Lentil Pasta

This lentil pasta is a slightly modified version of a traditional south Indian snack called ‘Railu Palaram”, not really sure how this has got its name, but this recipe dates back to centuries and is an all-time favorite and will surely remind you of your grandma.

This dish when prepared in traditional way will take hours, especially if you have to prepare a ton of rice flour balls. I used shelled pasta, which gives similar texture to the dish and minus all the efforts.

Serve this dish hot with a sprinkle of lime before serving. Enjoy!

sabudana khichidi

Sabudana Kichidi

Sabudana khichdi is a very popular dish often enjoyed for breakfast, snack and most widely preferred on fasting days. Sabudana is known as tapioca pearls or sago. Sago pearls are tasteless but when cooked with spices it makes a wonderful dish. Sabudana khichdi is very simple and easy to make. It is prepared with boiled potatoes sautéed with curry leaves and spices and the addition of peanuts gives a nice crunch to the khichdi. Sabudana khichdi in not only for fasting but it is a delicious snack with a cup of hot tea. Sabudana is full of carbohydrates and is great for a quick boost of energy.

Karela Fry

KARELA FRY

Karela fry or karela curry is a quick and easy south indian dish. Though the dish is called fry, there is very less oil in the dish as i cook the karela in the slow cooker. These karela fry can be served with rice, chapati or phulkas.

Vegetable Biriyani

Vegetable Biriyani

Vegetable Biryani is a world-famous rice-based dish that consists of layering cooked rice and vegetables, typically in a casserole, before baking it in the oven. However, I have used a crock-pot, as the goal of cooking in a crock-pot is to cook with the least amount of oil and not requiring attention while cooking, well, for most of the time.


Biryani is normally made with basmati rice and flavored with cloves, cinnamon, cardamon, bay leaf, coriander, mint, ginger, garlic and onions. Traditionally, saffron milk was sprinkled on the top of the dish before cooking, so that the rice grains have variable white and yellow-orange color and a subtle saffron flavor.


Coming from Hyderabad (India), we love to cook the biriyani the hyderabadi style i.e. by applying pressure (also known as "Dum"); which means to seal the ingredients in steam so that the flavors remain within the dish. There comes the famous word "Hyderabadi Dum Biriyani"


Biryani is often served with a yogurt-based condiment such as raita. It is good for crowds and a favorite at wedding receptions and typical Indian family dinners.

Ingredients:

1. Rice - 5cups
2. Water - 6cups
3. Onion (Medium)- 1
4. Vegetables according to your choice
5. Mint leaves - 1cup
6. Fenugreek leaves -1 cup (do not add more than a cup to prevent bitterness)
7. Yogurt - 1 cup
8. Biriyani Masala - 2 1/2 tbsps
9. Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Fried onions - 1 cup
11. Shahi jeera - 1tsp
12. Whole garam masala - 1tbsp
13. Bay leaf-1
14. Ghee - 2 tbsps
15. Oil -1 tbsp

Note- make sure to cut all the vegetables in about the same size to that the vegetables cook evenly.


Preparation Method: Please follow the video.

Banana Bread

It’s a fact that the banana bread recipe is one of the easy ones you can make, but what if I told you that you don’t even need an oven to bake this one? Interesting right? Yes, I made this banana bread with few simple ingredients, a hand mixer and a crock-pot, and homemade fresh banana bread is ready to be served!

Note: The cooking time varies by the size of the crock-pot; usually the smaller it is, the longer it takes. Please verify.

Chole

Chole is a curry made with chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans), is a popular Punjabi curry that goes well with poori or bhatura (a kind of deep fried flat bread), and also goes well roti and rice.

Note: For a thicker consistency, continue to cook for an additional 1 hour in the crock-pot with the lid open.

Ghee (Clarified Butter)

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that is prepared by simmering butter and removing the residue. The texture, color, and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter and the duration of the boiling. Ghee is widely used in Indian cuisine, especially goes well with steamed rice and can be dabbed on roti (and Naan as well). Mostly, all Indian sweets are prepared with ghee as their base. Although, ghee may sound high in saturated fats, it is still considered healthy and used as ingredient in most of the Ayurvedic medicines.

Ingredients

Organic Butter (unsalted) – 2 lbs

Preparation:

Add butter to the crock-pot and set it on low for 4 hours 30 mins. Make sure that the lid is partially covered to allow for moisture to be evaporated. After 4 hours 30 mins, turn off the crock-pot and allow the ghee to cool to arrive at room temperature. After the ghee is cooled, transfer to an airtight glass jar and store in room temperature. Optionally, ghee can also be stored in the freezer for longer shelf life. Just remove from the freezer and heat in microwave for about 30 seconds before serving, as you would melt normal butter.