Veggie Classic Tacos

 

Taco is a traditional Mexican dish. Tacos can be made in different styles with different variety of fillings. This can be served at any time. You can prepare tacos with soft tortillas or hard Taco shells (corn/wheat).

In this Taco recipe I have filled each Taco shells with Bell pepper filling, Black bean filling, Guacamole, Yellow corn kernels filling, Tomato salad, Tomato salsa, Lettuce, Sour cream and cheese. Here is the procedure to make Veggie Tacos and its fillings. All the below mentioned ingredients are for making approximately 10 Tacos.

 

Bell Pepper filling Ingredients:

• 2 medium size green or mixed color Bell Pepper/Capsicums
• ½ Onion sliced them length wise
• 1 tbsp. store brought Taco seasoning
• ½ tbsp. Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Procedure for making Bell Pepper/Capsicum filling:

• Cut Bell peppers and onion Length wise.
• Heat the skillet and add oil, once oil gets warm then sauté onion and capsicum.
• Once capsicum cooks 75% then add Taco seasoning and salt; mix it well and cook it for a while.
• Once everything is 90% cooked then transfer it into a bowl.

Black Beans filling Ingredients:

• 2 cups Black beans
• 1 tbsp. Taco seasoning
• ½ tbsp. Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Procedure for making Black Been filling:

• Wash and sock Black beans at least 5 hours.
• Boil these beans with little water in a pressure cooker till 4-5 pressures.
• Heat the skillet and add oil, once oil gets warm then add boiled beans (no need to drain the leftover boiled water from the boiled beans you can add that water also).
• Add salt and Taco seasoning and cook it until the water evaporates completely.
• Once done transfer it in a separate bowl.

Guacamole Ingredients:

• 3 medium size ripe Avocados
• ¼ bunch fresh Coriander/Cilantro leaves
• 2 green chilies (Depending on your taste)
• Salt to taste
• ½ tbsp. Lemon juice

Procedure for making Guacamole:

• Cut the Avocados Length wise and discard the big seed.
• Now scoop the pulp with the spoon.
• Grind the Avocados pulp, green Chilies, Coriander/Cilantro leaves, salt and Lemon juice.
• Take this Guacamole into a separate bowl.

Yellow Corn Kernel filling Ingredients:

• 1 cup Frozen corn kernels/Fresh corn kernels
• 2 tbsps. Chopped onions
• ¼ tbsp. Taco seasoning
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp. finely chopped Coriander/Cilantro leaves

Procedure for making Yellow Corn filling:

• Heat the skillet and put 1 tsp. oil.
• First sauté chopped onions then add Yellow Corn kernels; and sauté both of them for a while.
• Then add Taco seasoning, coriander/cilantro leaves and salt; mix it well.
• Once done transfer this filling in a separate bowl.

Tomato salad filling Ingredients:

• 2 medium size tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. fresh chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
• ¼ tsp. Black pepper powder or green chili paste
• Salt to taste

Procedure for making Tomato Salad filling:

• Dice tomatoes and keep it aside.
• Mix diced tomatoes, chopped coriander leaves, salt, and Black pepper powder/green chili paste in a bowl.

Other Taco Ingredients:

• 10 hard Taco shells
• 1 cup Ice burg Lettuce leaves
• ½ cup Mozzarella cheese or Taco cheese
• ¼ cup tomato salsa (optional)
• Sour cream (optional)

Taco assembling procedure:

• Dice ice burg lettuce and keep it side.
• Heat the hard Tacos in a microwave up to 45 seconds.
• Fill each taco with 1 tbsp. of Black bean filling, ½ tbsp. of Guacamole filling, ½ tbsp. of Bell Pepper filling, ½ tbsp. Tomato salad, ½ tbsp. of Yellow corn Kernel filling, ½ tbsp. of Tomato salsa, and ½ tsp. of sour cream, few Lettuce leaves and spread 1 tbsp. of mozzarella/Taco cheese on top of the filling.
• Now enjoy your favorite home made Veggie classic Taco.  It is very tasty and kids love this one.

Note: You can fill the Tacos depending on your choice.

Please forward your suggestions and comments.

Gongura Pachadi

 

Gongura(Roselle) is an edible plant grown in India. These leaves are sour and tangy in taste. Now days Gongura leaves are available many parts of the world as well. These leaves are cherished in Andhra cuisines more than any of other green leafy vegetables. Gongura leaves are used for preparing pappu, pachadi and other vegetarian and non-vegetarian Andrapradesh State dishes. Gongura pachadi is one of the favorite dishes for my family.

 

Note: Sometimes Gongura leaves don’t taste tangy; in that case we can add 1 tbsp. tamarind paste at the time of grinding the Gongura Pachadi.

Also please don’t add Chana Dal or Urad Dal in this recipe, because you won’t feel the taste of Gongura.

