Quick Tiffin recipe

Chatpata Mix

My husband's never ending complaints about his boring tiffin got me to search for some quick easy-to-make recipes. This recipe takes a jiffy to prepare and tastes really yum. With piles of stress in a day's work, one needs to consume healthy food to keep them going. We are exposed to junk in every inch of our life. It is so easy to dial and order that we tend to do that so often. Even in our office we order food for lunch or eat stale food from cafeteria as we are left with no choice! 

So, I make it a point to pack his lunch, snack and a drink to keep his hunger pangs in control. 

Ingredients 

2-3 chapattis (could be last nights leftover)
2 tsps olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 sliced onion (you can put more but with the rising onion prices, I used less)
1 green chily chopped
½ cup shredded cabbage
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped green capsicum
½ tsp soya sauce
1½ tsps tomato-chilli sauce
¼ tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp sambhar powder
Salt to taste
½ tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion greens


Method:
  
Cut chapattis into long thin strips.Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add garlic, onion and green chilli and sauté for 1 minute. Add cabbage, carrots, capsicum and sauté for 3 minutes. Lower heat and add soya sauce, tomato-chilli sauce, pepper powder, sambar powder and salt. Mix well and cook for 1 minute.




**Conditions Apply: All the dishes that I cook need not necessarily be edible. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try out these dishes.

Detox Drinks

After savouring a heavy dinner, I usually go on a guilt trip thinking - 'itna kyon khaya yaar'...why can't I control myself when I see food ?? Instead of thinking about what I have done, I concentrated on what I should do the next day...

Experts say, your body requires cleansing - wash out toxins from your body. Those who are new to detox diet - Detoxing is providing nutritional support through a diet, supplements and herbs which is used to stimulate the body to release toxins and heal itself. Liquids provide additional nutrients for nourishment and flush toxins as they are released so they do as little damage as possible on the way out. For best results, drink these within 20 mins of preparation.

I started with very simple and easy-to-make drinks that one can have early morning. Its refreshing and its goodness will cleanse your body.

Freshness in a glass

Take some beet root and carrots - quantity as per your requirement

Blend them to make a puree. Pour it through a sieve or use a juicer. Empty it in to a glass. Sprinkle some black salt and add fresh some lemon juice. Drink it up for good health.

Benefits:

Carrots are rich source of nutrients, contains lots of vitamins which are good for your skin, nails, stomach and eyes. Helps in detoxification process.

Beet root is high in folic acid and vitamins. Because of the iron content beets are powerful blood purifiers.

Green Detox

Green Detox drink has two basic herbs found in every household - Dhania (coriander) and pudina (mint). Take a bunch of each and blend it in a mixer. Sieve it. Squeeze some lemon juice and sprinkle some black salt.

Benefits:

Both the herbs are rich in nutrients that helps to detox.

There are some more drinks like fresh cranberry juice, lemonade with honey (preferably in hot water), fresh papaya juice, fresh pineapple juice and likes. Try it in the name of fitness, good health and clean digestive system.

I know its too much gyan par 'health ke liye karna padta hai u see' ;-)

**Conditions Apply: Don't kill me if you don't loose weight. I take no responsibility for weight loss!

Cheesy Garlic Potatoes

Trying out new dishes did cost me some extraaa pounds so I took a break to go on a diet...but, I came to this conclusion, I can never ever diet. I just don't have it in me. Food is my first love and will always be. No matter how much I try to restrain, I end up going to my fridge to treat myself with a chocolate or ice cream or we just end up eating out!..Ufff so difficult!!!

So here you go...I tried this yum recipe I got from a friend of mine : little high on calories, but what the heck ...my diet chart can go take a walk :-)

Garlic is my favourite; and combining it with cheese just enhances the flavour of this dish!

Ingredients:

2 Potatoes (Cut in rounds)

2 Smoked Red chilly 

2 cubes of Cheese

3 Shallots (Take the bulb of Spring onions)

4 Cloves of Garlic

Salt to taste

2 tsp of Olive oil

1 tsp of Butter

Method:

Slice the onions and chop the garlic cloves. Heat a Pan, add Butter and Olive oil.. Put the Smoked Red chilly and Add chopped garlic and stir till it change its colour. Add sliced onions and the Potato rounds and stir.. Add Salt and cook till its done. Add grated cheese and cook till it mixes up with the potatoes.

