Tomato smoothie

#No sugar
#No substitutes
Just refreshing tomatoes blend into a smoothie,with green chilli, ginger, mint, a pinch of salt, squeeze a little lemon extract. Its worth try. I love it this way, you too will enjoy it. Its fun to try new ways to make your smoothies more interesting.
#postworkoutsmoothie
#freshtomatoes
#tangysmoothie

Millets kichadi

A simple, soulful kichadi for dinner. Its quick and require less time.

Ingredients for kichadi

Basmathi rice, moong dal, rajgira, bajra a handfuls each
Elachi and clove a few
Bayleaf and saunf for extra flavour
Vegetables carrot, beans and tomatoes.

Process
Dry roast elachi, clove, saunf, and all grains till fresh roasted aroma fills your kitchen. Add turmeric and other chopped vegetables, give a toss. Add enough water,salt for the kitchadi to get cooked into a soft consistency. Pressure cook for two whistles. Once done add chopped coriander leaves and serve hot. Its blissful.

Burger with eggs, mushrooms and cheese

Burger with eggs, cheese slices, mushrooms, onions and herbs. Jar of passion fruit juice for that hungry evenings! Kids will enjoy this as after school snack.

Lauki rajma thin gravy, Bhindi subzi

Lauki, chow chow in thin rajma gravy. Slowly getting ready in kalchatti(stone vessel)

Bhindi thinly sliced turned into finger licking subzi. My favourite!

Cheesy omelette with cottage cheese

A cheesy omelette with cottage cheese, crushed pepper and herbs. Evening snack for kids. A generous salad to balance! A lemon juice to go with, perhaps?!

Recipe

Two medium sized eggs beaten with a little salt, one cheese slice, cut into tiny slices, 50 grams of roughly chopped cottage cheese, little crushed pepper, red chillies and oregano or rosemary.

Process

In a heated pan slowly spread beaten eggs, herbs, salt and cheese, wait for it to cook, place cottage cheese on top, let it gently immerse into the omelette,  Reverse carefully without breathing the soft omelette, you should practice it! Wait for two minutes for the cottage cheese to turn golden crusty brown. Fold and add crushed pepper. Serve with salad of your kids choice. Its sure will help your kids sail through the night dinner!

Vermicelli upma with Avakkai

The mornings when I have planned for making upma, vermicelli comes as a savour. As I said earlier my family loves south Indian breakfast, but the challenge is to make it wholesome and nutritious. 

My formula is to increase vegetables and reduce carbohydrates. Many times my husband even exclaiming this is full of vegetables!! Yes my intention is to give you a balanced meal. 

So here you go.

Vermicelli Upma with vegetables

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup roasted vermicelli 

1 potato chopped into small cubes

1/2 cup chopped cauliflower florets

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 medium onion chopped

2 green chilies chopped

A small piece of ginger chopped

1 tablespoon coriander leaves

1/4 cup green peas( I have frozen shelled peas)

Salt as required

1/2 tsp crushed black pepper

For tempering

1 tablespoon gingelly oil

1/2 mustard seeds

1/2 urad dal

Tips

I cook vermicelli, peas by adding little salt in 3 cups of  hot water.  It makes it fluffy and non sticky. 

Rest of the vegetables are cooked in oil and mixed towards the end.

Method

* In a heated kadai add hot water, vermicelli and peas, add little salt, mix in and cook till soft and fluffy. Keep aside.

* In another smaller pan pour oil, add mustard seeds and urad dal, allow mustard to splutter, add onion, green chilies and ginger, saute for a while, add potato, cauliflower and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes until potatoes are well cooked, if needed add 1/2 cup of water. Once all vegetables are soft, turn off the stove. 

* Toss the cooked vegetables into prepared vermicelli, adjust salt, add chopped bell pepper, coriander leaves. Gently toss in all the ingredients. 

*Serve warm with choice of your pickle and curd. I love to eat it as it is without any sides!

Variation : Vermicelli upma with Avakkai (Mango pickle in mustard oil) Roasted vermicelli is first cooked with salt. Then vegetables like bell peppers, carrot, onion, cauliflower, green chillies and ginger are finely chopped and a quick saute in gingly oil with mustard tadka. Once vegetables turned tender mix it with vermicelli, adjust salt, garnish with grated coconut,to enhance it flavour I've added a spoonful of ghee. Best suited for kids lunch box. Its delicious!

Cinnamon cake

Trying out a cinnamon cake after ages. Waiting for its outcome. The perfectly baked caramelised crust and soft spongy inside. The lemon rinds add that zing you look for when its warm and soft.

Mushrooms and eggs

Mushrooms and eggs. Great snack for kids who love to nibble something after a hard day long listening to lectures and project work. A bunch of button mushrooms pan fried in olive oil, Italian seasoning and crushed chillies, Ahh they are spicy and you have to switch on exhaust fan! Once mushrooms are done, add salt and beaten eggs. Blend it well, rather coat the mushrooms with eggs. Allow it to cook in low flame. Add a few chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot. But remember to click a pic! I couldn't as my teen loved it so much! Slurrppp