Creamy Macaroni Bake (with Vegetables, Tofu and Ham)

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10+10 minutes

Ingredients:

• Macaroni - 1 cup  (boiled and strained)
• Cream - 1/4 cup
• Tomatoes - 2 (medium)
• Ketchup - 2 tbsp
• Garlic (grated) - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Cheddar Cheese (Grated) - 1/2 cup
• Breadcrumbs - 1/2 cup (panko)
• Tofu - 1/2 cup
• Ham - 1/2 cup (finely sliced)
• Finely chopped vegetables of your choice. I used green beans and corn. 

Directions:

• Heat Oil in a pan and add garlic and turmeric and saute for a minute or two. 

• Add tomatoes, vegetables, ham and tofu. Add salt and pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes and cover the pan with a lid and simmer for about 3-4 minutes. 

• Add macaroni, cream and cheese and saute for 2-3 minutes. 

• Transfer the mixture to a baking dish, sprinkle breadcrumbs and a little grated cheese over it and bake for about 10-15 minutes (till you get a light brown crusty top) 

• Creamy macaroni bake is now ready. Serve hot :)

Green Veggies Fried Rice (Yasai Chahan)

Serves - 2
Preparation time - 5-7 minutes
Cooking time - 5-7 minutes*

* Provided your rice is already ready. I prefer using rice from a day before. 

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice - 2 cups
• Sesame Oil - 2 tbsp
• Black Pepper - 1/2 tbsp
• Soy Sauce - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Eggs - 2
• Salt to taste
• Vegetables (finely chopped)
• Spring Onions - 2
• Cabbage - 1/2 cup
• Celery - 1/4 cup
• Lettuce - 1/2 cup
• Green beans - 1/4 cup 

Directions:

• Heat oil in a pan and add the green veggies and saute for 4-5 minutes.

• In a bowl, take two eggs and whisk them properly. Add salt and pepper and then add this to the veggies in the pan.

• Add the cooked rice to this and mix well. Make sure your eggs are still runny (and not properly cooked) when you add the rice. This will ensure that the rice are evenly coated with the egg. 

• Once the rice are properly mixed, add the soy sauce and mix it thoroughly  Saute for a couple of minutes. 

• Add salt and pepper as per your taste. Serve hot. 

Notes:

• You can use any oil instead of sesame oil but the kind of flavor that sesame oil imparts to chahan is unbeatable. 

Dahi Baingan (Egg Plant in Yogurt Gravy)

Serves - 2
Preparation time - 5 min
Cooking time - 10-15 min

Ingredients:

• Egg Plant - 4-5 (Diced into 1 inch pieces)
• Yogurt - 1 cup 
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger Powder (Soonth) - 1/2 tsp
• Fennel Powder - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp (Optional)
• Cooking oil - 3-4 tbsp

Directions:

• Heat Oil in a pan and add Asafoetida. Add the egg plant and saute till the egg plant turns golden brown.

• Add ginger powder, fennel powder, red chili powder, sugar and mix well. Add yogurt mixed with salt and stir again. Saute for about 5 minutes or till most of the yogurt gravy is  absorbed by the egg plant. 

• Egg plant in yogurt gravy  is now done. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with Parantha or Roti. 

Lime Panna Cotta with Blueberry Sauce

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 5 -7 minutes (+ 15 minutes for cooling off) 
Cooking time: N/A *
* Once done, it needs to be refrigerated for at least 4 hours.

Ingredients:

For the Panna Cotta

• Cream - 200 ml (1 Cups)
• Milk - 200 ml (1 Cup)
• Yogurt - 100 ml (1/2 Cup)*
• Sugar - 100 g 
• Lime Leaves 4-5 (crushed/bruised)**
• Gelatin - 1 tbsp
• Cold Water - 50 ml (1/4 cup)
• Blueberry Sauce - 2 tbsp for each serving ***
• Fresh mint leaves for garnishing

For the Blueberry Sauce (if not using the market bought sauce mentioned in the ingredient list above)

• Blueberries - 1 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 2 tbsp

*Preferably Greek Yogurt but any yogurt will do
** I used lime leaves but you can also use Lime rind. Grated lime rind should taste much better. 
*** I had some leftover blueberry sauce which I needed to finish, otherwise I would prefer using home-made sauce. I have given the recipe for the home made sauce below

Directions:

For the Panna Cotta

• Heat the milk, cream, sugar and lime leaves until hot but not boiling. Allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

•  Meanwhile mix the gelatin with water in a bowl and let it stand till it softens, i.e. for about 5 minutes. Remove the lime leaves from milk cream mixture and add gelatin and mix in the gelatin and whisk till gelatin is fully dissolved in the milk.

