COUSCOUS CHICKPEA SALAD

        COUSCOUS CHICKPEA SALAD

                                        (Yield: 3-½ cup Couscous Salad)

Couscous is very easy to cook. Couscous is precooked durum wheat semolina. Couscous available in super market is instant couscous. It is all ready steamed and dried so all you need to do is to add in boiling water and let it sit for 7-8 minutes and it gets cooked. Couscous can be cooked with various methods. It can be cooked as savory dish or as sweet dish too. This one is savory dish.

INGREDIENTS FOR COOKING COUSCOUS:

·      1 T Oil

·      ¼ tsp. Mustard Seeds

·      6-8 Curry leaves

·      1-2 Green Chilies or as per taste, chopped

·      1 cup Water

·      2 T Golden Raisins

·      Salt for couscous only, as per taste

·      ¾ cup Couscous (You will get slightly more than 1 ½ cup cooked couscous)

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INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD:

·      1 ½ cup mix vegetables (¼ cup Purple Sweet Onion, ¼ cup Tomato, ¼ cup Pomegranate Seeds, ¼ cup Red Bell Pepper, ¼ cup Green Bell pepper, ¼ cup Boiled Chickpeas)

OR

USE ANY VEGETABLES OF YOUR CHOICE

·      ¼ cup Coriander Leaves, chopped

·      Salt for vegetables only, as per taste

·      1/8 tsp. Black Pepper Powder

·      1 to 1 ½ tsp. Sugar or as per taste

·      1 ½ T Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

·      1 T Olive Oil (Add more it tastes good)

·      Sriracha Hot Sauce for drizzling on top as per taste (OPTIONAL)

·      1-2 T Pomegranate Seeds for garnishing

LET’S COOK:

Heat oil in a pan.

Once oil is hot add mustard seeds and let them pop.

Add curry leaves, green chilies and stir-fry for few seconds.

Add water, salt (enough for couscous only) and raisins and cover the pot and bring water up to a boil.

Once water boils, stir in couscous and cover.

Switch off the heat.

Remove from heat and let stand for 7-8 minutes.

Fluff couscous with a fork.

Add chopped vegetables, coriander leaves, salt enough for vegetables only, black pepper powder and sugar and toss to combine well.

Add olive oil and lemon juice on top and mix well.  

Transfer in a serving plate.

Drizzle sriracha hot sauce on top if you are adding and garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve.

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MOONG DAL PARATHA

             MOONG DAL PARATHA

                                                     (Yield: 10 Paratha)

Moong Dal paratha is Indian Stuffed Flat Bread. This paratha are stuffed with the tasty mixture of yellow moong dal, onions and unique blend of spices.

STEP 1:

Wash ½ cup Yellow Moong Dal and soak in enough water for 1 to 1 ½ hour.

Drain and give wash with fresh water to remove smell.

Drain well.

Add 2-cups fresh water in a pot and add drained dal and cook on high heat for 8 to 9 minutes or until moong dal gets cooked but not turn soft or mushy.

Drain water and keep aside.

STEP 2:

INGREDIENTS FOR DOUGH:

·      1 1/3 cup All Purpose Flour (Maida Flour)

·      1 1/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour (Roti Flour)

·      1 Pinch Baking Soda

·      Salt as per taste

·      3 T Oil

·      4 T Thick Yogurt

·      Luke Warm Water, roughly ¾ to 1 cup or as needed to make paratha consistency dough

LET’S PREPARE:

In a bowl combine flours, baking soda, and salt and mix well.

Add oil and rub oil in flours for 1 minute.

Add yogurt and mix.

Add little water at a time and prepare soft to firm dough.

Drizzle few drops of oil on dough and knead well.

Cover the dough and Keep aside for 30 minutes.

Knead dough one more time for few seconds and divide it into 10 equal portions.

STEP 3:

INGREDIENTS FOR STUFFING MASALA:

·      2 tsp. Oil

·      1/8 tsp.  Asafoetida

·      1 tsp. Cumin Seeds

·      1 T Fennel Seeds

·      1 T Coriander Seeds

·      ½ cup Yellow Moong Dal, boiled and drained from step 1

·      1 ½ tsp. Kashmiri Red Chili Powder or as per taste

·      ¼ tsp. Turmeric Powder

·      ½ tsp. Garam Masala

·      Salt as per taste

·      ½ tsp. Sugar

·      ½ tsp. Chat Masala

·      1 T Thick Tamarind Chutney

NOTE:

ADD MORE OR LESS OF ABOVE DRY SPICES AS PER YOUR OWN TASTE.

ADD INTO GROUND MOONG DAL MASALA:

·      1 ¼ cup Onions, finely chopped

·      2-3 Green Chilies, finely chopped

·      2-3 T Coriander Leaves, finely chopped

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LET’S MAKE STUFFING:

Heat 2 tsp. oil in a pan on medium low heat.

Once oil is hot add asafoetida and cumin seeds, fennel seeds and coriander seeds all at once and stir fry on medium low heat for 1-2 minutes or until it turns light golden brown in color and aromatic.

Add boiled and drained dal and stir fry for 1 -2 minutes.

Add rest of all ingredients EXCEPT chopped onions, coriander leaves and green chilies and cook for 1 minute or until mixture turns dry.

Allow stuffing mixture to cool.

Transfer in a small blender jar and pulse couple of times to make coarsely ground-stuffing masala.

Transfer ground stuffing moong dal masala in a bowl.

Add chopped onions, coriander leaves and green chilies to moong dal masala and mix well.

Keep aside.

STEP 4:

ROLLING AND ROSTING MOONG DAL PARATHA:

·      Dusting Flour

·      2-3 T Oil for shallow roasting paratha

Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into a 4-5”” size roti.

Fill ¼- cup stuffing mixture in the center of the roti.

Cover the filling with the dough by slowly stretching it over the filling.

Press and seal and rotate to make tight seal.

Roll and press gently between the palms to flatten it.

Press gently to make 3-4” disk.

Dust and roll into 5-6”diameter paratha with rolling pin.

Heat non-stick pan on medium heat.

Once pan is hot put paratha in pan, when small bubbles starts to show up on top surface of the paratha then flip, spread tsp. oil evenly on top side of the paratha and flip and roast over medium heat and repeat same for another side of the paratha.

Complete roasting remaining paratha in same manner.

Cut each Paratha in 4 pieces and serve with Mint Raita and raw Sweet Onions on side. It tastes incredibly great with Mango Pickles like Gor Keri Pickle (Mango Jaggery Pickle) or with Mango Chundo Pickle (Shredded Mango Pickle)

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CANTALOUPE (MUSKMELON) BALL FRUIT CUP

   CANTALOUPE (MUSKMELON) BALL

                       FRUIT CUP

Instead of serving classic melon wedges, let’s make melon balls.

HOW TO MAKE MELON BALLS:

Wash and pet dry cantaloupe/muskmelon (Teti).

Cut muskmelon in half and scrap out the seeds.

Press melon baller  (Melon Baller as shown in the picture next to the fruit cup) in to the meat of the melon firmly. This way you will get perfect round melon balls. Turn the melon baller clockwise and then pull out.

Scoop out melon balls until shell is empty. There will be some pieces towards the bottom that won’t be perfectly round but it’s okay.

Wrap saran plastic wrap around the fruit bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving.

Serve Muskmelon Balls in glass cup.

OR

Fill Muskmelon Balls in empty muskmelon shells. It’s a fun way to serve fruits in the party.

Enjoy…

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TIP:

Use Watermelon, Honeydew and make colorful fruit balls.