5 Minute Fruit Punch

A few years ago my sister gave me this recipe that had ice cream added to it. I have changed this a bit and come up with what I call a fruit punch.It can be made with orange, pine apple, strawberry, mango or any other fruit you can get creative with. It is a crowd pleaser, my nephew and my niece love it and ask for it at the mention of the word "party".This is what I would call kicking up your soda a notch.

Gadgets:

Punch Bowl or a Huge mixing bowl
Mixing spoon or ladle
Measuring cups

Ingredients:The example fruit used is orange.

Fruit - 2 cups (tinned or fresh)
Fruit Juice - 2 cups (orange)
Fruit Soda - 1/2 bottle (Orange soda else use 7 up).
Fruit Sorbet - 1 pint (orange)
Regular Soda - 1/2 bottle
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

1. Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl and serve.

10 Minute Lotta's Sandwich

Reading Harvey Comics was something I enjoyed as a child. Little Lotta, little Dot and Richie Rich were fun. In these comics they always had pictures of Lotta enjoying food or thinking of food all the time. Last Saturday I was trying to make a simple sandwich. I did not think about Lotta then but when I plated it and took pictures of it I was reminded of her sandwich pictures.



Gadgets:

Cutting Board
Knife
Toaster

Ingredients:




Whole Wheat Bread - 4 slices
Avocado - 1 big
Tomatoes - 2 (Roma)
Shallots - 1 sliced thinly
Pepper
Salt

Preparation:

1. Toast the bread in a toaster.

2. Remove the skin on the Avocado and the seed and slice them.

3. Slice the tomatoes and the shallots.

4. When the bread is toasted place the avocado about 4 slices and add salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and the onions and add salt and pepper.

5. Place one slice of bread on top and again start building another set of sandwich.

6. Place one sandwich on top of the other and there you have a huge sandwich like the one Lotta used to enjoy.

20 Minutes Paneer Capsicum

I have been making this paneer dish since 2004 and everytime it has been served people love it and think its a very difficult dish to prepare.Please do not get intimidated by the list of ingredients. Its with ingredients from you pantry and super easy.My friends are really crazy about this dish and some of them modify it by frying the paneer while some others want it the exact way I make it.Another reason that I am adding this to my blog is because my husband's aunt wanted me to share the recipe with her and I decided to add it here for easy access any time.

Gadgets:

Wok
Cutting Board
Knife
Mixing Spoon
Plate
Lid for the Wok

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1 block that you can find in the Indian store. I always use non-nanak brand that I find in the Indian Store Ker in San Diego because the paneer is fresh and is able to absorbe the flovors well.If you can find only Nanak its ok to use it.

Bell Pepper -1 of (Red, Green, Yellow, Orange.If you do not have all the colors use what you can find it just the same. Its more for the color that I use than for anything else.

Garlic - 5 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Onion- 1 chopped
Tomato- 2
Green Chillis - 3 (slit lengthwise each into 4 peices)
Note:If you want to control the level of spice remove the seeds from the chillis and then use.
Cashew Nut - as much as you like (optional)
Cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped
Kasturi methi - for garnish 1 tbsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Pepper- 1/8th tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp (for more spice add more if u want)
Cumin powder- 1 tbsp
Corriander powder - 1tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Milk or fesh cream - 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee (clarified butter) - 1 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Heat the wok and add some ghee in it.When they are heated add the cashew nuts and roast them a little and remove them and keep them in a plate for later.
OPTION: You can add roasted cahews too if you have. Skip this step and then follow the recipe.

2. In the same wok add 1 tbsp oil and the green chillis to it and fry for 1 minute.Remove it and keep in the plate with the cashews.

3. Add the remaining oil to the Wok. When that heats up add freshly chopped ginger garlic or the paste, onions and cook with little salt until the onions are well cooked.

4. Add tomatoes to it and cook well until the tomatos are mushy.

5. Add the spices, cumin powder, corriander powder, chilli powder, pepper, tuemeric powder and cook well for 2 minutes.

6. Add the bell peppers that are been julliened and cook a little until you feel the rawness has gone. You dont want to over cook them and make them lose the crunch.

