Chicken Ramen

I am so excited to share Chicken Ramen since it’s my all time favorite food. My kids love to have Chicken Ramen for dinner. Let’s jump to the recipe now.

Ingredients :

Baby Bok choy – 2

Carrots- 1 medium

Ginger- about 2 inches chopped in slices

Green onion stalk- chopped 

White onions sliced – 1cup

Boneless Chicken – 500 gms

Lemon grass(Optional but gives great flavor)

Noodles

Preparation:

1. Take a large pot filled with water.  Drop the chicken, lemon grass ,sliced ginger and leave it medium flame for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. 

2. Add in the sliced onions when the chicken is half cooked.

3. Remove the froth from the pot that forms in top layer and stirring occasionally.  

4. Once the chicken is fully cooked, take it out and shred using fork and drop it again in to the pot along with carrots and Bok choy. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes in medium heat.

5. Take another pot filled with water. Bring it to boiling temperature and add the noodles. Once cooked remove and place it in a dry bowl topped with handful of green onions.

6. Now add the soup to bowl and serve hot.

Tahini

Ingredients:

1. Sesame seeds- 100 grams
2. Garlic- 2 to 3 cloves
3. Lemon juice- 4 to 5 tbps
4. Olive oil- 4 to 5 tbps
5. Salt- as per taste
6. Chopped onions- 2 to 3 tbps (optional)
7. Chopped parsley and cilantro – 2 tbps (optional)

Recipe:

1. Roast the sesame seeds in a pan for 6 to 7 minutes until they are slightly browned.
2. Add the sesame seeds in a mixer, along with chopped garlic.
3. Blend it in the mixer until becomes a fine paste. Then add olive oil and lemon juice and blend again.
4. Optionally I added chopped onions and parsley/cilantro to the mixer and blended it again for a few minutes until a fine paste was made. Add salt as per taste. You can add water and mix it well either in the mixer itself or with a whisk, until you have the consistency you like.
5. You can store tahini in a glass jar and refrigerate it to be used later. You can use tahini sauce on falafel as well as on any sandwiches. I made a sandwich with pita bread and veggies as shown below. I used spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, black olives, artichokes and fita cheese and topped it with some tahini sauce. You can use any veggies and try it, it’s so delectable.
   

   

Veggie bowl with roasted red peppers

I learnt this method to roast red peppers from a cooking class I recently attended. So all credit goes to Bahar, our chef at the cooking class. The recipe was easy and tastes delicious, so I wanted to share on the blog.

Ingredients:

1. Red bell peppers- 5 to 6
2. Olive oil- 2 tbps
3. Vinegar- 2 tbsps
4. Garlic – 3 to 4 cloves
5. Black eyed peas- about a cup.
6. Olives- as many as you like
7. Mild salsa- 2 to 3 tbps
8. Lettuce
9. yogurt / curd – 4 tbps.
10. Rice- a cup.
11. Salt and pepper- as per taste.

 

Recipe:

1. Roast the red bell peppers along with the garlic cloves at 350 F for about an hour, until they are charred. It took me an hour but might be sooner based on your oven. Keep checking frequently, so the peppers don’t burn and are just slightly charred.
2. Once red peppers are ready after an hour, let them cool at room temperature for about 15 to 20 minutes, then peel them and cut them into small pieces along with the garlic.
3. Add vinegar, olive oil and salt to the peppers and they are ready.
4. I soaked black eyed peas overnight in water and boiled them the next day. You can also use chick peas or other lentils as you choose. I added some salt and pepper to the black eyed peas, once they were cooked.
5. I also had some left over rice. So then all I had to do was plate it. I added about a cup of rice. I arranged the sides- red pepper, black eyed peas, lettuce, yogurt, olives and topped the rice with some salsa.

Tip: You can store the remaining red bell peppers in glass jars. Add some olive oil on top, after filling the glass jar and refrigerate it, so it will last longer.

