Steamed Broccoli with garlic and cashewnuts

There are times when i do not feel like looking at spices anymore. These are the times when i prefer healthy steamed vegetables. I prefer steaming rather than boiling as nutrients remain intact so that i benefit the most out of these vegetables. My family eats vegetables most of the days except on weekends. It sometimes turn boring preparing the curry every time . Moreover there are very few ways i like having broccoli, either steamed or saute. I do not like it in curry at all as i strongly feel that Broccoli has its own taste and adding too much of spices to it kind of loosen that original taste.
My kid 18 months like having it steamed too along with carrots and potatoes. So i steamed broccoli along with carrots and potatoes.
For the sauce i used olive oil instead of butter and made a kind of sweet, tangy and crunchy sauce by adding cashew nuts to it. This was perfect for our dinner and had great taste. I found this way of making everyone eat broccoli. It was very nice and i hope it works for you too.

Kadai Paneer

Kadai panner is an awesome Indian spicy cottage cheese curry. This is easy in preparation and has an amazing taste. This is like my "Weekend special". Quick and tasty".
Lets quickly get on to the recipe.

This recipe 
serves-4
Preparation time- 5 minutes
cooking time- 20 minutes
Level of difficulty- easy

Rajmah curry(Kidney beans curry)

Kidney beans are quite popular everywhere. I just love this rajmah curry with rice. It is a superb combination. I know like me there are many rajmah curry fans.
This dish is quite popular in Indian restaurants. My hubby loves it and therefore i prepare it every now and then. Preparing it becomes easier with the canned kidney beans. Otherwise the kidney beans need to be soaked in water overnight and then boiled before it can be assembled along with the spices.

Kaddu chana dal Curry(Bottlegourd and Lentil curry)

While i was in Bangalore i usually prepared this curry for my Lunch box. This is a pretty simple and straight forward curry which requires no cooking mastery.Talking about the end product, i bet you will always prepare this because its tasty as well as easy to prepare.

Cucumber and tomato raita(Kheere ka Raita)

With the summer Raita's mark a prominent place on my dining table . There are two specific reason for it. The first being that its so simple and easy to prepare yet its very tasty and nutritious. Secondly it greatly helps in cooling down the stomach after we have anything spicy.

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom pasta

My kid loves chicken dishes. Last night i decided to prepare something that's not spicy yet tasty and delicious . I have been preparing bechamel sauce  for quite a long time. So i decided using the same sauce for the chicken and mushroom. The dish came out really good and both my hubby and my son enjoyed it to the fullest. I would love to share this quick and tasty chicken recipe with you all.

Sattu k Parothe (Lentil stuffed flat bread)

Am back from my home and already feeling nostalgic . Anyways i enjoyed a lot during my stay. It was killing summer with some cats and dogs pouring rain in between. Sattu is the famous lentil powder of bihar and jharkhand, India. It is made from roasted chana dal. It is perfect for summer as it keeps the stomach cool and filled.

Lets take a look at the recipe
Serves- 10 Parathas
Preparation time- 10 minutes
Cooking time- 2 minutes for each paratha(filling, flattening and cooking)
Level of difficulty- medium

Ingredients:

• Chapati dough
• Sattu/Lentil powder(chana dal roasted and then powdered)- 1 cup
• Onion- 1, chopped thinly
• Green chillies- 1, chopped
• Ajwain or carom seeds
• Ginger minced- 1 Tbsp
• Garlic minced- 1 Tbsp
• salt as per taste
• Ghee or butter for cooking
• Water

Preparation:

Sattu masala preparation(filling preparation)

• To make a perfect sattu filling, add ajwain seeds, salt, onion, green chillies ginger and garlic to it, add little water and come up  with moist sticky sattu powder ,slightly like a dough.

Filling and flattening

• Now take handful of chapati dough and make balls out of it. Fill in the sattu masala and roll it flat.
• Heat a tawa or a pan in medium high heat.
• Place the chapati over the tawa, wait until some brown spots hit below, flip on to other side and wait until the brown spots hit on the other side too. Now flip again and add a tsp of butter or ghee. Grease both side well and take the paratha out off the pan.

Your sattu paratha is ready to be served. Serve it hot with any curry, sauce or pickle. It always tastes great.

Enjoy and happy cooking.

By- Sushmita Pandit.

How to make Nan.
How to make chapati . 
How to make aloo paratha.
How to make puri.
Radisch Chapati

Dhokla in 5 minutes(Microwave Recipe)

My hubby kept asking me to prepare dhokla since last few months. It was high time to fulfil his desire to have dhokla. I prepared this dhokla in just 5 minutes. My mother always prepared the dhokla using rice and lentil. Each time she prepared it had great taste. I prepared this dhokla using Besan(Chick pea flour).
This Gujrati recipe is superb and tastes wonderful. I am looking forward to learn more and more Gujarati recipes as most of them are vegetarian and have wonderful taste. My mother and mother-in-law both love having vegetarian food, serving them some of the most delicious recipe will make both of them happy, this is what i aim at for the moment.

