Vegetable Juice

Vegetable Juice

Dear Friends,

Vegetable juice, this name says it is healthy drink. Most of you can think this as you need to cut the vegetables, boil them or cook them, nothing… you don’t want to do anything just raw vegetables with their skin. Now you may think this as it may not smell good or taste good. No, again it won’t have raw flavors, the flavors of mint, coriander and lemon will dominate. You can enjoy this drink. In the mornings instead of having coffee or tea you can prefer this healthy juice. The people who are in diet can choose this as their best choice for having energy and kick start the day for more work J

Ingredients:

Tomato                                     – 80 grams

Cucumber                                 – 80 grams

Ridge gourd                              – 70 grams (Optional)

Bottle gourd                              – 80 grams (Optional)

Radish                                      – 70 grams (Optional)

Carrot                                      – 80 Grams

Beetroot                                   – 80 grams

Ginger                                      – 10 grams (Optional)

Curry leaves                             – 10 (handful) (Optional)

Chopped Coriander leaves         – 10 grams

Chopped Mint leaves                 – 10 grams

Lemon or Lime                          – 1 (Medium size) 20ml

Honey                                      – To taste (30ml)

Water                                       – 400ml or more
 

Procedure:

1. Wash all the vegetables and greens. Don’t peel the skin of the vegetables. Cut the vegetables into pieces.

2. Grind vegetables and greens using mixie or blender by adding water.

3. Filter juice using muslin cloth or any cotton cloth or a net with close gaps.

4. Add lemon juice and honey.

Healthy drink is ready to be served for four people.

You can get nearly 800ml of juice. Not all the vegetables are necessary, but I have used all the vegetables. You can go ahead if don’t have ridge gourd, bottle gourd and radish and curry leaves or cilantro. The flavors of mint, cilantro, curry leaves and lemon will dominate all other vegetable raw flavors and you can enjoy this drink. Try to have it with in an hour after you make the juice. Prefer it in the mornings instead of coffee or tea.

Hope you will enjoy this drink. 

Coconut rice with Vegetables

Coconut milk rice with Vegetables ~ Indian rice dish

Dear Friends,

This is one of my favorite dishes which I regularly prefer to serve for my guests when we invite them for lunch or dinner.

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice                             – 2 Cups

Water                                       – ½ Cup

Coconut pieces                         – 200 grams (Collected from one whole coconut)

Oil / Ghee / Butter                     – 4 or 5 Table spoons

Garlic                                        – 80 grams

Cloves or lavang                       – ½ teaspoon

Cardamom                               – 2

Cinnamon                                 – 2 (1 inch sticks)

Bay leaf                                    – 1

Cashew nuts                             – 1 Table spoon or more (Optional)

Onion                                       – 1 (Medium size)

Green chilies                             – 3 or 4 (Cut them in length wise)

Carrot                                      – 160 grams (one big carrot)

Potatoes                                   – 200 grams (Nearly 2 medium sized)

Beans                                       – 100 grams

Salt                                          – To taste

Chopped Coriander leaves         – 1 Table spoon

Chopped Mint leaves                 – 1 Table spoon

Procedure:

1. Put coconut pieces, water and garlic cloves into a mixie/blender jar. Grind it well. Filter this using muslin cloth or any cotton cloth or a net with close gaps. So, your coconut milk is ready now.

If you plan to use the existing coconut milk which is already available in the super markets then go ahead and use it but add garlic/ ginger-garlic paste to it.

2. Wash the basmati rice and add 3 cups of coconut milk to it and allow it to soak for 15 to 20 minutes. Some times we get more than the enough quantity and some times less. Always as you know if it is less use some water and if it is more use it in sambar or rasam or soup or in dal.

3. Cut all the vegetables into pieces (It is your wish to either cut them into long pieces or small. I have cut them to small pieces). In a fry pan add oil. Once oil is heated add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf. Just after a minute add onions and green chilies. Fry them for 3 to 5 minutes in medium flame and then add the vegetables and salt. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Now add the partially cooked vegetables with masala spices into the soaked basmati rice. Check for the salt and add if needed. Put the whole quantity into a rice cooker or pressure cooker and cook it in usual way of cooking the rice.

5. Once the rice is cooked, finally add chopped coriander and mint before serving.

Dish is ready to be served. You can serve for four people.

The side dish for this can be a curd/yogurt raitha or any other masala gravy will go well.

Hope you will make and enjoy eating this recipe. 

