Ginger Tea

Happy New Year everyone! I am posting my first recipe for this year that is simple yet addictive and refreshing - Ginger tea.  Most of you love it. Don't you? Tea can be prepared using different aromatic ingredients like cardamom, cloves, ginger, cinnamon.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Tea leaves - 3 tsp

Water - 1 cup

Milk - 1 cup

Sugar - 3 to 4 tsp

Grated ginger - 1/2 tsp 

and/or

Crushed Cardamom - 3

Method:

In a pan, add 1 cup of water, grated ginger and/or cardamom and bring it to a boil. 

Add tea leaves and let it boil for 1-1.5 minutes. Filter and set aside.

Boil milk in another pan and add the tea decoction and sugar. 

Stir and serve hot with biscuits or snacks.

I have tried a few tea brands. Some of my favorites are - Wagh Bakri, Three roses, Society, Taj Mahal.

Peni (Crispy Noodles Soaked in Badam Milk)

Satisfy your sweet cravings with this delicious Peni in 5 minutes! This is usually served in weddings.
Peni is available readymade in stores which makes this dish super easy to prepare.

Serves 1

Ingredients:
Haldirams Peni/Pheni/Feni - 1
1/2 cup Badam Milk
Saffron and pistachios to garnish

Method:
For badam milk, mix 1/2 cup milk, 2 tsp MTR Badam milk powder, 1-2 tsp sweetened condensed milk, saffron and heat for 5 minutes.
Take one piece of peni in a bowl, pour the warm badam milk and garnish with pistachios or sliced almonds.
Your dessert is ready in 5 minutes!

Tomato Adai

Ingredients:
Idly Rice + Raw Rice - 3/4 cup
Thur Dhal + Channa Dhal - 3/4 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Red Chillies - 1
Green Chilli - 1
Salt
Tomato - 2
Hing - 1/4 tsp
Jeera - 1.5 tsp
Coriander leaves and curry leaves to garnish

Method:
Soak the dhals and rice together for 2 hours.
Rinse. Add chopped tomatoes, red chilli, green chilli, salt, hing and coconut.
Grind in a mixer or grinder adding water little by little to a coarse batter.
The mixture should be thick like idly/dosa batter.
Add jeera, coriander leaves and curry leaves and mix.
Heat a griddle. When hot, pour a ladle full of batter and spread in a circular motion.
Drizzle a drop of coconut oil and few drops of cooking oil around the corners.
When one side turns golden brown, flip and cook the other side. It takes at least 2 minutes to cook on each side.
Serve hot with idly podi or avial.

Note: For regular adai, skip the tomatoes.

Coconut Rice

Hello Readers,
Hope you all had a great Diwali! Sorry for not being able to post any sweet recipes. I had been busy with some other commitments for the past few days.

Here's a simple rice recipe perfect for lunch box.

Ingredients:
Fresh or frozen grated coconut - 1/2 cup
Cooked Basmati rice - 3 cups
Salt as needed
Hing - a pinch
Cooking Oil - 1 tbsp
Coconut oil - 1 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Red chilli - 1
Roasted peanuts - handful
Green chilli - 1
Mutard seeds - 1 tsp
Urud dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Coriander leaves - to garnish

Method:
Heat oil (regular oil and coconut oil) in a pan. Add mustard seeds, urud dal, hing, red chilli, green chilli, curry leaves. When mustard seeds crackle, add coconut and fry on low flame for 5-7 min.
Add cooked rice, salt, roasted peanuts and ghee.
Mix well and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with pappad/yogurt or avial.

Aval Puttu (Poha Sweet)

I love puttu. But I have never tried making it because I don't have a puttu maker. I tried with poha and it tasted just like regular puttu. This is a great evening snack for kids.

