Hearty Indian brunch

Batata rassa bhaji and paratha aka potatoes in gravy with Indian bread

Ingredients:

Four boiled potatoes

2 small finely chopped onions

4 garlic cloves finely chopped

Cooking oil and material for tadkaa (pinch of asafetida, turmeric, half a spoon each mustard seeds, cumin seeds)

Half a spoon of kitchen king masala, red chili powder and amchur powder each

Some red chili flakes and salt to taste

Peel and cut potatoes in small cubes. Heat oil in pan. When hot add mustard seeds. When they crackle add cumin seeds, turmeric and asafetida. Immediately add chopped onions and garlic. Sauté on medium heat till translucent. Then add kitchen king masala, red chili powder and amchur powder. Mix well then add potato cubes and a glass of water. Bring it to simmer. At the end add chili flakes and salt and mix well.

Serve hot with hot paratha. You can make different shapes of parathas depending on how you fold them. I made these thick square parathas today. That’s our brunch. A lots of carbs! But who cares? It’s hot and yummy.

Serves two.

1. Simple Indo-Chinese Vegetables in gravy

Ingredients:

Cut red bell-paper half a cup

Cut white onions half a cup

Baby corn half a cup

Cut button mushrooms one cup

1 tsp ginger finely chopped

1 tsp garlic cloves finely chopped

Finely chopped green chilies or red chili flakes as per taste

Salt

One tbsp Sesame oil

Cashew nuts optional

For sauce: One tbsp white vinegar

One tbsp low sodium Soya Sauce

One tsp cornstarch

One tbsp hot and sweet tomato sauce

Cut the vegetables in one inch square pieces. In a wok heat some sesame oil. Add ginger, garlic and chilies. Stir for 30 sec. Add all the veggies. Stir-fry on high flame for three mins. In the mean while add the ingredients for sauce together in 2 tbsp of cold water. When the vegetables are still crisp and have good color add the sauce and salt. Moving with ladle bring it to boil. Add Cashew nuts on it while serving. Eat with steaming rice.

Health drink

This is what I relished so much during my pregnancy and I had this every now and then,thanks to the farmers market( every thing costed only a dollar). I thought it is time to start it again(no, I am not pregnant). I still need to be living healthy. Too much over-processed food means less nutrients, killing natural vitamins and sluggish digestion. We can at least start our day with something that is not processed, doesn't have either added salt or sugar or preservatives.

I used a banana, a pear, an apple, half a cup grapes, half a small beet root(hence the color) and 2 inch piece of a white bottle gourd,seeds removed. I put it in the food processor and made really fine paste without adding water. And here you are! What do you think?

You can change this combination suiting to your likings and availability of fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes,spinach and carrots can be added when available at home. I want to start drinking this once again ever morning. You are welcome too.

Beet leafage

If you get your beet roots with all their leafage don't cut and throw the green part away. There is this simple traditional recipe for beet vegetable.

 Wash the leaves thoroughly because they may have sand on them. Cut them like you cut cabbage. Now heat a less than tablespoon oil in wok. When hot, add half a teaspoon mohori, huldi and a pinch of hing/asaphotida. When it crackles, add 3-4 garlic cloves chopped in big pieces, add all chopped leaves and cover with a lid. Keep on medium heat. After 5-7 min. when it is cooked add chilli powder and salt and mix. Your green vegetable is ready. It is great with wheat roti, jawar bhakri and don't forget it has a lot of iron.

Cooked vegetable is too less in volume than before hence it's a good idea to put salt at the end.

To start with

Cooking is fun and you know what you are eating when you have cook yourself. For many basic gravy Indian cooking requires garlic and ginger. To save a lot of  trouble I use washed ginger, green chillies and peeled garlic cloves together with a lot of coriander and a teaspoon of cumin seeds  to make a fine paste. I don't peel ginger and I don't add water while a grind in food processor. Mint can be added if you like it. Then I pour this paste in trays to make cubes of the size of ice cubes. Mine are appr. 1 tablespoon size. Then I keep in in double ziplock bags and back to freezer again. This way I don't have to grind small quantities. I wonder what we would do without ginger and garlic.