Cucumber Soup

Cucumber Soup in Marathi

serves: 2 persons
Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 big cucumbers
1/2 tsp green chili paste
2 pinches black pepper powder
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
finely chopped cilantro for garnishing

Method:
1) Peel the cucumbers. Cut into thin round slices. Taste both cucumbers as sometimes cucumbers have slight bitterness.
2) Heat oil into a pan. Add chopped garlic. Saute for 20 seconds. Add chopped onion and saute until translucent.
3) Add cucumber slices and salt. Turn the heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, cucumber will become mushy.
4) Add chili paste and transfer the cucumber to blender. Add a tsp of lemon juice and black pepper. Blend and make fine puree. Add very little water to adjust the consistency, only if needed.
You may serve this soup when its warm or refrigerate for 2 hours and serve chilled. Garnish with finely chopped cucumber and cilantro.

Tips:
1) To make this soup creamy, add an avocado while blending.

Healthy Oats dosa

Oats dosa in Marathi

20 medium dosas
Time: 2 to 3 minutes/ dosa

Ingredients:
1 cup rice
1 cup urad dal
3 cups rolled oats (quick cooking oats)
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
salt to taste
Oil to roast dosa

Method:
1) Soak Rice and urad dal separately in sufficient water for 5 to 6 hours. Soak fenugreek seeds along-with urad dal.
2) Soak oats just 10 minutes before grinding rice and urad dal. Soak them in 2 cups water.
3) Drain the water from rice. Grind it in a grinder. Add water little at a time to get fine paste.
4) Drain water from urad dal and grind it to fine paste. Add soaked oats to the mixer and grind it along with urad dal.
5) Mix ground rice, urad dal and oats together. Add little water to adjust the consistency. Add salt to taste. Cover and keep it to dark warm place. It should ferment within 8 to 10 hours. (See important tip regarding fermentation)
6) Once batter is fermented, take about 2 cups of batter into a separate bowl. If the batter is thick, add some water. The consistency for dosa batter should be little thin than idli batter. Likewise, take required amount of in a separate bowl and adjust the consistency by adding little water.
7) Heat a nonstick tawa. Spray some oil and carefully wipe it with a paper towel. Flame should be on medium high. Pour a medium ladelful batter at the center. swirl the spoon clockwise, in circular motion. Make a thin crepe. After 30 seconds, drizzle little oil around the edges and over the dosa. When the dosa is well done at one side, flip it to the other side. Press gently with flat spatula. After flipping, there is no need to roast longer.
Serve oats dosa with sambar and coconut chutney.

Tips:
1) Use a bigger container to ferment the batter. There should be atleast 10 inch space above the level of the batter to rise.
2) In cold season, batter does not ferment well or doesn't ferment at all. If you have oven at home, preheat it at 200 F for 3 to 4 minutes. Then switch off the oven. Put the covered container inside and close the door. If you are going to put the container in the oven, use steel or glass container.
3) The batter will stay fresh for 5 days in refrigerator.

Dates Laddu

Dates Laddus in Marathi

Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 10 to 12 small laddus

Ingredients:
25 Dates, Pitted (1 cup after grinding)
1/2 cup Almonds, coarsely ground
1/2 cup grated dry coconut, lightly roasted
1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp Poppy seeds

Method:
1) Heat ghee into a pan. Add poppy seeds and roast for few seconds. Then add ground almonds, lightly toasted dry coconut and ground dates. Saute over low flame for 3 to 4 minutes.
2) Mix well. Transfer this mixture into a plate. Grease palms with little ghee. Take a small portion, press tightly and make round shaped laddu. Make laddus while mixture is still warm.
Do not make big laddus. One laddu should be the same size of a lemon.

Tips:
1) Black dates can be used instead of regular dates.
2) I had only used almonds. However, 1/2 cup mixture of pistachio, cashews and almonds can be used. If you want to add more dry-fruits, increase the amount of dates accordingly.
3) More ghee can be added to your taste.
4) I had used ready-made sliced almonds. Try not to use them because it becomes very difficult to shape laddus (they fall apart).
5) Use moist dates to make soft laddus.

