Green Olive hummus

The perfect middle eastern dip just a little oomphed up! Minus the tahini and plus some beautiful green oliviness, This hummus recipe is quick, simple and Uh-mazing!! 

Ingredients:

Chickpeas(boiled or canned (water separated)) (1 cup)

Green olives (pitted) (16)

Garlic cloves (9-10)

Habenero chili sauce (2 tsp)

Lemon juice (2 tsp)

Coriander (2 tsp)

Olive oil (8 tsp)

Method:

1. In a food processor bowl or a grinder jar combine all the ingredients and process till you get a smooth texture.
2. Add about 2-3 tbsp of water that was used for boiling the chickpeas if you think the mixture looks thicker than you want it.
3. Once done process it for a further 30 sec this ensures your hummus has that perfect smooth texture.
4. Scrape out the hummus from the food processor and serve at room temperature or even cooled and a generous drizzle of olive oil just makes it that little bit better:) dip away! enjoy:)

Vegetable and corn soup

With the winters finally arriving in town, we are going to have to up our cooking game because with the cold comes the hunger! It is also a very good time to eat healthy to boost your immunity; given the holidays dawning up you are bound to eat those little extra calories, so here is a recipe that's low on the calories and up on the health scale, my vegetable and corn soup recipe because nothing beats the wintry chills like a pipping hot bowl of soup!

Ingredients:

Corn kernels (1 cup)
Onion (1 medium sized) (roughly chopped)
Ginger (1 inch piece)
Mixed Vegetable (1 bowl of finely chopped vegetables)
(Carrot, capsicum, cabbage, spring onion, corn kernels)
Coriander (1 tbsp) (finely chopped)
Milk (1 cup)
Black pepper Powder (1 tsp)
Soya sauce (2 tsp)
Green chilli (1-2) (finely chopped)
Water (2 cups)
Olive oil (1 tbsp)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a deep bottomed pan heat 1 tsp of oil and saute the onion.
2. Add the ginger and 1 cup corn kernels to the onions and cook for a minute on medium flame.
3. Add the milk and water to this and cook the 10 mins or till the corn kernels are nicely cooked.
4. Let this cool and run it in a food processor to get a smooth soup. Make sure to not have any chunks of ginger left behind. Grind nicely and set aside. 
5. Now heat the remaining oil in the pan and saute all the vegetables for 2-3 mins while stirring well. Add the soup to the vegetables.
6. Now add the black pepper powder (freshly ground pepper is recommended), soya sauce, coriander, green chilli and salt.
7. Cook for 5 mins on low flame and serve hot. Add some fried noodles before serving for that added crunchiness (don't add if you are watching the 'calories'). Enjoy :)

Kachori (Stuffed Puff pastry)

Kachori or Kachodi is a popular Indian snack, often served with different chutneys and curd. A crisp and flaky pastry filled with moong daal (golden gram) and spice mixture. There is a little bit of hard work involved here, i won't lie but the end result is worth it completely, i assure. As to this particular recipe, there is this small yet beautiful village in Satara, Maharashtra called Phaltan, that is where my mother was born and brought up. Also where I spent almost all my summer vacations while i was in school, the one thing I never miss eating while I am in Phaltan is this amazing 'kachori'. This man, the second or third generation of the family making these amazing puff pastries, works alone to keep the recipe a secret! Every time I have been there I have had to wait at least for an hour because of the constant rush of people and the fact that he works alone and prepares every order to the perfection, which is irritating sometimes when you are drooling because of the fragrances but the moment you put the kachori into your mouth, you are in another world completely! I have had kachori's from a lot of places but this one is out of the world, so I had to get the recipe but even after trying all my contacts and every way to persuade him to let out the recipe, the man did not budge:( so i decided to do a dissection of the kachori and find out what goes into its making, and to the content of my heart i have almost nailed it!! i have eaten atleast 7 of these and can't move anymore, So here it is for you guys to enjoy too:)

Ingredients for the dough:

Maida (plain flour) (1 and 1/2 cup)

