MEAL IN A BOWL

Here is a recipe for a veg noodle soup which can be most satisfying.

You will need...

For the stock:

1 tbsp oil
1 inch ginger sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic crushed
1 carrot chopped
a few stalks of celery
a few mushrooms
sliced half a head of Chinese cabbage
3 spring onions sliced
4 cups of water

For the soup:

A hand full of cooked noodles
1 carrot cut into match sticks
half head Chinese cabbage
shredded small bunch celery
1 cup mixed mushrooms (button, oyster, shitake) soaked and sliced
soy sauce / fresh chilli slivers or sesame oil to taste

Method:

To make the stock, heat the oil, put in garlic and ginger and then all the veggies.
Saute, then add the water and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat and let the stock simmer away for a couple of hours.
When cool, strain and keep aside the stock.

To assemble the soup, bring the stock to a boil and put in the prepared veggies.
Cook till just done.
You could add some slices of tofu as well.
Add salt to taste and also some soy sauce.
To serve, place a pile of noodles in soup bowls and pour over the soup.
Add a drizzle of sesame oil and chillies at the table to perk up your soup.

A noodle soup satisfies and nourishes in more ways than one!!

FOR THE KEBAB LOVERS

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ Cup Corn Kernels
• 2 Big Potatoes (boiled)
• 2 Onions (chopped)
• ½ cup Capsicum
• 2-½ cm Ginger (chopped)
• 3 Green Chilies (chopped)
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

METHOD:

•	Without using any water, crush the corn kernels in a grinder to get a coarse paste.
•	Mix this coarse paste with potatoes, onion, ginger, capsicum, green chilies and salt.
•	Divide the mixture into equal portions and shape them as kebabs.
•	Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the kebabs until they turn golden & crisp.
•	Take them out with a slotted spoon. Drain excess oil on kitchen tissue.
•	Corn Kebab is ready to eat. Serve hot with sauce or mint chutney.

WHAT'S ON TODAY's MENU # 5

Crispy toasted bread and a spread of all veggies, cheese and tomato sauce. This is a quick snack for kids when they wish to eat pizza and cant wait for long :) This microwave bread pizza would take not even ten minutes when you have the cheese grated and sauce ready on hand.. Yummmm.....

Ingredients:

• Bread slices- 5 to 6
• 2 tsp melted unsalted butter
• onions -1 (finely chopped)
• Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)
• Capsicum - 1(finely chopped)
• Grated cheese
• Tomato ketchup / pizza sauce / marinara sauce
• Salt to taste
• Pepper powder to sprinkle

Method:

Mix all the vegetables together with a pinch of salt.
Fresh bread slices can be used Or you can toast it with butter.
Heat a pan with little butter. Toast the slices on one side till its crispy.
Remove and spread a tsp of tomato ketchup on it.
Add over the bread, 2tbsp of mixed vegetables.. sprinkle the generous helping of grated cheese on it.
Transfer everything to a microwave plate n cook for 3 minutes in high temperature..till all the cheese gets melted.
Remove the slices from the micro oven and sprinkle wee bit of pepper powder.
Top it with some tomato ketchup. You could even make a nice smilie face on it to make it more attractive to your little ones.
Serve with any fresh juice for a perfect and healthy breakfast.
I am sure Kids will definitely love it...Yummmm....

WHAT'S ON TODAY's MENU # 4

Tomatoes are actually fruits, but being low in sugar they are usually eaten like vegetables. Ripe red tomatoes are rich in beta-carotene and the anti-oxidant lycopene. Tomatoes are High in Vitamin C and Vitamin A. Some tomatoes are sweeter than others, depending on their ripeness and the variety of tomato. Use the ripest tomatoes you can. Added sugar will balance the natural acidity of the tomatoes, use more or less to taste.

Ingredients:-

1/2 gal. tomato juice

2 tbsp. sugar

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. salt Pinch black pepper (Adjust according to kids level)

Method:-

1) Put all ingredients into a large non-reactive pot (use stainless steel, not aluminum) except lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until mixture is completely soupy, about 25 minutes.

2) Mix all ingredients together and let it cool .Add lemon juice .After that blend it in a mixer .Sieve it and Serve.

