Healthy Watermelon Dosa

What do you do with the watermelon peel after you have eaten up the juicy fruit? Or what do you do if unfortunately your watermelon is not sweet and ends up tasting like cucumber? Well, you make a dosa out of it either ways! The watermelon that I had picked up in this weeks grocery was nice and juicy. Once I finished chopping up the watermelon into slices, I was sighing at the amount of peel that had to be trashed. That's when I remembered about this watermelon dosa that is made in parts of South India. What is done is, the white part of the watermelon, remaining after the red part is cut out is ground with the dosa batter to make a Healthy Watermelon Dosa.

Ingredients for Watermelon Dosa

2 cups of Dosa Rice or Parboiled Rice
1 cup of watermelon peel
1/2- 3/4 cup of coconut shavings
Salt to taste
Oil for greasing

Method to make Watermelon Dosa

In order to make the dosa, soak two cups of Dosa Rice/ Parboiled rice in enough water for about 4 hours. Coming to the watermelon, make sure that you had washed your watermelon thoroughly before you started cutting it. After you have scooped out the inner flesh for eating, gather your watermelon peel. Proceed to use a peeler and peel out the green part of the outer cover of the watermelon. What will remain is the white portion. You need about one cup of this peel. Grate some coconut such that you get about 1/2 to 3/4 (the more you add, the softer your dosa turns out) cups of coconut shavings.

Grind all these ingredients to a fine batter, adding very little water, since you get enough water from the watermelon itself. What you get is a light pink dosa batter that you need to leave for a couple of hours to ferment. The batter will not rise like the regular dosa batter since we do not add any urad dal to this.
I generally soak the rice in the evening, grind it in night before sleeping and use it for breakfast the next day.

To make the dosas, heat your griddle and pour a little oil on it. Now pour a ladle of the dosa batter on the griddle and with gentle hands spread it as thinly as possible. Remember that the batter will be a little runny and the dosa is not as easy to make as the urad-rice dosa. If you use a non-stick pan, you can pour the batter and swirl it around like how you make a crepe.

Pour a few drops of oil over the dosa. Cover it and allow it to cook for a minute. Now flip the dosa. Cook it evenly on both sides such that it gets a light brown tinge here and there.

That's about it. Your healthy watermelon dosa is ready to be served. I served it with some fiery hot red-chilli peanut chutney and a spoonful of sweet liquid jaggery.

Aloo Methi Paratha for Breakfast

It is not everyday that I make aloo parathas for breakfast. Methi or radish is ok, but the whole potato filling coupled with curds on the side tends to make me lethargic through the early morning. So aloo paratha is reserved for the weekend and makes for an awesome lip-smacking breakfast.
Make it at home and you will be able to down a sizable number of parathas cause they are lighter than the ones at the restaurant and also come with the goodness of being homemade. This time, I added some methi that was lying in the fridge to the mix to make a wholesome Aloo Methi Paratha for breakfast.

Ingredients for Aloo Methi Paratha

For the stuffing:

3 potatoes pressure cooked and mashed
1/2 cup of fenugreek leaves
2 green chillies thinly sliced
1 inch ginger grated
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp of ajwain
a pinch of chat masala powder
Salt to taste
2 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves
1 tbsp oil

For the dough:

2 cups of wheat flour
1 tsp salt
Water as required
1 tsp oil

Method to make Aloo Methi Paratha

Make a stiff dough out of the wheat flour and salt mixture by adding water to it. Knead really well, for about ten minutes. Top with a tsp of oil and knead again. Cover and keep it aside.

Wash and chop the methi well. 

Now, in a bowl, take the potatoes, chillies, coriander, ginger and mix it well together. 

In a pan, heat some oil and add to it the chopped methi. Add turmeric, jeera powder, ajwain to this and stir for minute. Turn off the heat and add this to the potato mixture. Sprinkle some chat masala on top and adjust the salt. Knead it really well without any lumps such that all the masala is uniformly mixed together.

Divide the stuffing into equal sized balls. Roll out the chapathi dough slightly and place one medium sized ball of the stuffing in the center.

Fold the edges together and seal it back and roll out the paratha with soft hands.

On a hot tava or griddle, cook the paratha evenly on both sides on low flame by brushing a little bit of ghee on each side. The ingredients mentioned here make 6 large sized parathas since I make my parathas a little thinner so as to keep them light.

Cut the paratha into halves and serve hot with some mango pickle or chutney and a cup of curds on the side.

P.S This is my entry to the Healthy Veg Side Dishes event hosted by Nandoo's Kitchen and Priya 

Under 15 minutes Beans Carrot Poriyal

I love the beans and carrot combination in curries, gravies and rice preparations, especially because of the color. I make this quick poriyal on the day I do my grocery shopping - when the veggies are fresh from the market. I normally cube all the carrots and slice the beans small, use some for the poriyal and freeze the rest to use it up on one of the days of the week. That way, any cooking with these veggies gets done really fast.
So what goes into this poriyal? Nothing much actually - just the veggies, some seasoning and grated coconut on the top. I make this coarse powder out of roasted jeera and pepper in small batches lasting a week which i sprinkle on top of this poriyal. The powder can also be used in the tadka for rasam to make it hot and peppery.

