Wednesday 27 February 2019

Simple and Delicious Homemade Celery Soup

Hello friends,

Today I wish to share a simple celery soup recipe. But how did it begin? With my weekly visit to my local market.  I bought a nice big bunch of fresh green celery. The vendor insisted it was fresh and at a good price at INR 20.

Celery Soup


 Here are a few tips to check celery before you buy.



1. The stalks should be sturdy . Look for celery that has sturdy, upright stalks. They should snap easily when you pull them, not bend.

2. The leaves should be crisp. Leaves should not only look fresh, they should range in color from pale to bright green. Avoid celery with yellow or brown patches.

3. You need to chop celery just before cooking or serving to maintain nutrients. Do not over cook celery, this will retain flavor and nutrients.

4. Eat in five to seven days. Eat fresh celery within five to seven days to enjoy its maximum nutritional benefits.

5. Eat the leaves. Don’t discard the leaves — that’s where celery has the most calcium, potassium, and vitamin C.

So I bought it and returned home quickly to stir up a delicious  celery soup. It turned out thick, creamy and so yummy.

10 Health Benefits of eating Celery



Check out the ingredients and start stirring.


Ingredients

1 bunch of celery
1 tsp of butter
1 chopped onion
2 pods of garlic
1 cube of veg/chicken soup masala
1 large chopped potato
1 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
A pinch of sugar
1 cup of water



Method

1. Take s little butter in the saucepan, add chopped onions and saute for just one minute.

2. Add the garlic, chopped celery, chopped potato and saute for another two minutes till celery gets tender.

3. Add the masala stock cube, one cup of water and salt.

4. Let the broth simmer for 10 minutes. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook. Or you can add this to a pressure cooker and cook for one whistle.

5. Purée the paste in a blender.

6. Add the soup back on slow flame, add crushed pepper and pinch of sugar.

Celery Soup


7. Serve the celery soup topped with celery leaves and soup sticks or garlic buttered toast.





Sunday 24 February 2019

Easy Whole Wheat Pasta Recipe

Hello foodies,

Wish to try a new recipe? But what do you do when you are too tired and tied with other things. No time to go to the market to pick up fruits and vegetables. And you have to cook up a meal?

Well, I just open all my kitchen cabinets, fridge drawers and gather ingredients. Then think of the best dish, I can make with it.
This time, I had half a packet of whole wheat pasta, sweet corn, few veggies and a packet of chicken Salami.

Easy Whole Wheat pasta recipe


Voila!! I stirred up a quick Salami pasta in only 20 minutes. It was a refreshing change from regular cooking, plus perfect for a weekend TV dinner. Serve it with butteted toast and a bowl of soup. Now check the ingredients to make this very easy whole wheat pasta recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup  pasta
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp chilly sauce
1 chopped capsicum
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1 chopped carrot
2 tbsp oil
200 gms Salami ( you can use boiled chicken/ sausage/ or kebabs)
 Salt/ pepper to taste
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese (optional)


Easy whole wheat Pasta Recipe



Method

1. Take a saucepan and boil some water with a pinch of salt. Add the pasta and 1 tsp of oil. Cook it for 10 minutes.

2. Now switch of gas and wash the pasta in running water, strain and keep aside to use later.

3.  Now heat 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan .Add finely onion. Saute till it is pinkish in colour.

4. Add chopped carrot, broccoli and chopped capsicum into it and cook it for two minutes.

5.  Add the tomato sauce and chilly sauces. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Saute for two minutes, do not overcook the veggies.

6. Now add chopped salami and boiled pasta.

7. Add a little water if you find the dish too thick.

8. Put off the gas flame and place the pasta on the plate and garnish it with some grated mozzarella cheese.

Salami pasta



 Your delicous pasta is ready.

Note

You can add any other vegetables. For eg - Frenchbeans, cauliflower, sweet corn or even pumpkin.

Friday 15 February 2019

A very easy Chicken Sausage Rice Recipe

Hello everyone,

Today I wish to share another quick and easy rice recipe with you all. This dish was introduced to me by my school friend Thrity in our lunch break. Exchanging recipes was our favourite conversation over a hot meal in the dining hall. It seemed easy to try. Today I tried to make it again and it really turned out.


