Carrot and mixed vegetable juice - Beat the heat!

Summer is extreme this year throughout the country. You sweat profusely until you are in AC and body asks for water. There would be many out there like me, who hardly drinks water but we all know how essential drinking plenty of water is. I like to drink liquid in the form of juice. Is store brought juice like Tropicana, Real juices 100% fresh and pure Big No, also expensive.

I started blending my own fruit or veg juices each morning and lemonade to sip throughout the day. I was inspired by my school mate Premisha to explore variety of juices. This one is from her with a little change. Here is a link to her Recipe.

For two large servings of juice below are the ingredients I took.
Carrots - 2 small sliced
Cucumber - 1 deseeded and cut to pieces
Lemon - 1
Ginger - 1/2 inch piece sliced
Tomato - 1 sliced
Sugar and water as required
Chat Masala - optional
Few mint leaves - optional

Add all these in a blender, run on slow for the initial 30 secs then increase the speed. Blend until no veg pieces are found. Strain and refrigerate to serve chilled. If you veggies are cold you can serve immediately with ice cubes.

Cucumber Lemonade for this summer

We all would love to have something different each day to quench the thirst during summer. A change from regular lemonade called Nimboo Pani. Say good bye to expensive juices from store and power such as Tang and Rasna.

This is simple, fresh and nutritious.

All you need is a couple of cucumbers, 1 lemon, honey and sugar.

Deseed the cucumber or you can keep it if you prefer. Cut to small pieces
In the blender  add 1 lime juice and cucumber
Pour couple of tb.spoon honey or as per taste, little sugar as required.
Add 200 ml of water.
Blend well check the taste and add anything that's required. Strain, refrigerate and serve chilled.

You may add cold water if you need to serve immediately.
You may also toss in few mint leaves as whole or crushed. I like them.

How to Store Green Leafy Vegetables for Indian Weather

This has always been a pain. Truly a painstaking job too. Many of us would have tried to toss the washed leaves in a box and refrigerate only to discover the rotten leaves after few days.

The culprit is the moisture, all excess moisture should be removed from the leaves before refrigerating. I have tried all these and tried to describe with simple pictures. Hope it would be helpful for you ladies!

Cleaning and Storing Mint Leaves or Pudina

We use the leaves in lot of beverages and dishes seldom stem is used. The pudina bunch we get in Indian markets are mostly dirty with perished leaves in it. Simply remove the leaves and wash.Strain excess water using a colander. After this you would still have plenty of water in the leaves which should be wiped with cotton cloth or kitchen towel/tissues. Layer leaves over tissue so that the excess water is absorbed. The final product should have no or too little moisture in it.

Tada it's now ready to be stored. Try not to store right below the chiller. You may also toss in the freezer if you need to store it for a month longer.

Cleaning and Storing Palak / Spinach

Follow the same procedure as Mint leaves. Remove all spoiled leaves before washing and straining the water.

Cleaning and Storing Coriander Leaves / Dhaniya

Cleaning coriander leaves would be time consuming, but it's one time job. Remove dirt & Spoiled leaves, chop off root, Wash and strain water. Follow the above method to dry the leaves. 

You can store in 2 ways either in a container half filled with water to cover the stem or in a box.

Cleaning & Storing Lettuce

Follow the same procedure as above.

Please do post your suggestions and comments, it would be helpful for other readers. 

Capsicum Peas Fried Rice

Following my past couple of recipes I have been making several dishes with bell peppers these days, and I am not bored a bit yet. Do you like bell peppers considering their enormous health benefits? Why wait continue reading J .

They are filled with vitamin, minerals, anti-oxidants, and good for the ones looking to reduce weight, prevents cancer, enhance metabolism, stimulates digestion, for sore throat; yes friends the list goes on and on.

Bell Peppers - so colorful. I have prepared this dish with bell peppers and green peas. You may use frozen peas if fresh peas are not available.