Serve hot with Garlic Bread.

Minty Refreshing Thirst Quencher

 My culinary impulse made me try something that my husband totally dislikes! 

"Mint" is something that stays in the 'far far away land' as far as his diet is concerned. The flavour is unbearable to him; in simple words he detests anything minty. Knowing the cleansing property of this herb, I decided to make a nice refreshing cooler and see the drama. The colour of the drink is not too appetizing though 'par health ke liye sala kuch bhi karega'.

I have grown mint in my small kitchen garden (another interest that keeps me busy) so I had to put it to use. This drink is very easy to make and for mint lovers this will sooth your soul...trust me when I say this.

Ingredients:

1 cup mint leaves 

4-5 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp black salt
1 tsp cumin powder
3-4 tsp lemon juice

Remove the mint leaves from the stems. Rinse in water properly. Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend to a smooth paste. Strain the whole mixture. Take ¼ th amount of the strained mint juice. Add ¾ th amount of water. Stir well.

Add crushed ice and serve chilled.

This drink completely rejuvenates you and I have heard from experts that it can be a good detoxifying drink (minus sugar).

 Served to 'the husband' early morning - the colour of the drink made him cringe but he had to drink it (since I made it for him ;-)) and then he said those two magical words - 'Not bad'...and he left for office.

A Bowl full of Nutrition

Navratras are on. Time to go vegan. Our weekends filled with emptiness as we keep craving to have something else other than regular dal-sabzi-roti. This time I experimented with veges and decided to add some interesting recipes to escape our mundane meals. 

I started with this very unusual vegetable which was never a part of our diet : Pumpkin. High on nutritional value, this vegetable is royally ignored when it is cooked in sabzi form. I remember having this incredibly divine soup in Argentina that I can never forget. It was the tastiest soup "ever". I remember the silky texture and for the very first time I liked a creamy soup that was sweet!

So that was it... I tried to make Pumpkin soup and it’s unbelievable that I am saying this – My husband gave a nod to this recipe! One way of feeding this to your family is to just avoid using the name pumpkin and they will hardly come to know about it.

Ingredients:

1kg pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, chopped into chunks

4 tsp olive oil

2 onions finely chopped

700 ml vegetable stock

2 tsp Fresh cream 

Salt and pepper to taste
 1 tsp Ginger juice

Mint leaves

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan, then gently cook 2 finely chopped onions for 5 mins, until soft but not coloured. Add 1kg peeled, deseeded and chopped pumpkin to the pan, then carry on cooking for 8-10 mins, stirring occasionally until it starts to soften and turn golden. Pour 700ml vegetable stock into the pan, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10 mins until the squash is very soft. Pour 2 tsp cream into the pan, bring back to the boil, then purée with a hand blender. For an extra-velvety consistency push the soup through a fine sieve into another pan. Add ginger juice and stir it well.

Garnish with mint leaves and serve hot.

**Conditions Apply: All the dishes that I cook need not necessarily be edible. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try out these dishes.

Shrimps on Toast !

This weekend, like always was all about food and more food. Following a part of the old proverb - 'Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince and Dine like a Pauper', I decided to make our usual breakfast King size which included Prawns on toast, scrambled eggs and some Grape Juice.

Prawns on toast is my mother's secret recipe to satiate our untimely hunger pangs. Like any other East Indian I love sea food and when I found out that this is such a hassle-free dish to make, I was eager to try out.

Ingredients that you will mostly find in your fridge/ kitchen:

250 gms shrimps

1/2 red & green capsicum 

1 Onion

1-2 green chilies

11/2 tsp cornflour

1-2 tsp maida
Salt to taste

Chili flakes

Finely chop the shrimps and veges; mix cornflour and maida to make a thick batter, add salt as per taste. Smear the mix generously on a slice of bread. Put some butter in a pan and fry the side with batter on high flame for some time and then on low flame till the time the shrimps cook. Then fry the toast side till it becomes golden brown. 

