Tomato Juice! Some things are very simple in life, but these are not just simple but rich in Vitamins A & C, minerals and rich in Fiber!
Some simple things you don't even think that it ever existed until you miss it.  It may be anything in our life.  Do you know what I am talking about? It's always food.  In this episode, it's a drink!  I have never missed this simple drink at all.  Every summer reminds me of this drink,  which mum used to make it for us when we were little.

My Mom was a working woman, she used to be very busy as she was a teacher, she always had lots of school things to do and had to take care the three of us.  My Dad always helped amma in her housework, it was a really beautiful home set up, feels like I want to go back to those good old days. We had our breakfast time, school time, lunch time, Hometime, snack time and the best was our Dinner time!  All of us would sit together and share each other's stories about the whole day.  I really miss those days so much.

When I started my own family I wanted to it be the same way eating together as a family but it never happened. When my kids were very small it was only the kids and me, we lived in a joint family so in batches everybody used to have food.  After coming here we started having food as a family again.  But,  this has changed again now as my kids live elsewhere for their education, I eagerly wait when they are back for their holidays.

 A simple drink as this brings me lots of memories.  Summer means hot weather and cool drinks, and of course travelling to Mysore to my Aunt's place almost every vacation.  Uncle used to buy loads of fruits especially Mangoes and my favourite

Isn't it funny? a simple drink as this brings me lots of memories.  Summer means hot weather and cool drinks, and of course travelling to Mysore to my Aunt's place almost every vacation.  Uncle used to buy loads of fruits especially Mangoes and my favourite was Jackfruit.  Oh! such a nostalgic feeling thinking of all those days.  Wish they all come back once again in my life. Only if wishes were horses....

So, Back to Tomatoes yes! they were one such fruit which would turn into a drink when summer knocked on the door, mum always used to whizz it up quickly for us, when she didn't have time,  as they are a staple fruit (veggie) in any Indian home.

Here is the simple recipe for this juice.. drop in some Ice cubes and have a cool summer!!

Recipe Author: Jayasri
Recipe Type: Juices/Drinks/Mocktails
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
3 Medium sized tomatoes
1 Orange
1/2  Lemon/Lime
5 to 6 tbsp of demerara Sugar
1 to 2 cups of water

Method:

Chop the Tomatoes
slice and squeeze the juice of 1 Orange
slice and use one-half of a small lemon/Lime juice
Put the tomatoes, juices of lemon/lime and orange and then the sugar in a blender and blend it well using a sieve strain out all the juice from it throw away the residue.
Serve them in nice tall glasses with Ice cubes and garnish it with mint.
Enjoy your summer with this delicious simple drink.

Notes:  You can skip the sugar and drink just like that or add Honey/Agave syrup and make it more healthier.  You can add a dash of salt and pepper to it.  Otherwise, go the other way round and add a dash of salt and pepper.

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Tomato Juice - A simple Juice

A simple delicious healthy drink, which makes your summer much cooler and keeps you hydrated

Course Juices/Drinks/Mocktails

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• 3 Medium sized tomatoes
• 1 Orange
• 1/2 Lemon/Lime
• 5 to 6 tbsp of demerara Sugar
• 1 to 2 cups of water

Instructions

• Chop the Tomatoes
• slice and squeeze the juice of 1 Orange
• slice and use one-half of a small lemon/Lime juice
• Put the tomatoes, juices of lemon/lime and orange and then the sugar in a blender and blend it well using a sieve strain out all the juice from it throw away the residue.
• Serve them in nice tall glasses with Ice cubes and garnish it with mint.
• Enjoy your summer with this delicious simple drink.

Notes

You can skip the sugar and drink just like that or add Honey/Agave syrup and make it more healthier. You can add a dash of salt and pepper to it. Otherwise, go the other way round and add a dash of salt and pepper.

Tomato Juice - A simple Juice

Recipe Type: Juices/Drinks/Mocktails
Cuisine: Indian
Author: Jayasri
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 15 mins
Serves: 2
A simple delicious healthy drink, which makes your summer much cooler and keeps you hydrated
Ingredients
3 Medium sized tomatoes
1 Orange
1/2 Lemon/Lime
5 to 6 tbsp of demerara Sugar
1 to 2 cups of water
Instructions
Chop the Tomatoes
slice and squeeze the juice of 1 Orange
slice and use one-half of a small lemon/Lime juice
Put the tomatoes, juices of lemon/lime and orange and then the sugar in a blender and blend it well using a sieve strain out all the juice from it throw away the residue.
Serve them in nice tall glasses with Ice cubes and garnish it with mint.
Enjoy your summer with this delicious simple drink.

