Healthy Soya Pulao

Soya or textured soy protein is a  very important source of protein for a healthy body. I am a big fan of soya chunks and have a couple of recipes based off that.

In my latest dive into getting something quick and healthy for my family for dinner yesterday, I managed pretty good.









Ingredients :

For the Tadka

1. Cummin seeds - 2 tablespoons
2. Oil - 3-4 tablespoons
3. Hing - a pinch ( Asafoetida )
4. Cloves - 2-3 pieces
5. Black Cardamon - 2-3 pieces
6. Bay leaves - 2 medium sized

For the Pulao

1. Basmati Rice - 1 cup
2. Soya Nuggets - 1 cup ( Boiled in salt water)
3. Baby Spinach leaves ( Spinach leaves cut into small pieces is also OK ) - 2 cups
4. Cut vegetables of your choice - Carrots, beans, cauliflower etc. - I cup total
5. Corn - half a cup
6. Onion - 1 medium cut into small pieces
7. Tomato - 1 medium cut into small pieces ( Optional )
8. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 teaspoons
9. Kasuri Methi - a handful
10. Salt - to taste
11. Black Pepper corns - 10 pieces
12. Lemon Juice - 1 teaspoon
13. Garam Masala - 2 tablespoons
14. Coriander powder - 2.5 tablespoon
15. Red chili powder - 1 tablespoon
16. Biryani Masala - 1 tablespoon (Optional)

For the soya chunks

Preperation :

Boil water in a pan, put 2 teaspoons salt and put the soya chunks it the boiling water.

Let it cook for 15 min. Then drain out the water and rinse the soya chunks with cold water.

Then drain the remaining water and squeeze the chunks with your palm so that the excess water if any is removed.

 

Rice

Microwave recipe:

Take 1 cups of Basmati wash and wash it under running water. Then add 2 cups of water, Add half a teaspoon of salt to the water,  1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of oil. Microwave it for 15 minutes till the rice is properly cooked.
Slighly fluff the rice with a fork so that it does not stick together.

Add the 1 cup of washed rice in a pan & add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of oil. and fried cummin seeds. Add 1 bay leave for flavor. Then fill it up with 2 cups of wate. Add half a teaspoon of salt to the water, add the lemon juice and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 20 min on low flame. Do not stir in between.

When the water has evaporated from the rice we have our aromatic rice ready for more....Slighly fluff the rice with a fork so that it does not stick together.





For the pulao

Heat oil in a pan and add the cummin seeds and the hing into it, when it starts splattering add the cloves and black cardamon into it. Immediately add the cut onions and saute them till golden brown.

Add tomatoes and saute the mix for another 3-4 minutes.

when the oil starts leaving the edges of the mix, add some garam masala, Black pepper corns, Salt, coriander power and the red chili powder and mix it well. Saute the mix for another 3-4 minutes. Add the ginger Garlic paste now and str well.

Then add the Greens and the cut vegetables and saute on medium flame for 5 minutes.

Add the cooked rice and mix it well for about 4-5 minutes till all the dry gravy mix is evenly distributed with the rice. Add the Biryani Masala now and stir it well.

 

 

 

Sprinkle some lemon juice on the rice and Server it hot with boondi Raita...

 and pickle and enjoy the YUM flavorful healthy guiltless dinner / Lunch!

 

 

 

Paneer Hariyali

 

Paneer Hariyali : This is a super healthy entree, full of greens and loved by kids and grown-ups.
This is one of my personal favorites since it adds so much color to the dinner/lunch table. Its also interesting how you can experiment with the variations of the green color of the curry by putting in a variety of greens.
 




