Mango Pudding

 The one thing I miss about Indian summers is the king of all fruits, the one and only, Mangoes. I preferred eating them directly, biting into the skin and sucking its juice and all. Cut mango doesn’t give the same experience.  

But now as I am aging and probably getting more and more used to the easy lifestyle, I no longer want to deal with the mess of eating them like that. Even for desserts I prefer using canned pulp more than the fresh ones, just for convenience sake… Or sometimes buy cut fruits over whole fruits. I think in the process of building a comfortable life, I am becoming more and more lazy *sigh*..  

Anyways, found this extremely easy Vegan Mango dessert recipe in one of the FB groups I follow. If you use all readymade ingredients like me, then this recipe is as simple as putting all ingredients together and serving. But the consistency will be more "payasa" like than pudding :) 

You can prepare this well in advance, making this perfect for potlucks and parties. Enjoy!!

Dabeli - 2

 Dabeli is basically pav buns stuffed with spicy potato masala. Very tasty chat item, which enlivens your taste buds with sweet, spicy, garlic, sev, nuts, crunchiness of fruits and whatnot.

Recently tried this Dabeli with a mix of different powders for Dabeli Masala(link given below). I have another recipe for Dabeli which makes dabeli masala from scratch. It can be found here. 

Enjoy! 

Easy Sabudana-Chia seeds Dessert

 I’m a little late in wishing, still, 

Happy 2022! Or, as they joke Happy 2020 too!

[bidtu, bidtu, bidtu, thoon, thoon, thoon] 😬😬😬

Happy Sankranti! 

Want to start this year with a sweet note, try this easy peasy Sabbakki dessert. It’s basically fruit custard, made slightly differently. You can prepare this well in advance, making it a perfect potluck dessert. Addition of Sabbakki and chia seeds gives a nice contrasting texture to the dessert. Enjoy! 

Veg Burrito Bowl

My husband loves chipotle burrito bowls. Burrito bowls are easy to prepare at home. If you are hosting a party, you can prepare all the side dishes in advance and still have time to dress up and look fresh :) You can easily feed a crowd. Taste bhi health bhi kinda dish. 

Do try!

Happy holidays!!

Minestrone Soup

What better to savor than hot minestrone soup on cold winter nights. Especially when it can be done in less than 30 min hassle free in Insta Pot. Add everything, set IP for 6 min on high and piping hot soup is ready to be savored. Pair it with some garlic bread and you have a filling, quick lunch/dinner. You can pressure cook this too. Same procedure. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

InstaPot Aloo Pulav

Presenting another simple rice bath - simple only in ingredients but rich in flavor - Aloo rice bath. It was a big hit in my family. I made this in InstaPot. Quick and easy. 

Do try! 

Matar Paneer

Just like chole, matar paneer is another popular north Indian curry which is loved by everybody. I followed Vah chef’s recipe for this as all his north Indian curries come close to restaurant taste. This curry can be had with both chapathi/poori and fried rice. 

Do try! 

Schezwan Noodles

Noodles are anytime welcome in our house, lunch or dinner. I personally love anything Indo-Chinese and Hakka noodles tops the list. 

To get an extra kick out of plain Hakka noodles, add schezwan chutney, which I found out about in a recipe online(link given below). 

I also followed a tip given by Vah chef, that to take any Indo-Chinese dish to the next level, to get that authentic taste, use celery. Yes, celery definitely enhances the taste, and I would highly recommend it for any Indo-Chinese dish, be it noodles or fried rice. 

Now, one more personal tip - generally you cook noodles and then run them in cold water and then add little oil and use them later. To avoid all these steps, I sauté all vegetables and keep everything ready, then I cook noodles, take them out of water and add them directly to the wok. This saves lot of time and energy :)

Do try! 

Easy eggless brownies

Enjoy this Christmas with some homemade eggless brownies…  

I have used flax meal as an egg substitute. Flax meal(ground flax seed) is such a wonderful egg substitute, it has no odd taste, it is good for health, and texture of the brownie comes out soft and fluffy. 

This recipe is extremely easy. Mix everything and bake, as simple as that. Do try! 

Happy holidays!! Merry Christmas!! Happy New Year!!

Ragda Patties

Ragda patties - a famous chat/street food from Mumbai - is basically potato patties dipped in yellow peas gravy(ragda), served with chat garnishing. I found this very easy recipe online(link given below). Ragda is so easy, so simple, you can get it done in no time. Patties on the other hand, is little time consuming. But you can make them before hand and fry just before serving, making this a perfect starter for parties and potlucks. 

Do try!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Easy corn pakodas

Presenting extremely easy to make appetizer - corn pakodas. I got this recipe from a cooking show. It was prepared in under 5 min, or that’s what it was shown as.. It took me close to 15 - 20 minutes.  Fresh corn works best, I used frozen corn. Anyways, I added some mint and cilantro, which was not in the original, and because of that it tasted more like falafel. Perfect appetizer to take for potlucks and parties. Do try!

