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Wheat Berries & Stir Fry Veggies

Wheat berries is a whole grain which is good source of protein and fiber. You can prepare various recipes using wheat berries like cereal, salad or soup. You could also grind it to make flour and prepare flour based recipes. Wheat berries could take little long to cook so cooking in pressure cooker is advisable however you can cook it in a open pan too at low to medium heat. Wheat berries can be served with red beans curry, chicken curry or any other curry. For this recipe I have used stir fired vegetable along with wheat berries which make is simple, healthy and a light meal. You could always change the mix of veggies as per your choice and adding a tandoori masala to fried veggies give a zesty flavor. 

wheat-berries

Red Beans Curry

Red Beans Curry is a side dish prepared mainly from dry Red Beans. There are variety of beans available in grocery store like kidney beans, pinto beans, soybeans and so on. Using these beans you can also prepare variety of recipes like a soup, curry and salad.  Beans are good source of fiber and protein. This recipe preparation is more like Indian style Rajma recipe. The recipe is very simple to prepare basically soak the beans overnight, boil it and then cook with some spices. The curry goes very well with plain rice, jeera rice and well as poori and paratha. This same recipe I have also used for Beet Greens Rice Rollred-beans

Mutter Corn Potli

Mutter Corn Potli is a recipe which goes very well as tea time snacks or as appetizer at parties. There are variety of snacks dishes in India and many of them are the ones which are prepared fresh and served hot. Mutter Corn Potli is very similar to popular snack Samosa however with little cute shape and a slightly different filling. Potli in Hindi is referred to a small jewelry bag. The crust for this recipe is prepared using all purpose flour and filled with sauteed peas & corn with tangy spices mix. The Mutter Corn Potli tastes awesome with date & tamarind chutney. You can adjust the spicy level to your taste. Serve it with tea, coffee or even drinks.mutter-corn-potli_19

Raw Kathal ( Jackfruit) Dum

Kathal (Jackfruit) can be used as vegetable when it’s raw or as fruit when it gets riped. In Northern part of India people mostly use it as vegetable however in South mostly people use it as fruit. Raw Jackfruit can be used to prepare variety of dishes like dry, curry or kofta. Raw Jackfruit dishes are my favorite and I have been always looking to find fresh Jackfruit, however in many of my attempts I failed to find the right one to make proper vegetable dish. Cutting raw Jackfruit requires some skills as it is very sticky, my Mom used oil to grease her palm and knife while cutting the kathal. For this recipe I have used the canned  raw Jackfruit which is available in Indian grocery stores which makes it easier as it is already cleaned and cut. I am sharing this recipe from my Mom who used to make it amazingly delicious. Boiled and roasted kathal cooked in onion and tomato gravy flavored with garam masala powder, nutmeg powder and spices. This simple curry is a great compliment with steamed rice or roti.

 

Masala Bhaat

Masala Bhaat is a Maharashtrian recipe prepared using basmati rice, mix vegetables and spiced with Goda Masala. Goda Masala is a special Maharashtrian spice mix which gives an authentic flavor to the recipe. It seems Maharashtrian wedding is considered incomplete without masala bhaat which indicates that how much people like it. In a way you can say it’s like a veg pulao, however it is more spicy and have it’s own taste. You could add vegetables of your choices in it. I learnt this recipe from one of my family friend’s Mom. She makes it so delicious that once you start eating, you can’t stop. Masala bhaat goes very well with maharastrian kadhi or curd raita.Masala Bhaat_7

Peas Masala

Peas masala is a very famous curry in Northern part of India. Usually, peas masala is made for chaats like aloo tikki chaat, papdi chaat, samosa chaat, ragda pattice or so on. This is a very simple recipe which is made using basic ingredients like dry green peas, onion, tomato, ginger-garlic and is flavored with spices. It tastes good when it is little spicy and tangy. Peas masala can also be used as curry and goes well with jeera rice or chapatti.

Pineapple Jam

Fruit Jam is very common breakfast item and readily available in grocery stores. This recipe is to prepares Jam from fresh pineapple at home. Fresh Jam always tastes better than stored ones and you can add your flavors to this based on your taste. This recipe is from my sister Priyanka who makes it so well and tasty. This Jam is little different that regular jam as it is slightly spiced with pepper powder, chili flakes, cinnamon powder and garam masala powder. You can either use cut store bought pineapple or cut fresh pineapple. The Jam can be stored in glass jar for about 2 months in refrigerator.

Poha Chivda (Maharashtrian) Snack

Poha chivda is a popular Maharashtrian craving snack which goes very well with tea or coffee. There are many variations of this recipe. Normally, this snack is made during Diwali however you can make it any time and relish. I learnt this recipe from one of my Marathi friend Shilpa Padole. She is expert in making this and whenever we go to her place, she packs us a full box of it. To prepare this recipe, you would need thin poha or chivda which could be easily found in Indian grocery store. Dry roasted chivda coated along with all the ingredients makes it a very delicious snack. You can add cashew nuts and raisins as per you taste.