Quick and Healthy: Colorful Fried Rice

Happy New Year to everyone! Let’s start this year with this quick and healthy recipe for fried rice. It can be prepared with all the vegetables you have or all the vegetables you like:)… Enjoy this easy recipe!

Approx. 4 servings

Ingredients:
Basmati rice – 1.5 cup
Onions – 1 medium (sliced)
Cauliflower or Broccoli – 1 cup (small florets)
Red bell pepper – 1 (cup cut strips)
Green peas – 1/2cup
Garlic – 1/2 tbsp minced
Ginger – 1/2 tbsp grated
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Garlic chili sauce -1 tbsp

Spices:
Cumin seeds (Jira) – 1 tsp
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Wash basmati rice twice. Cook the rice with 3 cups of water.
• Clean and cut all the vegetables as directed. Keep aside.
• In a pan on medium heat, add olive oil. Add cumin seeds, when it starts to crackle, add sliced onions. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
• Add ginger-garlic and all the vegetables. Sauté on high for 3-4 minutes.
• Add all these cooked vegetables to the cooked rice and add red chili powder, turmeric powder and salt.
• In the end, add garlic chili sauce, mix well and slow cook the vegetable fried rice half covered for 4 more minutes.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve steamy vegetable fried rice with boondi raita (spicy yogurt).

Celebrating Milestone: Blog reached 100,000 hits

A big Thanks to all my readers! I would like to share the joy of celebrating a great milestone with you all. The blog hits 100,000 views! Yes, and with all fairness it doesn’t count my own visits to the blog :-).

Thanks for being with me for last two years. This month, I’ll be celebrating blog’s Second Anniversary as well. This wouldn’t have been possible without you. Hope to get your support in the future too.

I’ll continue bringing vegetarian delights to you each week. Thanks again!

Veg Kothe: An Indo-Chinese delight

Veg Kothe is a new Indo-Chinese appetizer/snack dish. I personally savored Veg Kothe at a wedding reception in India recently. I, then, went to the chef to know the details of this tangy spicy delight. The chef was kind enough to give me the detailed recipe, with all the ingredients and method, the very next day. The recipe is accurate, as I tried making Veg Kothe in my kitchen few times and each time it comes out perfect. So for this recipe the credit goes to;

Mr. Bansilalji Chaudhary
Master Chef, Hotel Rhythm Palace [Amrit Garden]
Ratlam (MP) India

 

Ingredients:
For Veg Kothe: [6 servings approx.]

Cauliflower (Gobhi) – 1 cup very small pieces
Mushroom – 1/2 cup finely chopped
Green bell pepper – 1/2 cup finely chopped
Cabbage – 1/2 cup finely chopped
Onions – 2 cups finely chopped
Ginger – 1.5 tbsp finely chopped
Garlic – 1.5 tbsp finely chopped
Green spring onions – 1 bunch chopped
Fresh green chilies – 2 minced
Fresh cilantro – 2 tbsp fine chopped (for garnish)
Maida (All purpose flour) – 1 cup
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Tomato ketchup – 2 tbsp
Honey – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp freshly squeezed
Black pepper – 1 tsp freshly ground
Orange food color – 1 pinch
Cooking oil for frying
Salt as per taste

Method:

• Cut cauliflower, cabbage, green bell pepper, mushrooms accordingly. Keep aside.
• In a bowl, add Maida, salt, baking powder, all the above chopped vegetables and 1 cup chopped onions. Now add water to make a thick batter. Mix well.
• In a pan heat cooking oil to fry. Make fritters of this batter, deep fry till they turn light golden. Drain on a kitchen towel and keep aside.
• In another pan heat 2 tbsp cooking oil. Add remaining chopped onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies. Sauté till it turns golden brown. Now add tomato ketchup, honey,  salt, lemon juice, freshly grounded black pepper powder and orange food color. Mix well and it’s ready to serve.

Garnish:
Garnish Veg Kothe with freshly chopped green spring onions and chopped cilantro. Enjoy as an appetizer or anytime snack.

Gobi Manchurian [Cauliflower Manchurian]

Gobi Manchurian

Gobi Manchurian is one of the common Indo Chinese dish. It is flavorful yet simple. This recipe is a very special request of one of my dear friend. Hope you like it.

Ingredients:

For Gobi Manchurian: [4 servings approx.]

