Flax seed or Linseed is of two varieties; Brown and yellow. Both have equal nutritional values.

Flax seed is tiny; but it contains highest amounts of fibre, vitamins, minerals, and Omega3 fatty acids.

Low in carbohydrates, it is said that flax seed even reduces or stabilizes blood sugar levels for a long period.

It’s always better to consume flax seed in small quantities. This will benefit you in lowering cholesterol.

Storing flax seed is another important aspect.

 It is said that,its better to store flax seed in the refrigerator or freezer.

Another amazing use of flax seed is that we can use this as egg substitute while baking.

So sprinkle  flax seed to your salads, cheese, cakes, pan cakes, shakes or to almost anything, to make it a complete diet.

Today’s recipe is flax seed Idlis.Flax seed has got no special taste, so it’s the best thing to add to our idly batter to get fluffy, nutritious idlis.

Enjoy it with your favorite side dish.

Whole Flax seed is the best than flax seed meal,but I could find only powdered flax seed (flax seed meal).

Anyways,here we go...

Soak and grind whole flax seed with other ingredients for the Idly batter.

I added flax seed meal to the normal Idly batter.

Now make Idlis.

You'll find these Idlis are more fluffier and softer than usual.

Enjoy it with the curry or Chutney of your choice!!!
Now,this is the basic method to prepare Flax seed Idlis,go on and make masala Idlis,veg Idlis and other innovated varieties and please let me know about your experiments.

You can check out the Flax seed Muffin recipe,another break fast item Here.

Healthy & Happy Eating --!!!

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Happy Republic Day To All Indians!!

"We are Indians, firstly and lastly -Dr.B. R. Ambedkar."

With this thought in mind,let me start today's post. I am sharing this recipe with my friends around the world especially those who love India and Indian culture.

Sandesh

Sandesh is a very famous Bengali sweet made from Cottage cheese.Very delicious , quick to make too.

Ingredients

Milk - 1 liter

Powdered Sugar- 1 cup

Cardamom powder

Lemon Juice-of a big lemon

Saffron-a pinch

Method of preparation

Making Paneer or Cottage cheese.

Boil milk in a thick bottom sauce pan,when it starts boiling add the juice of a lemon.Now the milk cuddles.Let it boil for 2  more minutes until all the cottage cheese separates.

Now sieve this in a muslin cloth,press gently to remove all the whey and keep this aside for half an hour to remove any water from the cottage cheese.

If you have ready made Cottage cheese,you can avoid the above process.

1.Knead the cottage cheese to a fine paste.

Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and cardamom powder.Again knead well.

2.Now in a non stick pan,cook the cottage cheese on a low flame.Use a spatula to mix it well .

Once its cooked well,remove from fire.When its still warm make small balls.Press gently at the center of each ball and decorate with saffron and nuts.

There are many varieties of Sandesh.You can garnish this with pineapple pieces,or any other fruits.

Enjoy!!!

(This recipe is adapted from Manjulas kitchen ...Thank you Manjula Aunty..)

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Butter Chicken with Jeera(Cumin flavored) Rice.

Butter chicken is one of the most popular dish from India.

Silky,creamy gravy with boneless chicken pieces.What else you can ask for!This sinful curry has always been one of the kid's favorites.

You can get thousand's of recipes for butter chicken on the internet with slight variations.But this recipe of mine is really simple ,developed by sheer experimenting.I can guarantee that the taste is just the same as the one you get from restaurants.

So here we go..

Ingredients

Boneless chicken -500g

Butter-25g

Onion -2 medium sized

Green Chili -2 nos

Ginger Garlic paste-2 tsp

Cardamom powder-1tsp

sugar-1tsp

Tomato puree-1 cup

Yogurt-1tbsp

Red food color-(Optional )-2 drops

Dry Fenugreek leaves-a pinch

Cream-2 tbsp

Red chili powder-1 -2 tsp

Coriander powder-1 tsp

Fresh Cilantro- bountiful

Cumin powder-1 tsp

Method of preparation

Step1

Marinate boneless chicken with a pinch of chili powder and salt.(Keep aside for 1/2 hr )

Lightly fry this in 1 tsp butter.Keep aside.

Step2

Make a fine paste of onion and green chili.

In a sauce pan,melt butter.Add in ginger garlic paste.Fry it until light brown.Now saute onion paste for 3 minutes.Now saute 1 cup tomato puree.Add salt,red chili powder,cumin powder,coriander powder.

Add yogurt into this and saute until oil separates.Add the chicken pieces.

