Cracked wheat and spinach khichdi

Ingredients

1 cup coarse cracked wheat
3/4 cup yellow moong daal
2 cups spinach chopped roughly
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
1 sprig curry leaves
1 whole red chilli
2 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
5 cups water

Recipe

Pressure cook cracked wheat, moong daal and spinach in 5 cups of water for 3 whistles.
In a small pan, heat oil and clarified butter together on medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add cumin and mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add black pepper corns, asafoetida, red chilli. Lastly add curry leaves and immediately add to the cooked cracked wheat.
Add salt to taste.
Drizzle ghee/clarified butter on top(optional).
Serve hot with a pickle of choice.

Kadhai Paneer

Ingredients

7 oz Paneer cut into bite size cubes

2  Medium Carrots cut into Discs

1 Big Green Bell Pepper cut into bite size pieces

1 Medium onion cut into bite size pieces

1 Roma tomatoes cut into bite size pieces

1 inch ginger grated

3 cloves Garlic grated

1 green chilli

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp Garam masala powder

1 tsp crushed Kasuri methi

1 Tbsp tomato paste

Pinch of sugar

Salt to taste

4-5 mint leaves

Water as needed

3-4 Tbsp oil

Recipe

Add oil into a pan and heat it up.

Once hot, add carrots , saute till tender, remove from pan and keep aside.

Add bell peppers into the same pan, saute till tender , remove from pan and keep aside.

Do the same with onions, when onions are slightly translucent, remove them from pan.

Saute Paneer for 30 seconds and keep aside.

Finally add tomatoes, Saute for a minute. They should not turn mushy. Keep aside.

In the same pan add cumin seeds. once they splutter, add tomato paste,grated ginger,garlic and green chilli. Saute till the raw smell is gone. 

Add coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder,turmeric powder,Kasuri methi, fry for 30 seconds, Add 1/2  cup water to make the paste thinner.(Add more or less depending on the preferred consistency)

Let it come to a boil. once small bubbles appear, add the vegetables and Paneer pieces, salt to taste and Garam masala powder. Mix gently.Finally add mint leaves to garnish on top.

Cover and simmer for 1-2 minutes so that the flavors develop.

Serve hot with jeera rice, pulao or Naan.

Tomato rice

Ingredients

 4 Roma tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 green chilli
1 sprig curry leaves
3 Tbsp mint leaves finely chopped
3 Tbsp cilantro finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
3 cloves garlic roughly chopped
1 medium onion chopped
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Chana daal(Bengal gram)
1/4 tsp urad daal(Black gram)
1/8 tsp hing
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Garam masala
2 Tbsp oil
2 cups of Sona masoori rice
3 cups water
Salt to taste

Recipe

In a rice cooker, cook 2 cups of rice in 3 cups of water. Keep aside.

Heat a pan on medium , add oil .

Once oil is hot, add chana daal.vFry till the color changes to light brown.

Add urad daal,cumin seeds, mustard seeds. Wait till they splutter then add curry leaves and hing.

Add chopped onion, fry till translucent. 

Add chopped garlic,slit green chilli,cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and fry for 1/2 a minute.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook on medium heat till the tomatoes are soft and paste like.

Add tomato paste and saute till the raw smell is gone. 

Add sugar,salt and cooked rice.

Finally add garam masala, mint leaves and cilantro.Mix well

Serve hot.

Corn and Cheese Toast

Ingredients

2 Slices whole grain bread (or any bread on hand)
2 slices American cheese
1 cup Fresh corn(frozen is fine too)
Salt
Pepper
Sriracha sauce/hot sauce(optional)

Recipe

Take the corn and boil it in water for a minute.
Drain water and keep aside.
Take one bread slice, and cover the surface with boiled corn.
Put one cheese slice on top.
Toast it using a toaster oven till the cheese melts and the bread is crisp.(It took me 2 minutes)
Take it out of the toaster oven, season with salt and pepper.
Top it with Sriracha sauce for extra kick(optional).
Serve immediately.

