Butter Popcorn

Its a snack which all of us munch and pop while watching movies: Pop corn. A home made, easy to cook pop corn and its fresh.Thanks Ankur for sharing your recipe with me :)

Ingredients :-

1. 1 cup Corn seeds (make sure they are for pop corn)
2. Butter
3. 1/4 spoon turmeric powder
4. Black salt (if possible), if not normal salt to taste.

Method:-

1.  Put some butter into cooker while its heating on medium flame.    Alternatively oil can also be used.
2.  Once butter melts and cooker is heated, put the corn seeds, turmeric and   salt in it and shake / stir it well so  that all corns and butter is spread equally.
3.  Cover the lid of cooker leaving a small opening for steam to flow out. This is to avoid corns popping outside.
4.  As the pace of popping slows down, which means its done. Enjoy home  made butter pop corns.

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The New Kindle Touch

I Love to read books, so having an e reader was one of my desires.After reading lot about various e readers watching numerous videos , reviews asking my friends understanding difference between wi-fi and 3g-wifi. I finally decided on buying a kindle 3g wifi.


Again I had one more choice to decide on what color, graphite or white .white or graphite after breaking my head so much on it (I liked both) I decided to buy the white one.


I was elated once I laid my hands my brand new Kindle :)  i was looking for various books to read, there are so many free classics and many more books it's absolute fun for any book reader.


But Today Amazon came out with touchscreen Kindle and its just a little over a month since my purchase .I really wished I should have delayed my purchase then probably I would have been having my kindle touchscreen :(


I called up Amazon so as to see if I can return my current device and upgrade to the new touchscreen but the answer was negative as it was past one month since I purchased my e reader.


Now I just stay with my current kindle and use it for a while and then probably I can upgrade to a newer one.


But I love my Kindle :)

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Strawberry Smoothie

I had a recent visit to a farmer's market in Boston this weekend and I saw these fresh strawberries I was so tempted to buy it.Today I was thinking I must make something from it many ideas crossed my mind from Ice cream , cake ( Both very fatty ) so I thought let me make something healthy and thought about Strawberry Smoothie.It's easy to prepare and can be had anytime in a day and an excellent source of Vitamin C.

Ingredients :-

1. 8-10 strawberries
2. 2 tbsp honey
3. 2 tbsp vanilla essence
4. 2 cup milk
5. 1/2 cup crushed ice

Method :-

1. Wash and chop the strawberries
2. Take a blender, add Strawberries, milk, Vanilla essence,crushed Ice and Honey.
3. Blend it until smooth.
4. Strawberry Smoothie is ready.

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Gram flour Dosa ( Besan Cheela)

It was a Friday evening and I was not sure what to cook we wanted to have something light, so my husband came up with the idea of making Besan Cheela, it's light and hardly takes time to cook.So I collated all things I would need to make it and we made it together.

Food items prepared with gram flour are very tasty.It tastes mildly sweet, it’s also gluten free and famously known for its anti-diabetic properties.After bajjias and pakoras, my next favorite item with besan is dosas. Besan Dosa is a traditional Indian breakfast and evening snack item, prepared by mixing gram flour with a variety of finely chopped vegetables. The dosas are usually served with chutneys, It's  quite easy to prepare and one can experiment with ingredient quantities quite liberally.They are not that good when they get cold, so prepare them just before mealtime.
 

Ingredients :-

1. 2 cups of gram flour
2. 1 big onion,
3. 2 green chillies,
4. 2 tbsp of cilantro - finely chopped
5. 1 tomato finely chopped
6. 1 cumin seeds
7. 1 tsp of carom seeds
8. 2 tbsp of roasted semolina
9. salt to taste

Method :-

1. In a Bowl add cumin, ajwan,semolina and salt. Mix to combine.
2. Add the finely chopped vegetables. By gradually adding water, about 1 to 2 cups, mix and prepare besan batter to a medium-thick pouring consistency, like idly batter.
3. Heat a non stick pan  grease it with half-cut whole onion.
4. When the pan is hot, pour ladleful of batter and spread into thin round. Sprinkle half teaspoon of oil or ghee on the top. Wait for bubbles to appear. When the underside starts to brown, gently lift and turn to other side. Cook the dosa until the second side is lightly browned. 
5. Serve it with Chutney Or Ketchup.

