're less likely to overeat. Also, a high-fiber diet tends to make a meal feel larger and linger longer, so you stay full for a greater amount of time. Always try to take fiber in the natural form. Whole Grains, Vegetables, Fruits , Nuts and seeds are some good sources of fiber. But when Fiber is overcooked, it loses some of its benefits. Refined or processed foods — such as canned fruits and vegetables and pulp-free juice, white bread and pasta, and non-whole-grain cereals — are lower in fiber content. The grain-refining process removes the outer coat (bran) from the grain, which lowers its fiber content. Similarly, removing the skin from fruits and vegetables decreases their fiber content. Here I have some ideas for incorporating fiber in daily diet as a whole and without overcooking.

Rolls stuffed with Fiber

Vegetables like spinach, Bottleguard, Zucchini, Broccoli, Cabbage ,green peas tastes good even if half cooked and can be used as filling for various wraps and rolls. These vegetables can be finely chopped and half cooked with little oil and seasoning.

Curd/Yogurt mixed with Fiber

Another way of adding whole fiber in your diet is by mixing Curd/Yogurt mixed with vegetables.Vegetables like spinach, Bottleguard, Zucchini, Cabbage ,green peas can be added to curd/yogurt. Best way is by finely chopping the above mentioned vegetables and steaming them for a while.