Mixed Bell Pepper Pasta

 Serves: 4

Beans

1 cup chickpeas

Overnight soak chickpeas in water

1 tsp salt

3 cups water

Cook chickpeas in pressure cooker for 4 whistles.

Pasta

1 pound pasta

1 tbsp salt

Cook pasta as per cooking directions. I cooked Trader Joe's gluten free brown rice pasta for 15 minutes.

Bell Pepper Pasta

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

1 and 1/4 tsp red chili flakes

1 tbsp garlic, chopped

1 green bell peppers, chopped

Heat oil in a pan, add onion, red chili flakes, garlic, green bell peppers, sauté for 5 minutes in medium flame.

3 bell peppers, chopped (red, yellow, orange, 1 of each)

Add bell peppers, sauté for 10 minutes in medium flame.

1/2 cup olives, sliced

1 and 1/2 tsp salt

Add olives, oregano, salt, sauté for 2 more minutes.

Add cooked pasta, cooked beans mix well.

? cup cashew cheese / 4 tbsp pine nuts, dry roasted

fresh basil, chopped (optional, if you have them) 

Add cashew cheese / roasted pine nuts, fresh basil, mix well.

Taste Note: Tastes AWESOME

Yields. : 11 cups

Eggplant Tomato Sauce

Serves: 4

Lentil

1 cup red lentils, soaked for an hour and washed

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups water

Soaking is optional, but it improves digestibility, so I always soak the lentils.

Add lentil, salt and water, bring to a boil, reduce the head to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Once done, remove excess water and keep aside.

Pasta

1 pound pasta

1 tbsp salt

Cook pasta as per cooking instructions. I cooked Trader Joe's gluten free brown rice pasta for 15 minutes.

Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

1 tbsp garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat oil in a pan, add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, sauté for 5 minutes in medium flame.

1 eggplant, chopped

1 bunch Broccolini (optional), chopped, keep stems and head separately.

Add eggplant, broccolini stems and sauté for 3 minutes. 

2 pound fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp dried basil (if fresh is not available, if fresh is available, DO NOT ADD DRIED BASIL)

1 and 3/4 tsp salt

Add tomatoes, salt, dried basil, and mix well. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add cooked lentils, mix well, cover the pan and cook for 10 more minutes.

fresh basil, chopped

Add cooked pasta, basil and mix well.

Sauté broccolini head separately and add it to the pasta at the end.

Taste Note: Tastes AWESOME

Udupi Saaru

Cooked Dal

1 cup toor dal

3 cups water

Cook toor dal in pressure cooker. DO NOT USE TURMERIC POWDER for cooking dal

Yields: ? cups cooked toor dal. Used just 2 cups from this. Will cook with correct amount of toor dal one day.

Saaru Podi

 2 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1/4 cup coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

25 dry red chili (30 grams)

Heat oil in a pan, add fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, roast in LOW flame until it turns aromatic. 

Add cumin seeds, roast in LOW flame till it turns aromatic.

Add red chili, asafetida, sauté in LOW flame until chili turns crispy. Transfer to a plate and cool completely.

Blend in blender to a coarse powder.

Yields: 6 and 1/2 tbsp Udupi Saaru Podi. You can store this in airtight container for uptown 3 months. This will be good to make Udupi Saaru for 6 times.

Tamarind Water

big gooseberry size tamarind

1 cup water

Boil tamarind in water and make tamarind water

Toor Dal

Need 2 cups of cooked toor dal

Udupi Saaru

1 cup tomato, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, slit

1 tbsp jaggery

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup tamarind water

Add tomato, jalapeno, jaggery, turmeric powder, salt, tamarind water to a pan. Cover and boil for 10 minutes in medium flame.

2 cups cooked toor dal

4 cups water

1 and 1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp udupi saaru podi

Add cooked toor dal, water, salt, allow to boil in medium for 5 minutes, add udupi saaru podi, mix well. Boil for just 2 minute. DO NOT OVER BOIL, once the saaru podi is added.

2 tbsp coconut, grated

2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

Add grated coconut and cilantro, mix well.

Tempering

2 tsp coconut oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dal

1 dry red chili

Pour tempering over the saaru and mix well.

Taste 

Note: Tastes AWESOME

Source: hebbarskitchen

Lemongrass Rasam

1/4 cup cooked toor dal
dal cooked water + water

Mix cooked toor dal with dal water and water to make it 2 cups.

1 tomato, chopped
1 cup water

Boil tomato in water, allow to cool and make tomato water.

2 tbsp lemongrass chopped / crushed
1 green chili, slit
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cups water

Add chopped / crushed lemon grass, green chili, turmeric powder, water, tomato water to a pan, bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed

Add crushed black peppercorns. Add cooked dal and water. Pour into boiling rasam.

1 and 1/8 tsp salt

Add salt and mix well. Turn off the stove.

2 tbsp lemon juice

Add lemon juice and mix well.

To Temper

1 tsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
asafetida

Tamper and add to the rasam.

cilantro leaves, chopped
1 kaffir lime leave, turned (optional)

Garnish with cilantro leaves and kaffir lime leaves.

Taste Note: Tastes AWESOME.
Note: It didn't taste good immediately after I made the rasam. But when the next day, it tasted heavenly, since all the essence of the lemongrass are soaked in the rasam. But very important thing about this rasam is filter this rasam before eating otherwise the lemongrass sticks will poke your mouth and you will not like that. DO NOT filter the rasam immediately after making, allow at least 1 day time for the rasam to soak all the essence from lemongrass.
Yields: 4 cups
Source: rakskitchen

Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream

Frozen Ice Bowl

Wrap the ice cream bowl with plastic food wrap and freeze the ice cream bowl for 24 hours.