WHAT'S ON TODAY's MENU # 3

Palak Paneer is a delicious, hearty North Indian dish prepared with spinach and Indian cheese.Its one of my favorites and i'm sure you would like it too. This is a very popular dish served in every Indian restaurant. The creamy texture of spinach with paneer is a very good combination.

Palak paneer ingredients:

• Spinach - 1 bunch
• Paneer - 200 gms ,cut into 1 inch cubes
• Tomato medium size -1 (puree)
• Onion small - 1 finely chopped
• Green chillies - 5
• Ginger garlic paste - ½ tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cashew nuts - 15
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - ¼ tsp
• Red chilli pwd - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala -1/2 tsp
• Kasuri Methi -1/4 tsp
• Malai - 1 tbsp

Method:-

Clean and wash the spinach. Cut the green chillies into 2 or 3 pieces. Take a pan and heat with 1 tsp oil. Add green chillies and washed spinach . Sauté till the leaves are wilted. Then switch off the stove. Leave it to cool for 5 mins. After 5 mins grind spinach and Green chillies to a fine paste. Now take a pan and heat with 1 tsp of ghee /Butter. Add Cumin seeds.After it starts to pop add chopped onions. Fry till transulent. Then add ginger garlic paste and coriander powder ,red chilli powder. Sauté till the raw smell disappears. Add spinach paste, tomato puree, a pinch of turmeric powder and cashew nut powder (if using). Add salt and adjust to taste.Add Sugar. Combine well and add little amount of water. Do not add too much of water. If you add too much of water then it spread like flooding river. Cook on medium heat for about 10mins or until flavors combines well. Just before switch off the stove add fried and soaked paneer cubes. Add malai, garam masala pwd and kasuri methi and mix well. Reduce flame, cover and cook for 2 mts. Now palak paneer is ready. Serve hot with roti, paratha or naan.

Tomato puree:

Boil tomato in hot water and peel the skin. Now mash or grind the tomatoes in mixer grinder without adding any water. Cashewnut powder: Dry roast and make a fine powder. Paneer cubes: Sauté paneer cubes in 1 tsp of ghee or deep fry till they are golden brown and soak in warm water with pinch of salt for 10 mins.

MTR and Ashirvadh have given us ready-to-eat dishes and its become so easily available these days but still home made food is always the best :)) so try this urself and let me know your comments!

POTATO SABJI - THE MOST LOVED VEGGIE OF ALL

Well, is there anybody who says NO to potatoes? I don't think so...Its almost a well known fact that everybody especially kids luv potato curry wen compared to the rest of the veggies. So here it goes, an easy and quick way to do this recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 potatoes (russet potatoes work well for this recipe)
• 1 onion ( chopped)
• 2 to 3 garlic cloves ( chopped)
• 3 tbs oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds and musturd seeds
• 1/2 tsp turmuric powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• cilantro
• salt

Method:

Boil potatoes until fork tender with a pinch of salt , peel and squeeze with your hands ,so that half mashed and half chunkey

Heat oil in apan ,add cumin seeds , musturd seeds and chopped onions , sautee until onions are soft , then add garlic and cilantro , fry for 1 more min

Now add sqeezes potatoes ,Mix well and fry on low flame for 5min

Sprinkle salt , turmuric , redchilli powder and coriander powder ( mix gently so that potatoes are not mashed completely)

Fry on low flame until golden on one side ( make sure not to burn potatoes)

Serve hot , with chapathi , puri ,paratha

TIFFIN READY :)

Well, we have something tasty and easy-to-make recipe in today's menu :

CORN PAKODAS

Corn Pakodas are the great appetizers that can have at tea time. Its easy, crispy and delicious to have. With very simple flavours, they are great and can be also have along with ketchup or salsa. Do try this snack delight and enjoy ur evening.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup sweet corn
• 2 chopped onions
• 1 egg
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp ginger finely chopped
• 1 tsp chopped green chilli
• ½ tsp pepper
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Oil to fry
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 cup makai ka atta
• Chopped dhania patta

METHOD:

To sweet corn, add onions, ginger, green chilli, red chilli powder, salt & pepper.

Mix these ingredients along with baking powder & egg. Add the flour & makai ka atta to the mixture.

Mix well & add dhania patta for taste. Wet your palms & shape the dough into balls.

