Mango Banana Chia Smoothie

A cool and healthy drink for summer time. The Chia seeds are rich in omega 3, fiber and potassium. This can be made using milk or just ice cube. Sugar can be added if required.

Chia seeds can also be consumed in variations. A simple way would be, soak 2 table spoons of seeds in water overnight. It swells up in the morning. Usually within 2 hours. You can drink that water. It's best for summer because, it absorbs more water and makes you feel fuller and helps from dehydration. 

Ingredients:

Mango - 1 (medium)
Banana - 1 (small)
Chia seeds - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1/2 cup

Method:

Add mango pulp, banana, chia seeds and milk in a blender. Blend till all gets to a smoothie.

Enjoy drinking!

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Tomato Garlic Chutney

Tomato garlic chutney is a slight variation of the regular tomato chutney/thokku. Generally we won't add garlic in thokku. But few garlic pods with tomato tastes good. Try it out!
Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Tomato - 2 (big)

Garlic - 5 to 8 (medium size) pods

Red chilli - 3

Salt - as needed

Fenugreek seeds - 10 nos (crush it in muncher)

Seasoning:

Gingelly oil

Mustard

Curry leaves

Method:

Roughly chop tomatoes and garlic. Add to mixer with red chilli and salt. Grind it to a smooth paste without adding water. 

Heat gingelly oil in a pan and add mustard. When it splutters, add curry leaves. Then, add tomato paste and let it boil for 5 minutes. At this time, add crushed fenugreek seeds and mix well. Close the pan and let it boil till oil oozes out. 

You can also refrigerate this as a thokku for one week if enough oil is added. Tastes yummy with idly/dosa/ven pongal/kichadi/upma. 

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Ellu Chutney (White sesame seeds chutney)

Ellu chutney was kind of new to me when I first heard people saying it. So I tried this in the same way as peanut chutney. It turned out good and I liked it. 

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

White sesame seeds - 1/4 cup

Coconut - 6 pieces

Red chilli - 2

Salt - as needed

Seasoning:

Oil

Mustard

Urad dhal

Curry leaves

Method:

Dry roast sesame seeds till it starts to splutter(do not dark roast it). Add this to mixer along with, red chilli, salt and coconut. Grind to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard. When it splutters, add urad dhal and curry leaves to it. Pour this to the chutney and serve with dosa/idly.

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Methi Matar Malai

This is a dish from Punjabi cuisine. It is usually served with roti/chapathi/naan varieties. The dish will be in a very creamy form looking rich. Methi leaves have got a very good nutritional value. Also, it helps in reducing cholesterol and blood sugar levels. We can have 5 to 10 methi seeds with a cup of water in empty stomach once in a week. This helps to reduce the internal body heat. Now, let's check out how to prepare this recipe.

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Methi leaves - 1 cup
Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
Ginger garlic paste - 1 sp
Green peas - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 to 1.25 cups

To grind:

Onion - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 2 (big)
Cashew - 10 to 15
Cinnamon - 1 small piece
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 1

Seasoning:

Oil
Cumin seeds - 1 sp

Method:

Roughly chop the onion given under "to grind" section and let it boil in water till it changes color. Soak cashew in water for 20 minutes. Boil green peas in water with a pinch of salt. Wash and chop methi leaves.

Drain the onion and add to mixer along with cashew, green chilli, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. Grind it to a smooth paste and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. When it splutters, add chopped onions and ginger garlic paste. Saute till the raw smell goes. Now, add chopped methi leaves and saute till it wilts well.

Now, add the ground paste to it and cook till the raw smell is gone. At this point, add milk, green peas and salt. Mix well. Add water if needed to get the gravy consistency. Boil it for few minutes and turn off the flame when it starts thickening.

Methi matar malai is ready to be served with roti/chapathi/paratha.

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Andhra Brinjal Curry

Brinjals can be made in different forms. This dish is a famous one from Andhra. We prepare this by adding peanuts and sesame seeds. This is surely a treat for brinjal lovers and for people who love spicy food. The real taste comes out only when it is cooked in low flame. For the whole process, it took nearly 1 hour and 30 minutes for me. First time, when I did it in a hurry within 40 minutes, this came out as a mess. But the second trip, I got it right. So, patience is very important. Let's now learn how to prepare this dish.

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Brinjal - 8 nos. (small)

Chilli powder - 1/4 sp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Salt - as needed

To grind:

Cumin seeds - 1/2 sp

Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 sp

Peanuts - 1 sp

Coriander seeds - 1 sp

White sesame seeds - 1/2 sp (do not add more, as it will give a bitter taste when boiling)

Coconut - 2 pcs

For gravy:

Oil

Mustard - 1/2 sp

Cumin seeds - 1/2 sp

Bay leaf - 1
Red chilli - 4 to 5 (add according to the spice needed)

Curry leaves

Hing - a pinch
Tamarind - small lemon size (do not add more, as, it will give a tangy taste)
Chilli powder - 1 sp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 sp
Garam masala - 1/2 sp
Salt - as needed

Method:

In a cup, add chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt along with a little water to make a paste. Slit the brinjals to half its length crosswise and apply the paste inside it. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry these in low flame till it is half cooked. That will nearly take 20 minutes. 

Heat one spoon of oil and add ingredients given under 'to grind' section. Fry these well till peanuts starts changing color (it should not turn dark). Grind this to a fine paste.

Extract tamarind juice and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard. When it splutters, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, curry leaves, hing and red chilli. Saute it well. Add the ground paste and mix well. Saute for 10 minutes. 

Now, add tamarind water. Stir well and then, add chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Mix all together and add enough water. 

Add the brinjals that are shallow fried to this mixture. Stir carefully without breaking brinjals. Close pan and allow it to cook under low flame for nearly 40 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally. Add enough water, so that, when it boils we get a gravy. 

Once brinjals are cooked, garnish with coriander leaves and serve this hot with mint pulao/rasam/curd rice/plain rice.

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