VEGETABLE FRIED RICE

Vegetable Fried Rice recipe

Vegetable fried rice is my son's favourite Chinese dish... Irrespective of whatever restaurant we go, he orders this dish... Seeing his craze for this dish, I decided that its high time I learnt to cook this dish :)

I have prepared this without adding MSG (aji-no-moto) and in spite of that, it tasted well. 

Ingredients:

White Rice - 2 cups
Carrots - 4-5 medium sized
Beans - 10-15 
Cabbage - 1/4 kg
Capsicum - 1/2 - small size
Spring Onion - 3-4 
Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1 tbspn
Vinegar - 3 tbspns
Green chillies - 2-3
Dry red chilly - 1 
Oil - 5 tbspns

Process:

Soak the rice in water for 15 min. Boil and cook the rice and keep aside. Pl. ensure that the rice does not get over cooked. Even 90% cooked rice is fine but it should never be over cooked.  

Chop the beans, cabbage, capsicum and finely chop the carrots into small cubes as shown in the picture. Keep aside.

Finely Chop the green chillies and keep aside.

Take a frying pan and pour 4-5 tbspns of oil and heat it. Once the oil is hot, break and add the red chilly pieces into it and allow to fry. Then add the carrots and beans into the oil and mix well. Keep the flame high.

Keep mixing it well for 4-5 minutes. Then add the chopped cabbage into the pan and mix well. Add salt.  

Allow the vegetables to get sauteed in high flame itself for a couple of minutes. Make sure you keep stirring the vegetables in between so that they dont get burnt at the bottom of the pan.  

Then add the chopped green chillies and spring onion and mix thoroughly. Add the ginger garlic paste. Mix thoroughly and allow these to get fried in high flame itself. Keep stirring/mixing so that the vegetables or the ginger-garlic do not get burnt. Add venegar and keep mixing thoroughly for a minute in medium flame.

Finally add the rice, add salt and mix well. 

Fried rice is ready. Garnish with finely chopped spring onion. 

This can be eaten with Soya Sauce and/or Green Chilli-Garlic sauce.

Vegetable Manchurian  or Gobi (cauliflower) Manchurian - Dry or with Gravy are very good side dished for fried rice. Click here to see how to make Gobi (Cauliflower) Manchurian (Dry).

Serves 2-3 people.

GOBI (CAULIFLOWER) MANCHURIAN (DRY)

GOBI (CAULIFLOWER) MANCHURIAN (DRY) RECIPE

Gobi Manchurian - though a Chinese dish is a heart-throb of we Indians!!

I like this dish a lot and so does my son... Hence tried making this @ home...

INGREDIENTS

Cauliflower- 1 - medium
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsn
pepper powder - 1/2 tsn
Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tspn
Salt to taste

For Batter

All purpose flour /Maida - 1/2 cup
Corn flour/Rice powder - 1/4 cup (i used rice powder)
Salt to taste

For sauce

Oil -2 tbsn
Onion-1 large
Ginger -1 small piece chopped
garlic-6-8 cloves chopped
Soy sauce-2 tsn
Tomato Ketchup-2tsn
Vinegar -2tsn
Spring onion chopped 1 bunch
Salt to taste

PROCESS

Soak the cauliflower in hot water for 2 minutes. It helps remove pesticides and kill the germs if any.

Cut the cauliflower in medium size, add turmeric powder into it and boil it.

Cook it for 5 minutes and drain and keep it aside.

Mix the Cauliflower with ginger-garlic paste, chilly powder, salt, pepper powder and keep it aside for 10 minutes. This helps the ingredients to get soaked into the cauliflower pieces.

Chop the onion, ginger, garlic, spring onions and keep them aside.

Mix maida, Corn flour/Rice flour and salt with little water to make a batter (batter must a bit free flowing - such as that of a bhajji batter)

Dip the cauliflower florets in the batter completely and fry them. Once they become golden brown color, remove from oil, drain the oil and put it in paper towels.

Take the frying pan and pour 3-4 tblspn oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and saute well.  Add a spoon of tomato sauce, soya sauce, vinegar and mix it well. 

Then add spring onions, ginger and garlic. Saute these together well. 

Then add the fried gobi and mix well. 

Decorate with some chopped spring onions.

This is the dry version of gobi manchurian... To be served as a starter or with Fried rice, noodles etc.

Aloo Methi Subzi - Potato and Fenugreek leaves stir fried

Aloo Methi Subzi

Aloo-Methi Subzi is a north Indian recipe well known for its taste and health properties since it contains fenugreek leaves which are excellent for a lot of health problems such as diabetes and LDL cholesterol. It improves hair quality - it can be applied on the scalp before bath for long and lustrous hair. It also reduces skin blemishes.

