Whole Green Gram And Potato Curry

          Whole Green Gram also known as whole moong beans is even more nutritious than the split, husked moong dal since it has more fiber from the skin which is not removed. It finds its way in a variety of dishes in the Indian cuisine, from a simple dal to the delicious pesarattu ( a crepe made from ground moong beans). I always have a stock of it in my pantry, and it doesn't require any soaking. Whole green gram and potatoes go very well together, and the best part of today's dish, everything is done in one pot, the pressure pan, so less cleaning later. It goes well with both rice and rotis..

Need To Have

• Whole Green Gram - 1 cup
• Potatoes - 4 medium diced
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Tomato Puree - 5 tablespoons
• Chilli Powder - 1 + 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10

Method
          Wash the green gram. Heat some oil, add the mustard and the cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, reduce the heat, add the asafoetida, turmeric and chilli powders, mix and then add the curry leaves. Then add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato puree, saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Finally add the potatoes and the moong beans and 4 to 5 cups water, Cover and pressure cook it for 13 mins.Let the pressure settle down, remove and serve it with rotis, rice or even with plain bread.
Sending it to Cuisine Delights for the Spotlight - Curries/Gravies event.

Note
This dish gets all its flavors from the curry leaves and the chilli and turmeric powders added directly to the oil.
If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak the beans overnight and cook, it'll take less time to cook.
You can also saute some ginger and garlic along with the mustard and cumin seeds for more flavor.
Can cook the beans and potato first and then add the sauteed spices and tomatoes to it, mix and serve.

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Zucchini Stir Fry

          This is yet another simple yet tasty curry, anyone can make this, and zucchini being a vegetable that cooks faster and can be easily chopped, it's one of my favorite curry too. It goes very well with rotis, can use it as a filling for a sandwich or even as a side dish with rice and dal..

Need To Have

• Zucchinis - 6 medium ones
• Chilly Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 5 to 10 leaves

Method
          Chop the zucchini into 1" cubes. Heat some oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds, when they start spluttering, remove the pan from the stove and add the asafoetida, turmeric and chilli powder, give it a mix. Put it back on the stove and add the curry leaves and the zucchini. Mix well, cover and cook for 3 mins on medium heat. Then remove the lid and cook it on high for few more minutes till almost dry.

Note
Remove the pan from the stove when you add the powders or reduce the heat, you don't want to burn the powders.
You can also add 1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder and 1/4 teaspoon of cumin powder for more flavor.
Don't overcook the vegetable, it will become a mushy mess.

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Watermelonade

         Adding a little lemon juice to many fruit juices gives a nice taste to the juice, in fact it is way of increasing the sweetness of a juice without actually adding more sugar. But for today's watermelonade, I didn't add lemon juice to the watermelon juice, instead I added some frozen water melon cubes to the regular lemonade, this made it more interesting..

Need To Have 

• Watermelon Pieces - 1 cup
• Lemon -1 
• Sugar - as desired
• Water - 1 to 2 cups

Method
         Blend the watermelon pieces in a blender to get the juice, you can use this juice just like that or strain and use it. Pour the juice into ice cube trays and freeze them. Then squeeze the lemon juice, add the water and the sugar, mix well and chill it. To serve, pour the lemonade, top with the watermelon cubes, the dissolving watermelon cubes will start making the lemonade pink

Note
I didn't add any sugar to the watermelon cubes, it was sweet enough, if needed add some sugar.
Also you can add some ginger while blending the watermelon, this will give a nice kick to the drink.
Increase or decrease the amount of water for the lemonade, depending on the sourness of the lemon.

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Keksici sa komadicima cokolade

Jedno jutro nisam imala pomocnika u kuhinji pa sam ja pravila kolac za jutarnji caj/kavu.

Vrijeme je vec poodmaklo i najbrze mi je bilo spremiti ove keksice,ciji sam recept nasla u knjizi  kuhinje u kojoj radim.

Nisam imala uopce predosjecaj kakav ce okus imati jer umijesto maslaca korisila sam ulje i mijesajuci sve namirnice,stalno su mi komadici cokolade ispadali dok ja to nisam uhvatila rukama i propustila  kroz svoje prste :) ..bili su to fini prhki kolacici ali su imali neku prozracnost u tijestu,ne prtvrdi ali ni mekani.

Za 15 komada keksica vam je potrebno:

70gr smedeg secera
1 jaje

malo vanilinog extrakta
komadica cokolade
(ja sam stavila nepunu casu od 250ml)
1/2 case ulja
30gr kokosa
200gr brasna + 1 zlicica praska za pecivo

 U dublju zdjelu staviti secer ,vanilin extrakt i jaje i umutiti da posvijetli,postane kremasto.
Dodati ostale sastojke i izmijesajte rukom,tako se nabolje poveze smjesa.

Od dobivene smijese napraviti 15 kuglica,staviti ih na lim koji postavimo papirom za pecenje i malo pritisnemo  svaku guglicu odozgo..

Peci u predhodno zagrijanoj rerni na 200C oko 15 minuta.

*Mozda ce biti potrebno pogledati i ranije da se keksici ne prepeku,sve zavisi od rerne.