Roasted rawa (semolina) (1/4 cup)

Ghee (2 tsp)

salt (1/4 tsp)

water (as needed)

Oil (for frying)

Ingredients for the filling:

Moong daal (golden gram) (1 cup) (soaked in water for 2 hours)

Green chili (3)

Coriander (1 tbsp)

Ginger (1 inch piece)

Red chili powder (1 tsp)

Saunf (fennel seeds) (1/2 tsp)

Zeera (cumin) (1 tsp)

Garam Masala (1/2 tsp)

Coriander powder (1 tsp)

Hing (asafetida) (a pinch)

Salt (to taste)

Oil (2 tbsp)

Ingredients for imli chutney:

Imli (tamrind) (3 tbsp)

Gud (jaggery) (3 tbsp)

water (1 cup)

Ingredients for green ragda:

White vatana (yellow peas) (2  cups) (soaked in water overnight)

Turmeric powder (1 tsp)

Green chili (4)

Coriander (1/2 cup)

Chaat masala (2 tspn)

Pani puri masala (2 tspn)

water 

Salt

 Moong daal before and after cooking. That's how you want it to look once its cooked.

Roll out small portions of dough into a small circle, the size shown in the picture.Place one spoon full of the moong daal filling in the center. Bring together all the sides and seal tightly.

Roll the filled portion again into a circle, but ensure that the filling does not spill out. Fry these in hot oil on medium flame until golden brown from both sides, and you are good to go.

Method for the dough:

1. Mix the flour, semolina and salt together in a deep bowl.
2. Heat the ghee for 1 min and pour it over the flour. Rub the flour with both your hands to form a bread crumb like texture.
3. Add the water and knead into a soft but firm dough.
4. Cover with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 15 mins.

Method for the filling:

1. Drain the moong daal and grind it coarsely in a mixture.
2. Remove from the mixture jar and keep aside. In the same jar grind the rest of the ingredients for the filling except for the asafedita, salt and oil. 
3. Heat oil in a deep bottomed non-stick pan and add the chilli mixture to it and add the asafedita and mix well.
4. Saute for 2 mins and add the moong daal to it.
5. Mix well and add 1/2 cup of water to it. Continue to cook on medium flame while stirring in  between.
6. Cook till the daal is soft.
7. Switch off the flame and let the filling cool.

Method for green ragda:

1. Pressure cook the white vatana along with turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp of salt, till the vatana is completely cooked.
2. Grind the chili and coriander.
3. Mix the chili and coriander in the ragda along with the rest of the ingredients and keep aside.

Method for imli chutney:

1. Soak the tamrind and Jaggery in the water for an hour.
2. Squeeze the tamrind and remove from water, the jaggery must have dissolved in the water by now.
3. Mix well and keep aside. 

Method for making the kachori:

1. Divide the dough into 12-15 equal portions and keep aside.
2. Roll out each portion of the dough into a small circle.Place one spoon full of the moong daal filling in the center.
3. Bring together all the sides, seal it tightly.
4. Roll the filled portion again into a circle, but ensure that the filling does not spill out.
5. Make the rest of the kachori’s in the same way.
6. Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel. And fry 2 kachori's at one time till nicely golden brown on both sides.
7. Serve immediately, make a hole in the kachori fill it with both the chutneys and serve. Enjoy:)

Carrot-Beet-Tomato Soup

Personally, I am not a big fan of eating beetroot raw, so I have to keep finding ways to make it delicious, because we can settle for nothing less! So I figured out one of the best ways to eat this extremely healthy root, and that is to turn it into a soup. My amazingly smart mother is always telling me to somehow, anyhow eat beet which I keep trying to avoid but after this recipe I will be happy to be eating it as much as she asks me to:) Moreover it's a very easy recipe so it's a great thing to add to the regulars on your menu. The combination of health without much hard work is my type of thing, wondering if I should have named my blog the lazy fooding;)

Ingredients:

Carrot (1 small) (shredded)

