Pineapple Jam

Category: Home made Jam
Preparation Time: 5 mins  
Cooking Time: 40 -50 mins

Home made Jams are really Yummy and of course healthier than the store bought ones which are loaded with preservatives and additives. Preparing Jam at home is very easy and we need just 3 ingredients:) Since I dont want very sweet jam, I had used only 1 cup of sugar for 4 cups of pineapple puree, we can adjust as per our taste and also depending on the sweetness of the pineapple. When prepared carefully, untouched by hands and by using dry clean spoon each time, we can store this Jam for atleast 1-2 months in refrigerator.

 

Pineapple Jam

Ingredients:

• Pineapple, chopped – around 4-5 cups(fruit should be ripen)
• Sugar – 1 cup (adjust as per sweetness of the fruit)
• Fresh Lemon Juice – 1.5 Tbsp

Method:

1. Blend the pineapple pieces into smooth puree (If you want chunkier, you can blend coarsely). I have got 4 cups of puree
   
   
   
   
2. In a pan, add pineapple puree and sugar; mix well
   
3. Bring the mixture to a boil by stirring frequently
   
4. Reduce the flame and continue cooking for 30-45 minutes until the bubbles disappear and it reaches jam consistency 
   
5. Add the lemon juice, mix well and switch off
   
6. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes
   
7. Once it gets cooled down, transfer jam to a clean and dry glass bottle
   
8. Its better to store in refrigerator to prolong the shelf life
   
   
   
9. Enjoy it with warm toast / plain bread:)

Instant Sambhar Ready Mix

Category: Ready Mix
Preparation Time: 5 mins  
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Servings: yields 1 1/2 - 2 cups

I used to prepare ready mixes only when going out on trips:) These would surely come in handy when we stay in hotel and have access to stove or even just the electric rice cooker. And if we have frozen vegetables, this is even quick. Also this would help the people who stays away from home and still needs quick home made food:) If we roast and grind carefully without any water and untouched by hands, I am sure it will stay good for atleast 1-2 months at the room temperature and also we can refrigerate if needed to prolong the shelf life.

We mostly prepare sambhar by grinding fresh masala (Arachuvitta Sambhar) and i just adapted from that for this Ready mix. You can adjust the ingredients as per your liking and preference:) In this sambhar mix, I didnt roast and grind tamarind since I was having only tamarind paste at that time. One more thing, since I had not included tamarind, we can have it like side dish for chapathi too by adding more veggies while cooking:)

Instant Sambhar Ready Mix

Ingredients: 
For Roasting & Grinding:

• Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup
• Channa Dhal - 3 tbsp
• Coriander seeds - 1/4 cup
• Raw Rice - 2 tbsp
• Red Chillies - 2-6 nos(adjust as per spice level)
• Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Cinnamon stick - small piece
• Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Dry Coconut - 1/4 cup
• Tamarind - lemon sized
• Coriander leaves - few
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - as required

For Tadka:

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Ghee - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Asafoetida - a pinch

For Preparing Sambhar:
1 Serving:

• 2 tbsp Ready Mix + 1 cup of water + Chopped Tomato + Onion + Veggies (I used frozen) + tamarind paste (if not added) +salt (if required) --------> Boil for 10 mins -------> Sambhar Ready!!!

Method:

1. Dry Roast the ingredients under roast & grind one by one separately in a pan till it gets roasted well and gives nice aroma and allow to cool down. Add the turmeric powder and salt at the end
   
2. Grind the roasted ingredients into a fine powder using mixie / blender
   
   
   
   
    
3. Heat oil+ghee in a pan and prepare the tadka with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves
4. Pour it over the ground powder and mix well
   
   
   
5. Once it cooled down completely, transfer to an airtight container / ziplock bag
6. I usually prefer to write the instruction on the ziplock covers to make it easy when we are travelling / or for the bachelors / beginners to prepare:)
   
7. For 1 serving, add 2 tbsp of prepared ready mix, 1 cup of water, 1 chopped tomato, chopped onions, available veggies around 1/4 cup, tamarind paste (since not included in the mix) to a bowl and heat it up; Adjust salt to taste
   
8. Once it reaches boiling, allow to boil for 10 - 15 mins, until the veggies get cooked and switch off. 
   
9. Hot Instant Sambhar is ready to be served:)
   

Beetroot Chapathi

Category: Chapathi / Paratha   
Preparation Time: 20 mins      
Waiting Time: 30 mins      
Cooking Time: 20 mins      
Servings: 12-15 Chapathis

Beetroot Chapathi

Beetroot Chapathi or Paratha is a nice way to make our kids eat the veggie:) Also sprinkling sesame seeds gives an extra health boost, crunchiness and also attractive to kids!

