Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

Rice - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 4
Onion - 1
Garlic cloves - 6
Chillies - 2
Salt, turmeric, pepper, coriander powder and garam masala powder - to taste
Mustard seeds, cumin, bengal gram - 2 tea spoons
Ground nut - 1 tea spoon

How to make:

1. Add oil to the cooker
2. Add chopped garlic
3. Add mustard seeds, cumin, bengal gram and ground nuts (Cashew optional)
4. Add dried chillies
5. Add chopped onions and green chillies
6. Add chopped tomatoes
7. Add salt, turmeric, pepper, coriander powder and garam masala powder
8. After the mixture is cooked, add washed rice and water
9. Close the cooker and leave it for 3 whistles

Verdict:

Finally a recipe of my own. I have perfected it over time and love it absolutely. Not just me, I have people appreciating too. :)

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Chena Poda (Indian Cheese cake)

Ingredients:

Paneer - 4 cubes
Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup
Suji - 2 table spoons
Baking powder - 1 tea spoon
Milk
Chopped dry fruits - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 4
Sugar - 1 table spoon

How to make:

1. Make paneer into paste with hand
2. Add powdered sugar and suji to the mixture
3. Add baking powder to the above
4. Mix well and add milk if the mixture seems dry
5. Add dry fruits and cardamom powder to this
6. Sprinkle sugar into a greased baking bowl
7. Take it into the baking bowl and bake for 10 mins at 160C

Verdict:

I so wanted to taste this since my Oriya friend told about it. I have used the online recipe for this. First time, the dough was dry, more like cookie dough and hence it was crispy. Second time, kept adding milk till it was similar to cake mixture. Both times, it was great. Very lovely. God, you gotta try this one for sure.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Raw mango sandwich spread

Ingredients:

Raw mango - 1
Chopped spinach - 1 cup
Finely chopped spring onion - 1/2 cup
Chopped spring onion stem - 1 cup
Salt and pepper - to taste

How to make:

1. Add olive oil in a pan
2. Fry finely chopped spring onion for a minute
3. Add chopped raw mango pieces and fry till they are tender
4. Add chopped spinach leaves and fry to cook
5. Add chopped spring onion stem
6. Press the mixture and add salt and pepper

Verdict:

I have watched similar spread recipe on TV and tweaked couple of ingredients. I really have to try this again. I could have reduced the amount of raw mango. Also, I could have used less spring onion stem, or could completely avoided it. Spinach could be fried only till it blanches. I will modify this way and post about it.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Wheat crust tofu pizza

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1/4 kg
Pizza sauce - 2 table spoon
Ginger - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 1/4 cup
Tofu - 2 cup
Onion - 1

How to make:

1. Mix wheat flour, baking powder and salt into a soft dough and leave it aside for one hour
2. Blend garlic and ginger and add salt
3. Add the diced tofu to the ginger garlic paste and leave it for an hour for marination
4. Chop onion in circles
5. Spread the dough with hand into round
6. Apply pizza sauce layer
7. Sprinkle onion and tofu pieces
8. Bake it in oven for 10 mins at 160C

Verdict:

I admit that I took healthy ingredients too far. Wheat crust was alright, would have been better with paneer. Also having minimum amount of toppings was a lesson from this experiment.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns

Eggplant with tofu

Ingredients:

Eggplant - 1/2
Tomato - 2
Onion - 1
Grated tofu - 1 cup
Chopped ginger - 1/2 cup
Honey - 1 table spoon
Mint leaves - few
Lemon - to taste
Salt and Pepper - to taste
Olive oil - to taste

How to make:

1. Blend ginger, honey, mint leaves and lemon
2. Add salt to the mixture
3. Fry the mixture in oil and then add grated tofu
4. Add olive oil and fry finely chopped onion and tomato
5. Add salt and pepper to the mixture
6. Chop eggplant in discs
7. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the discs and bake them in oven for 10 mins at 180C
8. On the cooked discs, apply layer of tomato mixture and then with tofu mixture

Verdict:

Personally, I am still adjusting tongue to flavors beyond Indian, Indo-Chinese and Italian. I had difficulty in getting the eggplant discs right. Overall, it was fine. It could be made better with reducing the amount of sauce mixture with tofu.

P.S. Refer to disclaimer post in case of any concerns