Papaya Ginger Smoothie

Ingredients Papaya Chunks: two and a half cups Ice cubes: one cup Plain yoghurt: two third cup Fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped: one tbsp Honey: one tbsp Juice of two lemons Fresh mint leaves: 10-15 Method Refrigerate papaya until very cold. Blend papaya, ice, yoghurt, ginger, honey and lemon juice in a blender. Add up to one-fourth cup of water, until the mixture is smooth and thinned to desired consistency. Blend in mint leaves. Garnish with mint sprigs. Serves four. The hindu Metroplus wellness December 18 2008

Striped Bass with Sauce

Ingredients Sea Bass Fillet 80gms Salt and pepper to taste Flour for dusting Olive oil for frying: 1 tbsp Shallot, finely chopped: 1 tsp Red wine: 1 small glass Fish stock: 1 tbsp Unsalted butter: 1 tbsp Mushrooms: 10 nos Method 1. Cook sea bass. Put a heavy bottomed frying pan on the stove to heat. 2. Make three or four cuts in the skin side of the fish approximately half an inch deep. 3. Season and flour the fish and fry the sea bass in olive oil until lightly colored. 4. Roast the sea bass in the oven at a very high temperature by placing the frying pan in the oven with the sea bass skin side up for three minutes. 5. Turn the sea bass so that it is skin side down and put back in the over for 2-3 minutes (to make skin crispy) 6. Remove from the pan and keep hot 7. Prepare sauce. Put shallots, mushrooms, red wine and fish stock into the hot pan and bring it to boil and reduce it by half(this will happen very quickly if the pan is very hot) 8. Finish sauce. Whisk the butter into the wine sauce. (it should have a syrupy consistency; if it looks a bit thin, then reduce it) The Hindu Metroplus The food file December 20 2008

Atta Biscuits

Ingredients Whole wheat flour(atta) : 1 ¼ cups Bran: 2 tbsp Refined flour(maida)1/3 cup Butter(chilled) 110gm Powdered sugar: ½ cup Milk as required Method Preheat the oven to 160 C Take the atta in a bowl. Add bran refined flour and mix. Add chilled butter cut into small pieces and mix with finger tips till the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add powdered sugar and mix. Add cold milk (or water or a mixture of the two and knead lightly. Sprinkle some flour on the worktop and roll out the dough to one-forth inch thickness. With different shaped cookie cutters cut out the biscuits. Place the biscuits on a baking tray keeping a space between each. Bake in preheated oven at 160C till done. India Today November 2008

Clear chicken soup

Ingredients Chicken bones: 500gm Boneless chicken: 125 gm Onion : 1 Garlic: 4 to 6 cloves Tamarind:1/2 Tomato: 1 Curry leaves: 16 to 20 Salt to taste Turmeric powder: ½ tsp Red chilli powder: 1 tsp Asafoetida: ¼ tsp Gram flour(besan) 2 tbsp Coconut Scraped: ½ cup Lemon juice: 1 tbsp Method Clean and wash chicken bones and boneless chicken. Peel, wash and roughly chop onion and garlic. Soak tamarind in quarter cup warm water remove the pulp strain and reserve. Wash and roughly chop the tomato and curry leaves. Boil the chicken bones in about seven to eight cups water, skim the scum from the surface and simmer for ten minutes. Add roughly, chopped onion, garlic, tamarind pulp, tomatoes, boneless chicken, salt and turmeric powder red chilli powder, asafetida and chopped curry leaves. Continue to simmer on medium heat for another 15 minutes. Remove cooked boneless chicken, cool and chop into bite sized pieces. Blend besan in quarter cup water and mix into the simmering soup. Add scraped coconut cover and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Strain soup, pressing the residue well to extract the entire flavor. Reheat the soup add chopped chicken, adjust the seasoning, mix in lemon juice and serve piping hot. India today November 2008

Masur dal kebabs

Ingredients Masur dal: 1 cup Salt to taste Black pepper: ¼ tsp Coriander finely chopped: 1 tbsp Whole wheat bread crumbs: 4 tbsp Green chilli finely chopped: 1 Oil 1 tsp, 1 tsp for sautéing Water: 2 cups Method Soak the masur dal in a saucepan for one to two hours. Add oil chillies and water and cook till completely blended, making sure the water does not dry out. Mash the dal add, bread crumbs and spices. Roll into small balls and then flatten them to look like little cylinders. Each kebab should be the size of your thumb in length and thickness. In a non stick saucepan put a little olive oil into the surface and then sauté the kebas over medium heat till they are golden brown. Serve with fresh onion rings a lemon wedge and raita India Today November 2008

