Banana-Avocado smoothie

Ingredients:

 

Servings-1

Banana-1
Avocado-1/2
Milk-2/3 cup
Whey protein powder (vanilla or chocolate)-1 tbsp

Method:

1. Blend everything together till smooth.
2. The smoothie tastes the best when the banana is nice and ripe.
3. Add protein powder especially if you are drinking this after a work out!! Enjoy.

Sambhar

Ingredients:

 

Toor dal-1 cup
Onion-1 medium
Tomatoes-2 medium
Red Radish-10 small
Baby carrots-10
Tamarind-lemon size
Jaggery-1'' cube
Salt-to taste
Red chilli powder-to taste
Sambhar powder-1 tbsp or to taste
Curry leaves-10
Hing-1/2 tsp
Turmeric-1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
Oil-2 tsp

Method:

 

1. Pressure cook dal with 2 cups of water and for 5-6 whistles. Mash properly and keep it aside.
2. While the dal cooks, cut all the vegetables. You can add whatever vegetables you like. Most common vegetables that are used in sambhar are doodhi (bottle guard) and drumstick. You can skip if you don't have them.
3. Take tamarind in a bowl, add water to cover it and microwave for 2 min. Let it cool before you extract juice of it. You can also use tamarind paste but the taste may be a little different.
4. Take a pan, add oil. After the oil heats up, add cumin and mustard seeds followed by  hing, turmeric and curry leaves. Cook for 30 sec.
5. Add onions and cook until transparent. Now add tomatoes and cook till soft.
6. Add radish and carrot, close the lid and cook for 3-5 minutes.
7. Now add salt, red chilly powder, sambhar powder, jaggery and cook for a minute. Add tamarind juice, mix properly and stir it for 2 min.
8. Transfer the mashed dal and mix properly. Add enough water so as to make it thin (roughly 3-4 cups water).
9. Cover with a lid and let it boil till the veggies are cooked. Adjust for salt and other spices if needed.
10. Sambhar is ready and you can serve it with rice and ghee with papad on the side. Or, sambhar goes best with idlis too!! Enjoy.

Idli

Ingredients:

Servings: 24 medium size idlis

Ural dal-1 cup

Idli Ravva (thin)-2 cups

Fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp

Thin Poha-1 cup

Salt-to taste 

Baking soda-1/2 tsp

Oil for greasing idli stand

Method:

1. Soak urad dal and fenugreek seeds together in a bowl of water overnight.

2. Next day, soak poha with just enough water that it gets wet and soft.

3. Now grind soaked urad dal with fenugreek seeds together with poha. You can do this in two batches. Add enough water to grind everything till smooth. The batter should be thick and pouring.

4. Transfer the batter to a big bowl and add idli rava. Mix properly. The bowl should be 1/2 full so that when the batter ferments, it doesn't overflow.

5. Cover with a lid and keep it on counter overnight. For best results, keep the bowl in an oven. The warmth in the oven is perfect for fermentation.

6. Next day, you should see beautiful fermentation. If the fermentation is not enough, let the batter ferment for few more hours. Mix the batter well with salt and baking soda and keep it aside. Now, take a pressure cooker and add 3 cups of water. Make sure the water wont touch the bottom of the idli stand when you place it. Boil the water on stove on medium flame.

7. Now take the idli stand and grease with oil. Pour the batter in the idli molds. Do not cover the mold upto the brim as the batter will overflow during steaming.

8. Place the stand in the pressure cooker and close it. Do not put on the whistle.

9. Let the idlis steam for 12 min. Turn off the stove, let the pressure go and open the lid immediately otherwise the water will condense on idlis.

10. Let them sit for couple of minutes and serve the idlis with sambhar and/or chutney!

11. Refrigerate remaining batter.

Note: Dont add salt and baking soda before fermentation. After fermentation, add salt and baking soda just before use. Refrigerate remaining batter as it is.

Spanish Flan

Ingredients:

 

Eggs-3
Sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)-1 can
Evaporated milk (12 oz)-1 can
Vanilla extract-1 tbsp
Sugar-3/4 cup

Method:

 

1. Set the oven at 350C. Set up a water bath by adding 3-4 cups of water in a wide tray. Make sure that the baking dish fits in the tray. Choose either a glass or ceramic baking dish. Avoid aluminum/metal pans.
2. Now beat eggs, add condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla. Do not over beat. Just beat enough so as to mix everything properly. Keep the mixture aside.
3. Take a flat and wide saucepan and add sugar to it. Over very small flame let the sugar melt. Do not use ladle to mix it. Just shake the pan few times in between. Do not over heat the sauce. Otherwise, you will get a burning taste.
4. Once the caramel sauce is ready, pour it into the baking dish and spread it nice and even along the sides as well. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.
5. Place the baking dish in the tray filled with water. Add more water to the tray if you can otherwise it's fine. Let it bake for 1 hr 15 min.
6. After 1 hr 15 min, the sides get set pretty well but you will see that the center would be still jiggly.
7. Let it cool at room temperature for an hour and refrigerate it overnight.
8. Next day, run a knife around the edges and invert it into an another container. Enjoy!