Category: Indian Recipes

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebabs with Corn Salad

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebobs with Corn Salad4

This week is going to be fun, though I will have to wait for the weekend for really good stuff to begin. I am celebrating my 28th birthday this Friday! I think birthdays should be a month-long celebration but we are all time-pressed in life! Not that it’s any excuse to ignore the small joys life brings our way but sadly, that’s the cruel reality!

Still nothing can slow down the excitement which is coursing through me! Another year has passed by and this year I am feeling more grown-up than ever! It is true that at the moment I am amongst the mayhem in my life as career transition and so much more is happening. Life is a mess right now.. nonetheless a beautiful mess!

Let’s leave it at that and talk about our today’s recipe. It is a very simple yet delicious way to include so many veggies in your dinner. A light yet filling. I made this last week for dinner and it was so gratifying to get to eat it between the all-week ice-cream madness happening in the house!

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebobs with Corn Salad1

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebobs with Corn Salad2

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebobs with Corn Salad3

It was kind of cleaning-my-refrigerator day so whatever I had on hand I put that under the marinade and I was glad I did! You can also throw in whatever you have at home. Button mushrooms would be a great addition! I prepared the marinade the night before so the flavors were super-intense. But you can do this at least 4 hours before grill time. It makes a super-quick week-night dinner!

I don’t own a grill so I used my convection oven which came with rotisserie. Veggies could not get charred at all in the oven but they cooked perfectly. Nice and juicy! But if you own one (needless to say in that case, I’m totally J), it will make a great recipe for a BBQ party and the veggies will char beautifully!

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebobs with Corn Salad5

Skinny Basil Veggie Kebabs with Corn Salad

Serves: 2-3

Prep time: 15 minutes | Cook time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

Marinade:

1 and 1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup yogurt (I used home-made)
4-5 cloves of garlic
salt and freshly cracked pepper, as per taste
1 tsp garam masala powder
dash of lemon juice

Kebabs:

1 zucchini (medium sized)
1 bell pepper (I used yellow)
1 large red onion
1 large tomato (de~seeded)
200 gm cottage cheese

Corn Salad:

1 cup boiled sweet corn
1 small cucumber, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dry basil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp yogurt

Directions:

  1. At least 4 hours before, blend all the ingredients for marinade to a smooth puree. Adjust the seasoning as per your taste. Cut veggies into 1″ cubes and toss with marinade in a bowl. Cover it and refrigerate until ready to cook.
  2. When ready, light grill. Using the wood or skewers, insert the veggies. Place on grill and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes till the veggies are uniformly charred.  *I don’t have grill so I used rotisserie function of my convection oven and cooked as per the instruction manual. Hence the char was missing but kebabs were cooked beautifully.
  3. While veggies cook, mix the ingredients for corn salad in a bowl and toss thoroughly.
  4. Serve skewers topped with remaining marinade (if any) alongside the corn salad.

*You can make this recipe vegan – by replacing yogurt with soy yogurt in marinade, replacing cottage cheese with tofu and in corn salad, omit mayonnaise and use soy yogurt instead.

 

Share this recipe:

Guilt free Cranberry Apple Pancakes

Cranberry-Apple Pancakes1

Yes, we’re still talking Mother’s day!

Yesterday we kicked off with a memorable dessert for Mother’s day, it’s time to talk about breakfast in bed for our dear mothers over a Cuppa. Imagine her happiness! Imagine that precious smile! It’s so going to make it worth getting up before she does and surprising her with this sweet gesture! 😀

Yup… it’s going to be a sweet yet simple treat! I’m talking about Cranberry Apple Pancakes!

And of course they will be super healthy and super nutritious, filled with the goodness of whole wheat, flaxseed and oats! I would settle for nothing less than the best for our dearest mommies!

The pancakes are not overly sweet and tart enough due to dried cranberries and Granny Smith Apple. It’s a perfect match.. I have kept them eggless by adding homemade unsweetened apple sauce.

Serving: 6 medium-sized pancakes

Ingredients:

  •  1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 Tbsp flaxseed powder
  • 2 Tbsp quick-cooking oats
  • 3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 Tbsp butter, melted plus more for the griddle
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 medium granny smith apple, peeled,cored and grated
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries (can be replaced with fresh)

Directions:

  1. Mix whole wheat flour, flaxseed powder, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk thoroughly.
  2. Add melted butter, applesauce, milk to the dry ingredients and whisk thoroughly to form a batter. Add little milk if the batter seems too thick to pour.
  3. Fold in grated apple and dried cranberries to the batter.
  4. Pour a ladle-full of batter on a hot, greased griddle and cook until bubbly, little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom, approximately 3-4 minutes. Turn and brown the other side for about a minute. You can make 1-3 pancakes at the same time depending on size of your griddle.
  5. Serve hot with maple syrup or a dollop of butter.
Share this recipe:

Ooh-So Healthy Spinach & Cottage Cheese Pancakes

pancakes5

I am a huge fan of breakfast for dinner. Mainly because I love the simplicity of it. Plus our work schedules do not allow us to have an early dinner hence eating light at night is a way to go for me.

