Macaroni in white and tomato sauce

Ingredients:

Macaroni          -2 ½ cups cook in salted boiling water till it is 2/3 cooked, drain and keep aside

Butter (or ghee)            - 2tbsps

Refined flour     -3 tbsps

Milk     -1/2 litre

Amul cheese slices        - 3

Tomatoes         - 5 big grated

Onion   - 1 big sliced

Garlic   - 7, 8 flakes

Potato  - 1 big peeled and cubed

Carrots - 3 peeled and cubed

Beans   - stringed and cut         - 1 cup

Cauliflowerettes            - 1 ½ cups

Tomato ketchup           - 1 cup

Oil        - 2 tbsps

Salt      -

Sugar

Basil

Oregano           -

Pepper powder

Method:

White (cheese) sauce

Heat butter in a pan on fire, add refined flour slowly, and keep whisking. When it turns light brown and gives out aroma, lower the flame, pour milk slowly and keep whisking. When it is cooked, add one cheese slice broken into pieces slowly, whisking all the while. Add pepper powder and salt (can add a little sugar also), remove from fire.

Tomato sauce with vegetables

I prefer to pre-boil the vegetables. What I do is, first I cut the cauliflower (it needs the least time to cook), boil water in a pan with some salt, add the cauliflower. Switch off the flame and after 2 minutes, drain and keep the cooked cauliflower aside, Heat the same salted water again (by this time I will cut the beans) on the flame, when it boils, add the cut beans. Cover and cook for a minute, switch off the flame, after 2 minutes, drain and remove the beans. In the same salted water, I will cook the carrots and potato cubes for 6 minutes and drain. This water can then be taken as a delicious soup J

Heat oil in a pan, add finely chopped garlic, stir for a while, add the grated tomatoes, tomato ketchup, salt, basil, oregano, pepper powder, all the cooked vegetables (if you have not pre boiled them, you have to keep it on low fire till they are cooked), stir for a while and remove from fire.

For layering:

Oil a baking dish, arrange cooked macaroni at the bottom, spread tomato sauce with vegetables, spread onion slices, pour white sauce over it. Now again start with macaroni, tomato sauce with vegetables, onion slices, and after the last layer of white sauce, spread the two cheese slices broken into small pieces on the top and bake at 200 degree Celsius for ½ hour.

Carrot, green peas sabzi

Carrots and peas make a colorful side dish. On their own, each boasts health benefits, and when they’re paired, they become a powerhouse of antioxidants and nutrients. Together they deliver 16 percent of the recommended daily intake of protein for men and 19 percent for women.

Ingredients:

Carrots - 3 big, peeled and diced

Green peas, shelled       - 11/2 cups

Oil        - 1 TBSP

Jeera    - ½ tsp

Turmeric powder          - 1/2 tsp

Red Chilli powder         - 1/3 tsp

Coriander powder        - 1 tsp

Dried mango powder    - 1/3 tsp

Garam masala powder    - ½ tsp

Water   - 2 tbsps

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, when it is hot, add jeera. When it browns, add the carrot and green peas and stir on high flame for a few seconds. Add salt and water, reduce the flame, cover and cook. Check in between whether it needs some more water.

Add all the masala powders, stir well and remove from the fire. 

Sweet potato parathas

Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes may be one of nature's unsurpassed sources of beta-carotene. Several recent studies have shown the superior ability of sweet potatoes to raise our blood levels of vitamin A. It's important to have some fat in your sweet potato-containing meals if you want to enjoy the full beta-carotene benefits of this root vegetable.

Sweet potatoes are also rich in vitamins C and E. These are potent antioxidant vitamins that play an important role in disease prevention and longevity. Both vitamins also play a huge role in the health and beauty of your skin and hair, making them popular supplements. The combination of beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C in one food makes the sweet potato one heck of a "beauty food". These nutrients all contribute to a healthy, glowing complexion and vibrant hair.

Ingredients:

Sweet potatoes, pressure cooked for about 5 minutes, cooled, peeled and mashed        -3 tbsps (for 3 parathas)

Wheat flour      1 cup

Powdered sugar           -2 heaped tbsps

Cardamom powder      - 1/2tsp

Water

Ghee    - ½ tbsps

Method:

Knead the mashed sweet potatoes, powdered sugar, wheat flour, and cardamom powder with water to form a soft dough. Make into 3 balls. Spread one ball a little, smear a little ghee, bring the edges together and roll into a round and make parathas. Serve with dal and sabzi. 

Drumstick flower dosa

The Health benefits of drumstick flowers and leaves and other parts of the tree are use in traditional medicine, various culinary applications, and its extraordinary nutritional value. These parts of the plant are rich in Vitamin B1, B2, B3, Vitamin A, and vitamin C. There are also the minerals calcium, iron, phosphorus and magnesium. The juice is highly nutritious and an ounce of it is said to contain the same quantity of calcium as 4 glasses of milk, the vitamin C of 7 oranges and the potassium of seven bananas, and a reasonable level of iron.