Sprinkle some chili flakes and serve hot with ketchup and chili sauce.

After having a wholesome breakfast, we were now looking forward to our lunch...

**Conditions Apply: All the dishes that I cook need not necessarily be edible. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try out these dishes.

Oreo Oreo

For chocoholics like 'the husband', this is just the right one to quench your thirst. This comes under indulgence, so I save these for weekend treats when you are in a mood to gorge! I am talking about rich chocolaty Oreo shake - the creamy soft serve that can instantly fix your mood on a bad day!

Oreo shake served in Big Chill has been my favorite all this while. It is so rich that you don't need to order food after a glass-full.

So, coming weekend will begin with some Oreo shake and some interesting breakfast (which I will update very soon)on the table for my family. 

Preparation time for this is hardly 5-10 mins. Ingredients are easy to get. Take 1 and 1/2 cup chilled skimmed milk, 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream,  1 tsp chocolate sauce, 7-8 oreo biscuits coarsely crushed .

Add all the above ingredients and blend it for 45-50 secs. Pour the mixture in two nice broad glass. Crush one oreo and top it on the glass. Stick one Oreo on the rim of the glass.

Sipping this heavenly drink chills you completely and makes you ask for more ...

**Conditions Apply: All the drinks that I make need not necessarily be the 'world's best'. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try this out ;-)

Fluffy Omlette topped with Chicken Sausage and Veges

Eggy breakfast with a sizeable portion of non veg, is always a treat to my husband. But what the hey, how do I manage to make it healthy? 

This quick breakfast option was quiet a hit in terms of presentation and taste. It almost looked like a mini pepperoni pizza (hubby's fav)!

Got this idea from my mum-in-law (mom), when I saw her making an omlette for dad-in-law (dad). I saw her throwing some mushrooms, capsicum and what not into the omlette. I got my answer when I heard dad's reaction after he had his breakfast that day.

Mom has an unusual way of cooking. She doesn't go by the book, instead she uses ingredients (whatever is available in her kitchen) and makes her own creation which results into a mouth watering dish. In short she is a ‘smart cook’!

With so many experts around me, guess I should have opened a restaurant! Well may be some time in future.

Coming back to omlette, I took two eggs, some milk, salt, pepper to taste, oregano, spring onions, capsicum (red & green), green chilies, chicken sausage, tomatoes. Beat the eggs and pour two tsp milk into the mixture, some salt and pepper as per your taste, beat it well to make the omlette fluffy. Chop all veges (mentioned above) and put it aside. Cut the sausages into small pieces. Spray some oil into the pan, put spring onions (inc the greens), chilies - cook it for some time, add the sausages, fry it for 2 mins and keep this aside. In another pan spray some oil and pour the beaten eggs, add the sausage filling, tomatoes and capsicum as toppings, sprinkle some oregano on them. You will see a nice colorful omelette which will be ready in a jiffy. Cover the pan and let it cook in low flame for sometime. Serve it hot with tomato sauce and butter crisp breads.

**Conditions Apply: All the dishes that I cook need not necessarily be edible. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try out these dishes.

Shake it and Make it!

Yes,your guess is correct! I am talking about the famous famous cold coffee. Possibly the easiest drink to make and enjoy on a hot hot day. Refreshing as it sounds this drink has been an absolute favorite in our house. My husband likes it rich, sweet, non diluted and a good blend of coffee & milk (neither too strong nor too light - just the right mix) and often chooses the most heaviest cold coffee while ordering from a cafe with loads of cream, chocolate sauce and what not!

Well I am sure I cannot match the CC Day or a Barista cold coffee, but I tried to make it as per his taste and since I made it at home I tried to make it less in calories. Like any regular cold coffee I took a glass of chilled  (double toned) milk, some sugar (optimum qty), coffee in a mixer/shaker to blend but to add a twist in the flavour I added a scoop of butterscotch ice cream and some Bournvita to give it a rich mocha and creamy taste to the regular iced coffee. Also the quantity of coffee was a little more than usual. I usually do not blend ice with the mixture, instead I keep my glass of milk in the freezer for 10 mins before preparing it. It gives a nice frothy feel to the coffee. I laced the glass with some hot chocolate sauce (instead of pouring it as a topping) and then poured the mixture into a tall slim glass or a beer glass and add another scoop of BS ice cream. If you still want the coffee to taste yummier, keep the glass in the freezer for 5 mins. Enjoy frothy creamy rich iced coffee with breakfast or with evening snack.