Beetroot (1 1/2) (pealed and roughly chopped)

Ripe Tomato (1 big) (roughly chopped)

Red Onion (1 small) (roughly chopped)

Coriander (1 tsp)

Mint leaves (1 tsp)

Ginger-Garlic paste (1 tsp)

Garam masala (1/4 tsp)

Red chilli powder (1/2 tsp)

Chaat masala (1/4 tsp)

Dry oregano (optional)

Olive oil (1 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, add the onion and saute for a minute.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and and give it a nice stir and add the rest of the ingredients except the oregano.
3. Mix everything and add one and half glass of water and mix again.
4. Cover the lid and pressure cook on medium flame. Take 3-4 whistles and turn off the gas.
5. Once done, let the soup cool for a bit and process in a food processor.
6. Reheat the soup before serving. You may add some boiled macaroni to the soup when reheating to make the soup more filling. Sprinkle dried oregano before serving. Enjoy:)

Palak pakoda (Spinach fritters)

Hungry at 5 pm and can't find much in the fridge, to top that, its drizzling outside and I have loads of work pending to do. So I go back and look at the fridge with hopeful eyes, as if expecting something to pop up magically! And my eyes fell on the spinach I got last night, after thinking for a moment I was already sifting through some gram flour and what a delicious batch of fritters these turned out to be. A perfect companion for your tea. And yeah, just so you know I hardly got any of these, the other hungry souls in my house devoured them as fast as they were made! just a tip : hide some for yourself before putting them on the table.

Ingredients:

Spinach leaves (2 cups)(roughly chopped)

Gram flour (1/2 cup)

Green chilli (4-5)

Garlic cloves (3)

Ajwain (carom) (1/2 tbsp)

Chaat masala (1/2 tbsp)

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind the chilli, garlic and ajwain together and keep aside.
2. In a big bowl mix the spinach leaves, gram flour,chaat masala, chilli mixture and salt. Add 1 tbsp of water or a little more if needed, but you don't want a runny batter you want it to be thick and a little sticky. mix well so that the spinach is nicely coated with the flour and masala. 
3. Heat the oil in the pan on medium heat for deep frying. 
4. Once oil is hot, add spoonful of pakoda mixture. Make sure that oil is hot enough. If it is not hot then it will absorb too much oil. 
5. Fry it till it becomes golden brown on both sides. Turn it around while frying for even cooking. Fry a few pakoda's at a time,but do not over crowd them.
6. Remove it on paper towel. And serve hot. Enjoy:)

Paneer Makhmali kebab (Cottage cheese kebab)

Paneer Makhmali the name itself reminds me of a smooth texture and this recipe lives up to its name. It’s a delicate paneer (cottage cheese) based Kebab, packed with oodles of flavors yet a really delicate taste. This one is sure to keep you asking for more. You can serve this, in a basic tomato gravy or by itself, it’s amazing both the ways.

Ingredients for Filling:

Paneer (Cottage cheese)(100 gm) (grated)

Onion (1 small) (finely chopped)

Capsicum (1/2) (finely chopped)

Carrot (1 small) (finely chopped)

Cashew nut (12-15)

Green chilli (5)

Coriander (small bunch)

Ginger-garlic paste (1/2 tbsp)

Chaat masala (1/2 tbsp)

Lemon juice (half a lemon)

Processed cheese (2 cubes)

Butter (2 tbsp)

Sugar (1/2 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Ingredients for Cover:

Potato (2 big ones) (boiled)

Butter (2 tbsp)