 

Matar Chicken(Green Peas Chicken)

My sister-in-law is a great cook. She always have some or the other great idea of cooking. This time she suggested me to prepare the matar chicken. At first i wasn't sure of this idea but as i proceeded i was happy to see the outcome. 

I have a kind of tendency to prepare food that are mostly influenced by the Bengali culture and cuisine though i myself is not Bengali. The reason might be i was born and brought up in a small town that lied on the border between the two states of India ...Jharkhand and West bengal called as Muri. I am lucky to be the one who had the opportunity to be a part of this beautiful  small place that lie on the banks of River Swarnrekha. I miss me no more staying there. I miss my childhood days that i spent there. The celebrations that no longer takes place and those dahlia flower that no longer blossoms as once they used to.

Gajar Ka Halwa(Carrot sweet delight) - Mothers Day special

Happy Mothers Day to everyone. This is my mother and mother-in-laws favorite sweet dish. I dedicate this recipe to both my mother. Its a very famous sweet dish of India. Enjoy .

Aloo Palak(Spinach and potato curry)

I had a packet of spinach in my pantry and i was wondering like what to do with it. Then i remember my mother adding thinly sliced potatoes in the spinach while she stir fried the freshly chopped potatoes. It always tasted wonderful. But what i had was minced frozen log of spinach . Anyways i tried my mum's recipe and i came out with wonderful result. Then it became necessary to post this as it was a recipe worth to be noted.

Mixed Dal /Mixed Lentil recipe

Lentils are rich source of protein. I always feed my baby some or the other lentils. I myself like it very much with rice and chapati. This is a quick and easy mixed lentil/dal recipe. I am using three commonly used lentils in this recipe. They are masoor dal, moong dal and arhar dal. Addition of vegetables like eggplant and tomato adds to the taste  and makes it an awesome finger licking Dal.

Nutella and banana crepes

During December i visited Antwerp, Belgium. It was Christmas  eve and i could see lots of celebration over the streets. It was rainy and moist day but a wonderful one, one thing that i couldn't ignore was the fragnance of gluwein(Hot red wine) and crepes being prepared in the stalls. Am not a great fan of alcohol, but when its gluwein with a slice of lemon in it i just cannot ignore it. The day i tasted crepes, since then i have been preparing crepes at home with nutella inside.

You can have sweet or savory crepes depending upon your taste. I mostly prepare the sweet one because of my two sweet tooth :-) 

Dal Makhni(Lentil Dish)

Punjab's most famous maa ki dhal is full of protein. This is very easy recipe yet full of nutrition and excellent in taste. My husband loves this dhal a lot. Dal makhni is king of all the lentil's in India.
Lets quickly get on the recipe.

Chicken Teriyaki with Rice Noodles

I have always been a great lover of east Asian foods. Recently i came to know about this saucy dish called as chicken teriyaki. Its so much flavorful that its almost hard to resist. I paired it with some rice noodles and to my grace it came out really superb. So enjoy this teriyaki recipe.

Rice Noodles(Chinese) with Chicken Teriyaki

Being a die hard Chinese cuisine fan. It was time to prepare something more than the regular items. I bought a packet of rice noodles to go with my chicken teriyaki . This is plain simple and easy recipe.
I hope you like it.

Chawal ki roti(chilka roti)(Rice pan chapati)

Hi this is a very famous cuisine from Jharkhand, my native place. This roti is prepared by soaking the rice and chana dal for minimum 5 hours or overnight and then it is grinded into very fine paste to make the roti over tawa. This is well served along with mutton curry or chicken curry. People prepare it on some special ocassions. They call it the Chilka roti. A bowl of chana dal ki chutney along with this add's a lot to this recipe.
Here is the recipe, hope you like this roti recipe from jharkhand,India.

Dahi Chicken(yogurt or curd Chicken )

Dahi or yogurt is said to soften the flesh or meat. Indian preparations often incorporate the use of curd in number of non-vegetarian dishes as well as vegetarian dish. In this recipe i use yogurt to make the chicken soft as well as to enhance the flavors of the spices. I also use the spices in a particular way while marinating which makes this dish taste wonderful.

Stuffed Bittergourd(Karele ka bharwa)

As i told in my previous post i really like stuffed bittergourd. Here it is. This is the recipe of stuffed bitter gourd. It is boiled and then spiced which is later on stir fried. I know like me there are so many out there who love this stuffed bitter gourd. For all the bitter gourd fan's out there.

Drumsticks Curry(Sahjan ki sabzi or Sutti ki sabzi)

Drumsticks in India is called by so many names like "sahjan", "sutti", "Murungai" and so on. It is said as power house of minerals. This is a tree whose every part is brought into use. The pods, drumsticks are used for making curry and sambar. The flower are used in making dumplings, curry and in so many other ways. Leaves are used along with lentils and sometimes served as just stir fry. All these parts are used in different ways in Ayurveda to cure diseases.