Preparation Time: 5 Minutes
Cooking Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients 

1 cup carrots, cubed
1 cup beans, sliced in small rounds
1 tsp of cumin-pepper powder
2 tbsp of grated coconut
salt to taste

for the tadka:

1 tbsp of oil
1 sprig of curry leaves
2 red chillies
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
 a pinch of asafetida

Method

Chop the veggies fine and take them in a microwave safe bowl. Sprinkle some water on it.

Now, microwave on high for 2 minutes. This will help in semi-cooking the veggies. In the meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and wait for it to get hot. Throw in the mustard seeds followed by the curry leaves, red chillies and hing.

Once the mustard starts spluttering, add the microwaved vegetables to the pan and mix well. Sprinkle some more water if needed and cover and cook for 5 minutes on medium-high. Remove the cover, add the salt and on high flame, let the curry roast until almost dry for another 2 minutes. Now sprinkle the coconut and cumin-pepper powder from the top.

Toss it well. That is it! Done in 15 minutes flat! Serve it hot with either roti or rice. If it is rice, you are going to need a dal or sambar on the side. I served my carrot beans poriyal with phulkas and it made an awesome combination.

P.S. Sending this as my entry to Healthy Veg Side Dishes event hosted by Nandoo and Priya

Under 15 minutes hakka noodles

There are days when there is very little left over from lunch and I am either too lazy or too caught up with other things to whip up the whole roti + dal/vegetables and raita dinner. On one such days, the husband asks me, why don't you ever make hakka noodles? Well, maybe because I have never made it before, maybe because the sight of the over oily hakka noodles at the restaurants got to me and I was plain not interested in making it. But seemed like it was something that he liked. So the next supermarket visit involved picking up a packet of Chings hakka noodles and a bottle of soy and green chilli sauce each.

When I went through the procedure, I was in for a nice surprise. There was hardly anything to the recipe. And now I make it often, on my lazy days and we happily follow it up with some curd rice and complete the meal. So here is how I make Hakka Noodles in less than 15 minutes. It will take you lesser time if you don't skimp on pots and pans. I do all the cooking in the same pan which doesn't let me do parallel processing.

I make it with very little oil. You may call me a killjoy, but I like it this way. Eaten hot, you won't notice the difference.

Ingredients

1 cup of veg - carrots, beans, spring onions, cabbage, capsicum, chopped lengthwise
1 packet of hakka noodles
salt and pepper powder to taste
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of green chilli sauce
2 tbsp of oil

Method

Clean and chop the vegetables lengthwise. I microwave vegetables like carrot and beans for a minute since I don't like them too raw in the noodles.

Next, in a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add to it the onion (i used the onion from the spring onion) and capsicum. You can add minced garlic to this if you want. On high flame, saute this well. Add to this the microwaved vegetables and stir.

In the end, sprinkle the chopped spring onion shoot from the top. To this, add the soy sauce and green chilli sauce. Mix really well. All of this is done on really high flame. Turn off the gas and remove the vegetables in a bowl.


In the same pan, heat sufficient amount of water and cook the noodles as per pack instructions. I add some oil to the water itself to prevent the noodles from sticking. Cook on high flame. It takes less than 2 minutes for them to cook. Turn off the gas when they start frothing up.

Strain it in a colander, run under some cold water to stop the cooking process and add another tsp of oil on it and mix well with your hands to prevent it from sticking. Now, in the same pan, take your prepared vegetables.

Add the strained noodles to this and toss well on high flame. Season with some salt ( the soy sauce already has enough salt and we cooked the noodles also with some salt, so go easy on it) and white pepper powder. Serve hot!

Quick Snack - Pav Bhaji

If there is one thing that I cannot do these days, it is spending time in the kitchen for too long. The weather in Mumbai simply does not let you do it.But that certainly does not mean saying no to making snacks for the evening. When you have a pav bhaji craving and know that you can down more than a plate of pav bhaji with extra pav thrown in, then you use your common sense and figure out that it is better to make it at home. Does this mean you slave away in your kitchen to make it? Hell no! You take all the short cuts possible and make a really quick pav bhaji in less than half hour.

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves : 4

Ingredients:

2 cups of assorted chopped vegetables
2 big Tomatoes
2 small onions
1 capsicum
2 green chillies slit
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp jeera
1 pinch hing
1 inch ginger grated
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp pav bhaji masala
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp dhania powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste

To serve:
Toasted pav or bun
1 small onion chopped
lemon wedges
coriander leaves

Method

Quickly chop up veggies to get you two cups of assorted vegetables - carrots, beans, peas, potato, beets. I like chopping so i chopped them up. You could use your food processor instead to speed up this process. I also added two tomatoes in the mix.

