Vegetable Korma

This recipe is just bursting with flavor and nutrition. What could anyone want more than to eat their vegetables and like them too! You can make this in a pressure cooker or a covered pot. It takes a little longer in the latter. I made it in a pot/pan as I think it gives more flavor.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup cauliflower cut in small pieces
   
2. 1 cup diced carrots
3. 1 cup diced potatoes 
4. 1 cup green beans cut in small pieces
5. 1 cup peas
6. 1 cup small pieces of paneer, fried (I used the store bought paneer and fry it at home)
7. 1/2 cup tomato sauce
8. 1/2 tsp ginger paste
9. 1/2 tsp garlic paste
10. 2 tsp fresh cilantro paste
11. salt and red chilli to taste
12. 1/2 tsp haldi
    
13. 1/2 tsp garam masala
14. pinch of kesar (saffron) in a small amount of hot milk
15. 2 tbsp ghee
16. 1/2 cup milk (I use 2%)
17. 1 tsp cashews
18. 1 tsp lemon juice
19. Some cut cilantro to garnish

Process

1. Add ghee to a large pot. Once it is hot, add the ginger and garlic paste. Fry a little bit and add the cilantro paste. Fry the mixture. Add a little bit of the milk and and keep frying the paste. Add all the milk and make it into a nice paste.
2. Add all the vegetables, tomato sauce, all the spices, the kesar in milk, and cashews. I added the paneer after about 20 mins of cooking as I did not want it to dissolve in all the veggies.
3. Add about 1 or 1 1/2 cup of water, depending on how much of a curry you want.
4. Cover the pan and cook until all the vegetables are cooked. 
5. Once all is cooked add some cut cilantro to garnish.

This vegetable korma can be eaten with rice or naan. The flavor of this vegetable is amazing!!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This is by far one of my favorite soups. It is flavorful and since I don't eat broccoli in any other way, I feel this way would be the best way for me to eat it. (And the other motivation was that broccoli was so cheap in the veggie store that one day!). I could buy this soup store made, but I like my food with less fat so I like cooking at home.

Ingredients

1. 1.5 cup broccoli (I used fresh and frozen the next time)
2. 1 cup grated carrots (you can replace some carrots with any other veggie, I have used zucchini)
3. 1 small onion - chopped
4. salt and black pepper to taste
5. 1/2 tsp nutmeg
6. 1-2 tbsp oil
7. 2 tbsp maida (all purpose flour)
8. 2 tbsp butter
9. 2 cups milk (I use 2%)
10. 1 cup cheddar cheese

Process

1. Defrost or chop the broccoli. In either case it should be steamed (not cooked to mush).  
2. In a kadhai or pan, add 1-2 tbsp oil. When it is heated, add chopped onion and saute until golden. Set aside when cooked.
3. In another pan, add 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp maida. Cook a little bit and add 1 cup of warm milk and stir so no lumps form. Add the 2nd cup of milk also and cook.
4. Cook the grated carrots in pressure cooker for 5 mins so they are soft. Add most of them to the milk/maida thickner. 
5. Add the steamed broccoli and the remaining of the carrots and use a hand blender to gently blend the vegetables. Add 1 cup of water - it will make it easier. I don't make a paste, I like some thick pieces of veggies in the soup.  
6. Add the broccoli carrot blend to the milk. 
7. Add salt and black pepper to taste. I also add about 1/2 tsp of nutmeg. 
8. Add 1 cup of cheddar cheese and stir well.
9. Add 1-2 cups of water to give the consistency you want of the soup.
10. Cook the soup for about 20 minutes

The result is quite good! I always eat a fresh bowl of the soup and then end of freezing half of it as all this makes about 6-7 servings! The good thing is that you can add more cheese if you wish - I keep it low, so I get the taste and texture and not so much fat!

Paalak Paneer

Spinach is a powerhouse of iron and I am short on it so I love to add spinach wherever I can. Paalak paneer is an easy and tasty dish to make that is good with roti, naan or even rice. I like my food with less spices and this one rules!

Ingredients

1. 1.5 cup spinach (I used frozen)
2. 1 cup paneer cubed
3. salt and pepper to taste
4. 1/4 tsp turmeric
5. 1/2 tsp garlic and ginger paste each
6. 1/3 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
7. 2 tsp maida (all purpose flour)

Process

1. Defrost the spinach and gently grind them in the blender. Don't make a paste, it will not taste good.
2. Finely chop the onions. 
3. In a kadhai, add the oil. When it is heated, add the ginger and garlic. When it is a little roasted, add the chopped onions. Fry until nice and golden. 
4. Add the tomatoes and cook until it is all a thick paste. 
5. Add the ground spinach. Add salt, pepper and turmeric.
6. Mix the two tablespoons maida in about 1/2 cup water and add to the spinach in kadhai.
7. Let it cook for about 20 mins. It will splatter, so make sure the kadhai is covered.
8. Add two teaspoons of sour cream to the spinach and mix well.  
9. Cook for another few minutes

Make sure to add a little ghee (or more!) when paalak paneer is served!