The post Tomato Juice - A simple Drink appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Three weeks ago one fine day, yes, I mean it! I know you are wondering fine and English weather not a good combination, but a big YES! just like today :).  It was a  beautiful sunny day for almost a week and I was so thrilled to think that finally the spring is here, my tulips have all blossomed beautifully and my little cherry blossom tree is full of pink flowers and all the perennial shrubs are springing back to life.   I was literally dancing with joy! Ahem.., don't laugh if you are in this part of the world you would too!  I am a fanatic gardener, mean to say I am not an expert but love gardening I try my best to keep all my plants alive (most of the time).

Remember my post when  I told you about the wind which took off with my greenhouse and all the pots in it.   It destroyed few of my plants and pots, my garden was looking like somebody ransacked my garden with a vengence. Every day I used to stand in my conservatory and cry myself in my heart thinking when is all this going to be set right?  Sigh.

All these days I hadn't stepped out to clean up my garden, I hate to go out when it is cold and your hands go freezing. When the sun came up it was like a gold lining on every cloud visible.  My conservatory gets too hot when the sun is bright.  Anyways I was so excited at last I could clean up my garden did a lot of jobs cleaned out the whole garden got rid of all the weeds and made space for the sprouting plants.  Had to bin few pots and sorted out all compose and I have dumped them in a big bin so I can sort it out later, when doing all this I got really thirsty that was when I made this lemonade,  I make this  often because I love it!, If you taste it you would too.

It brings back memories, it's always going back to our memory lane! something to chew on when you are getting old. The good old memories bring joy, happiness, tenderness and all the sparkle in your eyes right? Just like spring.  Amma(mum) used to make this lemonade often made this for us to keep us hydrated.  Summer in India is unbearable we get our school holidays just for the kids to stay at home.  That's when we need lots and lots to drink, my parents never bought any aerated drinks for us it was always homemade and super healthy with  herbs and an Ayurvedic touch to it.  This is one such drink which we used to enjoy.

I don't make this lemonade just during summer, but whenever I feel I need some refreshing drink, As I don't drink any aerated drinks very rarely I take a sip or two of coco-cola or a fanta, I always love to drink fresh fruit juices.  This reminds me of Banglaore my home town, during summer we have all these shops spring up where they sell fresh fruit juices.  So,  when I went out I used to go looking for these kinds of shops where we would get fresh fruit juices. I don't get this  kind of happiness here, it's always bottled juices in our supermarkets!

Coming back to this recipe, it has a touch of Indian panakam (juice) recipe it's so delicious you will love it,  It has also turmeric and ginger which has anti-inflammatory properties, helps you in many ways good for joint pains, osteoporosis, digestion and has many health benefits.

LEMONADE WITH INDIAN SPICES

Recipe Author: Jayasri
Recipe type: Juices/Drinks/Mocktails
Prep time: 10minutes
Time: 20 minutes
Shelf life: 1 month
Serves: 8 to 10

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar/1/4 to 1/3 cup of grated Jaggery*
1/2 to 3/4 Cup Lemon/Lime Juice from 10 Lemons/Limes
3'' turmeric stick
2'' Ginger
3 cloves
3 to 4 cardamom pods
3 and 1/2 cups of water

Method:

Using a pestle and mortar or a mixie grind dried turmeric, ginger, cardamom  and cloves. (I used my pestle and mortar and crushed all of them).  In a vessel take 3 cups of water add the crushed spices and add it to the water and allow it to boil for 10 minutes in a low to medium flame.  Then add sugar or Jaggery and boil for another 3 to 4 minutes. Once the sugar dissolves filter everything into another bowl and then allow it cool down completely.

Once it cools down completely add the filtered lemon/lime juice and mix well and store it in an air tight clean bottle and store it in the fridge as it is like a squash you can add water and serve it.

NOTES:

*You can use sugar or Jaggery to make this I have given measurements to my liking you can increase or decrease the sweetness apt to the Lime/Lemons you use.

I have given the shelf life as a month, but I have used it before that.

