A quick Fruit Salad with Vanilla Ice Cream

A quick Fruit Salad with Vanilla Ice cream !!

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup fruits, any fruits (or 10 grapes (each of green and purple), 1 tablespoon chopped banana, 1 tablespoon chopped papaya, 1 tablespoon chopped mango, 1 tablespoon chopped pineapple ..)

½  cup or 3 tablespoons vanilla ice cream

Method

In a serving bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Keep aside (approximately 10 minutes) until the ice  cream melts and well combined with fruits. 

Chocolate Sponge Cake (Microwave method)

Chocolate  Sponge Cake – Basic  recipe from Aashivaad  Facebook Like page !!

Procedure

Please use same measuring cup to measure flour, butter, milk and powdered sugar. Here I used is Indian standard measuring cup of 100 ml / 1/2 cup / 4 oz capacity.

Mix together 1 cup milk, ½ cup butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence. In another bowl, mix together 2 cups Aashirvaad Atta (whole wheat), 1.5 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoon milk powder, 2 tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda. Mix the two mixtures together and whisk for 5 minutes. Add extra 3 tablespoon milk  if required to make a normal cake batter. Pour into a greased microwavable dish and microwave for 750 W for 5 minutes  till toothpick comes out clean!

Creamy Paneer Curry (2nd recipe)

Creamy Paneer Curry (2^nd recipe) – A delicious paneer curry, goes well with Naan, Rotis , Phulkas , Puris, Pulao …

Serves: 2 - 3

For tomatoes:

Or avoid  microwave method and use 2 tablespoon tomato puree.

Microwave method:

Poke 2 tomatoes ( if you don’t poke the tomatoes; they may explode inside the microwave oven ), microwave high for 4 minutes with ¼ cup / 50 ml water; so that the skin of the tomatoes can be peeled off easily.  Keep aside to cool for 15 minutes. Remove the skin. Once the skin is off, blend it nicely (along with water - it may be 2 or 3 tablespoon) with  onion spice mix in a small mixer bowl.

Other ingredients

200 g paneer, cut into cubes or any desired shape

½ teaspoon salt (or to taste or ½ teaspoon + 2 pinches)

100 ml / ½ cup / 4 oz water

3 tablespoon thick coconut milk or 1 tablespoon fresh cream

2 teaspoon coriander leaves

For onion paste:

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, roughly chopped

½ - inch ginger, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

Method

Dilute red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder in 2 tablespoon water (spice mix).

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and fry until golden color. Add chopped ginger and garlic. Fry until light golden color.

Add diluted spice and stir well on a low heat for 1 – 2 minutes until the raw smell disappears and water dries up. Switch off the gas and keep aside to cool for 10 – 12 minutes. Transfer above ingredients into a small mixer bowl and make a smooth paste with microwaved tomato  pulp or 2 tablespoon tomato puree.

Now boil this onion – tomato paste with 100 ml / ½ cup water, paneer cubes  and salt to taste. Cover with a lid and cook on a medium to low heat for 5 - 7 minutes. 

Check the texture of paneer. If it’s sponge in texture, then switch off the heat. Finally add 3 tablespoon thick coconut milk or 1 tablespoon fresh cream. Do not boil again. Mix it  gently with a steel ladle until coconut milk or fresh cream well combined with all the ingredients. 

Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot (Tip -  If the paneer is hard after 1 or 2 hours (or when serving), just microwave this curry for 1 minute on high powder (750 W). Paneer will be more soft. Consume immediately)

Theek Puri / Spicy Puri

Theek Puri / Spicy Puris  -  A delicious deep fried Indian bread, goes well with Chole, Potato curry, Dal.. !!!

Makes: 12

Ingredients

Please use same measuring cup to measure  flour and water.

1 cup (200 ml) whole wheat (atta) Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity

1 teaspoon sooji (rawa)

1 green chilli, very finely chopped

2 tablespoon fresh mint leaves ( chopped )

1 tablespoon coriander leaves ( chopped )

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

½ teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds)

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

½ - ¾ cup water

250 ml oil( for frying)

Method

In a bowl, mix atta, sooji,  chopped green chilli,   mint – coriander leaves, ajwain, turmeric powder, sugar and salt. First add ½ cup  water and later adjust with remaining water to  make a dough (If using Aashirvaad atta, it requires 3/4 cup water).  Dough should be just like puri dough. Not very soft like chapatti dough. Keep aside in an airtight container for one hour or cover the container with a wet cloth.

Divide puri dough into 12 portions and make balls. Flatten them to make rounds / puris ( - 5 inches in diameter ). Sprinkle little dry flour when making puris. Make perfect shape with the help of a medium size inverted soup bowl / katori or with a sharp lid.

In a karahi / frying pan, heat oil. Reduce heat to medium  and wait for 2 minutes. Do  not fry on high heat. It will get brown color immediately. Fry puri one at a time till it puffs up. Turn over till both sides until light golden color. Drain on paper towels to absorb extra oil and serve hot with Dal or any North Indian gravy dishes / Aloo ki Bhaji of your choice.