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Onion Paratha

I wanted to make something for Shivam so that he can take it for lunch, I remembered about Onion Partha having had it so many times and yes it was always mom who made it.I wanted to give it a try myself and result wasan't bad :)

Onion paratha is delicious recipe made by mixing the finely chopped onion along with green chillies and spices in to the wheat flour. This recipe can be served with curd or pickle.


Ingredients :-

1. 1 cup whole wheat flour
2. 1 onion finely chopped
3. 1/4 cup chopped coriander1 tsp of cumin seeds
4. 1 1/2 tbsp chopped green chili
5. 1/2 tsp of asafoetida (hing)
6. salt to taste
7. oil for cooking

Method :-

1. Combine all the ingredients in bowl, add water and knead to a soft dough.
2. Divide the dough into equal portions.
3. Roll out each portion into medium round thick size paratha.
4. Heat the pan and shallow fry each paratha using little oil and cook on both the sides till it is golden brown in colour.
5. Serve hot.

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Tomato Hyderabadi Chutney

This is a tangy and spicy tomato chutney and a famous Hyderabadi accompaniment Though a very simple recipe, this chutney is lip-smacking yummy.

Ingredients :-

1.     6 tomato
2.     1 tsp cumin seeds
3.     5 garlic cloves
4.     4 dry red pepper
5.     2 tsp red chili powder
6.     8 curry leaves
7.     2 tsp mustard seeds
8.     salt to taste
9.     1 tbsp oil

Method :-

1. Chop the tomatoes and set aside.
2. In a pan/wok add oil once its warm, add  mustard, cumin, dry red chilies and curry leaves.
3. When the mustard seeds pop, add garlic cloves, cook it for about 2 minutes.
4. Add chopped tomatoes.
5. Next add the red pepper powder and salt. You can add a little water if tomatoes are not very ripe,
6. but if you are cooking with red ripe tomatoes, skip the water. Now let it slow cook on a low flame for a long time. 
7. Slow cooking is an important part of the recipe, this process makes the tomatoes infuse with spices and form a
8. concentrate.Make sure you stir often to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
9. When the oil in the dish starts to rise on top, you know the chutney is cooked.

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Oats Upma

Oats Upma is a very easy recipe and can be had for breakfast or as a light snack.When I tried Oats Upma for the first time, I wasn’t expecting it to come out too well and taste too good. It is easy for the whole Upma mixture to become soggy, soft and tasting bad if care is not taken to see the whole preparation receives the right amount of water when heating in the pan and while roasting the oats.It should be stirred continuously when you are roasting the Oats.





Ingredients :-

1. 1 cup oats
2. 1 medium Onion Finely Chopped
3. 1 medium tomato finely chopped
4. 1 medium capsicum finely chopped
5. Curry leaves and coriander leaves
6. 2 Green chili
7. 1 tsp mustard seeds
8. 1 tsp cumin seeds
9. 1 tbsp lime juice
10. 1/2 cup water
11. salt to taste
12. 1 tbsp oil

Method  :-

1. Take a wok/pan Fry oats, dry roast the oats for about 5 min on a low flame, till you get a nice aroma of oats.
2. Heat oil in a pan.Add mustard and cumin seeds, Once it splutters, add green chili and curry leaves and saute it for about 2 mins.
3. Add onion and salt and let it cook for about 5 -7 mins , till it turns golden brown.
4. Add capsicum and tomato to this and let it cook till all veggies become tender.
5. Add oats to this and stir it well, add 1/2 cup of water and let it cook for about 5 mins by covering it with a lid
6. Serve oats upma with a dash of lime.garnis it with freshly chopped corainder leaves.

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Wheat , Almond and Honey Cake

I wanted to make since many days and finally I made it.This cake is made of Wheat and I added honey to make it sweet so its  healthy and won't make  us lot guilty when we eat it. Here goes the recipe for it.


