Capsicum,carrot ,onion salad

I have been eating cooked food...I was craving for something raw ...raw carrots,etc.So decided to make a salad with whatever veggies I had at home.

Ingredients : 1 medium sized onion roughly chopped,1/2 capsicum roughly chopped & 1 small carrot cut into thin slices, 1/4 tsp chaat masala,1/2 tsp lemon juice,rock salt to taste.

Method : Mix all the chopped onion & capsicum pieces.Add the thinly sliced carrot pieces.Mix nicely.Add chaat masala powder followed by salt.Mix nicely so that  chaat masala & salt gets nicely blended with the veggies.Add lemon juice & blend it by tossing all the veggies.The oil free sald is ready !

Serve with pulao or rotis or eat it just like that !

Any salt can be used.If more spices are needed ,they can be added.I like mine with just a minimum of spices.Instead of chaat masla ,roasted pepper & jeera powder can  both be added.More raw veggies can be added.I prefer lemon juice instead of raw tomatoes.The possibilities are endless !And this salad can be eaten as a snack  by itself !

Broccoli stir fry.

I had brought broccoli & wanted to try a  stir fry.I googled  Sangita Khanna's blog healthfood desi videshi .I was amazed to see many recipes using broccoli.I selected this  detox recipe.

I did not have soy nuggets.Hence ,I made this sir fry without soy nuggets.

Ingredients :  3 cups broccoli florets,1 medium onion finely chopped,1 tomato chopped,2 green chillies chopped,1 tsp ginger  & garlic (both grated),1 tsp pepper powder,2 tsp soya sauce, 2 tsp  oil,salt to taste.

Method : Warm oil in a pan.Add grated  ginger garlic & saute it.Add green chillies & onions.Saute them as well.The onions will get translucent,Add the soya sauce & 1 tbsp  water.Mix nicely.

Add broccoli florets.Add salt.Stir all the ingredients well.Add pepper powder.Mix again.Cover with a lid & cook for five minutes.Add chopped tomatoes & mix with all ingredients.Cover with lid & cook for 5-10 minutes.

Serve hot with rotis.I ate this with rotis & loved the new flavours that I discovered.

Add salt carefully as soya sauce contains salt & green veggies have their own salt content.

Strawberry cake :Vegan version.

I had strawberries in my refregerator & wanted to use them.Searched for a recipe & came across a vegan cake using them here.I tweaked it a little & made one last night ...on the eve of International Women's day.

Ingredients : 1 cup multigrain atta ( Pillsbury ),1/2 cup brown mineral sugar,1/2 tsp baking soda,1/2 tsp baking powder,1/2 cup  strawberry puree ,a few strawberries with the stem removed & cut into thin stripes ( optional ),1/4 cup oil,1 tbsp apple cider vinegar,1/2 tsp vanilla essence, salt to taste.

Method : Mix all dry ingredients that is atta,baking soda,baking powder,salt & sugar with a whisk many times so that all are thoroughly mixed with each other.Keep aside.

Mix strawberry puree ( wash strawberries,Remove the green stems,Chop them .Puree in a blender or mixer.Take 1/2 cup of this puree .Add oil,vanilla essence & apple cider vinegar.Mix nicely with whisk.Now pour this liquid mix into a well in the dry ingredient mix. Blend all into a batter.Add water if lumps remain.Keep aside.

Line a microwaveable vessel with butter paper.On that ,keep thin slices of strawberries.Pour cake batter over the strawberries.Bake in microwave for 8-9 minutes.Switch off microwave.Let it cool for 5 minutes.Remove & check with knife if cake is done.If knife comes out clean ,cake is done.Otherwise microwave for 1 more minute.Check again.Let it cool for 15 minutes.Put the cake vessel upside down on a plate.The cake will drop down on plate.Else ,it can be gently removed from sides of vessel so that it drops down on plate.Cut into desired shapes & serve.

The lining of thin strawberry slices on bottom of cake is optional.This gets sticky after baking.
The amount of sugar used was just apt.If you want it to be more sweet ,3/4 cup sugar can be used.Always remember that brown sugar is less sweet than white sugar.Hence ,if using white sugar,1/2 cup would be sufficient.

The cake was super moist !

Sprinkle some powdered sugar on cake slices to make them sweeter .Sprinkle coloured sugar balls on cake slices in the alternative like I did !