C you soon with a cold soup stay tuned and enjoy the weather.

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Lemonade with a Indian Spices

A very refreshing drink which is not only delicious but is loaded with aniti-inflammatory properties and keeps fresh and hydrate in summer

Course Juices/Drinks/Mocktails

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Sugar/1/4 to 1/3 cup of grated Jaggery*
• 1/2 to 3/4 Cup Lemon/Lime Juice from 10 Lemons/Limes
• 3 '' turmeric stick
• 2 '' Ginger
• 3 cloves
• 3 to 4 cardamom pods
• 3 and 1/2 cups of water

Instructions

• Using a pestle and mortar or a mixie grind dried turmeric, ginger, cardamom and cloves. (I used my pestle and mortar and crushed all of them). In a vessel take 3 cups of water add the crushed spices and add it to the water and allow it to boil for 10 minutes in a low to medium flame. Then add sugar or Jaggery and boil for another 3 to 4 minutes. Once the sugar dissolves filter everything into another bowl and then allow it cool down completely.
• Once it cools down completely add the filtered lemon/lime juice and mix well and store it in an air tight clean bottle and store it in the fridge as it is like a squash you can add water and serve it.

Notes

*You can use sugar or Jaggery to make this I have given measurements to my liking you can increase or decrease the sweetness apt to the Lime/Lemons you use.

I have given the shelf life as a month, but I have used it before that.

The post Lemonade with Indian Spices appeared first on My Veg Fare.

It’s already 2^nd of December yeah! That’s right, days just fly off like I said yesterday.  I can’t write something like my mother used to bake bread or how I loved my sandwiches in my Lunch Box.  Very rarely I used to take bread sandwich, actually I can’t even rememberJ.  The only thing I can remember of Bread is 2 things one is Jam / sugar sandwiched bread toasts and just bread toasts with my milk / coffee when I used to fall sick.  The Milk breads which we used to get in Bangalore were really tasty.  Have you ever tried my Milk bread you should give it a go.

When my kids started going to school, I used to give them sandwiches sometimes, they always loved it with Butter and Jam (Toast with butter and Sandwich with Jam)!  As they used to take Indian food in their lunch Box which they loved.   But they were all bygone days, soon as they started refusing to take Indian food in their lunch box.  The most they were ready to take was Indian flat breads (Chapatis /parathas).  They said they wanted something to hold in their hand and eat as they had no proper place to sit and eat or they would say they had no time to have a relaxed lunch break, well as they grow up they start giving me  reasons as they want their way.  In the beginning, I was worried then started looking for healthy breads to make sandwiches and started exploring new ingredients to sandwich between them.  Not just that until they finished their schooling every week I used to bake my own bread at least twice, they loved home baked breads as well.

This filling has always been one of our favourite, Each and every time when I send this bread toast I get texts from my hubby and children after their lunch break that it was awesome.  A filling which hearty healthy and a wholesome either as your breakfast or for your lunch box.

Avocado and Spring Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Author: Jayasri
Recipe type: Breakfast / Lunch Box
Cuisine: International

Ingredients:
2 Avocado
1 Bunch Spring Onion
1 medium sized red onion/ Bombay onions
1 Large Green Capsicum
1 or 2 Green chillies finely chopped (optional)
½ tbsp. of Chilli flakes
1 and ½ tsp salt (as required)
1 or 2 tbsp of Lemon Juice
Any herbs of your choice
(Coriander leaves, parsley, chives, Basil anything you like)

Method:
Remove the skin from the Avocadoes and chop them into pieces, wash spring onions and chop into fine pieces, the same goes to capsicum and onions chop it finely as well.  Chop green chilies if using or use chili flakes and required salt, squeeze a tbsp of lemon juice.

Mash them a little bit mix them all together, just they all combine well together to this add finely chopped herb of your choice (I used coriander leaves). Combine them all well together and keep it aside for few minutes.

Take Bread of your choice butter it put the filling and some cheese on it and grill the sandwich for a wonderful aromatic Grilled sandwich.

You can make it VEGAN by not using Cheese.