Ingredients:
Thick Poha - 1 cup
Jaggery - 1/3 to 1/2 cup
Cardamom - 3
Cashews - a few
Coconut - 1/4 cup
Ghee - 3 tsp

Method:
Dry grind poha in a mixer to a coarse powder.
Heat ghee in a pan, roast cashews to golden brown.
Add poha powder, crushed cardamom and fry on low flame for 5 minutes.
Add frozen or fresh grated coconut and fry for couple of minutes.
In another pan, add jaggery pieces and little water just enough to wet the jaggery and boil till it dissolves completely in water.
Add this syrup and mix well.
Take half cup of water in a bowl and sprinkle little by little and keep stirring until poha is fully cooked.
Do not add all the water at once as the mixture will turn mushy. Adjust the quantity of water to get the right consistency.
It takes about 10 minutes for poha to get cooked and soft.
Adding coconut is optional.

Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Halwa

This halwa turned out delicious! Try this for Diwali. I hope to post more sweet recipes in the next few days.

Ingredients:
Mixed vegetables and fruits (Pumpkin, Sweet potato, Carrot, Apple, Dates) - 2 cups
Sugar - as needed
Cardamom - 3 crushed
Roasted cashews - 10
Milk - 1 to 1.5 cups
Ghee - 3 tbsp
Saffron - a few strands

Method:
Peel the skin of pumpkin (pooshanikai), sweet potato, apple and carrot. Grate and set aside. Chop dates (about 4) into small pieces.
Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan. Roast Cashews and set aside.
In the same pan, add grated vegetables and fruits. Fry for 5 minutes. Add milk, saffron, crushed cardamom and cook till the milk is absorbed and the mixture turns soft. Add some more milk if the mixture turns out dry and needs to be cooked for some more time.
Add sugar and some more ghee and simmer for 10 min.  
Garnish with roasted cashews and serve warm.

Note: You can adjust the quantity of each veggie and fruit as per your taste and liking. 

Ragi Kanji for babies/toddlers

This is a simple and healthy porridge that can be given to babies (8 months+) for breakfast.

Ingredients:

1.5 tsp sprouted ragi flour
1/2 cup water
A pinch of crushed cardamom
Sugar or jaggery as needed
1/2 tsp ghee (optional)
2-3 tsp mashed banana (optional)

Method:
Take ragi flour in a bowl. Add water little by little until it mixes well.
In a pan, add this mixture and heat on low flame till it becomes thick and gets cooked fully. Keep stirring now and then to avoid forming lumps.
Add cardamom powder, mashed banana and sugar or jaggery. Drizzle ghee.
Mix and serve warm. 

Rice Kheer - 250th Post!

Indian Vegetarian Kitchen is all about simple, quick and easy recipes. So here's an easy dessert that can be prepared for any occasion. This is my 250th post! It's been 5 years since I started this blog. I still have the same enthusiasm and passion to post new recipes as I had when I started this blog. Keep visiting my blog and enjoy my recipes. Thank you all for your support and compliments!!

Rice Kheer

Ingredients:
4 cups Milk
1/3 cup Rice
Water 1.5 cups
1/4 tsp Saffron
3 fresh Cardamom crushed
Sugar as needed

Method:
Cook rice in 1.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker until very soft and mushy.
Boil milk in another pan.
Add cooked rice, saffron, cardamom and stir well.
Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add sugar and mix well.
Serve hot or cold.

Note: You may adjust the consistency of kheer by adding or reducing the quantity of milk.

Check out some of my older posts in case you missed them!

                     

                                 

Avial

I tried Avial using frozen vegetables this time. Of course it would taste great when fresh vegetables are used.

Ingredients:
2 cups mixed fresh or frozen vegetables like beans, carrot, potato, chayote squash (chow chow), drum stick, pumpkin, elephant yam (senai kizhangu)
1/3 cup grated coconut
About a cup of yogurt
2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp jeera
1 green chilli
6 cashew pieces
Salt
A few curry leaves
A pinch of hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Method:
Chop vegetables into long thin pieces and boil in water adding turmeric powder till the veggies are fully cooked. Drain excess water. Let it cool.
Grind coconut, jeera, chilli and cashews to a smooth paste adding some water.
Add this paste and boiled veggies to yogurt. Add salt and hing. Drizzle coconut oil on top and garnish with curry leaves.
Stir well and serve with rice or adai.