Since this is kid friendly recipe, I have not added any spice powders but its purely upto one's own choice. We can add Cumin Powder / Red chilly powder / Garam Masala

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour / Atta - 2 cup 
• Beetroot - 1 no (Small / Medium sized)
• Oil - 1/4 -1/2 tsp
• Water - as required
• Salt - to taste
• Sesame seeds - 1-2 tbsp 
• Wheat / Rice flour - for dusting

Optional: 

• Any spice powders of our choice can be added to taste such as Cumin powder, Red chilli powder, Garam Masala Powder 

Method:

1. Wash, peel the skin and chop the beetroot into medium sized pieces; Cook it in little water until it becomes tender
2. In a blender, take the cooked beetroot pieces and grind to a smooth puree by adding required water if needed
3. In a wide bowl, take 2 cups of wheat flour, beetroot puree and required salt
   
   
   
    
4. Mix well and knead into a smooth soft dough (Add water only if required). Coat the dough with 1/4 tsp of oil and keep covered for 30 mins to one hour
   
5. After an hour, knead the dough for 2 mins and divide the dough into equal lemon sized balls 
   
6. Take one dough ball, dust it with flour, flatten it, sprinkle around 1/4-1/2 tsp of sesame seeds and roll into a thin paratha
   
7. Heat the tawa, place the parathas and cook till bubbles started to appear on the surface
   
8. Turn over and cook the other side
   
9. Once it's cooked, transfer to plate or place it in hot box
   
10. Serve hot with any gravy of your choice 
    

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins (Whole Wheat)

Category: Baking
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 17-20 mins
Servings: yields 12 muffins

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins with the addition of creamy peanut butter are super soft and moist:) 

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Ingredients: 

Dry Ingredients:

• Wheat Flour / Atta - 1 cup
• Baking soda - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp

Wet Ingredients:

• Banana, ripen - 3 nos (long variety)
• Egg - 1 no
• Creamy Peanut Butter - 1/2 cup (I used home made chocolate flavoured Peanut Butter)
• Brown Sugar - 1/3 cup
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Other Ingredients: 

• Chocolate chips (Since I had used chocolate flavoured PB, didnt add this time) 

Method: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F for 10 mins
2. Grease the muffin tray or line it with muffin liners and keep it ready
3. In a sieve, add the wheat flour, Baking soda and salt. Sieve the dry ingredients into a wide plate/bowl
   
4. In another bowl, mash the bananas well or we can blend it in blender
   
5. To this add the creamy peanut butter, blend well
   
6. Add in the egg and brown sugar, mix well until combined
   
7. Add the vanilla extract mix together to form uniform mixture
8. Add the sieved flour into the wet mixture and mix gently till combined
   
9. If using chocolate chips, add them into the batter and mix gently
10. Spoon the batter into muffin cups; fill only 3/4 th of the cup
    
     
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins or until its done (can be checked by using tooth pick method)
12. Once its done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 mins
    
13. Then transfer the muffins from the tray to cooling rack
14. Serve Warm with a glass of milk!

Pineapple Rasam

Category: Lunch
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: 3-4 servings

Pineapple Rasam

Ingredients:

• Toor Dhal - 3 tbsp
• Pineapple, finely chopped - 1/2 cup
• Pineapple, pureed - 1/2 cup
• Tomato, finely chopped - 1 no
• Tomato, crushed - 1 no
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Coriander leaves - for granishing
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Mustard - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
• Split Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Red chilli - 1 no 
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Water - as required

To grind coarsely:

• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Green Chilly - 1 no

Method:

1. Pressure cook Toor Dhal with required water, Turmeric, few drops of oil  and mash well (I usually pre soak dhal for at least 15 mins for easy cooking)
   
   
   
2. Coarsely grind the pepper. cumin seeds and green chilly and keep it aside
3. In a vessel, add the crushed tomato, required salt, pinch of turmeric and around 1 1/2 cups of water; mix well and bring to boil
   
4. Chop the tomato and pineapple and extract pineapple juice/puree
   
5. Once the water starts to boil, add the pineapple juice and the coarsely ground mixture, allow to boil for few mins 
   
6. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan, once it gets hot add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add cumin seeds, urad dhal, red chilly, followed by curry leaves and asafoetida
   
7. Add the finely chopped tomato followed by pineapple pieces and saute till the raw smell of the tomato goes off
   
8. Then add the boiling mixture into the the pan and bring to boil
   
9. Now add the cooked dhal, required water and adjust salt; Mix well 
   
10. Keep the flame in medium and cover the pan with lid. Once it becomes frothy and started to boil, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves 
    
11. Make sure not to boil the rasam after adding dhal
12. Serve hot with Rice or even as a soup!