I know this place has been very quiet for last few days. First the camera had some issues, then technical issues with the site and when they got resolved, I was down with pretty severe cold. All I wanted to do was sleep!. But I have been very active with my other blog art Campus . Finally I am making some time for the crafts – which I love so much but never had time to explore more!.
The temperatures here are dropping very fast. It is not possible to step outside without jackets. I was hoping we will have few more days to play outside, but we are staying indoors for now. That also means I am making a lot of soups. If anyone is interested, I will post them here.
Here is a simple recipe for Corn Flakes Chivda. A chivda can’t be simpler than this. I made this because I had to use up a large batch of Kellog’s corn flakes that we bought but could not finish. It was nearing expiration and I had to think of something. Since I usually like to make a hot breakfast every morning, corn flakes or cereals hardly get finished. V had bought this bag when I was in India and he could not finish it. These corn flakes were slightly sweetish, any corn flakes can be used. All my friends that tasted this loved it.
Also check out corn flakes rolls .
Ingredients: 5 cups corn flakes 2 tbl spns peanuts 2 tbl spns cashews (optional) 1 tea spn cumin powder 1 tea spn coriander powder 1 tea spn poha masala (optional, but gives a great aroma and taste) 1 tea spn chaat masala 6-7 curry leaves 1 tea spn mustard seeds 1 tea spn urad dal A big pinch of asafoetida 1/4 tea spn turmeric 1 tea spn sugar (optional, do not use of corn flakes are sweet) 1/2 tea spn chilli powder 1/2 cup sev (optional) Oil Salt
Method: Heat about 2-3 tbl spn oil and add peanuts and cashews. Fry for a minute and then add mustard seeds, urad dal. When they start popping, add curry leaves and asafoetida. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add all dry masalas and salt. Mix well. Now add corn flakes, sev. Mix everything very well. Let it cool to room temperature, then store in air tight container.
Preparation time : 20mins
For years I struggled with feeding broccoli to my family. I first saw this vegetable when we moved to US many years ago. Here I see people look at you as you have the most unhealthy food habits if you say you do not cook broccoli on regular basis. I was told I should care more about my kid and feed him broccoli. Anyone whose kids ate this vegetable bragged about it all the time!. Anyway, I am still not at the stage where I want to put this in every dish imaginable (I do that with some other vegetables!!), but I can safely say both the child and V do not mind this vegetable anymore.
Now coming to this soup. V and I have become huge fans of broccoli soup at the restaurant sweet tomatoes . I had picked up a big bag of frozen broccoli from Coscto few days back and I wanted to try out some soup with it. Temperatures here are going down very fast, so I am trying to include a soup in our lunch whenever I can. Â Yesterday I prepared this and we loved it. The little one especially wanted to eat the broccoli pieces from the soup. May be this way I will get into “cool mom” list!!.
Also check out my broccoli leek soup . Ingredients: 3 cups broccoli chopped in small pieces 1/2 cup potato 1/2 cup onion 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese 1/4 cup whole milk 4 cups vegetable broth 1/2 tea spn pepper 1/2 tea spn chopped garlic A little butter (or oil) Salt
Method: Heat butter (or oil) and add garlic, onion and little salt. Fry for few minutes taking care not to brown onions. When they are translucent, add potato and broccoli. Fry for a minute and add vegetable broth. Cover and let broccoli and potatoes cook. Take out few pieces of broccoli and chop them in small pieces. Keep aside. Take the remaining mixture in a blender and blend till smooth. Now add cheddar cheese and milk to blender and blend again. The hot mixture helps melt the cheese. Put the mixture back to medium heat. Add the saved broccoli pieces, add pepper. Serve hot.
Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 20mins