7. Add milk/cream and sugar to it and mix well.

8. Add the chopped paneer (either into cubes or long strips) and mixx it well with the above veggies.

9. Turn off the heat and cover the wok with the lid allowing the paneer to get cooked in the heat.

10. Open after 3 minutes and add cilantro and kasthuri methi to it and mix well. Check to see if it has enough salt.

11. Garnish with cashew nuts and green chillis.

12. Serve it with hot chapathi's or wonderful Naan(For those who want Naan try Trader Joe's Naan from the freezer section, they are pretty good)

Karadai for Nombu ( Festival Series)

This morning I made Karadai for the Nombu and turned out well. I love karadai and don't mind making it otherwise too. This recipe was handed down to me from my sister after I got married. It never fails and the end product is always perfect karadai's.This recipe makes 12 sweet and 12 salty karadai's.

Gadgets:

Rice cooker
Idli Plates
Sauce pan
Wok or heavy bottom pan - 2
Cutting Board
Knife
Measuring Cups
Paper towel
Bowl

Ingredients:

Orange Cream Biscuit (India Style)

Orange cream biscuit is one thing that my sisters love having with their tea. Its one of those biscuits that disappears easily when they are around. Indian store sells them and my sisters are its biggest customers. So I decided to make this for them during Christmas and pleasantly surprised that I came up with a product that had 100% the same taste minus the cream in between. Anyway, my verdict was not enough for me, I had to give it to the pros and ask them what they thought of it.They said it was even better without the cream because they can have more of it. All these results were great, what amazed me was I mailed these to my sister in Chicago after 18 days and she said that it was crunchy and fresh. That I thought was a true accomplishment and so fulfilling to me.

Gadgets:

Mixing bowl
Mixing spoon
Spatula
Baking trays
Parchment paper
Mixer
Knife
cling Wrap

Ingredients:

White/yellow cake mix (Duncan Hines)-1 box
Oil - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1 ( can also use egg substitute available at Hendry's in San Diego to make it egg less)
Orange Essence - a tsp or two (from Indian grocery store Ker in San Diego)

Preparation:

1. Mix the oil, butter,orange essence and egg with the mixer until they are well incorporated.

2. Remove the cake mix and pass it throw a sieve so as to make the mix airy.

3. Add this to the liquid mix and mix it on medium speed until they all come together and form a dough.Put the dough in a cling wrap and roll it to form a log. Cover them up well and put the dough into the fridge for 20 minutes.

4. Remove the dough when it is well set and chilled and slice it into cirlces about 24 and place them on the baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them at 350degrees for 12 minutes.

5. Important thing to do halfway through at about 6 minutes is to turn the trays around as that the front is in the back and the back is in the front for the cookie to be cooked evenly.

6. After 12 minutes allow it to cool and remove and store them in air tight container.

NOTE: If you use chocolate cake mix add 2 tbsp of water to this mix.

To add cream in between the biscuit mix equal quantities of powdered sugar, butter, orange essence, orange food coloring and make Sand witches of the biscuits.

20 Minutes Cup of Soup

This soup is something I experimented some time ago. Its very delicious, hearty and healthy. I did not know it was such a big hit with family and friends until they told me that they were not big fans of veggie soup but loved it.Its then I started to pay attention to what I added and tried to write down this recipe in my cook book.

Gadgets:

Stock pot or any heavy bottom pan
Cutting board
Knife
Sauce pan

Ingredients:

Onion - 1 medium size
Garlic - 4 cloves
Ginger - 1 inch
Potatoes - Pealed and cubed 1 1/2 cups
Carrots and peas mix - 1 cup
Frozen spinach - 1/2 cup
Celery- 1 stick chopped into small bits
Tomatoes or Tomato paste - 2 whole ones or 1 tbsp
Grains/Beans - 1/2 cup (rice, pasta,barley,couscous,any beans)
Veggie Stock - 2 cups ( from Trader Joe's )
Pasta Seasoning - a few shakes
All Purpose flour - 1 tbsp ( in case of allergies use rice flour or corn flour)
Pepper, basil, oregano
Salt
Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter - 1 tsp
Water - 1 cup

Preparation:

1.Add oil and butter in a pan, when butter melts add onion, garlic and ginger and cook them with a little bit of salt.

2.Add APF to this mix and cook for a few seconds on low heat.

