Sambar Arbi Roast | Roasted Taro Root in Sambar Powder

There is no rule in cooking, yes there are rules in baking but cooking on gas or oven, its fun. You can take your ingredients, spices and voila , your dish is done. Same thing happens to me with this one too. I made Chips out of Arbi but wanted to make something new, so instead of using it to making chips I made it in sambar powder and result was delicious. You can use potatoes , sweet potatoes, raw bananas, turnips or any root vegetables for this dish. There is no hard and fast rule, just keep the masala same and change the vegetable of your family favorite and dish is done. 

My recipes for desserts,  selected winner in the event organised by Raksha Kamat  at her blog and got Rs. 1500 flipkart vouchers, Thank you so much sponsors and Raksha for organising such a lovely event.

My Recipe of  Baked Raviolis published in  Kids Lunch Box Recipes by Indusladies. Check it out how to make healthy and delicious lunch for your kids.

Ingredients :

3 Arbi / Taro root

2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. Mustard seeds
2 tbsp. Sambar powder
1 tbsp. red chili powder
salt to taste
2 tbsp. Rice Flour
few curry leaves
Lime juice to taste

Method:

Clean the Arbi's outer layer.
Cut it in Circles.
Keep it aside.
Take your pan, add the oil in it.
Add Mustard seeds in it when its start popping, add curry leaves in it.
Then add sambar powder, red chili powder and rice flour and salt and add sliced arbi.
Let it cook on low to medium flame till arbi cooks.
Mine was done in 8 minutes.
At the time of serving add lime juice and have it with roti.

Lunch or diner is done.

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Mediterranean Couscous Salad with Cactus pear smoothie

Well, I don't eat too much in lunch, because if I eat too much in lunch I can not eat at dinner time, so I try to eat very light and if possible just have some smoothie out of fruits and I am done with my lunch. Since my in laws was with me during summer, I try to make some healthy lunch for them along with smoothie so its light but filling. So one day I made this and it was delicious and just perfect for hot summer day. You can add your choice of vegetables but since I made it Mediterranean, I added few ingredients which is very essential in it. But as usual , you can have it with your pantry items.

Ingredients : 

1 cup uncooked couscous
2 cups vegetable stock

Boil the vegetable stock and add couscous in it and turn off the gas and cover it.
open it after five minutes and fluff it with fork and your couscous is ready and its now two cups of couscous.

1 cup cherry tomatoes cut it in half
1/2  cucumber - I get English cucumber chopped in cubes
1/2 yellow capsicum - chopped
few strings of basil and mint chopped
1/2 cup Feta cheese- crumbled
2 tbsp. corn - optional - I had it so used it
lots of black pepper powder and salt to taste - Feta has lot of salt so taste it and then add salt
2-3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic

Method:

Take cooked couscous in a bowl.
Add all the vegetables in it and cheese too.
Add basil and mint and black pepper powder along with balsamic vinegar.
Serve immediately as it is or just like I had it with smoothie.

Cactus pear Smoothie :

2 cactus pear
1 Banana
1 cup mango pulp
1/2 cup cranberry juice

Method:

Take the skin out of pear and Chopped Cactus pear and  add with rest of the ingredient in blender.
Make fine puree till all blend nicely.
Take it out in glass and enjoy.

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Zucchini and Dudhi (Bottle Gourd) Thepla / Flatbreads

I love to experiments with my rotis. We always make thepla with lauki (bottle gourd) but this time I wanted to add zucchini along with Lauki and make this theplas for my breakfast. Well Made it and kids loved it too. I just changed one thing, instead of adding yogurt in it , I added sour cream in it and it came out so soft and perfect and get praised by my FIL who is very hard to please when it comes to food. But I am glad that this time he appreciate my cooking very much. You can add yogurt in it too , I just wanted to experiment with sour cream so that's the only reason I add it. You can have that with tea or snack or perfect for lunch box too. You know, theplas are the most travel food around the world. Every gujju who travel for long or short distance , Always carry thepla in their basket , reasons are very simple, it has very long shelf life and add pickle, chundo or dry potato curry and you are all set for travel. It's saying that theplas don't need any visa to travel any countries.

Ingredients :

1 cup Whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bajri flour
1//2 cup mixed grated zucchini and bottle gourd
1 tsp. Turmeric powder
1 tbsp. red chili powder
salt to taste
2 tbsp. oil for flour and extra to cook thepla
1 tbsp. sesame seeds

Method:

Take a big bowl, add flour in it.
Add grated vegetables in it and add salt, powder masala and oil and knead the dough with little water.
Because both vegetables leaves water so you don't need too much water.
Make small golf sizes balls and keep it aside.
Heat your roti pan or flat non stick
Dip the ball in flour and make a circle thepla.
When pan it hot, put that in pan and when bubbles started to come, turn it over
When other side is also cook, add one tbsp. oil on top of it and turn it over and cook on both sides for a minute till it becomes nice brownish in color.
Make all the theplas and spread it on dish.
Enjoy hot with tea or snack or as it is.

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Gulab Jamun with Coconut Flakes / Sweet Indian Donuts with Coconut Flakes

Its Happy New Year , the day after Diwali , in Gujarat. So Wishing all Happy New Year and Sal Mubarak. On that thought, sharing a sweet from my kitchen to yours. This is perfect for any occasion, when you don't want to carry or use thick sweet sugar syrup in gulab jamuns. You can soaked them in syrup and take it out and coated in coconut flakes and you don't have to worry about transporting if you are taking to a party or get together or just storing in fridge. And it won't be that sweet too, after staying long in syrup. I made Regular Gulab Jamun too. There is always a traditional way to eat this but if you need a change you can do it, you can roll it in sugar too but for me its over sweet. This I made very quickly and its amazing if you want to do something how quickly you can do it. You have to fry this in ghee but I did  it in oil only, can't take that much ghee.

