Whole Green Gram And Potato Curry

          Whole Green Gram also known as whole moong beans is even more nutritious than the split, husked moong dal since it has more fiber from the skin which is not removed. It finds its way in a variety of dishes in the Indian cuisine, from a simple dal to the delicious pesarattu ( a crepe made from ground moong beans). I always have a stock of it in my pantry, and it doesn't require any soaking. Whole green gram and potatoes go very well together, and the best part of today's dish, everything is done in one pot, the pressure pan, so less cleaning later. It goes well with both rice and rotis..

Zucchini Stir Fry

          This is yet another simple yet tasty curry, anyone can make this, and zucchini being a vegetable that cooks faster and can be easily chopped, it's one of my favorite curry too. It goes very well with rotis, can use it as a filling for a sandwich or even as a side dish with rice and dal..

Watermelonade

         Adding a little lemon juice to many fruit juices gives a nice taste to the juice, in fact it is way of increasing the sweetness of a juice without actually adding more sugar. But for today's watermelonade, I didn't add lemon juice to the watermelon juice, instead I added some frozen water melon cubes to the regular lemonade, this made it more interesting..

Vegan Orange Cranberry Cake

         The first time, I tried baking a vegan bake, it didn't come out well, was too dense to be called a cake. This was my second attempt, orange cranberry cake and was I satisfied, absolutely, it was the perfect cake, got the beautiful texture. Very simple to make, you can have it either as a simple tea cake or do some frosting and have it as a delicious dessert, whichever way, you'll be completely satisfied..

Rice Kheer (Pudding)

          Rice kheer is one of the few Indian desserts that my daughter likes, she likes it the way it's done in a nearby Indian restaurant (back in the US). I had wanted to make this at home but had been putting it off, thinking that it would be a very time consuming task. But then, I made it for her, last month on her birthday, it came out very well and I was wrong, it was not at all difficult to make. I would definitely do this again and again..

Cabbage Rice

          With all the initial settling down process, I've not been able to do a post or visit my blogger friends regularly, might be in another couple of days, will be able to do so. This is one other dish that I had made earlier, cabbage rice. The main ingredient is of course cabbage, with some fresh ground masala, a very flavorful and tasty one pot meal..

Spinach & Feta Cheese Puffs

         Again this is another dish that I had made before leaving to India. I had a box of feta cheese and a sheet of puff pastry that I had to finish up, since my daughter is a big fan of puffs ( which is nothing but puff pastry with some filling), I made this. It's a simple recipe, very easy to put together, but nevertheless very tasty and a perfect appetizer or starter..

Black-Eyed Peas & Pineapple Salad

        With the hot weather outside, you don't feel like eating anything heavy, salads seem to be perfect for these days. I had some cooked black-eyed peas, made a salad with it along with some pineapple and cucumber, it is a very refreshing salad, wholesome enough for a light lunch..

Chana Masala (Chickpeas Curry)

         Chana Masala made with chickpeas (garbonza beans) is another common side dish that is mostly served with pooris (Indian puffed breads). My daughter loves this, so I make it quite often and it goes well with any rice or rotis too. Everybody has their own version, this is one that I had jotted down from a magazine long time back..

Oats And Gram Flour Pancakes

         Oats is not a favorite with the husband or daughter, so I try to include it in the diet by adding it like this, in pancakes or other dishes. Oats along with besan or gram flour and sauteed onions tasted very good in these pancakes, they were very filling, a good breakfast or even a healthy after school snack..

Pineapple Juice With Ginger

         Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits, just love it in any form, plain slices, or sprinkled with some salt and chilli powder or as a juice. And also since the whole family likes it, I buy it very often. As always, fresh juice tastes better than the ones available in cartons. I also add some ginger to it, this makes it taste even better, adds more flavor and on the whole, a very simple and refreshing summer cooler..

Eggless Mango Mousse

         I love the mousse cakes that we get here and had always wanted to prepare mousse, but when looking for a recipe, I found that most mousse recipes had raw eggs in it. Though I do eat occasionally the mousse that we get outside, I wanted to make one without the raw eggs. So I came up with this eggless version using light cream and custard powder, now that mangoes are in season thought of adding mangoes too, it came out well, very easy to make, and really a light yet delicious dessert..