Crunchy Babycorn Salad

Baby corn Salad is one of the nutritious and stomach filling diet recipe. This recipe can be eaten for breakfast along with oatmeal or can be taken as brunch. Different kind of dishes can be prepared with Babycorn. One of my recipe is crunchy and crispy babycorn fingers. Now I am sharing a healthy low calorie crunchy and tasty brunch recipe with you all. Relish your day with Babycorn recipes.

Ingredients:

• Fresh Baby corn - 5 nos
• Capsicum - 1/2 
• Grated Ginger - 1 tsp
• Chopped Garlic - 1 tsp
• Red Chilli Sauce - 1 tbsp
• Soy Sauce - 1 tsp
• Pepper Powder - 1 tsp
• Salt as per your taste
• Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Cut Babycorn and capsicum lengthwise as shown above.


Cooking method:

Take a pan. Add Olive oil followed by Onion, green chilly, Grated Ginger, finely chopped Garlic. Since we need crunchy Onion, Saute it just for 10 seconds.

Add Soy Sauce, Red chilly sauce. 

Then add Baby corn cutted lengthwise. 

Saute for about 5 seconds. Then close the lid. If u feel it is burning after sometime, you can sprinkle water and then cook for about 5 minutes in medium low flame.

Now add capsicum cutted lengthwise and saute it just for few seconds. Add salt.

Also add pepper and saute it for few minutes. The capsicum and babycorn should be crunchy. So do not overcook. If you have coriander leaves garnish it. I don't have :(. So I garnished it with chopped Onion. Now your diet Salad is ready for your brunch. Have it with a cup of green Tea.

Notes :

• For Variations you can include grated Carrot and soaked groundnut. It adds a great taste to the salad. 
• If you like lemon flavour, finally squeeze some lemon juice after adding pepper and serve.
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Plantain / Raw Banana Fish Fry Recipe

The dish looks like nethili Meen (small variety fish). This is a wonderful recipe which my sissy cooked for my blog and I clicked. The recipe name looks strange, because it tastes exactly like fish fry which are made from raw banana or plantain. So this name suits the recipe. Here the spice masala used for making this plantain fish fry gives an extraordinary flavour and tastes sooo good. Let us see how my sissy is doing this Fry recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Plantain - 2 medium size
2. Tomato - 2 medium size
3. Ginger - 1 tsp
4. Garlic - 4 nos
5. Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
6. Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
7. Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
8. Clove - 2 no
9. Red Chilli - 2 no
10. Mustard - 1/4 tsp 
11. Curry leaves few
12. Cooking Oil for deep frying

Cooking Directions:

Peel the skin of Raw Banana and cut into half

Cut into lengthwise pieces as shown below. Deep fry the pieces.

Fry it and keep it seperately

In a wok add Oil followed by cinnamon cardamom, Ginger , Garlic

Add Tomato and Fennel seeds

Saute until tomato becomes soft. Finally add Asafoetida and switch off the flame.

Cool down the mixture and add in a mixie jar and grind to a smooth paste. No need to add water. 

In a Wok add a tbsp of oil add mustard, curry leaves and ground paste

Let the masala cook for some time until it becomes thick

Add the fried Plantain into the spice mix and cook until it becomes dry

Now our tasty Vazhaikkai Fish Varuval is ready to serve with Rice

Mint Krushers Recipe

Why don't your kids be a chef for a day...? Here is an easy, quick and wonderful recipe for kids. Actually this is our vacation project in our school. Any recipe can be done by students. I chose this would be easy for my kid to do, as it is a fireless cooking recipe and no complicated methods and Ingredients needed. This is a Kfc style Mint Krushers and I think it is similar too. My hubby and me love this Mint Krushers and for sooo long time I wanted to post it in my Blog and now came the right time for this recipe. Vyshu enjoyed doing this summer drink and it was a pleasant experience for her. Moreover we prepared this krushers with farm fresh Mint leaves from our Garden. So it was a special Summer drink too. 

Ingredients:

1. Lemon - 3 medium size
2. Mint - 10 to 15 leaves (approximately)
3. Powdered Sugar - 2 to 3 tbsp (or) sugar syrup
4. Salt - 1 pinch
5. Chilled Soda water - 1/2 bottle (I used Lehar Soda)

The above mentioned Ingredients makes 2 glasses of Mint Krushers

Directions to make Mint Krushers:

Cut 1 Lemon and extract juice from it. Cut the remaining lemon as wedges

 Add the mint leaves and sugar in the Mortar. I used normal sugar.

Crush it nicely for about 5 seconds. That is enough. Add a pinch of salt

Add Lemon wedges. Crush it gently for about 2 to 3 seconds. That is enough. If you crush it for long time, the juice from it will be bitter.

In a bowl or Mug add the Ice Cubes followed by lemon extract

Also add the crushed Ingredients. If you need sugar you can add it at this stage.
Mix it well with a spoon

In a glass you can just add Mint leaves for Garnishing. Pour the crushed Ingredients as it is. If you want a clear juice, filter it using a juice filter. 