Carrot - Spinach Rice bath

Presenting one more flavorful, delicious and easy-to-make rice bath, again from oggaranne dabbi cooking show. As I say again and again, I am overwhelmed at the variations one can make in rice baths just by changing few vegetables and few ingredients here and there. Rice baths are easy to make, tasty and a definite crowd pleaser, perfect for potlucks.  

This bath is low on spices, healthy and a good lunch box item. My daughter just loved it!

Do try!

Badnekayi(Brinjal/Eggplant) Pulav

I am a sucker for pulavs. I try to make each and every version I come across either online or on TV.. It is fascinating how just change of vegetables and few spices here and there can bring about so many varieties... 

Badnekayi Pulav is again from oggarane dabbi cooking show. It’s fairly easy and comes out very tasty. As usual, instead of cooking it all together, I cooked rice separately and then mixed with the masala. 

Do try!

Masala Bread/ Palya bread

Presenting another appetizer which is easy to make, unbelievably tasty and kid friendly. Palya bread/ masala bread/ bread sandwich are some of the names it goes by in local bakeries in Bangalore. 

I found this recipe looooong time back in one of the first blogs I stumbled upon.. it had very basic and handy ingredients. Over the years I have seen many variations with more ingredients, but I find this recipe simple and good enough. Do try! 

Vegetable Spring roll

I was planning on making some special Indian sweet or savory snack for Deepavali. Since Deepavali is already here, I’ll go with whatever I have on hand :) 

I had tried this recipe sometime back and it turned out to be very tasty. The procedure is fairly easy and although tedious, makes a great appetizer for a dinner party/potluck. Rolling takes a lot of time, and if you have some help in that area, making this is very easy. You can also roll this and freeze before hand, frying just before serving. 

Do try!

Happy Deepavali!!

Avalakki(Poha) bisi beLe bath/BBB

This recipe is again from Oggarane Dabbi cooking show. 

This is one flavorful dish made with fresh spices and vegetables. It is also much lighter on the tummy since it is made with poha and moong dal. There is onion in the recipe. But you can easily skip it for festivals. Original recipe makes everything in the cooker directly, but I made it separately. Have it with some ghee, chips/boondi. 

Enjoy!

Vegetable Pongal

These days I am hooked onto Oggarane dabbi cooking show. Every day there is something new I’d like to try. I like the hosts candid opinion, which makes it easy for me to try only certain dishes and not everything. I must have tried some 6-7 dishes already and I have only been watching the show for like a month.

One of the dishes that I tried was Vegetable Pongal which was shown as pancahrangi pongal on the show. It is a wholesome one pot dish. Very healthy, very tasty and gets done in a jiffy. Easy enough to prepare on a busy working day, yet fancy enough to serve your guests at dinner parties. 

Do try!

Mavinakayi Chitranna - Raw Mango rice

I only knew one way of making mavinakayi chitranna, which is make tadka with mustard, urad dal, chana dal, hing, peanuts green/red chili and turmeric, add grated raw mango, sauté and mix with cooked rice. But I recently got to know about this recipe (through a Kannada sangha we are involved with), which is slightly different, but definitely more delicious than what I make. The recipe uses methi seeds, which makes it unique. I particularly loved the subtle methi taste + tanginess of raw mango. 

This recipe is from another favorite food blog of mine, which has many authentic Karnataka recipes. 

Make this delicious mavinakayi chitranna for upcoming festival season and enjoy!      

Kothu Parotta

I have never tasted kothu parotta before. I am always skeptical trying out new dishes at restaurants. Lest I try something new and it doesn’t turn out as good as my expectations, then my whole “restaurant going” experience is ruined. The kind of hunger I’m in when I go to restaurants, I’m in no mood to wait nor to try out anything new.

For new dishes, either I try from frozen section at Indian stores, or I try to make it at home, or I taste from my husband’s plate when he is trying out something new :)

So I find this kothu parotta in frozen section. I bring it home and open it, only to realize that it’s just plain parotta cut into fancy strips. That's when I googled for it and found out about salna. 

Parotta(malabar parotta) is basically maida based flaky paratha(bread). It is little time consuming to make from scratch. But is easily available in frozen section at Indian stores. Kottu parotta(vegetarian version) is made by sautéing parotta pieces in salna(tomato based gravy) and some vegetables. 

It turned out very tasty. Both my husband and daughter loved it. Do try!

Mixed Veg Curry - Restaurant Style

I had tried this Mix veg curry long time back. It turned out very creamy and tasted just like in restaurants. I used frozen mix veg bag along with some other cut vegetables, to increase the volume. This dish is perfect for feeding a crowd. Relatively quick, filling,  uncomplicated and tasty!

Do try!