One Day At A Time!

Hello Foodies!  Hope all is well in your world.  How about something other than Indian Cuisine? Does Mediterranean Falafel sound good? Gluten Free Vegan Chickpea Falafel is part of our midweek menu. Deep fried, yet protein rich appetizer. Someday when I try an air-fried or baked version of falafel, I'll definitely update it here. Ingredients: Dry Chickpeas - 1 cup Green Onions/Spring Onions - 3 sprigs Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - about 1/2 cup Thai Green Chilies - 2 Chickpea Flour/Besan - about 2 tbsp Corn Starch - 1 tbsp White Sesame Seeds/Til - about 2 tsp Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp Ground Coriander/Dhane/Dhaniya - 1 tsp Ground Cumin/Jeera - 1 tsp Salt Oil for deep frying How to cook Vegan Falafel: Soak dry chickpeas in plenty of water overnight. After soaking, chickpeas will double to triple their size. Wash soaked chickpeas 3 - 4 times with water. Drain the water completely. In a food processor, add drained chickpeas, green onions (both whites and greens), green chilie...

Friday is here! Hope all is well in your world. I am back with a vegan gluten free snack. My Mom's Nachni Chakli recipe with potato and coconut milk. Fresh coconut milk is quite common in coastal Konkani cuisine. My childhood favorite Diwali snack. Now my 7 year old kiddo likes it. Hope you all love it too! Ingredients: Ragi/Nachni/Finger Millet Flour - 1 cup Boiled Mashed Potato - about 1 cup Besan/Chickpea Flour - 1/4 cup  White Sesame Seeds/Til - 2 tsp Carom Seeds/Ajwain/Owa - 1 tsp Kashmiri Lal/Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp Light Brown Sugar - 1 tsp Coconut Milk - about 1/4 cup Olive Oil - 2 tsp Salt How to cook Nachni Batata Chakli: In a big mixing bowl, add ragi flour, besan, peeled mashed potato, sesame seeds, carom seeds, black pepper powder, chili powder, sugar and salt. Mix well. Now add coconut milk, little at a time and knead to make a soft, non sticky dough. Lastly, add oil and knead again for few seconds. Cover the bowl with plastic food wrap ...

A bright Sunday afternoon in my part of the world. I am watching a Korean movie "Kimchi War" while getting our lunch ready in a microwave. Enjoying my long weekend! Hope your day is going well too! Today's menu... Cheesy Microwave Penne Pasta with loads of rainbow colored vegetables. Ingredients: Dry Penne Pasta - 2 cups Frozen Mixed Vegetables - about 2 cups Half n Half - 1/2 cup Cream Cheese - 1/4 cup Mexican 4 Cheese - about 1/2 cup Italian Seasoning - 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 tsp Granulated Garlic - 1/2 tsp Salt How to cook Penne Pasta with Vegetables in a Microwave: Microwave frozen veggies in a big microwave safe plate/bowl for 2 minutes. Check with a fork if all the veggies are cooked, depending on how soft or crunchy you want the veggies. Microwave another 30 - 60 seconds if required. Set the cooked veggies aside in another bowl.  In the same microwave safe plate/bowl, add dry pasta of any kind you like. Add 1 cup of water and microwave for 2 minutes. Sti...

  Hey everyone! Hope you all are well. Its summer in my part of the world. Love the sunshine! Weekend cooking is quite minimal at my place. This weekend I tried a store bought Panang Curry. My family loved it and I am sharing it here. Let me know your favorite store bought items you like to cook with. Ingredients: Store bought Panang Curry - 12 fl oz Chopped Vegetables - about 5 cups Oil - 1 tbsp How to cook Panang Curry: Chop vegetables of your choice to bite size pieces. I used onion, green bell pepper, okra (bhindi), baby white potato and carrot. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped veggies. Stir them until all veggies are slightly charred and have brown spots.  Pour the sauce and stir at low heat. Add 1 cup water and cook it covered on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until all veggies are cooked. Potatoes took the longest to cook.  Take a look at the ingredients in the curry sauce. Please note that it has anchovies. Hope you all love this new post! Until next tim...

  Weekends call for something special. How about an effortless Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake with Peanut Butter Cups? A sweet treat ready in less than a minute. Today's pastry chef is my 7 year old. My kiddo enthusiastically prepped and microwaved this tiny double chocolate cake. I played the sous chef, providing all the ingredients.... clicking pictures. We both had fun baking together. Hope you all love my mini chef's baking venture.  Ingredients: All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 2 tbsp Light Brown Sugar or Sugar - 2 tbsp Whole Milk - 4 tbsp Oil or melted butter - 1 tbsp Green Cardamom Pods/Elaichi - 2 (seeds only) Baking Powder - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/8 tsp Peanut Butter Cups or any other chocolate topping How to make a Microwave Chocolate Mug Cake with Peanut Butter Cups? Crush the cardamom seeds in a mortar pestle. Instead of cardamom, use any flavor of your choice - cinnamon powder, vanilla extract, almond extract and so on. In a dry microwave saf...

