Carrot-Beans-Peas Stir fry (Poriyal)

A very healthy and quick stir-fry that needs no long explanations and goes perfectly with plain steamed rice or sambar rice. I normally use carrot and beans for the stir fry, but today, i have also added green peas, which are mildly sweet and tender that gives nice texture to your every bite. Also, green peas helps in maintaining bone health and a very good source of folic acid and vitamin B6. 
If you wanna taste the veggies with its own mild sweetness, then skip adding the chilli powder and cumin powder. And here goes the simple recipe,

Ingredients:

1 cup Green Beans (finely chopped)

1 cup Carrot (finely chopped)

1/2 cup Green Peas (frozen & thawed)

1/2 Yellow onion (chopped)

1/4tsp Turmeric powder

1tsp Chilli powder

1tsp Cumin powder

3 Dry red Chilli

1/2tsp Cumin seeds

1/2tsp Mustard seeds

1/2tsp Urad dal

4-5 Curry leaves

2tsp Coconut (shredded)

3/4 Water

1tbsp Oil

Salt

How to:

• Heat oil in a skillet, add mustard seeds, when it pops, add urad dal, dry red chilli and cumin seeds.

• Then add onion and curry leaves and saute until onions are tender.

• Now add the carrot, green beans and peas along with salt and saute for a couple of mins.

• Add turmeric powder and pour the water, mix well and cook with lid closed until the veggies are tender.

• When the water is all evaporated, add chilli powder and cumin powder and saute for another couple of mins.

• Check salt for taste and add the shredded coconut and saute for a min in a medium-low flame.

Switch off and serve hot with sambar rice.

Thick crust Veggie Pizza

'Pizza', mmm can't stop gobbling just one slice. Thats exactly what happened yesterday night. It was my first time baking pizza and i was very much worried that i just sat in-front of the oven for 2o mins. Senthil came home and said ' i smell Papa johns here'. I was happily grinning that, you could see all my teeth. With a few more mins of baking, i took the pizza out of the oven and can't wait to slice it up. Senthil was standing near me ready with his plate. I sliced the pizza and turned back to pick my camera, and i saw a slice already in his mouth. He gave me thumbs up and said, that i had nailed it. Of course, those were the words i was waiting to hear from him. Yay! and i did. And boom, it was a power cut. Both of us were laughing, looking at each other's mouth as we were ravening the slices. Stomach was full, but mouth was still hungry. I hope you too will enjoy this pizza. Check out the recipe and here it goes,

Ingredients:

For the dough:

3 cups APF (Maida)

1 packet Active Dry Yeast

1 cup Warm Water

1tsp Salt

1 1/2tsp Sugar

2tbsp Olive oil

How to:

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water and let sit for 10 mins, until foamy on top.

• In another big bowl, add the flour, salt, olive oil and the yeast mixture.

• Transfer to a lightly floured surface and start kneading for 5-6 mins or until dough is smooth.

• Coat oil in a bowl, place the dough, wrap it with a cloth and let sit for 2 hours.

• Once the dough doubles in size, punch down the air, knead for a min, divide the dough and let sit for another 20 mins.

For the sauce:

Ingredients:

4 Roma Tomatoes

1/2 small Green Bell pepper

1 1/2tsp Garlic (minced)

1/2tsp dried Basil

1/2tsp Oregano/Marjoram

1tbsp Olive oil

Salt

How to:

• Blanch the tomatoes and peel off the skin.

• Puree 2 tomatoes and chop the other 2 tomatoes and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a skillet, add garlic and saute for a min, followed by bell pepper.

• After a min add the chopped and pureed tomatoes and cook with lid closed for 12-15 mins in a medium flame.

• Add salt and the dried herbs and cook until it reaches right consistency. (Not too watery)

• Switch off and keep aside.

Rolling and Baking:

Glass Baking dish

Pastry brush

Olive Oil

Mozzarella Cheese

For toppings:

Pineapple (chopped)

Green Bell pepper (cut lengthwise)

Jalapeños (chopped)

Sun-dried Tomatoes (chopped)

How to:

• Preheat oven at 425 degrees.
• Transfer one-half dough onto a floured surface and roll it with a rolling pin. 
• Coat the baking dish with olive oil, place the rolled dough and coat the dough also with olive oil.

• Then apply tomato sauce over the dough leaving 1" gap at the side.

• Top it with your favorite veggies or meat, and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on it and bake for 20 mins or until the dough turns golden brown.

• Let cool for 10 mins on a cooling rack and slice it up.

Serve warm with your favorite sauce and crushed red peppers.

Tomato Chutney 2

After a few lazy days, you know with all the diwali sweets and fried snacks, just ate and slept and forced myself back into my diet. What else could i blame my laziness on, ah! the weather, its getting colder everyday and the rain puts me into sleep and makes me cuddle inside my throw. Now and then i walk a few miles inside the mall, hehe. Its fun, right?

Well, to talk about the chutney, its everything about the tomatoes. Choose juicy, red and blemish-free tomatoes, cook and grind to your desired texture and savor every bite by dipping your favorite idli/dosa/chapathi.

Ingredients:

4 Roma Tomatoes (chopped)

7 Green Chillies (chopped)

1 1/2tsp Ginger (chopped)

1/2tsp Cumin seeds

1/2tsp Mustard seeds

1/4tsp Turmeric powder

1/2tsp Paprika

2 Bay leaves

1 pinch Asafoetida

1/2tsp Sugar

2tsp Oil

Salt

How to:

• Heat oil in a skillet, add asafoetida, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, bay leaves, turmeric powder and paprika.

• Then add the tomatoes, followed by green chillies and ginger along with salt and sugar.

• Stir and cook with lid closed for 6-8 mins at a medium heat.

• Switch off when the tomatoes are completely cooked and garnish with cilantro.

• Serve the chutney as it is or you can grind coarsely and serve warm with dosa/idli.

Badam(Almond) Halwa

Halwa is famous all over the world, usually made with flour, oil and sugar. But, this badam halwa is made with ground almonds infused with saffron, drizzled with ghee and sweetened with sugar. So rich, spongy and soft, this halwa dissolves in your mouth and is one of my favorite sweet because i love almonds and snack on a handful of these nuts often. If you haven't had the habit of munching almonds, try to start today, it makes you feel fuller and very good for your health. The good news is, it lowers the LDL cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. GO NUTS!  

Ingredients:

3 cups raw Almonds

1 1/2 cup Sugar

1 1/2 cup Splenda

2 cups Milk

2tbsp + 2tbsp Ghee

1 pinch Saffron strands

1/2tsp Cardamom extract

Food Color (optional)

How to:

• Drizzle ghee on a pan or a plate, just enough to coat it and keep aside.
• Soak the almonds for 2-3 hrs and then peel off the skin.

• Grind the peeled almonds along with milk and prepare a coarse paste (not very fine).

• Heat 2tbsp ghee in a non-stick skillet, add the ground almond, stir well, add the sugar and splenda. (you can replace splenda with sugar)

• Keep stirring continuously with a wooden spoon and add the remaining ghee.
• When the mixture starts to cook, add the saffron strands and the food color and keep stirring.

 

• After sometime, the ghee starts oozing out of the mixture and it doesn't stick to the skillet anymore.

• Switch off and transfer the halwa into the ghee coated plate and let set.

• Cut into desired size and enjoy.

Sending this sweet to the event Diwali Sweets and Snacks hosted by Lavi

Hi Selva Priya, Thanks for trying my recipe and happy to post your 'Almond halwa' picture here. Halwa looks gorgeous and like your almond face decoration on it.