If the gravy is thin, add some more yogurt. If it is very thick, add some left over water used for boiling the veggies. 

Cauliflower Pulao

This recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Basmathi rice
2 Cups water
2 Cups of chopped veggies (cauliflower, beans, carrot)
1/2 Cup chopped onion
Salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
1 Slit green chilli
1 tsp grated ginger garlic
1/2 tsp jeera
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 star anise
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp oil
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and star anise. Add onions, green chilli and ginger garlic paste. Sprinkle some salt and fry till it turns light golden brown.
Rinse basmathi rice. Add the fried onions and cook in 2 cups of water till done.
Heat oil again. Add jeera. After it crackles, add veggies and sprinkle some salt. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and garam masala powder. Fry till the veggies are cooked and cauliflower turns brown and crispy.
Now mix this with cooked rice and add ghee and some more salt if required.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with raitha/chips.

Almond Kesari

Have you tried my Pineapple Kesari? This is another variation of plain kesari. It tastes really good.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Sooji/Semolina
1 1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup dry Almond powder
5 tsp mtr badam feast (optional)
1/2 cup Sugar
A pinch of Saffron and Cardamom
Handful of roasted Cashews and Raisins
1/4 cup Ghee

Method:
In little ghee, roast cashews and raisins and set aside.
Fry sooji in the same pan on low flame till it turns light golden brown.
Add almond powder, mtr badam feast and cardamom.
In another vessel, boil water and saffron.
Add it to Sooji/Almond mixture gradually and stir continuously to avoid forming of lumps.
When Sooji is cooked, add sugar and mix well. Add ghee and garnish with nuts and raisins.

If you are not using mtr badam feast, increase the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup.

Beetroot Curry

Many find it hard to cut beetroot. I usually pressure cook whole beetroot and then peel the skin and chop into fine pieces. It makes the cutting part easy. You can also grate beetroot after peeling the skin. That's what I have done here.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized beetroot

2 tsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp urud dal

2-3 red chillies

Salt

A pinch of hing

1/4 cup grated coconut

A few curry leaves (optional)

Method:

Pressure cook whole beets in water for 3 whistles.

Cool it. Peel the skin and chop into small pieces.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds, urud dal, curry leaves, red chillies and hing. 

When mustard seeds crackle, add the beets. 

Add salt and fry for 5 minutes.

Add coconut and mix well.

Serve with rice and sambar.

Poha Halwa

I am finally back to blogging after a long break! I hope to post recipes more frequently. Poha halwa is my own creation. It is very yummy and tastes close to chakkarai pongal (sweet rice pudding). It takes only 10 minutes to prepare this dessert. Let's move on to the recipe.

Ingredients:

200 grams MTR Badam Halwa Mix
1.5 cups thin poha (aval/beaten rice flakes)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup ghee
Handful of cashews and raisins
A pinch of orange food color

Method:

Roast cashews and raisins in 2 tsp ghee till they turn golden brown.
Set aside.
Wash poha in water and squeeze excess water and set aside. It's ok if it turns mushy. Use only thin variety poha.
In the same pan, add MTR badam halwa mix, washed poha, milk and stir everything together till mixture turns thick. Keep adding remaining ghee while stirring. Add food color and mix well.
Garnish with roasted cashews and raisins.
Serve hot.

Tervis Tumblers!

 This post is a part of a Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with Tervis. Tervis tumblers are virtually indestructible - they won't crack, melt, shatter, or chip, and they come with a lifetime guarantee. Even better, their double-wall insulation means hot drinks stay hot, cold drinks stay cold, and your furniture stays clear of those annoying condensation rings! 


Recently, I was selected to receive a tervis tumbler! I have been using it everyday and it keeps any beverage hot or cold for longer time. Do buy these beautiful tumblers and try them!
The beverage displayed in this picture is badam kheer. For recipe click here. 

