Spinach Soup!

This cold weather calls for comforting, hot cups of soups and the one I prefer to make is this easy Spinach Soup.  The ingredients are very few but you won't compromise on the taste. Do not be put off by the number of steps, the process is very straightforward :)

Spinach: 1 big bag (family pack) or maybe a couple of bunches of Palak
Chestnut Mushrooms: about 10-12
Onion: 1/4th of an onion (sliced or chopped.)  yes, a quarter of an onion.
Garlic: 2 pods, crushed and chopped.
Stock Cube: 1
Water: 500 mls or more to adjust the consistency
Salt, pepper: to taste
Cream: 50mls
Butter: 25gms
Olive Oil: 2 tbsp

-Take a big pot and heat a tbsp of oil+ half of the butter.
-Put the water to heat up or switch the kettle on.
-While still warming, add the garlic and let the butter heat up. This imparts flavour to the dish.
-When it is hot and the garlic has cooked, add the onion and cook until it turns pale. do not brown it!
-If you prefer, you can add 2-3 roughly cut up mushrooms at this stage.
-Now when the onions are done you can add the crushed stock cube and the whole bag of spinach leaves.
-Cover and let the spinach wilt. About 2 mins. Turn them once or twice.
- When wilted, pour in some water to almost cover the spinach and season with salt and pepper and boil.
-Take it off the stove and blend with a hand blender or cool and blend in a mixer.
-Put it back on heat and let it almost come to a boil. Pour the cream and reduce the heat and let it simmer.
-When heated through, season a final time with pepper and take it off the stove.
-For added flavour, you can heat the butter and saute the remaining mushrooms until brown and add to the soup.

People who don't like mushrooms can add some croutons/fried cubes of bread for a nice crunch.

Serve this piping hot with a nice bread and this will be the best dinner for a cold cold night.

Gajar Ka Halwa

What do you do when you get scrummy red, plump, fresh, Indian carrots? Make halwa of course! It helps that it is not too tough and yummy to boot. You can make it with regular carrots as well. But you will have an orange coloured halwa. Bleh!

Carrots, scrubbed, peeled and grated medium on a machine/box grater: 2 cups
Milk (preferably, full fat) : 2 cups
Sugar: 1/4 cup
Almonds, Cashew for garnish: 2 tbsp each
Cardamom powder: a pinch or two (personal preference)
Ghee: 5 tbsp

-Heat a thick bottomed pan with a couple of tsp of Ghee and roast the nuts and keep them aside.
-To this ghee, now add the carrots and stir fry for 7-8 minutes until soft and colour has changed
-Now, add the milk to  the carrot and keep stirring occasionally and cook on a medium heat.
-Wait until the mixture is almost dry and this takes about 30 -40 minutes.
-Now, add the sugar. This will make the mixture wet. Keep stirring and pour a few spoons of ghee as you stir on.
-Now add the cardamom powder and mix and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
-Serve hot on a cold winter's day.

This Halwa is not very sweet and you can increase the sugar if desired.

Pancakes: Eggless!!

This is the easiest, tastiest and the best pancake recipe ever!!! Thanks to a dear friend for sharing this one with me! Most eggless pancake recipes call for buttermilk and I am didn't want to a) buy it or b) look for a substitute. This recipe is simply perfect for me!

All Purpose/Plain flour: 1 cup
Sugar: 1 tsp
Salt: a pinch
Cinnamon: 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder: 1.5 tsp
Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp
Milk: 1 cup
Oil/Melted Butter: 2 tbsp
Vanilla Extract: 1 tsp

• Mix together the dry ingredients. The best thing to do is to sieve them together.
• In a separate bowl/jug mix together the milk, oil and vanilla.
• Pour this into the flour mix and stir to combine. Please be kind to the batter and don't whisk it to within an inch of its life! Lumps are OK. Gentle stirring will do fine!
• Now heat a pan, spray it with oil and pour a ladleful of batter onto the pan. When you see bubbles on top, flip them and cook for a minute more. Do not squish them down like you do with Dosa!! 
• Remove them to a plate, butter them, drizzle some honey/maple syrup and top with fruits if you'd like to. Makes a perfect Sunday breakfast! 

[The above measurement gives me about 6 medium pancakes. ]

Tawa Chole or Chickpea Stirfry

Making chole the traditional way is usually a long, drawn out process. Today, I was short on time and had some store bought naans handy and made this easy but yummy chickpea dish!