3.Add tomato paste, veggie stock, vegetables, water and grains and cook until they are all well done.

4.Add pasta seasoning, pepper, basil, oregano and cumin powder etc as per taste and cook it for a few minutes and serve them hot with crackers, bread, garlic bread etc.

Biriyani Annapoorna Style

For years I have been trying to experiment and get my biriyani recipe right. I know there are many schools of thought on how a biriyani should look and taste, to me the one I used to eat at Annapoorna in Coimbatore is the best.I love the way they used to make a parcel in the banana leaf,then cover it with a news paper and when you bring it home, the flavor of the biriyani marriage with the banana leaf makes it "out of this world" to me. It is so nostalgic a dish and the best biriyani that I have ever tasted.I made this for my sister's birthday dinner and both of us agreed that I did get it right this time and it resembled Annapoorna's biriyani.I confess that I have incorporated parts of this recipe from my friend Geetha's biriyani recipe.



Gadgets:

Cutting Board
Knife
Heavy bottom Vessel to cook the rice
Bowl
Measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Sauce pan

Ingredients:

Basmathi rice - 3 cups
Water for rice - 3 3/4 cups
Onions (red)-3 normal size
Tomatoes (Roma) - 3
Mint - 1 bunch
Green chillis - 6 Slit into 2 and deseeded)
Cilantro - 1 bunch
Carrots and peas mix - 1 cup
Ginger- 2 inches finely minced
Garlic - 1 whole finely crushed or minced
Cumin powder - 4 tsp
Coriander powder - 8 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Cashew (roasted)- 1/2 cup chopped
Bread - 4 slices toasted well.
Bay leaves - 2
Cinnamon - 2 of 2 inch pieces
Cloves - 8
Elachi (black and green)- 4 slit in the middle
Oil - 3 tbsp ( please do add more if you are o.k with that more oil)
Curd or yogurt - 1 cup


Preparation:


1. Wash the rice 3 times and then soak it in 3 3/4 water for 30 minutes.

2. Cut the Onions lengthwise (Juline), tomatoes into chunks,garlic and ginger can be crushed or minced, Mint leaves washed, cilantro leaves roughly chopped and green chillis cut length wise and deseeded if you cannot take too much spice.

3. Add oil in the Heavy bottom vessel and add bay leaves, cloves, Cinnamon, elachi and after 10 seconds add garlic, ginger, onions and some salt and cook until the onions are well done.

4. Add mint leaves, carrot and peas mix and cook for some more time.

5. Once the carrot and peas are 1/2 cooked add chilli powder, turmeric,cumin powder and coriander powder and mix well and cook it for some more time.

6. Add 1 cup of curd or yogurt and cook it until the liquid disappears.

7. Add the rice and mix them well and coat them with the mix.

8. In the mean time boil the water that you had soaked the rice in 3 3/4 cups in a sauce pan and then add it to the rice and cook it on low flame.Add the tomatoes to it and mix it. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.

9. Toast 4 slices of bread and cut them into cubes. When the rice is done add it to the rice and mix them well.

10. Add cilantro and cashew nuts and serve hot with onion raita.

20 Minute Bread Upuma

Very tasty and snacky kind of tiffin that my sisters used to make at home. Basically if you had a lot of bread sitting in your fridge this is the best way to get rid of it. This is a mixture of Bread and veggies, which when served hot is very delicious and believe me it can disappear fast.

Gadgets:
Cutting Board
Knife
Wok
Toaster
Mixing spoon

Ingredients:

Bread - 1 Loaf cut into cubes
Veggies (Beans, Carrot, Onions, Peas, Bell Pepper, Cabbage, Cauliflower) 3 cups chopped.
Salt
Green chilli's - 2
Asifotita (optional)
Cilantro - 1/2 cup chopped
Roasted Nuts (peanuts or cashew nut)- as much as you like (optional)
Oil - 2 tbsp

Preparation:

1. Place the slices of bread in a toaster oven and broil it. It will get toasted on one side turn over the bread and toast it on the other side. This will take a few minutes to toast on either sides so please watch out.

2. When the bread is toasted cut them into cubes.

3. In a Wok on high add some oil. When that warms up add green chillis,asifotita and onions cut lengthwise or julienned.When the onions are half way cooked add the rest of the veggies. The veggies have to be cut like the onions as to at have them all cooked evenly.