Fry pakodas in hot oil on low flame till red. Serve hot with sauce or chutney.

WHAT'S ON TODAY's MENU # 2

It is delicious! I used just one chilli pepper, and found it gently spicy. I also added some lime juice for a little extra flavor. This is a 5-minute recipe, especially if you use frozen corn.

Slicing the kernels off the cob can get a little messy, though. I managed to do it :)

Spicy Corn with Mustard Seeds

makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 to 8 ears corn (or use 4 cups thawed frozen corn)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
• 1 or 2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon minced cilantro
• 1 -2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, to taste

METHOD:

1. Slice kernels off corn, if using fresh.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or sauté pan over medium-high heat, add mustard seeds, and cover. When seeds stop popping, lower heat to medium and add chiles; stir 30 seconds.

3. Stir in turmeric. Add corn and salt to taste. Toss, turn heat to low, cover, and cook until corn is tender, about 5 minutes (cook frozen corn about 1 minute). Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve warm.

WHAT'S ON TODAY's MENU # 1

RECIPE : VEGETABLE CHILLI

From “The New Basics Cookbook” by Julee Rosso and Sheila LukinsHave a pot of chili ready when everyone comes over to watch the Super Bowl. This vegetable chili is just as gutsy as any made with meat. Everyone will love it!

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup olive oil2 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch dice2 onions, cut into 1/2-inch dice4 cloves garlic, finely chopped2 large red bell peppers, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice1 can (35 ounces) Italian plum tomatoes, with their juice1 1/2 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch dice2 tablespoons good-quality chili powder1 tablespoon ground cumin1 tablespoon dried basil1 tablespoon dried oregano2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper1 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon fennel seeds1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley1 cup canned dark red kidney beans, drained1 cup canned chick-peas (garbanzos), drained1/2 cup chopped fresh dill2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice1 cup sour cream2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese4 scallions (green onions), white bulb and 3 inches green, sliced on the diagonal

METHOD:

1.Heat 1/2 cup of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini, and sauté until just tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the zucchini to a large flameproof casserole or dutch oven.

2.Heat the remaining 1/4 cup oil in the skillet over low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and bell peppers. Sauté until just wilted, about 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the casserole, along with the oil remaining in the skillet.

3.Place the casserole over low heat. Add the canned tomatoes and their juice, the fresh tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, basil, oregano, pepper, salt, fennel seeds, and parsley. Cook, uncovered, stirring often, for 30 minutes.

4.Stir in the kidney beans, chick-peas, dill and lemon juice; cook for another 15 minutes. Stir well, and adjust the seasonings to taste. Serve with bowls of sour cream, grated cheese, and sliced scallions alongside.

Here's a cool take on the ubiquitous soup...check it out

Like all whole grains, whole wheat is a very good source of fibre as well as manganese and the amino acids. If you have a wheat allergy, substitute barley, which provides celenium, copper and phosphorous. And the below mentioned recipe serves six!

INGREDIENTS:

• Barley : 1/3 cup
• water : 2 cups
• salt : to tase
• finely diced cucumber : 1 cup
• plain low fat yogurt or butter milk : 5 cups
• ripe but firm tomatoes : 2
• celery stalk (small) : 1
• garlic pod finely minced or pureed with a little salt in a mortar : 1
• lemon juice : 2 tbsp
• cumin seeds toasted and ground : 2 tsp
• ground pepper : to taste
• fresh mint leaves : 2 tbsp

METHOD:

Heat a heavy medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat, and add the barley. Stir or shake in the pan unitil it smells toasty, about five minutes. Add the water and salt (to taste) and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, about 45 mins. Remove from the heat, drain and set aside.

While the barley is cooking, place the cucumber in a bowl and sprinkle with salt. Toss and place in a strainer set over the bowl. Allow to drain for 30 mins. Rinse well and drain on paper towels.

Combine all the ingredients except the mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Chill for an hour or longer. Serve, garnishing each bowl with the mint leaves.

MEALS THAT HEAL.......!

SOUP SO SPECIAL....

Hello people...i am here with another recipe today and i'm sure this is going to be something that you wouldn't hav tried before! It is called the "PEARS AND CELERIAC SOUP"

Read more to know what and how it is made!