Ingredients :-

1. 2 Cups of whole Wheat flour
2. 2 eggs
3. 1 1/2 cup of milk
4. 2 tbsp baking powder
5. 1 cup Honey
6. 6  - 7 peeled and finely chopped
7. 10- 15 Raisins
8. 2 tbsp vanilla essence
9. 1 tbsp of salt
10. 1/4 cup of Butter

Method :-

1. Take a bowl and beat 2 eggs 
2. Add 2 cups of wheat flour in it and mix it properly.
3. Add 1 1/2 cup of milk to this mixture and mix it well.
4. Add Salt, Honey, Vanilla essence, Raisins and Butter and mix it well .
5. Add chopped Almonds to this mixture.
6. Coat the over tray with Butter or oil and add this mixture to it 
7. Heat the over at 375 Degrees and let it Bake it for about 35 minutes.
8. Once done we will do a knife test, take a knife and insert into the cake if it comes out plane our cake is done

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Moong Dal and Spinach

Ingredients:-

1. 1 small cup moong dal/split yellow dal
2. 2 cups chopped spinach (palak)
3. 1 onion, chopped
4. 1 tsp ginger-green chili paste
5. 1/2 tsp red chili powder
6. 1 tsp turmeric powder
7. salt to taste
8. 2 cups water, approx

For seasoning

1. 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2. 1/4 tsp of heeng
3. 1 tbsp ghee or oil
4. 1 tsp of crushed garlic

Method :-

1.  In a pressure cooker, add 2 cups of water, moong dal, palak, salt and turmeric and pressure cook up to 2 whistles. 
2.  Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel, add cumin seeds and as they splutter, add hing and stir fry for few seconds. Add ginger-green chili paste and saute for 3-4 mins.then add garlic to this mixture
3. Add the pressure cooked dal along, add about 1/2 cup of more water if required.
4. Serve with rotis or white rice.

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Rasiya Dhokla

This Recipe is contributed by my friend Ankur and his wife Preeti and its real delicious and easy to make.Here is the recipe for it.

Ingredients :-

1. 1 cup rice boiled and cooked
2. 1/2 cup of Gram flour (Besan)
3. 3/4 cups of butter milk
4. 1/2 tsp of red chili powder,
5. 1/2 tsp turmeric  powder
6. 1/2tsp dhaniya ( coriander) powder
7. 1/2 tbsp of lime juice
8. salt to taste

For seasoning :-

1. 2 tbsp spoon oil
2. 1 tbsp spoon sesame seeds
3. 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
4. 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Method :-

1. Let the cooked boiled rice cool. Spread it on a plate so as to help it cool.
2. Now 
3. Mix gram flour, red chili powder,turmeric powder, dhaniya powder and salt with the cooled rice. Add little water to it so that it becomes wet (as if making a chapati dough). Make sure its not too sticky. Once done make round-oval small balls of the rice (10-15 approximately can be made). Leave this aside.
4. Squeeze the lime into the butter milk. Sprinkle some gram flour and stir it.   In a deep pan/wok add oil, mustard seeds.Once they start to crackle, pour the butter milk in it and cook it on a low flame.
5. Cover the pan and bring it to boil. Now add the balls of rice into the buttermilk slowly.Cook it by covering it with a lid on a low lame for 6-8 min. 
6. Let it boil, once its reaches a boiling point, take it off the burner.
7. Sprinkle coriander on it and serve hot.

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Cabbage Paratha

Cabbage paratha recipe is simple made by adding cabbage and seasoning to the wheat flour. It is a quick breakfast recipe and are best enjoyed with a bowl of fresh curd.



Ingredients :-

1. 3/4 cup shredded cabbage
2. salt to taste
3. 3 cups whole wheat flour 
4. 2 tsp chopped green chili finely chopped
5. 1 tbsp chopped coriander
6. ghee/ oil for cooking

Method :-

1. Combine the cabbage with little salt and keep aside for 10 minutes. Squeeze the excess water from the cabbage.
2. Mix Cabbage, dough, salt, coriander and green chili together, knead into a soft dough, using very little water.
3. Roll out chapati using little flour for rolling.
4. Heat a tava and cook each paratha, using little ghee, till golden brown spots appear on both the sides.
5. Serve hot.

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Toor Dal ( plain)

Indian recipes uses  different kinds of dals (lentils) witch are more native to India. Toor dal, also known as Arhar, is a popular dish in almost every household.