Coriander (1 tbsp) (finely chopped)
Corn flour for dusting
Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a grinder jar, grind together the green chillies, cashew nuts and coriander for the filling and keep aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of butter in a non stick skillet and add the onions, capsicum and carrot to it.
3. Saute for 3-4 minutes.The onions will start looking a little transparent at this point. Add the ginger-garlic paste along with the chilli-cashew mixture.
4. Mix well and saute for another 2 minutes.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients for the  filling except for cheese and sugar.
6. Cook for 2 minutes on low flame while stirring and then for 2 minutes with a lid on.
7. Check if the vegetables are thoroughly cooked by pressing with a spoon. If properly cooked the vegetables should get easily mashed when you press them with a spoon, cook for another few minutes if the vegetables are still uncooked.
8. At this point add the sugar and stir well.
9. Turn off the heat and add the cheese. Mix well and keep aside to cool.
10. Mash the potatoes and mix in the butter, salt and coriander.
11. Mix well with a spoon to blend in all the ingredients.
12. Sprinkle a cutting board with cornflour generously. 
13. Place a heaped tablespoon of potato mixture onto the cutting board.
14. With your hand form a circular ball and flatten it.
15. Place a heaped teaspoon of the paneer-vegetable filling on the flattened potato patty.
16. With well floured hands fold the potato patty such that the filling is completely covered by the potato, make a flat patty but be careful not to break it.
17. Make the rest of the patties and keep aside.
18. In a skillet, heat oil and shallow fry the patties.
19. Serve hot. Enjoy:)

Guacamole

Guacamole is a delicious avocado based dip. It originates from Mexico, some smart Aztecs created it:) Avocado is a super food, high in dietary fiber and a variety of vitamins and to top it, its delicious too. Although i had to do my bit of searching for it through the super market but its easily available these days in Mumbai. Here is a simple and quick Guacamole recipe, for a lazy evening when all you want to do is lay down on your couch, watch your favorite movie and hog on something delicious without having to work hard to make it! Just pour in a bag of your favorite nacho chips along side this delicious dip and hog away!!

Ingredients : 

Ripe Avocado (1 medium sized) (peeled and mashed)

Onion (1 small) (diced)

Tomato (1 small) (diced)

Fresh red chilli (2) (finely chopped)

Coriander (2 tbsp) (finely chopped)

Lemon juice (half a lemon) 

Oregano dry (1/2 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a bowl mash the avocado using a fork. You can keep the avocado as smooth or chunky as you would like it, there is no rule to that.
2. Mix the rest of the ingredients to the mashed avocado and serve with your favorite nacho chips, i personally love the cheese and herbs flavored Cornitos with this. 
3. Guacamole also makes a great breakfast spread on your toast! enjoy!

Tomato soup

Here's the classic tomato soup recipe. Need i say more??

Ingredients:

Ripe Tomatoes (1/2 kg)

Salted butter (4 tbsp)

Onions (1 big or 2 small) (roughly chopped)

Coriander (2 tbsp) (roughly chopped)

Mint leaves (Pudina) (2 tbsp) (roughly chopped)

Garlic (5 cloves) (roughly chopped)

Black pepper powder (1/2 tbsp) (freshly ground)

Red chilli powder (1/2 tbsp)

Sugar (1 tsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Make 4 superficial slits on each tomato. This will help with the peeling of the tomatoes later.
2. Boil enough water to nicely immerse all the tomatoes in a deep bottomed pan. Add the tomatoes and blanch them till the peel starts coming off.
3. Put the tomatoes in ice cold water and remove the peels, because of the blanching the peels will come off easily.
4. Roughly chop the tomatoes.
5. Heat a pressure cooker on low flame. Heat 2 tbsp of butter in it, and add the onions and garlic to it immediately.
6. Cook for two minutes till the onions become translucent.
7. Add two medium sized glasses of water to this.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes, coriander, mint leaves, red chilli powder, black pepper powder, sugar and salt.
9. Cover with the lid and pressure cook on medium flame till you get 3 whistles from the cooker.
10. Once done, let the soup cool for a bit and process in a food processor.
11. Reheat the soup before serving. Serve it topped with fresh cream, butter and bread croutons.
12. You may add celery or finely chopped carrots at between steps 6 and 7, to make the soup healthier and to bring a little variety in the flavor. Enjoy:)

Pan fried chicken with Thai red chilli sauce

Try this easy pan fried chicken recipe, all you need is a quick salad and some potato fries to turn it into a complete meal. You can also use this chicken in your salads or sandwiches. Enjoy:)

