Fruit salad

Thanks giving is round the corner! All you peeps must be getting ready to have friends and family over to celebrate!

So here is an easy dessert that will be a crowd pleaser. The only work is chopping the fruits, but you must be having a lot of manpower in the household. So put them to use..!

A very easy make ahead dish and that will make you a rock star in any party!

Get Ready

• 1, 8 oz tub Cool whip lite
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 mangoes diced small
• 1/2 cup grapes cut in half
• 1 small tub blueberries
• 1 pear peeled and diced ( soak them in water mixed with lemon juice so they don't brown)
• 3 cups strawberries hulled and chopped
• chopped nuts like walnuts, almonds ( optional)

any other fruits that you have in hand  like oranges, apples, cantaloupe, pineapple and bananas

Go

• In a bowl add the cool whip, sour cream, sugar. Whip till the sugar is well incorporated
• Add the chopped fruits, toss them well

• Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate.
• Add bananas, apple etc at the end before serving so they don't change color.
• Serve chilled as a dessert.

Also check out my cranberry orange bread and Cranberry Salsa

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aloo Methi / Potato and Fenugreek greens curry

Fenugreek greens or mendhiya keerai  is widely used in the Indian cuisine. The seeds, green leaves and dries leaves are used in cooking. It has a distinctive sweet smell and the seeds are pretty bitter.

It is thought to have a lot of medicinal value to improve glucose tolerance in diabetics. Did you know it can increase milk production in nursing mothers too!

Aloo methi is a very simple dry curry/ subzi which is easy to put together. I used half a bunch that I got from the Indian store.

Get ready

• Potatoes 4-5 peeled and cubed medium
• Water enough to cook the potatoes
• Methi leaves  ( washed, picked and chopped ) 1 cup
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 red chilli
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds / kadugu
• 1/2 tsp urad dal/ ulutham paruppu
• 1/8 tsp asafetida or 3 squirts from the bottle
• 1/2 tsp red  chilli powder ( increase as per taste)
• 1/2 tsp pav bhaji masala or amchur  powder ( optional)
• Salt to taste

Go

• In a pan add the potatoes, cover with enough water . Add a pinch of salt and the turmeric powder and cook till they are soft, but not mushy. You can microwave them with water too. Drain water and set aside

• In another pan, add oil and add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chilli, asafetida and do the tempering.

• Add the methi leaves and sauté them till the wilt.

• Add the cooked potatoes, red chilli powder, salt, red chilli powder, pav bhaji masala and toss.

• On medium to low heat, cover the pan and cook tossing in between to roast the potatoes.
• To get some crispness, spray some cooking oil on the potatoes.
• Cook on low fire till potatoes are golden and crispy.
• Serve hot with rice, chapathi or top it over bread toast.

Dal Paalak / Lentils & Spinach Curry

Fall is in the air and it means the season for families to be together and have fun and of course more food.
Endless pumpkin recipes, candies and desserts begin to show up everywhere in the blog world.
But here I present a very humble dish, which most people already know.

A very simple and easy lentil curry for chapathi/ rice. My little girl who would normally have nothing to do with spinach ate this curry. I mixed with some steaming rice and ghee and ate with out a peep!

Victory dance for me....!

The lentils in the dish absorb a lot of water over time. So if the dish is a tad runny, it will thicken once cooled. same way you can add some hot water to dilute it if too thick.

Get Set

• 1/3 cup  red lentils/ masoor dal ( can use toor dal or yellow moong dal)
• 3 cups of chopped spinach
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 small tomato chopped
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1&1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 small jalapeno ( optional) ( i used a red chilli as i did not have jalapeno)
• 1-2 tsp lemon juice ( optional)

Go

• Pressure cook the lentils with water just enough to cover them for 2-3 whistles and set aside. If cooking on stove top,wash and soak them in water for 30 mins, before cooking. this fastens the cooking process.

• In a pan add oil, when hot add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle.

• Add the chopped onions, jalapeno and saute till they are slightly browned over medium heat.

•  add the tomatoes, ginger, red chilli powder and cook till the tomatoes are mushy.

•  add the chopped spinach, turmeric powder and saute till the spinach wilts.

• Mash the cooked lentils and add it to the spinach mixture.

• Add the water little by little till you get the desired consistency.

• Add salt, cover and simmer for 5 mins.

• Uncover, add garam masala powder and cook for 2-3 mins on low heat.