Gobi Matar

Gobi Matar

Gobi Matar is a side dish which I often make these days for roti. Its winter time and you can start your innovations with the seasonal veggies. Gobi or the cauli flower is rich in nutrients, anti-oxidants and is low in calorie. The very tiny vegetable, green peas is also rich in vitamins, nutrients, folic acid and anti-oxidants. The goodness of both of these are combined together to form a very healthy dish.

Basic info abt the recipe

Cuisine                                                    - North Indian

Serves                                                     - 2-3 people.

Ingredients

1.  Cauli flower                                     - 400 gms

2.  Green peas                                     - 100 gms

3.  Onion                                               - 1 large

4.  Tomato                                            - 1 large

5.  Ginger-garlic paste                          - 1 tsp

6.  Turmeric powder                             - ¼ tsp

7.  Red chilli powder                             - 1 tsp

8.  Coriander powder                            - 1-1.5 tsp

9.  Hing                                                 - a pinch

10.              Jeera powder                          - ¼ tsp

11.              Salt                                          - to taste

12.              Oil                                            - 3 tsp

13.              Coriander leaves                     - 5-6 sprigs

Method: clean, wash and dip the florets of gobi to boiled water with a pinch of salt added to it for 5-7mts.

Heat 2 tsps of oil in a pan, add ginger-garlic paste and onion and fry till golden brown.

Add tomato and fry till done. Add all the powders and fry till the oil separates.

Add cauli flower and green peas and mix together. Cover with a lid till it cooks. Stir in between.

Open the lid add coriander leaves and the remaining oil and fry till the moisture dries up.

Gobi matar is now ready to serve.

Note: you can use fresh/frozen peas.

You can also add garam masala along with the coriander leaves.

Mirch Pakoda

Mirch pakoda is called mulaku bhajji in Kerala. It is a popular street food. I am a big fan of mirch pakoda. Imagine, it is raining outside and you are having hot hot mirch pakodas. Wow!

Ingredients:

1.  Big Size chilli                           - 10nos

2.  Besan                                      - 2 cups

3.  Turmeric powder                     - 1 tsp

4.  Salt                                          - to taste

5.  Coriander powder                    - 4-5 tsp

6.  Oil                                            - for frying

7.  Hing                                         - a pinch

8.  Water                                       - as required.

Method: Slit one side of the chilli till the middle with a knife in order to deseed them. Take out the seeds carefully with the knife without tearing them.

Take ½ tsp of turmeric powder, salt and coriander powder and make a paste adding water. Fill this mixture to the deseeded portion of the chillies and keep aside for 10 mts.

Make a thick dosa-like batter with besan, turmeric powder, salt and hing.

Dip the chillies in this batter and drop them to the hot oil.

Flip all the sides so as to cook evenly. Transfer to a tissue paper to absorb the excess oil and serve hot.

Microwave Bread Cake

Bread Cake

Different varieties of cakes are available in market nowadays. Whether it is a birthday party, a New Year party or an anniversary, cake is a must. Imagine a home-made delicious healthy cake on any of these occasions just to make it a little more special. I am talking about a very easy to make microwave bread cake. In today’s health conscious world if you can bake a cake without maida and butter, that’s really wonderful. You have your own options in selecting your kind of bread.

Ingredients 

Brown bread                                            - 7 pcs

Baking powder                                        - 1 tsp

Vanilla essence                                       - 5-6 drops

Eggs                                                        - 2 nos

Milk                                                          - 1 tbsp

Oil                                                            - 5-6 tsp

Ghee                                                       - 2 tsp

Castor sugar                                            - 1 cup

Method:- grind the bread pieces to a fine powder. Add baking powder, mix well and keep aside.

In a bowl, microwave the ghee and oil together for a minute. Add castor sugar and beat thoroughly. Add eggs and repeat the process.If you have a hand mixer, you can use it. Otherwise, you can mix with a spoon, whisk or spatula. Add vanilla essence to this. Add the bread to this mixture and mix well. To make it a cake consistency, add milk and mix well again. 

Transfer the cake batter to a greased microwave bowl. You can grease the bowl with oil, butter or ghee. Once filled, lightly tap them on the counter to prevent air bubbles from making holes in the baked cake.

 

Microwave on high for 7-8 mts and your cake is ready. Allow the cake to rest for about 10mts after removing from microwave.

Notes: instead of oil and ghee, you can use 100gms of butter.

You can use any kind of bread, a normal white bread, atta bread, brown bread or multigrain.

You can add dry fruits to the cake.