Ingredients:

Chopped Bell Pepper of your choice or mixture 

Washed Green Peas

Chopped Coriander leaves

Slit Green Chili as per taste

Cloves - 2

Cardamom - 1

Shahi Jeera or Regular Cumin - 1/2 t.spn

Cooked / steamed rice

Ghee - 1 tb spn, or oil.

Peanuts / Cashews (optional)

Preparation:

1. Heat ghee/oil in a kadai or wok
2. Add Cumin, cloves and cardamom wait till they burst.
3. Add nuts if you have any, saute till they become slightly brown, keep the flame to the lowest to prevent this from burning. You may also fry separately and add in.
4. Toss in the green chili, bell peppers and green peas. Saute for a minute in high heat. Add salt.
5. Mix in the rice and toss, check for seasoning and add salt if required.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot or pack in your lunch box.

- You may squeeze in little lemon juice in the end if required

- Add crushed black pepper if you prefer your dish more hot.

Capsicum Carrot Curd Rice

Make your curd rice interesting with different variations. Include veggies and fruits of your choice to enhance the color and flavor of this dish.

In this recipe I have used grated carrot and chopped capsicum (bell peppers) as the main veggies. I have used pomegranate for seasoning.

Preparation:

1. Chop / grate veggies of your choice. I have used tri colored bell peppers and carrots.
2. In a large bowl of creamy yogurt/curd add rice, veggies, fruits, salt mix well 
3. Make tempering/tadka with little oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chili and pour on top of the rice mixture. Mix well 
4. Refrigerate and serve chilled or pack in your lunch boxes and enjoy.

You may add grapes / chopped pine apple for sweetness. Fry some peanuts / cashews and add to it, if you like nuts.

Sweet Salad in Creamy Yogurt Sauce

Summer call with little rain here and there. Bell peppers are my favorite with their endless health benefits needless to say about other vegetables though, Bell peppers still top my chart during this weather.

This is another quick easy salads of mine with yogurt after the cucumber salad. You can make your own twist to this and make the salad interesting.

I have used apple and grapes in the salad, with some sweetness in the yogurt sauce.

For Salad : Use vegetables and fruits of your choice.

For Sauce :
1 - cup yogurt/curd
Chopped mint leaves
Crushed cumin - to taste
Crushed pepper - to taste
Lemon Juice - 1/2 t.spn
Orange Juice - 3-4 tb.spn
Sugar - to taste
Salt - 1 pinch
Sesame Oil - 1 tb.spn (Optional)
Chat Masala - 1 t.spn (optional)

Preparation:

1. Take yogurt, if thick add water bring to a creamy pouring consistency using a whisker.
2. Add all other ingredients, mix well. Check seasoning.
3. Refrigerate the Sauce. 

Just before serving, in a mixing bowl add the vegetables, pour the sauce over it, toss well. 

This tastes best when chilled. Do not mix it and store. If you are to carry for lunch or snack pack these to separate and mix just before having.

Banana Ice Cream Smoothie - Perfect breakfast for Indian Summer

Now who does not love smoothie ;) I am up for it anytime. This smoothie is full of nutrients filled with dates, yogurt, almonds, banana and milk. Doesn't sound like a real good breakfast over cereals.

It's all upto you on how you mix and match the ingredients to enhance the flavour. Ice cream is optional tough ;)

I prefer the smoothie to be thick, if you like like watery you can add more milk.

Ingredients:

1. Chilled banana of your choice - 2 to 4 sliced
2. Boiled cold Milk 
3. Ice cubes or crushed
4. Finely chopped Almonds
5. De-seeded and chopped dates
6. Yogurt (Curd)
7. Ice cream (optional) any flavour
8. Sugar to taste (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a blender (Juicer) add all ingredients blend it to form a smooth paste. 
2. You can add more milk if needed and run it once
3. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate or serve on chilled glass, top with a scoop of ice cream
4. You can add some coffee , if you prefer coffee flavor.

Now tell me if you dislike what you prepared !

Summer Delight - Quick Salad with creamy yogurt, mint dressing

Summer ...here I come ! First vegetable that comes to our mind and available in market during Indian Summer is Cucumber. It's also consumed during other seasons, but we see vendors selling all over the country during this time.