Wheat and Nut Laddoo for Diwali

IndusLadies has compiled an eBook for this Diwali consisting of "100 Yummy Sweets & Desserts recipes", contributed by various Food Bloggers! One of my recipes, wheat and nut ladoo is featured in the ebook (Page 69). 





Go ahead and download it @ http://www.indusladies.com/100diwalisweet. 


Thank you Indusladies for including my recipe!!

Simple Garlic Rice

This is a quick and easy recipe for garlic lovers!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw Basmathi Rice
4 Garlic pods
1 small Mor Milagai (sun dried chillies)
Salt
3 tsp Ghee

Method:
Rinse basmathi rice and cook in 1 cup of water and set aside.
Heat ghee in a pan. Roast chopped garlic to golden brown.
In another pan, fry mor milagai in 1 tsp oil till it turns black. Crush into small pieces.
Add roasted garlic, crushed mor milagai and salt to rice.
Toss well and serve with onion raitha. 

Mutter Paneer

Ingredients:
Grind together to a smooth paste:
5 small tomatoes
1 big onion
5 garlic pods
1 green chilli
4 cloves
2 1"cinnamon sticks
small piece of ginger

Other ingredients:
4 tbsp oil
Salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp crushed kasoori methi
1 tsp butter
coriander leaves to garnish
1 cup paneer cubes
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup frozen peas

Method:
Heat oil in a pan. Add the ground paste. Add chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. Add some water if the gravy is very thick. Fry till the raw smell goes away and oil starts to separate from the sides of the pan.
Fry paneer cubes to light golden brown. Add the pieces to the gravy. Add peas. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves, kasoori methi and butter.
Serve with chapathis or rice.

Kodak Photo Book

This post is part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program with KODAK Gallery. Recently I was chosen the lucky winner of a free photo book from kodak gallery, a partner of food buzz.
Using the photo book creation software, it's easy to create photo books and photo albums in few minutes by choosing a book size and style. There are three sizes available - large, medium and small. There are two options available to make your photo book. If you are short on time, you can use the quickstart option or choose the step by step option if you want to customize every photo at your own pace. You can easily resize, rearrange, add captions, change layouts, add or remove pages to customize your photo book the way you like. There are tons of cover designs and page background options to give the photo book a professional look.  I received mine yesterday and was quite happy with the product. One thing I noticed was the pictures were more saturated than the original ones. 


Visit http://www.kodakgallery.com/products/photo-books/pc-Products-c-C830001
to know more on how to create photo books. I had a great experience creating mine.
KODAK Gallery is also providing an exclusive offer to my readers; 40% off a medium hardcover or a large Photo Book. Visit www.kodakgallery.com/creativity and order your photo book.  The offer is only available through this URL from 8/1/11 - 8/31/11.

Apple Almond Shake

Ingredients:
Apple - 1
Milk - 2 cups
Almond - 10
Cashew - 5
Sugar as needed
Saffron - a few strands
Chopped walnuts - for garnishing

Method:
Peel the skin of apple. Chop into small pieces and grind it with almonds, cashews, sugar and milk.
Filter for smoother, creamier shake.
Garnish with saffron and walnuts.

Tomato Pulao

I have already posted Tomato Peas Bath and Mild Tomato Pulao recipe earlier. This is another version I learned from amma. It's so tasty that I had to share the recipe with you all.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups Basmathi Rice
3 tomatoes
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
2 green chillies
2 cloves
1 inch cinnamon
Salt
4 tbsp oil
2 tbsp ghee
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
A handful of frozen peas

Method:
Rinse and soak basmathi rice in water for 15 minutes. Drain and cook the rice in 3 cups of water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Fry cinnamon and cloves for few seconds.
Grind tomato, onion, ginger, garlic, green chilli to a fine paste without adding water. Add this paste to the pan. Add salt, turmeric, red chilli powder and cook the gravy until it becomes thick and oil starts to separate. Add frozen peas and simmer for five minutes.
Add this paste to cooked basmathi rice and mix well without mashing the rice.
Garnish with coriander leaves.