Melony Breakfast

I made some great healthy breakfast by scooping cantaloupes, watermelon and honeydew melon.
Don't they look great! along with this goes some fresh vegetable sandwiches.

For the sandwich I always use whole wheat bread. Into the bread goes some fresh iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and little low fat mayonnaise.
To wash it all down, some fresh orange juice of course.

Mixed Vegetable Rice

When it is a busy day, elaborate lunch is impossible. I always go for variety rice like pulao or mixed vegetable rice which make things easy and time saving. It can be just enjoyedwith raita or yogurt and there is no compromising with taste.


Ingredients

3cups cooked rice
2cups chopped onions
1/3 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup peas
1/3 cup chopped green peppers
1/3 cup paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
1 cup soya chunks (soaked and drained)
2-3tsp biriyani or pulao masala(found in Indian grocery store)
Salt
Oil


To Garnish

Fresh chopped cilantro
cucumber cut in circles
tomato cut in circles
lemon


Preparation

In a wok, add 4-5tbsp oil. When it warms up add onions and fry till translucent. To this add all the other vegetables and saute on medium heat. You can add more variety of vegetables if required. Remember not to add salt initially to any stir fried vegetables. They get watery and lose the taste. Let the vegetables get cooked for 10-12 minutes. Add paneer and soya chunks and saute for 5-10minutes.
Add the pulao-biriyani masala. If not garam masala also can be added. Add salt, stir gently and lower the heat. Leave it that way for 10 minutes. Finally add cooked rice and fold in gently. Remove from heat and garnish. Serve with cucumber-tomato salad and yogurt.

Bharwan Karela (Stuffed Bitter Gourd) and AFAM - Orange

I got this awesome recipe from my friend. When I first had this at her place, I asked her for the recipe, she said in Hindi "yeh recipe tho bahauth simple hei, koob sara pyaaz aur koob saara tamatar bas!!" which means "this recipe is very simple, it makes use of lot of onions and tomatoes, thats it. Though it was not a very clear way of her to explain the recipe , I managed to get it right.


Ingredients

4 medium sized bitter gourds
4 cups finely chopped onions
2 cups of tomato puree
1tsp fennel seed
1 tsp garam masala or 2 tsp tava fry masala (Found in Indian Grocery stores)
1tsp Pomegranate seed powder
1tsp chilli powder
1tsp turmeric
1tsp Sugar
Salt
Oil

Preparation

Slit the bitter gourd length wise on one side and remove the seeds from inside as shown in the picture.


Apply some salt to the inner surface and steam cook it in a vessel without adding any water for a few minutes (approx 10-15 minutes) on medium flame . Remember not to over cook it . It should just get a little soft. You can even steam cook it in the pressure cooker without using the whistle and on a medium heat.
Once the skin is little cooked remove from heat and keep aside.
In another pan add 3-4 tbsp oil and fry the onions well, add the masalas, fennel seeds, chilli powder, salt, turmeric and fold them all together. To this add tomato puree and fry until the moisture is gone. It should form a thick paste as shown in the picture. Tava fry masala contains all the masalas required for stir fried vegetables. this makes the vegetable very tasty.


Remove this stuffing from heat and let it cool. This stuffing is filled into the bitter gourd and tied with clean thread so that they don't spill out. see the picture.




In a wide frying pan add 4-5 tbsp oil and gently place the bitter gourds. Let them get fried on medium heat until they turn crispy on one side. Now turn them to the other side and fry. They should get fried equally on all sides. Its ready to relish with Garam Garam (hot) rotis.


This one is for "S" for stuffed bitter gourd. Hope Nupur accepts this for A-Z of Indian Vegetables .

For the first time I am hosting an Event and its AFAM for the month of June.




The Fruit of the Month is "orange".

A little info. about oranges. The word "orange" ultimately comes from Sanskrit "narang" or Tamil. The fruit typically has 11 individual pieces inside and in Tamil, the word "Orangu" translates to "6 and 5" implying 11. Oranges originated in southeast Asia, in either India, Vietnam or southern China. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish it from Citrus
(info. wiki)




So dear friends, get creative and start making wonderful recipes out of oranges.

So here is AFAM - A Fruit A Month Rules.

Rules are pretty much the same as other Blog Events.
1. Based on the fruit of the month, you have to come up with a recipe out of orange in any form.

2. Post the recipe on your blog by 25th of the month. Those who don't have a blog can directly email me their recipes and details.

3. If you can, write more information about the fruit.

4. Email me your name, a picture, perma-link of your recipe to sharmikomal@gmail.com with AFAM -(fruit name) as the subject.

5. Email me your post by the 25th of June and the final round up will be done within first week of July.

Thanks a lot Asha for letting me know about hosting this event.
I also thank Maheswari for confinding in me to host the event.