PAV BHAJI

Pav Bhaji is a famous street food of India consisting of pav or dinner rolls either homemade or store bought together with bhaji made from curried mashed vegetables like potato, carrot, cauliflower, green peas and bell  pepper.

You can prepare Pav Bhaji using stove top or pressure cooker method for quick satisfying meal.  This is a 2 step process, first vegetables are boiled until soft then  mashed with potato masher or hand held blender. The texture is up to you either smooth paste of little chunky.

In another pan, masala with onion and tomato is prepared , mashed vegetables are added to this masala.  The spice blend is different from one household to another.  The special ingredient was pav bhaji masala,  am using ready pav bhaji masala that is available from Indian grocery store.

Most people love the bright red color this masala brings without artificial coloring by adding kashmiri chili or red chili powder. Adjust red chili powder according to your preference.  For natural deep red color, add a small piece of  beetroot along with other vegetables.

You can also use broccoli, french bean, brinjal, sweet corn, beetroot or raw banana.

MOIST LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

After long time, I have baked this Light Fruit Cake  for my family.  As requested again, by  my son, am going to bake his favorite cake.   

Always prefer less sweet and light fruit cake and this Moist Light Fruit Cake has a right balance of mixed fruit and sweetened with brown sugar.   

It is quite easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.  You can eat it anytime of the year not only for Christmas.

Used store bought dry fruit mix or mix your own dried fruit,  coated the fruit mix with flour before adding to the flour mixture. 

As am running out of fruit juice, have added half a cup of isotonic drink.

For eggless version, replace an egg with 1/4 cup plain yogurt or 1/4 cup apple sauce.

Moist Light Fruit Cake bake perfectly for flat 45 minutes and my son can't wait to devour after it came out of oven.  My family gave a thumbs up to this beautiful cake.

PETOLA MASAK LEMAK / LUFFA in COCONUT MILK

Another oil free cooking from my kitchen  with little twist.  Petola or peerkangai in Tamil would taste better if it is young otherwise the old one is fibrous and not pleasant to eat.  Luffa is cooked in coconut milk together with blended ingredients.

Petola Masak Lemak / Luffa in Coconut Milk is just a basic recipe.  You can add or leave out any ingredients you dislike for example, I have added tiger prawns towards the end of cooking as have lightly fried them first and remove to a plate but this is optional. 

For additional kick have used bird's eye chili for this Petola Masak Lemak / Luffa in Coconut Milk.  If you are not a fan of this, just add green or red chili for milder version.

AMAZING CARROT & SWEET POTATO PANCAKE

 

I always love to explore new ways to incorporate veggies in our diet. This Amazing Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancake  is  made with shredded carrot and sweet potato flavored with green chili, onion and ginger. 

It tastes like dal vada that I used to eat.  In my quest to reduce my intake of rice and wheat noodles, i am happy to share my search for this  quick and healthy meal.  

Sweet Potato is high in fiber,  Vitamin C, potassium , decent source of other vitamins and minerals, and rich in  antioxidant  called beta carotene which is very filling.  It can be boiled, steamed, baked or fried. 

Carrot is highly nutritious, high in Vitamin A,C and K, beta carotene,  vital for eye health, low in calories/carbs  and help improve your  immune system.

This Amazing Carrot and Sweet Potato Pancake  not only light but exceedingly tasty.  You could also turns this into cutlets instead of one big pancake.