Carrot/Gaajar Halwa

Carrot Halwa is one of the most famous dessert in North India especially in Punjab and is normally known as Gaajjar kaa halwa among Indians. Any parties, poojas and other functions are incomplete without a touch Gaajar Halwa. I have been making this from the time I came to US and my kids love this a lot because of its softness and sweetness and color and  and and hmmm, I do not know what all reasons should I give to make this more often. Someone has rightly said that when you make a dish so often you really do not have the judgement of the quantity of ingredients you use. This happens with me most of time and carrot halwa is one among them. I just grate few carrots, saute it in some ghee, add some milk, a handful of sugar and garnish it with some ghee roasted cashews and raisins. It is that simple and I love its change in color in each and every step of the cooking process. So this time when I made it, I thought of preparing it with by measuring so that I can blog this in cups and spoons. So friends here is this awesome dessert/sweet that you can make it easily without worrying it might go somewhere wrong in the process of cooking.

Ingredients :-
Grated Carrot :- 4 cups
Milk - 2 to 2 1/2 cups( i microwaved it for 10-15 mins stiring it every 5 mins in between/ you can boil it on stove top and keep aside as well)
Sugar -3/4 cup
Ghee - 2 tsp(you can use more as per your choice)
cashews and raisins few
Cardamon powder - 1tsp

Preparation Method:-

• Heat up a non-stick pan on med flame, add ghee, saute the cashews, raisins and keep aside.
• Add the grated carrot to the same pan, saute well till it looses it's orange color and become soft. It took me around 10 mins of sauting in medium flame.

     

• Add the hot milk to it and keep stirring till the carrot absorbs all the milk, and it took around 8-10 mins for all the milk to incorporate and mix well with the carrot.

• Now add the sugar, you will see littlee bit more moisture adding up and the color changing again to deep orange. Keep stirring around 4-5 mins till all the moisture is absorbed.

 

• Switch off the flame and add cardamom powder and mix well.
•  Move into a serving dish and Garnish with raisins and cashews. Serve warm or cold..

Pineapple upside down cake

Pineapple upside down cake is our all time favorite cake with great texture and taste. It tastes really good with the topping of pineapple and cherry in butter and caramelized brown sugar, must say it is a classic dessert. This recipe do not use any cake mix, pudding etc, but even then is a super ezee and quick bake and can made for any occasions. You can serve them as it is or with a dollop of ice-cream or whipped cream. So bake them today and enjoy with your loved ones!!

Ingredients:-

For Topping:-

1. Canned pineapple slices - 1 can(i used 7 slices out of it)
2. Maraschino cherries - 7
3. Brown sugar - 3 tbsp(Adjust according to your sweet level)
4. Butter -¼ cup

For Sponge cake:-

1. All purpose flour- 1½ cup
2. Baking powder - 1 tsp
3. Baking Soda -½ tsp
4. Salt - a pinch
5. Pineapple juice drained out of the canned pineapple - 1/2 cup
6. Eggs - 3
7. Sugar - 1 cup
8. Butter/margarine - ½ cup

Preparation Method:-

• Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan with the butter around the edges and base.
• Pour the melted butter in the pan and sprinkle the brown sugar on top. Spread it evenly with hands removing any lumps formed. 
• Arrange the pineapple slices on the brown sugar and place the cherries in center of each pineapple slice.
• Add All purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder in a wide bowl. Give it a thorough mix with a wire whisk or sift them together.
• In a bowl cream butter and sugar beating them well with a hand mixer/whisk. 
• Add in eggs one at a time beating them well till creamy. 
• Fold in sifted flour mix, little by little, combine them well. Add in pineapple juice and gently mix everything. 
• Pour the batter on top of the arranged pineapple and cherries.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a tooth pick or cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. 
• Take out of the oven and let it cool completely.
• Keep a serving plate on top of the cake, turn plate and pan over, pat on top of the pan and remove the pan. 
• The beautiful pineapple upside cake is ready to serve. You can serve them Warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!!!!

Updated Note on 6/19/2013: - You can make this cake with fresh pineapples, I've made them with fresh pineapple  many times. Slice the pineapple in rounds and keep them boxed in refrigerator for couple of days. It oozes out lot of juice by itself which can be used in the batter(instead of pineapple juice from canned pineapple). Increase 1/4 cup of sugar while making the batter since canned pineapple juice is very sweet compared to the juice of fresh pineapple. It tasted marvelous and came out perfect and Spongy

Updated on 01/01/2012. 

