Rice made With Spinach and Mustard Cress

This can be safely called Indian Risotto, our own Khichdi which is considered a death dish in the popular Masterchef  Cookery show. For people in our country this is a daily preparation, almost like a staple diet.

My khichdi though is a little different and a healthier version of the dish, since I have used brown rice, loads of spinach and mustard cress which grew so well in  my kitchen pot. I have skipped the pickle and papad too.

Ingredients

1 cup brown basmati rice,1 cup pigeon pea lentil ( toor dal ) Pressure cooked to three whistles with a small spoon of turmeric powder, a small spoon of salt, a pinch of asefoetida.
4 green chillies slit
1 bunch of spinach chopped roughly
Lots of mustard cress, just roughly torn
Salt to taste
Juice of 1 lemon

Oil, mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder for tempering

Method

Take a wide bottomed pan and make a tempering of mustard seeds, asafoetida and turmeric powder, add the slit green chillies, then add the mustard cress and the spinach, let this saute well, then add the rice and lentil mixture, salt to taste, lemon juice and stir and mix well. Se that its consistency is a little soft and flowy. You can add water if required. Once done serve in a bowl topped with a spoon of clarified butter, like you can see in the picture. You can choose to have it with papad and pickle too.

Exotic Vegetables in Alfredo Sauce

I truly love this dish and relish the creamy cheesy preparation and every time I eat it, I like it more and more.

Ingredients

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1.2 cup fresh cream
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of crushed peppercorns
1 tspoon of mixed herbs
1 tspoon of chilli flakes
Salt if you feel the need
Milk 2 cups
2 table spoons of corn flour (mixed in a bowl of milk, see that there are no lumps)
A block of craft cheese to grate on top
Butter as required
Olive oil as required

1/2 cup, 1/2  brocolli and cauliflower, medium sized  florets removed intact ( Parboiled and kept ready)
1 each of red and yellow bell pepper chopped into medium sized squares
1/2 cup zuchini , green and yellow, chopped onto medium sized pieces
6 spinach leaves stalks removed and roughly torn into halves

In a pan take some olive oil, saute the bell peppers, zuchini and the spinach till almost cooked. add the broccoli and cauliflower, add some salt pepper powder and keep ready.


First in a pan heat some butter, add crushed garlic let it turn light brown, add milk, pepper powder and stir for a bit, add salt and grated parmesan cheese and the fresh cream, mixed herbs, chilli flakes, when there is a boil then ad the corn flour mix, stirring well to see there are no lumps, in abit add all the vegetables and mix well, remove in a pan which can be kept in the oven. Now grate some craft cheese over it, sprinkle some pepper powder and chilli flakes , keep it in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes till a nice crust forms over the mixture. Svour it as is or with Herbed rice or garlic bread. 

Smoothie made of Musk Melon and Kiwi

I made the drink and decorated the plate, put this flower which I brought from the garden. My husband asks me whether I used the flower in the recipe! No, I did not. This was only for the presentation purpose. So, the flower is only to beautify my drink, no idea whether is is edible or not. 

Ingredients

1/2 glass of milk
2 walnuts
1/2 cup musk melon pieces
1/2 a cup kiwi pieces
4 dates soaked for an hour and deseeded

Method

Blend all the ingredients in a blender to a smooth paste. It is a smoothie, so the thickness can be adjusted according to your taste .Chill and enjoy.

Raw Mango Sweet and Sour Chutney

A delicious colourful sweet sour chutney which is made with fresh raw mangoes and can be savoured with bread, roti, curd rice and also with lunch basically as a side.I remember my mom very promptly refilling the bowl of chutney every time we polished it off.

Ingredients

2 raw mangoes grated
1 tablespoon of grated jaggery
1/2 a tspoon of dry roasted mustard seeds
1/4 tspoon of dry roasted fenugreek seeds
Salt to taste
5-6 leaves of mustard cress
1  small spoon of chilli powder
Salt to taste

You need a tempering made of oil, mustard seeds, turmeric powder and asefoetida, I have chosen to skip it though. 

My chutney has a garnish of lovely mustard cress from my tiny balcony, the bite of this gives a pungent, peppery heat to the palate.


Method

You just need to grind all the above ingredients to a not so fine paste, except the tempering which will be used as a topping after the chutney is transferred into the serving bowl. Enjoy friends till the season lasts.

This one is a Fruity Nutty Cool Spinach Drink.

 To make this you need
  
5- 6 spinach leaves
 4 soaked almonds
 2 soaked walnuts
 1/2 cup pomogranate seeds
1tablespoon of rose water
Salt to taste
 Sugar to taste 
 A pinch  of pepper powder

Grind all ingredients to a thick consistency. Remove in a tall glass, add one spoon of rosewater, decorate with pomagranate seeds. Enjoy on a hot summer afternoon.

Sev Dahi Batata Puri 

Save the routine chapati bhaji for the next day and have this dish as a tongue tickler for a change!! I do this sometimes when making and eating the same old stuff actually gets too boring. 

Ingredients

Puris which are used for making Paani Puri, number as required
2 boiled and roughly mashed potatoes with a little bit of salt
2 cups of pressure cooked sprouted green gram, that is moong, salt aded for taste,
Chopped fresh coriander for garnish
1 big bowl of yogurt in which salt has been mixed, some people like the yogurt sweet, for them there is the option of mixing sugar in it.
Thin variety of plain sev

Two chutneys are used in this 
Chutney 1
Grind together 1 bunch of fresh coriander, 1 onion, 1/2 a tomato, 1/4 cup grated raw mango, 4 garlic cloves, few leaves of mint, 1 inch ginger, salt to taste and 4 green chillies. Make a paste and keeep ready.

Chutney 2
Grind together 4 soaked, deseeded dates, 2 spoons of tamarind pulp, 1 spoon of cumin powder, salt to taste. Make a fine paste and keep ready.

Method

In a serving plate spread the puris, make pockets in each puri by breaking the upper portion, fill some sprouted green gram, some potato,  little bit of both the chutneys, fill them all with yogurt. Now sprinkle little of both chutneys again, sprinkle sev on all the puris, garnish with coriander and serve the plate full of pleasure. 

Simple yet tasty vegetable made out of Carrots

Ingredients

250 gms of carrots to be cleaned and grated
1/2 cup split green gram washed and drained
4 green chillies
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander for garnishing
Oil, mustard seeds, turmeric powder and asefoetida for tempering

Method

In a kadhai take oil, add mustard seeds, let them splutter, then add little turmeric powder, little asefoetida, the chopped green chillies, saute a bit and add the grated carrots, mix well, add the split green gram lentil, add salt, 1 cup water and cook covered, keep stirring and cook till the lentil turns soft and also the carrot gets cooked, keep adding water in between if needed. The vegetable is done when the water in it dries up, but still it is moist enough to be ennjoyed  with roti.I was lucky enough to find the coriander flower to garnish my vegetable. It added colour and aroma to the dish.