This blog will be incomplete if I don't mention my mum's cold coffee. She makes the best cold coffee ever!!! I still haven't figured out how she makes it so yummy.   

**Conditions Apply: All the drinks that I make need not necessarily be the 'world's best'. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try this out ;-)
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Pancakes can be healthy!

My husband's craving for English breakfast has been there since time immemorial! He has been harping this every weekend like a 'stuck tape recorder'. He wanted to take all of us to American Diner but we always manage to give him a better excuse to eat at home. I better do something about it. He is not going to let it go!

Pancakes has topped the chart.. as he loves his 'maa ke haath ka banaya hua' pancakes. He gets it sometimes when he is lucky, during their India visit.  

When I decided to make it for him this morning, I wanted to give it a healthy- yet-tasty twist to the recipe to keep the nutritional value intact.

Pancakes with a twist

What goes into the dish?

1 cup maida

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

1 cup milk

Salt to taste 

Toppings

Nuts (almonds, walnut, pista )

1/4 cup sugar

water

How to cook?

Mix all the above ingredients in a bowl to a nice liquidy batter. Heat a non stick pan, put some olive oil and pour the batter into a roundy round shape on to the pan. Wait for it to cook and turn sides. Once it turns golden brown take it out onto a serving plate.

In a separate pan heat sugar and put 2 tsp water. Caramalise it. Roughly chop all the nuts and toss it into the pan. Once your nuts turn nice caramalised brown take it out and top it up on the pancakes.

Serve hot pancakes with honey (healthy option)/ chocolate sauce/ butter.

Husband’s reaction

Wow pancakes for breakfast …great. After having some of it, he says – ‘Nora, have you ever had a pancake? I said  - Yes, why? He says, Waise toh tumne ye pancakes accha banaya hai, but we got to order some when I come home, you taste both and then you will see the difference.

There you go… I have a long way to go but I have to try harder next time.

**Conditions Apply: All the dishes that I cook need not necessarily be edible. I am not responsible for any consequences after you try out these dishes.

'Kadchi in my hand'

I love to feed people and throw parties but when it comes to cooking, I always run in the opposite direction. I have been very lucky to have a good cook in my house, she has been feeding us all this while! "Bless you Rinki". 

The world around me calls me a 'bad cook'. Guess that is what has driven me to start this blog. I am a foodie, so is my husband and such is the case with my entire family (which explains our size!). Food is always in our mind. While we are sulking or celebrating, partying or whining, traveling or at home; good food just brings a smile to our faces. So coming to think about it, if our life revolves around food then why not get my hands dirty ‘in the kitchen’!

Having unhealthy food outside on a regular basis can take a toll on your body and after some time you lose interest in eating. Before such a thing happens to me and my family, I have decided to take the ‘kadchi’ in my hand a start of by making an attempt to feed healthy food to my family. That does not rule out our ‘eating out’ option but yes I am making an attempt to change our lifestyle.

My mom is fabulous in kitchen and all these years, I only concentrated on savoring her delicacies rather than focusing on what went into the dish. This spring break when I was back home, I noticed her dexterity and ease in cooking our meals. Our house is a typical Oriya household where the mom cooks, and every member of the family wants a different dish for each of the meals served to them. And my mom never ceases to surprise me; we actually get different dishes on the table every single day. I salute her and whatever she cooks tastes so divine that a grin automatically comes to our greedy faces which is the ultimate trophy for her!

 I always thought that I will give her a hand but when I try to do anything for her I end up spoiling it so I chose to stay far away from the kitchen. But this time, I observed her closely and somehow I have overcome my phobia ‘to cook’. Really, I mean it! It took over 30 yrs but hell, I think somewhere in our busy schedule we have forgotten to make an effort because we are surrounded by ‘ready to eat options’. So I am all set… Are you?