Vegetable Jalfrezi

A Mughlai  style gravy, cooked with vegetables, that also looks like a  Indian stir fry, is usually served with Indian bread. Jalfrezi has a slightly sweet and sour flavor to it and is presentable at a party with its colorful vegetables.
A flavorful aromatic dish , served in almost all Indian restaurants. 
I like preparing this dish as I know by including these veggies, my family is getting the nutritional value of this dish.
The main work is cutting the veggies :))

Ingredients
100 gm carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch thick julienne style strips
100 gm green  beans , cut similar julienne style
1 small green and yellow bell pepper cut into julienne strips
50 gm green peas, optional 
100 gm florets of cauliflower chopped
100 gm cottage cheese (paneer ) cut into 1 inch strips


For gravy
1 medium Onion, cut lengthwise in thin strips
1 cup tomato purée
1tbsp fresh ginger garlic paste ( you can grate both ginger, garlic to get a paste)
3 to 4 green chilies chopped finely
Salt to taste
1 tsp red chili powder ( I prefer Kashmir chilies as they are not that spicy but do provide the much needed color to the gravy sauce )
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala ( available at all Indian grocery stores) Again I prefer to use Everest brand but all are good and more or less similar.
1 bay leaf
1 small cinnamon stick
3 to 4 cloves 
2 to 3 big cardamom
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp  butter
2 tsp kasoori methi (available in Indian stores) for garnish/ or freshly cut green coriander leaves.

1/4 cup chopped cashews for garnish



                                                           

             

Chopped vegetables and browned onions

Brown sliced onions in 2 tsp vegetable oil

Add bay leave,cloves, cardamom, cinnamom

Add tomato puree

Add vegetables 

Cottage cheese saute 

Add paneer to vegetables 

Cook covered for another 5 to 6 minutes till it all blends into the curry ,check for seasonings

Vegetable Jalfrezi

Garnished with chopped cashews 

Method:

1. Wash all chopped vegetables and boil them  separately in a  cup of  water , with 1/4 tsp salt for about 5 minutes, drain water and keep aside .
2. Heat oil in a medium size pan, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick , cloves . Allow to splutter , add onions , sauté till light golden , add in ginger garlic paste , green chilies.
Continue stirring. Add in tomato purée and taste for salt, add in red chili powder, turmeric, and garam masala. Cover to cook for about 5 minutes . This is the gravy sauce.
3. In a separate pan , heat butter add in drained pineapple cut into 1 inch . In a separate pan saute paneer (cottage cheese) cubes. Next add in the parboiled veggies and saute in tablespoon of oil.
4. Lastly  add these  vegetables along with paneer to the cooked gravy sauce . Cook covered further another 5 to 6 minutes, close burner. Garnish with kasoori methi/ freshly chopped coriander leaves. Garnish with chopped cashews or green chilies and serve vegetable jalfrezi hot with tandoori naan / or enjoy with Basmati rice.

No Bake Bars!!

 These no bake bars are a great source of energy, and  kids love them. For adults, too with our busy life styles, these oats bar are great to take along on the  run, they are packed with  the goodness of Oats!! perfect health benefits combined with taste. Also they store well. You can make more and store them in the freezer too.

I find these super easy to prepare and the best part there is no baking to do.Also by preparing them myself I know exactly what ingredients I am eating or giving my family , as most of the store bought bars are filled with ingredients like High fructose corn syrup, you don't want to have that!!! in your diet.

Ingredients:

1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 cup quick cooking oats /instant oats
1/4  cup butter
2 tsp Molasses
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp  mini chocolate chips
2 tsp sunflower seeds, optional



                                                 

Ingredients 

Butter and brown sugar, add molasses and vanilla extract to this 

Mix the dry oats and rice krispes with the wet mixture  

Flatten mixture on baking tray , sprinkle chocolate chips on top

No Bake Bars!

Method:

1. First mix oats and rice crisps, keep aside.
2. In a separate pan, on medium heat, melt butter, honey, molasses and brown sugar until it gets bubbly. Stir in vanilla extract. Add this mixture to the dry mixture, mix well together. Lightly grease a  baking sheet , add this  mixture onto the baking sheet and using a spatula  to press down the mixture uniformly.
3.  Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over the mixture and press them slightly.Cover with parchment paper &  refrigerate for at least an hour before you cut them into equal sized bars. 
4.Wrap the cut bars, in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Left overs, if any :)) freeze them to  Enjoy later!
I added some sunflower seeds later for added nutrition , but its optional :))

Misal Pav

Misal, means  a mixture, of 2 or 3 beans that are soaked, overnight and later cooked in a spicy curry and enjoyed with pav ( bread). It is a very popular dish  in the Western region of India in the State of Maharashtra. Also  prepared for breakfast.

