Onion and Tomato Salad

This is one of my favourite salads. It has the goodness of tomatoes and the meticulously cut onions give a fine taste to it. Serv- e it with chapatis or rotis.

The ingredients that you need are

red tomatoes – 3

onions  -1

oil -1 teaspoon

mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

asafoetida -a pinch

turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp

green chillies – 2

sugar – 1/2 tsp

salt according to taste

Method:

Cut the onions and tomato into small pieces.

Make the seasoning withasafoetida, turmeric powder and green chillies.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

Garnish with finely cut  coriander.

Make the seasoning with

Vada Pav

This is the desi version continental burger. It is hot and spicy, simply mouth watering.

Ingredients needed:

pav buns – 8

boiled potatoes- 3

finely cut onion – 1

red chilly powder- 2tsp

coriander – 1 tbsp

salt- 1/2 tsp

for the batter:

gram flour- 1 bowl

chilli powder-1/2 tsp

salt to taste

oil for frying

For the green chutney:

mint leaves -1/2 bowl

coriander leaves- 1/2 bowl

green chilly – 4

ginger -1/2 inch

garlic flakes – 4

salt to taste

Other ingredients:

butter

tomato ketchup

Procedure:

1) Make the potato mixture ,by mixing all the ingredients.

2) Mix all the ingredients of the batter with water.

3) Make balls of the potato mixture and fry in the oil.

4) Keep them aside.

5) Grind all the ingredients of the green chutney with water.

6) Cut the pav into two halves.

7) Smear some butter and roast on the tawa.

8) Apply green chutney on one side tomato ketchup on the other side and keep the potato wada in between by pressing with palms.

9) Keep for two minutes on the tawa and serve hot.

10) Simply delicious

Tomato Chutney

Tomato chutney makes a tasty accompaniment with chapati or with rice. It’s easy to make and needs no much ingredients.

Ingrdients:

tomato 1kg

red chilli powder 3tbsp

oil 2tbsp

sesame seeds 1 tsp

asafoetida  1/2 tsp

turmeric powder 1/2 tsp

salt according to taste

method:

Wash and cut the tomatoes.

Take oil in a kadai ,make the seasoning and add the tomatoes.

Allow to cook well . They should be soft. Add salt and chilli powder and stir well. Allow to cook till oil seperates from the mixture. Store in a container. 

Cooking made easy

handy hints are useful to all of us as they make our chores less complicated. They help us to work them in a simpler manner,or in a simpler way,we take the shorter route to reach the destination than the usual long road. It is much safer with less baggage and also fewer vehicles along the way.

• cooking in a pressure cooker is much faster and cheaper. Rice,pulses and even vegetables can be steamed in it.
• vegetables can be cut beforehand and stored in a closed container.
• use non-stick pans for your cooking,you will be using less oil.
• add a little turmeric powder to pigeon pea (toor dal) for uniform cooking.
• soak pulses in water for an hour before cooking. This ensures proper and quick cooking.

Can you store your vegetables well? No doubt, refrigerator is useful to hoard many products for a longer period of time. But, you can use these tips to give more life to your vegetables.

• keep green leafy vegetables except spinach in paper cover. I have noticed that spinach is better kept outside at room temperature.
• remove the stalks of green chillies before storing them in a paper cover. They will stay fresh for a longer period of time.
• zip pouch bags are good for other vegetables.