Chicken Sausage Rice


I used Zorabian sausages in my recipe. Zorabian is a 36-year-old company dealing with good quality chicken. Now 8 years into the retail business their quality and range of products is very impressive. With a new ready to cook and pre-marinated range of products to make things easy in the kitchen.

So grab your skillet and let’s get cooking!

Zorabian Chicken Sausages


Ingredients

1 packet of Zorabian Chicken sausages
1 large onion
2 tomatoes
Fresh Green garlic
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 cup long grain rice
1 tsp white vinegar
1 capsicum/ bell pepper
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp oil
Coriander leaves for garnish
Salt to taste


Method

1. Parboil the rice with a little salt,  strain and keep aside.

2. Chop up the sausages into small round discs.

3.  Now in a nonstick pan add very little oil and cook the sausage pieces over medium-high heat till they are well browned. Keep stirring the sausages as they get done.  Keep aside to use again in a recipe.

4. In the same nonstick pan, add chopped onions and garlic. Saute till golden brown.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes to this mixture and cook till tomatoes are soft and mushy.

6. Now add in the tomato ketchup, capsicum, and white vinegar.



7. Add the sausages back to the pan.

8. Now stir in the rice gently. Add a cup of water and salt to taste.

9. Let the sausage rice cook on simmer. Cover the pan and cook till dry.

10. Garnish with coriander and serve it hot.

Chicken Sausage Rice


Note :
You can use Zorabian spicy sausages or Zorabian Salami too for this recipe.




Sunday 10 February 2019

Indian PIneapple Halwa Recipe

Hello friends,

 Love is in the air with Valentine's Day round the corner. So lets cook up something sweet. An Indian desserts this time, a halwa that is super special. I remember savouring Pineapple Halwa at a Bohri friends place. The sweet follows and savoury in a Bohri Thala and Pineapple Halwa was what I truly relished that day.



Recently,I tried to make a Pineapple Halwa recipe that turned out quite good. I have cut down on using ghee in my recipe.  Sharing the easy recipes with all of you. The halwa  is a very popular Indian sweet dish made with Rawa and pineapple. It tastes sweet and sour and has bits of chunky pineapple pieces, really enjoyable.


Ingredients

1 cup Semolina (Rawa)
3/4 cup Ghee
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 tsp powdered Cardamon (Elaichi)
1 cup chopped Pineapple
1 cup Pineapple Puree
A few nuts and Raisins

Method

1. Heat half the ghee in a pan, when it is hot add one cup semolina and start roasting it.

2. Keep roasting on slow flame till the rawa turns brown and you get a good aroma. Turn off the gas and take out the semolina on a plate for using later.

3. In the same pan, add the pineapple puree and sugar and stir for 5 minutes.



4. Now add one cup pineapple pieces, cook the pineapple is soft and mushy.

5. Now add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. 

6. When the water boils, add the semolina back to the pan and mix it well. 

7. Add the cardamon powder to this mixture. 

8. Cook the halwa on low flame till the ghee leaves the side of pan. The mixture should be dry and rawa cooked through. 

9. Add the remaining ghee and roast for two minutes more. 

10. Garnish with chopped raisins and nuts.

11. Serve it hot or cold with a scoop of vanilla icecream. 


 


The video below has a step by step recipe so do refer and cook up a tasty pineapple halwa for all at home for Valentine's day. 





Bon Appitet 🍍🍍🍍🍍
Top post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers

Monday 4 February 2019

Easy Fish Biryani Recipe

Hello friends,
In my earlier biryani posts,  I have shared recipes for prawn and chicken but not a fish variation.  I learnt a very easy fish biryani when I visited my sister's house two weeks back.  Her maid Phoolmani makes such a fatafat  finger licking biryani.


Fish Biryani recipe

After learning the simple trick of layering the biryani and keeping smokey flavours intact, I tried to replicate it at home.
Fish cooks very quickly unlike chicken or mutton, so one has to be really careful about not stirring it too much, or over cooking it on high flame.
The recipe is done in two parts and then assembled together.


