Hello Friends,

A post is coming on this blog after ages. This is about a Salad recipe which my friend requested. Nothing unique a basic Caesar salad, but good for those who want to start new with salads. 

So without much ado, here goes the details. Some of the ingredients you may already have in your kitchen and for some you should pay visit to a grocery store. To give a little background on this recipe, it is an wholesome meal with proteins, vitamins and whole grains, including vegetables, leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains.

Ingredients:

Veggies: They form the base of your salad.

1. Salad Leaves (Choose from variety of lettuces you get on grocery stores. Keep trying and find your favorite one. To start with pick Iceberg, or if don't understand anything then pick mixed salad leaves pack.)
2. Carrots or Baby Carrots (Grated)
3. Cucumber (chopped finely lengthwise instead of cubes)
4. Cherry Tomatoes. If you find it uncomfortable to eat a whole cherry tomato you can half it. But avoid chopping in small pieces. Here a special note, I do not prefer normal tomatoes here, somehow does not go for me, but if you wish you may try some day.
5. Red Radishes also add taste but is quite optional.
6. Mint or Basil Leaves. They leave a very good after taste in mouth and as well as good appetizers. Do not miss them. I use these leaves regularly in my cooking since I have planted them in small pots in my window.

Fruits: They add a nice flavor and juiciness to the salad. One should use at least one fruit.

1. Apple into small cubes
2. Pomegranate seeds optional
3. Orange slices, peeled and chopped

Nuts: They add a nice crunchiness to the salad and no need to mention their benefits. Use at least one type of nut.

1. Sliced Almonds
2. Walnut kernels into small pieces
3. Sunflower seeds

Dried Fruits: They also add a very nice sweetness to the salad. 

1. Dried Cranberries
2. Raisins
3. Dates, Figs etc. in small pieces

Whole Grains: They provide you feeling of full stomach after having salad otherwise you may feel you are still hungry. 

1. Boiled Pasta. Someone who is on diet may avoid this but for others it may be good to add few pieces of pasta.
2. Sprouts. Obviously added nutrition if you have it in your kitchen toss it in.
3. Other option for whole grain is instead of adding anything in your salad take some bread along with it.

Dairy:
Cheese of your choice chopped in small pieces or grated

Dressing: Yes the final and most important. I have still not gained the expertise of making dressings. But here is still what you need.

1. Store bought Dressing
2. Yogurt
3. Honey
4. Herb Mix for additional flavor

Mixing Process:

1. Take a big big bowl, the biggest in your kitchen as this salad occupies a lot of space due to lettuce. Ideal is a Salad bowl. 
2. First chop the big lettuce leaves to medium size not too small as these leaves become support to hold other items in the salad while eating.
3. Now add all the above ingredients except dressing to this salad mix and you can keep it for a day also in fridge.
4. Mix all the ingredients of dressing too.
5. Now, when you are ready to serve the salad, just pour the dressing over the salad and mix it well. 
6. Enjoy this salad with fresh baked Baguettes, Breads from bakeries etc.
7. If you are taking this salad for lunch to office, just prepare it a night before put it in your lunch box and dressing in a leak proof box. 

Try this and hope you enjoy. Always feel free to adapt it to your own recipe, no copyrights ;).
Any questions or suggestions are welcome.
 
 

It has been a long time I have not been able to post any recipe. Rather I would say since the time I have come back to India I have not been into cooking much. Reason being after coming back from office I get so tired, so feels like just cook something easy and quickly. And on weekends either we pack our bags to hometown or when we are in the city its most of the time we eat out. I think it was really good for me that I got a chance to stay out of India for 2 years after marriage where we do not get much vegetarian food as per our spicy taste buds. So I attempted so many things in my kitchen like Idli Sambhar, Aloo tikki, Papdi Chaat, Chole Bhature etc etc which probably would not have attempted in India at all. As here in Kolkata, who would have bothered to eat food made by me when such tasty food is available at so many food joints. Honestly, who would have wanted to make so much effort when we can easily go out and eat tasty food. So moral of the story is girls learn cooking when you are abroad, its easier or you can say since no other option so have to cook. Well enough of my cooking frustration on this recipe blog. Here I would like to share some of the quick breakfasts for all those people like me who are running out of breakfast options :
a) Poha- No Oil, Light for stomach and tasty
b) Upma- Another tasty and light breakfast
c) Sandwiches- Well easy to make if have some leftover non-gravy vegetable sabji from last nite.
d) Dahi Chapati- Its really easy to make and very lite for stomach
e) Besan ka Chila- Can be made within no time and comes out really tasty
f) Sprouts: Dashed with tomatoes, cucumber and radish a real delight for health
g) Mango sandwich:  My husband's favorite. Sounds funny but good.
h) Paneer Parantha: Not towards healthier side but easy preparation and tastes awesome. You know good to spoil yourself once in a while.