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Avocado and Spring Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich

A wholesome hearty and healthy meal in itself for a good start of the day or for a filling and tasty Lunch Box

Course Breakfast / Lunch Box

Cuisine International

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• 2 Avocado
• 1 Bunch Spring Onion
• 1 medium sized red onion/ Bombay onions
• 1 Large Green Capsicum
• 1 or 2 Green chillies finely chopped optional
• ½ tbsp. of Chilli flakes
• 1 and ½ tsp salt as required
• 1 or 2 tbsp of Lemon Juice
• Any herbs of your choice
• Coriander leaves, parsley, chives, Basil anything you like

Instructions

• Remove the skin from the Avocadoes and chop them into pieces, wash spring onions and chop into fine pieces, the same goes to capsicum and onions chop it finely as well. Chop green chilies if using or use chili flakes required amount of salt and squeeze tbsp. of lemon juice.
• Mash them a little bit mix them all together, just they all combine well together to this add finely chopped herb of your choice (I used coriander leaves). Combine them all well together and keep it aside for few minutes.
• Take Bread of your choice butter it put the filling and some cheese on it and grill the sandwich for a wonderful aromatic Grilled sandwich.

Notes

You can use this to sandwich around 1 pound of bread

The post Avocado and Spring Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwich appeared first on My Veg Fare.

It's December first! Already! Wonder how the whole year has just gone by without me noticing it.  Even though it’s the end of the year it’s the season of celebration.  Christmas is around the corner you can see the festivity everywhere.  You can see lights up in Malls, shops, street makes you happy even the cold doesn’t seem to bother people here.  Everybody would be shopping till they drop out.

Christmas means Red and Christmas means Celebration. Let’s raise a glass to the festivities and happy holidays and also festive for a new year’s eve.   I don’t do cocktails so why not mocktail then! Here’s a toast for happy Christmas.

Ingredients:
1 lb (445grm) Strawberries
2 Limes
2’’ Fresh Ginger
1 small stick of Cinnamon
1/3 cup Sugar*
6 Cups water**

 Method:

In a bowl take 2 cups of water to this add crushed Ginger, Cinnamon stick and  strawberries let it simmer for around 10 minutes.
In the mean time, slice the limes into 2 halves squeeze the juice out of them and keep aside.  Don’t throw away the skin cut them into two more halves each and dunk them in the strawberry syrup once the stove is switched off and close the lid, leave it to marinate for 10 more minutes,
Remove the Cinnamon stick and the skin of the limes.  Take the syrup and blend it in a blender add some water if required to a very smooth consistency.
Using a sieve filter it to this add lime juice from the two limes and the remaining water with crushed ice cubes and some mint leaves, adjust sugar  and serve it chilled or at room temperature.

NOTE:
*Sugar – Use sugar as required per your taste or any other sweetener, like Honey, maple syrup etc.
**Water – I have used plain water you can use sparkling water or soda water for a bubbly touch.

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Non-Alcoholic Strawberry Daiquiri Punch - A spicy punch with a twist for the festive Season

A sweet and spicy punch for the festive season

Course Juice/Drink/Mocktail

Cuisine International

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 1 lb 445grm Strawberries
• 2 Limes
• 2 ’’ Fresh Ginger
• 1 small stick of Cinnamon
• 1/3 cup Sugar*
• 6 Cups water**

Instructions

• Method:
• In a bowl take 2 cups of water to this add crushed Ginger, Cinnamon stick and strawberries let it simmer for around 10 minutes.
• In the <g class="gr_ gr_89 gr-alert gr_spell undefined ContextualSpelling ins-del" id="89" data-gr-id="89">mean time</g>, slice the limes into 2 halves squeeze the juice out of them and keep aside. Don’t throw away the skin cut them into two more halves each and dunk them in the strawberry syrup once the stove is switched off and close the lid, leave it to marinate for 10 more minutes,
• Remove the Cinnamon stick and the skin of the limes. Take the syrup and blend it in a blender add some water if required to a very smooth consistency.
• Using a sieve filter it to this add lime juice from the two limes and the remaining water with crushed ice cubes and some mint leaves, adjust sugar and serve it chilled or at room temperature.

Notes

NOTE:
*Sugar – Use sugar as required per your taste or any other sweetener, like Honey, maple syrup etc.
**Water – I have used plain water you can use sparkling water or soda water for a bubbly touch.

The post Non-Alcoholic Strawberry Daiquiri Punch - A spicy punch with a twist for the festive Season appeared first on My Veg Fare.

