Tasty Tortilla Treats

Some like it sweet & some like it savory so here’s something to please both palates. A perfect tea-time snack or a quick snack for a car journey or an unexpected guest – this recipe is a keeper not just for its ease, but for its melt in the mouth yumminess, not to mention its addictive qualities.  But this is pretty sinful since I take a 98% fat free tortilla and deep fry them to make these a deadly snack L sorry! Flouting blog ground rules once again, but you gotta have some sinful food in order to better appreciate the healthful ones, agreed?

This is a wonderful snack idea, at least the savory ones, I got from my friend Rajindra in Ottawa, Canada. She did not jazz it up much, but left it nicely salted, so that her little ones could enjoy them as well.When my husband and I were first married, R and her hubby who was my hubby's friend opened their hearts and homes to us almost every weekend and she would whip up these or some garlicky masala popcorn with a steaming cuppa! Miss you guys! 

Ingredients

1 pack of whole wheat tortillas

Oil to fry

For the Sweet

Powdered confectioners Sugar

For the Savory

Anything you want pretty much

(I’d bought some garden veggie spices at a local wine festival – the kind you can use with sour cream or mayonnaise to make a cool dip, I just used that with some powdered garlic flakes, some homemade dosai molaga podi and voila you have yourself a treat

Preparation

Cut into diamonds or squares and deep fry

As soon as you drain them in a lined colander

While it is still HOT,

Split into two portions

Add powdered sugar to one and the spice mix to the other.

YENJA-E! (:

Fast Food NOT Fat Food March- April Round Up + Breaking News

Dear blogger friends, IT was an overwhelming response to the March- April edition of my blog's event,
Fast Food NOT Fat Food with 85 entries - I am humbled by the number of outstanding and creative recipes that were submitted, starting from salads, to burgers, to idlis to chaats, pizzas, biscuits, noodles - the variety was mind blowing - I am so bad at picking favorites - And picking 5 is near impossible - So I would like to particularly recognize 20 of the recipes from different categories of dishes entered I thought best fit all criteria of the purpose of this event -
Sugar &Spice sent in baked version of  popular Indian Fast Food
Mad Scientist's Kitchen made a quick and healthy corn toast
Allotment to Kitchen Sent a wonderful Harissa Burger recipe
Spice and Sugar Tales Anjali sent in an yummy Instant Idli Tomato Chaat
Red Spice In sent in a really simple yet very satisfying fast snack idea
Raksha's Kitchen whipped up an onion Bakri
Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes sent in a delicious Wheat and Green Apple Salad
Mythreyi of YUM YUM YUM sent in an uber healthy Scrambled Tofu Veggie Wrap
Ambrosia made a very veggie and healthful version of Dokhlas
Ms.Not So Perfect & Nicks n' Jits Kitchen entered a very healthy Pizzas using minimum oil
Shoba or Food Mazaa entered a wholesome sprout stir fry
Cooking with all my Heart sent in an instant Veggie Ragi Idli recipe
Sobha of Good Food entered a wonderful desi Pasta - quick fix
Devi's Blog sent in a wonderful instant chaat
Raks Kitchen entered a wonderfully healthy paratha
Malli's Mint and Mimosa sent in an off beat, yet healthful Iranian recipe,
Bon Appetit's super healthy Poha Chivda
Meditterranean Inspired Foods Spinach Salad
Rasoi's smart thinking left over burger
My Spicy Kitchen's Tandoori Tofu Pizza and last but not least,
Amaaandababy's healthy and appetizing Vegetable Bread roll
There were some entries that were awesome but did not fully meet the rules of the event  (no links, wrong links, No logo etc) which I had to sadly eliminate from consideration.
Here is list of wonderful blogs that participated in the event (other than the ones mentioned above)
Spice ur Senses
Krithi's Kitchen
Harini's Corner
Magpies Recipes
Cuisine Delights
Apy Cooking
Malaysian Delicacies
Veggie Foodie
Eat Hearty Stay Healthy
Srav's Culinary Concepts
Sesnible Veg
South Indian Recipes
Ruchik Randhap
Jaya's Kitchen
Recipe Junction
Family Stamping &Food
Samayal Arai
Effortless Cooking
Jaya's Recipes
Dee's Kitchen Welcomes
My Tasty Treats
Kachuss Delights
Torview 
What's cooking?
My Saffron Kitchen
Ponderings of a Working Mom
Divya;s Easy Recipes
To check out all the entries in greater detail please on click this link 
If I've missed anyone, It is unintentional and please don't hesitate to email me @ priyamahadevan@hotmail.com and I will rectify at once.

