Veg Fried Rice

Prep & cooking time: 30 min | Serve: 3- 4

 Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice or medium to long grained rice
2 cups finely chopped vegetables (i used 8-10 beans, 1 medium size carrots, ½ cup cabbage and capsicum)
1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions.
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp soya sauce
1 1/2 tsp vinegar
salt as required

Method:                    

Rice:

Wash and soak rice for 20 minutes before cooking. Drain the water completely. Boil 4 cups of water; add drained rice once the water boiled well. Cook the rice on medium flame with the lid. When it done fluff the rice with fork. Let the rice cool completely, cover and keep the rice aside.

Veg Fried Rice:

1) When the rice is cooling, finely chop the veggies and keep aside.

2) Heat oil in a wok or a pan. Tip in the minced ginger and garlic, saute for some seconds, no need to brown the garlic and ginger.

3) Add the spring onions (Reserve little spring onion for garnishing) and stir fry till they are transparent. Add all the veggies and stir fry on a high flame.

4)Continuously toss and stir while frying so that the veggies are uniformly cooked and do not get burnt. Cook till they are almost cooked and yet retain their crunchiness and crispiness.

5)Add in the soya sauce, pepper powder, vinegar. Stir quickly and add the rice. Stir fry for a few minutes till the sauce has coated the fried rice well.

6)Garnish with little spring onion and serve hot veg fried rice.

Vegetable Biryani

A healthy and delicious Vegetable Biryani.

Prep Time: 20 mins    |  Cook time: 25 mins    |  Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice 2 cups

carrot 1, potato 1, beans 8,1 fist full of frozen peas, 10 small florets of cauliflower

Onion 2, Coriander leaves 3 stems 

Oil/Ghee 3-4 tsp 

Salt  As needed

Jeera 1 1/2 tsp

Mint leaves 8-10, Green  chillies  4-6, Garlic (big variety)   6, Ginger 1/2 tsp

Bay leaves 2, curry leaves 4-5, Black Cardamom 2, Green cardamom 2, cloves  2 

Method:

1) Soak the rice for at least 20 min (Keep it aside).

2) Grind the mint leaves, green chilies, garlic and ginger with little water to a smooth paste.

3) Chop long slices of the onion and carrot, potato, beans and cauliflower about an inch thick.

4) Heat a non-stick pan with oil/ghee and add green cardamoms, black cardamoms, clove, jeera, bay leaves, curry leaves and roast. Add onions and fry it till becomes transparent. Add green  chilli -ginger-garlic paste, cover and cook for two minutes.

5)Add chopped carrots, french beans, potato, cauliflower florets and green peas. Sprinkle salt, cover and cook on    medium flame for two minutes.

6) Add the drained, soaked rice, 3 cups of water and stir well. Cover with the lid.

7) Cook for 8-10 minutes on low flame, give a gentle stir in between. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Notes:

1) Soaking the rice for more time gives moist rice and gets cooked easily. So soak as much as possible.

2) The water quantity varies with the quality of the basmati rice.

3) Add a tsp of lemon juice along with the veggies.

Watermelon Juice

Summer is the time to indulge in fresh, juicy melon when they are in season and deliver an array of nutrients, vitamin and minerals. It is also incredibly hydrating (up to 92% water!) and is naturally low-fat. A benefit that range from improving cardiovascular health to nourishing your eyes and improve your immune system is just by adding watermelon in your daily diet. Mint is cooling as well as good for digestion. Watermelon is also cooling and a good source of vitamin c and vitamin A thus the combination of watermelon and mint is ideal to beat summer heat in summers.

Ingredients:

6 cup watermelon cubes, 
1/2 cup lemon juice or to taste
1/2 tsp black salt
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
Mint leaves
ice cubes (optional)

Method:
1) Add watermelon (deseeded), lemon juice, and finely chopped ginger in blender.
2) Do not add water and blend well.
3) Serve the refreshing watermelon juice in tall glasses & add black salt. Garnish with mint leaves.
4) Add ice cubes if required.

Kairiche Panhe

“Kairiche Panhe” is Maharashtrian cold drink prepared from raw mangoes. The raw mango is a valuable source of vitamin C, B1, B2 and it is an effective remedy for heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The mangoes have to be really raw because the tartness of the raw mangoes is what gives this drink its unique taste.

Main Ingredients

2 Raw Mangoes (big in size)

1 cup sugar

Cumin powder, ginger powder, cardamom powder

 Salt ½ tbs

Method:

1) Boil or pressure cooks the raw mangoes about 8 – 10 min so they become soft. Peel the skin from raw mangoes carefully and strain all the raw mangoes pulp, insure to remove pulp form the skin of raw mangoes. Remove the seed.

2) Take the pulp in a glass bowl. Pour pulp in a strainer and strain it.
3) On low flame, place a pan add sugar and water.  Let the sugar dissolve slowly and completely in the water. Stir well.
 4) Pour the pulp in sugar syrup while sugar syrup is hot. Mix well and let it cool down. Add salt, cumin powder and mix well and let it cool down. When this mixture becomes cool, keep it in refrigerator.
 While making 1 glass of raw mango juice, mix 2 tbsp syrup in glass of cold water. Add salt and ice if required.

Tip

Add 1 pinch ginger powder and cardamom powder each for better taste.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice not only add abundant flavor to a variety of dishes, but also boast a ton of health benefits. Lemon juice is known for its antioxidant and anti-cancer properties for curing many diseases of modern times. It aids in digestion and concentrated, dehydrated, canned or fresh is used to prepare carbonated beverages and lemonades. It is also rich in vitamin A and C.

Main Ingredients:

1 cup lemon Juice (12 big lemons)
2 and 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tsp salt

Yield: around 3 to 3.5 cups Lemon juice concentrate

Method:

1) Lemon juice is prepared by crushing the pulp of lemon fruit and then straining it through a strainer so that there won't be any lemon particles and seeds.
2) Take an ordinary vessel and place it on low flame and add water and sugar. Let the sugar dissolve slowly and completely in the water.

3) Turn off the gas. Add lemon juice and stir for few minutes. Then stir occasionally until mixture cools down. Add salt and stir well.
4) Pour the lemon juice syrup into any vessel or any clean container. Keep it in the refrigerator.

While making 1 glass lemon juice, mix 2 tbsp syrup in glass of cold water. Add salt and ice if required.

Serve the chilled lemon juice in tall and slim glasses and decorate with ice at the bottom of the glass and sliced lemon wedges in the rim of the glass.

Shrikhand

Main Ingredients:

Yogurt 1kg

sugar as per taste

a few saffron (kesar) strands

1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder

1/2 tsp Charoli (chironji), 1 tbsp Pistachio slices, 1 tbsp Almond slices for garnishing.
Muslin Cloth

Method:

1) Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth, in a cool place (refrigerator) until all the liquid from the yogurt has drained off. (Approximately three hours.)

2) Dissolve saffron in warm milk and set aside.

3) Tie a clean muslin cloth tightly over the clean vessel with clean string. The muslin cloth thus acts as a sieve and should not sag in the middle. Transfer the thick yogurt along with the sugar, for every cup of thick yogurt, add three fourth cup of sugar. Press with spoon and let the mixture pass through it. ( You can use puran Yantra or hand blender. Break all the lumps and make the mixture smooth).

4) Add the dissolved saffron (Kesar), cardamom powder, Charoli, Pistachio slices, Almond slices. Mix well.

Chill and serve with Puri.

Tips:

1) Adjust the sugar according to your taste.