Raw Banana

This is a tasty dish of raw bananas. It does not need a lot of spices and the peels are high in fiber while the banana gives the carbs.

Ingredients:

1. Raw bananas - 2 (serves about 4 people)
2. Salt and chilli powder - to taste
3. 1 tbsp oil
4. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 
5. 1 tsp corriander powder
6. 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
7. 1/2 tsp khataai (dried mango powder)
8. 1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)

Process:

1. Wash bananas, boil the bananas in the pressure cooker (5 mins under pressure); peel the bananas and cut both the peel and banana in small edible pieces.
2. In a kadhai add the oil and add the jeera and dhaniya powder. When it is fried add the chilli powder and turmeric powder to cook the spices.
3. Add the cut banana and peels; add salt, red chilli and haldi (if needed). If you like you can also add little garam masala to give more spicy taste. Stir until the pieces look nice and roasted.
   

I enjoy this as a snack with tea or as part of dinner with parantha!

Upmaa

This is a south Indian dish that I love for breakfast. I keep it simple - as usual.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Sooji 
2. 2.5 cups water
3. 1 tsp mixed chana and urad daal
4. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
5. 1 tbsp oil 
6. 1 small chopped or sliced onion
7. 1 tsp salt - or according to taste
8. 1/4 tsp haldi (turmeric)
9. chilli - according to taste
10. 1 tsp lemon juice
11. some curry leaves
12. 2 tbsp peanuts (optional)
13. 1/3 cup peas (optional)

Process:

1. In a medium size pan, add the oil and when it is hot add the daal mixture and mustard seeds.
2. When the sputtering begins, add the curry leaves and onions; fry until transparent.
3. Add the sooji and roast till little cooked. (it does not have to get brown or red).
4. Add the water (carefully! as it will splatter out).
5. Add the salt, chilli and haldi. Stir well. Add the peas and peanuts at this time if you are using them.
6. Make sure to cover the pan and lower the heat or there will be splattering everywhere. Stir occasionally so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. All this takes about 5-7 mins.
7. Add the lemon juice when the consistency of the upmaa is thick. 
8. Turn off the heat, cover the pan and let it sit for a few minutes to cook in the steam.

It is better to have little extra water so that the upma cooks properly and tastes better! It can be enjoyed as breakfast, snack.  If you like little crispy stuff with it - try potato chips! Or try with little tomato chutney or lemon pickle...

Limeade

I get a lot of limes in Florida....not so many lemons for some strange reason. So when Florida gives you limes - you make limeade :-)

Very easy to make...

Ingredients:

1. 10-12 limes
2. 1 cup sugar
3. 1 cup water
4. 1 tsp dried mint

Process:

1. Squeeze the lime juice out (I used my citrus juicer!) - I got 1 cup lime juice from the 12 limes (some were a little drier than others)
   
2. In a pot, heat up a cup of water with one cup of sugar. Add dry mint here to flavor the syrup (mint is optional)
3. Add the lime juice to the sugar syrup when cool.
   
4. Add with enough water when ready to drink! You can adjust how much water you want to add depending on the sweetness you desire.

Since I made sooo much of the limeade concentrate - I froze a lot of it in my ice cube tray.  I will be taking one cube and adding one cup of water to make the limeade! No ice required!!

Mixed Vegetable Curry

Hmm...so I had the curry left over from the dum aaloo, so I decided to defrost it today and add a medley of vegetables to it.

Ingredients:

1. 2 carrots
2. 1 capsicum
3. 1/2 cauliflower
4. 2 small potatoes
5. a bunch of green beans
6. 1/2 cup frozen peas
7. 1/2 cup paneer
8. 1 1/2 cup of the curry (from dum aloo recipe)
9. salt, pepper for taste
10. 2-3 tbsp oil

Process:

1. Chopped all the vegetables in small pieces. Try to cut them in equal sizes so it looks good.
2. In a pan, add 2-3 tbsp oil, I added the vegetables in order of which they will cook. (I cut vegetable as the other one is cooking - time management.) The longest time for cooking is carrots, so I cut and cook it first in the frying pan. I don't cook it all the way as I am going to add the other vegetables one by one. So...add carrots, then potatoes, green beans (I added mine later as I had some frozen one), then cauliflower, peas and finally paneer. Add these within 5-7 minutes of each cooking. By the time I added the paneer, everything else is quite cooked. I did not add any water yet.
3. Added quarter cup water to make sure all is well cooked. Cooking vegetables without water gives them a nice flavor and does not mush them up.
4. Once all seems cooked/tender, add the curry and cook for 15-20 mins.
   
5. Garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy with naan or rice!!
(I would have had pictures but they all got deleted!!)