After coming back from holiday I have been so busy with guests and kids going back to university time just flew away without my knowledge.  Missed my garden so much as I was not here and thanks to my dear friends who watered and took care of them all through the summer.  I really miss Britain during summer as it look glorious with its beautiful gardens and scenic beauty everywhere.

These beauties are from my Garden, I get a load of strawberries all through summer!!

Some Pomegranate seeds which were very sweet and juicy.

And some delicious Figs which went into my Juice.

Tukmaria/Sabja/subja/subza all the names are nothing but Basil Seeds which is usually used in Indian desserts like Falooda etc., and according to  Ayurveda, it is a body coolant.  It is also used in Ayurvedic medicine.  These are called as Kamakasturi in Kannada.  It is said that they are not actual seeds of Holy Basil but sweet basil or Thai Basil plant (Ocimum Basilicum).

When I came back I was surprised to find I could still pluck a bowl full of peppers, chillies, Runner beans, Blueberries, strawberries, few raspberries and quite a lot of tomatoes.  I was really thrilled. Earlier when I went for my usual shopping I found these lovely pomegranates and figs got tempted and bought them as well, using all these I decided to make a drink as we had lovely sunshine still.  I did not know what to call this drink so the funny name.

Pomegranate is rich in antioxidants, my children are not a big fan of them and I want them to eat it almost daily which is like mission impossible that’s when I think of other ways to use them, one such thing was this juice I made.  They were not happy as it was not very sweet as I used less sugar and told them it’s good as it is. Hubby and I liked it as it was.  If something has to be good for your health it shouldn’t be sweet, salty or spicy right?

Well coming back to my drink I wanted to make it this month as this is #breastcancerawareness month paint pink everywhere its #PinkOctober #Pinkyourfood #Saladnation.  Inspired by Deeba I wanted to do something this year for the cause of Breast cancer awareness

Ingredients:

1 Large Pomegranate
2 Figs
15 Strawberries
½ and inch Ginger
1/8^th tsp of salt
½ Lemon / Lime
1 tbsp Tukhamaria seeds
3 to 4 cups of water
Sugar as per your liking

Method:
Remove the seeds of pomegranate and peel the skins of Figs and ginger.
Wash strawberries and remove the stalk.
Blend all this in a juicer / blender thoroughly.
Add water as required per your taste if you like it thinner or thinner.
Add sugar when you are blending if you need otherwise just drink it as it is.
Filter the blended juice through a good strainer add a tbsp of Tukhamaria seeds and leave it for some time to soak, chill it and serve it.

The post Pom Plus 2 (Pomegranate-Strawberry-Figs-Tukmaria) Juice appeared first on My Veg Fare.

Hi everyone! How’s everyone been? I’ve been great, and for the past few day’s I’ve been getting back into writing out my recipes and working on my blog. On the last Sunday of March, which was the 29^th at 1am the clocks went forward one hour. In England this means, it’s the beginning of summer, which means we have more light in the evening Yay! Ah but the thought of summer brings joy, I am one of the happiest people today. I do enjoy winter, it has its own beauty, and sadly the only boring part of winter is the darkness that arrives too early. I hate to photograph my foods as I cook most of the time at night. Night photography with no special equipment and not having any perfect spots for my photo shoots becomes a tedious job… not that I am a pro in photography but natural light is a plus point. When it is not available I lose interest, compiled with all these natural disasters and my lack of knowledge using my camera to its full extent is a long road to tread, one such example is the photos of my cookies which I have published here.

Anyway let’s not go too much into my photography adventures. Summer is around the corner, I love the sunshine and the beautiful gardens I see where ever I go.  Britain looks glorious love the gardens, the nature, the greenery, beautiful flowers and most importantly the people become bright and smiling.  Hmm.., I can go on and on.  Sometimes when we are lucky in this part of the world the beautiful early morning rays of the sun peeping through my window curtain makes me bake something, makes me feel I want to create something. Play around with the ingredients in my pantry.

When my kids are around I feel very energetic and crave to cook and bake something different (they are here now again for their Easter Holidays). I need somebody to taste, be a critique and tell me if I can blog my recipe with confidence. Now I keep giving my bakes to friends who would tell me what they think, I have got a few bakes I will be posting approved by my family and friends, I don’t know how you like it as I have played with different flours and it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, it will be a taste acquired.

To tell you the truth, I have been going through a bloggers block, somehow I keep postponing to write anything. Today I decided if I don’t do it I will never do, I will keep piling up my photos and they will never see the light of the day, I mean literally. Also, I have few followers and subscribers who like my style and I don’t want to disappoint themJ.

