Ramen noodles with soy chunks and vegetables

We love ramen noodles. I add vegetables and soy chunks to it to make it wholesome meal.

Recipe for ramen with vegetables

Ingredients

Top ramen noodles 2 blocks
Broccoli 1
Carrots 2
Non spicy bajji chilli 1
Soy chunks a handful
Peas a handful
Botton mushrooms a few
Crushed pepper 1/2 tsp
Chilli flakes 1/2 tsp
Salt as required
Lemon juice 1/2 tsp

Tips

Add hot water in noodles, add masala, cook it in medium flame, a little butter can be added if you want.

Chop chillies (optional)

Soak soy chunks in warm water, use hands and squeeze excess water.

Method

Cook ramen noodles with masala in hot water(I used two cups of water as we love little moist noodles) . Soak a handfuls of soy chunks in warm water, remove excess water, add to the noodles.

Pour a little oil add non spicy chopped chillies, cook for 2 minutes, add lemon juice and salt. Keep aside.

Chop mushrooms, broccoli, peas, carrot, garlic, onion, ginger, and less spicy chillies. Pour olive oil add vegetables onion, garlic and ginger, saute for a while. Once onion turns translucent add mushrooms, broccoli floret, cook till broccoli florets are tender. Adjust salt, please remember ramen masala has salt, so add less salt in vegetables,and add freshly ground pepper, Serve vegetables, cooked noodles, soy chunks and garnish with chillies. Serve hot.

Papaya salad

Raw papaya salad. Lunch option. It's a  tasty vegetable/fruit.

Ingredients

Raw papaya 1
Coconut oil 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Chana dal 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves a few

Tips

Select fresh raw papaya, peel and grate, discard tender seeds or compost seeds.

Use a good kadai, it needs to hold heat for papaya to be quickly cooked. I use a perforated lid as it ensures better cooking, papaya will not be soggy and remain crispy. 

Method

In a kadai pour coconut oil, add mustard seeds, urad dal and chana dal. Let mustard splutter,  add grated papaya, mix in add turmeric and salt, cook for a while, adjust stove to medium flame. Sprinkle a little water it helps cooking. Close with a lid and cook for about 3 minutes. Add curry leaves. I love such simple food as my lunch. Its filling and low calorie dish.

Kasundi

Have you tried kasundi? Its mustard sauce served with many dishes. I had the best kasundi a few days back. Ever since looking for authentic recipe. Finally found one by Ranveer Brar. Should try it sometime, the flavour and I mean pungent flavour of ground mustard. According to Ranveer if you try this dish your eyes should fill with tears! In fact I not only got tears but I end up drinking half a litre of water😕 still loved the stuff so much! Will post the detailed recipe once I get all ingredients. In love with shorshe(mustard is called shorshe or sorshe in Bengali)

Bengali aloo dum with luchi

Diwali is a special occasion for family, new clothes, sweets, snacks meeting cousins, friends. We do puja in the morning in our homes. Many burst crackers. But my kids have stopped bursting crackers 6 years ago and so I don't buy them anymore. Not even sprinklers! Thank God! My kids have realised the value of 'say no to crackers' as it creates air pollution and force little children to child labour (at Shivakashi)

We light small clay diya by pouring gingly (til) oil and cotton wick. Plus decorate balcony with small glittering lights.

Coming to breakfast its always idli, chutney and other sweets and savouries made at home.  While I stick to cornflakes rest of the family enjoy hearty breakfast.

Dinner preparation is on its way. We enjoy Bengali cuisine. The subtle taste of mustard oil and mustard in most of the dishes makes it our favourite.

Bengali aloo dum(alur dum) with luchi(puri)

Ingredients

Medium sized potato 4
Oil for deep frying potatoes (add a little salt before frying potatoes, so that potatoes become crisper)
Onion 1
Tomato 1
Green chillies 2
Salt as required
Ginger a small piece
Garlic a few pods
Green peas a handful
Red chilli powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Tej patha(bay leaves) 1
Garam masala 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
Jeera powder 1/2 tsp
Ajwain 1/4 tsp
Kalonji 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon a small stick
Fennel 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves chopped 1 tsp
Mustard oil 2 tsp

Tips

Select potatoes that cook well, we are going to deep fry them.

Use fresh peas if available, I used frozen.

Method

Wash, peel and chop potatoes into large cubes, keep it in water, drain and deep fry in salted oil. I add a pinch of salt in oil for potatoes to become crispy. Remove from oil and place it on kitchen napkin. Let it absorb all excess oil, if any.

Roughly chop tomato, onion, garlic green chillies and ginger, use little oil and saute until onion turns translucent. Use a mixer grinder to make a paste. Keep aside.

Thaw green peas if its frozen.

Pour mustard oil in pan add ajwain, fennel, kalonji and bay leaf. Once they emit aroma add tomato onion paste, saute for a while, add green peas and gently mix in aloo,turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Add 1 cup of water, let it boil add garam masala, jeera dhaniya powder and salt. Close lid and cook for one whistle. Off stove. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with freshly made luchi(puri) 

Luchi(puri) 

Whole wheat atta 2 cups

Achar masala with mustard oil 2 tsp(I used oil from avakkai (aam ka achar) 

Ajwain 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

Salt as required 

Chopped coriander leaves 1 tbsp

Coriander powder 1/4 tsp

Jeera powder 1/4 tsp

Chiroti rava 2 tbsp

Oil for deep frying 

Tips

Knead luchi(puri) dough just 10 minutes before making. 

Use less water to knead dough. It should be harder than roti dough 

Roll out 10,15 luchi's and keep oil for frying. 

