Pumpkin & Broccoli Soup

Pumpkin is quite similar to gourds in its appearance and is believed to have originated in North America. Eating pumpkin has many benefits, to start with its low in calories, good source of fiber,protein,zinc and other vitamins. There are many dishes based on pumpkin ranging from soups to snacks to desserts....

Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family and closely related to cauliflower. Broccoli is rich in vitamin C and is a good non-dairy source of Calcium. Broccoli can be eaten boiled, steamed or stir fried.

My son doesn't like eating pumpkin & broccoli so i thought of preparing soup using it. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Pumpkin - 1 cup peeled and diced
Broccoli - 1/2 cup florets
Carrots - 1/4 cup diced
Tomato - 1 medium diced
ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Butter 1 tsp
salt to taste
black paper powder to taste

- In a pan add 2 cups of water and boil all the vegetables for 10 mins or untill veges get tender.
- Drain water and keep it aside, let the veges cool for 5 mins then blend it.
- Heat a pan, add butter, ginger garlic paste and saute for a min.
- Then pour in the blended vegetable stock and bring it boil.
- Add salt,black paper powder,lemon juice.

Reduce the heat to low and cover, cook it for 5 mins.
- Serve hot.

Khandavi

Khandvi is a gujarati snack. It can be made quickly using ingredients: gram flour, buttermilk and seasoned with mustard seeds,curry leaves. You can serve it with any chutney or u can have it on its own.


Ingredients :
Gram flour 1 cup
Buttermilk 2 cups
Asafoetida (hing) 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
salt to taste

Seasoning:
Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp
Green chillies 2
sesame seeds 1 tsp
curry leaves
oil 1 tbsp

Mix gram flour, turmeric powder, salt and hing in a pan, now pour buttermilk into it and stir it well.
Keep this batter on medium flame for 5 minutes and stir continuously to avoid lumps. Stir it till a paste like consistency appears.
Now spread this mixture as thin as possible on a greasy plate and leave it to cool.
After 2-3 mins cut it into stripes and roll the stripes.
Now heat oil in a pan for seasoning. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, chillies. Immidiately spread this seasoning on rolls.
Garnish it wilth coriander leaves and sesame seeds.
Khandvi is ready to eat.


Khandvi can be prepared in microwave also and steps are:

Mix besan, buttermilk,salt and hing in a pan.
Put this mixture in the microwave for 5 mins.
Take it out and mix well again put into microwave for 2 mins.
Mix it well and put into microwave again for 2 more mins.
Now spread on greased plate and let it cool.
Then make rolls and do the seasoning.

Oatmeal Cookies

Cookie is a small, flat-baked treat, containing milk, flour, eggs, sugar, chocolate, butter, peanut butter, nuts or dried fruits etc. The softness of the cookie may depend on how long it is baked.
This recipe of cookie is eggless and it includes oatmeals which are very healthy and good source of fiber.

Ingredients:

160 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
120 gm butter
120 gm ghee
150 gm castor sugar
2 tablespoons of ginger juice
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon golden syrup
220 gm quick cooking oats
80 gm mini choc chips
40 gm sesame seeds

Method:

- Sieve the first 3 ingredients together.
- Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Mix ginger juice, bicarbonate of soda and golden syrup in a very small bowl, add it to beaten butter and sugar and then combine it well.
- Add in the rest of ingredients and combine well to form a soft dough.
- Now preheat oven to 180 degrees.
- Shape into cherry sized balls and place on greased baking tray.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool it before storing in a container.

Mouthwatering Pizza recipe from scratch

For the dough:

2 cups plain flour
1 sachet yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tspoon sugar
1/2 tspoon salt
1 tspoon olive oil

For sauce:

1 tspoon oil
1 onion
1 tspoon ginger-garlic paste
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato sauce
salt,red chilli powder and oregano

For toppings:

chopped mushrooms, capsicum, tomatoes.

Step by step recipe in detail with pics:

• Put plain flour in a bowl and add oil and salt into it.
• Mix the yeast with sugar and lukewarm water and stir, keep it for 10 minutes until it develops a nice foam on top.
• Now add the yeast to flour.
• Mix with your hands and knead until you have a smooth dough.
• Cover the dough with wet dish towel and keep it aside for 1 hour.

