Quick Carrot Soup

Soups are very easy to prepare. It is a hot, light, spicy, soup. I am sure anytime you can enjoy this yummy soup.  You can add some more ingredients like lemon, cilantro, mint etc. for some more flavor of the soup. I dipped bread pieces in soup. This classic of carrot soup is vibrantly colorful and aromatic. The basic procedure is by thickening the natural starch from the carrots.

Check my other Soup Varieties

Prep time	Cook time	Serves
15 mins	20 mins	2 persons

 

Cuisine:  Indian (Soups)

Ingredients Carrots -3 no’s Garlic pods -3 no’s Onion -1 medium Ginger -1” Oil or Butter- 1 tsp Crushed Peppercorns -1 tbsp. Salt –to taste Water or Veg Stock -2 ½ cups or less Pudina leaves – just for garnishing. Short bread pieces -4 slices

 

Method

1. Peel the carrots, then trim the top and bottom ends. Cut carrots into (roughly) same-sized pieces. The soup is going to be puréed anyway.

2. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the butter over a low-to-medium heat.Add the onion, garlic and carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is slightly translucent, stirring more or less continuously.

3. Add salt, pepper powder with 1 cup water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.Once cooker release  the pressure and Remove from heat and purée in a blender.

4. Return puréed soup to pot and bring to a simmer again, adding more broth or stock to adjust the thickness if necessary.Serve hot with bread or toast.

Pictorial:

Served with

Toasted Bread pieces

Notes

Or, after puréeing, add 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves before bringing the soup back to a simmer.Use care when processing hot items in a blender as the hot steam can sometimes blow the blender lid off. Cool down the carrot soup items little bit and then shift to the blender.

Technorati Tags: Carrot recipes,Soup recipes,Carrot soup recipes,Light breakfast recipes,Indian food recipes,Kids recipes,Low calorie food recipes.

Capsicum (Green pepper) chutney

Capsicum one of my favorite vegetables which has numerous medicinal and health benefits. So, I love to make use of this green pepper / capsicum in my cooking as much as possible. This spicy combo works out well with simple dosa and idlies. It is a simple Indian styled chutney prepared with bell peppers. Capsicum has a lovely crunchy texture. As for the health benefits of capsicums, they are rich in Vitamin C and are also known to lower cholesterol. It is a tangy and spicy chutney that tastes delicious. Do try this easy green capsicum chutney.

Prep time	Cook time	Serves
10 mins	10 mins	2 persons

 

Cuisine:  South Indian (Breakfast Side dish)

Ingredients Green bell pepper/Capsicum – 2 large Onion – 1 no Green chillies -2 big Garlic -2 cloves Tamarind- lemon sized Salt- to taste Seasonings Mustard seeds -1/2 tsp Split urad dal- ½ tsp Curry leaves –few Hing –pinch

 Method

1. Wash and cut the green pepper into small pieces and keep them aside. Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a pan. Add dry red chillies, asafoetida, chopped onions and garlic.

2. Sauté till onions turn translucent. Add chopped capsicum along with salt. , tamarind to golden brown and transfer them to the mixer grinder. 

3. Add required amount of salt and pinch of sugar to the chutney and mix it well.

4. Do the tempering process in the pan and pour them over the chutney and mix well

Serve with

Idli, Carrot Dosa, Roti

Notes

Red chillies can also be used instead of green chillies.

Capsicum recipes,Capsicum chutney recipes,Indian food recipes,South indian food recipes, Chutney varieties.

Drumstick leaves(Murungai Ilai) Adai

Adai is my dad’s favorite tiffin. Always my mom used to used it when I was a kid. So now days I try to make this on every weekends. This adai is very tasty when you use some extra oil and cook it on low flame. This goes very well with sambar and chutney. I love to have it as it is because adai itself has red chilly in it. This also has coconut pieces which gives a nice crunch when you bite into it. This is a great way of sneaking drumstick leaves in the menu. Not only this taste good, but also it is protein and iron rich breakfast one of the best dosas I have ever made and tasted is Adai which is full of protein packed. Makes a very nutritious, filling breakfast for kids.

Prep time	Cook time	Serves
2 ½ hours	15 mins	3 persons

 

Cuisine:  South Indian (Tiffin)

Ingredients Par boiled Rice -1 cup Toor dal -1/2 cup Channa dal -1/4 cup Urad dal –fistful Moong dal –fistful Dry red chilli flakes -6 Fennel seeds -2 tsp Salt –to taste Grated coconut -2 tbsp. (Optional) Drumstick leaves -1 ½ cup Chopped onion- -1 cup Hing –pinch Chopped Ginger -few

 

Method

1.Soak the rice and dal together with dry red chilly and fennel seeds for about 2 hours.

 

2. After 2 hours mix them well in a large mixing bowl and then add salt and hing to it.

 

3. Add the cleaned drumstick leaves and mix well. This batter needs no fermentation.

 

4. Heat a tawa and spread a ladle full of batter into a disc. Drizzle oil along the edges. Drizzle some more oil to the edges

5. Go on flipping at regular intervals until the adai is crispy.

6. After both sides are cooked remove it from tawa.

Notes

No need for fermentation

Some of them prefer to add methi seeds .It’s just optional.

Serve with

Coconut chutney,Peanut chutney,Drumstick Sambar,Aviyal

Technorati Tags: Adai recipes,Murungai illa recipes,Keerai recipes,Drumstick leaves Adai recipes,Murungai keerai recipes,South indian food recipes,Indian food recipes,Tamil nadu recipes.

