Green Tea Lemonade (VIRGIN)

After Diwali, the major Hindu festive season is almost completed in India. From namkeen snacks to plates full of mithais, everything have indulged by us during that time. Hence the festive season results in the gaining weight. Also after this period, there is always a seasonal change and our body really needs to detoxify in order to be able to handle all those changes and back to normal track. Keeping all these things in mind, the 170th theme of Foodie Monday Blog Hop team has decided as 'Detox Recipes'. So I have shared a detox beverage, Green Tea Lemonade as my contribution.

There are many foods which helps us to detoxify our body. Some are water, lemon, honey, spinach, tomato, green tea, cucumber, turmeric and many more. I have used green tea and lemon for the beverage. Lemons can naturally cure 
everything related to our digestive system which may start from bloating to indigestion. So a post-festive detox must have a good dose of lemons. And the green tea has a number of health benefits which include detoxifying our body and preventing bloating too. The high amount of antioxidants puts green tea on most detox lists. These antioxidants seek out and kill free radicals (known to have a hand in ageing and other diseases) before they can do any damage. So instead of making a hot beverage using the green tea, here I have come up with a cold one as Green Tea Lemonade.

The brewing part of the tea has to be finished first followed by the lemonade part. This lemonade is naturally sweetened with honey. Any other sweetener can be opted if desire. If you are not at all a fond of green tea, then I can assure you that this will be your most favorite beverage after having a sip. This tea infused lemonade is very light and refreshing and is perfect for sipping throughout the day. In any party beverage list, this green tea lemonade surely make its place to love by all.

So do try this detoxifying Green Tea Lemonade (VIRGIN). If you tried my recipe and enjoyed fully, then please share some pictures of your creation with me. Also kindly give your valuable feedback either in the comment box below or tag me as #firsttimercook on Instagram. You may also follow me on Facebook,  Pinterest,  Twitter,  Google+,  Instagram and can subscribe for free to get new recipes directly into your inbox 😊

Preparation Time : 10 mins  |  Cooking Time : 5 mins 

Ingredients :        

Ingredients	Measurements
Green tea bag	2 no
Lemon	3-4 no
Cold water	2 cup
Water	1 & ¼ cup
Honey	As needed
Ice cube	few

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Method :

1. In a saucepan, first boil 1 cup of water. 
2. Turn off heat and add the tea bags.
3. Allow to steep for 3-4 minutes.
4. Take out the teabags and add the fresh lemon juices by squeezing the lemons.
5. Pour 2 cup of cold water, honey and give a nice stir.
6. Now take the serving glass.
7. Put some lemon slices and ice cubes.
8. Next pour the green tea lemonade and serve immediately !

Notes :

• If desire, then some lemon zest can be added along with lemon juice to increase the tartness in lemonade.
• Honey here I have used, any other sweetener can be taken also.

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Thukpa (Vegan Version)

A soup is a flavorful and nutritious liquid food served at the first of several courses which is intended just to whet the appetite. This may be one of many dishes served at the same time or a hearty meal served in a bowl. Soups have been made since ancient times. There are basically two categories of soup based upon the texture of the soup as Thin Soup (ex: clear soup) & Thick Soup (ex: creamy soup), which are further classified into various categories. A clear soup is served crystal clear and the thick creamy soup has a smooth velvety finish. Beside any varieties, soups are always easy one pot meal which are perfectly fit for dinner or lunch or even snack. Some soup recipes from my space are

• Carrot Turmeric Soup (Vegan & Gluten-free)

• Vegan Wonton Soup 

• Coriander Lemon Soup

• Tender Green Pea Stew (Vegan & Gluten free) 
• Roasted Chickpea Soup (Vegan & Gluten free)

Well, Thukpa is such a soup where the main ingredient is the noodle. So this is basically a noodle soup from Tibetan cuisine. These days, the thukpa seems to be hugely popular in North-East region of Indian subcontinent. This soup contains both vegetables / non-vegetables and rice / whole wheat noodles in it. The vegetables used in the preparation are the most common ones such as cabbage, carrot, mushroom, onion etc where as the non-vegetarians mainly consists of either meat or chicken. While making a soup, we usually boil everything in one pot, but in case of thukpa the noodles have to be cooked before hand and added to the soup just at the end. Here I have come up with the vegetarian version using vegetable broth, but some shredded or chopped meat or non-vegetarian broth can also be added to this. This version of thukpa is so simple, easy to make and a comfort bowl packed with vegetables. 

