Thursday, February 11, 2010

Spinach Soup

Always wanted to try this out, so saw a few recipes, and taking clues from them all, came up with this...

I used:
1 1/2 bunches of roughly chopped palak leaves
1 large sliced onion (used white onion, since I had it with me)
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
4-5 pepper corns
1 tsp butter
3 cups water
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste

Heat butter in a pan and add peppers. Then add onion and cook untill light gold. Then add the ginger garlic paste, salt and spinach, and cover and cook for say 5 mins, untill done.

After cooling, blend in a mixie with some water. Take a vessel and pour this mixture, remaining water and milk, and bring to boil. Let it simmer for 2 minutes, and serve hot.
I added a few lemon drops to my bowl, and my mom in law added some tomato chilli sauce to hers! Either way, it tasted good. You could add cream, sugar, or croutons! Very healthy too

-Naina

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce with Peppers and Olives

Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce with Peppers and Olives


A little different recipe which I experimented and it turned out to be very tasty.Pasta has always been my favorite and this turned out to be much better than expectation.

Ingredients
Olive oil
Onions Finely chopped
Potatoes peeled ,cut and half boiled
Pumpkin peeled ,cut and half boiled
Ginger Garlic paste
Finely chopped Bell Pepper
Black olives
Salt
Oregano,
Ground Pepper Powder
Chilly flakes
Salt to taste
Pasta (cooked in water al dente), Would recommend Fussilli pasta here
Milk/Cream
Cheese grated


Take a Deep pan on a flame and put the olive oil on it.Add Onions,Oregano and Ginger Garlicg Paste.Let it cook till translucent.Add Pepper Powder and chilly flakes.
Now Add the boiled Potatoes and boiled Pumpkin. Let it cook for a while.Add some cream and milk..Put the whole thing in blender till it becomes smooth paste.

Now roast the bell peppers for some toime.Cut them finely.Also chop the black olives add to this paste.

Cook Fussili pasta in water.Add a little salt and oil to it to prevent from sticking at the base of the vessel.Once its cooked al dente,drain the water.Add it to the Sauce+veges

Add grated cheese and roast in Microwave for 5 mins.Season with herbs

Serve hot..its really yummy..

Bon Appetit

Monday, February 8, 2010

Rice Phirni

Saw this on Bombay Foodie , and decided, that I just had to make this to taste it!

Followed her recipe.. but increased the proportions..
Mixed 2 tbsp of rice flour with some milk to form a paste. Boiled 500 ml milk with 4 tbsp sugar. Took it off the heat and poured into it the rice paste and whisked until it was smooth, the rice completely mixed in. Then returned the milk to the stove and simmered for 10-15 minutes till thick, while constantly whisking the milk to avoid clumps. Once done, cooled it, sprinkled pistachios and badams, and let it chill.
Yummy custard

-Naina

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Blue Fusion Delight

The colour blue has always attracted me.Be it the blue sky,the blue sea or the gem Sapphire..blue always holds a special place in my heart.It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and i decided to make this simple mocktail.
Ingredients:
Blue Curacao Syrup(Mapro's Brand is readily available )
Salt
Jaljeera powder(Badshah /Everest)
Water

Procedure:
Add the Blue Curacao syrup.Add to it salt.Add the Jaljeera powder and water(Ideally Curacao to Water should be 1:5 in proportion).Stir well.Else put it in a Shaker and shake well.
Now use a drainer or a soft handkerchief to drain the sediments of Jaljeera.Do not use a tea/coffee drainer ans sediments might not get eliminated.
Freeze in the refrigerator(never deep freeze) and serve in a Pinacolada glass

The reason why named it as Fusion was it takes both the Indian and Caribbean Flavors and merges so well that you get an amazing flavour.

Jaljeera("Jal" means water and "Jeera" means cumin)is ideally a Indian drink used as a digestive,appetizer as well as a coolant especially in Summer considering the tropical Climate of India..One of the main ingredients is black salt or rock salt which acts as a digestive

Blue Curaçao is a classic, sweet and slightly bitter syrup originally made with the dried peel of oranges or dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, grown on the island of Curaçao a Caribbean island.The syrup is traditionally used to impart a hint of Caribbean blue color in several cocktails.Most Curacaos which we get in India use the Syrup of Sweet lime and Orange Combined with artificial colorants to give the blue colour.

So ideally now when climate has started getting warmer its great to have this drink..Enjoy

Ash
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