• Add yogurt and mix well. 

• Pour the mixture into 4-6 glasses (depending upon the size of the serving you want) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

• Add blueberry sauce to each serving and garnish with fresh mint leaves before you serve. 

For the Blueberry Sauce

• Blend the blueberries with sugar till they become smooth and frothy.

Aloo ki Sabzi (Potato Curry)

Serves: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients

• Potato - 3-4 medium sized (sliced in 1 inch cubes)
• Tomatoes - 1 large
• Green Chilies - 2-3
• Ginger - 1 tbsp (grated)
• Garlic - 3-4 cloves
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Spices
• Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mango Powder (Amchur) - 1/2 tsp
• Red Chili Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable Oil - 1 tbsp

Directions:

• In a blender, blend the tomatoes and chilies together. This will give you a spice tomato gravy. Keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add cumin and coriander seeds. Keep this over medium heat till the seeds stop spluttering and add ginger and garlic.  

• Saute till the ginger garlic turn golden brown and add tomatoes+green chili  and spices and saute for a few more minutes.

• Add the potatoes and saute over medium heat till the oil separates. 

. 

• Add water, cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer (on low flame) for about 10 minutes or till the potatoes are tender.

• Once done, mash a few tomatoes (not all) with a masher if you want a thick gravy. I prefer that but if you don't you can skip this step. 

• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with Poori or rice

Dahi ki Kadi (Yogurt Curry)

Serves: 3-4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Kadi (Yogurt curry)

• Yogurt: 400 g
• Water: enough to make a buttermilk consistency mix
• Gram Flour (Besan) : 2 tbsp
• Tamarind: 1 tbsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
• Garam Masala - 1/2 tbsp
• Onion - 1 medium (finely sliced)
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves
• Whole red chilies - 2-3
• Curry leaves - 3-4
• Cooking Oil - 1 tbsp
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste

For the Pakodas (Cabbage dumplings)

• Cabbage  Finely chopped (1 cup)
• Gram Flour 1/2 Cup
• Water (enough to make a thick batter)
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Mango powder (Amchur) - 1/2 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Cooking Oil for deep frying

For the Tempering

• Desi Ghee or Butter - 2 tbsp 
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Whole Red Chilies - 4-5

Directions

Pakodas (Cabbage Dumplings)

• Take the gram flour in a bowl and add enough water to make a thick batter. 

• Add the rest of the Pakoda ingredients. 

• Heat oil for deep frying in a wok and add this batter with the help of a spoon to this oil. Deep fry over medium flame till the pakodas turn brown and crispy. Remove and put them on a paper towel so that it soaks all the extra oil. Keep these aside. 

• Blend the yogurt with enough water to make a buttermilk (Lassi) like mix (of the same consistency.   Make sure you mix it thoroughly or the yogurt will separate when you heat the mixture. Heat it over medium flame. Add gram flour to it and mix well and let it boil over minimum heat for some time. Make sure you keep stirring the mixture every couple of minutes to ensure that it does not stick to the bottom. Do this for about 10 minutes and then switch off the flame. 

• In a pan, heat oil over medium flame and add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Saute till the seeds stop spluttering, add whole red chilies and curry leaves and saute for 2-3 minutes. 

• Add  Onions and garlic and saute till the onions turn transparent. Add turmeric and saute for a couple of minutes more. Turn off the flame. 

• Add these onions and the tamarind to the yogurt mix and turn on the flame again. Add salt to taste. Now boil this for another 5-7 minutes. 

• Now add pakodas and boil for another 2-3 minutes. Do not stir too much after you have added the pakodas or they may break. Add Garam Masala.

• For the tempering, heat oil in a pan and add chili powder and whole red chilies and saute for a couple of minutes and add this over the kadi. Before adding this, make sure you have transferred your Kadi to a bowl. Your Kadi is now ready to be served. 
• Serve hot with rice.