We try to compliment our breakfast with Juice, Badaam Milk, Sweet or Salted Lassi or  "Apni Desi Chai" and at times with fruits as well like watermelon, papaya which gives a refreshing start to the day.

Well to my surprise it is not a big list of breakfast ideas. I thought it would be many. Now I know why my husband, at times, says please learn some new breakfasts.By the way he does not like Corn Flakes at all. Wish he would have, my life would have been so much easier. :)

So guys and gals these were few of my breakfast ideas, if you have some post me as well. Thanks for your kindness.

Till then in search of new breakfast options,
Yours Own Nupur Agarwal.

Sounds like from Cookery show of Sanjeev Kapoor. :P

Well I am not an expert in making Pulao but this is a simple one with vegetables which I generally make along with Chhole, Rajma, Chane etc. I want to keep spices almost none in this Pulao as the curries, along with which we eat Pulao, already have lots of spices.

Ingredients(4 people)
Rice                                       (2 cups) - Soaked for 2 hours at least
Carrots cubed in small pieces  (1/4 cup)
Boiled Peas                            (1/4 cup)
Beans                                     (1/4 cup)
Onion medium sized                2 chopped length wise
Garam Masala                        1 tsp
Cumin seeds                           1 tsp (Optional)

If you wish you can add vegetables like cauliflower or potatoes as well. But avoid too much of veggies. And make sure to add carrots and peas for color.


1. Can use a pressure cooker to cook fast or can use a simple pan also.
2. Now keep the pan on heat and add 1 tbsp oil. If you have pure ghee nothing like it.
3. When oil is heated up, add cumin seeds.
4. When cumin seeds starts crackling add the veggies except peas and onions.
5. Fry the veggies for 2 min and then add the soaked rice. If you forgot to soak the rice then also it works but uses more water and time in cooking.
6. For 2 cups of rice in pressure cooker add 2.5 cups of water and in simple pan add 3 cups of water.
7. Add salt to taste (approx. 1.5 tsp) and 1 tsp garam masala.
8. Now cover the lid and let it cook till 1 whistle in pressure cooker and for 15 minutes in pan at medium heat.
9. In the mean while fry the onions golden brown in a pan.
10. Now once rice and vegetables are done give it a mix.
11. Now take your serving bowl, keep half the rice in it and spread half the onions and peas. Then pour another half of the Pulao and on the top garnish with fried onions and boiled green peas.

Now reason for adding onions and peas later on is that onions remain crunchy this way and peas retain their color.

Yet another good recipe for Indian lunch or dinner.


Ingredients(For 6 people)
Spinach - 1/2 Kg (Fresh or Frozen)
Paneer Cubes 
Onions medium sized -2 (Finely chopped)
Tomatoes medium sized - 3
Ginger Garlic Paste
Green Chillies minced
Cream- 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Coriander Powder   1tbspn
Cumin seeds            1tspn
Garam Masala/Sabzi Masala/Kitchen King Masala
Oil                           2 tbspn


Steps:
1.If you get fresh spinach then first separate the bigger extra twigs, if any, from spinach leaves. And then boil the spinach with 2 cups of water. For this you can boil them in a pan covered or in a pressure cooker with 1 whistle.  Then separate the spinach from water and let it cool. Do not throw the spinach water as it can be later used to make gravy.
2. Now blend the boiled spinach well to make a paste in a grinder.
3. If the spinach is frozen you are saved from the above job but yeah compromised little on taste. For frozen spinach cubes just put them in warm water.
4. Boil the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes on high in microwave in water, so that u can remove their skin. Then using a blender to make a paste.
5. Now take a pan on medium heat to prepare gravy.
6. Add 3 tbspn oil, let it heat up. Then add cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste and green chillies.
7. When these things are little fried, add onions. Fry till they are golden brown.
8. Then add tomato puree and cover the pan. Keep stirring in between. Let it fry till it starts separating from oil.
9. Now once the tomato puree is done, add the coriander powder and kitchen king masala and mix well and fry a little.
10. Now add the spinach and spinach water. Add 1 more cup of water and let it boil on medium heat.
11. After spinach water is reduced to half add the cream and let it cook for 5 more minutes.
12. Meanwhile spinach is cooking you can shallow fry the paneer cubes if you like them fried in palak gravy or else no harm in adding them directly also.
13. Once palak gravy has become thick, take it off from the heat and add paneer cubes.
15. Serve garnished with cream.


It goes well with Naan.
Enjoy.

