Mushroom Risotto
This is something that I ate at a restaurant and tried creating my own version of the same.

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice soaked for an hour in vegetable stock. I used asparagus stock since I had asparagus and the aroma was awesome.

2 spoons of plain cheese spread
1/2 cup grated cheese, I used kraft cheese.
1 bunch of fresh parsley finely chopped
Salt to taste
2 spoons of garlic cloves finely chopped
2 onions finely chopped
1/2 tspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon of butter
1 tspoon mixed herbs
100 gms of fresh mushrooms chopped into medium sized pieces

Method

I actually pressure cooked the rice to three whistles in two cups of stock and kept it ready for the process.

In a wok add butter, add chopped garlic, sautee, add chopped onion, sautee to light brown colour. Add the chopped mushrooms, sautee for a while. Now add the rice add 1 cup stock, salt, mixed herbs, chilli flakes. cheese spread, chopped parsley and keep covered for about ten minutes, stir in between to check if water has evaporated, add more water, keep covered again, now open and add the grated cheese, cook for another ten minutes. the consistency of this risotto needs to be a little soft and runny. Keep it that way by the end of the process seeing to it that the rice is well cooked.

Serve topped with grated cheese and a fresh sprig of parsley.

Open brown bread sandwich with avacado, garlic chives, asparagus, rocket leaves.

This one is another of my experi - mental breakfast dishes.

Ingredients

Brown bread
A bunch of asparagus
200 gms of Fresh mushrooms
A bunch of garlic chives
A bunch of rocket leaves
! avacado scooped and mashed roughly
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Mustard sauce

Keep some rocket leaves raw for topping.
Roast some asparagus to eat as a side.

In a kadhai take some olive oil, put chopped chives, chopped mushrooms,
chopped rocket leaves and chopped asparagus.. Stir fry till the mixture is rid of all water, add salt and pepper.Keep it ready to put on the bread.

Now take a pan, sprinkle some olive oil, let the bread become slightly golden on one side, toss it and put the ready mixture on the bread slice, put some roughly mashed avacado, top with rocket leaves sprinkle a bit of olive oil and once it is slightly crisp savour your breakfast, with roasted asparagus as a side.

buckwheat Crepe

Buckwheat Crepe with roasted mushrooms, baby potatoes, broccoli and cheese.

This is my own version of what I ate in a restaurant which serves French food.

Ingredients
2 cups buckwheat flour
1/2 cup semolina
Water and salt to mix the batter
A pinch of edible soda
1 large bowl of broccoli florets
1 large bowl of fresh mushrooms chopped into fours
8 baby potatoes par boiled
1/2 cup grated cheese

For the dressing of the roasted vegetables

1 cup olive oil, 8 garlic pods crushed, 3 spoons of mixed herbs, 1 tspn of chilli flakes, 1/2 a tspn of pepper powder, salt and half a lime squeezed, mix all the ingredients and smear it with a brush on the vegetables. Keep these to roast in an oven which is preheated on 180. Keep each batch for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Make a batter for crepes with buckwheat flour, semolina, water, salt a pinch of soda and keep aside for about two to three hours.

On a pan spray some oil spread the crepe batter let it cook a bit spray oil and turn. once semi done turn and spread all the roasted vegetables on it , grate cheese and serve after the cheese looks slightly done.

Mirchi Bhaji with a twist.

This was a new experimental dish that I tried. I enjoy eating Dalvada and
Mirchi Bhaji, so this is a two in one experience, I loved it hope you too like it. Inspired by a cookery show on a regional channel.

Ingredients

10 fresh green chillies, less spicy long ones, slit in between.
For filling into these you need to make a mixture of 1 small spoon asefotida, 3 tbspns of oil, salt to taste, 1/2 lime squeezed. Fill each chilli with this mixture and leave aside.

For the batter

1 cup bengal gram and green gram split, soaked for four to five hours. Grind this in a mixer with very little water, to a coarse paste with 8 black peppercorns and keep ready.
1big onion finely chopped, small bunch of coriander leaves , 8 curry leaves, 8 spinach leaves all finely chopped, salt to taste.

Mix all these in the batter you have ready.

Now in a kadhai take oil to fry the bhajis. Dip each chilli in the batter try coating it as much as possible with the ready batter and fry to a golden brown colour. Can be enjoyed with evening tea, now since rains are approaching.

This is a medley of dishes made with Chickpeas and carrots. Hope you can recreate these and use them when required.

1. A soup with chickpeas, slow roasted tomatoes and spinach.

2. Carrot flavoured hummus as a dip.

3) Patties made of chickpes, potato, oats, spinach, green chilli and carrots.