If you are tried of having the regular plain cucumber for salad we have a yummy, yet easy to prepare salad, filled with the richness of yogurt and the sweetness of mint.

Here is what you need:

• Diced cucumber as shown in picture. 
• Whisked yogurt - ensure you add little water whisk and bring to a creamy pour-able consistency
• Chopped mint leaves
• Crushed cumin - 1/2 t.spn
• Crushed pepper - 1/2 t.spn
• Chat masala - 1/2 t.spn (optional)
• Lemon juice - 1 t.spn
• Sugar - 1 - 2 tb.spn
• A pinch of Salt

In a bowl add all ingredients except cucumber, whisk well and taste for seasoning. Add anything if required. Finally add the dressing to cucumber and toss well. Refrigerate and serve. It's very refreshing and filling.

You may add little olive oil or add in olives or other seasoning as per your taste.

Let me know how you liked this, and suggest other alternate for this.

You may also try this summer delight recipe, with rice / curd / cucumber / carrot.

Red spinach potato Stuffed paratha

Parathas are very popular these days in southern part of India too. It's not rocket science you just need to know how to roll out a stuffed paratha. You can use any stuffing ensure it's dry. This paratha is made from spinach and potato. For people who dislike eating spinach you can make paratha.

Preparing the stuffing:

Wash and clean the spinach, chop finely. Boil potatoes, peel and smash well. Dry roast the spinach in a pan lightly and add in the potato, coriander leaves, chopped green chili. Mix well turn off the heat. Wait the mixture cools and then add salt, mix with hand set aside.

You may use any spinach you have. You may also use seasoning / masala powder as per your taste.

For the paratha:
Add some ajwain (carom seeds / omam / imothagam) to the flour, little salt, oil mix well. Knead the dough by mixing water. Prepare the dough and keep aside for 15 - 30 minutes.

Roll out the parathas with stuffing. Spread oil on  a hot tawa place the paratha, cook on each side with little oil till golden brown. Serve with butter spread on it, or curd. Refer to this recipe for the pictures on how to do the stuffing. Below is the steps for another method.

Bitter Gourd Fry (Pavakkai Pagarkai poriyal)

Bitter gourd is used in making lot of Indian cuisines. It has lot of nutrients in it and prepared as side dish as fry or gravy or in stuffed form. This recipe is a dry dish which can be used with sambar rice or curd rice.

Bitter gourd is usually bitter and we would remove some of the juices with salt turmeric marination. You can also wash it to remove the bitterness further.

Ingredients:

1. Bitter Gourd - 1 ; slice , deseed and marinate with little salt and turmeric
2. Cumin seeds - 1 t.spn
3. Urad dal - 1 t.spn
4. Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
5. green chili - 2 slit
6. Onion - 1 large , sliced
7. ginger garlic paste - 1 tspn
8. turmeric - 1/2 tspn
9. Red chili powder - 1 tb.spn
10. Coriander powder - 1.tspn
11. Sugar - 1 - 2 tbspn
12. Oil for frying
13. Salt to taste

Preparation:
1. Squeeze the juice off the marinated bitter gourd and keep aside
2. In a flat pan / kadai heat oil and add cumin seeds, urad dal. Wait till they splutter.
3. Add curry leaves, green chili, turmeric saute for 30 sec.
4. Add in the onion and salt, saute for a minute
5. Add ginger garlic paste, continue sauteing for couple of min.
6. Now add bitter gourd , mix well saute for 2 min
7. Add rest of the masala powder, mix well. Cover and cook for 5 min
8. Check for seasoning and adjust as needed. Continue to cook for another 5 min or so without cover. Stir in between.
9. As the last step add sugar as required and saute, in lowest heat. Cook till the veg turns light brown. Turn off the heat.
10. Serve with rice. Tastes divine with curd rice or simple sambar rice.

Note:
- Cook this dish in medium to low heat throughout
- As this is a dry dish, I didn't use any water or jaggery
- If you need you may sprinkle little tamarind & Jaggery juice, remember this is a dry dish.