Apple banana cake

Ingredients Flour: 1 ½ cup Sugar:2/3 cup Baking soda: 1 tbsp Salt: ½ tsp Apple: 1 Ripe mashed bananas : 1 cup Eggs 2or for a low cholesterol version 4 egg whites Oil: ½ cup Method Preheat oven to 350 f. Grease an 8X8 in square pan (non stick variety is best) Sift together the all purpose flour sugar baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Blend the apples bananas eggs and oil in a blender. Stir together all the ingredients until mixed. Pour into the prepared pan and put in the preheated oven to bake for 45 minutes or until done. Cool on a cooling rack. Cut into 16 pieces and serve. Indian today November 2008

Veggie wrap

Ingredients For the wrap Whole wheat flour: 50 gm Soy flour: 40 gm Maida: 2tsp Skimmed milk: 100ml Egg: ½ Oil:3 tsp A pinch of salt For the filling Potato: 50gm Cauliflower: 50gm Carrot: 50gm Peas: 75gm Tomato: 50gm Oil: tbsp Tomato Sauce: ½ tbsp Salt and Chilli powder Herbs to taste Method To make the wrap sift the flour along with the salt. Add the egg and gradually add the milk using a whisk to beat up the batter. Mix and beat thoroughly till the batter is smooth and free of lumps. Allow the batter to remain in a cool place for about an hour. Heat ¼ tsp oil in non-stick frying pan or use a non stick oil spray. Pour a spoonful of the batter on it. Spread it in a circular motion. Cook one side till it is light brown and then turn the side. Now cook on the other side. Make all the pancake by using up all the batter. For the filling Cut the vegetables into small pieces and shred the carrots. Heat oil in a pan add the vegetables and the seasoning. Cook it on low flame till the vegetables are done. Now add the tomato sauce. Divide this filling among the four pancakes, roll them and serve hot with chutney. India today November 2008

Chicken roll

Ingredients For the tomato sauce Olive oil 1 tbsp Garlic thinly sliced 1 Carrot 1 Diced red bell pepper: 1 Tomatoes: 5 Salt 1 tsp Chilli powder: ¼ tsp Ground cumin: ¼ tsp For the wrap Maida 1 cup Wheat flour: ½ cup Water : ¾ cup For the filling Cooked shredded chicken: 1.25 cups Cheese: 150 gm Method To prepare the sauce Heat the oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic. Saute till golden brown. Add the carrots and bell pepper and cook till soft. Add tomatoes and the seasoning and cook for about 20 minutes. To prepare wrap for the roll Mix the flour: add water to form a soft and elastic dough. Add slowly and knead. Cover and set aside for an hour or a little more. Divide the dough into five equal balls. Roll each ball into a thin round roti-like shape. Heat a skillet, place the roti on the hot skillet and cook for a few seconds, until bubbles begin to form on the upper surface. Flip the roti and cook the other side for a few more seconds. Remove from fire and place on a plate. The roti should not be brown. Finish making the other roti similarly. Keep aside. To Assemble the wrap Keep the roti flat on a plate. Spread about 2 tbsp of the tomato sauce on it. Divide the chicken and the cheese into five equal portions. Spread one portion each of the chicken and cheese on half of the roti. Fold the other half over it and make it into a roll. India Today November 2008

Chocolate cherry smoothie

Ingredients Unsweetened, frozen pitted cherries: one to one and a half cups Low fat vanilla soy milk: 1 cup Cranberry – raspberry juice: quarter cup Chocolate hazelnut spread: one tbsp Non-fat vanilla yoghurt: half cup Method Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree them until smooth. Supplementary the wellness the hindu dated february 7 2008

Rice Stuffed Omelette

Ingredients 6-8 eggs Milk3 tbsp pepper oil 3 tbsp salt to taste For the filling 1 cup cooked shredded chicken Small onion1 Carrot scraped and cut into small pieces Mushrooms2 Cooked rice 1 CUP Butter 2 tbsp Method Heat the butter and fry the onions till translucent. Mix in the carrots and stir fry for a further 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and fry. Mix in the chicken pieces, salt, pepper, parsley and mix well. Now mix in the rice to the chicken mixture and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Keep the filling aside. Lightly beat the eggs and add the milk salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a frying pan and pour half the quantity of the egg. Place a portion of the filling in the centre and roll from both ends to cover make a roll. Remove carefully to a serving plate and garnish with ketchup and serve. Prepare the other omelet in the same way.

