Prarthana's Vegetarian Delight

Paal payasam/ Milk Kheer is a very basic dessert. In our home, we prepare this paal payasam during festivals. My mom makes excellent paal payasam and is appreciated by everyone for the unique taste in the payasam/Kheer. INGREDIENTS: 1. Raw rice or Basmathi rice Broken- 2 tbls. 2. Milk- 2 cups. 3. Sugar- 8-10 tsp. 4. Saffron- Few strands. 5. Elachi Powder- 1 tsp. 6. Cashews- 4-5 pcs. 7. Raisins- 4-5 pcs. 8. Ghee- 2 tsp. METHOD: 1. Heat a pan with 1tsp ghee and fry the broken rice. I used broken raw rice. Using basmathi rice will enhance the flavor. Fry the rice until it emits nice aroma. Keep it aside. 2. In the same pan, add 1/2 tsp ghee and fry raisins and cashews. Fry until the cashews turn golden brown and keep it aside. 3. In a pressure cooker, add the remaining ghee and milk. Once the milk starts boiling, add the rice and close the lid. Put a clean spoon inside. It will prevent the milk from getting burnt in the bottom. Keep in medium flame until the first...

Keerai molagootal is a dish originated from kerala. The aroma of coconut oil in spinach gravy is the special in this dish. When I visited my brother's place at Coimbatore, my sister in law who is a palakadu brahmin prepared this dish for us. It was awesome and I asked her this recipe. Last weekend I had a bunch of spinach. So instead of making the normal spinach gravy, I prepared this molagootal and it came out well. Thanks to my SIL. INGREDIENTS: 1. Spinach (Any type)- 1 bunch. 2. Yellow moong dal/Pasi paruppu- 3 tbls. 3. Coconut scrapped- 1/2 cup. 4. Coconut oil- 2 tsp. 5. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp. 6. Urad dal/ Ulatham paruppu- 1 tsp. 7. Cumin seeds- 1 tsp. 8. Red chilly dried- 3 nos. 9. Salt- As needed. 10. Sugar-1/2 tsp. METHOD: 1. Wash and clean the spinach. Separate the leaves from its stem. Heat a pan and add the spinach leaves with 2 spoons of water. Add sugar. It helps to retain its greenish color. When the quantity of spinach is reduced and it starts boili...

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...

We recently bought a microwave oven and I started using it. I baked a simple cake using dates and cashews. I always wanted to bake using whole wheat flour. But since its my first try, I used maida. Once I master baking, I ll share more healthy cake recipes using whole wheat flour and millet. Since it was my first try, I could not take step by step photos. INGREDIENTS: 1. Dates- 15(seedless). 2. Milk- 1 cup. 3. All purpose flour/ Maida- 1 cup. 4. Sugar- 1/2 cup. 5. Baking soda- 1/2 tsp. 6. Cashews- 10. 7. Vanilla essence- 1tsp (Optional). 8. Oil/unsalted butter- 1/2 cup. METHOD: 1. Soak dates in hot milk for 15-20mins. Sieve flour and baking powder and keep it aside. Preheat oven at 180 degree for 15mins. Grind the soaked dates, milk and sugar into a fine paste. 2. Take the ground paste in a large bowl and add oil, vanilla essence(if using) to this. Mix everything well. Add flour little by little to this mixture and mix thoroughly. Add half of the finely chopped cas...

It was a lazy Sunday morning and as usual we got up late. I wanted to prepare a quick breakfast and not a boring one too. I opened my fridge and there was some left over adai batter. I quickly added veggies and made this kara appam with a spicy pudhina(mint) dip. My husband is a crazy fan of this mint chutney. The recipe of adai batter is in my previous adai avial post. http://prarthanavegdelight.blogspot.sg/2015/09/adai-avial.html INGREDIENTS: FOR APPAM: 1. Adai batter- 1 cup (Without any added veggies) 2. Grated carrot- 1/2cup. 3. Onion- 1 finely chopped. 4. Salt- To taste. 5. Finely chopped coriander- few. 6. Oil- As needed. FOR MINT CHUTNEY: 1. Mint leaves- 1/2 cup. 2. Coriander leaves- 1/4 cup. 3. Urad dal- 1tsp. 4. Green chilly- 2. 5. Ginger- 1 inch piece. 6. Garlic- 2-3 pods. 7. Salt- To taste. 8. Curd- 1 tbls. 9. Oil- 1tsp. METHOD: 1. Mix the grated carrot, chopped onions, chopped coriander and salt to the adai batter. Add water if needed and...

Soup is the primary food in a full course meal. Spinach soup is a healthy creamy soup. I make this soup often and serve an hour before dinner. This is a very easy soup recipe which can be made within 10-15mins. I also make this soup if someone have a bad headache or sore throat. It will be refreshing. INGREDIENTS: 1. Spinach- 1 bunch (If its very big , take 1/2 bunch). 2. Onion- 1 big. 3. Ginger- 1 inch. 4. Garlic- 2-3 pods. 5. Cloves- 1 6. Cinnamon stick- 1 inch. 7. Butter- As needed. 8. Salt- To taste. 9. Pepper- To taste. 10 Green chilly- 1 (Optional). 11. Sugar- 1 tsp. 12. Milk- 1/2 cup. METHOD: 1. Wash and clean the spinach leaves. Separate the leaves from its stem. Take a pan or pressure cooker. Add 1 spoon butter. Add cloves and cinnamon stick. Add in the chopped ginger, garlic and green chilly (if using). Then, add chopped onions and saute until it turns pink. Add in the spinach leaves and saute for a minute. Add sugar (Sugar helps to retain the green...

Sabudhana is called as sago or javvarisi in tamil. North Indian people usually make sabudhana kichidi or vada during fasting days. I make this sabudhana vada as a weekend snack. This spicy sabudhana vada can be had as it is, but my husband loves to have this with a green chutney. So, here's the weekend special snack. INGREDIENTS: 1. Sabudhana/sago- 1 cup. 2. Potato- 1 big. 3. Green chilly-2 4. Ginger- 1 small piece. 5. Garlic- 2-3 pods. 6. Coriander leaves- 1 handful. 7. Peanuts- half cup. 8. Salt- To taste. 9. Cumin powder- 1 tsp. 10. Coriander powder- 1 tsp. 11. Red chilly powder- 1/2 tsp. 12. Oil- For frying METHOD: 1. Wash and soak sago for 4-5 hours. After 4-5 hours, drain the excess water completely and keep it aside. Boil potatoes in a vessel or pressure cooker and peel its skin once cooked. Dry roast peanuts and grind it as a coarse powder along with ginger, garlic and coriander leaves. In a bowl add the boiled potatoes and grounded powder. Add salt a...