Here is an award for you all to proudly display on your blogs for the wonderful thought and effort you put into finding a healthy version of a fast food. Congrats all and hope for the same FAT volume of participation again.
Love you all!




BREAKING NEWS -
FAST FOOD NOT FAST FOOD 3 edition starting May 1- June 15 will be hosted by my soul sister, wonderful friend and awesomel fellow blogger, Priya Sreeram of Bon Appetit. I was totally touched by her response to my enquiry which was so instantaneous and enthusiastic!  I cannot think of a better person to kick-start the guest hosting of my pet project to search for healthy recipes and my blog's very own first event :)
If anyone is interested in hosting this event in the future, kindly email me at priyamahadevan@hotmail.com.
Please check out Bon Appetit  for details and event rules.

Ricotta Burji

A week and a half ago, I had blogged a vegetarian lasagna recipe.  I had half a container of ricotta left over from that and was racking my brain to use it in an interesting way … and I was thinking why not try to make it a burji –

Burji is after all crumbled paneer and  ricotta is almost readymade burji material. I cannot but think of my nephew who is a Paneer MONSTER and could do paneer morn, noon and night, 24/7 and I thought I’d better muscle up my paneer recipes esp since he is honoring me with a visit this May – can’t wait, Bharga!

The two lovely inclusions to my recipe were home grown garlic chives and some store bought sage. They lent an incredible flavor to the dish. Add some onions, green chilies and some herb/spice powder if you have any – I kept it simple with the ingredients I’ve already mentioned and the kids simply devoured it! This can be a perfect summer, party on the deck dish - very simple yet very trendy and absolutely enjoyable without being too filling!

Preparation

Using 1 to 2 tsp of olive oil, cook it for about 10-12 minutes, until the whey of the ricotta is all dried and the ricotta sort of hardens a little and becomes more curdled.

Enjoy with chappatis or as a wrap or simply as a dip with tortillas -
NOTE: I found squeezing some fresh lemon on top before serving, escalated the tastiness of this by several notches 

Mango Pie

Guests for dinner and dessert crisis – Scouring through the pantry, my eyes land on a kesar Mango pulp tin and ideas course through the brain – hmm…that might just be it! Mango pie. I have made mango pies before from another good friend’s recipe. But that was with a graham cracker pie crust – However, since Jan visited my blog and taught me the untold joys of a nutty pie crust, I could not wait to try it out on my own. No Pecans as the recipe for the crust called for, but in the freezer lay some chopped walnuts and hazelnuts…. Once you’ve decided to go nutty, how does it matter how or which nuts, right? J

So I got to work on the crust – Simple and very easy recipe

Then, I went on line looking for an eggless pie filling – Not too many out there, but I quite fancied the filling from Mike’s Table – He’d used honey and condensed milk both of which i had readily available – However, his recipe called for eggs and there were couple of others that suggested corn starch as a sub for eggs. I did not get to take any pics of the cut pie, since we were at the table with out guests and it cleaned slipped my mind, else you would know what I mean – while it certainly was NOT falling apart, cutting it had to be a delicate operation done with finesse. One might say that who cares about the shape etc since anyway it becomes a chewed up mush on out mouths …but I can never be too particular about getting it just so!!

My mind buzzing with ideas, I set to work on the filling –

Now the filling tasted really yummy or spectacular as my hubby says, but it did not set and solidify as well as it might have had I a) used eggs – not an option I want to entertain or b) used more cornstarch than I did ---

Let’s take this in steps, shall we?

For the Crust

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup crushed nuts

¼ cup brown sugar

1 stick of butter melted (I used salted butter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients and press into 9  inch to 11 inch tart pan, making crust very thin.  Bake 10 minutes until light brown.  Cool before spreading filling.

For the Pie Filling

1 can of Kesar Mango pulp

1 can of sweet condensed milk

1 tsp of crushed cardamom seeds

3 tsp of corn starch

½ cup of honey

1 tbsp of pure orange extract

Preparation

In a bowl, mix well the mango pulp, cornstarch and honey

Pour in a saucepan and gently heat on medium flame until it thickens a bit

Remove from flame.