These cookies I made for my eldest she loves citrus flavour and pistachios, first time when I made these my kids who live away from home said they needed something to munch on when they are studying late in the night! And took everything away, kind off my eldest she packed them away saying that mum will anyway bake again. I baked a few different cookies for them, I will post the others soon.  So, I had to bake for my eldest again and this time I took some photos, I even shared these cookies with my neighbours and friends they all said it was lovely. Now my friends have also come to know I don’t use plain flour and I think they have started liking the taste or should I say they are getting used to the taste 🙂 and enjoy my bakes.

Recipe Source: Jayasri
Cuisine : International
Prep time : 10 minutes
cook time : 15 minutes
Yields : 20 to 25

Ingredients:
100 grams Rice flour
75 grams Quinoa Flour
75 grams Pistachio powdered
40 grams Plain flour
75 grams Butter
1 Lime zest
Juice of 1 Lime
3/4 th tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Baking soda
200 grams Sugar
A pinch of salt
1 Egg (optional / if you want to make it eggless omit egg from the recipe)
1/3 cup chopped pistachio kernels for decorating

Method:

Preheat the over to 350 F (175 degrees)
Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper
First mix all the flours together with salt, Pistachio powder, Baking powder and Baking soda, sift 2 to 3 times well enough and set aside in a bowl.
Take sugar and butter and cream them well together, If using Egg after creaming butter and sugar add Egg at this stage and beat well together add the grated zest of Lime and also Juice of 1 Lime as well.
Now add the mixed flours into these creamed batter, mix well together no need to over beat, blend everything well enough it comes into a dough like consistency.
Roll little balls in your hand and place them a little away from each other
Press the balls slightly and brush them with milk or water then top them with chopped pistachios and press them a little so they get stuck to the cookie dough.
Bake these cookies for 15 minutes max
once done take them out, slide the next tray for baking, meanwhile once it is cooled store them in an airtight container and stays for a week

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Eggless Quinoa Lemon and Pistachio cookies

These cookies are not too sweet, but delicious with lemony and pistachio flavoured

Course snacks

Cuisine International

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 20 to 25

Author Jayasri

Ingredients

• 100 grams Rice flour
• 75 grams Quinoa Flour
• 75 grams Pistachio powdered
• 40 grams Plain flour
• 75 grams Butter
• 1 Lime zest
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 3/4 th tsp Baking powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda
• 200 grams Sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 1 Egg optional / if you want to make it eggless omit egg from the recipe
• 1/3 cup chopped pistachio kernels for decorating

Instructions

• Preheat the over to 350 F (175 degrees)
• Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper
• First mix all the flours together with salt, Pistachio powder, Baking powder and Baking soda, sift 2 to 3 times well enough and set aside in a bowl.
• Take sugar and butter and cream them well together, If using Egg after creaming butter and sugar add Egg at this stage and beat well together add the grated zest of Lime and also Juice of 1 Lime as well.
• Now add the mixed flours into these creamed batter, mix well together no need to over beat, blend everything well enough it comes into a dough like consistency.
• Roll little balls in your hand and place them a little away from each other
• Press the balls slightly and brush them with milk or water then top them with chopped pistachios and press them a little so they get stuck to the cookie dough.
• Bake these cookies for 15 minutes max
• once done take them out, slide the next tray for baking, meanwhile once it is cooled store them in an airtight container and stays for a week

Notes

These cookies can be made with just plain flour but don't forget to add powdered pistachio
Substitute butter with oil or coconut oil but will have a coconut flavour for a vegan variation.

.

The post Eggless Quinoa Lemon and Pistachio cookies appeared first on My Veg Fare.

