Vegetable Omelette

Category: Breakfast / Snack
Preparation Time: 5 mins 
Cooking Time: 5 mins
Servings: For 1 person 

Omelette is a common and a versatile dish; most of the kids will surely love it. This Vegetable omelette is one of the ways to sneak more vegetables into our diet - especially the little picky eaters:)
 

Omelette Star;)

Ingredients:

• Eggs - 2 nos (at room temperature)
• Vegetables, chopped (any choice) - 3/4 - 1 cup (I used broccoli and mushroom)
• Onion, chopped - 1 medium size
• Milk - 1 tbsp (Optional)
• Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
• Pepper powder- to taste
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp 
• Salt - as required
• Green chilly, chopped- 1 no (Optional)
• Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp (Optional) 

Method:

1. In a wide bowl, add the eggs and whisk well
2. Add milk to the egg and stir well (little milk makes omelette fluffier)
3. Now add the salt, turmeric powder, pepper powder, garam masala and chilly powder (if using) and whist until it gets combined
4. Add the chopped onions, vegetables and green chilly (if using) to it and mix gently
5. Heat the pan with few drops of oil
6. Once its hot, pour the egg mixture into it and reduce the flame to medium
   
7. Cover and cook for a minute and then flip it over and cook the other side
8. Once done, transfer to the plate and serve:)
   
9. Adding vegetables are purely your choice, you can use tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, sweet corn, cauliflower, spinach etc., 
10. For picky eaters, you can even add grated veggies rather than chopped ones 
11. If you're giving for kids, omit chillies and chilly powder

Chocolate Brownies (Whole Wheat)

Category: Baking
Preparation Time: 15 mins 
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Servings: 1 Loaf

Brownie!!!!!!

 Ingredients:

• Wheat flour / Atta - 1 cup and 1 1/2 tbsp
• Brown / White Sugar- 1 cup
• Cocoa powder, unsweetened - 1/3 cup
• Egg- 1 no (at room temp)
• Butter, melted - 1/3 cup
• Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup+ few for topping
• Salt - a pinch
• Coconut flakes  - 1/4 cup
• Walnuts, chopped - 1/4 cup 
• Water - 1/4 cup
• Baking soda- 1/4 tsp
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1.  Pre heat the oven to 350F for 10 mins
2. In a wide bowl, take 1/4 cup of water and bring to boil. Once it started to boil, switch off, add the cocoa powder and mix well to form a smooth paste without any lumps
3. To this, add the melted butter (slightly warm, not hot),stir well
4. Add in the egg and stir briskly using wired whisk 
5. Now add the sugar, vanilla extract and mix well to form a creamy texture
6. In a separate bowl, mix the 1 cup of wheat flour, baking powder and salt and sieve together
7. Add the flour mix into the wet mixture and gently mix so that it gets combined
8.  Mix the chocolate chips, coconut flakes and nuts with 1 1/2 tbsp of wheat flour; Gently fold in these to the prepared mixture
9. Grease a baking pan and pour in the mixture. It would be slghtly thicker than the usual cake batter
10. Level the batter and add the remaining chocolate chips as toppings
    
11. Bake in the oven for 35-40 mins
12. Once it's done (Just insert a tooth pick in the center and if it comes out clean, it's done), allow to cool for 10 mins before taking out of the pan. Then invert it and make pieces
13. You can use any dry fruits of your choice or you can use 1 cup of chocolate chips alone without any nuts or coconut

Enjoy!!

Quick Sambhar in Pressure Cooker (Spicy & Tangy Lentil-Vegetable Stew)

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

Quick Sambhar:)

Quick Sambhar - This can be prepared quickly in just one pot (pressure cooker) and perfect for Idly / Dosa / pongal and Rice. Whenever there's less time and need to prepare breakfast and lunch, I usually prefer this:)

Ingredients:

• Toor Dhal - 3/4 cup
• Small onions, peeled and halved - 12-15 nos (Or 1 big onion)
• Tomato (Juicy), chopped  - 1 no.
• Carrots, chopped - 2 nos or any veggies used for Sambhar
• Tamarind - lemon sized (I used 1/2 tsp of tamarind concentrate)
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sambhar powder - 1/2 to 1 tbsp
• Oil or Ghee- 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Asafoetida (Hing) - a generous pinch
• Curry leaves - few
• Red chilly - 1 (adjust for required spiciness)
• Water - as required
• Coriander leaves - 3-4 tbsp
• Salt-  to taste

 Method:

1.  Pre soak toor dhal in 2 cups of water until we finish sauting vegetables. This will make the dhal cook softer and faster
2. If using tamarind, extract juice with enough water and keep aside
3. Heat the pressure cooker and add oil; once it's hot add the mustard seeds followed by red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida (adding one by one after the seeds splutter)
4. Add the onions, saute for a minute
5. Add the tomatoes, saute for 2 mins
6. Add the carrots and saute till the raw smell goes off 
   
7. Now add the sambar powder, turmeric powder and required salt, saute for a min
8. Drain the water for the toor dhal and add the dhal to the cooker, mix well
   
9. Now add around 2 cups of water; mix well, check for salt and close with lid. We can also add tamarind extract now and cook in one shot but here I added after pressure cooking
   
10. Once it started steaming, put the whistle and reduce the flame to medium (not low)
11. Cook for 2 whistles and switch off. 
12. Upon the release of pressure, open the lid and add the tamarind extract and allow to boil for few mins
    
13. Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves
    
14. While preparing in this way, make sure not to use vegetables such as brinjal, since they will become mushy. So far I have used carrots, radish, capsicum, potato, beans and all worked out well
15. Sambhar thickness can be adjusted as per your liking
16. Since my sambhar powder is on the spicier side, I had used  1/2 tbsp, you can adjust as per your taste

    

    Idly with Sambhar!

    
    

    

    Sambhar for Lunch!

 

Sponge Dosai

Category: Breakfast / Tiffin  
Soaking Time: 4-6 Hrs   
Fermentation Time: 8 - 10 Hrs  
Cooking Time: 1-2 mins / dosa

Sponge Dosai, as the name states it is the soft and spongiest dosa I have ever tasted. It is very very soft and there are no chemicals (baking soda / powder) added. Also it remains soft even after few hours of preparation so it can be send in lunch-boxes for kids.

Sponge Dosa

Ingredients:

• Idly rice - 3 cups
• Raw rice - 1/2 cup
• Whole white urad dhal - 2/3 cup
• Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp
• Salt - To taste
• Sesame oil - for making dosa

Method:

                             
1. Soak both rice, urad dhal and fenugreek seeds together for 4-6 hrs and grind them to a smooth batter; Add required salt and mix well using hands
2. Allow to ferment overnight / for about 8-10 hrs and it depends on your room temperature; After fermentation, the volume of the batter would be almost doubled. (Make sure to place the batter in a big bowl to avoid spills after it gets fermented)
3. After fermentation, if the batter is too thick, add required water so that the consistency can be slightly thin than our normal dosa batter
4. Heat the dosa tawa in medium flame, Once it becomes hot, pour a laddle of batter and allow it to spread itself. No need to spread with laddle like our normal dosa
   
5. Reduce the flame to low, sprinkle oil and once bubbles start appearing on the dosa surface, cover it with lid and allow to cook till its done
   
   
   
6. No need to flip it over to the other side; since it will cook in the steam itself                 
   
7. Transfer it to a plate and serve with your favourite side dish

Sponge Dosa Ready to Enjoy!