My Sunday was jam-packed with activities so I couldn’t stock the fridge for the coming week but luckily my favorite soppu (is a Kannada word & in English it simply means ‘greens’!!) vendor knocked on our door Monday morning to deliver fresh spinach and that saved me an impromptu visit to supermarket. 🙂

I wanted to make something new from this super-fresh spinach but I simply didn’t have time to get my mind around it until dinnertime! I was tired of eating same old Spinach-Cottage Cheese Gravy with flat-bread. Plus I wanted it to be quick (as usual!!! 😉 ) hence I decided to make one simple dish with the combination of Spinach, Cottage Cheese and Flour! And this is how Spinach & Cottage Cheese Pancakes were born! And of course I HAD to healthify them!!! 😉

Serves: 2, Makes around 10 pancakes

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch fresh spinach rinsed thoroughly and dried, approximately 200 gms
  • 5-6 big cloves of garlic
  • 2-3 green chilis
  • 100 gms cottage cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbsp chickpea flour
  • 2 Tbsp millet flour
  • 1 tsp flax-seed powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
  • 2 tsp oil, plus more to grease the skillet

Directions:

pancakes
Place the green chilis, garlic and spinach in a blender. Sprinkle a bit of salt and blend them till pureed smooth. *Add water gradually as required.

pancakes1
Grate cottage cheese
pancakes2
Mix spinach puree, cottage cheese, chickpea & millet flour, flax-seed powder, chili flakes, baking soda, oil, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Add water gradually till pancake-styled batter is formed.
pancakes3
Spread the ladle-full of batter on a greased skillet and spread it evenly. You can keep the size as per your comfort zone. See the color?!! 🙂

pancakes4
Turn them very carefully after 2-3 minutes of cooking on one side over a medium flame.
pancakes5
Serve them simply with tomato ketchup or dollop-full yogurt along with a bowl of soup or as is!

*Note:

You can have number of variations with this recipe:

  1. You can add a bunch of mint leaves along with spinach for added freshness and zing.
  2. You can add grated carrots and/or boiled corn in the batter.
  3. You can use these pancakes as a base and make a mix-vegetable filling or egg filling to stuff it with.

Possibilities are endless! So keep thinking and improvising!

Enjoy!!! 🙂

Share this recipe:

Dill and Yellow Lentil Gravy

Dill & Lentils Curry5

Hello everyone!

Today I bring to you an everyday staple yellow lentils/split grams (almost!!!) elevated to gourmet level by addition of Dill.

In olden days, dill was used in many traditional medicines, including medicines against jaundice, headache, boils, lack of appetite, stomach problems, nausea, liver problems, and much more.  Dill seeds can also be used to prepare herbal tea.

Dill is not most often used herb in Indian cooking as cilantro but has got a very strong flavor which enhances the boring yellow lentils and compliments it very well.

Dill and Yellow Lentil Gravy

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup yellow lentils rinsed thoroughly, soaked in 1 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp oil or ghee
  • 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 5-6 big cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2-3 green chillis, finely chopped
  • 1 big red onion, chopped finely
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 bunch of dill, washed and finely chopped with stems removed
  • lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp Indian Garam Masala powder
  • salt to taste
  • spring onions, finely chopped, to garnish

Directions:

Cook the lentils in pressure cooker for 10-15 minutes until soft. Do not mash them.

Heat the oil or ghee in a deep skillet and add the mustard seeds and cover it.

Dill & Lentils Curry
Once the mustard seeds stop popping, add garlic and green chillis and saute’ for 1 minute.
Dill & Lentils Curry1
Add onions to this and saute’ till they turn translucent.
Dill & Lentils Curry2
Now add turmeric powder. Later add dill and salt, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Dill & Lentils Curry3
Mix the cooked yellow lentils with the onion and dill mixture.                              Add garam masala and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
Dill & Lentils Curry4
Add lemon juice just before serving and garnish with spring onions.             Enjoy it with roti/chapati or plain rice!

 

Share this recipe: