Fafda is a very popular traditional Gujarati snacks. The recipe is made of gram flour and spices. The crunchy Fafda, Jalebi and roasted chili is a awesome snacks combination and generally it is served to guest in the same manner. Although not very hard but recipe requires some practice so don’t get disheartened when you are trying first time. It would need some practice to get it going. Generally Fafda is deep fried however I also tried baking the same and that too came out pretty tasty.
An Indian meal is not complete without curd or curd raita. There are variety of raita recipe like bundi raita, mint raita, cucumber & onion raita which goes well with various kind of dishes. Lauki raita is one of the recipe which is very healthy and tasty. This raita goes very well with biryani, pulav, roti. stuffed parathas or rice & daal combination.
Minestrone soup recipe is an Italian soup recipe which is prepared with ingredients like chicken, vegetable, beans, pasta or grain like barley or Quinoa. This recipe is a vegetarian barley minestrone soup. The soup is generally served with Italian bread and salads. This is a very light recipe and good for dinner or lunch.
Stew is basically a thick soup. Stews are made either veg or non-veg and in various flavors. This recipe is more closer to Kerala’s vegetable stew which has slight sweetness and creamy texture. You can chose the vegetables of your choice as add on. Coconut milk is very important as it gives a rich taste to the stew. The stew goes very well with appam as well as rice.
Focaccia Bread is a Italian bread which is flat and oven baked. The bread is generally topped with various herbs. Rosemary gives a wonderful aroma to bread. The bread is served with olive oil and can also be topped with olives, mushrooms, green onion and tomatoes. It tastes very good and certainly different than any normal bread. It is used as side during the lunch or dinner.
Couscous is a traditional middle eastern grain made from semolina. Couscous doesn’t have its own flavor however it goes very well as a base for vegetables, chicken and, meat dishes. The grain is also used in salad recipes along with herbs like coriander, basil, parsley and mint. One can eat this as a side with chicken or vegetable stew. I have given a little twist to the recipe by adding some spices to make it a little tangy and tasteful. This recipe is a vegetarian recipe and you can use your favorite vegetables as well. The dish is very nutritious and can be prepared in short time.
Karela’s( bitter gourd) bitter taste might turn people away from it however it can really sweeten your health by virtue of its disease preventing and health promoting phyto chemical compounds. There are a variety of recipes you can make with Karela, like stir fried Karela with onion, or gravy or stuffed karela fry. Stuffed karela goes very well with simple daal and rice as a side dish.
Khandvi is a famous Gujarati snacks. Khandvi is prepared using besan (gram flour) and curd and tempered with curry leaves, mustard and sesame seeds. Making it first few times until you get hang of it, requires lot of patience. The very important step is getting the mixture consistency right and time taken to spread. It took me three iterations to get the right consistency of mixture and to make it perfect. Khandvi is garnished with fresh grated coconut and coriander leaves. I also have tried a little variation by stuffing the khandvi with shredded coconut, coriander leaves and beetroot. You can either skip the stuffing or make it as per your choice.