Most awesome and I would say a gracious recipe for the fullsome Indian lunch or dinner. So try this out guys for your next lunch/dinner and get accolades from the guests.


Ingredients(For 6 people)
Baby Potatoes - 24
( If you do not get baby potatoes can use bigger potatoes also and cut them in quarter size and then use.)
Onions medium sized -2 (Finely chopped)
Tomatoes medium sized - 3
Ginger Garlic Paste
Green Chillies minced
Yoghurt - 2 tbspn
Salt to taste
Coriander Powder   1tbspn
Cumin seeds            1tspn
Turmeric Powder     1tspn
Cloves 4  (Optional)
Bay leaves (Optional)
Garam Masala/Sabzi Masala/Kitchen King Masala
Oil for frying
Fresh Coriander Leaves and Grated Paneer for garnishing (Optional)


Steps:
1.First boil the baby potatoes such that they do not get very soft. For this you can boil them in microwave where you can easily check when they are boiled to the exact stiffness. Then let the potatoes cool and then peel them off.
2. For the bigger size potatoes, boil the potatoes as in step 1, peel them off and cut them in quarters.
3. Also boil the tomatoes for 3-4 minutes on high in microwave in water, so that u can remove their skin. Then using a blender make a paste.
4. Now take a pan with oil to half an inch of height and fry the potatoes till they get light brown. This may take some 8-10 minutes. Keep stirring potatoes in between.
5. In the mean while you can prepare gravy in another pan.
6. Add 3 tbspn oil, let it heat up. Then add cloves, bay leaves, cumin seeds, ginger garlic paste and green chillies.
7. When these things are little fried, add onions. Fry till they are golden brown.
8. Then add tomato puree and cover the pan. Keep stirring in between. Let it fry till it starts separating from oil.
9. Now once the tomato puree is done, add the coriander powder, turmeric powder, kitchen king masala
 and mix well.
10. Now take off the pan from the heat and add yogurt. Mix it quickly well with the puree. If you don't it will curdle soon because of heat.
11. Now keep the pan again on the low heat and fry the gravy well for 2 min. In the mean time your potatoes must be fried.
12. Now when gravy is done add the potatoes and mix gently without breaking the potatoes further.
13. Now add 1 cup of water and keep it covered on low heat for 2 minutes.
14. Bring it to the consistency you want.
15. Serve garnished with fresh coriander leaves and grated paneer.


Happy Cooking.

Well just the word 'Samose' is enough to tickle someone's taste buds in India. This is a wonderful evening snack when you are feeling like munching something but not hungry for complete dinner or when suddenly some guests show up at your home, then can work as good starters. And fantastic thing is ingredients are so simple, generally we have all of them in our kitchen. So lets hit the recipe now.

Ingredients:
1. 6 Tablespoons of All purpose flour(Maida)
2. 4 Medium sized Potatoes(Boiled and Peeled)
Make sure they are not very soft and do not have much water in them. For this as soon as they are boiled take them out of water.
3. Crushed Groundnuts.
For crushing either put them in a cloth, cover them completely and then holding it with one hand using a heavy object crush them. Think its ur boss's head. :)
Or second option is using a blender on its lightest option but be cautious just give one blend we just need to convert them into small pieces not a paste.
4. Oil for frying
5. Salt
6. Lemon Juice
7. Chaat Masala
8. Cumin Powder
9. Coriander Powder.
10. Half a cup of water.

Steps:
Make a  Dough:
1. For 8-10 medium sized samosas, take 6 table spoons of All Purpose flour (Maida).
2. Add  1 teaspoon salt and 3 teaspoon Ghee or Oil.
3. Now using your hands first of all mix the flour very nicely such that each grain is coated with oil.
4. Now add 2 tablespoon of water and mix with the flour. Now adding water slowly while mixing at the same time make a dough. Use only that much water with which dough is easily bound. Not necessary you may need even whole half cup of water.
5. Now knead the dough for 2 minutes and keep it covered for at least half an hour.
Make the Filling:
6. Now take your boiled potatoes and peel them.
7. Mash the potatoes using a spoon or hands if you feel like. But do not mash so much that it becomes a paste. You should still find some solid chunks in it.
8. Now we have to fry this potato mash. So take a pan and heat some oil.
9. Add the crushed groundnuts and fry them for a minute or two. Don't let them burn.
10. Now add mashed potatoes and spices: salt, cumin powder, chaat masala, red chilli powder and coriander powder.
11. Fry the potatoes mixing it well, so that rawness is gone.
12. Now take out the potato mixture in a bowl and sprinkle some lemon juice. Taste the mixture and adjust the spices as you like. Be careful while adding spices, you can not take them out once added. :)
 Making of Samosa:
Well this is the fun part. Till now we could not see ourselevs going anywhere near that triangle shape.
13. Now check if half an hour gone past then take your dough and again knead it well for 2 minutes.
14. Now take a small portion of dough, make a ball and roll it flat into a round circle like a Chapati.
15. Don't leave it thick, make it thinner otherwise samosa crust will remain uncooked from inside.
16. Now cut this roti into half. Using a knife make a cut along the diameter from one end to the other.
17. So now we have 2 semi-circles. Dip your finger into little water and rub it along the edges of one half.
This is for the purpose so that the edges can stick to each other.
18. Now this is difficult to explain but still I try. Pick up the two end points of the diameter edge of the semi circle and join them together overlapping one radius onto the other, making a cone.
Hffff.....hope you understand my geometry.
19. Now take 2 spoons of potato mixture and fill into the cone and close the edges converting into a samosa shape.
20. Well in the mean while keep ready oil for frying in a pan.
21. Now fry the samosas at medium-low heat.


