Asparagus Soup

Ingredients :

Tender Asparagus - 1 Bunch

Onion - 1

Garlic - 4 pods

Butter - 2 tbsp

Milk - 1 cup

Pepper powder

Salt

Saute the Onion and Garlic in the butter in a pan.

Add asparagus and fry couple of minutes.

Add just enough water, close and cook.

Once cooked, cool and grind to paste.

Mix the paste with milk and bring it to boil.

Add pepper and salt to taste

Avial

Ingredients:-
Beans/Carrots/Shell Peas/Drumstick/Potato - 2 cups
Sour curd - 1 cup
Coconut - 1/2 cup
Green Chilli - 5
Cumin - 1 sp
Curry Leaves - 1 string
Coconut Oil - 1 sp
Rice flour/Corn Flour - 1/2 Tbsp
Salt
Turmeric - A pinch

-Grind together coconut,chilli,cumin to a paste adding just enough water.
-Cut the vegetables to 2" to 3" long and cook it adding just enough water adding salt when the vegetables are half cooked.
-Once cooked, add the ground paste,turmeric.Cook
-Finally add curd, cook few minutes for the taste to blend well.
-If avial is too watery, add 1/2 tspn of rice flour or corn flour mixed in little cold water for thickening.
-Switch off. temper curry leaves in 1 sp coconut oil and add.
-Serve hot with rice. Also goes well with Adai, roti's.
(The avial should not be cooked too long after adding curd, as it might result in curdling)

Beans Paruppusili

Ingredients:
Cut Beans - 2 cups
Salt

To soak for 1 hr and grind:
Gram Dal/Channa Dal - 1 Tbsp
Tur Dal - 1 Tbsp
Red chilli - 3-4
Hing - 1 sp

Pressure cook beans for one whistle/or till just soft.
Soak for 1 hr and grind to coarse powder, the ingredients given above.
Boil/Pressure Cook this coarse powder for 1 whistle. They tend to form lumps once cooked, add little oil to your hand and sieve them separate.
In a tava, add some oil, saute the paruppusili, add cooked beans and combine.
Cook for few minutes till they blend well. Add salt.

--If oil is generously added while sauting the paruppusili, it becomes crisp and this adds great taste to the dish.

Masala Corn

A quick tasty snack..

Ingredients:
American Sweet Corn Kernels - 1 cup
Red Chilli powder - 1 sp
Salt
Chat Masala (opt)
Butter - 1 sp

Mix butter to the corn. MW the corn adding redchilli powder, chat masala and salt for couple of minutes.

Mango Dal - Unbelievably Tasty

Ingredients:
Sour Mango - 1
Tur Dal - 3 Tbsp
Turmeric

To Temper:
Mustard - 1sp
Urad Dal - 1sp
Channa Dal - 1sp
Curry Leaves
Coriander
Hing - 1/2 sp

Wash well, cut the mangoes into small pieces.
Pressure cook mangoes with Dal with little turmeric.
Once cooked, add salt.
Temper the given ingredients and add.

Goes very well with hot rice.

Spinach Chutney/Thogayal

Does someone really make such things with spinach? I have no idea...But after seeing Gonkura chutney kind of recipes, I thought, why not in spinach. Actually, it came out great. And I am making it quite regularly at home when bored of Spinach Dal :) Goes well with rice.

Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 small cup
Onion - 1
Garlic - 2 pods
Red Chilli -3 ( More or less per taste)
Hing - a pinch
Salt
Oil - 1 tbsp

Temper :
Mustard,
Urad Dal

In 1 tbsp of oil, fry spinach well for few mins. Set aside.
Fry onions and garlics, finally adding red chilli and hing.
Once cooled, add salt and blend above all to paste adding little water as required.
Temper with mustard and Urad dal.

Carrot Soup - The colorful soup

Ingredients:
Carrot - 4-5
Milk - 1 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Salt
Pepper
Corn flour - 1 sp.
Cream (Opt)

Boil the carrots in water.
Once boiled, blend it to paste.
Boil the paste, add milk (or milk + water).
Add 1 sp of corn flour mixed in cold water to the soup for thickening. Add more as required.
Switch off. Add salt and pepper and serve hot

Celery - Spinach - Corriander, The Green Soup

Ideally there is no hard and fast measurement for this. I attempted to vacate my vegetable section by putting whatever I got, into the soup. It came out really delicious.

Ingredients:
Celery - 3 stalks
Spinach - 1 Bunch
coriander - a small bunch
Onion -1
Garlic Pods - 3
Ginger - 1'
Salt
Pepper powder

In a spoon of oil/ghee/butter, fry onions, garlic and ginger.
Add celery,spinach and coriander.
Add a glass of water and cook closed.
Once cooked, cool it off a while.
Grind it in a mixie/blender.
Bring it to boil on a tava, add salt and pepper.
Serve hot.

Corn Vada - Sweeter version

Ingredients:
Corn Kernels - 1 cup
Jaggery/Sugar - 1 Tbsp

Grind the corn sugar/jagger adding water as required to make a thick batter.
Make patties and deep fry in hot oil.

Check out Few useful tips for deep-frying

Veggie Paratha

A refreshment from normal Chappathi. Colourful and a bit more healthy too ;)

Ingredients :
Wheat Flour , oil , salt (To make parathas)
Carrot - 2 medium
French beans - 15
Peas - 1 cup
Green chillies - 4
Onions - 1
Ginger - 1 “
Salt
Cumin Coriander Powder

Boil the vegetables with just enough water till soft.
Add ginger,green chillies,salt and mince the whole mixture in the food processor.
(The US food processor minces well but never mashes them. If its Indian Mixie, it will mash up the whole mixture so better chop veggies finely and boil than to mince them).
Add cumin corriander powder/salt per taste.
Saute the onions till pink and add.
Do not squeeze out the water from the vegetables. Mix the minced veggies in the wheat flour and make the dough the usual way. Water in the veggies should be enough to make the dough.
Add more water if required.
Make parathas the usual way.

--I learnt this recipe from Chithra Aunty of indusladies.com