4. Add salt and mix well. Pepper can also be added to create more spice to the mix.

5. Add the bread, nuts and cilantro and toss it well.

6. Serve it hot with ketchup or any chutney.

7. If they get dry after some time microwave them for a minute and the bread would be moist and be as good as the freshly prepared food.

Moist Orange Cake from a box

I was trying to make an orange cake for my sister's and Nephew's Birthday this week. I usually invite them for a birthday dinner and cook them something that they enjoy.My sister loves orange based anything and so I made this cake with store bought yellow cake mix.I did a google search for orange cake and came across the watergate Orange Cake recipe.I altered it a bit to suit my needs. The end product was a extremely moist,tasty,delicious cake.Its so easy.They also have an icing but please I could not stand the taste because it was too sweet and it smelled of an artificial flavor so I chose to just make a zigzag with the chocolate sauce and make it look very elegant and since the cake was sweet enough no one missed the icing. Please try this one.Its delicious.

Gadgets:

Oven
Mixing Bowl
Spatula
Mixing blender or whisk
Measuring cups
Baking pans (whatever kind you have)
Parchment paper

Ingredients:

Yellow cake mix(Duncan Hines) - 1
Mandarin Orange - 1 tin (11 oz)
Olive oil - 3/4th cup
Eggs- 2 organic whole and 2 whites alone.
Hershy's chocolate syrup - as much as you like.

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl mix oil, eggs and beat it well with the mixer or whisk.

2. When the oil and eggs are well blended and the color is pale yellow add the can of mandarin oranges with the liquid and blend well. The orange will disintegrate but thats okay.

3. Open the cake mix and put it in a bowl and with a whisk beat it well so as to mix the cake mix well and also to remove the clumps of dough sticking together and making it smooth to mix.

4. Mix the cake mix with the liquid mix and using the mixer beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.

5. Prepare your pan with by applying a little butter or oil and then place a parchment paper by cutting it into the shape of the baking pan.

6. Pour the dough into the pan and bake it in a preheated 350 degree F oven for the time specified in the back of your pan for the type of baking pan you use.

7. When you insert the tooth pick it should come clean after the time you have baked. Remove from oven and allow it to cool.

8. Using a blunt knife go around the sides of the pan and then you will be able to remove the cake.

9. This is very very moist cake so be careful when you remove it.

10. I used some Hershy's chocolate syrup and made some patterns on top of the cake.

11. Serve it with some hot milk, tea or coffee.

12. This is the best cake I have made with a store bought mix.

20 Minutes Coconut Rice

I know Coconut rice is a very simple rice that most Indian's can make in a jiffy, but it has always earned me great praise and compliments whenever I made it for a Non-Desi person or gathering. They think the flavors are amazing and it is not spicy so it goes very easy on their pallette. I have made it so many times for my friends at Grad school espically Simon and it would disappear so fast. Make this if you have a pot luck at work or for your children school meet and soon you would win a few hearts and become a very popular person.

Gadgets:

Rice cooker
Vessel to make the rice
Pan to roast the coconut
Platter to mix the rice
Mixing spoon

Ingredients:

Basmathi Rice - 1 cup
Water - 2 1/2 cups
Salt
Ghee/Clarified butter - 1tsp
Coconut (unsweetened dry )- 1 cup ( from Hendry's)
Mustard seeds - 1 1/2 tsp
Udad Dhal - 2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 1 or 2
Olive oil - 2 tbsp
Cilantro - 1/4 chopped
Garlic powder without salt - 2 tsp
Asifotita - a few shakes

Preparation:

1. Wash the Basmathi rice in water and then soak it in 2 1/2 cups of water for 20 minutes.Add some salt to this rice before you start to cook in the rice cooker.

2. In a rice cooker add some water about 1 inch and then place the vessel with the rice in it and cook it until the rice is done

3. Meanwhile, place a pan on the stove and add some Olive oil. When the oil warms up add asifotita, followed by mustard seeds. Wait for it to splatter and then add the red dry chillis and udad dhal. Allow the udad to turn golden brown.

4. Turn the flame to low and add the salt and coconut to the pan and mix well and allow the coconut to get slightly toasted. Add the garlic powder and turn the stove off.

