Caramel Rice

Like the gems embedded in a jewel, caramel rice is filled with the aromatic flavours of  spices and taste of dryfruits. I have been cooking this dish past many years and it has been among the most liked varient of rice dishes. There are quite a number of ingredients used in this reciepe but one can skip anyone of it if he/she does'nt like. But certain things which are the base of this reciepe and can't be avoided are rice, curd, butter, sugar and salt.

Caramel Rice

Lets look at the ingredients in detail:-

1. Rice: 1 bowl
2. Curd: 1 bowl
3. Butter: 2tbs
4. Sugar: 1/2 bowl
5. Salt: 1tbs
6. Red chilli powder: 1tbs
7. Fried onion: 1
8. Green elaichi/ cardmom: 4
9. Cloves: 2 
10. Cinimom: 1 stick
11. Almonds grated: 4
12. Cashewnuts: 4
13. Rasins: 2 tbs 
14. Dry coconut pieces 

Now lets start the process:-
First of all heat butter in a pan and add cardmom, cinamom & cloves

 After that add sugar and caramalize it. Below is the pic of caramalized sugar.

Then one should add rice, curd, salt and red chilli powder to it. When adding rice to caramalized sugar it tends to stick but one should not worry as after adding water and boiling, it the texture becomes smooth. After this one must add 2 bowls of water and cover the pan so that rice gets boiled. It takes about 15 - 20 minutes to completely boil. Finally garnish it with the dry fruits and fried onions. One can roast or fry the dryfruits as well; as it gives a nice flavour or can simply add as it is. This reciepe taste awesome with raita or a salted curd with bit cumin powder in it. It also serves as a side dish during a lunch or dinner which can be enjoyed with some curry.
The caramelized sugar gives a nice colour to the rice and curd imparts nice creamy texture to it.

Lets look at some benefits of Spices used in it
Cardamom:-

Apart from being used as a flavouring and aromatic agent in our food cardamom have various medicinal uses as well.

1. It is used for curing digestion problems like heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, intestinal gas and loss of appetite. 
2. It helps in cleansing body as it has detoxifying property. 
3. It is also used for common cold, cough, sore mouth & throat and tendency towards infection.
4. It improves the blood circulation to lungs and helpful in prevention of spasm and convulsions.  

Cloves:-

1. Cloves are known to cure tooth infections and also alleviating pain.
2. Chewing cloves not only gives best breath but also keeps nausea and heartburn away.
3. It is used in aroma therapy and improves respiratory problems.
4. It can also be used in household as fly and ant detterent.

Cinnamom:-
It is one of the world's oldest known spices and have a great place in bakery products. After going through its uses one is sure to add it in his/her diet.

1. It act as brain power booster and smelling it improves the cognitive function of brain.
2. It is used as a digestive aid and helps breakdown fat during digestion.
3. It is commonly used to thin blood hence improving circulation.
4. Adding to food prevent bacterial growth and food spoilage.
5. It is great arthritis pain reliver and also have regulatory effect on blood sugar.

So enjoy the reciepe and also reap the benefits out of it!

Pumpkin Raita

It would be hard to believe if anyone says that i have not tried pumpkin! it is one vegetable which is eaten in many forms ranging from sweets, soups, salads, pies, veggies and the list is endless. I was doubtful before trying this recipe, as to how it would taste? but it came well giving nice light yellow colour to the curd.
Ingredients  used in this are:

1. Fresh curd
2. Pumpkin pieces
3. Salt to taste
4. Cumin powder
5. Red chilly powder

First of all pumpkin was peeled and some cubes were taken which were boiled till they were tender.

Pumpkin pieces

                                                        

Ensure the pumpkin you have taken is ripe and yellow in colour as it imparts nice colour to the curd. Then using your mixer or blender make a smooth paste out of the boiled pumpkin pieces. Add the paste to the curd and mix well till it is well incorporated. Also add salt, red chilly powder and cumin powder according to your  taste. Garnish it with cumin powder and red chilly powder, it looks awesome. I used 4 tbs of paste in 200ml of curd which imparted nice light yellow colour. One can adjust the quantity as per need and taste.         

Pumpkin Raita

 Though there are endless benefits of pumpkin but some of essential ones are:

1. Its pulp contain pro vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C, salts and minerals. So it helps in regeneration and slowing down the ageing process. 
2. This vegetable have laxative action which helps in curing constipation and dyspepsia. 
3. It also protects against heart diseases as it contains antioxidants.
4. Pumpkin juice is indicated for ulcers and high acidity.
5. Pumpkin is also indicated to cure hormonal disorders or adolescent behaviour & intestinal parasites.

So after going through these benefits of pumpkin one can't avoid adding it, in his/her diet.

