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:)