Omlet Rolls

Ingredients Eggs 6 Sugar 3 tbsp Soy sauce 2 tsp Luke warm water or sugar cyrup 4 tbsp Cooking oil 3 – 4 tbsp For the Garnishing Radish Ginger Soy sauce Method Beat the eggs very lightly using a pair of chopsticks. Mix the sugar, soy sauce and the lukewarm water or sugar cyrup in a small bowl and mix this into the eggs. Divide the egg batter into two portions. Heat 1 – 2 tbsp of oil in a non stick pan and pour quarter portion of the beaten eggs and tilt the frying pan to spread the egg batter so that it cooks in a thin layer. When the edge s beginning to set, roll up the egg towards yourself and pour another 1 tsp of oil in the empty side and pour one more quarter of the quantity of the beaten egg. Once one side is cooked, lift the egg with a chopstick so that the raw egg runs underneath. Then with the chopstick start rolling the omelet in the opposite direction. Turn over with the help of chopsticks and cook the other side. Take a bamboo mat and slide the cooked omelet on to it and roll up tightly with the help of the bamboo mat. Allow to cool and slice the cold omelet into thick 1 inch pieces. Prepare the other half of the beaten eggs in the same way. Cut into rolls and serve garnished with grated mooli. Accompaniments to this omelet will be the soy sauce and the pickled ginger.

Ginger Pickle

ngredients Fresh young ginger 2 lb Rice vinegar 3 cups Sugar 2 cups Salt 2 tsp Method Wash the ginger root and rub off skin. Slice the ginger very thinly into very thin and salt them. Leave salted ginger slices in a bowl for one hour. Dry the ginger slices with paper towels and put them in a sterilized container or jar. Mix rice vinegar and sugar in a pan and bring to a boil. Pour the hot mixture of vinegar and sugar over the ginger slices. Cool them. Pickled ginger changes its color to light pink. Cover the jar and store it in the refrigerator.

Radish and Carrot Salad

Radish and Carrot Salad Radish 250gm Carrots 2 Rice Vinegar 120 ml Salt to taste For garnishing Black sesame seeds 1 tsp Lemon rind or fine strips of lime 2 tsp Method Finely grate the radish and carrots and keep these separately. Cover with very cold water and leave to soak for about 15-20 minutes. Drain well, add salt, stir and separate into portions in individual bowls. Garnish with black sesame seeds, lemon rind or fine strips of lime. Pour the rice vinegar over the salad or serve separately to be used as per taste.

Potato Salad

Ingredients Potatoes 4 -5 Carrots 2 Onion 1 Oil 4 tsp Vegetables stock 1 cup Rice Vinegar 4 tsp Sugar 2 tsp Eggs beaten 4 Cucumber 1 Salt to taste Method Peel the potatoes and cut into pieces. Scrape the carrots lightly and cut into chunks and cut the onions. Heat the oil in a pan and stir fry the potatoes, carrots and onions for 1 minute. Pour in the vegetable stock. Lower the heat and add the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Cover and simmer till the potatoes are just tender but not over cooked. Increase the heat to dry up all the liquid. Remove the vegetables before these stick to the bottom of the pan. Allow the potato mixture to cool for only 30 seconds and ten mix in the beaten eggs, stirring so that the eggs mix well into the potato mixture. Do not peel the cucumber. Cut into small pieces and add salt and leave aside for five minutes. Drain out all the liquid from the cucumber and add the cucumber pieces to the potato egg salad and serve.

Apple Salsa

Ingredients Red apples: 2 Lime juice: 2 tbsp Chopped orange segments: half a cup Onion, finely chopped: half a cup Green pepper, finely chopped : half a cup Jalapeno pepper, finely chopped: 1 Garlic minced: 1 clove Cilantro chopped : 2 tbsp Cider vinegar: 1 tbsp Ground cumin: half tsp Vegetable oil: 1 tbsp Method Core and dice the apples. Toss immediately with lime juice. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Chill 2 hours before serving. Serve with pork, chicken, turkey and fish. The hindu Wellness December 11 2008