Cashew Milk

1 cup cashews

Overnight soak the cashews.

1 cups water

Rinse the soaked cashews well and add 1 cup water and take out the milk.

Yields: Exactly 1 cup cashew milk
Note: After taking out the milk for the ice cream, add 3 more cup of water and blend well and take out the milk again. You can use the cashew milk where ever you use plant based milk.

Blend

1/4 cup cashews
1/8 tsp salt
12 dates
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup unsweetened cashew milk

Blend all the above. Taste the mixture, this should be little over sweet. If you think the sweetness is not enough, add more dates and blend. You do not want to blend this more after adding strawberries.

3 cups strawberries, chopped (1 pound strawberry box which you get in Whole Foods (16 oz))

Blend just enough for the strawberries to be well incorporated. Taste the mixture.

Take the frozen ice cream bowl from the freezer, remove the plastic wrap and keep inside the ice cream maker. Attach the paddle, cover with the lid, turn on the ice cream maker and pour the strawberry ice cream mixture through the opening into the ice cream maker.

You will see the ice cream will start turning thick and creamy.

After 30 more minutes, turn off the ice cream maker.

Once done, use the wooden spoon to take out the mixture into the ice cream container, cover with the air tight lid, freeze for at least 8 hours.

To Serve:

Keep the ice cream out for 30 minutes, so that you can scoop out the ice cream.

Scoop out the ice cream into a cone or a bowl.

Taste Note: Tastes GREAT. I will definitely make it again with the modifications I noted down and except it to be AWESOME. If not, I won't be making this again.

Note: I added just 8 dates and the sweetness was not enough, we could taste the sourness of strawberries. Also I added 1/4 cup of coconut oil and I was able to taste the coconut oil, which I didn't like. So made changes and noted down, expecting it to taste awesome with my modification.

Vegan Jackfruit Ice Cream

Frozen Ice Bowl

Wrap the ice cream bowl with plastic food wrap and freeze the ice cream bowl for 24 hours.

13.5 oz Coconut Milk (Native Forest Organic Simple Coconut Milk)

Keep the coconut milk in the refrigerator for 24 hours

8 ounces frozen jackfruit, thawed

1/2 cup raw honey / maple syrup / cane sugar

Blend coconut milk, frozen jackfruit, honey (or cane sugar or maple syrup) in vitamix.

Take the frozen ice cream bowl from the freezer, remove the plastic wrap and keep inside the ice cream maker. Attach the paddle, cover with the lid, turn on the ice cream maker and pour the jackfruit ice cream mixture through the opening into the ice cream maker.

You will see the ice cream will start turning thick and creamy.

1/2 cup frozen thawed jackfruit, finely chopped 4.27 ounces )

After 20 minutes, add finely chopped jackfruit into the ice cream maker.

After 10 more minutes, turn off the ice cream maker.

Once done, use the wooden spoon to take out the mixture into the ice cream container, cover with the air tight lid, freeze for at least 8 hours.

To Serve:

Keep the ice cream out for 20 minutes, so that you can scoop out the ice cream.

Scoop out the ice cream into a cone or a bowl and top it with some more  fresh chopped jackfruit.

Taste Note: Tastes AWESOME.
Note: I used honey, so what I made is not vegan. But you can use either light or amber maple syrup (do not use dark maple syrup, that will change the color of the ice cream) or cane sugar to make it vegan.

Jackfruit
calories = 125 x 2.5 = 312.5
sugar = 29 x 2.5 = 72.5 grams

Honey
calories = 70 (for 1 tbsp) x 8 = 560
sugar = 14 x 8 = 112 grams

Coconut Milk
calories = 140 x 5 = 700
total fat = 14 x 5 = 70 grams
saturated fat = 12 x 5 = 60 grams

Total calories in this ice cream = 1572.5
Total sugar = 184.5 g
total fat = 80 g
saturated fat = 60 g

This ice cream is totally organic, non-gmo and healthy ice cream. Even with the above nutritional information, I would say this ice cream is much more healthier than the store bought ice cream.

Kondakadalai Kathirikai Kaara Kuzhambu

Beans

1 cup brown channa

Overnight soak the brown channa.

1 tsp salt
3 cups water

Wash the soaked beans, cook with salt and water for 3 whistles.

Tamarind Water

1 small lemon size tamarind
1 cup water

Heat water and tamarind and make tamarind water

Coconut

1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup water

Blend coconut and water and make coconut paste.

Kuzhambu

1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 and 1/2 cup onion, chopped

Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, allow it to splutter, add fenugreek seeds, sauté for few minutes, add onion, sautee for 3 minutes.

1/3 cup garlic cloves, chopped into 2 pieces (15 big garlic cloves)

Add garlic, sautee for 2 more minutes.

1 and 1/4 cup tomato, chopped (2 tomatoes)
1 and 1/2 tsp salt

Add tomato, salt, sautee till tomato softens.

2 and 1/2 cups Eggplant or zucchini (1 small Italian eggplant or 6 Indian eggplant or 2 zucchini (I used zucchini as substitute for eggplant, since there was no eggplant available or 3 small potato)

Add eggplant or zucchini, sautee for a minute.

1/2 tbsp sambar powder
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Add all the powder, mix well.

Add tamarind water, allow to cook for 10 minutes, until the raw smell goes away.

1/2 cup water

Add the coconut paste, use  1/2 cups water to wash the blender and add it, cook for 5 more minutes.

1 cup waer

Add the cooked brown channa, 1 cup water and cook for 5 minutes.

Yields: 6 cups
Taste Note: Tastes AWESOME
Source: Mom