Gobi [Cauliflower] -1 whole
Maida [All purpose flour] – ¾ cup
Corn flour -1/4 cup
Onion – 1 chopped
Ginger- 1.5 tbsp finely chopped
Garlic- 1.5 tbsp finely chopped
Green spring onions- 1 bunch
Ajinomoto [Chinese salt] – ¼ tsp
Soy sauce- 2 tbsp
Tomato ketchup -2 tbsp
Cooking oil for frying
Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Cut cauliflower into bite size florets and wash thoroughly. Keep aside.
2. In a bowl, add corn flour, Maida, salt, half ginger, half garlic and little water to make a runny batter. Now dip the cauliflower florets in the batter and deep fry till they turn golden. Drain on a kitchen towel and keep aside.
3. In a pan heat 2 tbsp cooking oil. Add chopped onions, remaining ginger and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add fried Gobi florets to it. Mix well and also add ajinomoto, soy sauce and tomato ketchup. Add some salt if needed. [Soy sauce already has some salt.] Mix well and its ready. 

Garnish:

Garnish Gobi Manchurian with freshly chopped green spring onions. Serve hot with plain steamed rice.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple fried rice is one of my favorite entrée to order at Thai restaurants. This is my own version with few additions. Kids love it too.

Ingredients:

For Pineapple fried rice [6 servings]

Rice (Basmati) – 1.5 cups
Pineapple chunks – 1cup (fresh or canned)
Sweet Onion – 1/2 Medium size, Sliced
Capsicum (Green Bell pepper) – ½ cup, cut into thin stripes (julienne)
Carrot – ½ cup, cut into thin stripes (julienne)
Baby corn – ½ cup
Peas -1/4 cup
Paneer(Indian cottage cheese)- 1/2  cup small cubes [OPTIONAL]
Cashews – ½ cup (halved)
Spring onions – for garnish
Coconut milk – 1 cup
Ginger- 1 tbsp minced
Soy Sauce- 1.5 tbsp
Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce – 1 tbsp
Garlic chili sauce -1 tbsp
Oil for frying -2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Cook the rice with 2 cups of water and 1 cup coconut milk. Let the rice cool completely or let it sit in the refrigerator for couple of hours after cooking. This recipe is good for using leftover white rice too.

2. Rinse and prepare all the vegetables as directed.

3. Cut paneer into small cubes and shallow fry it. Keep fried paneer aside.

4. Heat the wok and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the minced ginger and stir-fry briefly until aromatic.

5. Add all the vegetables, pineapple chunks and cashews. Stir fry on high heat for 2 minutes.

6. Add cooked rice carefully and mix well. Add fried paneer cubes to it.

7. Stir in Soy sauce, Maggi Hot & Sweet sauce, Garlic chili sauce and salt. Cook for few more seconds.

Garnish:
Garnish pineapple fried rice with cut spring onions and serve hot. If possible it can be served in the hollow shell of the fresh pineapple.

Note: You can increase or decrease the amount of sauces according to your taste.

Chili Paneer

Chili Paneer [Spicy cottage cheese and green bell pepper]

Simply flavorful and yummy Indo-Chinese entrée. My son, Sohum’s all time favorite food. This recipe calls for some heat, which adds the unique flavor to the recipe. So don’t worry and try it 🙂 .

Ingredients:

For Chilli Paneer [6 servings] 

To make paneer batter:
Corn flour – 1.5 tbsp
Maida (All purpose flour) – ½ tbsp
Black pepper -1 pinch
Salt to taste
Oil for frying paneer-2 tbsp 

For Chili Paneer:
Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) – 1 lbs, cut into thick long strips
Sweet Onion – 1 Medium size, cut into squares
Capsicum (Green Bell pepper) – 1 cup, cut into squares
Ginger- 1 tbsp minced
Garlic – 1 tbsp minced
Soy Sauce- 1.5 tbsp
Hot & Sour Sauce-1 tbsp
Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce – 1 tbsp
Garlic chili sauce -1 tbsp
Sugar -1 tsp
Oil for stir frying -1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Cut paneer into thick long strips. Keep aside.
• In a bowl take corn flour; add Maida, a pinch of black pepper and salt. Add water and make a runny batter.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the pan. Cover the paneer cubes in the above batter and fry it. Towel-dry the fried paneer pieces and keep aside.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the pan. Add minced ginger-garlic to it. Sauté for a minute. Add onions, bell pepper and fried paneer. Stir fry on high heat for 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, Hot & sour sauce, Garlic chili sauce, Maggi hot and sweet sauce, sugar and salt. Keep stirring for couple of minutes.