Ingredients :

Boneless chicken breast (2 pieces) (250gms)

Butter (4 tbsp)

Ginger garlic paste (2 tsp)

Coriander (a handful)

Red chilli flakes (2 tsp)

Black pepper powder (1 tsp)

Lemon juice (juice of one lemon)

oil (4 tbsp)

salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the chicken pieces well. Make a few slits on the chicken.
2. Marinate the chicken with all the rest of the ingredients except for oil. Use only 2 tbsp of butter for marinating.
3. Let the chicken marinate for at least an hour but the longer you let it marinate the better. Marinating overnight works best.
4. Heat the oil and 2 tbsp of butter in a non stick pan and place the chicken in the pan. Cook the chicken on low flame till the chicken is nicely cooked. Flip the chicken and cook on other side, the chicken should be a nice golden brown on both sides.
5. Brush the chicken with thai red chilli sauce and serve with a salad and mashed potato or potato fries. enjoy:)

Thai red chilli sauce

This is Thai style hot and sweet sauce recipe, traditionally this sauce is made a little thinner than my version but i make it a little thick, this sauce is packed with strong flavors of red chilli and garlic along with a beautiful sweetness that is just perfect. You can serve this as a dip with spring rolls, stir fries or grilled chicken i personally love it with tempura chicken fingers. This sauce can also be used as a substitute to your regular chilli sauce in any dish, if you don't add the corn flour (which helps thicken the sauce) it also works  beautifully as a salad dressing.

Ingredients:

White vinegar (1/2 cup)

Sugar (1 1/2 cup) (100 gms)

Garlic (10 cloves) (minced)

Red chilli flakes (3 tbsp)

Oregano (1tspn)

Habenero sauce (1 tbsp)

Corn flour (1 tbsp)

Water (2 cups)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a sauce pan add the vinegar, sugar and 1 cup of water and bring to boil.
2. Add the garlic, chilli flakes, oregano and habenero sauce to this and cook for a few minutes over low flame.
3. Mix the corn flour in 1 tbsp of water in a separate bowl and slowly add this to the sauce while stirring. The sauce will start thickening at this point. Cook till you reach the desired consistency.
4. Add the salt, mix well and turn off the heat. Let the sauce cool down and serve or store:)

Chicken and eggs (one pot)

Every time i find myself alone at home i always tend to cook one pot meals for many reasons the biggest of them being the fact that it saves a lot of cleaning afterwards and the lazy me loves that! So here is one of my easy and quick one pot meal recipe, and to top it, it has chicken, cheese and eggs all in one pot! what more do you want in life:)

Ingredients:

Onion (1/2 of a small one)

Tomato (1/2 of a small one )

Capsicum (1/2 of a small one)

Carrot (1/2 of a small onion)

Chicken (50 gms)

Eggs (2)

Cheese (2 cubes) (grated)

Black pepper powder (1 tbsp)

Dried oregano flakes (1 tbsp)

Red chilli flakes (2 tbsp)

Tomato ketchup (1 tbsp)

Coriander (Kotmir) (2 tbsp) (finely chopped)

Mint leaves (Pudina) (1 tbsp) (finely chopped)

Butter (3 tbsp)

Oil (2 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Chop all the vegetables together in a food processor finely.
2. In a non-stick pan heat the butter and oil together.
3. Add the chicken and chopped vegetables to it and saute for 2 mins.
4. Add the black pepper powder, oregano, red chilli flakes, tomato ketchup, coriander, mint leaves and salt and mix well.
5. Cover the pan with a lid and cook till the chicken is nicely cooked.This will approximately take 10 mins.Stir the mixture 1-2 times in between.
6. Once the chicken is cooked, spread the mix evenly in the pan and sprinkle the grated cheese on top and let it melt.
7. Break two whole eggs on the cheese layer and let the eggs cook till the desired consistency. you may cover with the lid again if you want to cook the eggs completely.
8. Sprinkle some red chilli flakes and oregano on the top and serve hot with bread or just by itself with a glass of your favorite chilled beverage. Enjoy:)

Lychee caramel custard

This is one of my mom’s favourite!! I  Was making the normal caramel custard when I thought why no new flavors in a custard and then a search in my fridge and I found a lychee syrup, added it to my custard mix and tada.!! Mom loves it and I love it that she does.!!

