Stuck at home due to lockdown?
Bored of binging on the same TV shows and web series?
Made it to the bottom of your to-do lists too?
If so, why not try your hands at cooking some incredible recipes for your wife, daughter, or the whole family? This super simple pass time can improve your culinary skills, strengthen your family bonding, keep your family healthy, and also deliver you a double dose of entertainment. Whether you are an old hand in the kitchen or an enthusiastic newcomer, we have got some super easy and super tasty ideas that you can try with your cupboard-stored ingredients and minimally accessed fresh ingredients during this time of lockdown.
Table of Contents
1. Vegetable noodles recipe
Ingredients:
Noodles, salt, 2 to 3 tbsp. sesame oil, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, 2 to 3 green chillies slit, finely chopped spring onions, julienned vegetables (like cabbage, carrot, beans, bell pepper, etc.), 1/2 tsp. pepper powder, 1 tbsp. soya sauce, 1 tsp. chilli sauce, 1 tsp. vinegar or lemon juice
Directions:
- Boil the noodles (with a pinch of salt) and drain the excess water; sprinkle 1 tsp. oil and toss the noodles to prevent them from turning sticky.
- Add oil to a pan and put it onto a medium flame.
- Then add garlic and green chillies and saute for a minute.
- Now, add the julienned vegetables and stir-fry them for a few minutes until they are cooked (and still crunchy).
- Add soya sauce, chilli sauce, pepper powder, and salt; mix the ingredients well and cook for a minute.
- Add the boiled noodles; Toss and stir fry until the noodles are evenly coated with sauces and vegetables.
- Now add spring onions and vinegar (or lemon juice) and mix well.
- Serve it hot with tomato sauce or manchurian.
2. Dosa recipe
Ingredients:
3/4 cup idli-dosa rice (for 4 servings), 3/4 cup regular rice, 1/2 cup urad dal, 1/4 tsp. fenugreek seeds, water, salt, and oil or ghee.
Directions:
- Rinse and soak idli-dosa rice, regular rice, urad dal and Fenugreek Seeds for 4-5 hours.
- Grind them in a mixer grinder or blender by adding water as needed.
- Transfer it to a large container when the batter gets a smooth texture (not very thick).
- Add salt and leave the batter at room temperature for 8-10 hours or overnight for fermentation.
- After fermentation, you can prepare the dosa by pouring the batter over the surface of a hot tawa and swirling it as thin as possible.
- Apply 1-teaspoon oil (or ghee) around the edges of the dosa and also spread it evenly.
- Once the bottom surface turns light brown, flip it and cook for 30 seconds.
- Prepare a side-dish of your choice like chutney or sambar and serve it hot.
3. Upma Recipe
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. oil or ghee, 1/2 tsp. mustard, 1 tsp. urad dal, 1 tsp. chana dal, curry leaves, one sliced onion, 3 green chillies slit, 1/2 tsp. finely chopped ginger, 2 cups water, coriander leaves, (cashew and carrot, beans are optional)
Directions:
- On a low flame, dry roast the rava until it turns crispy and crunchy and keep it aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp. oil or ghee in a pan and add mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, curry leaves, onion, green chillies, ginger (you can also add cashew and carrot, beans) and sauté for a minute.
- Then add 2 cups of water and salt as needed; bring the water to a rolling boil.
- Add the roasted rava to the boiling water as you stir the mixture.
- Cook on a low flame until the water evaporates.
- Finally, add finely chopped coriander leaves and allow the upma to rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve the upma with chutney or pickle.
4. Dimer Devil Recipe
Ingredients:
4 Potatoes, 1/2 cup finely chopped onions, 1/2 tbsp. grated ginger, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 tsp. chopped green chillies, 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder, t tsp. cumin powder, 1/3 tsp. garam masala powder, salt, finely chopped coriander leaves, 1 dry red chilli, oil, 6 boiled eggs, 4 tbsp. all-purpose flour (Maida), 200 grams whole wheat bread crumbs, 2 whole eggs (whisked), 3 tbsp. corn flour, 1/2 tsp. pepper powder.
Directions:
- Pressure cook the potatoes and mash them.
- In a pan, dry roast the red chilli and cumin powder; grind them to make a fine powder.
- Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies, and turmeric powder. Fry for a few seconds and remove from heat.
- Add this mixture, cumin-red chilli powder, garam masala powder, coriander leaves and salt to the mashed potato and mix well.
- Hard boil the eggs, shell them and cut them in halves along lengthwise.
- In a bowl beat 2 eggs, and add corn flour, salt, black pepper powder and water to make a smooth batter.
- Cover each half egg with the potato mixture and shape it to a full egg.
- Now roll this fully shaped egg on the All Purpose Flour, then dip into the batter, and finally coat it with bread crumbs.
- Keep the bread crumb coated eggs in an airtight container inside the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
- Now remove the egg devils from the refrigerator and deep fry it.
- Serve with tomato sauce and chopped cucumber and onion.
5. Chole recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup chickpeas, 1-inch cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1 small bay leaf, 2 tbsp. oil, finely chopped onion, 1 green chilli slit, 1 tbsp. ginger-garlic paste, 1 cup finely chopped tomato, salt, 1 tsp. red chilli powder, 1 tbsp. chole masala, 3/4 tsp. garam masala, 1 tsp. coriander powder, 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder, 1 tsp. kasuri methi
Directions:
- Soak the chickpeas in water overnight or 8 hours and pressure cook them (for 5 to 6 whistles).
- Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf.
- When they start crackling, add ginger garlic paste, onions, green chilli, tomatoes, turmeric, and salt. Cook until the mixture turns mushy.
- Now add chole masala powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, red chilli powder and stir fry for 2 minutes.
- To this, add the pressure cooked chole and 1 cup water.
- Allow it to cook for about 15 to 20 minutes on a low flame.
- Finally, add kasuri methi (optional) and garnish the gravy with coriander leaves.
- Serve it with rice or poori.
6. Poha recipe
Ingredients:
2 cups poha, 1 finely chopped onion, 3 green chillies slit, curry leaves, 2 tbsp. oil, 3 tbsp. peanuts or cashews, 3/4 tsp. mustard, 3/4 tsp. cumin, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, salt, lemon juice, finely chopped coriander leaves.
Directions:
- Rinse the poha in water and drain the water thoroughly. Keep them aside to soften.
- Then add some salt and allow it to rest.
- Dry roast the peanuts in a pan and remove them from heat.
- In the same pan, heat the oil and add mustard and cumin seeds.
- Once they start spluttering, add onions, curry leaves, green chillies and saute it.
- Add turmeric powder followed by poha (and salt if needed) and mix the contents well.
- Switch off the flame and sprinkle some lemon juice.
- Garnish the poha with coriander leaves and roasted peanuts.
- Serve it with chutney or pickle.
7. Aloo Gobi Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup potato, 2 cups cauliflower, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 tbsp. ginger-garlic paste, 1 green chilli slit or chopped, finely chopped coriander leaves, salt, 2 tbsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder, 1 tsp. garam masala, 3/4 tsp. coriander powder, 1 tsp. red chilli powder
Directions:
- Chop cauliflower florets, soak them in hot water for 3 to 4 min. Drain the water thoroughly and keep them aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste, onions, green chillies and stir fry them.
- Add cubed potatoes and cook on a low flame until they are half done.
- Then add cauliflower and stir fry for about 3 minutes.
- Add salt and all spice powders and mix well.
- Continue to cook on a low flame until the potatoes and cauliflower are fully done.
- Finally, garnish it with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Tips and Variations:
- Adjust the quantity of the ingredients according to your family strength and eating habits of your family members.
- You can also vary the side-dishes and prepare the choice of your family members for each recipe.
- As few of the above-mentioned recipes involve a lot of ingredients, it is important to have all the items close to your hands for making the cooking process easy and convenient. If your traditional kitchen fails to offer such easy accessibility to ingredients, it’s high time you shift to the modern modular kitchen. Besides providing easy access to ingredients, the modular kitchen also offers ample space for storage, helps with easy organisation of groceries, utensils and crockeries and also makes cleaning and maintenance simple and smooth.
- Instead of sesame oil, you can also use olive oil (for selected recipes) for the best flavour.
- To better satisfy your taste buds, serve the above-mentioned recipes hot.
