Tabbouleh Salad

I don't know why I never posted this salad. This is my favorite go-to salad. I always have parsley in my fridge and Bulgar too. This is a very famous middle eastern side dish. Its called Tabouli also.  Its made of Bulgar which is cracked wheat, lots of parsley, tomatoes, mint, green onion, cucumber and dressing. Now don't get confused bulgar with couscous, its totally different grain, just like Khaman and Dhokla, khaman is different and dhokla is different. You don't need to cook bulgar since it is a super fine grain, you just soaked it water, prep the vegetables and by the time it's ready. For parsley, I like flat-leaf one and not the curly leaf. But use whatever you like and find in your supermarket. The more parsley and mint are there it will taste better.



Ingredients : 

1/2 cup dried bulgar - it will be more than 1 cup after it will soak up the water so don't get too much
1 cup diced cucumber without seeds
1 cup diced tomato
3 cups of finely chopped parsley
1 cup chopped mint
1/3 cup finely chopped green onion
1 tsp sea salt or as per taste
for the dressing: 1/3 cup olive oil
4 tbsp lemon juice or as per taste
1 clove garlic finely chopped

Method : 

Take one big bowl, add dried bulgar in it.

Add two and a half cups of water in it and set aside.

Chopped all your vegetables and greens.

In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic and salt and mix it.

By now bulgar must have soaked up all the water if it is all fluffed up but if you see any water in it, drain it.

Take the drained bulgar, add all the vegetables and greens and mix it nicely.

Add the dressing and taste it if need more salt, lemon juice, adjust accordingly.

It tastes best, after 10-15 minutes but if you have no time, you can have it immediately too.

Its perfect side dish with falafel which I had it. Or you can just have it as it is or pair it with any bbq meat or middle eastern dishes.

Green Chili Thecha - Maharashtrian style

Here in the USA, we got red chili thecha very easily but since it is prepackaged, it has too much sodium. We used that as a garlic chutney since it has more garlic than chilies. But last year at one get together I had a chance to taste homemade green chili thecha and I asked her for a recipe and she gave it to me. since then I am making this. It is very easy and doesn't require too many ingredients and if you are like me who loves sides more than the main dish in the dinner then its perfect for you. If you want you can add crushed peanuts in it but I don't like it so I didn't add it.



Ingredients : 

7-8 Green Chilies
2 big garlic cloves
1 tsp Oil
Pinch of Hing
1 tsp Vinegar
salt to taste


Method :


Take a non-stick pan, add oil, add whole chilies in it and roast it till it changes the color.

Take it out and wait till its cold.

Chopped garlic finely and keep it aside.

If you want you can chop chilies by your hand or used grinder. I did it with a knife since it was not that much.

In a bowl, mix chopped chilies, garlic, salt, vinegar, and hing and mix it.

Store in a glass bottle and use it with your lunch and dinner as a side dish.

You can have more chilies and make it too, just add more vinegar in it.

Taro Root in Curd Gravy - Arbi Masala

Some vegetables don't get the recognition which they deserve. We just stick to some vegetables and ignore some. I think Arbi which is known as Taro root in English comes in that category. People make chips of it but when it comes to making it fancier, we don't think about it.  Well nothing wrong in chips also, when it comes to healthier options, Arbi chips are much better than potato chips. It has 30% less fat and more fiber than potatoes. If you have a sufficient level of fiber which taro root provides, then you can manage your GI Level and lower your chances of developing diabetes. If you have diabetes then fiber-rich foods like taro root can help prevent the spikes and plunges in blood sugar that can be so dangerous.

So let's give this vegetable some value and use in our cooking more ofter by creating this nice gravy dish.

Ingredients : 

5 Arbi - Taro roots
1 Onion chopped
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tbsp Red chili powder
2 tbsp Turmeric powder
1/2 cup whisked yogurt
1 tsp Cumin - jeera
1 tsp Carom seeds - Ajwain
1 tbsp dry fenugreek -
Salt as per taste
2 tbsp Cumin-coriander powder
1 tbsp Garam masala powder
2 tbsp oil
Chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Method : 

Wash and clean the arbi.

Boil the water and put the arbi in it.

Cook till its al dante. you don't have to cook all the way since it will be cooking in the gravy.



Take out the skin and cut it in big pieces.

Add one tbsp red chili powder, turmeric powder, cumin-coriander powder in those cut arbi pieces and mix it nicely.

Heat up one tbsp oil in the pan.

Add those masala coated arbi pieces in the pan and cook it till it is nice and crispy from all the sides.

Take it out.

Add one more tbsp oil in the same pan, add jeera and ajwain, when it changes the color, add onion and saute it till it becomes soft.

Add tomato puree, ginger garlic paste along with all powder masala and saute for a minute.

Add whisk yogurt and water to make it a thick gravy not runny gravy.

Add the arbi pieces in it and mix it very carefully.

Add salt and crushed kasoori methi and cover it.

Cook till you get nice thick gravy, 5-6 minutes.

Once its done, sprinkle coriander leaves on top and enjoy with rice, puri or plain rice.

2 Ingredients Puff Pastry Croissants

I just love to cook for my kids and they simply just love croissants. Now the regular way to make croissants it's very long and I am not sure I have that much patience or I can do it. Maybe one day I will do it but for now, I satisfied my kid's craving for a croissant with this just two ingredients recipe. The first ingredient is puff pastry which I used pepperidge farm which is vegan and the second ingredient is everyone's favorite Nutella. With this just two ingredients, you can make 12 nice size croissants with the ooey-gooey warm Nutella in it.  You can use egg to give a quick shine on it but I just use butter spray. In puff pastry, it comes with two sheets, which I have used. One sheet will give you 6.

You can take it out puff pastry out for 10 minutes and then cut it and put the Nutella and bake it.




Ingredients : 

2 Puff pastry sheets
12 tbsp Nutella
Butter spray

Method : 

Heat oven to 375 F.

Sprinkle flour on the kitchen platform and spread the pastry.

With the rolling pin make it roll out the pastry and make it even.

With the pizza cutter cut the pastry along the three folding lines into thirds, then cut each long rectangle into two long triangles, making total six triangles.

Place a tablespoon of Nutella on the wide side of the pastry and spread a little bit but do not go till the end, leave 1 or 2 inches space so when its baked Nutella doesn't come out.

Then roll it from the wide-angle to small one, and it will shape like a croissant.

Repeat with the rest and put it on the baking dish. Spray butter sprays on the top of it and bake it for 15-20 minutes or till it becomes brown.

Take it out on the wire rack and let it cool down for 10 minutes. Then you can enjoy it with coffee or tea or for kids with milk.

You can store it in an airtight container for later use.