Add the condensed milk and cardamom and whisk into the mango pulp

All it to cool

Now in the cooled crust, add the cooled filling and set in the fridge until it needs to be served.

NOTE: I would advise that you make it a day in advance, unlike how I did it – It may help the filling set better

Add some crushed pistachios on the top of the pie. Serve by itself  or with a scoop of ice cream – go ahead and indulge!

Goes to Reva of Kaarasaaram's Mango Event

Crazy For Cakes Event Winners Announcement

Sorry if I have not visited your blogs with comments! This has been a tragic week for me with my beloved Guru and God, Sri Satya Sai Baba's passing. Nothing can remedy this huge loss to our world. But he remains well ensconced in my heart to kingdom come. 
This has been a fantastic ride for me! Not only did I host a fabulous guest, Anita Gupta, I also got a myriad of incredible cake recipes from a whole bunch of talented people for my Crazy For Cakes Event held in March . I have most fortunate in both the guests I've had, in that not only are the masters at their craft, but they are as diligent about the judging process. I will let Anita explain in her own wonderfully written words how she picked the winners. Congrats all and as Anita said, you are all winners. Since the entries were so varied, recipe-wise and decoration-wise, our judge, using sound judgement decided to make 2 categories of winners so I got 6 awards to disburse
But first I would like to give this participation award to all the wonderful participants - Please accept and display with pride on your blogs :) (To see all entries please click here)

Category 1 - Best Cake Recipe
Premalatha of Prema's Thaligai has swept two of those awards, my friends with her winning entries Mocha Cake and Cotton Cheese Cake recipes - A round of SOUND applause to you Prema :)
The third award in the category goes to our very own Saraswathi or Sara's Corner for her Incredible Eggless Chocolate Cake reciipe - Congrats Prema and Saraswathi :)
Please accept this award and display proudly on your blog :)

Category 2 - Best Cake Decoration
Ruffle My Feathers from Recipe Taster Congrats Allesio :)
Jungle Theme cake from Sailaja's Recipes Congrats Sailaja! :)
Cricket Cake from Finger-Licking Good Congrats, Namratha :)
Please accept this award and display proudly on your blog :)

Now that the anticipation has been quelled, I would like you to take a few moments to read Anita's own announcement of these to me :)
ANITA IN HER OWN WORDS
First off, thank you, Priya for giving me this opportunity to judge cakes in the contest.    I was completely blown away by all of the wonderful submissions.  I only wish I was able to try them all, but unfortunately due to time constraints, I picked 12 recipes to be judged…this is not to say that the rest of the recipes were not worthy of taste testing though!  I chose recipes that were unique to me…recipes or techniques that I have never tried.  For example, the thought of making an eggless cake was foreign to me…of course, I know that some people do not eat eggs, or are allergic to eggs, but in my wedding cakes, eggs are so important to the structure of a cake, that I would have never had the nerve to try an eggless cake.  Or using grape juice in a cake…I have used countless fruits, juices, and other flavorings in my baking, but never grape juice…what a novel idea!  In the end, I have learned so much from all of your submissions.  With that said, I could not judge all of these beautiful entries without also creating a category for decorated cakes…since most of my cakes not only have to be delicious on the inside, but beautifully decorated on the outside, I felt that awards definitely needed to be given to the painstaking decorations on the outside!

So without further ado, my favorites in terms of recipes were:

Mocha Cake by Prema’s Thalagai – One word for this cake…GOR-GE-OUS!  When I saw the picture, I knew it had to be in my list of recipes to try.  Then I got to the part about the cherries, and I had my doubts…you see, while I love fresh cherries, I am not a big fan of cherries in syrup or cherry flavored things.  My husband, though, urged me to continue forward and boy, am I glad I did.  I did not have coffee essence and am not too sure what that is, but I did use espresso powder in its place.  The mocha flavored cream is delightful and I can see it being used in oh so many ways!  I also love this cake because of the flavor layering…as you know I feel that layering is what takes an ordinary dessert from delicious to divine.   I am sure that the cherries can be subbed with another filling if you so desire.    And lastly, it was so beautifully decorated!

Eggless Chocolate Cake by Sara’s Corner – I really liked the use of butter and milk in this recipe.  I am not sure if that is what made the cake for me, but for those of you who know me, I am a huge believer in using butter instead of oil.  Nice rich chocolate flavor and a very simple recipe to boot.  I like recipes like this for when you have unexpected company and need to come up with something quickly.  All the ingredients are usually on hand!  Loved being able to try an eggless cake…now I have something to serve when guests come and are allergic to eggs…and those who do eat eggs will not even miss them!

