Fruit Custard

Fruit custard is an easy fruit salad with delicate creamy sweet sauce. It can be served as dessert or a side dish.

Ingredients:
For Fruit Custard – Approx. 6 servings

• Custard powder (Vanilla flavor) - 2 tbsp
• Whole Milk - 3 cups
• Sugar - 4 tbsp
• Seedless grapes - 1 cup
• Apple - 1
• Banana - 1/2
• Pomegranate seeds - 1/2 cup
• Almonds - 8
• Cashew nuts - 8

Method:

1. In a small bowl, take 1/2 cup warm milk and add 2 tbsp custard powder. Mix well to make it smooth and lump free. Keep aside.
2. In a heavy bottom pan, add remaining milk and bring it to a boil. Add sugar and mix well.
3. Now gradually add custard mix to the milk. Stir continuously. It starts to thicken.
4. Mix well and turn the heat off.
5. Cool it down at the room temperature and then refrigerate.
6. Clean and cut all the fruits in bite size pieces and keep aside.
7. Chop the nuts for garnish and keep aside.

Garnish and serving suggestion:

In a serving bowl, arrange cut fruits. Now pour chilled custard and garnish with chopped nuts and pomegranate seeds. Serve chilled.

Koshimbir: A Maharashtrian Salad

Ingredients:
For approx. 4 servings
English cucumber – 1 Peeled
Tomato – 1
Sweet onion - 1
Green chili – 1 tsp finely chopped [OPTIONAL]
Fresh Cilantro – ½ cup finely chopped
Freshly ground black pepper – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
Fresh lime juice – 1 tbsp
Chaat masala -  1 tsp
salt as per taste

Method:

• Cut cucumber, onions and tomatoes in small cubes. Keep aside.
• In a bowl, add all the cut vegetables, green chilies, black pepper, sugar, chaat masala, lime juice and salt.
• Mix well and let it refrigerate till chilled.
• Add fresh chopped cilantro, mix again and serve.

Enjoy this tangy salad with lunch or dinner.

Healthy Strawberry Shake

Ingredients:  Approx. 2 servings

• Fresh Strawberries - 8 cleaned and cut into halves
• Milk (low fat) - 2 cups
• Fat free Vanilla Ice cream - 1 scoop
• Honey - 1 tsp

For Garnish:

• Whipped cream
• Maraschino cherries - 2

Method:
In a blender, add cut strawberries, milk, ice cream, honey and Ice. Blend for a minute. Pour in tall glasses and garnish with whipped cream and cherries.
Enjoy your healthy yummy shake.

Note: You can add any protein mix of your choice to make it a meal.

Cucumber cooler drink

Cucumber cooler drink
Beat the summer heat with refreshing Cucumber cooler drink.

INGREDIENTS:
Makes 6 servings approx.

• English cucumber – 3 (peeled and cubed)
• Celery – 1 cup (cubed)
• Mint leaves - 10
• Fresh lemon juice – 1/2 cup
• Honey – 2 tbsp
• Ice

Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a blender. Strain and serve chilled. Garnish with cucumber slices and mint leaves.

Note: Add Vodka and convert refreshing cucumber cooler into Cucumber martini.

Healthy Snack: Steamed Doodhi Muthia

Healthy Snack: Steamed Doodhi Muthia

I always loved Gujarati cuisine for the variety it brings to everyday snack. Muthias are steamed and tempered bites made of a variety of flours and vegetables. I have adapted this recipe from Tarla dalal’s cookbook and every time it comes out perfect. Enjoy this healthy snack with your favorite chutney and a cup of masala tea.

Ingredients:
Servings: 4 Approx.

For the muthias:
Bottle guard (Lauki /doodhi) – 1 medium
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Semolina (rava) - 3/4 cup
Bengal gram flour (Besan) - 1/2 cup
Ginger-green chili paste - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder (haldi) - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds (jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds (saunf) - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (hing)- 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Chopped cilantro - 3 tbsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Cooking oil- 2 tbsp
Salt as per taste

For the tempering:
Mustard seeds ( rai / sarson) - 2 tsp
Sesame seeds (til) - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida (hing) - 1/2 tsp
Cooking oil - 2 tbsp

For garnish:
Chopped cilantro - 2 tbsp
Fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp (Optional)

Method:
For Muthias:

• Peel and grate lauki or doodhi. Squeeze the excess water from it. Strain the water out of the grated doodhi. Keep the liquid aside for later use.
• Combine all the ingredients for the muthia in a bowl and knead soft dough adding the strained vegetable liquid if needed.
• Oil your palms and divide the dough into 4 parts and roll out into cylindrical shapes approx. 1.5 inch diameter.
• Steam them for 25 to 30 minutes till done. To check if the muthias are done, insert a toothpick in the centre. If it comes out clean, the muthias are cooked.
• Cool and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices and keep aside.

Tempering and Garnish:

• Heat oil in a shallow pan and add the mustard seeds. When it starts crackling, add the sesame seeds and asafetida.
• Add the sliced muthia and stir for 5 to 10 minutes till they become golden brown.
• Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and grated fresh coconut.
• Serve hot with tangy green chutney.

Strawberry Yogurt Parfait

Serving healthy breakfast isn’t that hard. This easy recipe calls for what you mostly have in your refrigerator and pantry. And yes it requires no cooking skills.

Ingredients:
Approx. 4 servings

• Organic vanilla yogurt – 2 cups
• Fresh strawberries – 10
• Walnut & Pecans –  1/2 cup
• Kashi Go Lean Crunch Cereal – 2 cups [Or any cereal of your choice]

Method:

1. Lightly toast walnuts and pecans in a pan. Crush them in small bites. Keep aside. Cut strawberries in quarters and keep aside.
2. Take four tall glasses to serve parfaits. Layer each glass with 2 tbsp of vanilla yogurt. Now add 4-5 strawberry pieces, add 2 tbsp of cereal and 1 tbsp of nuts.
3. Repeat the same sequence, yogurt, strawberry, cereal and nuts in all four glasses. Garnish with strawberries.
4. Serve immediately or for later use, cover these glasses with cellophane wrap and refrigerate.

Enjoy as a yummy and healthy breakfast.

Pineapple Kesari [Low fat, sugar free]

It is very hard to find healthy and tasty desserts. So I altered the original Pineapple kesari recipe to fit in healthy recipe column. But this one is not shy in taste. It is simple and easy as well. So enjoy your dessert guilt free .

Ingredients:
For Pineapple kesari [4 servings]

Rawa – 1 cup
Crushed pineapple – 1 cup
Splenda (Sugar substitute) – 1.5 cups
Ghee/Butter – ½ tbsp
Water – 2 cups
Kesar (Saffron) – ½ tsp (dissolve in water)
Cardamom powder – ½ tsp
Kismis (Golden raisins) – ¼ cup
Cashews – ¼ cup coarsely chopped

Method:

• Dissolve saffron strands or Kesar in 2 cups of water.
• In a pan, add ½ tbsp of Ghee/butter. Add rawa and dry roast it on medium low temperature, till it releases rich aroma. It will look light golden in color.
• Add crushed pineapple and splenda to the pan and mix well. Immediately add the saffron water, while stirring continuously or it will be lumpy.
• Add kismis, cashews and cardamom powder to it and mix well.
• Cook for another 2-3 minutes and pineapple kesari is done.

Serving Suggestion:
Serve warm with your favorite ice-cream as a dessert after dinner.

Colorful Carrot Salad

Colorful spring brings color to the food. This salad is perfect for bright, warm days. You can pack this for the picnic or the lazy afternoon lunch in the backyard. Salads are the best compliment to any meal. This colorful and healthy salad is even appealing to the kids. So here comes the simple yet flavorful recipe of Carrot salad.

Ingredients: For Colorful Carrot Salad [4 servings]
Fresh Ingredients:
Carrots – 2 cups shredded
Sweet Onions -1 cup diced
Tomatoes –  1cup diced
Cucumber – 1 cup diced
Cilantro -1/2 cup finely chopped
Lime Juice – 2 tbsp fresh

Dry Ingredients:Walnuts – ½ cup (optional)Chaat Masala* – 1 tbsp
Black Pepper – 1 tsp
Roasted Cumin seeds – 1 tsp (powdered)
Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt as per taste
Method:

• Prepare the fresh ingredients. Shred the carrots, peel and dice the cucumber and onions, dice the tomatoes and finely chop the cilantro. Also chop the walnuts for crunch in the salad (optional). Keep aside.
• In the salad bowl, add diced onions, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, walnuts and cilantro. Mix gently.
• Now add lime juice, chaat masala, freshly grounded black pepper, roasted cumin seed powder, sugar and salt. Mix the salad again.
• Serve fresh with any meal or just as an anytime snack .

*Chaat Masala is easily available at all Indian grocery stores.