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Pasta-fazol

Jelo za sva godisnja doba.
Ljtni je njaljepsi jer su sve namirnice tako svjeze i daju bozansven okus jelu,no ako ste u zimskom periodu kao ja,tada se zadovoljite onim sta imate.
Meni se bas jelo nesto corbasto ali ne preteskog okusa,pa sam odlucila da napravim pasta -fazol sto  inace samo na poslu kuham i tamo se i najedem jer moji ukucani kuci pobiraju samo grah  a pastu ostave,sto se za divno cudo juce nije desilo,jeli su sve djuture nisu nista odvajali.
Pasta-fazol je meni u Slavoniji bilo nepojmljivo za jesti jer zna se kako se grah kuha sa puuuno mesa :) .

Prvi puta sam probala  ovo jelo u Puli kada smo imali na meniu/skolska nastava..tada sam zaista bila odusevljena  jer nisam osjetila tezinu  u zelucu,kao sto to bude  ako grah kuham sa dosta suhog mesa,onako kako sam naucena kod kuce.

Istra ima dosta utjecaja  Talijanske kuhinje,pa je tako nastalo i ovo jelo i kao sto sam pomenula,radim u Talijanskom  Domu za stare i oni obozavaju  pasta-fazol jer ja im i domaci kruh napravim i odusevljenje bude na nivou !!!!

       PASTA-FAZOL

1 casa(250ml) graha
Suhog ili svjezeg
ili
2 limenke od 400gr konzerviranog graha
maslinovo ulje -po potrebi
100gr pancete
1 stabljika celera
(gornji zeleni dio)
1 mrkva
2 cesnja cesnjaka
1 glavica luka
2 lovorova lista
persin
400gr paradajza
(konzerviran ,isjeckan)
oko 5 casa temeljca
150gr malih sitnoh makarona
   Ako se koristi suhi grah,treba ga preko noci namociti u vodu.
U serpu sipati malo maslinovog ulja i dodati isjeckanu pancetu,luk i cesnja..pustiti da luk zazuti a panceta pusti miris.
Dodati celer i mrkvu koju smo isjeckali na male kockice,mogu i vece ali ja volim ovako tako da se ne vidi puno povrce u jelu(djeca vide duplo!)

Dodati grah,lovor,paradajz i sipati temeljac,pokriti i kuhati na laganoj vatri,dok grah ne omeksa.
Ako volite da jelo bude gusto,tada izvadite malo graha i stapnim mixerom usitnite,pa vratite u serpu ili kao ja ..ostavite sve kako jeste ,samo dodati oko 100gr male paste(ditalini ili macaroni)i kada se pasta skuha ,meni je to dovoljno gusto i nista drugo ne dodajem,ni pest jer sam pancetu stavila na pocetku zajedno sa cesnjakom.

Jedino jos kod samog jela dodam malo maslinovog ulja ,samo za ukus..moze se narendati i malo sira ,po zelji !!

**Ako zelite ubrzati proces pripreme,tada koristite konzervirani grah,jelo ce biti isto tako ukusno a brze pripremljeno !!

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Vegan Orange Cranberry Cake

         The first time, I tried baking a vegan bake, it didn't come out well, was too dense to be called a cake. This was my second attempt, orange cranberry cake and was I satisfied, absolutely, it was the perfect cake, got the beautiful texture. Very simple to make, you can have it either as a simple tea cake or do some frosting and have it as a delicious dessert, whichever way, you'll be completely satisfied..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour - 1 + 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Dried Cranberries - 1/4 cup
• Fresh Orange Juice - 3/4 cup
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - 1/8 teaspoon

Method 
         Preheat the oven to 350F. Sift the flour with the baking powder and baking soda. Mix the cranberries with a little amount of the sifted flour ( so that they do not sink to the bottom of the cake while baking). Beat the orange juice, oil, vanilla extract and the sugar, to this add the salt and the sifted flour ( a little at a time) and mix well. Finally fold in the cranberries. Pour into a greased baking dish and bake it for 25 minutes. Cool and remove the cake. I used a square pan, sliced the cake and dusted some confectioners sugar on top.
Sending it to Tickling Palates for the I Love Baking event and
                to Daily Cuppa for Vardhini's Bake Fest event.

Note
Oven temperatures vary and also depending on the baking pan the baking time could vary, so keep an eye.
Cool the cake well before removing (I removed it before it cooled completely and a little bit of the cake(in the center) stuck to the pan.
You can place a paper stencil in the center of the cake and then dust the sugar to make it a little more prettier.

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Rice Kheer (Pudding)

          Rice kheer is one of the few Indian desserts that my daughter likes, she likes it the way it's done in a nearby Indian restaurant (back in the US). I had wanted to make this at home but had been putting it off, thinking that it would be a very time consuming task. But then, I made it for her, last month on her birthday, it came out very well and I was wrong, it was not at all difficult to make. I would definitely do this again and again..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 4 cups
• Sugar - 6 tablespoons
• Cardamom - 3 crushed

Method
          Wash and cook the basmati rice in the 4 cups of milk. Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and cook till the rice is cooked well, stirring in between so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the vessel. When the rice is cooked completely, mash it slightly and switch off the stove. Now, add the sugar and the cardamom powder and mix it well. Serve it chilled. See to that the final consistency is not too thick, add little more milk or some water if needed, so that it does not become a thick mass after you refrigerate it.

Note
You can use slightly broken rice for this, so you need not mash at the end.
Important, that you add the sugar after switching off the stove, otherwise, you will not get the pure white color, it will become a light cream color, if sugar gets cooked.
Use a heavy bottom vessel like a pressure pan.

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