Ginger Mint Lemonade

Ginger mint lemonade is best for summer seasons .It really helps in digestion after a heavy meal. Roll the lemons with the palm of your hand before cutting and squeezing them. This helps them release their juice. When peeling the ginger, a great tip to remember is to simply use the tip of a spoon to easily scrape off the peel.

Prep time	Cook time	Serves
10 mins	15 mins	4 persons

 

Cuisine:  South Indian (Beverage)

Ingredients Fresh mint leaves -1/2 cup Chopped fresh ginger -1/3 cup Honey -1/4 cup Boiling water -2 cups Fresh lemon juice -1/3 cup Cold water -1 ½ cups

 

Method                                  

1. Combine chopped mint, ginger, and honey in medium bowl.

2. Add boiling water and let it boil for some time . Strain  by pressing the solids .

3. Fill glasses with ice cubes. Add the lemonade which is garnished mint leaves and lemon slices and serve.

Notes

Can also be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate

Served as

Drinks ,Party Drinks

Technorati Tags: Ginger recipes,Mint recipes,Ginger mint lemoande,Lemonade recipes,Drinks recipes,Beverages.

Ribbon Pakoda(Nada Thenkuzhal)–Diwali recipes

Ribbon Pakoda or Ola Pakoda is a popular savory snack in India. The main ingredients are rice flour and gram flour (besan). It is festive season in India, Diwali time. Each and every one will start preparing sweets and snacks for this Diwali festival. Today I am going to post the recipe for Ribbon Pakoda. This pakoda is delicious and serves as a fine evening snack with coffee or tea. For festivals like Diwali too, this crunchy and tasty item is made. Some of the other names for this food are ola pakoda and nada thenkuzhal. The word 'ribbon' as a part of the name of this food is perhaps because of the shape of the snack that somewhat resembles the ribbon.

Prep time	Cook time	Storage
10 mins	30 mins	2 weeks

 

Cuisine:  South Indian (Festive Savory)

Ingredients Rice flour -2 cups Besan flour -1 cup Red chili powder -1 tsp Ajwain -1/8 tsp Hing -2 pinches Turmeric powder -1/8 tsp Sesame seeds -1 tsp Butter -1 tbsp Salt – to taste Oil- for deep frying

 

Method               

1. Mix rice flour, besan, red chili powder, ajwain, turmeric, sesame seeds and Make sure butter is at room temperature so that it is easily mixed with the flour.Add butter to the mixture. Add water and gently knead it into a soft dough. It should not be loose. You should be able to press it with the mould easily.

2. Put 1 hand full of dough into a press, and close the press with ribbon pakoda mould. When the oil is hot, press the chakli press in a circular motion directly on top of the oil, so the raw ribbon falls directly into the oil.

 

3. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Turn and cook both the sides till it becomes golden brown.

Remove from heat and keep it on a paper towel to get rid off the excess oil.

4. Deep fry the ribbon padoka in low flame till it is crisp. Ribbon pakoda / ola pakoda / nada thenkuzhal is ready.

 

Notes

Fry on low flame for the last few minutes to retain the crispness for a longer time.

Technorati Tags: Ribbon Pakoda,Diwali recipes,Snack recipes,Festival recipes,South indian snacks,Indian food recipes,South indian recipes,Ola pakoda,Nada thenkuzhal.

Sathu Maavu Urundai (Heath Mix Ladoo)–Navarathri Recipes(Day 9)

Nineth Day of Navarathri -Sathu Maavu Urundai(Health mix Ladoo)

 

This is a very healthy snack that can be prepared within a minute or two. When I was a kid, my grandmother used to make this for me using just the sprouted and roasted Ragi flour. But nowadays you get many health mix (Sathu maavu) readily available in the stores. The Health mix is basically a powder made from sprouted and roasted multi grains and nuts flavoured with cardamom. I generally use the Manna brand of Health mix which is readily available in powder form, from the Indian stores. Alternately you may also make the Health mix at home for which I shall post the recipe soon. These ladoos are very yummy to taste and its healthy too.Here we move onto the recipe

Prep time	Serves
20 mins	5 persons

 

Cuisine: South Indian (Kids Snack and Festive Sweet)

Ingredients Mannas health mix powder -2 cup Ragi Flour – 1 cup Jaggery -1  cup Karupatti -1 ½ cup Ghee –1/4 cup Sliced almonds -handful Broken Cashews -3 tbsp Cardamom powder -1 tsp

 

Method

 

1. Dry roast the Heath mix powder separately in a kadai or pan and keep stirring till the raw smell goes off.

 

2. Dry roast the ragi flour in the same  pan after roasting the health mix.In a small pan,add ghee and roast the nuts.

 

3. Boil jaggery and karupatti with little water,filter it and pour the syrup to the health mix.With your hands crumble the nmisture.

 

4. Take all the flours in the broad vessel and mix it with the ladle and pour the nuts along with the ghee.Crumble once again with your fingers.

 

5. Heat ghee and add them to the powder little by little and make small balls immediately.

 

6. Sathu maavu urundai is ready to taste.

 

Notes

 

Use only ghee for this recipe .For people who don’t like the taste of jaggery and karupatti,mix sugar and the sieved powder in a bowl along with honey.(Optional)

Technorati Tags: Sathu Maavu urundai,Healthy recipes,Health mix powder recipes,Ladoo recipes,Healthy mix powder ladoo,Navarathri recipes,Festive sweet recipes,South Indian food recipes,Indian food recipes.