Frying the samosas at medium-low heat is important because if u fry them at medium or high heat they get puffed up very soon and get blisters on their surface which we certainly don't want. If you want smooth and very well cooked samosa just like that 'Halwai' from your hometown then please fry them at medium-low heat. For e.g. I have a electric stove which has heat options ranging from 1 to 6. So I just kept alternating between 2 and 3. Here you need a lot of patience as if you put 4 samosas together in pan for frying it will take around 10 min on medium-low heat. I think you can serve the samosas hot while you are still cooking rest of the batch.

Samosas go best with fresh Coriander-Mint chutney and awesome with Tamarind chutney.

Well another blog for tamarind chutney.

Matar Paneer is the most common Indian delicacy for vegetarians. I know for non-vegetarians there are other hot favorites like chicken tandoori but m sure they still must be loving Matar Paneer.
Its a time tested recipe which never fails to excite the taste buds of people. And best thing about this is takes no time to cook if u just have frozen paneer in ur fridge or just pick it up for the dinner from grocery store while coming back from office.

No pre-preparation required :)


Number of Servings: 4 People
200g of Frozen or Fresh Panner. ( But I want to learn skilfully how to make Paneer at home.)
1/2 cup of boiled peas. ( I love frozen peas, they are so handy. But really gone are the days when we used to peel of the fresh peas with mom in sunny winter afternoon and used to chew the sweet ones without letting her know that half of the peas have gone in our stomach. )
1/4 cup of cream or milk. (Cream gives better taste)
If its homemade cream please blend it a little so that its consistency is smooth. Mind it  here little blend means really little because if u blend it a li'l longer it will become butter.
3 medium tomatoes pureed.
2 onions chopped.
1 garlic clove grated.
1/2 inch ginger piece grated.
1 green chilly chopped.
1/2 teaspoon turmeric.
2 teaspoon dry coriander powder.
1 teaspoon garam masala.
1 teaspoon cumin seeds.
1/2 teaspoon sugar.
Salt.

Process:
1. If its frozen paneer before starting the other preparation work, put the paneer in warm water so that it becomes soft by the time we are ready with gravy.
2. Now chop the onions very fine remember do not gravy them. Somehow onion gravy doesn't taste good in this recipe.
3. Puree the tomatoes and do not use chopped ones here as pureed tomatoes taste better.
4. As usual grate the ginger and garlic and chop green chillies.
5. Now see we are done with preparation part in 4 steps. Isn't it fast.
6. Heat up the pan. (Use a pan with lid, so that u can cover it up while simmering later on.)
7. When oil is heated up enough, add cumin seeds, green chillies, ginger garlic paste and fry till the garlic smell goes away.
8. Now add onions and fry on medium heat till they are brown.
9. Add tomato puree and salt as per the whole curry. Please add salt at this stage only so that tomatoes are fried nicely.
10. Add turmeric and coriander powder, if you see tomatoes have started to dry up, here I  literally mean started to dry because if we put spices in completely dried puree they will get burned up quickly. So please keep an eye on tomatoes and do not forget them.
11. Keep the heat low and after a little frying, add cream and mix well.
12. Add garam masala, mix well and pour 1/2 a cup of water to enable all the ingredients mix well.
13. Leave on low heat for 2 mins.
13. Now since the gravy is done add cubes of paneer and boiled peas.
14. Mix well without breaking the paneer and cover it up with lid and leave on simmer for 5 minutes.
15. Then transfer to serving bowl and garnish with green coriander leaves.

Done. Look so easy. Well next I really wish to try Paneer in white gravy. I kmow its even more awesome.
Till then happy eating guys. :)