Bean Sprouts salad

Bean Sprouts Salad in Marathi

Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 to 3 persons

Ingredients:
100 to 125 grams bean sprouts
6 to 8 thin slices of cucumber (peeled), cut in half and cut in half moon slices
1/2 tsp ginger, sliced
1 scallion, sliced thin
1 small carrot, grated on large holes
1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 green chili, finely chopped (optional)

Method:
1) Add 1 tsp oil to hot frying pan and quickly fry ginger pieces until crisp. Remove from the pan. Drain the oil and reserve.
2) In bowl, combine sprouts, cucumber, scallions, carrot, cilantro and green chili and mix well. Add lime juice, remaining oil from pan, soy sauce, fried ginger, and toasted sesame seeds. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Tip:
1) Sprouts are very delicate. Hence, do the mixing very gently. Also, do not over-mix, it will mush the sprouts.

Spinach Rice

Spinach Rice in Marathi

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2 persons

Ingredients:
3/4 cup basmati rice
1 cup finely chopped spinach
3/4 cup hot water
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 small green chili
Whole spice: 2 bay leaves, 1 cardamom, 2 cloves
Salt to taste

Method:
1) Soak rice in water for 10 minutes. Drain the water after 10 minutes. Leave the rice for 10 minutes.
2) Add 1/2 cup of water to spinach and puree.
3) Heat 1 tbsp butter into a deep nonstick saucepan. Add cumin seeds, whole spices. Saute for 5 seconds. Add ginger garlic and green chili. Add onion and saute till translucent.
4) Add soaked rice. Roast for few minutes over high heat. Stir continuously to avoid burning the rice. You will notice that rice has become completely dry and rice grains are popping when touched directly to the pan's bottom. That means rice is roasted perfectly.
5) Add 3/4 cup hot water, salt and spinach puree. Keep the flame on high. Boil until you don't see water on the surface of rice. Then put the flame on medium low and cover the pan. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until rice is cooked completely.
Fluff with a fork. Serve hot with raita and fryums/ papad.

Tips:
1) To make this rice more healthy and colorful, add vegetables like peas, carrot, french beans, cauliflower etc
2) Roasting rice helps to keep the grains separate after cooking. Also, use hot water and follow step 5 for better results.
3) Kids would love to eat this green rice. Do not add green chili to make it kids friendly.

Dalia Idli

Daliya idli in Marathi

Time: Prep time-20 minutes (excludes soaking time)| Cooking time- 35 to 40 minutes
Serves: 13 to 15 medium idlis.

Ingredients:
1 cup Daliya
2 cups hot water
For Tempering: 1 tbsp Oil, 2 pinches mustard seeds, 2 pinches Hing,
2 green chilies and 4 to 5 curry leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp Urad dal, 1/2 tsp Chana dal
1 tsp Ginger, grated
1/2 cup plain Yogurt, (preferably sour tasted)
Salt to taste
1 tsp Eno fruit Salt
Idli stand
Idil Cooker or normal pressure cooker

Method:
1) Soak daliya in hot water for about 4 hours. After 4 hours, drain and save the excessive water (Tip 1). No need to squeeze out the water. Grind soaked dailya to a semi-fine paste.
2) Heat oil in a small pan. Add chana dal and urad dal. Saute until color changes to pink. Then add mustard seeds, hing, chopped green chilies and curry leaves. Pour this Tadka to ground daliya.
3) Add yogurt, ginger and salt to taste. Mix well. The consistency should be same like Rice Idli batter. If the batter is too thick, add little saved water to adjust the consistency.
4) Add water in cooker upto 2 and 1/2 inches from the bottom. Put the pressure cooker on high flame. Grease the Idli stand with little oil
5) Divide the batter into 2 equal portions (tip 6). Add 1/2 tsp Eno fruit salt in one portion. Mix with a spoon and start filling Idli molds with batter.
6) Once water in pressure cooker starts boiling, put the Idli stand inside. Close with the lid. Remove the weight, if using normal pressure cooker.
7) Steam cook for 12 to 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 7 to 8 minutes.
8) Then remove the Idlis with sharp edged spoon (Tip 2). Again add water in the pressure cooker and make second batch of Idli as per the above method.