Ingredients :-

1. 1 cup toor dal
2. 3 cups water
3. 1 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
5. 1 tablespoon fine chopped ginger

(For tempering)

1. 1 tbsp ghee ( clarified butter)
2. 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
3. 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seed (rye)
4. 1 tsp of asafetida (hing)
5. 2 green chili finely chopped
6. 3-4 curry leave
7. 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

Method :-

1. Wash dal, changing water several times until the water appears clear.
2. In pressure cooker add dal, water, salt, turmeric and ginger, and cook on medium heat for about 2 whistles.
3. Turn off the heat and wait until steam has stopped before opening the pressure cooker.
4. Mix dal well so there are no lumps. If dal is thick add more boiling water and make the consistency as you desire.

For tempering

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil, if it cracks right away oil is ready.
2. Add hing, cumin seeds, mustard seeds. After seeds crack stir for few seconds, add green chili and garlic to this.
3. Pour th spice mix over dal.
4. Serve with steamed rice or any Indian bread.

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Bread Poha ( Bread with veggies)

I was of bored having bread everyday so I thought of making this quick and easy recipe made of bread and veggies its tasty as well as healthy.

Ingredients :-

1. 4 slices of brown bread sliced into 1 inch pieces
2. 1 tsp cumin seeds
3. 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
4. 1 tsp mustard seeds
5. 4-5 curry leaves
6. 1 green chili finely chopped
7. 1 medium sized Tomato finely chopped
8. 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
9. 1 cup of veggies boiled ( corn, french beans,carrot, peas)
10. 1 bell pepper..finely chopped
11. salt as per taste
12. 1 tbsp of lime juice
13. 1 tbsp oil

Method :-

1. In a pan dry roast the bread pieces for about 5-7 minutes once they are cooked a bit, keep it aside.
2. Take oil in a pan, once heated a bit , add cumin ,mustard, curry leaves and green chili and cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add onion to this and cook it by adding salt till it turns pink.
4. Add tomatoes and bell pepper to this mixture. Cook it for about 2 minutes and then add turmeric powder.
5. Add boiled veggies to this mixture, cook it on a slow flame by covering it with a lid for about 10 minutes till all veggies are cooked.
6. Now add bread pieces to this and stir it well.
7. Add a dash of lime and serve it hot.

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Cabbage Pulao

I made this wonderful Cabbage Pulav  today and it turned out real good. Here is the recipe for it.


Ingredients :-

1. 1 cup cabbage finely chopped
2. 1 medium sized onion finely chopped
3. 3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
4. 1 tablespoon of Ginger finely chopped
5. 2 green chili finely chopped
6. 1 carrot chopped into small cubes
7. 1 bell pepper chopped 
8. 2 tablespoon of oil
9. salt to taste
10. 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
11. 5-6 raisins
12. 2 cloves
13. 1 inch cinnamon
14. 4 whole pepper
15. 2 finely crushed cardamon 
16. 2 1/2 cups water

Method :-

1. Take a pan, add 1 tablespoon of oil, once its hot add cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, green chili, cloves, cinnamon, whole pepper, bay leaf stir it for about 2 minutes.
2. Add finely chopped onion, cook it for about 7-10 min till it gets little pink in color
3. Add cabbage, bell pepper and carrot , stir it well and let it cook for about 20 min on a low flame.Cover it with a lid.
4. In a cooker add 1 tablespoon of oil add raisins and cardamom and stir it for about 1 minute.
5. Add 1 cup of rice to it and cook it for about 3-4 mins.
6. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and salt as per taste and cook it for about 1 whistle.
7. Once rice is cooked, add it to the veggies in the pan and stir it lightly to mix all ingredients.
8. Our Cabbage pulao is ready.