Agar agar

This is a very simple and easy dessert but unfortunately is not very popular.
 Mom used to make this for us on special occasions and explain the health benefits.
 Agar agar has very high fiber and aids digestion and also weight loss.
 It is also a natural source for making jelly. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1) Agar agar- 10 gms
2) Sugar- half a cup 
3) whole milk  - 150 ml
4) Condensed milk - 50 ml
5) Cardamom powder - a pinch
6) Rose or vanilla essence - a few drops
7) Water - 300 ml
8) Almonds/walnuts/cashews - 50 gms chopped


Recipe:

1) Soak agar agar in cold water for about 10 minutes.
2) For 10 gms of agar agar, we need 500 ml of liquid to cook it. So take 300 ml 
of water and add agar agar to the same wide pan and boil it at medium flame.
3) Continue boiling water until agar agar is completely dissolved. This would 
take about 12 to 15 minutes.
4)We need 200 ml more of liquid. So add whole milk (150ml)and condensed milk
(50 ml)to the pan and continue boiling it for another two minutes. 
5) Then switch of the stove and add sugar. I added half cup of sugar. You can 
add more or less sugar, depending on your sweet tooth.
6)Add a pinch of cardamom powder and vanilla or rose essence.This adds more 
flavor but is optional.
7) Remember that the agar agar liquid that we have now will solidify quickly. 
So it's best to get the plates in advance and also some cookie cutters if
 you like.
8) Pour the agar agar liquid now in plates and top them with chopped nuts of
 your choice.
9) Once agar agar solidifies, you can cut them into desired shapes. 

Beetroot ganth gobi curry

The best way to include beetroot in your cooking.

Ingredients:

• Chopped Onions(1cup)
• Garam masalas
• Tomato(1/2 cup)
• Green chilli
• Coconut paste or milk
• Chilli powder,Jeera powder,Coriander powder, salt and Turmeric
• Chopped Beetroot 2 cups
• Chopped Ganth gobi 2 cups

Preparation:

• In a pressure pan or cooker add oil and garam masalas.
• Add the chopped onion and green chillis, saute it until onion becomes golden brown.

 

 

• Add the chopped tomatoes and saute it for a while until oil gets separated.
• Add the chopped beets , ganth gobi, chili, jeera, coriander, salt and coconut paste and saute  for 4-5 minutes.
• Either use pressure cooker or just a pan and cook until beetroot becomes soft.
• Enjoy this healthy curry with paratha.

Methi Potato curry

 

 

Ingredients :

• Mustard, Jeera, Urad dhal for tadka
• Oil
• Onion (2 cups)
• Tomato(1cup)
• Garlic 9-10 nos
• Methi 2cups
• Potato 1 sliced
• Chilli powder
• Coriander powder
• Jeera powder
• Turmeric powder
• Salt

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan, add mustard, jeera, urad dhal and let it splutter .
• Add the chopped onions, garlic and saute it until golden brown.

• Add chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes or well cooked.

 

• Add the methi leaves and potatoes and saute until oil gets separated.

 

• Now add water and right amount of chilli, Coriander, jeera, turmeric and salt.
• Allow it to boil until the curry comes to a thick paste.

 

• Serve with hot rice or paratha.

Tricolour salad

So, this week we have reached a milestone in our Facebook page with 1000+ likes!!Yayyyyy 🙂 🙂 

That’s a great news and achievement to celebrate. It has been great year in blogging and I am looking forward to the years to come. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the followers for the support:)

This Tri-colour salad recipe is a tribute to our country on the Independence Day which just passed by. The colour of the ingredients kind of represents our National Flag. It is easy to prepare with minimal ingredients and process.

Ingredients:
Couscous – ¾ cup
Carrot – 1 (grated or chopped as strips)
Chickpeas – 100g ( I used the chickpeas which comes in tin, drained the water for making salad)
Capsicum – 1
Coriander leaves – few chopped finely
Chilli flakes – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Lemon juice

Method:
1. Bring 1 cup water to boil in a pan, add salt, ½ tsp oil and couscous and close the pan with a lid
2. Cook couscous in low flame for 3-5 mins. Switch off the stove and let it cool for 2 mins. Stir the cooked couscous with a fork and leave it aside
3. Chop carrot into thin slices or grate it. Also chop capsicum into small cubes

4. Mix all the ingredients, except lemon juice, mentioned above just before serving
5. Squeeze a bit for lemon juice whilst serving

Note:
1. Be careful not to overcook couscous as it really takes much lesser time than rice or pasta.