So do try this noodle soup from Tibetan cuisine, THUKPA. If you tried my recipe and enjoyed fully, then please share some pictures of your creation with me. Also give your valuable feedback either in the comment box below or tag me as #firsttimercook on Instagram. You may also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and can subscribe for free to get new recipes directly into your inbox 😊

Preparation Time : 15 mins   |   Cooking Time : 25 mins 

Ingredients :        

Ingredients	Measurements
Noodle	2 cup
Carrot (thin stripe)	1/3rd cup
Cabbage (thin stripe)	½ cup
Mushroom (thin stripe)	½ cup
Tomato (finely chopped) (medium)	1 no
Onion (thin slice)	1 no
Garlic (finely chopped)	1 tsp
Soy sauce	1-2 tbsp
Pepper powder	¼ tsp
Vegetable broth / stock	3 cup
Spring onion (finely chopped)	Few
Oil	2 tsp
Salt	As needed
Water	As needed

Method :

1. First in a deep pan, boil sufficient water and add in salt.
2. Next put the noodles and cook till AL-Dante.
3. Drain all the water, mix the cooked noodles with little oil. Keep aside.
4. Now heat oil in a pan.
5. Add finely chopped garlic, onion slices and saute till onion turns translucent.
6. Then add chopped tomatoes, carrot stripes, cabbage stripes, mushroom stripes and saute for some minutes till tomatoes as well as other vegetables are soft.
7. Next add soy sauce, pepper powder, salt and vegetable broth / stock.
8. Mix everything well and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
9. Now add cooked noodles, mix well and again simmer for 2-3 minutes.
10. Turn off heat.
11. Pour into serving bowl, sprinkle some chopped green onions & serve hot !

Notes :

• Baby spinach leaves can be added.
• Vegetable broth / stock can be replaced with normal water.

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This 'Thukpa (Vegan Version)' is contributed for 56th Healthy Wellthy Cuisines where the theme is 'Soupy Tales at HW'.

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Rasabali

Wish you all a very happy Diwali !!!

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights which is celebrated every year in the months between mid-October to mid-November in Indian subcontinent. Diwali is also known as Deepavali and its spirituality signifies 'the victory of the light over the darkness', 'good over the evil'.The celebration of this festival mainly includes millions of lights in the form of lamps, candles, diyas  inside the respective homes and at outdoors also. Although the preparations and rituals of this festival extend up to five days starting from Dhanteras to Bhai dooj, but the main festival of Diwali is celebrated in the night of 3rd day and this coincides with the new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month also. 

Since today we odias celebrate Diwali, so I thought to share an authentic sweet dessert from the Odia cuisine as 'Rasabali'. The top most famous sweets from Odia cuisine means either Chhena Poda or Rasabali. I have already shared in my blog the recipe of Cheena Poda, the favorite sweet of Lord Jagannath. So today I have come up with his brother Lord Baladeba Jew's favorite sweet, Rasabali which is offered as the evening snack. The Baladeba Jew temple is situated in Kendrapada district of Odisha (Tulasi Kshetra) and hence the dish is famous from that district and often named as 'Kendrapada Rasabali'.

The preparation method includes some easily available ingredients in our pantry. First some fresh and soft chhena (I have used homemade chhena) are kneaded along with little amount of flour to get a smooth texture dough. The flour acts as a binder and prevents the chhena from disintegrating while deep frying. That dough is then divided into equal small balls which are then flattened as patties, keeping in mind that there should not be any cracks. These chhena patties are deep fried and soaked in a cardamom flavored thickened milk. Few strands of saffron and some chopped dry fruits can also be added to the flavored milk, but traditionally only cardamom is added to enhance the flavor. This sweet dish is also one of the chappan bhogs (56 types of Prasad) which is offered to Lord Jagannath, Puri.

So do try this divine sweet treat, Rasabali from Odia cuisine. If you tried my recipe and enjoyed fully, then please share some pictures of your creation with me. Also kindly give your valuable feedback either in the comment box below or tag me as #firsttimercook on Instagram. You may also follow me on Facebook,  Pinterest,  Twitter,  Google+,  Instagram and can subscribe for free to get new recipes directly into your inbox 😊

Preparation Time : 15 mins  |  Cooking Time : 40 mins 

Ingredients :        

Ingredients	Measurements
Chhena	1 cup
All purpose flour	1 tsp
Milk	1 Lt
Sugar	3 tbsp
Powdered sugar	1 tbsp
Cardamom powder	½ tsp
Cardamom pod	2-3 no
Oil	For deep frying

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Method :

1. First take the milk into a heavy bottomed pan and start boiling it, stirring in between.
2. Meanwhile in a mixing bowl take chhena, all purpose flour, cardamom powder, powdered sugar and start kneading to get a smooth and soft texture dough.
3. Divide the dough into equal ball shapes and then flatten each one without any crack to give a patty or tikki look.
4. Keep aside and heat oil in a deep pan. 
5. By the time,the milk must be reduced to 3/4th quantity.
6. Add freshly crushed cardamom pods and sugar.
7. Mix well and boil for 2-3 minutes more.
8. Turn off heat.
9. Next deep fry each flatten patty till golden brown.
10. Take out the rasabali patties from the oil and gently drop into the hot / warm milk.
11. Keep aside till the rasabalis soak the milk.
12. Serve these soft and melt in mouth dessert : RASABALI either cold or warm !