Now add in 1 tsp sugar and fenugreek leaves(Kasuri methi).

Add in enough water for a thick gravy .

Boil until chicken is well done and the gravy starts thickening.

Add 1tsp cardamom powder and 2 tbsp cream(U can reduce the amount of cream,or even replace it with milk)

Add plenty of cilantro.

Finally add 2 drops of food color if you feel the gravy is not very reddish.

Enjoy this silky creamy butter chicken with cumin rice.Recipe is coming soon.

Those vegetarians out there,I have the same curry with Cottage cheese for you,please check out Here-

"Happy Eating!"

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Bell Pepper Dip

Nutritious yellow bell pepper dip and nachos..Excellent appetizer right? Easy party item especially for  kids party.
You can serve this dip with baguette slices,so that this can be given as a snack in their tiff-in box even.So I hope those who are looking for kids recipes would be happy with this.
For those who are really on diet can go for baked nachos  available now a days.


Would you like to read the nutrition details of bell pepper?You can read it here -Egg curry in bell pepper sauce


Ingredients 
Bell Pepper-Red/Yellow
Mayonnaise/cream cheese-
Salt-
Garlic-1 clove
Dry Oregano-1 tsp
Onion-1/2 no
Paprika -2tsp
Lime juice-2tsp
(I am not mentioning the quantity of ingredients because in this recipe,leaving it to your taste)


Method of preparation
So easy to prepare.
Grill the bell pepper on direct flame or in microwave until blacked on all sides.
Once its roasted,remove its skin.Now grind all ingredients to a sauce.
Excellent creamy delicious dip is ready.
Serve it with Nachos or any other crackers or the veggies of your choice!!!.

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This is a simple version of Vegetable pizza,you can try at home.
I have made it as thin crest with a bit of Arabian Flavor .An interesting Arabian version of Pizza is  available in the Pizza-Hut  here in Middle east,an amazing twist to the traditional Italian Pizza.
Most of  my recipes are my experiments with a basic recipe which we try from restaurants.
Anyways,here are the
Ingredients
For the Pizza dough
1.All purpose flour-2 cups
2.Dry yeast -5g
3.sugar -2tsp
salt-to taste
Add 2 tbsp warm water to the yeast and 2 tsp sugar.Keep aside for 5 minutes.
Make a smooth dough with flour,yeast and salt by adding water carefully.

Keep aside for 30 minutes.

Now after 30 minutes beat the dough with the back of your hand .Make big balls out of this and keep aside for 10 more minutes.Now these balls will become double in size.

Ingredients for the Topping.

Olive oil-

Pizza sauce-

Veggies-Onion,Bell peppers,corn etc.

Mozzarella Cheese-Shredded

Salt-

Dry Oregano

Sumac(Optional)

Paprika -2tsp

Now we can start preparing the Topping.

Flatten one of the dough balls into thin/thick crest.Dust the surface with some flour before you do this.

Now heat a pan and cook the bottom side of the Pizza base for 2 minutes.Now its very easy to cook in the oven and also to handle the Pizza .This is a must step since we are not using Pizza stone(baking stone) to bake Pizzas.

Now,apply some Pizza sauce first.Then the Mozzarella.

Next the chopped veggies.Sprinkle Paprika,salt and Sumac(optional:Sumac is an Arabian spice ) on to these veggies.

Finally Mozzarella again.

Drizzle Olive oil on top.

Now pizza is ready to go to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes (at max Oven temperature) until the color of the cheese is light brown.

For an interesting Sumac Chicken recipe,Click Here

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Carrot Halwa.An Indian, healthy and delicious dessert.

There are many methods available, this recipe is my version and I found it so quick and easy.

Ingredients

Carrots-4nos

Milk-1/4 cup

Sugar-1/2Cup (and 1tbsp if needed.)

Double cream-1/4 cup (2tbsp is enough for those who are extra health conscious)

Cardamom-1tsp

Ghee-2tsp

Nuts-Almonds,Cashews or Walnuts

Method of preparation

Grate the carrot.

Take a pan and add 1tsp Ghee, sauté the grated carrot in the ghee for 2 minutes, now add 1/2 cup milk and cook the carrot well.

Now add 1/4 cup sugar and cardamom.

Sauté well for 3-4 minutes.

Now add the cream and stir well until dry. Finally add the rest of (1 tsp) ghee.

If you want add the rest of the sugar. And make it dry; turn off when it's light brown.

Decorate with nuts.

(Refer the picture above, for the right texture)

Serve it hot or cold with or with out Ice cream .

You can also serve this with Poori an Indian fried bread.

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