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.