Hello everyone! Weather is getting warmer in my part of the world. Hope you all are blessed with pleasant weather too. We all have our favorite vegetables and fruits. And multiple ways to enjoy them.. some raw, some grilled, some fried, veggie stew... and so on. Air fried vegetables .. our newest family favorite. I am sharing a few veggies which are regularly air fried in my kitchen. Ingredients: Small Purple Eggplant - 4 Sweet Potato - 1 big Zucchini - 1 medium Black Pepper Powder - 1-2 tsp Cayenne Pepper - 1/4 tsp Kashmiri Lal Chili Powder - 1 tsp Salt  Oil - 3 tsp How to cook your favorite vegetables in an Airfryer? Wipe the washed veggies dry. Dice the veggies slightly thick.  In a mixing bowl, add the veggie slices. Add salt, spice powders of your choice and oil. Mix well and set it aside for 5 minutes.  Kashmiri Lal is a mild chili powder, but adds a nice red color. Spanish Paprika is a good substitute for Kashmiri Lal. I use Cayenne for a little bit of heat. Garlic...

Hey everyone! It is 10:00 am in my part of the world. Hope you all are doing well. These days I cook a lot at home, even on weekends. Eating out at a restaurant or getting home delivery is no longer convenient. This weekend I ended up cooking  White Rice Noodles with loads of veggies . I haven't found healthier brown rice noodles made entirely of brown rice yet.  If noodles are your favorite too, do try this.  Feel free to tweak the ingredients. Ingredients: Rice Noodles - 8 oz (225 g) Bell Peppers - about 1/2 cup Sliced Carrots - about 1/2 cup Sliced Cabbage - about 1 cup Red Onions - about 1/4 cup Green Onions - 8 sprigs Baby Spinach - about 1/2 cup Peanut Butter - 2 tbsp Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp Sriracha Sauce - 1 tbsp Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp Oil - 1 tbsp How to cook Veggie Rice Noodles with Peanut Butter: Slice all the veggies of your choice. Save some greens of the green onions for garnish. In a mixing bowl, add peanut butter, soy sauce and Sriracha sauce. Mix well and set i...

Hello everyone! My first post in 2021. Wish you all a happy and blessed 2021!  Recently, I blogged about an air fryer recipe. Some of my vegetarian friends asked if I could share a vegetarian dish cooked in an air fryer. One of my favorites is Sabudana Wada (Sago Cutlets) . Hope you all enjoy this healthier, low fat recipe. Ingredients: Sago/Sabudana - 1 cup Potatoes - 2 medium Peanuts/Groundnuts - 1/2 cup Green Chilies - 4 Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp Sugar - 1/2 tsp Salt Cooking Spray or Oil How to make Sabudana Wade: Wash Sago twice and drain the water. Add water just enough to form a thin layer on sago. Keep it covered for 5 - 6 hours or overnight. Overnight works well for me. Boil the potatoes and dry roast the peanuts.  After cooling, grind the peanuts to a coarse powder. Sago must turn almost double in size and soft to touch. If not, sprinkle some more water. Mix sago, boiled potatoes, roasted peanut powder, cumin seeds, chopped ...

Hello foodies! How is everyone?  Today's photo credit goes to my six year old. My kiddo is my sous chef these days. And photographer -:)  Lately, I have been cooking pasta in my 2 quart rice cooker. Its convenient and quick. If you have one, try this One Pot Creamy Colorful   Vegetable Pasta . Ingredients: Uncooked Spaghetti Pasta - about 1 cup Mixed Frozen (or fresh) Veggies - about 1 cup Cream Cheese - 2 oz. Mexican 4 cheese - about 1/2 cup Canned Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning - 3/4 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Garlic Herb Seasoning - 1/4 tsp How to cook Colorful Veggie Pasta in a Rice Cooker: Pour 1 cup water, pasta, Italian seasoning, black pepper powder and garlic herb seasoning in the rice cooker. Put the lid on and switch it on. Meanwhile, microwave the frozen veggies for about 2 minutes. The frozen veggie mix I used had broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, green beans, yellow beans. Instead of water, you can use vegetable broth or chicke...

Hello everyone! Hope all is well in your world. I am back after a couple years. Thank you readers for all the sweet emails. Appreciate you guys checking on us. What's new in your life? Many events happened in my life, some happy, some bittersweet...  Lets talk about food now. So.. air frying is the new thing in my kitchen. For today, I'll share my recipe of Healthy Chicken Nuggets . Not deep fried and cooking time is 10 minutes . Ingredients: Chicken Breasts (skinless) - about 1 pound Black Pepper Powder - about 1tsp Red Chili Powder or Paprika - about 1tsp Whole Wheat Flour/Indian Atta - 1/4 cup Salt Nonstick Cooking Spray or Oil How to cook crispy delicious Chicken Nuggets in an Airfryer: Chop chicken into pieces, depending on big or small you would like. In a mixing bowl, add chicken pieces, about 1/2 tsp black pepper powder, 1/4 tsp red chili powder and salt to taste. Mix well and refrigerate for about 2 hours. I use Kashmiri Lal Mirch which gives nice color to the chicken....

One of the popular posts of my blog is Microwave Ricotta Cheese Kalakand . For my kiddo, these days I make it in the oven. You might ask why? My little one loves baking with Mommy.  The new oven baked Ricotta Kalakand (Milk Cake) Recipe is even better, it has double the cheese, less sugar and tastes yummy. And, if ricotta is not available, paneer is an excellent alternative.