Prarthana's Vegetarian Delight

I prepare spinach at least twice in a week. Palak dal is a quick side dish recipe for roti or rice. It is very easy to make when I have less time to prepare dinner. My husband and brother are a great fan of this palak dal. My brother can eat this palak dal even daily. This palak dal and ladies finger fry goes well together. INGREDIENTS: 1. Palak leaves - 2 cups 2. Moong dal/ Pasi paruppu- 1/2cup. 3. Onion-1 4. Tomato- 1 5. Ginger- 1 small piece. 6. Garlic- 3-4 pods. 7. Green chilly- 1 8. Mustard seeds- 1tsp 9. Cumin seeds- 1tsp 10. Turmeric powder- 1tsp 11. Salt- To taste 12. Chilly powder- To taste. 13. Coriander powder- 1tsp. 14. Garam masala- 1tsp. 15. Oil- As needed. 16. Coriander leaves- For garnishing. METHOD: 1. Pressure cook moong dal/ pasi paruppu with enough water into mashing consistency. Chop finely onion, tomato, ginger and garlic. Slit the green chilly. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds. Don't let it burn. Add the finely chop...

I usually order malai kofta in restaurants, but my family members don't prefer malai kofta since its a slightly sweetish dish. So, when I prepare at home, I make the dish bit spicy. This is my version of spicy malai kofta. I made this yesterday for my husband's birthday special dinner. INGREDIENTS: FOR KOFTA: 1. Potato- 1 big sized. 2. Green chilly- 2. 3. Coriander powder- 1tsp. 4. Garam masala- 1tsp. 5. Besan/Kadala mavu/Gram flour- 2tbls. 6. Salt- As needed. FOR GRAVY: 1. Onion- 1 medium sized. 2. Tomato- 1 3. Green chilly- 1 4. Ginger- 1 small piece. 5. Garlic- 2-3 pods. 6. Cashews- 6-7 7. Milk- half cup. 8. Salt- to taste. 9. Kitchen king masala/ garam masala- 1tsp. 10. Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp. 11. Coriander- For garnishing. 12. Oil- As needed. 13. Butter- 1 tsp. METHOD: 1. Pressure cook potato for 10mins. Allow it to cool and peel its skin. Mash the potatoes and add chopped green chilly. Add all the other ingredients mentioned under kofta....

I had a big bunch of spinach and I wanted to make something out of it for dinner. I didn't have panner. So couldn't make palak paneer. So I thought of using potato in the spinach gravy. I used normal potatoes. It would be more wonderful if we use baby potatoes for this dish. This is a very simple yummy side dish for phulkas or naan for dinner. INGREDIENTS: 1. Spinach- 1 bunch. 2. Onion- 1 3. Tomato- 1 4. Green chilly- 3 5. Ginger- 1 inch piece. 6. Garlic- 2-3 pods. 7. Cashews- 4-5 pcs. 8. Potato- 2 medium sized. 9. Salt- As needed. 10. Kitchen king masala- 2tsp. 11. Cumin powder- 1tsp. 12. Coriander powder- 1tsp. 13. Salt- As needed. 14. Oil- 2 tbls. 15. Sugar- 1 tsp. 16. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp METHOD: 1. Wash and clean the spinach leaves. Separate the leaves from its stem. Heat a pan and add the spinach leaves with little water. Add sugar and cumin seeds. This helps to retain its greenish color. Cook for 2-3mins and switch off the flame. Allow it to cool...

Paneer butter masala is a very famous and basic north Indian side dish. Butter naan with paneer butter masala is a perfect combo. So here's the recipe of the creamy paneer masala. I make it in a very simple way. INGREDIENTS: 1. Paneer/Cottage cheese- 100 gms. 2. Onion- 1. 3. Tomato-1. 4. Garam masala- 1 tsp. 5. Coriander powder- 1 tsp. 6. Cloves-2 7. Cinnamon stick- 1 inch. 8. Cashews- 6-7. 9. Salt- As needed. 10. Chilly powder- 1 tsp. 11. Butter- 2 spoons. 12. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp. 12. Coriander leaves- For garnishing. 13. Full cream milk- 1/2 cup. METHOD: 1. Chop paneer into cubes. Cube onion and tomatoes. Heat oil in a pan. Add cloves and cinnamon and roast it. Add the chopped onions and saute until it turns pink. Then, add the tomatoes and fry until it becomes soft. Add the cashews and saute for sometime. Switch off the flame and allow this to cool.  2. Grind this into a smooth paste and keep aside. Heat oil or butter in another pan and add the...

This cabbage curry is a very simple basic dish. Cooking time for this is less than 10mins. Oh, yes chopping the cabbage finely is the biggest task. If you are an expert in chopping, then this the easiest side dish for chapati. This is my favorite subzi since my childhood. I still remember my mom packs this in my lunch box along with phulkas. INGREDIENTS: 1. Cabbage- 1 small. 2. Onion- 1 medium sized finely chopped. 3. Tomato- 1 finely chopped. 4. Salt- To taste. 5. Chilly Powder- 1 tsp. 6. Green chilly- 1 7. Garam masala- 1 tsp. 8. Oil- As needed.(I used 2 spoons) 9. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp. 10. Mustard- 1 tsp. 11. Coriander- For garnishing. 12. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp. METHOD: 1. Chop the cabbage finely. Chop it as finely as you can. It should look like grated coconut. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with mustard and cumin seeds. Slit the green chilly and add it. Add chopped onion and saute until it turns pink and the raw smell goes off. 2. Add chopped tomatoes and tu...

Baby corn has become our favorite recently. I started making many dishes using baby corn. Frankly its the most easy vegetable to chop. Once i saw a cooking show in which they prepared baby corn pepper fry. Its a starter dish. I tried that recipe and it turned out really good. From that i started trying many dishes using baby corn. One of those is this subzi.   INGREDIENTS: 1. Baby corn- 10-12 pcs. 2. Onion- 1 Finely chopped. 3. Tomato- 1 Finely chopped. 4. Capsicum- 1 Finely chopped. 5. Everest garam masala/ subzi masala- 1 tsp. 6. Red chilly powder- 1 tsp. 7. Salt- To taste. 8. Oil- 2 tsp. 9. Cumin seeds- 1tsp. 10. Coriander- finely chopped to garnish. 11. Turmeric powder- 1tsp. METHOD: 1. Chop baby corn into medium size rounds. Cook baby corn in boiling water with little salt. Once it gets cooked, drain the water and keep the baby corn aside. 2. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with cumin seeds. Add the chopped onions and fry until it turns pink. Add the tur...

I learnt this recipe from my grandmom. She don't eat garlic on daily basis and on auspicious days she will not eat onions also. On special Pooja days, we have to make food without onion and garlic. So, during fasting time she make these type of subzi. Once when she visited our place, she taught me this subzi using peanut powder. It was yummy and i started making this subzi often. Ingredients: 1. Mixed veg- 1 bowl (I used carrot, beans, potato, capsicum, green peas). 2. Oil- 2 tblspoon. 3. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp. 4. Salt- To taste. 5. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp. 6. Chilly powder- 1 tsp. 7. Everest garam masala- 1 tsp. 8. Fresh coriander- finely chopped to garnish. 9. Peanut- 1/2 cup. Method: 1. Chop the veggies very finely so that it gets cooked easily. Dry roast the peanuts and grind it as a fine powder. 2. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with cumin seeds. Add the chopped veggies. Add salt and turmeric powder. Fry in medium flame until the veggies become soft and ge...

TONDLI KA SUBZI Tondli/Tindora(Ivy gourds) is also called as kovakai in tamil . This vegetable can also be made as fried curry like ladies finger or a dry subzi like potato bhaji for rotis. I have made this tondli as a gravy subzi. This tondli subzi is a very simple dish, easy to make for dinner. INGREDIENTS: 1. Tondli- 250 gms. 2. Onion- 1 finely chopped. 3. Tomato- 1 finely chopped. 4. Oil- 3tsp. 5. Salt- As needed. 6. Chilly powder- 1 tsp. 7. Everest subji masala- 1 tsp. 8. Garam masala- 1 tsp. 9. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp. 10. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp. 11. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp. 12. Besan/ Gram flour/Kadala mavu- 1 tblspoon. 13. Coriander powder- 1 tsp. 14. Water- 1 cup. METHOD: 1. Wash and clean tondli in running water. Chop it lengthy wise. If the inside part is red or pink in color, throw away those pieces. The inside part must be whitish green in color. 2. Heat oil in a kadai, add temper with mustard and cumin seeds. Add finely chopped onions and saute till...

PALAK PANEER This is a very popular north Indian side dish made of spinach and cottage cheese. There are many different recipe of making this palak paneer. This is my version of the creamy spinach gravy with paneer. INGREDIENTS 1. Paneer- 100 gms. 2. Onion- 1 chopped. 3. Tomato- 1 chopped. 4. Palak(Spinach)- 1 bunch. 5. Ginger- 1 small piece. 6. Garlic- 2 or 3 pods. 7. Cloves- 2 8. Cinnamon- 1 small stick. 9. Cashew- 4 or 5. 10. Oil- 2 spoons 11. Butter- 2 tsp. 12. Green chilly- 3 13. Salt- As needed. METHOD: 1. Separate the palak leaves and wash it in running water to remove the impurities. Blanch the palak in boiling water and keep aside. Heat oil in a kadai, add cloves and cinnamon. Add chopped onions and fry until it turns pink. Add ginger, garlic, green chilly, cashews and fry for a minute. Add chopped tomatoes and fry until it becomes soft. Switch off the flame and allow it cool. Grind it into a smooth paste along with blanched spinach. 2...