One Day At A Time

Crunchy whole wheat biscuits with pistachios and corn meal. Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour - 2 cups Light Brown Sugar - 1 cup Whole Milk - 1/2 cup Corn Meal - 1/2 cup Roasted Salted Pistachios/Pista - 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter/Loni - 1/2 pound Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp How to bake Corn Meal Pistachio Biscuits: 1. In a microwave safe big bowl, add butter.  Microwave it for about 2 minutes so that butter melts.  Alternatively, you can melt the butter in a pan on a stove top.  Let the butter cool slightly. 2. Crush cardamom seeds to a fine powder in a mortar pestle.  Roughly chop the pistachios.  3. In another bowl, add the dry ingredients - whole wheat flour, corn meal, baking powder, baking soda, chopped pistachios and cardamom powder.  Mix well. 4. Add milk and sugar to the melted butter.  Using a hand blender, mix till it becomes light and fluffy.  Now add the dry ing...

Crisp savoury snack made of rice cereal.  Less oily, crunchy and tasty. Ingredients: Rice Cereal - 5 cups Peanuts/Groundnuts/Shenga - 1/2 cup Dry (Desiccated) Coconut Slices - 1/4 cup Dalia/Roasted Gram Dal/Roasted Chickpeas - 1/4 cup Curry Leaves/Kadipata/Karbeo - a sprig Cayenne Pepper/Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Powdered Sugar - 1/2 tsp Salt Oil How to prepare Savory Rice Cereal Chivda:   Wash curry leaves and pat them dry. Heat about 2 tbsp oil in a big pan. Add peanuts and fry them till they slightly darken and turn crunchy. Save them for later. Similarly, fry coconut slices and dalia as well. You can also add fried sesame (til) seeds, cashews or any other nuts if you like. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.  When mustard seeds pop, add turmeric, asafetida and cayenne pepper. Sauté for a minute or so and turn off the heat. A...

Coleslaw is a raw cabbage and carrot salad with a mayonnaise dressing.  I am not a big fan of mayonnaise because of raw eggs used in it.  This coleslaw recipe has a yogurt dressing with a few Indian tweaks.  In Marathi and Konkani this curd salad is well known as Koshimbir . Ingredients: Green Cabbage/Kobi/Pata Gobi - about 3 cups Carrot/Gajar - about 1 cup Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - about 1 cup Coriander/Cilantro Leaves/Kothimbir - few sprigs Pomegranate Seeds/Anardana/Dalimb - about 1 tbsp (optional) Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder/Kali Miri - 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/8 tsp Sugar or Honey - 1/2 tsp Salt How to prepare Cabbage Coleslaw: 1. Finely chop cilantro.  Chop cabbage and carrots into long thin strands or the way you prefer.  1/2 cup of red cabbage can also be added. 2. In a big vessel, add hot water and little salt.  Soak cabbage and carrots in this hot, sa...

Crispy crunchy Tortilla Chips served with tangy Tomato Salsa is a perfect Mexican appetizer to start a meal. Tortillas are Mexican flat bread made of wheat flour or corn flour. These crispy chips can be either deep fried or baked. These baked tortillas are similar in taste to Gujarati Khakras.  Ingredients: Wheat Flour Tortillas - 6 Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Tomatoes (Roma) - 4 medium Onion - 1 small Jalapenos Peppers/Chilies - 2 Garlic - 2 big cloves Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Lemon Juice - about 2 tbsp Salt Oil How to bake Tortilla Chips and make Tomato Salsa: Cut each round tortilla into 4 quarters and each quarter into 2 parts. You will get 8 triangles per tortilla.  Lay them on a baking dish. Drizzle about 1 tbsp of olive oil, little salt and black pepper powder. Mix well and spread them. Alternatively, you can brush each triangle with butter or oil. Preheat the oven at 400 deg. F and bake the chips for 4 - 5 minutes...

Sungta (in Konkani) Sukke is a coconut based dry curry of Prawns or Shrimps. A Sea Food recipe adapted from Goan cuisine - Bangde (Mackerel) Kalputi . Prawns are also known as kolambi or jhinga.  Ingredients: Prawns/Shrimps/Sungta (preferably fresh) - 1 pound (450 gms) Grated or Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - about 1 cup Onion - 1 big Green Chilies - 8 Ginger/Ale/Adrak - 1 inch piece Curry Leaves/Kadipata/Karbeo - a sprig Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/2 tsp Tamarind Paste/Chincham/Imli - about 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp Salt Oil How to prepare Prawns Sukke: Clean the prawns by removing the shells and the black vein (its digestive tract) which is at the back of the prawn. Wash the prawns well. Small prawns are preferred for this Sukke recipe. In a mixing bowl, add little salt, turmeric, cayenne pepper and tamarind paste. Add few drops of water and form a thick paste. Add the prawns, mix and coat them well...