Jaggery Sweets(Makar Sakaranti Delight)

As far as i remember "Makar sakranti" is celebrated all over India from north to south with different names. But one thing which is common every where is that, it is celebrated with great joy. People decorate there houses with rangoli, perform pooja, children fly kites and people make traditional sweets. It is a symbol of  begining of harvest season in most part of the country. So for this occasion i decided to make sweets out of jaggery, which have high nutrative content than white sugar. I used very limited ingredients to make it simple and quick. Here 

Jaggery Laddos and Burfi

is the list:-

1. Jaggery(400gms)
2. Wheat flour(200gms)
3. Ghee(3tbs)
4. Roasted peanuts(2tbs)
5. Roasted white til(1tbs)
6. Grated coconut(2tbs)
7. Water(1cup)

First of all roast wheat flour on a medium flame till it changes it colour to light brown and keep aside. Then in another pan add a cup of water and jaggery to it, keep on stiring till the jaggery melts. Bring the jaggery and water mixture to boil, then add the ghee into it to make a smooth paste. After that switch off the flame and add the wheat flour which was already roasted and kept aside. Keep on mixing till the contents mixes well. Also add some peanuts, til and grated coconut at this stage,while keeping aside some for garnishing, (these dry fruits are optional according to ones own taste). Then grease a tray with oil and spread the above mixture over it and garnish with left over dry fruits. Let it cool and cut with a knife into squares or as one desires. I made some square shaped sweets and also prepared laddos out of it. Its flavour was nice and peanuts complimented it.

There are some uses of jaggery as compared to white sugar like:- it is rich in iron and copper content. It regulates liver function, purifies blood and keeps the body healthy. It also contains protiens, minerals and vitamins which are essential for our body. These small replacements in our eating habits can lead us to healthy life. So enjoy the recepie and stay fit!

Fruit Salad

Kidney beans and fruit combo

As the weekend approached it was time to refill the refrigerator with fresh vegetables and fruits. I had little left over in all the corners of my refrigerator, which needed to be cleared as i don't like wasting anything. So i decided to make fruit salad with some boiled Rajma/ Red kidney beans. For the fruit salad i used grapes, apple, pomegranate seeds and rajma. Apple was peeled and chopped to make fine cubes and some slices were kept for the decoration. Grapes and pomegranate seeds were used as whole. One can work out with other fruits as well like banana, pineapple, papaya or anything else according to ones own taste. The only thing which is required is to make any dish palatable and tempting. According to me digestion starts from eyes then mouth and finally stomach plays its role. So i arranged the fruits and rajma and sprinkled chat masala over it and squeezed some lemon juice to give it a tangy taste.
This is how a healthy fruit salad was ready in no time and it also works well during lunch or dinner parties.

Quick-Healthy Toast

In today's busy lifestyle , people hardly gets time to cook healthy snacks. Many of us fall in this category. We often complain about the time to cook as we are packed with busy schedule. So this is one of the simplest recipe which can be enjoyed with tea or even work as a healthy breakfast. All you need is:-

Besan Toast

1. Gram flour/ Besan
2. Bread slices
3. Salt to taste
4. Onion finely chopped
5. Coriander leafs
6. Water to form the paste

Firstly cut the bread slices in small pieces like square, rectangle or triangle whatever pleases you . Then mix the gram flour, salt, chopped onions and coriander leafs with water to form a smooth paste, one can also add green chillies, tomatoes, ginger/garlic paste as per the taste. Take a non stick pan and put on a medium flame, then grease it with a table spoon of oil. In the mean while take the bread slices and dip it in the paste to cover both the sides and place on the pan. Then cook both the sides till they are golden brown. Lastly remove the bread slices and garnish with coriander leafs.

It takes about 5 Min's to cook this snack. This works well when some guests drops in, also my grandma used gram flour recipes during cold flu, so this can also be used as soothing agent during cold flu. 

Enjoy the various shades of cooking! and stay healthy.. 

Choco and Vanilla cake

choco n vanilla cake with choco lollipops

My first blog of joy of cooking! Wanted to start with some thing sweet. So i decided to present this cake which i prepared for the new year party. Being a vegetarian i prepared an eggless, double flavoured cake. For this ready made cake mix of chocolate and vanilla flavour was used. Though its very easy to follow instructions and get your cake ready in no time but still you can add some difference by using your creativity in it.
All you needed in this is:- two different cake moulds. One at the bottom is hollow in the middle and  makes around 500gm cake which formed the base. I choose to make a chocolate marble cake at the base which itself have dual flavour of chocolate and vanilla. the outer cake is vanilla and as you cut the slice out of it you will see the chocolate layer. You can use some walnuts and raisins to give additional flavour to it.
The top layer is a pure chocolate cake of 250gm which was half of the size of the base and a simple round mould can be used for it. The top layer of the cake was coated with chocolate sauce which gave it a shiny look and added extra chocolate flavour to it. For the final touch of decoration i made small balls of the cake and dipped it in the chocolate sauce and inserted the wafer rolls, which was placed on the sides of the cake and on the top. Some strawberries and cherries were used to give a final red touch which complimented the colour of the cake.
So this is how i made a very simple and a pleasing cake with a twist.