Ingredients:

Milk (2 cups)
Fresh cream(1 cup)
Eggs (2)
Lychee Syrup (2 big spoons)
Ice cream essence (few drops)
Sugar (6-7 tbsp depends on how sweet you want it)

Method:

1. Warm the milk slightly and add the fresh cream and 2 tbspns sugar in it (if your lychee syrup is sugar based, if not you may need to add more according to your sweetness preferences), stir continuously till the sugar is completely dissolved.
2.  Take a flat circular cooking vessel and pour 4-5 tbspns sugar in it, put the vessel on the gas and turn the gas on. The sugar will start melting soon.
3.  Rotate the vessel continuously while heating. Soon the sugar will melt and turn amber in colour, at this point stop the heat and spread amber coloured caramel all over the vessel by tilting the vessel to spread the liquid.
4.  Remember it should coat all the sides and the base completely; the liquid will form a layer on the sides of the vessel. 
5. Keep the vessel aside for sometime now.Beat two eggs with a fork.
6.  Now pour the lychee syrup in milk and mix well. Add the eggs to the milk now and a few drops of ice-cream essence. 
7. Mix all the ingredients well.
8.  Pour this into the vessel that we just coated with the caramel.(the pot should be big enough to contain the the vessel completely.)Put a pot on heat, filled half way with water. 
9. Place a ring stand in the pot and place the vessel on the stand and cover the vessel with a lid and cover the pot with a lid too.
10. After 20 mins turn the heat off and remove the vessel from the pot and let it cool.
11. Place it in the refrigerator for an hour once cooled.Place a plate on the vessel and invert it, slowly lift the vessel up. Enjoy:)

Yogurt And Pomegranate Raita

Here is a raita recipe that is going to have you smiling with satisfaction! For me its just one of those things in life you really cant stop eating. "raita" are yogurt based dishes that are often served as accompaniments with a variety of Indian main course or starters, there is a huge variety of raita, generally flavored with herbs and spices. Although you could eat this raita all by itself, its great to be served with non-vegetarian dishes essentially biryani or pulav. Its perfect for this season as pomegranates are so easily available. The pomegranate adds a sweet and fresh punch to the raita, so its ideal to be served with spicy dishes.

Ingredients:

Dahi (yogurt) (200gm)

Anaar ke daane(pomegranate seeds)(seeds of half pomegranate)

Onion (1 small)(finely chopped)

Tomato (1 small)(finely chopped)

Kothmir (Coriander)(1/4 cup)(finely chopped)

Green chilli (2-3)(finely chopped)

Sugar (2 tbsp)

Chaat masala (1 tbsp)

Salt 

Method:

1. Take the curd in a bowl,add 4 tbsp of water and beat the curd well with a whisk or spoon until its smooth.
2. Add all the ingredients and mix well. refrigerate for an hour and serve cold. enjoy:)

Shepu wadi

Shepu wadi is one the perfect tea time snacks. My granny would make rolls and rolls of it and store for us when we visited her house during vacations. This is her recipe that i have learned. I love the crunchy texture and mild taste of the wadi. hope you too will enjoy it too:)

Ingredients: 

Kothmir (Coriander)(1 bunch)(finely chopped)

Shepu or sowa (dill) (1 bunch)(finely chopped)

Besan flour (gram flour) (5-6 heaped tbsp)

Green chilli (5-6)

Lehsun (Garlic cloves) (3)

Zeera (cumin) (1 tsp)

Haldi (turmeric powder) (1/2 tsp)

Oil for frying

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind together the green chillies, garlic and cumin. Make a fine paste and keep aside.
2. Fill a deep bottomed pan up to half with water and keep the water to boil. we need this water to steam our dough. you want to place a sieve on this vessel so make sure you a suitable vessel.
3. Mix the coriander and dill together and add the green chilli paste, gram flour, turmeric powder and salt together. Mix well, add a few tbsp of water so as to make a soft dough, like shown in the picture. 
   