Ingredients:

From The Green World:

1. Fresh Dhania (Coriander ) leaves cut in small pieces - 1 bunch
2. Methi ( Fenugreek ) leaves - washed and cut 1 bunch
3. Palak ( Spinach ) leaves -washed and cut 1/2 bunch
4. Pudina ( Mint ) leaves - 6-7
5. Green peppers - 1 medium  diced very fine
6. Green Peas - 1 cup
7. 2 green chillies - diced

The regulars:

1. Onion - 2 medium diced
2. Tomato Cut in small cubes - 2 medium
3. Paneer ( Indian Cheese ) - 500 gms

Dry Masala:

1. Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
2. Cummin Powder - 2 teaspoons
3. Chili Powder - 1.5 teaspoon ( to taste)
4. Chat Masala - 1 teaspoon
5. Garam Masala - 1 teaspoon
6. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon
7. Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon ( ground )
8. Salt - to taste

Tadka:

1.  Oil - 3-4 tablespoons
2. Cummin seeds
3. Hing - a pich (astafotedia powder)

Optional ( if gravy is needed)

1. Cream - 1 cup
2. Milk - 1/2 cup

Wash and get the green leaves and the other ingredients ready as shown below.

 

 

 

 

Heat Oil in a skillet and put in the hing & cummin seeds till the seeds crackle. Now  saute the Onions and till they turn translucent and brown..

 

 

 

 

Then add the remaining greens.. you can add / modify this recipe to ad the greens of your choice and Paneer.Put the dry masala and stir well.  Now put the Ginger garlic paste and salt. Stir well. Cook on medium flame and keep stirring every 2 min so it does not stick in the base. Do this for 4-5 min till the curry paste mixes well with the paneer.

 

 

 

 

 
Cover it with a lid and on low flame cook for 2-3 min.

 

Server it hot with Chapati / Tandoori Rooti / Pooris.

 

For a gravy version, put 1 cup of cream and 1/2 cup of Milk(2%) and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes on medium flame.

 

 

 

Enjoy the awesome green delicacy.
Note : Sometimes you can also add grated celery with the greens to trick your children into eating a healthy dish.. I do that!! Just make sure that the quantity is not overpowering i.e. 1/4 cup or less.

To get a greener version : you can make a paste of the green leaves and use it.

Aloo Lahsuni ( Garlic Patatoes..)

 

 

Spicy n Hot ( or not! ) Aloo Lahsuni ( Garlic Potatoes )

 

 

 

With all the festivities of holidays going on around me how could I stop myself from blogging about one delicious recipe my husband experimented over a couple of days and has now mastered the skill. Don't caution yourself just by looking at the super spicy texture of these baby potatoes... It will be a taste to remember.. No doubt!!

 

A simple recipe with minimum ingredients and super quick is what everyone is looking for to make a good conversation starter!!

 

Ingredients:

1. Small Baby Potatoes - preferably in round shape  15 count
2. Peeled Garlic cloves - 15
3. Oil - 3 Tablespoons
4. Hing / Asafoetida powder - 1 pinch
5. Cumin seeds - 1 Teaspoon
6. Curry leaves - 5

Masala

1. Garam Masala - 2 teaspoons
2. Coriander powder - 3 tablespoons
3. Chaat masala or amchur powder - 1 tsp
4. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 1 tablespoon ( This is not so spicy compared to the regular red chili powder)
5. Salt - To Taste

Wash thoroughly the potatoes then pressure cook the potatoes to boil them.

 

Boil the potatoes in a Traditional Indian Pressure cooker and peel them. One good trick to peel hot boiled potatoes is to submerge them in cold water so that the skin leaves the potato body and it is easy to peel it off. Make sure that the potatoes are not too soft and crumble when you peel them.

 

 

 
 
Chop the Garlic into small pieces as shown below

 
In a flat base Skillet warm the oil and let the cumin seeds crackle. Put the curry leaves and the pinch of Hing and let the garlic pieces saute for 2-3 min. Then mix the remaining Masala Ingredients together and blend in together to get the spicy look.

 

Let the onions saute for 5-10 min till they are crispy on the outside. Stir until the oil separates from the potato masala.

 

Yummy comfort food ...finger snacks are served!!

                                                                  ENJOY the holidays!!!