Pressure cook this for 3-4 whistles.
Now chop up two small onions and a capsicum.

In a pan, heat up some oil and throw in a tsp of cumin seeds. Add a generous pinch of hing to this. You certainly don't wanna skip that cause it is proven to be beneficial to nullify the effect of the gassy veggies that go into the bhaji. Once the flavor of the cumin starts rising, add the chopped onions and saute for two minutes. Follow it up with the capsicum and two green chilies and grated ginger. Add a generous pinch of turmeric to it and fry.

Saute for two minutes. To this add the boiled vegetables. Adjust the salt for the entire bhaji.

 Now to this add 1/2 tsp of cumin and coriander powder each. Add half a tsp of red chilli powder and a tbsp of pav bhaji masala. And top it with a generous dollop of butter.Now using a potato masher, mash the bhaji such that it becomes a homogeneous paste like mixture.

Once it is all mixed in, add half a cup of water if you need to adjust the consistency and simmer for five minutes. Adjust the salt. Maybe add some sugar if you need a tinge of sweetness.

Sprinkle some coriander leaves generously on this. Top the bhaji with some chopped onions. Serve hot with butter toasted buns or pav and a wedge of lime on the side. It gets done real fast and you can eat not one, but two or even three servings while catching your favorite tv show with a cup of tea on the side.

How to make Pizza Sauce | Home Made Pizza Sauce

I somehow cannot get myself to call in for pizza delivery on a lazy day. One, those pizzas are loaded with cheese, somehow, eating them leaves you really stuffed and heavy, they come nowhere as close in satisfaction levels as home made pizza and most importantly, why on earth do they charge a bomb for something that doesnt cost so much to put together!
So I mostly make the pizza at home and it turns out real good! I was resorting to store bought pizza sauces for quite some time now until i realised how easy it is to whip up a really tasty pizza sauce. You can make it in bulk and store it up for a week's use, using it for your pizza and pasta. Or make a small batch and use it up the same day! Complete satisfaction from knowing whats in the sauce and totally free from preservatives!

Preparation Time: 10 Mins
Cooking Time: 10 Mins
Difficulty: Easy!
Serves: Two medium pizzas
Ingredients:

3 Large Ripe tomatoes
4-5 pods of garlic, sliced
2 tbs Olive oil
Salt to taste
1.2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp herb seasoning- oregano, basil, thyme and onion flakes

Method: 

In a pan, heat the olive oil and add the galic flakes and fry them till they brown.

Puree the tomatoes in a mixer. I don't go about straining them. It simply reduces quantity of the sauce. 

Add the tomato puree to the fried garlic. Allow it to simmer and cook.

 Cover and cook for about ten minutes until the quantity is halved. At this point, add the spices and saute it for a minute or two until all the spices come together. Check the seasoning and adjust as per your taste.

I had a sterilized bottle ready to put this gorgeous red sauce in and wanted to admire it in the fridge. But there was just enough sauce to make two medium pizzas that i used up immediately!

Pumpkin Palak Soup | Pumpkin and Spinach Soup

There has been an overdose of fall pictures and gorgeous looking pumpkin recipes on the internet in the past few days. After ogling at them on pinterest for some time, yours truly ordered pumpkin from bigbasket in the week's grocery, with an intention of making some muffins with them. They got stowed into the back of the fridge and lay forgotten there for a while.
One fine evening, when it was pouring as usual and i felt the need for a warm soup and rummaged through my vegetable box, i found the pumpkin and some spinach side by side. The spinach had to be used up and i was tired of making greens stir fry or dal for three days in a row. And so it was decided that the greens would go into a soup and it would be pumpkin and spinach soup for the night.
There is a mild sweetness that comes from the pumpkin in this soup which is balanced by adding some chilli flakes or red chilli powder. To enhance the flavors, i have used some jeera powder.
I have used a pressure cooker to speed up the process- saute the ingredients in it, pressure cook and dunk the hand blender into the same cooker and puree- it is as simple as it can get!

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 2 Level: Easy

Ingredients:

1 onion sliced
1" ginger sliced
1 cup of chopped pumkin
1 cup of chopped spinach
salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp of mixed herbs (thyme, rosemary and oregano)
a dollop of butter or some cream for topping

Method: 

Wash and chop the vegetables that are going into the soup.

 In a pressure cooker, add some butter and saute the onion and ginger in it.

Now add the pumpkin and fry for a few minutes after which you add in the spinach.

Season with salt and chilli powder. Fry until the vegetables are evenly coated in the spices.
Add a cup of water to the cooker and cook for 2-3 whistles on low flame.

Once the mixture cools down, blend it well. I do not strain the mixture. I like to get small bits of veggies in the soup. Now thin it down a little if you want it watery. Add the cumin powder. Adjust the salt. Bring the soup to a boil.
Top it with some butter or cream and season with mixed herbs.

Mix well. Pour into your soup bowls. Serve warm with some toasted bread or roasted papad.