Cotton Cheesecake also by Prema’s Thalagai…I honestly have to say that I did not know that the same person made and entered both of these cakes, but she really wowed me with her completely unique recipes.  So I have never even heard of a “cotton cheesecake”, I mean I have had cheesecake and I love chiffon cakes, but this was like a combination of these two!  Almost like a baked custard, but still has the “bite” of cake from the small amount of flours.  This is perfect for a Springtime brunch…light, with a hint of citrus, and a lovely pale yellow.

My top three winners for decorating are:

Jungle theme cake by Sailaja’s Recipes – Perfect fondant animals!  My favorite is the giraffe, but you did an amazing job with all of the animals!

Cricket Cake by Finger Licking Good – Again, perfect execution in fondant.  I love all of the little details…the shirt, the flag…great job all around!

And last, but certainly not least – Ruffle my feathers by Recipe Taster.  What can I say, her feathers are perfectly elegant.  I love the texture and movement of the feathers…and I love that she showed how she got them to curve just so by drying them on cotton puffs.  The cake inside looks delightful and I love it when decorators place a surprise like such a beautifully two tone interior!

Again, thank you so much…your entries were all amazing and I am bookmarking a ton of them to get to as soon as possible!  I especially cannot wait to try the Kueh Lapis cake (Hot from my Oven)!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it from me folks until the next guest event - The quest for another stellar guest is on... will keep you posted!!!

Chow Chow Carrot Cootu (Chayote Squash Stew)

This is a staple you can say at my home - very much like a veggie macaroni pasta is our Italian choice for quick and easy, Chow-Chow(bengaluru Kathrikai) Cootu with rice or chappati is our staple Indian dinner.It is possibly the quickest meal to prepare that satisfies both the need for brothy wetness and the wholesomeness of veggies in one go!

Ingredients
1 cup moong dal
2 chayote squashes, peeled and cubed
2-3 carrots peeled and cubed
2 red chilies
1 green chili
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp coriander seeds
turmeric powder
2 tsp of oil (for frying the ingredients and for tempering)
Tempering with mustard seeds and asafetida and cumin, curry leaves

Preparation
Boil dal and veggies with 1-2 cups of water and turmeric in a pressure cooker - this takes about 10 mins max
In 1 teaspoon of oil, roast the coconut, coriander seeds, chilies and cumin and grind with water
Bring the ground blend to boil in a stew pot.
Pour in the boiled dal and veggies
Stir into the coconut gravy
add salt and allow all of it to boil for a few minutes
Temper the mustard, cumin asafetida and curry leaves.
Serve Hot with chappatis or rice

Pasta Arabiatta & Garlic Spinach Stir-fry

This is almost a weekly meal chez nous – it’s a fast and fantastic meal – wholesome and complete. The Spinach complements the pasta in every way, as we are all well aware, and through in some garlic into it and it takes it to the next level!

Simplest recipe

Ingredients for -4-6 good eaters

1 pack angel hair pasta

1 can of diced tomatoes or about 4 ripe tomatoes pureed

2 cups of homemade or store bought Arabiatta sauce

1 family pack of frozen chopped spinach 

2-3 cloves each for the sauce and the spinach (so 6 in all)

2-3 tsp of olive oil

Cayenne pepper to taste (crushed)

Whole pepper to taste (freshly ground)

½ Italian seasoning

 Preparation

In a deep pot, boil the pasta using ½ tsp of oil and some salt

Drain and keep

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in another deep pan.

Sauté the garlic and the peppers

Add the tomato sauce/puree and allow it to boil

Sprinkle the seasoning per taste

Bring to bubbling boil and stop

Your pasta is done when you mix the drained pasta into the freshly made sauce

Spinach

Cook the spinach on stove top (fresh) or microwave to thaw the frozen

In a tsp of oil sauté the garlic and some crushed cayenne peppers.

Salt to taste
Top with freshly grated Parmagiana before serving

Serve hot as side with pasta

Enjoy!

Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me - initiated by Srivalli of Spicing your life - Thanks Valli :)

Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)

Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Spicy Manathakali (sun-berries) Rice

HAPPY EARTH DAY ALL! IT IS DREARY here, but we are on a well and welcome the rain!
I was in panic mode having spend a guilty amount of time going through blogger and commenting and when I looked up at the clock it was past 5pm! Two hungry kids returned from school with great expectations and I had not a thing in mind that could be accomplished in 30 minutes, that I had not already blogged… crises averted when I saw the beautiful rice on Pushpa’s blog, Taste As You Cook

It was cinchy recipe wise and I had Manathakali (also known as Black Nightshade) ready to go and go I did with a few modifications – funny how rare this has become considering my mom grew these in her front and back yard and I used to love the tart sweetness of it, plucked straight off the plant, totally organic!!! When i asked my son to take a picture, this is what he did before clicking - An Ernie look alike! :)

Ingredients

1.5 cups of rice

1 onion finely chopped

3-4 red dry chilies crushed

2 cloves of garlic minced

3 tbsp of dried sun berries

Tempering with mustard, jeera & Hing

Garnish with cashews (optional)

2tbsp of oil

Preparation

Cook your rice

In the meantime, chop your veggies

Temper the mustard, jeera and hing

Throw in the crushed garlic and chopped onions

And finally the berries

Add salt and switch off flame

Now cool the rice a bit so that it does not get mushy as you mix it with the curry.

Garnish with cashews and a sprig of mint

Enjoy with appalams or with beans curry like we did!

Day 5 of blogging Marathon
Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4
Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Laal Paneer

This is another dish where the name was in question as to whether it should laal paneer or Paneer Gulabi – we stuck with Laal because that was really the closer color!  It’s actually fun to try out new combos and come up with a name for it. I had made it this weekend and I believe from the feed back I got this was a sixer or at the very least a boundary, in cricket terminology J

How or why laal – This time I decided to couple paneer with Beets, not known commonly as a match, at least to my knowledge… Of course, paneer took on the lovely red hues of the beets and what resulted was Laal paneer .

The sauce I used for this was Long Red peppers that are now available at Sam’s. I used some green chilies and a touch of garlic and rosemary and sage to this.  No spices are required really for this dish because the beets have an all too distinctive flavor and aroma and it is hard for any of the other spices to compete with that.

My recipe

Ingredients

6 beets washed, peeled and cubed

1 pack of Nanak Paneer cut into ½ inch cubes

2 tsp of curry powder

Salt

For the Sauce

4-6 long red peppers cut in 1 inch rounds

Chilies – 2-4  (per taste)

1 tsp of my homemade curry powder (or any masala powder)

2 cloves of garlic

A sprig of rosemary and sage

1-2 tsp of oil

1 tsp turmeric

Preparation

Step 1

The Sauce

Heat the oil

Throw in all the ingredients for the sauce at once

Let it cook and soften

Blend into fine liquid-paste and keep

Step 2

The Veggies

First boil the beets for about 10-12 mins on high in the microwave (fresh veggie setting)

After, in a tsp of oil, make it like a subzi using ingredients mentioned

Step 3

The paneer

In a separate pan, gently fry the paneer to a light golden brown using very little oil (you don’t need the oil if you are using a non-stick pan)

Step 4

Add the paneer with the beets and mix it in evenly

Next add the sauce and swirl in

Allow the whole dish to come to bubbly boil for a minute or two

Remove from flame and garnish

Note – I set aside a little sauce to pour over later along with the garnish if you wish a more decorative look (: Enjoy!

Serve with chappatis, naan or pasta :)
Day 4 of the Blogging Marathon
Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me

Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Sending this to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday Event

Oats & Bread Crumbs Idlis

This was the inspiration for the day – end result – 100% satisfaction
Served it with red pepper thogayal/chutney
Simple pleasures last longer folks!

Ingredients
1 cup instant oats
The crumbs of 6 toasted bread slices (about 1 and ½ cups)
¾ cup of sooji rava
2 cups of thick buttermilk
Salt
Grated carrots
1 serrano pepper (just for fun)
Crush cilantro
1 tsp of baking soda
Tempered with urad dal, mustard seeds, and a pinch of asafetida

