Broccoli Carrot Stir Fry

This broccoli carrot stir fry is super quick to make as well as super healthy too.It pairs well with chapathi/Roti.

Broccoli is a plant in the cabbage family and is high in Vitamin C,as well as dietary fiber.It also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties.(Source:Wikipeadia)

Ingredients:

Brocolli	1
Carrot	1
Onion	1
Garam masala powder	¼ tsp
Chilli powder	as needed
Salt	as needed
Lemon juice	1 tsp
Oil	2 tsp

Method:

• Cut broccoli into small florets and blanch them in hot water with salt for 3 minutes and rinse in cold water.keep aside.
• Cut carrot,onion into thin strips.
• Heat oil in a fry pan,add the onion first and fry till it turns translucent.
• Now add the carrots,broccoli,chilli and garam masala powder,salt needed and  mix well.Cover with a lid and let it cook for 2 mins.
• Finally add lemon juice and switch off.Yummy,crunchy broccoli stir fry is ready to serve.

Note:

• Don't over cook the veggies.It should be cooked but crunchy.You know that brocolli is cooked if it turns from dull green to a bright green , immediately rinse them in cold water.
• You can add little amchur powder instead of lemon juice.

Tomato Soup

This tomato soup is healthy and easy to prepare.I like to keep it simple so din't add cream,milk or corn flour.

Ingredients:

Tomato	2
Pearl onion	2
Garlic	1 clove
Pepper	4
Clove	1
Cinnamon	1 small piece
Salt	As needed
Butter	1 tsp

Method:

• Blanch tomatoes in water till its cooked well or pressure cook tomatoes.Allow to cool and remove the skin.
• Take a saucepan,add butter and the spices and fry for a minute.Now add garlic and small onion and fry till its translucent.
• Discard the cinnamon stick and clove,grind the fried onion,garlic,pepper along with the blanched tomatoes.
• Now add this tomato puree to the saucepan and add around 2 cups of water,salt and let it simmer for 5 mins.
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Note:

• The spices are optional,you can omit them and add freshly powdered black pepper powder alone.
• Garlic and small onion gives a nice flavour,but don't add more quantity.

Sakkarai Pongal

Sakkarai pongal (Sweet Pongal) is a traditional dish prepared for the Pongal festival.The rice with moong dhal is cooked in milk and jaggery and garnished with roasted cashews.

Ingredients:

Raw rice	1 cup
Moong dhal	2-3 tblsp
Jaggery(see note below)	1½ cups
Milk	1 ½ cups
Ghee	3 tblsp
Nutmeg powder(Jadhikkai)	a generous pinch
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Cashewnut	As needed

Method:

• Roast moong dhal in a pan till you get a nice aroma.
• Rinse rice well,add the moong dhal,milk and 2 1/2 cups water and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles.
• Take the jaggery in a pan and add little water and dissolve it well.Filter it once to remove any impurities.
• Once the rice is cooked,mash it well with a ladle and keep aside.
• Now take the jaggery syrup in a pan and let it boil for 4-5 mins in medium flame.Add the cooked rice,mix well and cook in low flame for few minutes till rice is mixed well with the jaggery.Fry the cashews,nutmeg powder in ghee and add it to the pongal.
• Finally add ghee,cardamom powder and cook for few minutes.Sakkarai Pongal is ready to serve.

Note:

• I made the jaggery syrup in the traditional Vengala Paanai and then proceed with the rest of the recipe.you can do it in a regular pan itself.
• Add jaggery according to the quality/variety you are using.You need 1 cup of jaggery for 1 cup raw rice,but I prefer to add little extra.Also the colour of the Pongal depends on the colour of the jaggery used.
• If you find the pongal too thick after adding rice to jaggery syrup,add little water to get desired consistency.

Doughnuts

I prepared these Doughnuts today and it was a nice experience making them.These are eggless doughnuts and I adapted the recipe from a video by Bhavna's kitchen.I made some sugar glazed and some chocolate glazed ones and they vanished quickly.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	2 cups
Sugar	1/3 cup
Salt	½ tsp
Instant yeast	1 tblsp
Sugar	1 tblsp
Butter	2 tblsp
Milk	¾ cup
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
For the sugar glaze
Icing sugar	1 cup
Melted butter	2 tblsp
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
For the chocolate glaze
Baking chocolate	As needed
Butter	1 tsp
Sprinkles	For decoration

Method:

• Take a bowl,add lukewarm milk,yeast,sugar and mix well.Keep aside for 10 mins.
• In another bowl,take flour,sugar,salt,melted butter and mix well.Now add the yeast solution slowly and mix well to form a dough.The dough will be sticky at this stage.
• In a clean kitchen counter,dust some flour and place the dough and knead well.Add  some extra flour little by little needed to get a soft dough which is non- sticky.Apply little oil in a bowl and keep this dough.Cover with a wet kitchen towel and keep in a warm place to rise for about 1 hr.
• After 1 hr, the dough will double in size.Now take it out and punch it down to release the air. 
• Dust some flour on the counter and roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired doughnut shape using doughnut cutter or cookie cutter.
• Arrange the doughnuts in a plate and cover them with a wet kitchen towel.Let it rise again for about 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in a frypan,fry doughnuts one by one to golden brown colour in medium flame and drain them in paper towel.
• For the sugar glaze,mix melted butter,vanilla essence and icing sugar in a bowl.Add little warm water to get the desired consistency for glazing.
• For the chocolate glaze,melt baking chocolate and butter in a bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water.Mix well and keep aside.
• Now dip the doughnuts in the glaze and decorate with sprinkles and serve.

Note:

• Don't add the full yeast solution atonce. Add little by little and add only the required quantity needed for making the dough.
• I would like to decrease the yeast quantity and try next time to check whether it changes the texture of the doughnut.