4. Shape the dough in rough roll shape. use some oil on your palm to easily shape the dough.
5. Place a sieve on the vessel you are boiling the water in. and place the dough roll on it and cover with a lid.
6. Cook for 10-15 mins. Check the dough after 10-12 mins to see if it is cooked. perfectly cooked dough should feel tough yet soft.
7. Once the dough is cooked, remove and keep aside. You may cut it into slices and fry whenever you want to eat it. you can store this for about a week in the refrigerator.
8. You may steam the dough in a steamer, cooker or even in an oven :)

Chunky watermelon milkshake

I am visiting my native place Satara (Maharashtra) I have never come here around this time of the year.  The climate is beautiful and everything looks green! There are farms everywhere I see. Looking at the agricultural side of India is fun. Living in Mumbai,  you never get to see this kind of stuff. Cooking here is a bliss everything is just so fresh! and somebody bought home this delicious watermelon and after eating all I could from it, I decided I wanted to make a milkshake from it for everyone else. Although the watermelon season has almost ended in India but for my friends that are going through summer right now this is one recipe you should try, its not the traditional milkshake but a chunky deliciousness. Everyone here loved it I am sure you will too:)

Ingredients :

Watermelon (a quarter part if using a big one and half part if using small one.) (de-seeded and chopped into little cubes)
Milk (1 litre)
Sugar (1-2 cups depending on how sweet the watermelon is. )
Rose essence (6-7 drops)
Red food color (optional)

Method :

1. Completely dissolve the sugar in the milk add the essence and food color to it.  
2. Add the watermelon chunks to the milk. Keep back a few watermelon chunks to add on top when you serve.  
3. Serve chilled.

Chicken Spring Rolls

Its raining heavily in Mumbai and somehow rains always make me hungry! So my hunger today has made me land on this old recipe of mine. As a teenager i had eaten these really light and fresh spring rolls the memories of which come back to me almost every time it rains. So i thought of making these crunchy delights once more and sharing the recipe. Spring rolls are a very popular Asian dish. Although almost every Southeast Asian country has their own version of it, the Indian version of it is often fried.This is my version of this delightful snack. Sit down with a hot cup of your coffee and indulge in these fresh little crunchinesses! I am sure you will enjoy as much as i did:)

Ingredients:

Onions (2) (finely sliced)

Capsicum (1) (finely sliced)

Cabbage (1/2) (finely sliced)

Carrot (1) (finely sliced)

Green chilli (2-3) (finely chopped)

Spring onions (3) (finely chopped)

Chicken (1 small bowl) (boiled and shredded)

Black pepper powder (1/2 tsp)

Tomato sauce (2 tbsp)

Soya sauce (1 tsp)

Butter (1 tbsp)

Oil (1 tbsp)

Spring rolls sheets (10-12)

wheat flour (2 tbsp)

Salt to taste

Method:

1. In a non stick pan heat 1 tbsp of oil with 1 tbsp of butter. Add the spring onions and green chilli to it saute for 2 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the vegetables and chicken to it. Saute for 2-3 minutes on high flame. you don't want to over cook the vegetables. You want to retain the crunchiness of the vegetables.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for two minutes.
4. Let the mixture cool and your filling is ready.
5. Mix the wheat flour with little water and mix well, this is to be used as the gum to stick your spring rolls together.
6. Fill the spring roll sheets with the filling. Roll them up as shown in the picture and use the wheat flour to stick them.
7.  Apply the flour on the edges and wrap tightly.
8. Deep fry until nicely golden brown on both sides. Serve with a hot and sweet red chilli sauce or your normal chilli tomato ketchup you choose. Enjoy!!:)