Notes :

• Do not over fry the flatten chhena patties, otherwise these'll become hard.
• I don't prefer to add any dry fruits here in the dish like the authentic version. But if desire, some chopped dry fruits can be added.

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Masala Maggie Tart

Monday... Monday... Monday !!!!!!

Well as I have in a group called Foodie Monday Blog Hop where each Monday we, the group members fix a theme and as per theme We make a fresh post. This time, the 169th theme is decided as 'The Beginner Recipe'. That means we have to recreate the first ever made recipe of our life. So here is the first ever made dish by myself as Masala Maggie, but here I as a creative foodie, have made a Masala Maggie Tart.

From the childhood, I always concentrate upon my studies. Even my parents also don't force me to focus on any other things. One day, my parents had gone for shopping and they were late on that day. And that was the evening time, myself and my younger brother were hungry at home as we were expected to eat what baba and maa'll bring while returning from market. After waiting for some time, my brother asked me "why don't you prepare some dish now ?"  OMG !!! What to say that naughty boy, I simply came from that room and went straight to the kitchen. 

After looking here and there in that room, I finally ended up to try my hand for the first time as  Maggie. Because I can easily follow the instructions and prepare the dish. After reading the dish, I came to know that its a simple one, not that one made by maa which is loaded with veggies. So I then picked some vegetables like tomato, peas from refrigerator (by recalling what maa used to put into the maggi :P). Somehow then I managed to prepare the dish in my own way and also following the written instructions in the packet of the maggi. Without wasting any time, I rushed near to my brother and represented him the plate full of masala maggi. First of all he couldn't imagine that I had prepared that ;) and then he thoroughly enjoyed that. From that day onward, I am his Maggi Chef till now :P

Coming back to today's dish, the dish is much similar to my 1st made dish, Masala Maggi. But I have represented the masala maggi in a tart. Some tarts are first prepared using oil, flour and water. I haven't prefer butter here. Then the step is to prepare the masala maggi. Everything is ready on hand by now. So just fill the tart with masala maggi, top with some grated cheese and bake till cheese melts. And that's it !!! Before serving hot, some chili flakes can be sprinkled on top. If preferring to serve the kids, these chili flakes can be avoided. Since my beginner dish is masala maggi, So I used that for the filling. Any other flavored maggi can be opted here as filling. 

So do try this Masala Maggi Tart. If you tried my recipe and enjoyed fully, then please share some pictures of your creation with me. Also kindly give your valuable feedback either in the comment box below or tag me as #firsttimercook on Instagram. You may also follow me on Facebook,  Pinterest,  Twitter,  Google+,  Instagram and can subscribe for free to get new recipes directly into your inbox 😊

Preparation Time : 30 mins  |  Cooking Time : 45 mins 

Ingredients :        

Ingredients	Measurements
Maggi (single serving)	2 packet
Carrot (finely chopped)	2 tbsp
Tomato	1 no
Green pea	2 tbsp
All purpose flour	1 cup
Oil	3 tbsp
Water	As needed
Salt	As needed
Mozzarella cheese (grated)	As needed

​
Method :

1. In a mixing bowl first combine the flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp oil using fingertips to get a breadcrumb texture.
2. Add water little by little and knead to make a dough shape.
3. Cover the mixing bowl and keep in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
4. After 15-20 minutes, knead the dough again and make equal 2-3 portions.
5. Dust the work surface with flour and roll one dough portion into about 1/4 inch height.
6. Take out the rolled dough gently and put it in the tart mold.
7. Press gently with fingers so that the dough evenly covers the mold without stretching too much.
8. Next prick the bottom of the tart with a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 deg C or till the crust appears slight golden.
9. Take out the tart from the mold and keep aside.
10. Similarly make tarts from rest of the dough portions.
11. Now heat oil in a pan.
12. Add in chopped tomatoes and saute till mushy.
13. Then add green peas and finely chopped carrots and saute well.
14. Add the taste-makers which are inside the maggi packet and salt.
15. Mix well and add 2 tbsp of water.
16. Cover and cook the veggies till 90 % done.
17. Next add 2 cup of water and allow to boil.
18. Then roughly break the maggi and then add to the pan.
19. Allow to cook till all the water evaporates over low-medium heat.
20. Turn off heat.
21. Now fill with maggi masala in each tart.
22. Grate mozzarella cheese on top of the maggi masala and bake the filled tart till the cheese melt.
23. Sprinkle some chili flakes and serve hot !

Notes :

• The filling here is maggi masala. Any other preparation of maggi can be used instead too.

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