Pulses are very rich in protein, high in dietary fiber and loaded with complex carbs. This is a really good source of protein for vegetarians. However, we will add rice as an additional ingredient along with pulses to make it a complete meal recipe.

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4

Kitchen Gadget: None

Difficulty level: 4/10

Ingredient:

-          1.5 cup rice

-          1.5 cup pulses of your choice

-          2 tsp green chilies paste

-          1 tomato cut into small cubes.

-          3 dry red chilli

-          3 cloves

-          Salt  per taste

-          2.5 tsp lemon juice

-          4 tsp oil

-          1 tsp curry leaves

-          1/4  cup cilantro

Cucumber yogurt Dip (Raita)

-          1 cup small cubes of peeled cucumber.

-          1.5 cup plain fat-free yogurt

-          1/2 tsp green chili paste

-          salt per taste

-          1 tsp cumin seeds (roasted and powdered)

 

Preparation:

1.       Soak rice and pulses in separate bowls for 1 hour.

2.       In a pan, heat oil.

3.       Drain Rice and Pulses.

4.       Add Green and Red chillies, cloves and curry leaves in oil.

5.       Saute for 1 minute and add drained rice and pulses.

6.       Stir it for 2-3 minutes and add 6 cups of water.

7.       Add salt, and let it boil for 5 minutes.

8.       Add lemon juice and tomatoes.

9.       Cover and let it simmer for another 5 minutes or until rice and pulses are completely cooked and soft and the water has been completely evaporated.

10.   Add some water if rice and pulses is still not cooked.

11.   Turn off the stove, serve steaming garnished with cilantro.

12.   Add all the ingredients for cucumber dip in a bowl and mix well. You dip is ready.

13.   You can serve with Cucumber and Yogurt dip.

Tips:

-          You can use Brown rice instead of white. Also pulses can be of your choice. Instead of pulses you can add black or red beans.

Most of us are aware of health benefits of Oat and Soybean.  Oat and soybean both are excellent source of protein and Dietary fiber. I will try both the ingredients to make delicious tacos. This is the healthiest option to make tacos according to me. Now you can eat as many as tacos guilt free.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Servings: 4

Kitchen instrument: Oven

Difficulty level: 5/10

Ingredient:

-          1.5 cup oat

-          Salt to taste

-          2 tsp Italian seasoning

-          1 cup soy bean

-          1 cup tomato puree

-          1 tsp sugar

-          1 tsp red chilli sauce

-          1/4 cup diced green bell pepper

-          4 tsp oil

-          1 cup cheese shred

Preparation:

1.       Soak soybean overnight or at least for 3 to 4 hours.

2.       Mix oat, 1 tsp seasoning, salt, 1 tsp oil and knead dough using water.

3.       Set aside the dough for 30 minutes.

4.       Cook soybean until soft.

5.       In a pan heat 2 tsp oil.

6.       Add bell pepper and tomato puree and salt per taste.

7.       Let it simmer for 3 – 4 minutes.

8.       Add soybean, sugar and chilli sauce and mix well.

9.       Cover and let is simmer for another 7 – 9 minutes.

10.   Your taco topping is ready.

11.   Now make several small pieces from dough and roll small tacos.

12.   Grease Cookie tray with cooking spray.

13.   Preheat oven at 370 Degree F.

14.   Arrange tacos in the tray to bake for 5 to 8 minutes turning over.

15.   Once crisp and golden take out the baking try and add layer of your taco topping.

16.   Garnish with cheese shred.

17.   Bake it for another 4 – 5 minutes and serve hot.

Tips:

-          Oat has tendency to soak water so while kneading dough use enough water. Also, soybean takes time to cook. Soak them enough and boil them enough so that they become tender and soft.

Pretzels originated in Europe is a type of baked bread product made from dough most commonly shaped into a twisted knot. Once in a while it is ok to indulge and Pretzel is one of my favorite comfort food.  Pretzels can be hard or soft. The recipe I will share here is for soft Pretzels.