Preparation
In a food processor blend the cold hard toast into a fine crumble
Add the instant oats and run them together once more
Pour into a deep bowl
Add the cream of wheat (sooji/ravai)
Salt
Gently stir in the buttermilk until all of the batter is one consistency and no dry flakes around
With a lemon zester, grate the Serrano pepper, crush cilantro and the carrots into bowl
Mix in
Temper in 1 tsp of oil the mustard, urad dal and asafetida until the mustard pops and the urad dal turns golden.
Add to the batter
Grease the Idli pans
Pour and steam for 10 mins
Allow them to cool before scooping the idlis
Serve hot with chutney/sambar of choice
In Pictures
Crumble the toast

Add the oats and spin again


Mix ingredients in buttermilk and add grated veggies

Add the thadka

Pour batter in the Idli mold

Serve Hot :)

Day 3 of the Blogging Marathon
Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me
Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

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Quinoa Kichidi

Quinoa is rapidly becoming a good substitute for rice in our home – It has a very distinctive taste and luckily one that all of us, right down to my toddler love. It actually tastes good with sambar, rasam, morekozhumbu , kootus and vetha kozhambu – It is protein packed and even smaller amounts tend to fill you up quickly . This seed is a keeper!

For those who have been following and reading my blog, you know that I have adopted some sneaky mom tactics in infusing veggies in just about every food, from pasta sauces, to upmas to chappatis and idli-dosais! Not that we don’t eat cut veggies – in fact veggies and curries are our sustenance, but those dishes more known to be veggie free like pongals and upmas, I use veggie juice as my base, so none of the goodness of the veggies is compromised on or eliminated. I used all of the juice and the fibers – do not strain out just the juice.

Quinoa also cooks better in a pressure cooker, with lot less water than you keep for rice and a lot less time to cook as well.

So here is my recipe – I presented this to you in my apple plates J

Ingredients

1 and ½ cups of Quinoa

1 cup of water

Juice of 1 carrot, 1 tomato and 1 red bell pepper

1 chili

Thakda spices of choice – I used only mustard and asafetida and a little turmeric

Salt to taste

1 tsp of olive oil or other

½ cup grated coconuts

A few cashews (entirely optional)

Preparation

First juice your veggies/fruit to be technical about tomatoes J

In a pan, use 1 tsp of oil and pop the mustard and add the asafetida and turmeric.

Pour the puree and allow it to boil

Add salt as well

Get a pressure-cooker ready utensil/pot and add the quinoa (wash first) and add the juice

Stir the pot well and allow it to pressure cook for about 2 -3 minutes after rocker gets going.

Remove from cooker and turn well because the fiber from the juice would’ve settled on the top.

Put it in a large pan and break it up into florets.

Slightly toast the coconut

Top it over the khichdi

Mix in and serve hot with pickle and yogurt or other options!

Enjoy a guilt-free happy meal (:

Sending this to Oh Taste and See's Quinoa Event

Day 2 of Week long Blogging Marathon
Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me

Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)

Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli

Peppy Paneer

This gravy was outstandingly delicious, even if I do say so myself- I was toying with a couple of other titles for this one when my daughter in her inimitable style came up with the title I’ve gone with. The base gravy/curry/sauce (call it what you will) was made with yellow and orange bell peppers, habanero and green chilis – So the name is quite apt for the dish. While the tongue tingled and the flavors of the peppers danced on our tongues -the innate sweetness of the bell peppers and the flaming heat of the habanero, and their combined distinctive aromas, we enjoyed this with homemade garlic naan which too I shall be blogging about. This will be a sure fire hit in all home with a penchant for paneer dishes – guaranteed success, folks 
You've got your veggies, your fat and protein and with a naan or rice, your carbs as well :)

Ingredients

1 block of paneer as sold in the Indian stores

1 each of the orange & yellow bell peppers

½ a habanero

½ a red onion (optional, but I used them)

2 ripe roma tomatoes

10-12 pieces of roasted Planters cashews

2 cloves of garlic (optional)

1tsp of turnmeric

A sprig of sage (about 2-4 leaves)

2 tsp of olive oil

Salt

Preparation

Chop your peppers and cube your paneer

Heat tsp of oil and throw in all the ingredients (except the paneer) and saute until veggies soften

Cool and grind into sauce

Use the 2^nd tsp of oil to lightly fry the paneer cubes

Add the sauce over the paneer and simmer for a bit till the paneer soaks in the sauce.

Serve hot with naan or even with rice or pasta!

This is my first post for DAY 1 of yet another blogging Marathon initiated by Srivalli of Spicing your life
Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me

Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma
Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)
Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh
Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani
Seven Days of Cakes:  Priya Vasu
Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali
30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli