Crunchy Salad #FoodieExtravaganza

Prepare this simple, fresh and refreshing crunchy beetroot and radish salad today! It's quick and easy to prepare, filling too.

Since this is National Salad month our Host Camilla asked us to celebrate all things salad. Green salads, pasta salads, potato salads. This theme was absolutely right for this month.. since the heat in India is scorching, having salads more in meals is refreshing and light. Thanks Camilla for hosting this event and choosing this theme.

Ingredients
1 Boiled Beetroot - chopped
1 Radish - Grated

1 Small Tomato - chopped
A Juice of a Lemon
1 Tablespoon Grated Coconut
1 Tablespoon Coriander leaves - finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Peanuts - roasted and coarsely ground
½ Teaspoon Pepper powder
½ Teaspoon Salt

For the tadka
1 Teaspoon Sesame oil
½ Teaspoon Mustard seeds
½ Teaspoon Urad dal
¼ Teaspoon Chana Dal
A sprig Curry leaves

Method

In a saucepan, heat the oil add the mustard seeds, when they crackle, add the urad and chana dal and brown it lightly , add curry leaves and sauté lightly. Cool it. Add the  beetroot and tomato. 

Mix in the juice of one lemon, the grated coconut, salt, pepper powder, and the peanuts. Nicely stir all the ingredients. In a  plate arrange the radish and then place the beetroot on top, sprinkle so more peanuts and cover this with a cling film and chill it in the refrigerator . Enjoy this  salad chilled.

Labels : Crunchy Salad, Salads, Beetroot, Radish, Tomato, Peanuts, Coconut, Healthy, Foodie Extravaganza Party

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays or cook and bake together with the same ingredient or theme each month. This month Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is hosting. She encouraged us: "Let's celebrate all things salad. Green salads, pasta salads, potato salads...whatever you want!"




Posting day for #FoodieExtravaganza is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.

The Salad Smörgåsbord

Avocado Egg Salad by Making Miracles
Carrot Raisin Salad by Hardly A Goddess
Cilantro Lime Cucumber Salad by Cookaholic Wife
Crunchy Salad by Sneha's Recipe
Lahpet Thoke by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Mexican Street Corn Salad by Caroline's Cooking
Taco Salad Boats by Palatable Pastime
Tortellini Cesar Salad by Fearlessly Creative Mammas
Tropical Fruit Salad A Day in the Life on the Farm
Warm Steak and Sweet Potato Salad by Our Good Life

Chicken Pizzas - Gluten Free, Grain Free

These  Chicken Pizzas are gluten free, grain free and yummy.  A party dish, which can be prepared well in advance and kept in the refrigerator. Just half an hour before serving pop them into the preheat oven.  Ta .. Da.. these are ready to be served. 

Ingredients 

1/4 Cup Oil
2 Chicken Breast
1 Medium Onion - chopped
2 Garlic Cloves - paste
1 Cup Pasta sauce
1/2 cup Red Chilly Garlic sauce
Fresh Basil Leaves or 1 teaspoon dried Basil
1 Cup Cheezza Cheese
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly crushed Black pepper

 Method 

Preheat the oven 200 degrees. 

Cut the each chicken breast in to 3 pieces. Now give a cross cut in each part, but not till the bottom ( it should looks like a flower see pic). 

Pat them dry and  fry on high flame with just a tablespoon of oil,  the cut side down till they are nicely browned on both sides ( do not  cook them, just want to seal the juices in the chicken, so while baking they do dry out). Then keep aside.

Heat remaining oil in a pan . Add onion and garlic cook for 2 minutes . Add pasta sauce and red chilly garlic sauce bring to the boil stir in basil. Season with salt and pepper . 

Place the chicken in a ovenproof dish, fill each chicken piece with the prepared sauce by pressing the filling into the cuts.

 Top it with cheese .  Place a small leaf of basil.   

Place them on a buttered pyrex dish pour a teaspoon of water in the dish ( this is to prevent the chicken from drying).

 Bake for 10 to 15 minutes till the chicken is done, the  top is golden and cheese has melted. Serve hot.

 To make it a complete meal serve them on a bed of gluten free boiled spaghetti or  noodles or on a bed of rice -that's just saute in olive oil, garlic and basil .

Labels : Chicken, Baked, Pizzas, Basil, Cheese, Pasta Sauce, Gluten Free, Party pleasers, Kids delight, Grain free

Hot And Spicy Shrimps Pulao #FishFridayFoodie

For Fish Friday -  April the theme is "One Pan Dinners". Make a meal with fish that can be prepared in just one pan and perfect for the busy cook. Our Host of the month is Karen H Kerr.  

Made this Hot And Spicy Shrimps Pulao.  It's really hot and spicy, made a Roasted Chilly Garlic Chutney and used it to  made the pulao.  To cut down the spiciness a little, have used  Birista ( Fried Onions).

Ingredients

1.1/2 Cups Basmati Rice

1 Cup Cleaned  Shrimps

1/3 Cup Roasted Chilly Garlic Chutney

1 Teaspoon Coriander powder

1/2 Teaspoon Garam Masala powder

1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

1/2 + 1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Cube Fish seasoning

2.1/2 to 3 Cups Water

2 Medium Onions Birista

Whole Spices

1 Stick Cinnamon

2 Cardamons

5 Black Peppercorns

3 Cloves

1 Bay Leaf

Oil as required

For Granishing

1 Green Chilly - slit and fried

Method
Wash and soak the rice for an hour.
To the chutney mix lemon juice, coriander and garam masala powder well.

For the Shrimp Marination

To the shrimps add 1/2 teaspoon salt and half of this chutney and marinate the shrimps with it.

Boil the water with the salt and seasoning cube, keep aside.

In the meantime heat oil in a deep broad pressure pan and fry the onions to make the birista. Remove them and keep aside. Keep 1/3 cup oil and take out the excess oil. In the same pan fry the prawns for 2 minutes only on medium high flame. Remove them and keep aside. Now add the fried onions (reserve a little for garnishing) and the remaining chutney, whole spices and fry till oil separates. Drain the water from the rice and add to the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes stirring lightly. Add the boiling water and cook on high flame till the rice comes to rolling boil. Let it boil till the water dries and water level is half inch above the rice add the shrimps and give it a quick stir. Cover the pan with a lid and take one whistle on high flame. Switch off the flame and let it rest in its heat for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes open the lid and garnish with remaining fried onions and green chilly enjoy this hot and spicy rice with raita.

For the  Roasted Chilly Garlic Chutney

Makes 1/3 Cup

Ingredients

10 Dried Red Chillies

12 Cloves Garlic

1/2 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2 Small Tomatoes - chopped

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

Method

Dry roasted the garlic till light brown spot appear, take them out.  In the same pan dry roast the chillies till  till they are crisp.  Then roast the cumin seeds till it releases an aroma. In a small blender jar add all the roasted ingredients and make a powder.    Then add the tomatoes and salt,  again grind this to a fine paste, add sesame oil to make a fine paste.  Do not add water to make this chutney.  

 This chutney goes well with Kadhi or Dal Chawl. 

 Labels : Shrimps, Seafood/Fish, Fish Friday, Chutneys & Dips, One Pan Dinners, Gluten free

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Eggless Bundt Anise Pound Cake #BundtBakers

After reading the title of the this cake you will definitely wonder, a veg cake with Anise liqueur !, yes but that's true, since I, made this cake for my friend Iyengar's birthday. He is a vegetarian but has booze. Once when I asked him you do not eat cake with eggs but have booze, he said that's made with fruits so it's veg.

The subtle flavor of Anise, was loved by everyone, even those who do have liqueur.  This subtle hint of anise is one that me and my friends have truly come to adore. This Eggless Anise Pound Cake, is luscious, light and a moist cake infused with touches of anise, with a frosting of Cream Cheese and Anise White Chocolate Ganache was divine. The frosting is not so perfect as I, wanted it, but the cake was hot and I had to frost it. I finished frosting this cake at 11.45 pm and then kept it in freezer to set. Next day earlier morning took it to our trekkers group celebration of Iyengar's birthday.

Makes two 8-inch bundt cakes
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Yogurt
1/3 Cup Milk
2 Teaspoons Baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking soda
A Pinch Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence
2.1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
4 Tablespoons Cornflour
3/4 Cup Sugar
100 Grams Butter
1/2 Cup Condensed Milk
3 Tablespoons Anise Liqueur 

For the Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Anise White Chocolate Ganache

Method
Seive corn flour, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.  Now add vanilla essence, condensed milk and yogurt, continue beating  .
Now mix all dry ingredients in butter mixture slowly slowly  till the flour is incorporated,  end of mixing add the anise liqueur and fold it into the batter nicely. Pour mixture in greased bundt pans and bake at 180 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
When done,  cool it completely  and then frost it.  

 

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. Co-hosting: Patricia from Patty’s Cake http://pattyscake-pbb.blogspot.com/ Co-hosting: Cristina from Bizcocheando http://bizcocheando.com/ You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about #BundtBakers, can be found on our home page. And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked Cocktails Bundt this month: 
Banana Daiquiri Bundt Cake by Bizcocheando
Caipiroska Bundt Cake by I Love Bundt Cakes
Dirty Banana Mini Bundts by Passion Kneaded
Eggless Bundt Anise Pound Cake by Sneha’s Recipe
Harvey Wallbanger Bundt Cake by The Queen of Scones
Irish Car Bomb Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
Limoncello Pound Cake by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite A Whiskered Accomplice
Maracuya Sour Bundt Cake by Patty’s Cake
Midori Splice Bundt Cake by All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
Mimosa Bundt Cake by Palatable Pastime
Strawberry Margarita Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Labels : Eggless, Cakes, Bundt Bakers, Anise Liqueur

Mushroom And Carrot Soup #soupswappers

This month's event for Soup Saturday Swappers the theme is Root Vegetables, our host is Wendy , thank you dear for hosting this event.

Since we had use root vegetables to make the soup, I, decided to make this satisfying, hearty and low cal vegetarian soup with carrot, mushrooms and gave it a punch of garlic. This is a little spicy soup since carrot and mushrooms have a bland taste. 

Serves 3
Ingredients:
2 Big Carrots  -  chopped
1 Small Onion -  chopped
2 Medium Tomatoes -  chopped
6 Cloves Garlic  -  chopped
8 Button Mushrooms -  chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Chili flakes
1 Teaspoon Corn flour - if required (I did not add) 
1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper Powder
Salt to taste
6 Cups Water
1 Veg Soup Seasoning Cube
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil or Butter
Bread Croutons  or Garlic Bread for serving

Method

In a pressure cooker add water onion, tomato, carrot and garlic, cook for on high flame for a whistle. Reduce the flame and then let it cook for 5 minutes. Take off flame and let the cooker cool. Once the pressure is released separate veggies and water. Retain the water for later use. Grind veggies to fine paste. Add retained water. Strain mixture and set aside.
In a sauce pan add a teaspoon of olive oil, sauté mushroom slices with a pinch of white pepper powder and chilly flakes for 2 to 3 minutes till they get soft. Add the strained mixture, seasoning cube with chili flakes, salt and pepper powder or according to your taste . If the soup is thick then add additional water if required. Let is simmer  for 5 to 10 minutes or till you get the required thickness.

 Serve hot with a few bread croutons or  slices of garlic bread. Enjoy this delicious, easy soup, it warms and comforts you after a long day. 

Labels : Soup, Root Vegetables, Carrot, Garlic, Mushroom, Low Cal, Soup Swappers, Mushroom And Carrot Soup

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