Aloo-Methi Subzi tastes excellent with rotis, parathas, phulkas etc.
I heard about this dish after marriage when my husband brought fenugreek leaves home. I prepared this dish @ that time and it had come out well.  
I too liked this dish when I ate it at that time. 

INGREDIENTS to prepare Aloo Methi Subzi

Methi leaves - a bunch 
Potatoes - 3 to 4 nos, medium
Red chilly powder - 1/4tsn
Turmeric powder - 1/4tsn
Green chilly - 3 nos
Oil - 2 tbsn
Salt - as required

PROCESS to prepare Aloo Methi Subzi

Clean the leaves well preferably with salt water. It helps remove the mud easier as well as pesticides in the leaves.

Finely chop the fenugreek leaves. 

Chop the potatoes into medium size cubes.

Take a frying pan and  pour oil and heat it. Once the oil is hot, add  potatoes into it.  Then add salt, chilly powder and turmeric powder.

Saute the potatoes for a few minutes still they become light brownish in colour. Sprinkle a handful of water into this.

Now add the chopped fenugreek leaves into the sauteed potatoes. Slit the green chillies and add these.

Close it with a lid with a medium flame.cook it for 10 minutes. Check if the leaves have got cooked properly. One thing we need to be careful is that we must not mix this too much to avoid the potatoes getting mashed. The potatoes must retain their shape. 

Once the fenugreek leaves are cooked well, remove the lid, mix the potatoes and leaves once and saute it for a few minutes so that the water, if any, gets evaporated and the bhaji gets dry. 

Aloo methi subzi is ready. Serve hot with rotis, parathas, chapattis, phulkas etc

GREEN TEA - How to actually make it to reap its health benefits

A lot of health websites have written about the health benefits of drinking green tea. To understand what is green tea and its benefits, click here

I have been drinking green tea once in a day since more than a year now and I am convinced that this is truly a magical tea to drink. Such are the changes I have experienced in me as a result of drinking this tea. 

There are various methods to make green tea @ home but one of the best ways to drink green tea is to have it with Lemon and honey. This is esp. beneficial if you plan to drink green tea for the additional benefit of weight loss apart from the other benefits that it brings. 

Picture Courtesy - www.tetley.in &
www.daburhoney.com

Here is how I prepare green tea...    

Ingredients to prepare green tea

Green Tea leaves - 1 tsp. You can use any brand such as Tetley, Lipton etc I use the plain variety of Tetley Green Tea 

Dry Green tea leaves

Water - 200 ml

Natural Honey - 1 tbsn (I use Dabur Honey)

Lemon - 1/2 slice

Process to prepare green tea

Take one 1 tspn of green tea leaves and put into a glass. 

Boil the water and pour the boiled water into the glass containing the green tea leaves.

Close the glass with lid and keep it aside for around 3-4 minutes. 

Next, remove the lid and stir. You will notice that the leaves that were dry initially have now unfurled and have become like torn green leaves
  

Pour into a separate glass filtering out the tea leaves.

Since the tea would be very hot, allow it to cool down a bit and become warm. This is because honey must never be added into hot water/liquid - it turns harmful for our body.

Once it becomes warm, squeeze the lemon into it. Add honey, stir well and drink it immediately.

We can drink green tea after 1 or 2 hours post breakfast or lunch or in the evenings. 

NEVER DRINK GREEN TEA IN THE MORNING EMPTY STOMACH

Hope this is useful to you... 

SUNDAKKAI VATHAL KUZHAMBU - DRIED AND FRIED TURKEY BERRY PREPARED IN TAMARIND PULP GRAVY

SUNDAKKAI (CHUNDANGA in Malayalam) VATHAL KUZHAMBU

This dish has been prepared in Tamil Brahmin style since they donot use onions in this dish. This is a very easy to make dish and takes just 15 min.
I got help from my neighbour Lakshmi mami. She explained the recipe and process to me. She was using Sambar powder for this dish. However, the Sambar powder that I use is more of a Kerala style Sambar powder, which I thought might be the right one for this dish. Hence I have used Aachi brand Vathal Kuzhambu powder. 

In my earlier post (Sundakkai Kuzhambu) have written about the huge health benefits that Turkey Berry has -  

1. It has the potential to kill the germs and also acts as a medicine for cold and also helps in problems related to chest and stomach.
2. It is a good tonic for liver and used to strengthen immunity power and also reduce body fat.
3. People who have diarrhea, stomach ache, piles, tuberculosis should use Turkey berry as a part of their food.
4. Taking Turkey Berry regularly will help in strengthening the nerves in the eyes and provides a clear vision

Lets get into the preparation now. 