Preparation time: 90 minutes

Servings: 6

Kitchen instrument: Oven

Difficulty level: 5/10

Ingredient:

-          2 tsp Yeast

-          1 tsp sugar

-          1 tsp salt

-          3 tsp coarse sea salt

-          1 cup warm milk

-          3 cups all-purpose flour/Maida

-          3 tsp melted butter (you can substitute with oil)

-          3 cups hot water

-          1/2 cup baking soda

Preparation:

1.       Dissolve yeast in bowl of warm milk and let it stand for 10 minutes.

2.       Now in a bowl add flour salt and sugar.

3.       Slowly add yeast mixture and mix well to form sticky dough.

4.       You can add more flour if the dough is too liquidly or add couple spoons of milk if dough is dry.

5.       Knead dough until it is smooth.

6.       Grease a large bowl and place the dough in it.

7.       Cover and let it stand for an hour in a warm place. This will allow the dough to rise.

8.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

9.       Grease baking tray.

10.   Now add baking soda to 3 cups of hot water in a large bowl.

11.   Now make 6 equal pieces from the dough. Roll each one to form a rope. Pick up the edges and twist into the shape of pretzel. Now dip the pretzel in to the baking soda water mixture and place into baking sheets.

12.   Now sprinkle sea salt or the toppings per your choice.

13.   I love jalapeno and cheese. You can also make cinnamon and sugar pretzels.

14.   Now bake them until they turn golden in color. Approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

15.   Serve them with cheese dip or salsa or mustard.

Tips:

-        To make them a healthy breakfast, you can use multigrain flour instead of all purpose. You can also use oat. You can make it as per your taste and add the toppings per your choice. You can just shape as cubes and make pretzels bites. Add cheese and salsa to pretzel bite to make cool Pretzel salad.

Any time there is a mixture of various fried snacks with some sauce it can be named Bhel. I am going to create a Thai version of Bhel using tofu, peanut sauce and noodles.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Servings: 6

Kitchen instrument: Shredder

Difficulty level: 4/10

Ingredient:

-          200 gm Tofu

-          250 gm noodles

-          1 cup cabbage shred

-          1 cup carrot shred

-          3/4 cup Peanut Butter

-          1 tsp soy sauce

-          3 tsp chilli sauce

-          1 tsp vinegar

-          oil to fry

-          3 tsp honey

-          2 cup corn flour

Preparation:

1.       Heat water in a Pan and Boil noodles for approximately 3 minutes or until cooked but not mushy.

2.       Drain them in a drainer and then add them to a big mixing bowl.

3.       Sprinkle 2 to 3 tbs of corn flour and toss thoroughly.

4.       Now let it dry and for 30 minutes

5.       Now heat oil and fry the noodles on medium heat until golden crisp.

6.       Now make small chunks of soy and toss some corn flour on them to coat them thoroughly.

7.       Deep fry them until golden and crisp.

8.       In a small bowl, add peanut butter, chilli sauce, soy sauce, vinegar and honey.

9.       Beat vigorously to make the peanut sauce. The texture should feel like dressing. Make it spicy or sweet per your choice. You can add little water to make the consistency such that mixes into Bhel.

10.   No in a big bowl add fried noodles, tofu, carrot and cabbage shreds. Now add dressing.

11.   Toss and mix well and serve immediately.

12.   You can add green onions and cilantro to garnish.

Tips:

-          You do not have to fry tofu. Instead you can bake the tofu. To bring the taste closer to Indian taste you can use tamarind chutney too.

The recipe I will be sharing with you breakfast or bread rolls with cabbage filling. Using Indian spices, I will give it Indian taste. The recipe will use the filling that we normally use to make stuffed eggplant curry and any other vegetable stuffing. It can be served as snack or starters.

Preparation time: 60 minutes

Servings: 3

Kitchen instrument: shredder

Difficulty level: 4/10

Ingredient:

-          2 cups flour

-          1 small cabbage

-          1/2 cup chick pea flour

-          Salt per taste.

-          1 tsp Red chilli powder

-          1 tsp garam masala

-          1 tsp sugar

-          1 tsp mango powder (aam chur)

-          1 tsp coconut shred or powder

-          1/2 cup butter

-          3 tsp oil

Preparation:

1.       Take flour, butter and salt per taste in a bowl and knead dough.

2.       Keep aside for 30 minutes.

3.       Separate leaves of cabbage and make rolls to then cut it with sharp knife to make fine shreds.

4.       Sprinkle salt on the cabbage and toss well. let it stand for 15 minutes.

5.       Now press cabbage hard to remove all the excess water.

6.       In a pan heat 1tsp oil and roast chick pea flour.

7.       Turn off the heat and add rest of the ingredients except oil.

8.       Mix it well.

9.       Now in pan heat 2 tsp oil, add cabbage and stir fry for 2 minutes.

10.   Mix the seasoning mixture prepared above and mix well.

11.   Turn off the heat and let it cool down.

12.   Out of the dough make 3 to 4 parts.

13.   Roll them with a roller and spread the cabbage mixture evenly on the surface.

14.   Now roll the edges to make a long roll.

15.   Cut the roll into 2 inches pieces

16.   Heat oven to 350 degree f

17.   place the rolls into flour dusted cookie try and bake it until golden brown

18.   Serve with ketchup.

Tips:

-          Again, filling of rolls can be of your choice. But do keep it dry and not runny. So that it is easier to form rolls and bake.

Rice cookies are a classic Persian cookies. Its unique texture stays slightly crumbly. We will add some cumin seeds, black pepper and chili flakes to get some savory and spicy taste to the cookies. This snack goes very well with morning breakfast or evening tea.

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Servings: 3-4

Kitchen instrument: Oven

Difficulty level: 4/10

Ingredient:

-          2 cups rice flour

-          1 cup butter

-          1/2 cup sugar

-          1/2 cup cheese

-          Salt per taste

-          1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

-          1/2 tsp black pepper

-          1/2 tsp crushed pepper

Preparation:

1.       Mix sugar, spice and butter and beat until fluffy.

2.       Add flour and mix well.

3.       Mix well to knead dough.

4.       If the mixture is dry, add milk until you can form smooth dough.

5.       Cover and store for an hour.

6.       Preheat the oven for 325 degree F.

7.       Roll the dough and cut pieces and shapes of your choice.

8.       Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until the cookies are golden rotating the tray. Turn around the cookies to be baked golden on both sides.

9.       Let it cool on cooling rack.

10.   Store in airtight container and serve when you like.

Tips:

-          Remember that the addition of the spice is not required. You can just make sweet cookies simply by avoiding pepper and chili flakes and adding more sugar to it. Also, when you take out cookies from oven let it be cool down completely before using. Also make sure to roll out cookies thin so that it can bake thoroughly.

With its high fiber and nutrient content, Green Gram and split gram offers a number of health benefits. It helps in weight loss recipes. Today I will use this to make recipe to make Indian style quesadillas with Mung dal tortillas. It can be used as healthy snack recipe if you just avoid cheese.

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Servings: 4

Kitchen instrument: Blender

Difficulty level: 4/10

Ingredient:

-          2 cups Mung Dal

-          4 tsp green chilli paste

-          1 cup boiled corn

-          1 cup small chopped green bell pepper

-          1 large plantain- boiled

-          Salt for taste

-          4-5 tsp oil

Ingredient for coconut chutney

-          1 cup coconut shred

-          1 cup yogurt

-          4-5 red dry chilli

-          Salt per taste

-          1/2 tsp mustard seeds

-          1 tsp curry leaves

-          1 /2 tsp fenugreek seeds

Preparation:

1.       Soak dal for 3-4 hours.

2.       Grind soaked dal in blender and make paste like batter.

3.       Boil plantain and corn in pressure cooker.

4.       Mash plantain and make paste.

5.       In a pan heat 2 tsp oil and stir fry chilli paste, corn and bell pepper.

6.       Add plantain paste salt and mix well.

7.       Cover and let it sauté for 5 minutes.

8.       Your filling is ready.

9.       Now blend coconut, curd red chilli and salt to make paste.

10.   Head 1 tsp oil in small pan and ass mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves.

11.   Wait for them to crack and add it to the coconut paste. Coconut chutney is ready.

12.   Now heat griddle and spread thin layer of dal batter.

13.   Bake the tortilla by turning both sides with brushing lightly with oil.

14.   You can bake all the tortillas before dinner.

15.   While ready to serve dinner, put one tortilla on griddle. Grease it with little oil.

16.   Spread the filling evenly on the tortilla.

17.   Spread layer of cheese. This is optional.

18.   Cover it with another tortilla.

19.   Now bake it turning both sides carefully.

20.   Make pieces and serve with chutney.

Tips:

-          It is important to soak gram for 4- 5 minutes to make smooth paste. Tortillas can be used even without filling for breakfast with pickles or chutney.