Basa Fish

Ingredients


For Fish Marination

200-250 gm Fish fillet ( Basa, tuna or any other boneless fish will do)
2 tpsp Oil
2 cups curd
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 medium size lime
1/2 tbsp Baram Masala
1 tbsp Biryani Masala
1 cup fried onions ( Birista )


For the Rice 

2 cups basmati rice
1 tsp  dalda or ghee
whole Garam Masala ( cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper)
Salt to taste

For Garnish

Chopped Coriander leaves
A few mint leaves
2 tbsp dalda or ghee
Few strands of saffron soaked in warm water
2 tbsp fried onions (birista)
One small chappati dough ball


Method


For Rice

1. Wash  and soak rice for 30 minutes,  Drain excess water and get ready to cook it
2. Now parboil the r5ice with ghee,  whole spices and salt.


3. Strain the rice under running water to see they dont get sticky.

For the fish Marination

4.Take a mixing bowl, add the curd,  dry spices, ginger garlic paste and salt.

5. Crush the fried onion and add to curd mixture.

6. Squueze the juice of one lime.

7. Now place the fish pieces in this marinade. Gently fold the fish and coat it with the mixture.

Fish Biryani


Cooking and Layering

8. In a large vessel, add gree

9. Now  Add fish masala, let it sizzle for two minutes on low flame. Do not mix with spoon. Just shake the pot from side to side.

10. Now turn off the gas, layer with rice. Sprinkle saffron mixture, fried onions, mint and coriander.

11. Cover the pot with a lid and seal the ends with  chappati dough.

12. Place the vessel on hot tawa and cook on low heat for 15 minutes.

13. Gently mix  before serving. Serve it piping hot with cucumber raita.

Fish Biryani


Saturday 2 February 2019

Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Patties

Hello friends,
I am back with another simple yet delicious winter recipe today.
Sweet Potato is eaten with relish by kids and adults. The sweet taste and texture is similar to a potato. This makes it so likeable. Sweet potato is especially seen in abundance during the winter season. The carts that sell roasted sweet potato is a common sight on street corners, just as the corn on the cob carts are, during monsoons.


Sweet potato patties


Sweet potatoes are low in sodium and are a very good source of fibre,  carbohydrates, proteins, calcium and vitamins. It makes a healthier alternative to potatoes. Today, I experimented with sweet potato to create a patties/tikki.



This one is quick and easy to prepare, can be served as an healthy evening snack. Serve it with a combo of green chutney, tomato sauce, mayo, or curd dip. Any which way, it will only enhance the taste further.

Ingredients

One kg sweet potatoes
1 tsp garam masala
1 green chilly (finely chopped)
1 tsp coriander powder
1 small onion ( finely chopped) This is optional
1 tsp  black pepper powder
A few chopped coriander leaves
Juice from one lime
2 bread slices
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow fry




Method


1.  Wash the sweet  potatoes  thoroughly. Place the unpeeled potatoes in a pressure cooker. Add two cups of water and close the lid. Pressure cooker this for 3 whistles over high heat. Cook until potatoes are soft and tender.

2. Now drain, cool, and peel potatoes.

3. Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Add onion, salt, garam masala, coriander powder, pepper, chopped green chilly, and coriander leaves.

4.  Mash the sweet potatoes by hand or with a large fork. See that no lumps are formed.

5. Now take the bread slices and add to a bowl of  water, squeeze out the water and then add to the sweet potato mixture.

6. Shape the potato mixture into flat round or oblong  patties.
Maximum  2 or 3 inches in diameter.

7. In a frying pan, heat a little oil over medium heat.

8. Fry the sweet potato patties until golden brown on both sides.

9. Add oil if need be for the next batch of cutlets while frying. As sweet potato is already cooked you don't need to deep fry.

10. Now serve this with ketchup, mayo or chutney.

sweet potato patties


Note

You can serve it at meal time as a side dish.

Or make a toasted sandwich with green chutney and sliced tomato in addition to the cutlet filling.  This tastes delightful.


Easy One pot Chicken Biryani

  Easy One pot Chicken Biryani  No fuss steps infact a one pot preparation with a flavourful outcome!  "Fall in love with the irresisti...