 

Khao to Jano - Gawar ki Phali

 

Even if we have tried the most fascinating and delicious foods from around the globe, I have experienced that we still come back to our authentic classic food. Cluster beans or gawar (guar) ki phalli is one of the the low calorie, green vegetable widely consumed in North India

 

Ingredients:

 

We start with 1 lbs Gawar ki phalli - cut & washed as shown below.

 

For the Tadka :

• 3-4 Curry Leaves
• ½ Teaspoon Zeera ( Cumin seeds)
• 1 pinch asafetida (Commonly known as Hing)
• 3-4 garlic cloves - cut into small pieces
• 1 medium onion, cut into small pieces and saute till brown in the skillet on medium flame.

Vegetable oil - 3 Teaspoons
Masala:

• 2 Teaspoons coriander powder
• ½ Teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala powder
• ½ Teaspoon turmeric powder
• Salt - per your taste

1 Teaspoon mango powder (Amchoor) / Chat Masala Powder

 

Step : 1   We start with 1 lbs Gawar ki phalli - cut & washed as shown below. Now take one medium onion, cut into small pieces.	Step :2   Heat a skillet and add the vegetable oil and crackle the Curry leaves and the Hing.
Step : 3   Now add Cumin seeds, Garlic pieces and saute till garlic is golden brown. You can soon start getting the aroma of burnt garlic. Make sure that the garlic does not burn and turn red.	Step : 4   Now take one medium onion, cut into small pieces and saute till brown in the skillet on medium flame.
Step : 5 Let it simmer on low flame for 20-25 min ( can be pressure cooked with water just covering it for 3 whistles)	Step:6   Now put all the spices except the amchoor/chat masala and mix it well.
Step :7   Saute for another 5-10 minutes till the phalli is crisp.	Step:8  The yummy Gawar's are ready to eat!

Enjoy this dry entree with Poories or Chapati.

For making the gravy version :         Mix 2 teaspoons of Thick Yogurt (Curd) in 1½ cups of water and mix well. Add a picnh of salt to taste. Add a pinch of Turmeric. Now add 3 teablespoons of Besan and blend well.     Heat Oil in a pan, crackle with Curry leaves, mustard powder and hing. Add the liqiud mix and simmer in heat for 10min, Constantly keep stirring this so that curd does not break away into milk particles.     Now add the dry gawar from above and bring it to a boil and set aside for 5-10 min so that the gravy is absorved in the gawars.       Enjoy this entree with steamed Rice!

Nawabi Cutlet

Potato Cutlets are my all time favorite for evening snacks. I made some healthy twists to the recipe and would love to have you all try this...

Ingredients:

• Potato - 2 big boiled and peeled
• Green Peas - A handful
• Spinach - cut and washed 1/4 cup
• Coriander leaves - cut and washed 1/4 cup
• All purpose flour /  corn flour - 4-5 tablespoons
• Roasted Rava - 2 tablespoons
• Oil to Deep fry

Spices

• Garam Masala
• Azwain
• Sauf ( funnel seeds)
• Salt - to taste
• Red chili powder
• Kasuri methi leaves - 2 tablespoons
• Chat Masala - 1 teaspoon or fresh Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon
• Roasted Groundnuts broken into small pieces - 2 tablespoons



Process :

Take the Green peas, spinach and Coriander and mix them well with a blender / Mixer .

The paste should look somewhat like this. Love the green color

Take the boiled peeled potatoes and mash them.

Blend the mashed potatoes with the green mix, Add all the spices and mix well.

Carefully divide the mixture into equal parts and make patties as shown above.

Make the Roasted Rava and Batter of water and All purpose flour/ corn flour ready!

 Now dip the patties into the batter mix so that it gets coated with a layer of the batter.

Roll the patties into the Roasted Rava and set it aside to dry for 2-3 minutes

Don't they look inviting?

Heat oil in a pan to deep fry and when the oil is hot place the patties

Deep fry them till golden brown

Take them out and place on a Paper towel so that excess of the Oil is soaked.

Serve them hot with a chutney and hot steaming tea.
Make your evenings yummier than ever!