• Meanwhile prepare sauce for the pizza and for that take one pan, put some oil. add ginger-garlic paste,greated onions(or u can boil onion and grind it) and fry it for 5 mins. Then add tomato puree,salt,red chilli powder and oregano and let it cool down.
• dough after 1 hour
  
• 

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
• Take 1/2 portion of the dough and spread it out in to pizza pan with your fingers. and bake it for 2-3 mins.
• Then spread pizza sauce over it and put on your favourite toppings and at the last put greated cheddar cheese.
• Put into oven for 10 mins, mouthwatering pizza is ready to eat.

Vegetable Biryani

Biryani makes a great meal any day. The aroma of basmati rice and all the spices makes it a wonderful dish for any occasion. Its very healthy as it has all the vegs required and takes very ltl effort to prepare. I prepare different types of rice dishes at least once in a week.

This is my dear hubby's absolute favourite biryani recipe. Though this one is quite labourious and the ingredient list is long, the results are well worth.

This dish constitues two colours of rice. This two rice are prepared separetely and mixed
at the end.


Ingredients:
Mixed rice 1 cup
(white rice mixed with small quantity of brown rice)
Basmati rice 1 cup
spinach 1 cup (washed and grinded)
Onions 2
ginger garlic paste 1 tspoon

Carrots 1/2 cup cut into small pieces
Beans 1/2 cup
potato 1 small
green peas
couliflower 1/4 cup
yogurt 2 tspoon
bay leaf,cloves
salt,red chilli powder,garam masala acc to taste
cashew nuts,raisins,ghee

• First boil mixed rice as u do for the nomal plan rice.
• In a separate pan prepare thegreen rice. For that blend the spinach leaves and put it in the pan. Then add washed basmati rice and cook it.
• Meanwhile heat oil in the frying pan, add bay leaf,cloves,onions,ginger garlic paste.
  Fry till the colour of onions gets pink.
  
• Now Add yogurt and all the chopped veges, salt,chilli powder,garam masala and stir it well.
  Cook the veges for 10 mins.
  
• Next add both the cooked rice one by one and mix it well.
• Lastly garnish it with fried cashew nuts and raisins.
• Serve it with raita.
  

Stuffed Bitter gourd (Bharwa Karela) Recipe

Bitter gourd is a tropical vegetable, which is cultivated mainly in the Asian and African countries. It is also known by the name of ‘Karela’ and has a rough, warty skin. As the name suggests, the vegetable is bitter in taste and has a skin that is dark green in color. Bitter gourd has been found to have great medicinal value. In fact, it is said to have antidotal, antipyretic tonic, appetizing, stomachic, antibilious and laxative properties. This is the main reason why the vegetable is used in a number of native medicines of Asia and Africa.

Nutrition Benefits of Eating Bitter Gourd

• Bitter gourd has been associated with lowering sugar levels in people suffering from diabetes. You can make fresh juice with 1 bitter gourd, 1 cucumber and 1 tomato. Drink it every morning.
  
• Bitter gourd is said to be helpful in fighting against cancer and a number of infections.
• Bitter gourd has been known to provide relief from constipation and is also effective in the treatment of psoriasis.
• Bitter gourd helps in improving circulation and in turn, generates slimming effects on the body.
• Regular consumption of bitter gourd has been associated with prevention as well as treatment of hypertension.
• Bitter gourd is believed to be helpful in preventing eye complications, apart from treating neuritis.
• The juice of the leaf of bitter gourd plant has been found to be beneficial in the treatment of alcoholism.
• The essential vitamins and minerals present in bitter gourd help in treating defective metabolism of carbohydrates.
• The bitter tonic properties of bitter gourd have made it effective as a blood purifier.
• Fresh juice of bitter gourd is good for patients suffering from piles.

Here goes simple recipe for Stuffed Bitter gourd:

Karela (Bitter gourd) 5
Ginger garlic paste 1 teaspoon
Tomato 1
Gram flour 1 tablespoon
Red chilli powder, salt, sugar, dried mango powder, garam masala according to taste


Wash karela, scrape the skin with knife. cut a slit vertically in to the belly of the karela. Rub salt inside the skin and set aside for half an hour. During this time u can preapare stuffing.

For stuffing take one pan, put 1tbspn oil,ginger garlic paste, gram flour stil well untill golden brown, now add tomato. Mix salt,red chilli powder,coriander powder,turmeric powder,garam masala,dry mango powder,very ltl sugar, saute for 5 mins.

After that wash karela properly 3-4 times. Then deep fry whole karelas for 5 mins.

Now fill karelas with this stuffing. In a pan put 1/2 tspoon oil, stuffed karelas and cook it for 5 mins.
Stuffed bitter gourd is ready to eat with chapati.