Ingredients : 

1 cup milk powder - I have full fat

2 tbsp. AP flour

1 tbsp. Rava

Pinch of baking powder

Pinch of cardamom powder

1 tbsp. ghee

6-7 tbsp. Condensed milk or as needed

Oil for frying

1 cup coconut flakes

For Sugar Syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

15-20 saffron or tbsp. cardamom powder or rose essence, I did cardamom

Method:

Take your milk powder, AP flour, Rava, Baking powder, cardamom powder, and ghee and make crumble looking dough.

Add slowing condensed milk and make it a dough.  

Shape it in a small bowl, remember it will be big once they fry and sit in syrup so you don't need too big balls.

Heat the oil , when oil is heated, first dropped one and see if it comes slowly up then your oil is ready , if it comes instantly up, lower the flame and then do it.

Fry all balls not to black , just brown from all the side.

While you are frying on another pan, make your sugar syrup so it's ready when you done frying.
You just need to melt the sugar, not boiling otherwise it will be too sticky. 

Add fry balls in warm sugar syrup. You don't add balls in hot syrup, let it cool a bit and then only add balls

Leave it in syrup for 30 minutes.

Take it out and roll it in coconut flakes and chill it or at room temperature, as you wish you can enjoy it.

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Rasgulla | Sweet Cottage Cheese balls in Sugar Syrup

Who don't like and who don't make this one? Everyone right. But this is foolproof recipe as per me to get soft and spongy rasgulla. Well this is not first time I am making this but before that I experiment with  Chocolate Rasgulla in Brown Sugar Syrup and  Rabdi Rasgulla but never gave you recipe of regular rasgulla. To write down seems like long process but believe me, I was done in less than hour from start to making paneer to put it in sugar syrup. Actually happened that, after coming back from grocery, I didn't had space in the fridge to put old milk gallons, Oh ya, I made this from regular Indian store / Supermarket whole milk. I don't buy any special milk so. Milk was about to expired and was not in the mood to keep the whole gallon jar just because I had little bit of milk in it or didn't wanted to keep it out in glass. So instantly made paneer out of it and in 20 minutes made balls and put them in lite syrup and then little thick syrup and enjoy it next day till its chill. Done. My paneer was not even a cup , so just had 11 or so balls but it is more than enough for two of us because kids won't even touch it. If you don't want this, just made rabdi and squeeze water out of it and add it in milk and you have rasmalai.

Ingredients for Paneer balls

1 cup of fresh paneer (make paneer and wash it thoroughly and leave it for 20 minutes and then start mashing it with your hands)
pinch of saffron - optional

Take the paneer and add saffron and mix till nice balls form up, just take not more than 15 minutes. Make balls and keep it aside.

Ingredients for Light Sugar Syrup:

Since I had not much balls, I made very less syrup. but for large quantity you can take 1 cup sugar and 4-5 cups water and  boil it with pinch of cardamom powder or just one whole green cardamom. Add balls in it , if you have too many balls , make it in batch . After adding balls, just cover it and let it cook for 15 minutes. Take it out and put it in cold water.

In that leftover syrup, add 1/4 cup more sugar and cup of water and let it boil and make sugar to dissolve. Once sugar is dissolve, shut off the gas. Once the syrup is cold, add the balls , after squeezing water , into that syrup. Leave it overnight for best result or 2-3 hours in fridge to chill.
Enjoy it once its chill.

Don't throw away that syrup, use it in your coffee or tea or where ever you use sugar. Best way to use up any sugar syrup is , make sweet shakarpara, instead of melting sugar, you already have it, just add it in flour, make a dough and make diamonds and cut it and fry it.

 Just because I added saffron inside the balls, its getting light yellowish in color, which I like it too.

Inspired from here.

Made Rasmalai out of rest of it.

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Mango Coconut Burfi | Mango Coconut Fudge

I just love mango and coconut both separately and when it comes together, its heaven and above all when added cardamom powder in it, it's out of the world. So when I saw this recipe on Kanan's blog, I knew that I have to make this, my both favorite ingredients are there and I just love kopra pak so what not to love about this? well, I made it and just loved it when it was cooking, the fragrance of coconut roasting and then mango was amazing. Do try this and you can be amazed by the taste. I used frozen coconut and defrosted it and then use it but for a fresh one, you don't have to do that.

Ingredients :

1 packet of frozen shredded coconut about one and a half cup
1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sugar - my mango pulp was readymade and had enough sugar so I added this much only but if you like more sweeter use it 1/3 cup
1/2 cup Mango pulp - I used can product
pinch of cardamom powder
As needed pistachio and almonds or your favorite

Method:

Grease the dish or tray with ghee or butter and keep it aside.
Heat up the pan, add coconut and dry roast it till you get nice roasted coconut flavor.
After that add milk, sugar and mango pulp.
Now stir, stir and stir, till coconut is dry and big lump forms.
It's not going to be totally dry but it is nice and soft.
Spread it in your dish or tray, pressing down nicely and then sprinkle nuts on it.


Pressed it down so it sticks while it's still warm.
Cool it completely and then only cut it in pieces.
If you are in a hurry, put it in the fridge and then cut it.

  I got nice 16 pieces out of this.

Thanks Kanan for another winning recipe.


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