INGREDIENTS:

Dried Turkey Berry - 1/4 cup
Aachi Vattal Powder - 3 tbspn
Gingelly (til / sesame) oil - 3 tbspn - this is very important
Tamarind - 1 lemon size
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tspn
Dried Red chilly - 3 nos
Urad dal - 1/2 tsn
Jaggery - a small piece
Asafoetida - a pinch
Curry leaves - 5 to 6 
Salt to taste

PROCESS:

Take a frying pan and fry the dry sundakkai vathal till it turns dark brown. Keep it aside.

Extract the tamarind pulp from the tamarind and keep it aside.

Powder the Jaggery and keep aside.

Take a frying pan and  pour gingelly (til / sesame)oil and heat it. Since we generally have less oil, I have taken the only 3 tablespoons of oil. However, this dish tastes better with a bit more oil and hence a bit more of oil can be used if required.
Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add Urad dal and dry red chillies. Saute till Urud Dal turns light brown. 

Then add curry leaves and mix well. Add the fried Sundakka into this and mix well. 

Then add the tamarind pulp into it. Add around 50 ml water (this dish is basically a thick gravy type, hence be careful while adding water). Allow it to boil and stir thoroughly it for 3 minutes. 

Then add the Vathal Powder and mix well.

After that add the Asafoetida and mix it well. Add Jaggery powder and mix again. Allow it to boil in low flame for another 5 minutes.

Sundakkai Vathal Kuzhambu is ready. To be served with Rice.

EGGLESS WHITE FOREST CAKE BAKED IN COOKER

EGGLESS WHITE FOREST CAKE IN COOKER

Since the last few months, I have been thinking of baking a black forest cake since we all like it a lot. However, recently, in a bakery I happened to taste a White Forest cake and it tasted so very good. 

Now because its Christmas time, I thought its the right time to try out this cake.

One big challenge I had in making this cake was preparing the whipped cream, which I had no idea how to prepare. I also don't have the electric whipper/whisk to prepare the cream. I somehow managed to make the whipped cream with the Amul fresh cream using a manual whipper . 

Another change I did this time was to use salt as the heating medium in the cooker instead of water. Hence this is not a steamed cake - a baked one :)

Enough of talk now...Lets get into the preparation..

INGREDIENTS

Maida- 1.5 cup
Baking powder- 3/4 tsp
Baking soda- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 1 cup (powdered)
Butter - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 cup
Thick Yogurt/curd - 3/4 cup
Vanilla Extract- 1/2 tsp(i used vanilla essence)
Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
Sugar - 4 tbsn
Whipped cream - 500 ml
White chocolate - to make  flakes
Oranges - 2, peeled, deseeded and petals disintegrated 

PROCESS

Take a bowl and mix the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix it thoroughly  and keep it aside.

Take another bowl and pour the butter (make sure that the butter is soft - keep the butter out of the refrigerator for a couple of hours before you use), sugar powder and mix it thoroughly(it should be mixed very well). Add Lemon, Vanilla essence and beat well.
Add half of the curd into this and mix thoroughly. 

Then add 1/2 of the prepared flour into this, add the remaining yogurt, add milk and mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix thoroughly. The flour is added in 2 parts so that the batter is consistent and lumps are avoided.

Grease the inside of the cake die/vessel with butter or oil and pour the cake batter into it. This is now ready to be baked.

For baking, take a pressure cooker (without the whistle weight of course) or an idli cooker with a tight lid. 

Add 2 cups of salt into the cooker to make a layer of around 1 cm thick. Keep a plate on the salt layer for the cake mold to be placed on top of it.

Now place the cake mold containing the batter on the plate. 

Switch on the flame and after high flame for around 5 min, switch to low flame and bake for 45 min.

Switch off the flame and allow the cake to cool in the die. 

After that transfer it into a plate and let it chill in the refrigerator for 2 hrs. 

For preparing whipping cream:

Beat the cream in a bowl with a whipper (electric whipper is best for this though I didnot have one) until it becomes soft and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and whip it again till it becomes almost double of the original quantity. 
The whipping cream is ready if it stops moving/flowing on its own and stays still and doesnot fall even when you tilt or turn the vessel upside down. 

For making sugar syrup:

Mix 5 tbsp sugar with 5 tbsn water and warm it. Allow it to cool.

For making white chocolate flakes:

Peel the chocolate with a peeler to make the flakes.

Cut the cake into three layers using a knife. Mark the pieces with a fork (it helps the sugar syrup to settle more easily into the cake). 

Transfer the first layer into a plate carefully. Pour some sugar syrup and spread orange flakes into the cake. take a dollop of whipped cream and spread over the cake generously using a spatula or cake knife.

Place the second layer on top of this and repeat the same steps. 
Now, place the third layer on top of this and spread the whipped cream thoroughly and generously on the top. 
Also spread the cream on the sides of the cake and make it even using the spatula.  

Place the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Now is the last coating. 

Spread the chocolate flakes on the top and side layers of the  cake.

Place cherries on the top. 

White forest cake is ready.

Store in a refrigerator.