INGREDIENTS:

• Celeriac, peeled and chopped - 400 gm
• onion chopped - 50gm
• garlic - 30gm
• olive oil - 15ml
• ripe pears, thinly sliced - 2
• bay leaf - 5gm
• salt and pepper to taste
• cream - 50 gm
• chives - 50gm

METHOD:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Fry the onion and garlic until they turn translucent. Add the celeriac to the pan and cook for further five mins stirring occasionally.

Add some vegetable stock, pear slices and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and blend the soup in a food processor. Return it to the pan and heat it gently. Season and stir in a little cream to taste. Sprinkle chopped chives and serve!

MORE ON CELERIAC:

Well, most of you would not have heard this veggie called celeriac. Or rather, i actually didn't know that there was something like this until i googled about it. So i though it wud be an informative post along with the recipe :)

Celeriac is a vegetable that is a member of the celery family, however only its root is used for cooking purposes. Also known as celery root, knob celery, and turnip rooted celery, it tastes similar to a blend of celery and parsely.

It has a tough furrowed outer surface, usually sliced off before use as it is too rough to peel. It is often used as a flavouring in soups and stews and can also be used in baked dishes.

Celeriac contains no cholestral or fat and provides an excellent source of dietery fibre. Because of its taste and consistency, it is a flavourful addition to low calorie meals.

So pals, hope this post was really informative and interesting!

CHEERS!

SILVER FOILS ARE NOT VEGETARIAN

The silver foils are not very expensive. They are sold by weight. Ordinarily, you can buy a packet of 160 foils for a price between Rs.100 to 200. That is, approximately one rupee per foil. Not only the sweets, now a days it is also applied on fruits. Some Ayurvedic medicines also are wrapped in silver foils.

They are made by hammering thin sheets of silver in middle of booklets made of a bull's intestines. In other words, after slaughtering a bull, quickly his intestines are removed, and sold to the manufacturers of foils. The skins made of old intestines are of no use. Even one-day-old intestines can not be used, because within a few hours they stiffen.

The foil manufacturer removes blood and stools from the intestines, and cuts them into pieces. Then he puts one piece over another, making a booklet out of it. At his home, or in the factory, he puts one silver (or gold) sheet in-between each page. Then he hammers it hard until those metal sheets turn into thin wafers.

The intestines of bulls are so strong, that even repeated hammering do not destroy them, or they do not let the foils move around inside. Because of the hammering, some tissues of the intestine mix with the foils. After that the foil manufacturer sells the bundle of foils to the sweets manufacturers. 
Some small foil manufacturers sell the foils to the temples.

This foil is not only dirty, it also is non-vegetarian. Even the meat-eaters do not eat intestines. Use of these foils turn even sweets into non-vegetarian food. A few years ago the Indian Airlines learned about this, and since then stopped using them on the sweets served in their planes.

Source of Silver Foil in Sweets

Indian Airlines, the domestic air-carrier of India had issued instructions to its suppliers to supply sweet without silver foil called VARAKH. Do you know why? Silver is widely used for various purposes in the market today. 

Silver is considered precious and its utility is enormous. The reason behind this is that silver reflects back 95% of the light energy that falls on it. The silver foils used for edible purposes is called VARAKH So what's so special about VARAKH? If you keenly observe this VARAKH under a microscope don be perturbed if you happen to see traces of blood, stools and saliva of a cattle or ox. 

VARAKH is a silver foil and we have no second questions on this, but to prepare this VARAKH important parts of the CATTLE/OX is made use of. 
Intestines of Cattle/OX are obtained from the slaughterhouse. This is obtained after butchering to death the cattle/ox for beef and the part, which cannot be consumed: the intestines are pulled out of the animal and handed over to the manufacturers of VARAKH. Before handing over the intestines, they are washed in the slaughterhouse to get rid of the blood and other remains on these intestines in the limited facility that is present in the slaughterhouse. We are not sure how neatly this job is carried out. Intestines are cut into small pieces and then are bound together as pages in a notebook. 

A silver block is placed in the middle of these bound intestines, and the whole thing is placed in a leather bag and sealed. Experts, who know how to make VARAKH, pound the bag with wooden sticks, till the entire bag flattens out. The silver block would by this time be turned into silver foil. This Silver foil would now be separated from the intestine pack and will be placed on paper. 

