Sukha bhel

Sukha bhel

What do you do if you have some leftover kurmura and sev but no chutneys to make bhel? Well, I make sukha bhel of course. A very quick and easy yet filling snack which takes you back to the streets of Bombay with the first bite! There are many variations to this, you can feel free to add anything to this sukha bhel to make it more tasty and healthy.

Vaangi Bhaat made in brown basmati rice

Vaangi Bhaat made in brown basmati rice

I have not been a fan of brinjals since childhood. My mom would literally force it down my throat whenever it was made. So over the years I have never naturally picked up brinjals during my grocery trips and somehow I was very fine with it. during my courtship days, I got to know that my husband loves brinjals and asked me if I knew to cook them. I was in a spot. I did tell him then about my aversion to this specific vegetable but I also promised to cook it for him. So post our marriage, he was waiting for the day I made something using brinjals. Well to defend myself, I have cooked it at-least thrice over the last two years of being married. So yes, I am getting there. So far I stuck to the conventional South Indian recipes of cooking this vegetable but I really wanted to experiment and try something more with them. In my growing years, I had Maharashtrian neighbors who made this dish called vaangi bhaat. I decided to try it today with my own twist. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did having it.

Hummus flavored Chickpea Toast

Hummus flavored Chickpea Toast

In my quest to find healthy and protein rich food, I keep trying different dishes. So far I have only had chickpeas in the traditional chole recipe or in the Middle eastern hummus. I was wanting to try something different with them. Since I hadn't done my grocery this weekend, I had to make do with whatever I had at home. I decided to soak the chickpeas overnight and worry about my dish in the morning. Sandwiches are usually considered as zero oil diet food. So I decided in the morning that I will make a sandwich out of this. I raided my fridge to check on what other ingredients I could use. I love hummus so I decided to surely add them in my dish. This is a very easy recipe and the prep just takes few minutes. There is not much chopping and can be a quick fix meal if you have the chickpeas ready. It is very filling and can be eaten as a meal along with 1 glass of buttermilk.

Green Chutney Dosa with Spicy Tomato & Almond chutney

Green Chutney Dosa with Spicy Tomato & Almond chutney

Post the holi party, I had some left over moong dal and green chutney. I decided to make moong dal dosas and have them with the green chutney. However when I started making the batter, an idea struck me. Read on to know what it was, in case you haven't guessed it by now :)

Cabbage and Onion Pakoda in Appe Pan

Cabbage and Onion Pakoda in Appe Pan

When you need to make some starters for a large group,appe pan comes to the rescue. It is really so much simpler and healthier than deep frying. I love this miracle pan. :) There are numerous recipes floating in the cyber world using this pan. I decided to give the traditional medu vada a twist. My mom used to add onions to the medu wada batter sometimes, so I took my inspiration for her. Plus I can never get the shape right so the appe pan kind off makes it look good ;)
I made around 60 wadas so my measurements below are according to that.

Roasted Garlic & Tomato Raita

Roasted Garlic & Tomato Raita

This is a an interesting twist to our regular raitas. Usually the ingredients we put in it are not cooked but when I tried this version of raita, I was impressed. This side dish goes very well with any pulav or biryani. We had this along with Mushroom Pulav. The garlic in it gives a very nice flavor to the raita.