Vyshu do not like to drink as it with the crushes leaves of mint and with lemon wedges. So she is Filtering.

Add Chilled Soda water to the Glass of Mint mixture. You can add sugar at this stage too.

Dissolve Sugar

Now our Delicious Summer drink is ready done by Vyshu. Serve Immediately as chilled Juice.

Notes:

• If you do not have Mortar and Pestle Just add the Ingredients in a glass and with a help of any Iron rod or chapati rod crush the Ingredients.
• Do not grind the Mint leaves. As the flavour may differ.
• Granulated sugar may take time to dissolve, so you can use powdered sugar or sugar syrup.
• As soon as the Ingredients are crushed add ice cubes and soda, else the colour of mint leaves may change and taste differs.
• The carbonated water(soda water) must be consumed, once it is opened. As soon as the Mint Krushers are prepared, serve it without any delay.
• Please avoid preparing the Mint Krushers in prior, keeping it in fridge and serving later. It is not Krushers at all. 
• Be careful in every step of preparing the krushers. If anything goes wrong the Taste completely differs.
• If your lemon size is small or big change it according according to your taste. Sugar can be adjusted.

Chana Masala Rice Recipe

Chana Masala rice is a little twist for Chana Pulao and Chana Biryani. Here Chana Masala is made first with flavourful spices, then Rice is added to this Masala to make Chana masala Rice. It tastes different from normal Pulao. Kala Chana has numerous health benefits, so it is essential to add in our Food Menu.

Ingredients:

1. Cooked Basmati Rice - 1 Cup
2. Kala Chana / Black Chana - 1/2 Cup
3. Onion - 1 no
4. Tomato - 1 no
5. Green Chilli - 1 no
6. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
7. Bay leaf - 1
8. Cinnamon -1/4 inch
9. Clove - 2 no
10. Cardamom - 1 no
11. Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp
12. Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
13. Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp
14. Chana Masala Powder - 1 tsp
15. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
16. Amchur Powder - 1/4 tsp
17. Ghee - 1 tbsp
18. Cooking Oil - 2 tbsp
19. Salt as per taste

Cooking Directions:

In a pan add Oil followed by Cumin, Bay leaf, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Clove. 

Next add Onion, green chillies. 

Add Ginger Garlic Paste. After a quick saute add chopped Tomatoes

After tomatoes become soft add Red Chilli powder, Garam Masala, Coriander powder, Channa Masala Powder. Saute for a minute.

Add cooked Channa along with the water in it. cook for some time until all the masalas get incorporated with the Channa.

After all the water has absorbed, add cooked rice and gently mix with the channa masala.

Finally add Amchur powder and chopped coriander leaves. Also spread enough ghee to get a nice flavour. Give a quick saute and turn off the flame.

Now your delicious channa Masala rice is ready and it goes well with Onion Raita

Notes:

• The above prepared Chana Masala can also be served as a side dish for Chapati, Roti, Kulcha etc. before adding Rice to it.
• The Masala Ingredients can be reduced if you are packing as lunch for your child.
• For variations you can use kabuli chana, Mushroom instead of Kala Chana.

Tea Masala Powder Recipe

Indian Masala Tea Made with Home Made Tea Masala Powder !!!

Masala Tea is a stronger version compared to normal tea that is flavored with real aromatic Indian spices. Masala Chai is famous all around India. It a special beverage during the monsoon and cold winters. It is believed that it keeps the body warm and gives an energy during those seasons.

A bit of this and a bit of that, roasted and blended together to make an aromatic and flavourful chai, that can pep you up and comfort you like a good friend would...

Many people take it as a regular drink during the evenings. If you wish to enjoy Masala tea regularly then we will be making Tea Masala powder first, stock it to use as and when needed. I got this recipe from my Mom. She makes this tea masala powder in Large quantity and distribute to all of us. Here I have given the exact measuring of spices to make the tea masala powder. 

Ingredients:

1. Dry ginger - 215 grams (approx)
2. Black Pepper - 200 grams (approx)
3. Cardamom - 40 grams
4. Cinnamon - 20 grams
5. Clove - 5 grams

Totally 500 grams of spices approximately

Directions to make the Tea Masala Powder:

First dry roast dry ginger separately and all the remaining ingredients separately for few mins on a medium low flame in a pan. Just heating of ingredients is enough. No need to roast for long time. (pics not taken)

Add dry ginger in a mixie. Grind it to a fine powder. transfer to a bowl.

Add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and Pepper. Grind it to a fine powder.

Add the already grounded dry ginger powder along with this spice mix. Mix  everything through the mixie. Now the Tea Masala Powder is ready to make Masala Chai.

Transfer it to an Air tight Container and keep in a dry place.

Notes:

• You can decrease black pepper according to your taste, since it is too Hot.
• You can also prepare this powder in small quantity and use as and when needed according to the mesurings given above.
• You can refrigerate this tea masala powder and use it for a year. Take a small quantity in a bottle and keep it outside and you can use everyday for your tea.