Yummy Nutrela

Nutrela are high protein soya chunks which can be used in a variety of ways and is delicious in each and every recipe it is tried and tested in. Nutrela is also available in minced form and can be used to make soya cutlets as well. I make this very yummy nutrela dish with loads of tomatoes, add some peas to it and it really makes a great combination.


Ingredients:

1 cup nutrela chunks/ mini nuggets
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
4-5 tomatoes (blended into a puree)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp grated ginger
4-5 green chillies (finely chopped)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp amchur powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
2-3 table spoon chopped coriander leaves (for garnish)
1 table spoon Olive oil or any cooking oil
Salt to taste


Method:

• Take the soya chunks in a bowl and add enough water to cover them completely. Microwave in the oven for around 7-8 mins. Remove from the microwave and let the soya chunks rest in the warm water for another 5 mins. Wash the soya chunks thoroughly under running water pressing in between your palms. Drain the water completely from the soya chunks and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions to it. Now add ginger, garlic and chopped green chilies and sauté them together for 2 – 3 mins.
• Add the tomato puree to the pan and mix well. Add turmeric, red chilly powder, salt and jeera powder to the onions and tomatoes and mix them well. Add the drained nutrela to the masala and let it simmer for another 5 – 7 mins.
• Now add the amchur powder to the nutrela and mix well. Transfer the dish to a serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve yummy yummy nutrela with hot hot rotis………

I am sending this recipe to Ruth from Ruth Kitchen Experiments and to Meeta from Whats for Lunch Honey

Mixed Lentils Dosa

Mixed lentils dosa is a quick and easy dish which is rich in proteins; has similar ingredients to one of my previous posts i.e. Mixed Lentils Idli and when paired with coconut chutney and sambar it tastes awesome! Mixed Lentils Dosa is a healthy dish and is a great recipe for kids as well and it helps to get the kids eat their lentils which they normally run away from. This recipe is figure-friendly as well as the amount of oil used to make the dosa is negligible.

Ingredients:
½ cup urad dal
½ green moong dal
½ tovar dal
Salt to taste
1 tsp oil

Method:

Mix urad, tovar and moong dal in a bowl and wash them thoroughly. Soak the dals (lentils) for couple of hours. Grind the lentils together to get a thick paste (adding small amounts of water). Add salt to the batter and add enough water to get pourable consistency.

Heat a non stick tava and pour the ladle full of batter on the tava and roll in out on the tava starting from the center and moving across the circumference of the tava. Let the dosa get crispier from one side. Flip the dosa with the help of the spatula and let the dosa cook from the other side as well.

Serve hot!!!!!!!!

Capsicum and Spring Onion Uttapam

Incontiuation of my previous post of the "All so famous Dosa"; here is a very simple recipe for the Capsicum and Spring Onion Uttapam which is a refreshing change from the regular uttapam that we normally eat in udipi restaurants.

Red capsicum and green spring onions makes the uttapam very colorful and very delicious.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1/4 cup urad dal
1 tsp methi dana
1/2 cup poha (pressed rice)
Salt to taste
Water to blend
1 table spoon red capsicum (finely chopped)
1 table spoon spring onions along with the greens (finely chopped)
1 tsp oil

Method:

Soak the rice, poha, urad dal and methi dana in a bowl for atleast 4-5 hours. Drain the water completely and transfer the soaked rice and dal to the blender. Blend the rice and dal along with poha and methi dana adding water in small amount to the blender to form a thick batter of pourable consistency. Transfer the batter to a bowl and cover with a lid and keep it in a warm corner overnight or atleast for 8 hours. The batter will rise and ferment during this time.

Now add salt and enough water to the batter incase the batter is thick enough. Make sure that you control the amount of water is added to the batter as we need a thicker batter to make the uttapam. Heat a non stick tava, pour the laddle full of onion uttapam and start rolling it across the circumference of the tava. Make sure that we dont thin out the uttapam. Now add the finely chopped green onions and red capsicum all over the uttapam. Let it cook from one side. Now add oil over the side of the uttapam that has the onions and capsicum and turn the uttapam upside down and press it with the spatula and let it cook on the other side for 5 mins till it is crisp and ready to be served.

Serve hot with coconut or green coriander chutney!!!!!!!

The all so famous Dosa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dosa or rice pan cakes is a very light and hearty meal which can be served at the table in no time although it does require a little bit of preparation ahead of time as the dosa batter needs to ferment and that does require the rice to be soaked along with the lentils for 4-5 hours and it further needs to be blended and then fermented in a warmer place overnight. Though it requires a little preparation but the result of the batter turning into the " All so famous Dosa" is worth the effort and to add icing to the cake serve the dosa with sambar and cocunut chutney. Awesome!!!!!!!!


Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1/4 cup urad dal
1 tsp methi dana
1/2 cup poha (pressed rice)
Salt to taste
Water to blend

Method:

Soak the rice, poha, urad dal and methi dana in a bowl for atleast 4-5 hours. Drain the water completely and transfer the soaked rice and dal to the blender. Blend the rice and dal along with poha and methi dana adding water in small amount to the blender to form a thick batter of pourable consistency. Transfer the batter to a bowl and cover with a lid and keep it in a warm corner overnight or atleast for 8 hours. The batter will rise and ferment during this time.

Now add salt and enough water to the batter incase the batter is thick enough. Heat a non stick tava and add the laddle full of the batter and gently move starting from the center in circles across the pan till the batter is thiny distributed. Let it cook from one side. Roll the dosa and serve in a plate along with sambar and chutney.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Delicious Aloo Palak

Palak or Spinach as we all know is a rich source of iron and calcium and should be incorporated in our daily diet.We normally eat spinach in the form of palak paneer; here is a different recipe to make spinach with potatoes and it tastes awesome with boiled rice.
Saarson ka saag is another very famous dish from Punjab which incoporates spinach along with other vegetables like turnip and is served with Makki di roti (corn flour roti. It's a perfect meal during the winter season.

Delicious Aloo Palak as the name suggests will water your mouth with its unique flavor and can be made any time during the year!!!!!!

Ingredients:

1 bunch palak leaves
1 large potato or 2 medium sized potato ( diced into bite size pieces)
1 medium onion ( finely chopped)
2 tomatoes ( pureed in the blender)
2-3 green chilies
1 cup thinly sliced cabbage
2 tsp chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 table spoon olive oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Wash the palak (spinach) leaves thoroughly and transfer them to a pressure cooker. Also add the cabbaage leaves to the spinach along with the green chillies. Add some salt to the cooker with 1/2 cup water and pressure cook the spinach for 10 mins or till you get 2-3 whistles from the pressure cooker. Once the palak and cabbage has cooled down, transfer them to the blender and just pulse the spinach. We are not looking to puree the spinach completely and want the hearty thich texture of the spinach. Transfer the mixture into a separate bowl and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add the diced potatoes and cook the potatoes for 5 mins. Add the chopped onions and saute for 2-3 mins as well. Now add the turmeric powder and red chilly powder to the onions and potatoes and mix well. Add the tomato puree to the pan and mix well. Now add the spinach and cabbage puree to the pan and stir so that the spinach is blended well with the other ingredients in the pan. Cover with the lid and let it simmer for 10 mins on a medium flame till the aloo palak is cooked completely. Serve with roti or boiled rice.


Tip: You can also blend the spinach puree and refrigerate in the fridge it. Whenever you plan to make this recipe; just prepare the onion and tomato mix and add in the pureed palak and the dish will be ready in no time.

You can also add paneer instead of potatoes if required and the same recipe could be turned into palak paneer.