4. Flavoured rice with chickpeas, carrots, green peas and some spices.

5. Cooler with carrots , milk, walnuts, saffron and green cardamom.

1) For the soup

Ingredients
1/2 cup boiled chickpeas
1 tomato slow roasted in the oven or on the pan with a brush of olive oil
few spinach leaves sauteed in little olive oil and salt
salt and pepper powder to taste
little olive oil to sprinkle over the soup

Method

Grind the roasted Tomatoes, the chickpeas and the salt and pepper to make a fine paste, remove in a deep bottomed vessel add the spinach,
make a soup kind of consistency, boil it well add little olive oil and decorate with coriander, soup ready to savour.

2) For the hummus

Ingredients
1/4 cup boiled carrots
1/2 cup boiled chickpeas
3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt to taste
half a lime squeezed
olives for topping

Method
Make a fine paste of all ingredients except olives, decorate with black olives and the dip is ready.

3. For the patties

Ingredients
1/2 cup grated carrot
3 boiled potatoes mashed
1/2 cup boiled chickpeas
2 tspoons of sauteed crushed green chillies
small bunch of corriander finely chopped
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup spinach finely chopped
salt to taste
crushed cornflakes as required for coating the patties

Method
Mix all the given in gredients except for the cornflakes, keep for half an hour, make small patties coat them with crushed cornflakes and fry them in oil. savour them by using Hummus as your dip.

4) Flavoured Rice

Ingredients
2 cups long grain basmati rice
1/4 cup parboiled chickpeas
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup chopped carrot
2 onions finely chopped
1 tspoon of ginger garlic paste
1 bayleaf
4 cloves
1 small piece of cinammon
2 green cardamoms
1 tspoon shahi jeera
1 cup curd
2 green chillies slit
juice of half a lime
In half a cup of water dissolve salt to taste, 1/2 tspoon of chilli powder,
1 tspoon cumin powder, a little asafotida, a little turmeric.
Chopped coriander and a few bioled chickpeas for decoration.

Method
In a cooker take mustard oil, put shai jeera, after it splutters add the bay leaf, cloves, cinammon, cardamom, gren chillies, add onions, let them brown, add ginger garlic paste, brown it well, add the parboiled chickpeas, carrots, green peas, sautee a bit, add the washed rice, then add the half cup dissolved ingredients, curd, water as needed, lime juice,close the cooker. Give two whistles or as per your cooker, to make a pulao consistency of rice. Garnish with chopped coriander and the boiled chickpeas.

5) The Carrot Cooler

Ingredients
1cup boiled carrot
5-6 soaked walnuts
2-3 strands of saffron, soaked  in little milk
2 spoons of sugar
1/2 spoon crushed green cardamom
2 cups of milk

Method

In a mixie jar finely grind the boiled carrots, soaked walnuts, sugar, crushed cardamom, the milk in which the saffron is soaked.Rremove in a vessel  and make the consistency to a nice drink by adding milk, chill with a 2 strands of saffron for topping and enjoy the carroty dessert. You can add sugar acoording to your taste.

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Potato curry.

Another simple homely dish with practically only ingrdients usually available at all times in most homes. You fall short of vegetables, you are in a hurry, no time to visit the market, sudden arrival of guests? This is the dish which will fill in the blank in your curry bowl. So make and hope you enjoy. No time to make rotis this tastes awesome with bread. I have seen my mom and grandmom make this at such times. I always remember enjoying this sweet and sour delicacy. Thanks to them since this comes in handy many times. This shows that anything can bring back memories to your heart.

Ingredients

For the temparing you needsome oil, mustard seeds, asefotida, turmeric powder.

3 large potatoes washed peeled and chopped into medium sized pieces
2 big onions chopped to medium sized squares
2 tomatoes chopped into medium sized pieces
 1/4 cup of tamarind paste
1/4 cup jaggery grated
Salt to taste
Chilli powder to taste.
1 heaped tspoon saar masala
1 small bunch chopped coriander

Method
In a deep pan crackle some mustard seeds in oil, add turmeric powder, asefotida, add the chopped onions, let them sautee till transparent, add tomatoes, stir well, cook for a while, add the chopped potatoes add enough water to immerse the veggies, cook covered adding salt and chilli poader, keep opening and checking the potatoes and adding water as and when it requires, once the potaoes get softly cooked, add the saar masala, tamarind paste, jaggery,  chopped coriander, let the curry consistency be, bring it to a boil, check that the jageery has melted. The curry is ready to be savoured.

This is a super cooler for summer, I can safely call it one of my experi - mental entries
The ingredients below will make one tall glass of the cooler
Step 1 ) Soak 1/2 tspoon of basil seeds for using as a topping as they are known to be the best coolers.
It is said that you must soak a spoonful for an hour or so and have them with milk or water in the mornings to keep you cool through the day. Prevents headaches and nausea, which happens to many because of heat.
Step 2 ) 1 cup watermelon, 1/4 cup boiled raw mango, pulp removed, 2 mint leaves,1 spoon basil, sugar as per taste, salt as per taste, 1/2 tspoon of pepper powder.
Grind all the above to a smooth paste, remove add water as desired. Then add the soaked basil seeds, decorate with basil or mint leaves. Be coooool.....