I bake this cake often since it is one of the the easiest and most delicious cake of my choice. I made this Pineapple Upside down cake for celebrating 2012 New Year Celebration with friends. Adding this recent picture.

Ezee Vermicelli Upma

Here I'm sharing today the all famous Vermicelli Upma, the quickest and easiest breakfast and all time favorite of my kids. My son believe it is a kind of non-sticky noodle because of its texture and similarity in looks. You can either cook the Semiya/vermicelli in boiling water, drain them off and add to seasoning/tempering/thadka or do the seasoning and add the boiled vermicelli to it and mix. If you do the second way, you'll get to taste all crunchy nuts but if you are in jiffy go for the first method. This gets cooked in no time, so is a great option for woking women on their busy mornings. Try it out, Enjoy!!!!

Ingredients:-

Vermicelli - 1cup
green chilly - 2 finely chopped
Onion - 1 finely chopped
ginger - 2 tbsp finely chopped
dry red chilly -2 broken into half
mustard seeds - 2 tsp
peanut - 2tbsp
urad daal - 2 tsp
curry leaves - few
coconut oil- 3 tbsp
water - 1 3/4 cup
Veggies - ½ cup

Preparation Method:-

• Dry roast the vermicelli and keep aside(you will find the roasted vermicelli in stores, opt out roasting if you buy that).
• Heat a frying pan, add oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add urad daal, peanut, curry leaves, dry red chilly and stir for a min.
• Add onion, green chilly, ginger and saute for 2-3 mins till onion is translucent(don't over fry the onion).
• Add the water and get to boil, add salt as well. Lower the flame to med and add the roasted vermicelli slowly and stirring it slowly.
• Keep stirring till it absorbs all the water(take care of vermicelli not to become sticky).
• Switch off the flame and serve warm as breakfast or tea time snack....

Note:- You can add mixed veggies while sauting the onion, it tastes great and serves a great, healthy breakfast

watermelon smoothie...

The most awaited summer has come, kids are enjoying their play outside. My husband is in full form to hit the soccer and cricket grounds. But this time summer seems to be very hot, that too so early. It is great time for fruits, they are the best sellers in the market. They are consumed as it is, in the form of Juices, Smoothies, Milk Shakes, Fruit punch's and many more colorful forms. It is a treat for the eyes to watch them in so many colors and really refreshing for the mind in hot summer. 

So here is my watermelon Smoothie, very simple and easy to prepare and very tasty too...

Water Melon - 2 cups
Lemon Juice - 2 tsp
Ice cubes few
Sugar - 3 tbsp(optional, i added it for my kids only)

Preparation Method:-

Blend everything together. Strain and serve with few more ice cubes...
(You can add some Whip cream or vanilla ice-cream on top to make it rich and more sweet, but we love them as it is)

Note:- Watermelon in nature, are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, and B6. They are also a great source of potassium, and extremely low in sodium. Daily consumption of watermelon is said to be very effective to cure kidney disorders.

Spinach Omlette and Sandwich

Very simple and quick recipe, healthy and nutritious too. You can substitute egg with egg whites if you want to reduce the cholesterol/fat count. I often use it for sandwich filling as well. You can try it out in either way, you'll figure out its a smart option for power packed breakfast or lunch.

Ingredients:-
1) Chopped spinach:- 1/4 cup(add some salt and pepper on top, toss it and keep aside)
2) Eggs - 2
3) Salt - 1/2 tsp
4) Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Preparation Method:-

 

Beat the eggs well add some salt and pepper and mix well. Heat a non-stick pan on med heat, spread some spinach, pour the beaten egg on top and spread some more spinach on top again. let it cook for 5 mins and flip it. keep for 1 min and take out of the pan..Serve hot.

For Spinach omlette Sandwich:-

 

Divide the Omlette into 4 equal parts. Toast 2 slices of bread, top 1 slice of bread with a piece of omlette, a cheese slice, a slice of onion, tomato and cucumber pickle cover it with another bread slice and serve.
I always use brown/wheat bread or multi-grain bread, it is nutritious and healthy

Note:- I have not using any cooking oil since I made the omlette in non-stick. If you want to drizzle some oil you may do that.