Chickpeas/Chole (cooked): 2 cups
Salt: To Taste
Chana masala (store bought) : 2 tablespoons
Garam Masala: 1 tablespoon
Coriander Powder:  1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1/2 tsp
Paprika/hot chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Pomegranate seed powder (optional) : 1 tsp 
----
Ginger, Julienned/cut into thin strips: 1 inch piece
Green Chilli, sliced thin : 1 (optional)
Tomato, chopped: 1 medium

Corriander leaves: to garnish
----
Ghee/clarified butter: 4 tablespoons ( I used only about 2, but 4 would be ideal!!)
Ajwain/Carom seeds: 1 tsp (optional)

• If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse the peas. Remove all excess water and place it in a bowl. 
• To this, add all the powders listed in the first part and mix well to combine.
• You will need 2 pans for this. In a larger pan, place the chickpeas and in a smaller one, heat the ghee until it almost smokes. 
• While the ghee is heating, add the chilli, tomato, ginger to the chole and mix. 
• When the ghee starts smoking, add the ajwain (if using) and pour it immediately to the chole.
• Mix well, and let the chole cook in the ghee and spices for about 4-5 minutes. 
• Garnish with corriander leaves when done, and serve it hot with naans/rotis/pita.

How easy what that? 

The most addictive Granola!!!

I love Granola and hate the ones we get in the store! I set about attempting to make my own, and this is the best version I have had so far!

Rolled Oats (NOT instant/quick cooking) : 3 cups [I used Scott's Porage]
Chopped Almonds: 1/2 cup
Chopped Hazelnuts: 1/3 cup
Cinnamon Powder: 1/2 tsp
Almond Essence: 1/2 tsp
Vanilla Extract: 1/2 tsp
Oil: 1/4 cup
Maple Syrup: 1/3 Cup (get good quality American ones if you can!)
Brown Sugar : 1/4 - 1/2 cup (depending on sweetness required.)
Coconut: 2-3 tablespoons (optional)
Raisins/Cranberries/Dried Cherries/Dates: Any mix of your choice: 1/2 cup (optional) save it for the last

-Pre-heat your oven to 165
-Grease and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
-In a big bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except the dried fruits.
-In a saucepan, mix the maplesyrup, sugar, oil and heat until the sugar is dissolved. Takes about 3 mins.
-Mix this liquid with the oat mixture and stir well to combine.
-The mix will be clumpy and heavy. This is how we want it.
-Stir to coat the oats evenly.
-Spread this onto the baking sheet and level it.
-Bake it for 30-35 mins, stirring and mixing every 5-10 minutes.
-at about 25 minutes, add the dried fruit (if using) and bake.
-Cool, store in an airtight can and it lasts for upto a month!

Indian-ish Pasta!

I have an issue with buying pasta sauces. I need half a bottle, the other half stays in the fridge and I forget about it! The next time I pull it out, it is all mouldy and gone. I would go out and get another one and the story repeats itself! This time I had no sauce at hand and it was too cold to go out and get it. So here goes:

Pasta : 1 Cup (preferably, penne or fusili)
Onions: 2 medium sliced
Garlic: 3-4 pods, crushed and chopped
Jeera: 1/2 tsp
Olive Oil: 2-3 tbsp
Carrot, shredded: 1 (check recipe for a tip)
Capsicum: shredded: 1/2
Tomato: 1 large
Tomato Puree: 1-1.5 tsp
Jeera powder: 1tsp
Corriander powder: 1tsp
Chilli Powder: 1/2 tsp (fix it to your desired spice level)
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Corriander leaves: To garnish
Chilli, Tomato pesto: 1 tbsp (OPTIONAL)

- Boil the pasta, drain and keep it aside.
-To shred the carrot, peel them. Put the carrot down on a chopping board and continue peeling into strips. Don't worry about uniform size. Finally, put the strips together and shred as thin as you can. Takes no more than 2 minutes.
-Heat oil, crackle jeera, add garlic and onions and saute until brown.
-Now add the veggies and masala until the carrots are soft and tender. About 3-4 minutes.
- Add the sliced tomato and cook until soft.
-Now mix in the puree and cook for a minute or so.
-Adjust salt and add the pasta and stir well to combine and garnish with corriander.
-I prefer adding the Chilli, tomato pesto because it adds a nutty flavour and makes it richer!

Dry Fruits Laddu

This is a diet-friendly and diabetic-friendly laddo. Thanks to Jayashree Iyer for this awesome recipe!!!

Yield: about 8 laddoos.

INGREDIENTS

Ghee: 1/4 tsp
Dates: 12-14, cleaned, de-seeded and chopped.
Mixed nuts and raisins (unsalted) : a small handful.
   I used Cashew, Walnuts, Pista and Raisins.  You can also add dried figs, if you can get hold of some.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan, add the ghee and then the dates.
Keep Stirring and cook until it is mushy and coming together.
Now, add the mixed nuts and raisins and combine well.
Stir for a minute or so.
Now, remove to a bowl, allow to cool and make it into balls.
For Flavouring: you can add cardamom powder. Since I don't like it, I added Saffron and it tastes lovely!