Basil Pesto Fusili

Ingredients

1/2 pound Fusili
Basil Pesto(recipe here)

Recipe

Cook Fusili in a large pot of boiling water until it is al dente.
Strain and drizzle extra virgin olive oil on top.Keep aside.
Add 2-3 Tbsp or required amount of pesto into the cooked pasta bowl. Mix well. Serve hot.

Quick Spinach Saute

Quick Spinach Saute

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of fresh or frozen spinach
1 small red onion finely chopped
1/2 inch ginger grated
2 Thai chillies finely chopped
1/2 tsp of urad daal/black gram
1/2 tsp of chana daal/bengal gram
1/2 tsp of mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
5-6 curry leaves chopped
1 Tbs of oil
Salt to taste

Recipe:

Heat a pan and add oil.
Once oil is hot add chana daal, urad daal, asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fry till the color changes to light brown.
Add curry leaves, grated ginger, chopped green chillies and fry for a minute.
Add finely chopped onion and saute till they turn translucent.
Add chopped spinach and saute till the leaves wilt.
Add salt to taste.
Serve hot with rice/phulka.

Phulka- Flat Bread made with Whole Wheat Flour

Phulka

Ingredients

1 cup of whole wheat flour(Makes 5 medium sized phulkas)
3/4 cup of water
1 tsp of oil
Butter/oil to apply on top

Recipe

Add the Whole wheat flour into a bowl.

Add dry flour to a bowl

Slowly add water to the dry flour and keep mixing.
After mixing in all the water the dough should look something like below.

Mix in water to the flour

Knead the dough for a minimum of 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes it should look soft and smooth, something like below

Soft and smooth dough after kneading for 5 minutes

The dough should not be too hard  or too soft  (it should not be sticking to the hands).
Drizzle 2-3 drops of oil on the dough,spread it evenly.
Cover and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.

Cover and rest

After 10 minutes, knead the dough for half a minute and make balls of equal size

Make balls

Heat up a flat griddle/Tawa . Medium-high is the usual setting that i use. A really hot griddle is the secret behind a good phulka.

Take one ball and dust it in dry whole wheat flour

Dust in dry flour

Start rolling with the help of a rolling pin.
Make sure that the thickness is even. If the phulka is uneven, then it may not fluff up.

Roll it even and flat

Put it on the hot tawa/griddle.

Put it on the hot tawa

Once the color starts to change and there are some brown spots on the bottom of phulka , flip it and let the other side cook for couple of seconds till some brown spots appear.

Flip once brown spots appear

Once the second side also gets brown spots,put it directly on the flame or here, i am using a steel mesh over an electric coil. This mesh can also be used on flame.

Put it directly on flame

Once the phulka puffs up turn it to the other side and keep it on for couple of seconds so that there are no uncooked spots.

Puffs up

Take off the flame and put it on a plate.
Apply oil/ghee on top and cover it with a tissue paper. This step can be ignored by health conscious people.

Stacked up phulkas

Serve hot with curry/daal/raita.

Spinach moong daal

Spinach Moong daal

Ingredients

3 cups of finely chopped spinach
1/2 cup of yellow moong daal
2 table spoons of sambhar powder
1/2 table spoon of tamarind paste
salt to taste
1/2 tea spoon of mustard seeds
1/2 tea spoon of cumin seeds
Pinch of hing
1 dry red chilli
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 table spoons of olive/canola/vegetable oil

Recipe

Heat a pan.
Add oil and warm it up.
Add mustard and cumin seeds. let them splutter.
Add red chillies,curry leaves and hing.
Add the finely chopped Spinach.
Saute till all the water evaporates from Spinach.
Once Spinach looks done, add the turmeric powder and Sambhar powder.
Saute for a minute.
Now add the cooked moong daal into the spinach mixture. (pressure cook moong daal for 3 whistles)
Take tamarind paste and add some water to thin it down.Fresh tamarind can also be used instead of paste. Take a lemon ball size tamarind. Let it soak for couple of minutes in water and squeeze the pulp out.
Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 4-5 mins.
Serve hot with Rice/Phulka/chapathi.