Tips:
1) Use this water to make sambar. It does not affect the taste.
2) These idlis are made of daliya (unpolished cracked wheat). Hence, they don't become very spongy and light like normal rice idlis. Remove the Idli stand 10 minutes after turning the gas off. Let it sit outside for few minutes. Then remove idlis with a spoon.
3) These idlis are little grainy. Therefore, make some sambar alongwith chutney.
4) Its a good breakfast alternative for diabetes patients who want to avoid Rice in there diet.
5) Add some vegetables like carrot, peas to the idli batter to make it more tasty and healthy.
6) My Idli stand has only 9 compartments. Therefore, I had to divide the batter into 2 equal portions. If your Idli stand has 12 or 16 compartments, then you can make the idlis in one batch.

Fenugreek Laddu Methi Laddu

Fenugreek Laddu in Marathi

Time: approximately 2 hours
Yield: 25 medium laddus

Ingredients:
1 cup Wheat flour
2 cups Soybean flour
1 cup Cashew powder
1 cup Dry dates powder
1/2 cup Almond powder
1/2 cup Pistachio powder
2 cups Dry coconut, grated and roasted
50 gram Dink Powder (Edible Gum)
50 gram Fenugreek seeds
2 to 2 and 1/2 cup Jaggery, grated
Approximately 1/2 kg Ghee

Method:
1) Heat a pan nicely. Then turn off the gas. Roast the fenugreek seeds for few minutes. Ground the roasted fenugreek to fine powder.
2) In a deep bowl, take around 2 cups of warm ghee. Add fenugreek powder and Dink powder. Mix and beat the mixture for around 15 minutes. Do it alternate days for about 8 days. Beating fenugreek along with the ghee helps to reduce bitterness of the fenugreek.
3) Roast the powder of Cashew, Almonds, Pistachio, Dry dates separately by adding a tablespoon ghee for each roasting.
4) Roast the soybean flour and wheat flour. Add few tablespoon of ghee while roasting.
5) Mix all the ingredients. (Roasted powder of Cashew, Almonds, Pistachio, Dry dates, Roasted Coconut, beaten Dink and Fenugreek powder, Roasted flours)
6) Take the jaggery into a pan. Add 2 to 3 tbsp water. Heat the pan and melt the jaggery. Once jaggery is melted, turn off the heat. Add the above mixture immediately. Mix nicely and make the laddus while mixture is still hot.

Beet Root Juice

Beetroot Juice in Marathi

Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2 persons

Ingredients:
1 Beet, medium
1 tomato, medium
1 carrot, medium
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp Cumin powder
Salt and sugar to taste
1 tsp lemon juice (Optional)

Method:
1) Pressure cook Beetroot and carrot upto 1 whistle (tip 1). Cut the beetroot and carrot into medium chunks. Also dice the tomato.
2) Put the beetroot, carrot and tomato into a grinder. Grind to a fine paste. Add little water only if required.
3) Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth-lined mesh strainer. Squeeze and remove all the juice out.
4) Add cumin powder and salt. Stir and taste the juice. Now add sugar and lemon juice (tip 2).

Tips:
1) Beetroot can be used raw, without steam cooking.
2) You may not need to add sugar as Beetroot has its own sweetness. If tomato has enough sour taste, then there might be no need of lemon juice too.

Corn Flakes Chaat

Corn Flakes Chat in Marathi

Serves: 4 persons
Time: 10 minutes (If all ingredients are ready)

Ingredients:
1 cup sprouted Green moong
1/2 cup cooked Chickpeas (canned chickpeas)
1 cup Corn Flakes
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup Yogurt, beaten (add pinch of salt)
Tamarind chutney (approx 1/2 cup)
Green chutney (Approx 1/4 cup)
1 tsp Chat masala (or to taste)
1 tsp Red chili powder (or to taste)
Salt to taste
finely chopped Cilantro, for garnishing

Method:
1) If you are going to use Dried moong beans and dried chickpeas, read tip 1 below.
2) Keep 4 serving plates ready. Put 1/4 cup cooked moong beans and 2 tbsp cooked chickpeas in each plate. Add handful of corn flakes (slightly crushed). Then add onion and green chutney. Drizzle yogurt and tamarind chutney. Sprinkle chat masala and red chili powder. Garnish with cilantro.
Serve immediately. otherwise corn flakes will soak the moisture and the chat will become mushy.

Tips:
1) Soak Mung beans and Chickpeas separately, for 8 to 10 hours into warm water. Also, pressure cook them separately or put them into two separate containers while pressure-cooking. Add little salt to mung beans and chickpeas. Another thing to remember is put around 1 cup water into pressure cooker. Do not add water in the container. It will steam cook them.