Veg Salad

It's a wonderful, fresh, light salad for a hot summer day. This easy and fast salad is packed with more nutrients. Salads are low in calories and can help you lose weight. Salads add fiber to the diet which reduces cholesterol and constipation. Eating raw vegetables will keep you feeling better, look more fit, become healthier and live longer. Making a salad is relatively quick. The basic salad only requires that you wash and cut the vegetables and mix them with dressing only. In India, salads can be served as an appetizer or side dish, but it can be served as main course in other countries. I am fond of decorating salads attractively. Vegetable carving is my hobby. I  am improving my skills in vegetable and fruit carving in free time. Today I am sharing with you basic veg salad.

 Ingredients:
Onion, cut into slices - 1
Tomato, cut in to cubes - ,1
Cucumber, cut in to cubes - 1
Bell pepper, cut into cubes - 1
Green chilli, finely chopped - 1


For dressing:
Olive oil - 1/2 tbsp
Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Jeera powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method of preparation:

1. Take a wide bowl, add olive oil, black pepper powder, salt, lemon juice and jeera powder and mix well. Now dressing is ready.
2. Add chopped vegetables to the dressing and mix every thing properly.
3. Healthy vegetable salad is ready to be served. Generally it can be served before meals or as side dish in lunch.

Republic day Wishes

                        
                       HAPPY  REPUBLIC DAY and celebrate the joy of being an Indian.

  Every year I celebrate the republic day in this way.

Horse Gram Sambar

Today I am giving a healthy and yummy horse gram sambar. One of the legumes that is not very well known but is quite nutritious is the Horse Gram. It belongs to the family of Legumes. Horse gram is a very good source of protein, iron, calcium molybdenum, polyphenols which have high antioxidant capacity. This grain is considered as a part of weight loss diet.Horse gram has medicinal values for kidney stones. One day I tried myself sambar with horse gram instead of normal toor dal,then I got good result. From then I am making this monthly once. My husband likes this to eat with steamed rice or Idly. To avoid obesity definitely you should add this to your menu. I hope you like it too............Happy cooking............

Ingredients:
Horse gram - 1 cup
Onions - 2
Tomato - 1
Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric pwder - 1/4 tsp
Sambar powder - 2 tsp
Tamarind pulp - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Jaggery - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste

 Method of preparation:

1. Soak horse gram over night in sufficient water.
2. Next day pressure cook and mash the horse gram. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add onion,ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, asafoetida and tomato. Saute for few minutes.
4. Now add tamarind pulp,jaggery, water, salt and sambar powder.
5. Once the raw smell of the sambar powder is gone, add horse gram paste.
6. Medium the flame and allow the contents to boil well. Switch off the gas and cover it with lid for 2 minutes.
7. Finally garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
8. Yummy horse gram sambar is ready to eat with steamed rice along with papads.

Idiyappam /Rice noodles

Today my recipe idiyappam is from Kerala Cuisine.Idiyappam is a traditional food in break fast in Kerala. When we went to Kerala, we tasted idiyappam for breakfast. We both liked the idiyappam. I searched for idiyappam recipe in food blogs, then i got it and tried immediately. It was yummy to taste.Regularly i am making idiyappam with different flours like ragi flour, soya flour and etc. It is steamed food so it is healthy and every one can eat it, even sick people also.I hope u all like it too.........Happy cooking.......
Ingredients:
Idiyappam flour /Rice Flour - 1 cup
Water - 1 1/4 cup
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt as required

Method of preparation: 

1. Boil water well, add salt and oil to it. Add the water little by little to the rice flour and make a soft dough. Knead it well.
2. Grease the inside of the idiyappam maker /Murukku maker with oil and fill it with the prepared dough and press it in a circular motion on idly plate in the form of long strings. Please follow my photos.
3. Steam it for 10-15 minutes. I made it in Micro wave oven. You can make it in normal idly pot also.
4. Now Idiyappam is ready to eat with Coconut chutney or Vegetable stew.
5. You can also make idiyappam in different variations with coconut,lemon and vegetables also.