For making Misal, first wash and soak overnight , moong, moth and matki (beans) in 2 cups water. Next day strain the water and allow the beans to sprout , by placing them in a cloth and tieing  the cloth  loosely, sprinkle some water over the cloth to keep it moist. Next day it starts to sprout , these sprouted beans are considered very nutritious and wholesome full of fibre. Indian cooking not only tastes good, but most of the dishes prepared have nutritional quality and the spices we all know offer medicinal values too. Do try making these as they are good for you:)

Ingredients
1 cup Moth sprouted (ready sprouted beans are available in store)
1 cup Matki sprouted (beans or legumes)
1/2 cup Whole green Moong sprouted
1 tspn salt to taste
2 to 3 green chillies finely diced
2 to 3 cloves garlic chopped finely
1 inch ginger grated or chopped finely
1 medium onion finely chopped
1/4 cup dried grated coconut
2 to 3 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1/4 cup freshly chopped coriander leaves for garnish
1 cup spicy ready mix chevda available in Indian stores
1 packet ready pav ( bread)

Misal Pav

Method
1 Wash and soak all three legumes (beans), and next day drain the excess water if any , and tie them loosely in a cloth and sprinkle few drops of water. If you want them to sprout more , than leave them another day and use the next day to prepare the dish. Or else, you can pressure cook the soaked legumes in a pressure cooker by adding 1 cup water and 1/2 tspn salt. After 2 whistles, close the pressure cooker.
2.In a pan, heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil. Add cloves and cinnamon,add the chopped onions ,stir for 5 to 6 minutes,add ginger ,garlic,green chillies, add the grated coconut and  continue stirring.Add in the chopped tomatoes, and cook till they appear softened. Now add in the seasoning's,salt,red chilli powder, cumin powder,turmeric  and 1 tspn freshly squeezed lemon juice. Drain the cooked beans, and add to the  pan and carefully mix together. Cover with a lid and cook another few minutes,close burner and garnish cooked Misal.
Serve with pav, and garnish with ready mix and chopped coriander.

Kala Chana Curry

Kala chana or black chick peas, is an Indian curry dish. These  nutritious legumes are packed with nutritional protein.They can be cooked out of a can or soaked overnight. If you plan to use the can beans ,try to use the less salt ones as the salted ones are too high in sodium.
1 cup of cooked chana gives 15 gm protein and 13 gm of fibre, these chana's and other types of beans, legumes, vegetables, nuts are all excellent source of fibre.
 These can be prepared dry or with a curry, the recipe below is the Indian curry Kala chana, that is a famous dish in Northern part of India.

Ingredients
500 gm uncooked chana
2 cups water to soak chana overnight
4 cups water to pressure cook soaked chana
1/2 cup ready curry paste (recipe available in Flavors of India book) or instead use grated onion, and tomato as shown below
1 medium size red onion grated
1 medium size tomato pureed
2 to 3 cloves
1 inch stick cinnamon
1 small bay leaf
1/4 tspn cumin seeds
1 tspn turmeric
1 tspn red chilli powder
2 tspn salt or as per taste
1 tspn ginger ,garlic paste
3 to 4 green chillies
1 tspn grated ginger
Vegetable Oil

Kala Chana 

Method 1.Rinse and soak the channa  overnight. Next day pressure cook the chana's in 2 cup of water. Add 1 tspn salt, 1 tspn grated ginger. Pressure cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, later check to see if the chana are cooked properly, strain and keep aside.
2.In a pan heat oil,add cumin seeds, cloves,bay leaf,cinnamon stick and add ginger garlic paste and green chillies .
3.Add in  onions, allow to turn golden in colour, add in tomatoes and stir together allowing the tomatoes to soften and add in salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder, mix to form a curry paste.
4.Next add in the strained chana  to prepared curry and after stirring for about 3 to 4 minutes, add in 1 cup water and cook covered on low to medium heat another about 10 minutes. serve hot with rice or roti.