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Aloo Paratha

Aloo Paratha is one of the most popular flat-breads in Indian cuisine, specially had in breakfast.It's one of my favourite dish and have always had it, thanks to mom.I gave it a try myself today and wanted to share it with you all.                                   Ingredients :-

For The Dough

1. 2 cups of wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
2. 1/2 tablespoon Ajwain ( carom seeds)

For The Stuffing

1. 2 boiled potatoes
2. 1/2 chopped onion
3. 1 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
4. 2 green chilli
5. 1 tsp dried mango powder (amchur)       
6. 1/2 tsp chilli powder
7. salt to taste
8. 1 tbsp ghee for cooking          

Method :-

1. Make a semi-soft dough by adding water and Carom seeds mix it well in whole dough and keep it aside.
2. Boil Potatoes by adding enuf water let it cool and peel of the cover.Mash the potatoes coarsley Keep aside.
3. Add the potatoes, Chopped onions, salt, coriander, chilli powder,greenchiliand amchur powder. Mix it well.
4. Knead the dough and divide into  portions.1.Roll out one portion of the dough into a circle.
5. Place one portion of the prepared filling in the center of the dough circle.
6. Bring togeather all the sides in the center and seal tightly.
7. Roll out again into a circle with the help of a little flour.
8. Cook the paratha on a tava (griddle), using a little ghee until both sides are golden brown.
9. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make more parathas.
10. Serve hot with curd or tomato ketchup.

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Eggplant and curd ( Dahiwale Baingan Sabzi)

I was thinking of making something different with eggplant today and my mom told me this recipe which was new to me and hence I tried it. It came out good .Here goes the recipe for it.


Ingredients :-

1. 4 Small eggplant
2. 4-5 garlic cloves finely chopped
3. 2 green chili finely chopped
4. 1 tbsp of grated ginger
5. 1 Onion finely chopped
6. 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
7. salt as per taste
8. 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
9. 1/2 tbsp mustard seeds
10. 4 tbsp of curd
11. 1 tbsp of gram flour
12. freshly chopped coriander for garnish
13. 1 tbsp of oil

Method :-

1. Cut eggplant into 1 inch cubes , apply salt to it and keep it aside for 1/2 an hour
2. In a bowl take curd add 1/4 tbsp of turmeric powder and 1 tbsp of gram flour mix it well and keep it aside
3. Take a pan , add oil to it then add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chili , ginger and garlic to it and cook It for about 2 minutes on a low flame.
4. Add onions to pan and cook it for about 5-7 minutes till it becomes translucent
5. Wash the salt coated eggplant and transfer it to the pan , mix it well and cook it for 5 minutes on a medium flame.
6. Add the curd, gram flour an turmeric mixture to the pan and mix it well.
7. Add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and salt to this mixture, cook for about 15 minutes on a low flame by covering it with a lid till eggplant is cooked.if you want you can add little water to this so that eggplant can be cooked faster
8. Once eggplant is cooked turn off the flame and garnish it with freshly chopped coriander.

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PavBhaji

Today I was just checking some pics of my friend and I happen to see PavBhaji pic in that, it suddenly occurred to me that its been a while I had it, so I decided to give it a try.

PavBhaji is a very popular snack, It's a recipe made from various vegetable cooked together and served with Pav or Bread.
Ingredients :-

1. 2 Potatoes cut into cubes
2. 2 Tomatoes cut into cubes
3. 2 Onions finely chopped
4. 1 Green Bell pepper cut into cubes
5. 2 carrots diced into cubes
6. 8-10 french beans cut into 1/2 inch pieces
7. 4 -5 florets of cauliflower
8. 1/4 cup green peas
9. Ginger, chopped 1 inch piece
10. 4-5 cloves of Garlic
11. 2 tablespoons Oil
12. 3-4 Green chilies
13. 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder
14. 1/2 tbsp red chili powder
15. 1/2 tbsp garam masala
16. Salt to taste
17. Butter 3 tablespoons
18. 1/4 cup of Fresh coriander leaves
19. 2 Lemons, cut into wedges 

Method:-

1. In a pressure cooker add potatoes, green bell pepper, peas,french beans, cauliflower florets 
2. and 1 cup of water and boil it up to  one whistle. keep it aside
3. Heat oil in a pan and add three fourth quantity of onions. Saute till light brown. 
4. Add green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. Stir-fry for half a minute. 
5. Add half the quantity of tomatoes and cook on medium heat for three to four minutes, stirring continuously mash it slightly with spoon.
6. Add Bell pepper and cook it for about 4 minutes
7. Add boil vegetables and all the spices to this mixture and cook it for 5 minutes.mash it slightly with spoon.
8. Add 2 tablespoon of butter to this mixture.
9. Pav Bhaji is ready, garnish it with coriander
10. Serve it with onion, lemon wedges and pav. 

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