Karela Fry

                 Many of you after reading the title are going to wrinkle their noses, as I know many of them don't like karela...
                 I had come across this recipe long time back in some newspaper…Though I myself was not that great fan of karela at that time, thought of giving it a try & sure enough I fell in love with this recipe … so here is the recipe for karela / bitter gourd…

Ingredients

½ kg karela / bitter gourd

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

1” ginger, finely chopped

1 pod garlic, finely chopped

Few dania leaves, finely chopped

2 green chillies slit in middle

Pinch of haldi/turmeric

Red chilli powder, dania jeera powder: according to your taste

Salt to taste

Gul / jaggery ½ tsp

1.    Wash nicely all the karelas, & pat dry with a towel. Make a slit in middle & remove the seeds & also the stalks on it head.

2.    Then finely chop them in to small pieces.

3.    In a non stick kadahi, put 1 tbsp oil & roast those karela pieces till crisp on a medium flame. (Note: if you want, you can deep fry those karela pieces but I prefer roasting them)

4.   Add little bit of salt to fasten the process.

5.    Once all the karelas are crisp, remove them on a plate & keep aside.

6.   Again put 1 tsp oil, add ginger, garlic, chillies & onion fry till onion is transparent.

7.    Add other ingredients, like tomatoes, haldi, red chilli, dania jeera powder & gul.

8.   Mix well. Adjust salt.

9.   When done, close gas & add dania leaves & serve hot with chapattis, or dal rice.

Summer Cooler...

                         In this sultry summer, my Aayi always makes this cool drink for us… So I thought why not share with you?? … so here’s the recipe for cool & healthy drink

Ingredients

1 cup whole green gram / moong

Gul/jaggery according to taste

2 tsp elachi & nutmeg/jaiphal powder

Water

          Dry roast the gram till it smells & changes from green to brown. Add water & let it soak for nearly 1 hour.

After 1 hour, wash the gram & drain the water completely. Grind it to fine paste with elachi powder & gul. Add water to get required consistency. Strain the mixture. Adjust the water & sweetness to your taste.

Serve cold…

I am sure you’ll enjoy this cool & refreshing homemade drink in this hot summer…ENJOY…

Mix Veg Cutlets

              Yesterday evening after coming home from therapy, started thinking what to make for evening snacks as all were hungry & there was nothing ready to eat.

          I opened my fridge & found some boiled potatoes & beetroot, some leftover paneer. Thought let’s make come cutlets. So here’s the recipe of mixed veg instant culets...

Ingredients

1 medium size boiled & mashed potato

2 small size boiled & grated beetroot

1 medium carrot, deskinned & grated

2 florets of broccoli &/or cauliflower finely chopped

1 small piece of Paneer

1 finely chopped medium onion

2 slice of bread made into bread crumbs

½ cup boiled & crushed green peas &/or corn

Salt to taste

For Green paste:-

Green chillies 3-4

1” Ginger

1 whole pod of Garlic

½ bunch of coriander leaves

Cheese cubes

1 cup Rawa/suji/semolina

Oil for shallow frying

1.    Make a fine paste of ingredients for green paste.

2.    Mix it with all others except cheese & rawa

3.    Mix nicely & make 10 – 12 tikkis.

4.   Cut the cheese cubes in small pieces & stuff them in above tikkis

5.    Coat the tikkis with rawa & shallow fry them.

6.   Serve them hot with tomato sauce or pudina chutney.

NOTE: If you want you can deep fry them, but I prefer shallow fry.

Another option is you can avoid rawa & shallow fry them as it is.

Yummy Jams

Jams every kid loves it…Be it mixed fruit, or mango or pineapple or strawberry…Why only kids, even elders love it!!!

I was 1^st introduced to making of Jams by my elder sister-in-law, who is expert in cooking & I was a newbie.

From then on I was hooked to making jams every season…I tried various combinations & did some changes…

So here is recipe of jam, homemade, without any preservative. Yes it can be stored for nearly a year, without preservative…

Ingredients

Mango pulp 1 kg

Sugar approx 1 kg

Lemon juice 1 tablespoon

Measure mango pulp & check out its sweetness… because depending on its sweetness we’ll add sugar.

If the pulp is 5 cups & is sweet you need to add 2 ½ to 3 cups sugar. If you like it more sweet, you can increase the sugar quantity…

Combine the two in a thick bottom vessel or (as now-a-days it’s commonly used) nonstick kadahi. Keep stirring, till sugar has melted & the mixture has thickened. To check whether the jam is ready, take a bowl of water, drop few drops of the mixture. If it spreads, you need to reduce it still more. If it settles down, it’s ready.

If it’s ready, add the lemon juice, & after 1-2 minutes close the gas…

Allow the jam to cool fully before storing it in sterilized bottles.

This jam stays good outside for 4-5 days (in winter) or else you can store it in fridge for nearly 1 year…

Health Drink

A drink good for those suffering from anemia…Not necessary for those only… Anyone can try it…Its Good & refreshing drink especially when served chilled in this heat :). Instead of drinking bottled, aerated drinks, give this drink a try.... 

 

Ingredients

1 boiled beetroot

1 carrot

1 tomato

1 cucumber

Few dania (coarinder leaves) & mint springs

Salt to taste

Few drops lemon juice

Black salt to taste

Ginger (optional)

Dudhi/Lauki/Bottle gourd (optional)

In a mixer puree all the ingredients to the consistency of juice… Strain if you like, but to get more health benefit don’t strain… serve chilled… it will refresh you in an instant in this summer

  

People who are on Facebook will say its copied from there ... buts its not the one which is being circulated saying remedy for cancer...

Healthy Smoothie

A healthy, fulfilling smoothie… ready in seconds & healthy also…

Ingredients

2 chopped Elachi bananas

1 chopped  chikoo

½ cup dahi

1 chopped  mango

Sugar / honey – to taste

2 spoons Ragi flour

Elachi powder – to taste

In mixer, puree all fruits with all other Ingredients…

Serve Chilled or as it is…

You Can add or change fruits as you like…

You can add mixture of fruits or a single fruit... As I made today...only banana smoothie ...

But Avoid Citrus fruits…

You can add dry fruits if you want.

Try avoiding sugar or any sweetener... let the natural sweetness taste