Garnish:

Garnish Chili Paneer with cut spring onions and serve hot. Enjoy with hot steamed basmati rice or sticky rice.

 Note: You can increase or decrease the amount of sauces according to your taste.

Cashew nut stir-fried vegetables with Paneer

Cashew nut stir-fried vegetables with Paneer

A Simple and flavorful vegetarian delight. Absolute favorite for even hard to please crowd, you know what I mean :-).

Ingredients:

For Stir-Fried Vegetables [6 servings]

Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) – ½ lbs, cut into bite-size cubes
Sweet Onion – 1/2 medium size, sliced
Capsicum (Green Bell pepper) – 1 cup, sliced
Mushrooms (any variety) -1/2 cup, sliced
Baby corn-1/2 cup, cut into halves
Carrot – ½ cup, cut into thin stripes
Water Chestnuts – 1 can
Snow peas – ½ cup
Green beans-½ cup, cut into bite size pieces
Cashew nuts -1/2 cups, halves
Ginger- 1 tsp minced
Garlic- 1 tsp minced
Soy Sauce- 1.5 tbsp
Honey -1 tbsp OR Brown Sugar – 1 tbsp
Lime Juice- 1 tbsp
Kung Pao Sauce- 1tbsp
Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce – 1 tsp
Garlic chili sauce -1 tsp
Oil for stir frying -2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Prepare all the vegetables as directed.

2. Cut paneer into small bite size cubes and shallow fry it. Keep fried paneer aside.

3. Heat the wok and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the minced ginger and  garlic and stir-fry briefly until aromatic.

4. Add onions and carrots first and stir fry on high heat for 30 seconds.

5. Add rest of the vegetables and stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Add fried paneer cubes to it.

6. Stir in Soy sauce, Kung Pao Sauce, Maggi Hot & Sweet sauce, Garlic chili sauce, Lime juice, honey (or brown sugar) and salt. Cook for a few more seconds.

Serve hot with steamed rice or noodles and Enjoy.

Note: You can increase or decrease the amount of sauces according to your taste.

Vegetable Chow mein [Indian style noodles]

Vegetable Chow mein [Indian style Noodles] with Paneer

This is the recipe for Indian style Vegetable Chow mein noodles. Kids love it and grown-ups too. 🙂
So make it spicy (following the recipe) for adults and less spicy for kids.

Ingredients: For Chow Mein [4 servings]

Packet Noodles (I use Organic flat wheat noodles from Trader Joe’s)
Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) – 1/2 lbs
Sweet Onion – 1/2 Medium size, Sliced
Capsicum (Green Bell pepper) – 1/2 cup, cut into thin stripes (julienne)
Cabbage – 1 cup, cut into thin stripes (julienne)
Carrot – 1/2  cup, cut into thin stripes (julienne)
Water Chestnuts – 1 can
Snow peas -1/2 cup
Bean sprouts – 1/2 cup
Spring onions – for garnish
Ginger- 1 tbsp minced
Soy Sauce- 1.5 tbsp
Sugar -1 tsp
Hot & Sour Sauce-1 tbsp
Maggi Hot & Sweet Sauce – 1 tbsp
Garlic chili sauce -1 tbsp
Oil for stir frying -2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method:

• Boil the noodles for 4-5 minutes or as the package directions. Do not over cook. Wash under cold water and keep aside.
• Rinse and prepare all the vegetables as directed.
• Cut paneer into small cubes and shallow fry it. Keep fried paneer aside.
• Heat the wok and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the minced ginger and stir-fry briefly until aromatic.
• Add all the vegetables except bean sprouts and stir fry on high heat for 2 minutes.
• Add boiled noodles carefully so they don’t break. Add fried paneer cubes to it.
• Stir in Soy sauce, Hot & Sour Sauce, Maggi Hot & Sweet sauce, Garlic chili sauce and sugar. Stir in the bean sprouts. Cook for a few more seconds.

Garnish:
Garnish Chow mein with cut spring onions and serve hot.

Note: You can increase or decrease the amount of sauces according to your taste.