Spicy chicken with Groundnuts

Boneless chicken cut into 1 inch 500gm Cyster sauce 1 tbsp Vegetable oil 2 tbsp Spring onions 3 Garlic 4or 5 flakes Groundnuts ½ cup Green chillies 2or 3 Black peppercorns 8-10 Red chilli flakes 1 tsp Cinnamon powder ¼ tsp Salt to taste Tomato ketchup ¼ cup Salt to taste Lemon juice 1 tbsp Cornflour 2 tbsp Water 1 ½ cups Spring onions greens 2 Method Place the chicken in a bowl add the oyster sauce and marinate for at least one hour preferably in the refrigerator. Heat the oil in a pan add the spring onions and sauce for a few seconds. Add the garlic and continue to sauté for a while. Add the groundnuts and sauce for a few seconds. Add the marinated chicken and sauté for two minutes. Stir in the green chillies, four or five of the crushed black peppercorns and the red chilli flakes. Add the cinnamon powder salt tomato ketchup and lemon juice. Mix the cornflour` into half a cup of water and add to the pan with one cup of water. Cook till the sauce thickens. Add the spring onion greens and serve hot, sprinkled with the remaining crushed black peppercorns.

Kaju katli

Ingredients Cashew nuts: 1 cup Sugar: three fourth cup Milk: 2 tbsp Ghee: 1tbsp Vanilla essence: 1 tsp Boiling water: 1 cup Method Soak the cashew nuts in boiling water for 1 hour. Drain them and process them smoothly in a food processor by adding milk and then sugar. Heat the ghee in a large pan, add the cashew nut paste and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick. Then, add vanilla essence and mix thoroughly. Put this mixture in a greased tray and spread it evenly. Let it cool for 45 minutes. After it is cooled, cut into diamond shaped pieces. Supplementary: Metro plus + Wellness The hindu dated march 13 2008

Passion Fruit Milk shake

Ingredients Cold milk 1 cup Passion fruit:2 Chocolate icecream: 2 large scoops Whipped cream for granish (optional) Method: Scoop the pulp from the two fruits and put it into the milk. Stir the mixture with a fork to extract the juice from the pulp. Strain if desired to remove the seeds. Put the ingredients in a blender and process on high for 30 seconds or till smooth and creamy. Serve in a tall, chilled glass with a straw. Garnish with whipped cream, if desired. Note: use more fruit if a stronger flavor is desired.

Corn Bhel

American Sweet corn boiled: 4 tea cups Potatoes, boiled and cut into cubes: 4-5 Spring onions, chopped with the leaves: 3 Tomatoes, chopped: 3 Capsicum , chopped:3 Green chillies:6-7 Ginger: a piece( to be grounded into paste with juice of lemon) Asafoetida: a pinch Cooking oil: 3-4 tbsp Sugar: 3-4 tsp Salt to taste For Garnishing Gujrati sev(optional):100gm Coconut, grated Coriander, chopped Method In a frying pan heat the oil and stir fry the chilli ginger paste. Add the asafetida, spring onions, potatoes and stir fry for a few minutes. Then add the corn and stir fry for a few minutes. Then add the potatoes and stir fry again. Add the tomatoes, coriander leaves and sugar, salt and lemon juice. Spread the corn mixture in a serving dish. Sprinkle sev over it. Top with grated coconut and chopped coriander. Serve hot. The hindu metrol plus dated september 2 2008.

Chocolate cherry smoothie

Ingredients Unsweetened, frozen pitted cherries: one to one and a half cups Low fat vanilla soy milk: 1 cup Cranberry – raspberry juice: quarter cup Chocolate hazelnut spread: one tbsp Non-fat vanilla yoghurt: half cup Method Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree them until smooth. Supplementary the wellness the hindu dated february 7 2008

Bread chat

Ingredients Bread Slices: 8-10 Big potato, finely chopped: 1 Onion, finely chopped:1 Capsicum, finely chopped: 1 Tomato, finely chopped: 1 Lemon juice: 2 tsp Chat masala: 1 1/2tsp Corinader leaves, finely chopped Salt to taste Method Cut the bread slices into medium size cubes. Deep fry. Mix all the chopped ingredients with the fired bread cubes. Add chat masala, lemon juice and salt to taste. Sprinkle coriander leaves and serve immediately. he hindu metrolplus september 2 2008.

Stuffed bitter melon (Karela)