2. You can replace chilli flakes with crushed black pepper or maybe omit it according to your taste

3. You can also sauté capsicum in oil for 2-5 mins and add it to salad if you don’t want to eat it raw

Veggie Crepe

I have made crepe several times, but run into issues often. So this is more of a do’s and dont’s post of making crepes.

1) Don’t use a spoon or fork to mix the batter.

2) Use a whisk to mix well or using a blender or mixer also works well. Make sure no lumps are formed in the batter, otherwise the crepe will not be good.

3) Adding one egg for each cup of flour, makes the crepe to not stick to the pan and you will be ale to flip the crepes easily.

4) I found some recipes where adding parsley/cilantro/chives to the batter gives it a unique taste.

Recipe:

I added two eggs to two cups of wheat flour and about a cup of whole milk and mixed them well with a whisk. I also added some chopped cilantro and a pinch of salt and pepper to the batter. Once the batter was mixed well without lumps, I made crepes and filled them with veggies of my choice.

Crepe filled with avocado, olives, red onions .feta cheese and topped with tomatoes. I think hot sauce complements this crepe perfectly.

Crepe filled with scrambled eggs, bell peppers, olives, mushrooms, swiss cheese and topped with salsa.

Spinach soybean biryani

Biryani is almost favorite of everyone including kids . This is one way to include spinach in your cooking but still satisfying the appetite of all.  The end result is something like you never know if you added spinach or not. Let’s go to the recipe now…

Ingredients :

• Chopped Spinach – 4 cups
• Oil
• Soybean chunks – 1 cup
• Potato – 2 Cups
• Yogurt or curd- 2 cups
• Onions – 2 cups(thinly sliced)
• Tomato – 1 cup
• Ginger garlic paste – 3 tbsp
• Salt
• chilli paste – 4 tbsp
• Garam masala(Cloves, Bay leaves, Cinnamon sticks, Cardamom)
• Coriander and mint leaves – 2 cups
• Basmati rice

Preparation:

• Cut the potatoes to medium sized cubes, deep fry it in oil and keep it aside

• Bring the water to boil in a large pot, add little jeera, enough Salt and basmati rice. when the rice is 90% cooked strain the rice and keep it aside.

• Bring the water to boil in a pot, add soybean leave it for 2-3 minutes then strain the soybean chunks and keep it aside.

 

• Take a wide pan, add oil, garam masalas and onions. Sauté it for 2-3 minutes then add ginger garlic paste, green chili  paste, tomatoes and sauté for 5 more minutes.

• Now add coriander and mint leaves, chopped spinach, turmeric powder, curd or yogurt and soybean. Sauté it until the oil gets separated. Now add fried potatoes and mix it well.

• Finally reduce to heat to really low and add the cooked rice on top of it and cover it with a lid and leave it for about 20-30 minutes.
• Now serve hot with raita.

 

Homemade Strawberry jam

Strawberry jam is every kids favorite (sometimes adults too!). There are lot more reasons to make homemade jam , Store bought jam does have a lot of sugar and preservatives in it plus late march and april are the strawberry seasons, just go for strawberry picking and get bag full of strawberries for literally low price. My son was anxious in making strawberry jam with me that he proudly shared the moments with his teachers too.

Ingredients :

* Strawberry puree – 3 cups

* Pure cane sugar – 1 1/2 cups(Quantity of Sugar may vary depending on the type of sugar you use, pure cane sugar is more sweeter than organic sugar).

Preparation :

•  Grind the strawberries in a blender and measure it for about 3 cups.
• Take a wide pan and pour the puree on to the pan, close the lid and bring it to roaring boil(i.e. even if you stir the boiling doesn’t stops).
  

  
• Allow it to boil for 5 minutes exactly .
• Add the 1st cup of sugar now and bring it to roaring boil for 5 minutes, stirring in between. When the foam started to form, remove it with the help of ladle.
• Now add the last 1/2 cup of sugar binging it to roaring boil for next 5 minutes ,stirring in between prevents from getting burned.(I strongly recommend adding sugar depending on your taste ).
• Turn off the heat and transfer the jam to another wide mouth vessel and cover it with a wet cloth or wet tissue paper for about 8 hours or overnight.
• Transfer the content to the glass jar.The jam can stay in the refrigerator temperature for about 2-3months.