Groundnut Chutney

Groundnut Chutney ~ Indian Chutney

Dear Friends,

My husbands all time favorite is groundnut chutney with any of the breakfast items. If there is groundnut chutney undoubtedly

Ingredients:

Groundnuts                               – 1 cup

Green Chilies                              – 2 or 3 (Based on how much spice you need you can Increase or decrease)

Cumin or Jeera Seeds                – 1 tea spoon

Garlic Cloves                             – 1 or 2 (Optional) and 1 more for tampering

Ginger                                       – 5 gms (small piece)

Grated fresh Coconut                – 1 Table spoon (Optional)

Salt                                           – ¼ teaspoon nearly (according to your taste)

Water                                      – 200 ml(For grinding and soaking tamarind)

Tamarind                                 – 10 gms (1/2 Lemon size ball)

Oil                                             – 1 teaspoon

Mustard seeds                           – ½ teaspoon or less

Cumin seeds          / Jeera         – 1/8^th teaspoon or less

Urad dal / Split Black gram         – ½ teaspoon

Channa dal / Bengal gram          – ½ teaspoon

Red chili (split)                          – 1

Curry leaves                             – 10 leaves (one leaflet)

Asafetida or Hing                       – Pinch (Nearly 1/8^th teaspoon)

Chopped Coriander leaves         – 1 teaspoon

Procedure:

1. In a Pan dry roast groundnuts evenly for about 10 minutes in a medium flame. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Now take some ground nuts to hand and rub them with your palms to remove the husk and blow off the husk. If you don’t want to remove the outer layer you can use the groundnuts as it is.  

2. Soak tamarind in water for 15 minutes or boil it with water in small vessel on stove or in MW. Squeeze and filter the tamarind juice/pulp. Please make sure the pulp is thick. OR, if you have tamarind paste you can use it directly.

3. Put groundnuts, garlic, Green chilies, Cumin seeds, grated coconut, ginger and salt into a mixie grinder or blender and grind it to powder. Now add tamarind and water and grind to smooth paste. Add water according to your wish as some people like eating thick chutney and some like eating it thin.

4. Take a fry pan pour oil add mustard seeds, after mustard seeds pop up, jeera, urad dal. After urad dal turns it color to golden brown switch off the stove and add split red chili, garlic clove, curry. Add this tampering to chutney along with chopped coriander.

Here tampering is optional. Generally I avoid using tampering to skip oil use. With out tampering also chutney tastes good.

Chutney is ready to be served.

It tastes good with idli/vada/dosa/upma any of the break fast items. You can use red chilies instead of green chili. You can also use a tomato instead of tamarind, cook it with little oil and add it while grinding.

If you put in a refrigerator it will be good for two days. Try to consume on the same day with in four hours, if you are not refrigerating this.

Hope you will make and enjoy eating this recipe. 

Tomato Pickle/Pachadi/Chutney

Tomato Pickle/Pachadi/Chutney ~ Indian pickle

Dear Friends,

When we think of Tomato pickle we get a red color picture to our mind.

It tastes good with rice and ghee.

Ingredients:

Tomatoes                                          – 500 gms (Nearly 5 tomatoes)

Water                                               – 40 ml (To soak tamarind)

Tamarind                                          – 20 gms (Lemon size ball)

Oil (sunflower/groundnut/sesame)      – 4 Table spoons

Mustard seeds                                    – ½ teaspoon or less

Cumin seeds          / Jeera                           – 1/8^th  teaspoon or less

Fenugreek seeds / Methi seeds           – 1/8^th  teaspoon or less

Coriander seeds / Dhaniya                  – 2 teaspoons

Urad dal / Split Black gram                  – 1 teaspoon

Red chilies                                          – 20 gms (Nearly 10) (Increase or decrease according to the spice level you desire)

Turmeric powder                                – ½ teaspoon or less

Curry leaves                                       – 10 leaves (one leaflet)

Asafetida or Hing                                – Pinch (Nearly 1/8^th teaspoon)

Salt                                                    – To taste (½ teaspoon)

Chopped Coriander leaves                   – ½ Table spoon

Chopped Onions                                – 1 Table spoon (Optional)

Procedure:

1. First wash tomatoes and cut them to pieces (eight parts each).

2. Soak tamarind in water for 15 minutes or boil it with water in small vessel on stove or in MW. Squeeze and filter the tamarind juice/pulp. Please make sure the pulp is thick. OR, If you have tamarind paste you can use it directly.

3. Pour one tablespoon oil in a fry pan, add mustard seeds. When mustard seeds pops up add Jeera, Methi, Dhaniya, Urad dal Splitted red chillies into it. Roast them in a medium flame till urad dal changes it color to light brown. Switch off the stove collect this roasted grains into a small bowl and add hing and salt to it. Allow these grains to cool.

4. Now in the same pan with the left out oil (or take another pan add little oil) put tomatoes pieces, turmeric powder and little salt into it and allow them to cook for 3 minutes (Until tomatoes become soft). Allow it to cool, after tomatoes are cooked.

5. After the grains cooled to room temperature collect them in mixie jar or blender, grind them to powder. Now add tamarind pulp and tomatoes and grind it again to paste.

6. Take a fry pan pour the remaining oil add mustard seeds (other tampering items what ever you wish), curry leaves and after mustard seeds pop up, add chopped onions and cook till onions become transparent. Now put the flame to low and add the pickle from mixie jar and mix it well. Allow it to cook for a minute and switch off the stove. Finally add chopped coriander.

Dish is ready to be served.

It tastes good with rice/idli/vada/dosa/upma any of the break fast items. You can use green chilies instead of red chili. But I used red chilies as the color goes well with tomato.

If you put in a refrigerator it will be good for ten days. Try to consume with in three days if you are not refrigerating this.

Hope you will make and enjoy eating this recipe.