Minestrone Soup

This soup has become a household favorite since quite sometime now. It has all the nutrients needed for a balanced meal. It is not necessary to use all the vegetables listed in the recipe; which ever vegetables available on hand can be used to make this soup.

Ingredients
Vegetables (choose from carrot, potato, cauliflower, beans, peas, corn, spinach)
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon Maggi tomato ketchup or any other ketchup
2 tomatoes
5 tablespoon chopped coriander (cilantro) or chopped parsley (whichever desired)
1/2 cup cooked pasta (I use whole wheat pasta)
1/2 cup garbanzo beans or kabuli chana (or any other beans desired) soaked for 5-6 hours in water
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
parmesan cheese (optional)
salt for taste
1 teaspoon oil

Method

Chop all the vegetables, onion, tomatoes and celery. Heat a teaspoon of oil and fry the onion and celery for 4-5 minutes. Add the rest of the vegetables and 2-3 cups of water and cook for 30-40 minutes till the vegetables and garbanzo beans are soft. Add the tomato paste and ketchup, pasta, parsley, chili powder. Get the soup to a boil till the tomato paste has integrated well in the soup. Add salt for taste. To serve, keep a slice of bread (preferably hard crust bread baked in oven for 10-15 minutes) in a bowl. Pour the soup into the bowl and top it with parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Peanut Chutney

Peanut chutney is one of the recipes my mom gave me. It is easy to make and goes well with bread sandwich or roti. It lasts for about a month. I am re-posting it and sending it for Let's GO NUTS! event. Here is the recipe.


Ingredients
1 cup peanuts
6-7 byadgi chilies or kashmiri chilies or any other red chili
1/2 teaspoon heeng or asafoetida
3 garlic cloves (optional)
salt for taste


Method
Roast the peanuts and garlic cloves for 10 -15 minutes on medium flame. The garlic cloves should be light brown in color. Cool it down and coarsely grind it with salt, chilies and asafoetida. Store it in a cool and dry container.

Egg Bhurji / Indian Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 medium onion
1 tomato
1/2 capsicum (optional)
3 tablespoon coriander leaves
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 green chilies
salt for taste

Method
Chop the onions, capsicum and tomato finely. Heat oil in a pan. Add turmeric powder and fry for a second. Add finely chopped green chillies. Add the chopped onions and chopped capsicum and fry it till light brown. Add the tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes are soft. Beat the eggs for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs to the pan and stir it well. Add coriander leaves and salt for taste. Stir well till the egg is cooked well and scrambled. Serve hot with roti.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2

Makai Ki Roti

I and my husband love the makai ki roti and saag served at Chaat Paradise in Mountain View. I am always fascinated by the way the cooks make batches of makai ki roti in no time. I make saag, which we usually have with roti. So for a change I decided to buy whole corn flour and try to make makai ki roti. The procedure is very similar to jowar or bajra roti. The makai ki roti turned out to be delicious and I think it will be one of our favorite winter dishes in the years to come. I am sending this recipe to FIC - January event contest.

Ingredients
3 cups yellow corn flour (makai ka atta)
1/2 teaspoon salt
hot water
oil for frying
butter

Method
Mix the salt and the corn flour. Heat the water till it is lukewarm and add the corn flour to form a dough. It won't be stiff like roti dough.


Keep aside for 10 minutes. Now keep a round portion of the dough between two "oiled" plastic sheets and press it or roll it with a pastry pin to make roti.


Remove the upper plastic sheet and gently slide the roti from the lower platic sheet on to a oiled tava or skillet. Cook till brown on both sides. Apply butter on both sides of the roti and serve hot with sarson ka saag.

Cherry Tomatoes - Click Red

When I saw the click red event on Jugalbandi, I decided to send in entry with cherry tomatoes as the theme. Cherry Tomatoes makes good salad food and I also use them on regular basis in various soups. This above photo goes to the Click-Red event hosted by Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi.

Sukhi Gobi Sabzi

We had a very warm winter in the Bay Area this year. It did rain a lot, but it wasn't very cold like the previous years. In the farmer's markets and the grocery stores lay huge heaps of cauliflower -both the baby version and the big headed cauliflower. I take full advantage of the availability of the white crowned vegetable and usually buy 1 or two heads. The baby cauliflowers are great for baking as a whole in dishes like gobi mussalum. Pakodas or bhajiya's made with cauliflower are a lovely treat with a cup of hot tea or coffee.

Sukhi gobi sabzi is a great recipe to make on a winter day when the feeling to be a little lazy and relax is heightened than that the other normal sunny days. We also crave for something spicy and tangy; my husband's daily suggestion "Let go out and eat chat" almost tempts me to agree with him. Finally I decide to make something tangy to satisfy the chaat craving and healthy at the same time. Sukhi gobi subzi is a dish perfect solution in such a situation and goes well with chappati or dal chawal.

Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower head
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin or jeera seeds
3/4 teaspoon amchur powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method

Wash the cauliflower and cut the florets into large chunks. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Saute for a minute. Add turmeric powder and chili powder. Add the cauliflower florets and saute well. Sprinkle hand full of water if the masala burns at the bottom of the pan. Cook covered for 8-10 minutes. Add garam masala and amchur. Cook for another 5 minutes. Salt the vegetable as per taste. Cook uncovered till the cauliflower is soft but should be crunchy at the same time. The cauliflower should not be cooked till it is mushy. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2-3