Ingredients Karela(bitter melon/gourd): 1 Ib Select medium-sized ones. Salt: 1 tsp Stuffing Cooking oil: 1 tsp Onions:2 Garlic cloves:4 Fresh ginger:1 piece Cumin powder: 1 tsp Coriander powder: 1 tsp Turmeric powder: half a tsp Salt: half a tsp or to taste Amchoor(mango powder): 1 tsp Water: 1 tbsp Cooking /Frying Thread to wrap and tie up the bitter Gourd Cooking oil:quarter cup Water: 2 tbsp Method: Step1 to prepare the karela, wash it well and scrape off the skin with a knife. Cut a slit vertically into the belly of the karela. Rub the skin and the insides with salt. Set aside for 20 minutes. During this time the stuffing may be prepared. After 20 minutes, you will see lots of water as a result of salting. Squeeze out as much water as possible. To control salt, wash rinse, squeeze out water and pat the karela dry. Step2 To make the stuffing first the vegetables must be prepared. Chop the onions finely, about the size of cooked rice with a knife or a grater. Peel and mince the garlic cloves. Peel and chop the ginger finely. In a heavy pan, heat cooking oil. Add onions and salt. Sauté till onions are transparent. Add garlic and ginger stir well. Add cumin, coriander turmeric powder and amchoor. Stir well. Sauté for about two minutes. Add water and sauté another two minutes. Turn off the heat. Step3: to cook/fry the karela first fill the belly of the karela with the stuffing. Wrap karela with thread so that the stuffing does not fall out. Ina heavy bottomed pan, put cooking oil, water and stuffed karela. Turn on the heat. As soon as the steam starts to build, cover the pan with the lid, and turn the heat to medium low and cook for about four minutes. Turn over the karela, cover and cook for another four minutes.

Stuffed Katori Chat

Ingredients For the katori Maida : 1 cup Suji(semolina) : ½ cup Refined oil: 2 tsp A little Salt Oil for frying For the filling Potatoes(boiled and chopped):1/2kg Sprouts(red gram and moong-parboiled):1 cup Thick curd: 2 cups Sweet and sour chutney Green chutney Gujrati sev Salt Char masala Pepper Roasted jeera Red Chilli powder: to taste Coriander leaves: finely chopped Method Mix the two flours. Add salt and oil. Add sufficient water and make a stiff dough. Roll out small puris and stick at the back of small greased katoris or tart moulds. Deep fry on a medium flame. The katoris will come out in hot oil. Mix the sprouts and potatoes with salt, chat masala, roasted jeera and red chilli powder. Mix well. Fill the katoris with this filling. Spread the curd over it. Then spread sweet and sour chutney and green chutney over the curds. Sprinkle Gujrati sev and top it with coriander leaves. The hindu Metroplus dated september 2 2008

Peppermint Oatmeal shake

Ingredients Condensed milk: half a scoop Sugar – free vanilla ice cream : 1 cup Oatmeal: 1 cup Non-fat milk: 2 cups Water: 1.2 cups A dash of mint extract Method Blend the oatmeal, water and milk. Now add condensed milk, vanilla ice cream and a dash of mint. Blend again for four minutes. Served chilled.

Panzanella

Ingredients White bread cut into ½ inch pieces 6 to 7 Salt to taste Tomatoes deseeded and cut into ½ inch 5 nos Onion 1 Cucumber cut into ½ inch pieces 1 no Fresh basil leaves, chopped 1 bunch For the dressing Salad oil ¼ cup Vinegar 1 tbsp Salt to taste Black pepper powder ½ tsp Mixed dried herbs ½ tsp Mustard paste ½ tsp Method Add a pinch of salt to two cups of water, dip the bread pieces in this and remove. Press the bread to squeeze out the water. In a salad bowl, mix together the bread tomatoes onion cucumber and the fresh basil. Chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. To make the dressing mix together the salad oil vinegar salt pepper powder dried herbs and mustard paste. Just before serving remove the salad bowl from the refrigerator add the dressing to the salad and mix thoroughly. Served Chilled.

Power Punch

ingredients Carrots 1 kg Beetroot 500 gm Oranges 4 Ice cubes 10 Black salt to taste 1 piece orange rind, cut into thin strips Method Put the carrots, beetroot and oranges through a juicer and collect the juice. Put the juices in a blender with the ice cubes and black salt. Blend for a minute and pour into glasses. Decorate with strips of orange rind

Chilli Mushrrom Fried Rice

Ingredients Vegetable Oil 3 tbsp Ginger piece finely chopped 1 inch Garlic flakes finely chopped 8 Green chillies finely chopped 4 Spring onions finely chopped 6 Fresh button mushrooms sliced 1 1/2 cups Ajinomoto a pinch White pepper powder ½ tsp Salt to taste Cooked rice 1 1/2 cup Soya sauce 1 tbsp Spring onion greens finely chopped 3or 4 Method Heat the oil in a wok. Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies and stir fry for two minutes. Add spring onions, mushrooms, ajinomoto white pepper powder and salt and stir fry on high heat for two minutes Add cooked rice soya sauce and spring onion greens. Stir fry over high heat for three minutes. Serve hot.