This recipe is not something new as I said earlier, A new wine in an old bottle, A slight twist to our authentic Urad Dal vada recipe, A twist which our customers loved, so  has come to e-book, as my judges, critics showed a thumbs up sign, It all started with something I promised my kids I would prepare it when they came back from college, Now, what was it , It is something everybody loves , Gobi Manchurian, my kids love it as everybody who has tasted it do, It is a fusion of Indo-chinese cooking, but,  decided to make something else, ( Just like I twist my reicpes!!).   When Kalyani announced this month's Magic mingle - Urad dal and Lemon, I have been thinking, and I came up with this, I was a bit worried to post, as one of the posts I made with Haldiram's samosa and turned it into a chat, one of the readers thought that it was ridiculous to make chat like that, Personally I feel their is no such specific recipe that you have to make chat only with these, right ?.  In Bangalore we have so many chat center's and you would be surprised to know the different kind of chats people make, eat and enjoy.  Thinking in that line I thought why not when you like Vada, Dahi in your chat why not turn it into a chat., to make slightly healthier I added some more Dals to it, But, it totally your choice to make it the way you want to give it a twist.., I will give you some variations in the end.
Coming to my recipe.. what and how I made it. read through...

URAD DAL VADA CHAT

INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE VADAS
1 Cup Urad Dal
2 tbsp Channa dal
1 tbsp Moong dal
2 tbsp cup Horse Gram / Kollu
1 tbsp Poha / Avalakki /thick flattened Rice flakes
1/4 cup +2 tbsp water
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 capsicum / Pepper
3 to 4 Green chillies
1 tsp coarsely crushed Pepper
1'' Fresh Ginger
salt as required ( 1 and 1/2 tsp)
A pinch of Asafoetida
A pinch of Baking soda

FOR THE CHAT
2 Carrots finely grated
2 Onions chopped fine

1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tbsp Lemon juice
2 to 4 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp Chat masala powder

FOR GARNISHING
Fine Sev and spiced Mixture ( I have used murmura mixture) as required
Sweet Chutney
Green Chutney

FOR DAHI MASALA
1 Cup of fresh thick Yogurt / Dahi / soy yogurt
1/w tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Chat masala
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp Chilli powder ( as required)

METHOD:

FOR MAKING VADAS
Soak Urad dal, channa dal, moong dal and Horse gram for 3 hours.  Wash and soak poha saperately.
Chop Capsicum / green pepper, Green chillies, curry leaves and crushed Black Pepper.
Grind all the soaked Ingredients above with ginger and poha in it. use very little water, by sprinkling or tbsp water now and then, and grinding it into a smooth paste,
Important point: Do not add too much water, this will make the batter obsorb more oil and vadas will be very oily and kind of losses its texture, Once it is completely grinded well, you will notice that batter when picked will not stick to your hands, it will fluffy.

Once the batter is ready add all the other Ingredients mix well and fry them in hot oil, make small round balls with a small hole in the middle and fry them. Heat the oil, hold your palm on top of the oil ( not very close ), when you feel the heat that means your oil is hot, keep the flame to medium add a drop of the batter to check if it is hot, within a few seconds if the batter springs on to the top that means your oil is perfect. Now fry the batter as vadas, once they are golden red in colour, take them out of the oil and drain them on a kitchen paper.

METHOD TO MAKE THE CHAT
Grate carrots, chop onion, and all the other Ingredients under chat mix well and keep aside, do not add salt.
Once the vadas are ready add salt and lemon juice to the chat otherwise it will start giving out water, so add it in the end mix well just before serving.

METHOD TO MAKE DAHI MASALA
Take 1 or 2 cups of Plain Yogurt / Dahi in a bowl to this add little salt ( not too much as vada, chat mixture all have salt in it ), then add required quantity to chat masala, chilli powder, sugar accordingly as required to the quantity of Yogurt you are using. Above I have give for the quantity of one cup mix well and use.

ASSEMBLING DAL DAHI VADA CHAT
Cut the vadas horizontally into half, place them on a plate, sprinkle the chat mixture on top of it, then add the sev or some spicy mixture on top of it, add sweet chutney, green chutney as required to the Dal vada, you can enjoy the chat as it is or you can add Dahi Masala to it and enjoy the chat.

We all loved the chat with Dahi / Yogurt Masala, it was very tasty.  So, I decided to call this Dal Dahi Vada Chat.
This was my chat as I just ate one (a little bit one was mine!!) , cut the vadas horizontally into half, sprinkle the chat on top of it as shown in the pictures, then pour Dahi Masala on top of it. Enjoy...

This Chat goes to Magic Mingle of Kalyani's this month she gave us Urad dal and Lemon juice., tune in I have some more recipes on this combo..

VARIATION: You can just make this with only Urad dal,  You can omit capsicum/peppers from this above recipe, Make it VEGAN by not using Yogurt in this recipe or you can use soy yogurt.

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