Veg Schezwan Fried Rice/Sichuan Fried Rice

Schezwan fried rice is a hot,spicy and irresistible Indo-Chinese recipe, which uses Schezwan sauce. dry red chillies and garlic as the main ingredients. Usually it is to be served as a main course in Chinese meal. I have tasted this in my office cafeteria. Schezwan fried rice with Veg Manchurian is my favorite combo. When I made this for the first time VJ liked it too. Try this out and you will get to know why this addicts you :-)

Ingredients

Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Schezwan Sauce - 2 tbsp
Mixed vegetables (carrots, beans, cabbage, broccoli cooked peas, capsicum etc) - 1/2 cup apprx
Salt and Pepper - as per taste
Sugar - a pinch
Oil - 2 tbsp

To Grind

Dry Red chillies - 4 or 5
Garlic pods - 5

Method

1. Soak the basmati rice in water for 20-30 minutes and then wash 7-8 times thoroughly to remove the surface starch and drain the water completely. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. When the pressure releases fluff it up with a fork gently without breaking the grains and set aside.  
2. Grind the dry red chillies and garlic pods without adding water and keep aside.
3. Chop the carrots, beans, capsicum and cabbage finely along with the spring onion whites. Reserve the green part of the spring onion for garnishing finally
4. Heat oil in a pan, add the spring onion whites and saute for few seconds. Then add the vegetables one by one and saute for few more minutes. Do not over cook the veggies, let them retain their crunchiness.
5. Add the schezwan sauce and the red chilli+garlic mixture and sugar and cook in a low flame for few minutes. Make sure the raw smell goes off, else your rice will not taste good.
6. Mix in the rice and add salt and pepper. Finally garnish with the green part of the spring onion. Yummy Veg Schezwan Fried Rice is ready to be digged in!!

Vegetable Noodles - Noodles Biriyani - Noodles Without Noodles Masala

Noodles are always a savior when you want to prepare something quick. Only thing is we have to cook noodles properly to remove the wax coating. At times, it is also good to discard the seasoning mix and prepare your own seasoning. I made mine very Corn'y along with onions, tomatoes and carrots as my lil one loves corn a lot. You can add veggies as per your taste buds. You can also use any plain noodles for making this. Now to the recipe.

Ingredients

Noodles - 1 pack

Onion - 1, cut lengthwise
Tomato - 1, cut lengthwise
Vegetables of your choice (carrot, cabbage, beans, capsicum etc. cut into thin strips. Peas/corn - boiled)
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Chat masala - 1/4 tsp
Biriyani masala - 1/2 tsp
Oil and Salt as per taste

Method


Boil 2-3 cups of water and add the noodles and a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the noodles is 3/4th cooked. Make sure it is not over cooked, else the noodles will turn mushy when you stir along with the vegetables.

Drain the noodles in a colander and run cold water to remove the excess starch. Toss noodles with a tsp of oil and keep it aside. This is done to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Now boiled noodles is ready

Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and saute for few seconds. Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute until the raw smell goes off. Then all the vegetables, biriyani masala, pepper powder, chat masala and saute for few more seconds on high flame. Once the vegetables are half cooked reduce the flame and add the boiled noodles and stir well. Turn off the flame and keep covered for few seconds until the flavors blend together. Serve and enjoy hot!

Veg Cheese Sandwich

Sandwiches are best for picnics, kids lunch  boxes, snack time or even for any type of get-togethers. There is no specific recipe for a sandwich. Its just upto your taste buds and the ingredients available in your pantry. This time I wanted to make this for Prajwal's "Tummy Time" at school. For the past few days he fell in love with cheese. So I made it bit cheesy. You can adjust it as per your preference. Similarly I prefer using wheat bread as it is more healthier than the white bread, so wheat or white is again your choice :-)

Ingredients

Wheat bread - 4 slices
Carrot - 1, grated
Cabbage - 2 tbsp approximately, finely chopped
Capsicum - 1 or 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Onion - 1, thinly sliced
Tomato - 1, finely chopped
Coriander leaves - a handful, finely chopped
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Cheese - 1/2 cup shredded  (OR)
Cheese cube - 1, grate it while making the sandwich
Oil - 1/2 tsp

Method

1. Prepare the stuffing first. Heat a pan, add 1/2 tsp of oil. Once heated, add the chopped onions, saute for few seconds. Then add the ginger garlic paste. Saute until the raw smell goes off. Now add the chopped tomatoes, carrots, capsicum and cabbage. Add salt, garam masala and the pepper powder. Saute for 2 mins. By this time the vegetables would have turned a bit soft. Turn off the flame, sprinkle the coriander leaves, mix well and set aside.
2. Take a slice of bread. Top it off with some grated cheese. If you are using a cheese cube, you can directly grate it to the bread surface.
   
3. Spread few tsps of the prepared stuffing evenly over the cheese. Again top it up with grated cheese. Close it with other bread slice and press gently.
   
4. Toast it in the greased Sandwich maker for 2-3 minutes or as per the instructions provided by your sandwich maker.  If you do not have a sandwich make, no worries.. you can toast it in the tawa too!!
   
5. Enjoy with tomato ketchup.

Milagu Rasam/Pepper Rasam (With step by step pictures)

Pepper rasam, a bliss for cold and cough. Pepper and garlic do wonders to your sore throat when you take this along with hot steaming rice. You can also drink this like a soup that too when it is piping hot. When you prepare pepper rasam, it is advisable to use ghee for the tempering. Because pepper and tamarind induces a lot of heat to your body. Ghee helps subsiding the heat and the spice of the pepper. Also it helps in curing the ulcers that might have formed because of the sore throat. Tomatoes are optional ingredient for pepper rasam. You can add or omit them depending on your preference. Try this when you have to fight cold/cough or on any rainy day and I am sure you're gonna love it!!

Ingredients

Tamarind - a gooseberry sized ball, soaked and extracted
Tomato - a small one, chopped or mashed using your hand
Coriander leaves - a handful
Salt - as per taste
Jaggery - 1 tsp

Dry roast and grind

Pepper - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Garlic - 1
Red chilli - 1 or 2, as per taste
Toor dal - 1 tbsp

For tempering

Ghee - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Methi seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few
Hing - a small pinch

Method

1. Heat a pan and dry roast the ingredients mentioned above. Allow to cool down and grind to a coarse powder.  
   
   
2. In a bowl, take the tamarind extract and add some water to it, may be 1/2 a cup of water. Add the chopped/mashed tomato and salt to it. Bring it to a boil until the raw smell of the tomato goes off.                               
3. Then add the ground jeera-pepper powder and allow to boil for 2 mins. Then add the jaggery to it.
   
   
   
   
4. Meantime do the tempering. Heat a small pan, add a tsp of ghee, once the ghee is hot enough add mustard seeds, when it starts spluttering add in the methi seeds, curry leaves and hing. Switch off the flame and pour this tempering to the boiling rasam. Add the coriander leaves and switch off.  
5. 
6. Enjoy with steamed hot rice!!

** You can also skip garlic in this. But garlic is one natural remedy for cold and flu.