Keep kitchen napkins ready, once puri deep fried we will use napkins to extract excess oil from puri. 

Method 

Keep kadai in medium flame, once its hot carefully immerse puri and allow it to puff. Use ladld to pour hot oil and flip puri. Fry until crispy golden brown. Remove from oil place it on kitchen napkins, allow excess oil to be absorbed. Serve hot with aloo dum. 

Chiroti rava kozhakattai (dumplings) with burnt tomato chutney

I enjoy experiments, turned my kitchen into a lab today with some awesome chiroti rava dumplings and burnt a lovely looking tomato and made into a flavourful chutney.

It's the everyday recipes which becomes monotonous over a period of time. To break the pattern I try a small twist here and there thus making it interesting.

Chiroti sooji rava kozhakattai with burnt tomato, onion, peanut chutney, waa one such dish which I served today for breakfast.

Ingredients

Chiroti rava(it's fine sooji rava) 1 and 1/2 cup
Hot water 4 cups
Grated coconut 1 tbsp
Lemon extract from 1 medium lemon
Salt as required

For tempering

Gingly oil 2 tsp
Mustard 1/2 tsp
Channa dal 1/2 tsp
Urad dal 1/2 tsp
Broken dry red chilli 1
Curry leaves a few

Tips

Roast rava by adding little oil.

Keep boiled water ready as chiroti rava is very fine and gets roasted quickly.

Method

In a heated kadai add mustard, urad dal, channa dal and broken chilli, let mustard crackle add rava, pour a little oil and dry roast. Add curry leaves. Once rava emits mild aroma pour water 3 cups at first, then if needed one more cup. Mix in add lemon extract and grated coconut. I've added 4 cups of water as I want a very soft kozhukattai which melt in your mouth. The kozhukattai or rava dumpling dough is ready. Off stove and make small even lemon sized kozhukattai.

Use a steamer to steam kozhukattai for about 10 minutes. Serve.

Burnt tomato, onion, peanut chutney

Ingredients

One extra large tomato (wash , pat dry and directly burn it on fire)
Ginger a small piece
Green chillies 2
Peanuts 2 tbsp
Salt as required
Oil 1 tsp

Method

Chop onion, ginger and green chillies roughly, in a heated pan pour oil add peanuts, saute for a while add rest of the ingredients, cook till onion turn translucent. Remove the burnt outer skin of tomato, chop and mix in. Cook for 2 minutes. Off stove. Let it cool. Grind it in a mixer jar to a coarse paste or fine if you want. Pour it back to the pan, add a cup of hot water, cook for a few minutes. Off stove adjust salt. Serve with chiroti dumplings /kozhukattai. Its delicious and am sure your family will love it.

Ginger lemon, mint tea

Diwali cleaning, wardrobe, donate all old clothes to needy, which are too big for you! Admire yourself, look at the mirror watch you are emerging like a lean, mean butterfly discarding your layers and layers of fat carefully deposited by your body for future use!!

Eat right, walk 6 kms, drink water, breathe in, breathe out, laugh, munch on green salads, thank everyone who made you realise your real worth.

Shed few extra unwanted pounds, go for health check ups. Keep your Hba1c under control.

Thank your nutritionist and gym instructor for all their good wishes and right advice. Be proud of your little achievements. Stay blessed. Send a thank you note to someone who relentlessly working for your wellness. 💞💕I just did!

Have a happy Diwali, say no to fire crackers.

Enjoying my favourite ginger lemon tea with mint!

Ingredients 

Ginger grated 1/2 tsp

Sugar/palm jaggery 1/2 tsp

Mint leaves a few

Lemon extract 1/4 tsp

Tea leaves /dust 1/2 tsp

Boiling water 1 cup

Method 

In a tea cup add tea powder, ginger, sugar pour boiling water, mix in. Add lemon extract, garnish with pudina leaves. Serve. 

Walnuts, cocoa, coconut burfi - Diwali sweets

Festival and more festivals! After Navaratri its diwali, and that means sweets, savoury and yummy special dishes.

I have a basket full of coconut in my kitchen, thanks to Navaratri! Our daily consumption of coconut is limited, thus a lot is left without using it.

I thought of making some sweets out of coconut. Then it was preparation time which is taxing. Grating coconut a task I find too boring especially when you have 3 coconuts in a row! I wish I had  magical lamp and rub it to call genie for help!! Hmmm... No genie no lamp. But the genius in me finally managed to get it grated and I made a coarse powder of it in mixer. Then it was just magic I found few ingredients which I thought will add more flavour to the sweet.

Ingredients

Grated coconut 4 cups

Sugar 2 cups

Coconut water 1 cup(a secret ingredient I thought will add more flavour to burfi)

Cardamom 5

Clove 4

Ghee 3 tsp

Walnuts a handful 

Cocoa powder 1tsp

Tips

Use fresh, fleshy coconuts, add cardamom, clove and coconut in mixer and make coarse powder.

Preserve water extracted from coconut

Make sure you make one string sugar syrup

Clean and break walnuts into tiny pieces

Take a plate, grease it with ghee

Method

In a large pan add two cups of sugar coconut water and stir it, allow it to boil and reduce, check for its consistency.

We want a little thick bit sticky one string sugar syrup. Add grated coconut, mix well, keep stirring. Add ghee, broken walnuts, mix in. After a few minutes you will notice the entire burfi has become one large lump,leaving ghee in the process. Its time to spread it in another greased plate. Use spatula to spread evenly and cut into desired shape. Allow it to reach room temperature, gently use a sieve to sprinkle cocoa powder. Separate each piece and serve.