May 27, 2014

RECIPE #2 : COOK DIFFERENT WITH BROCCOLI!

Broccoli paratha is a small variation to the traditional parathas. Instead of stuffing the vegetables inside rolled out rotis, we grind the vegetable into a smooth paste and add the paste to the atta while kneading the dough. This method is especially easy for making parathas with watery vegetables like spinach (palak chappatti), avocado chappatti, radish (mooli chappatti), turnip (shalgham chappatti), tofu chappatti etc.

INGREDIENTS

Whole Wheat flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Broccoli - 1 bunch
Onion - 1/2 (minced)
Garlic - 1 clove (minced)
Green chillies - 2
Garam masala - a pinch
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Carom seeds or bishop's weed (Ajwain) - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for making parathas





METHOD

1. Wash the broccoli and cut into florets.
2. Bring some water to boil and add app. 10 florets to it with some salt.
3. After 2 minutes remove the florets and grind it into a fine paste with turmeric powder, garam masala and green chillies.
4. In a mixing bowl add wheat flour, all purpose flour, the ground mixture, some minced onions, garlic, carom seeds and salt.
5. Knead it like chappatti with required water.
6. At this stage you can let the dough rest for some time.
7. Make small balls similar to chappatti. Roll out each ball similar to making
chappattis.
8. Heat a griddle and put the paratha on it. Pour few drops of oil/ghee on top. Cook till both sides are browned. Serve with pickle, curd or some spicy gravy.

May 22, 2014

HEALTHY COOKING : PESARATTU RECIPE #1

http://tastedeindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Barley-Pesarattu-Thumbnail-300x199.jpg
"Healthy" means different things to different people, but we aim to cater to all needs here. This time, to spice things up a little, we thought we'd share with you the famous recipe for "Pesarattu", a singnature dish from Andhra Pradesh. Here's the recipe for you!

INGREDIENTS

2 cups moong dal - cleaned and soaked for 1 hour
1/2cup rice - cleaned and soaked for an hour
Green chillies - chopped to taste
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup coriander leaves - chopped
1/4 cup onions - chopped oil
Oil for pan frying
 
METHOD
 
1. Drain the dal mixture and grind coarsely.
2. Mix in the chillies, salt, coriander and onions and enough batter to make a dropping consistency.
3. Proceed to make like Dosas--heat tawa or griddle, splash some water over it and immediately pour some batter and spread out. When edges start to rise, put oil all around and a little bit on top. Will come off clean when cooked.
4. Serve with coconut chutney.
 
HEALTH BENEFITS OF MOONG DAL
 
CALORIES
A 100-gram serving of cooked mung beans has about 100 calorie. For a dish that is so filling and full of protein, this is a relatively low calorie count.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS
A 100-gram serving of boiled mung beans provides 40 percent of the recommended daily intake of folate (vitamin B9). Moong dal also provides significant amounts of thiamine (vitamin B1), as well as vitamin B5 and vitamin B6. In addition to this, it contains high levels of the minerals iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc.

FAT
A 100-gram portion of cooked mung beans contains only 0.38 grams of fat.

PROTEIN
Moong Dal is packed with protein. One cup of boiled dal provides 14 grams of protein. This is one of the reasons that moong dal is such a popular meal in India.