Naan Khatai are soft eggless biscuits or cookies generally flavoured with green cardamom or elaichi.  This recipe of Nan Khatai is with vanilla and crunchy nuts. Lighter crisp biscuits with milk and less butter. Ingredients: All Purpose Flour/Maida - 1 1/4 cups Whole Whear Flour - 1 cup Sugar - 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter/Loni/Makkhan - 8 tbsp (1/4 pound) Whole Milk - 1/2 cup Walnuts or any other nuts (roughly chopped) - 1/4 cup Vanilla Extract - 2 tsp Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp Whole Nuts - about 25 How to bake Eggless Vanilla NanKhatais: 1. In a mixing bowl, add all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and roughly chopped nuts.  Mix well and keep it aside. 2. In another big mixing bowl, add melted butter, milk, vanilla extract and sugar.  Mix all the ingredients well.  I used a hand blender/mixer and mixed till it turned light and frothy.  Now add the remaining dry ingredients.  Mix well wi...

Vanilla and saffron flavored cake with fresh apples, strawberries and crunchy walnuts, pistachios. Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup Apples - 2 Strawberries - 3 medium Unsalted Butter - 8 tbsp (1/4 pound) Walnuts/Akrot - 1/4 cup Pistachios - 5 Light Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup Eggs - 4 Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp Baking Powder - 1 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Cinnamon/Dalchini - 1/2 tsp Saffron/Kesar - a pinch (optional) How to prepare Fresh Apples Strawberries Walnuts Cake: Peel the apple skin and dice them into cubes. Add about 2 tsp lemon juice in a bowl full of water. Place diced apples into this lemon water till you start baking. Dice the strawberries too into medium pieces. Roughly chop walnuts and pistachios. In a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients - whole wheat flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and saffron. Crush the saffron lightly with hands.  Mix all the ingredients well. Microwave butter for 1 minute and 30 seconds or till...

Vegetable Bonda is Aloo Bonda/Batata Wada with mixed veggies. A South Indian vegetarian burger recipe ideal for vegans too. Ingredients: Green Peas/Matar - about 1 cup Carrots/Gajar (chopped) - about 1 cup Green Beans/French Beans/Farasbi (chopped) - about 1 cup Potato - 1 medium Green Chili Paste - 1/2 tsp Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp Fennel Seeds/Saunf/Badishep - 1/2 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp Gram Flour/Chickpea Flour/Besan - 1/2 cup Carom Seeds/Ajwain - 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp Baking Soda - a pinch Salt Oil How to prepare Veggie Bonda: Boil the potato in enough water till soft. Let it cool completely. Potatoes help in binding the veggies, add more potatoes if you like. I added less potatoes to reduce the carbs. Dice the green beans and carrots as small as green peas. Steam beans, carrots, peas with little salt in a pressure cooker. No need of ...

Vegetable Korma is a South Indian vegan curry recipe of mixed veggies in a creamy coconut and cashewnut sauce. Any other nuts like Almonds (Badam) or Walnuts (Akrot) can also be used instead of cashews. This vegetarian entrée tastes great with naan, chapati, jeera rice and/or puris. Ingredients: Green Beans/French Beans/Farasbi - about 20 Carrot/Gajar - 1 big Green Peas/Matar - about 1 cup Potato/Aloo - small Onion - 1 small Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup Cashews/Kaju or any other nuts - 1/4 cup Poppy Seeds/Khuskhus - 2 tsp Fennel Seeds/Saunf/Badishep - 1 1/2 tsp Coriander/Cilantro Leaves/Kothimbir - about 1/2 cup Green Chilies/Hari Mirch - 6 Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Curry Leaves/Kadipata - a sprig (optional) Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 1 pod (seeds only) Bay Leaf/Tej Patta/Tamal Patra - 1 Cloves/Long/Lavang - 4 Cinnamon/Dalchini - an inch piece Salt Oil How to prepare Mixed Vegetables Kurma: Remove the strings o...

Oven Roasted nutty Broccoli florets and tender stems with bread crumbs. Ingredients: Broccoli - about 400 gms Walnuts/Akrot - 1 tbsp Pistachios/Pista - 1 tbsp Bread Crumbs - about 3 tbsp Garlic - 2 big cloves Olive Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper/Red Chilli Flakes - 1/4 tsp Salt How to oven roast Broccoli: 1. Dice the broccoli florets into bite size pieces.  Peel the skin of the tender broccoli stems and cut it into bite size pieces.  Soak both florets and stems in hot water with little salt for about 5 minutes.  Discard the water and wash them once again.  Drain the water completely. 2. Roughly dice walnuts and pistachios.  You can use any other nuts like almonds/badam, cashews/kaju, pecans etc.  Finely chop garlic. 3. Blend 1 slice of whole wheat bread in a blender till crumbs are formed.  You can use store brought bread crumbs or panko (Japanese bread crumbs). 4. In a mixing ...