This is VARAKH, which reaches the market ready for use. Even staunch vegetarians, who shy away from egg, unknowingly consume this as a part of sweet, pan and arecanut. Some unknowingly consume this because of the additional taste that VARAKH provides. 

Now the question is "Why the intestines of the cattle/ox? Why not something else?" The reason behind using the intestines of the cattle/ox for preparing the VARAKH is because of the elasticity of the intestines. 
They do not get cut even after a severe pounding. 

This aspect is brought out in the magazine "Beauty without cruelty" and the Television show of Maneka Gandhi, "Heads and Tails". In India, on an average an estimate indicates that 2,75,000 kilos of "VARAKH" is consumed. Can you estimate how many cattle/ox are sacrificed for just a bit of taste? If you are surprised as I am, after reading this article please inform as many as possible so as to ensure that we unknowingly don't consume beef.

Pan

By now, a pan-lover vegetarian person may have eaten equivalent of many miles of oxen intestines! For them, here is an another bad news - the Chuna that they apply on pan, also is not vegetarian! That is made from the shells of living insects. These insects are taken from the ocean, killed, and removed from the shell. Then the shells are softened in water, dried, and ground into white powder. When you put this Chuna in your mouth, you are participating in killing of many insects. This is no different from taking life of a goat or a pig. Everyone wants to live, no one likes the pain of death.

Indian Sweets and Varakh

Silver foil, or varakh, as it is generally known in India, adds glitter to Indian sweets, betel nut (Supari), Paan (betel-leaf) , and fruits. It is also used in Ayurvedic medicines. The silver-topped sweet is even served as prashad in many temples and on auspicious and religious occasions. Varakh is also used in flavoured syrups as in Kesar (saffron) syrup.

If one observes Varakh under a microscope one will find traces of blood, stools and saliva of a cattle or an ox. Varakh is not derived from an animal source. However, a crucial material of animal origin, ox-gut, is used in its manufacture. This ox-gut is obtained from the slaughterhouse.

The intestine (ox-gut), smeared with blood and mucus, is pulled out from the slaughtered animal by the butcher at the slaughterhouse, and sold for the specific purpose. This is then taken away to be cleaned and used in the manufacture of Varakh.

The gut of an average cow, measuring 540 inches in length and 3 inches in diameter, is cut open into a piece measuring 540" x 10". From this, strips of 9" x 10" are cut to give approximately 60 pieces of ox-gut, which are then piled on top of each other and bound to form a book of 171 leaves.
Next, small thin strips of silver are placed between the sheets and the book slipped into a leather pouch. These bundles are hammered continuously for a day to produce extremely thin foils of silver of 3" x 5".
The leather and ox-gut, being supple, can withstand the intense manual hammering for up to 8 hours a day till such time as the silver is beaten to the desired thickness. When ready, the foil is carefully lifted from between the leaves of ox-gut and placed between sheets of paper to be sold to the sweet shops. A booklet of 160 foils weighs approximately 10 grams and costs few hundred rupees.

To make a single booklet of 171 sheets, the guts of 3 cows are used. And the yield per book is generally 160 foils of silver, the rest of which may be damaged or unfit for use. Thus one book, used on an average of 300 days of the year yields approximately 48,000 foils of silver which means that each ox-gut yields an estimated 16,000 foils.

The leather used for the pouch to hold the book (made from ox-gut), is cowhide or calf leather, and uses about 232 sq. inches of material. Assuming the size of an average cowhide to be 18 sq. ft or 2,600 sq. Inches, the yield per hide will be approximately 10 leather pouches.
Usually 4 foils are used per kilograms of sweets and the ox-gut of one cow is used to produce foil for approximately 4,000 kilograms of sweets. It is estimated that the average consumption of sweets by a middle class family of four in India is about 100 kilograms per year.

Thus, an average middle class Indian family of four consuming approximately 100 kg of sweets per year for forty years consumes silver foil produced with the gut of 3 cows and one-tenth of a cowhide!

In India 275 tons of silver is transformed into Varakh that utilises the intestines of 516,000 cows and calf leather of 17,200 animals each year