Ingredients:

Rice                 - 11/2 cups soak for about 3 hours

Drumstick flowers       -  ½ cup
Grated coconut           - 1/2 cup (optional)

Jeera                            -3/4 tsp

Red chilli powder          - ½ tsp

Salt to taste

Method :

Grind rice, jeera, chilli powder and salt together to a fine paste. Add the drumstick flowers and just grind a bit. The flowers should be rough ground.

Make crispy dosas and serve with coconut chutney.

15 December 2019- Today I added some finely cut leaves from our garden (brahmi, amaranth) to the batter. It tasted good.

Drumstick flower thoran

The health benefits of drumstick flowers and leaves are found in the levels of protein compared to other vegetables. This may be a very good source for vegetarians and it is said to have the highest protein amount of any other plant situated on Earth. In the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa where there is malnutrition, it is reported that it only requires two tablespoons of crushed leaves added to the daily diet to help overcome nutritional problems.

Ingredients:

Drumstick flowers, stem removed, and washed             - 3 cups

Salt to taste

To rough grind :

Coconut scrapings                    - ¾ cup

Turmeric powder                      - 1/3 tsp

Chilli powder                - 1/3 tsp

Jeera                - 1/3 tsp

Garlic flakes                 - 4,5

To season:

Oil                    - 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds              - ½ tsp

Red chilli pieces            - 5,6

Cut onion                     - 1 tbsp

Method:

Keep the drumstick flowers with 2 tablespoons of water and salt in a pan on medium flame and let it cook. Stir in between ad check whether the flowers have turned tender. Add the rough ground coconut masala and cover. After about 2 minutes, open and mix well. Remove from the fire.

Heat the oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the chilli pieces and cut onion. Keep the flame low and when the onion turn browm, add to the dish and cover. After a few seconds, open and mix well. Serve with rice and dal.

Pasta in spinach, white sauce

There are roughly 350 different shapes and varieties of dried pasta in Italy, even more counting regional differences. Shapes range from simple tubes to bow ties, to unique shapes like tennis rackets (racchette). By Italian law dried pasta must be made with 100% durum semolina flour and water, a practice that all but the worst quality pasta makers worldwide have since adhered to. 

Ingredients:

Pasta (Nutri-licious Passta from Nestle)    - 2 packets of 64 gms for two people

Spinach – 2 bunches

Milk     - 2 cups

Refined flour  - 2 tbsps

Ghee   - 3 tbsps

Salt

Basil powder

Thyme

Garlic  - 4 flakes

Method:

-          Clean and break the spinach leaves and steam. Cool and make into a puree. - - - Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee in a pan and add crushed garlic, Add the spinach puree and salt. Keep stirring in between and let it cook for 6 to 7 minutes. Add the basil powder and thyme for flavor.

-          Meanwhile make the white sauce by roasting the refined flour in 2 tbsps of ghee. When it turns light brown, add the milk slowly to avoid lumps. Stir continuously till the flour is cooked and it is thick.

-          Mix the spinach puree to the white sauce.

-          Take three cups of water, add the pasta and one masala packet that comes along with the pasta. Keep stirring in between and let it cook for 10 minutes ( according to the instructions on the packet, it is 5 minutes but I found it less).

-          Mix the cooked pasta to the white sauce, spinach puree mix. It can be served as it is, 

OR,

-          Oil a baking dish and put the pasta mix in it (can top it with cheese). Bake for 10 minutes and serve.

Coconut cake

I had to make a surprise cake for my daughter’s birthday. I really make a wide variety of cakes, so what should I make??? The coconut was lying in front of me, the idea clicked. Let me bake a coconut cake. And here is the recipe for this delicious cake. The sweetness is just enough. If you want a really sweet cake, remember to increase the sugar quantity.

Ingredients:

Maida  - 2cups

Baking powder     - 2 tsps

Sugar   - 1 1/2cups

Refined oil        - 1 cup

Eggs     - 3

Water   -1/2 cup

Grated coconut - 1 ½ cups

Cashew nuts, Kismis     - 1 tbsp each

Cinnamon powder        - 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg powder           - 1/2 tsp

Cardamom powder      1/2 tsp

Method:

- Preheat oven to 180 degrees

- Sieve together maida and baking powder

- In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar

- Add eggs one by one and mix well

- Keep adding tablespoonfuls of maida and keep mixing

- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom powders

- Fold in the scraped coconut and cashews and kismis.

- Put in a greased container and bake for about one hour, or when a tooth pick that goes into the cake comes out clean.