5. When the rice is cooked, transfer it onto a platter, add some ghee and mix it well so that the rice do not stick with each other. Add the coconut mix and mix it gently so as to not break up the rice.

6. Add cilantro to the rice and it is ready to eat.Please do feel free to add more garlic or chillis as per your taste. But with this recipe you can be asured that it will not be spicy but will have a lot of flavor and taste.

Enzoy!!

10 Minutes Restuarant Style Pasta with Marinara Sauce

This has been my secret to preparing very good pasta.Its really easy delicious and a breeze. Next time you are in no mood to cook and you have to feed your kids and they demand pasta try this one.I make it all the time and people always ask how that happens with a store bought sauce. Well I am going to let you in on my secret.

Gadgets:

Pot for boiling pasta
Pan
Mixing Spoons

Ingredients:

Pasta (Fussili)- 1 cup
Raghu's Roasted Garlic or Barillia's Roasted garlic Marinara Sauce - 1 bottle
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Pasta seasoning
Cheese (Parmesan)grated 1/4 cup
Water for pasta
Fresh Basil a few leaves chopped.

Preparation:

1. Boil water and cook your pasta according to the instructions. It might take 8-10 minutes.

2. At the same time place a pan, add some Olive Oil and the pasta sauce and allow it to cook. Please be careful the sauce might splatter so it needs to be covered and periodically mixed to avoid the sauce from getting burnt.

3. The cooking will remove the excess water from the store bought sauce and when the pasta is ready mix the pasta, the sauce, salt, pepper, pasta seasoning and serve with some grated cheese on the top.

4. Fresh basil can also be added as garnish.

15 Minute Pasta Salad

Been making this since 2004 after tasting the salad one of my husbands co-workers wife made for me when I had my daughter. I have changed some of the ingredients since and created a salad that is very healthy and tasty.A crowd pleaser and very easy to prepare. Seriously it just takes time to chop the veggies other than that its a breeze.

Came across JFI-Garlic contest in Mathy's Virundhu and decided to enter this pasta salad.

Gadgets:

Cutting Board.
Knife
Big bowls to mix the pasta salad
Serving spoons
Pots to make pasta

Ingredients:

Pasta (bow tie, fussili)from Trader Joe'- 1 packet

Note:There are a lot of ingredients with which pasta are made these days. For people with allergies use rice pasta, for health buffs use multi grain and for those who can have anything just go with the good organic brand please.

EVOO (EXtra Virgin Olive Oil)- A few table spoons
Bell Pepper( Red, Green, Yellow, Orange)- 1 medium size of each (you can do with what you can find in the store its more for the cosmetic look that I chose different colors)

Gadgets:

Spring onions- 2
Red Onions or shallots - one hand full finely chopped or 1/2 cup
Olives - 1 tin sliced.
Celery- 2 sticks finely chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves minced well
Tomatoes - 2 deseeded and chopped
Cucumber - deseeded 1 cup unless English cucumber
Avocado - 1/2 cup
Sub Dried tomatoes chopped - as much as you like.(Trader Joe's has the best sun dried tomatoes in a bottle with the oil)
Walnuts - 1 cup chopped (optional if you have allergies)
Pine nuts - 1/2 cup ( slightly roasted)
Almonds - Sliced 1/2 cup
Raisons - 1/2 cup
Basil - 1 tbsp
Orageno - 1 tbsp
Roasemary - 2 tsp
Dill - 1 tsp
Pasta seasoning - 2 tsp from Trader Joe's(optional but adds great flavor)
Salt
Pepper as per taste
Water for pasta

Preparation:

1. Cook pasta in water according to the instructions on the back.

2. It would take about 10 minutes, In the mean time please chop the onion, bell pepper, shallots or spring onions, cucumber, tomatoes and slice olives using my favourite chopper from Bed Bath and Beyond or LNT.It cuts the chopping time by half and makes your salad look amazing.

3. Add the nuts too and wait for the pasta to be cooked.

4. When the pasta is cooked add EVOO,mix them all up with the spices mentioned.
and mix it with the veggie mixture and nuts.

5. Allow it to cool and put it in the fridge to cool or if you like it warm grab a fork and bowl and enjoy this healthy salad.