 

Gongura Leaves

Ingredients:

• 1 big bunch of Gongura leaves
• 1 tbsp. Coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp. sesame seeds
• ½ tbsp. fenugreek seeds
• 8-10 red dry chilies
• Half onion (Optional)
• 2 tbsp. oil
• Salt to taste

Tempering/Tadaka ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• One pinch Hing
• One red dry chilly

Preparation:

• Separate leaves from the stalk and wash them in water and leave them out to dry.
• Dice onion and keep it aside.
• Take a skillet and dry roast the coriander seeds, sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds and red chilies till light brown color (Please don’t add any oil while roasting them). Before switching off the flame add ½ tsp. of oil and take them in a bowl and let it cool down.
• Heat 2 tbsp. of oil in the skillet. Add the leaves and sauté them until soft. After that switch of the flame and let it cool down.
• Grind already roasted coriander seeds, sesame seeds, fenugreek seeds, salt and red chilies till coarse.
• Then add sautéed Gongura leaves to the ground mix and grind it well until everything is well mixed.
• Now add diced onions to the above ground mix. This time don’t grind it at high speed just press the pulse button once. (Adding onions is an optional procedure)
• Now heat the skillet and prepare the tempering with oil, mustard seeds, Hing and red chilly; fry it well and then add ground Gongura pachadi and sauté it for a while until the raw smell of Gongura leaves goes off.
• Now you can eat this pachadi with hot rice and ghee.
• This pachadi can be stored in refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.

Cucumber with sesame dressing

 

It sounds different but the taste is amazing. My mom makes this dish whenever the cucumber is available. This dish is very easy to make and preparation is like a Salad, but perfect combination with hot Rice, Chapathi or can be served as a side dish as well.

Ingredients

• 1 big size Cucumber
• 2 tbsp. Sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp. fresh coconut/Dry coconut
• 2 green chilies
• 1 tsp. store brought tamarind paste or 1 tbsp. tamarind pulp.
• Small piece of Jaggery
• Salt to taste
• 2 pinch of turmeric powder

Tempering/seasoning Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• Few curry leaves
• 1 pinch of Hing/Asafetida
• 1 tsp. cooking oil

Procedure:

• Scrap the Cucumber skin and dice them in to small pieces and keep it in a bowl.
• First grind the Sesame seeds then add coconut, green chilies and grind them well.
• Then add turmeric powder, salt, tamarind pulp and jaggery and blend it well.
• Now mix this sesame dressing and chopped cucumber pieces in a serving bowl.
• Now prepare the tempering using the tempering ingredients and pour this tempering on top of the Cucumber and Sesame dressing.

Bisi Bele Bath

 

“Bisi Bele Bath” is Karnataka state’s authentic dish. It is a complete meal made of rice, dal and vegetables. This delicious “Bisi Bele Bath” is best choice to feed kids, because it has all nutritional values. In this recipe I have used homemade “Bisi Bele Bath” masala powder.

 

Bisi Bela Bath Masala powder Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. Urad dal
• 1 tbsp. chana dal
• 5 tbsp. Coriander seeds
• ¼ tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• 2 tsp. dry coconut powder
• 1/2” cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 1 Star anise (flower type masala spice) (Optional)
• 8 red chilies

Preparation of Bisi Bele bath masala powder:

Dry roast all above mentioned masala ingredients separately then ground like a coarse powder once they are cooled down. You can prepare this powder well in advance and store this powder in an air tight container.

Bisi Bele Bath Ingredients:

• 2 cups raw rice
• 1 and 1/4th cup Toor dal (uncooked)
• 1 big carrot
• 2 potatoes
• 1 medium size capsicum
• Few florists of cauliflower
• Few beans
• Few frozen Lima beans or peas
• 3 tomatoes
• 1/2 tbsp. Thick tamarind paste
• ½ tbsp. Turmeric powder
• 2 small Bay leaves
• 3 tbsp. of prepared Bisi bele bath masala powder
• Salt to taste

Tempering/Tadaka Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. of ghee/cooking oil
• 1 tsp. Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. Cumin seeds
• Few broken cashew nuts
• Few curry leaves
• 1 pinch Asafoetida
• 1 big red chilly

Bisi Bele Bath Preparation:

• Dice all vegetables like small pieces and keep it aside.
• Cook the Toor dal with required amount of water in a pressure cooker and mash it like a paste.
• Cook rice separately with required amount of water and slightly mash it once cooked rice is cooled down.
• Boil all diced vegetables with required amount of water, salt and turmeric powder in a large saucepan.
• Once the vegetables are well cooked then add cooked and mashed Toor dal, tamarind paste, Bay Leaves and 1 cup of water; keep it for boiling. (At this stage it will look like a thick Sambar)
• Then slowly add lightly mashed cooked rice and Bisi bele bath masala powder, salt and mix it thoroughly.
• Add ½ cup of water and cook it for a while at slow heat. Make sure that all vegetables and rice are properly mashed like shown in the picture. Add little bit more Bisi Bele bath masala powder if required and mix it well.

• In a separate pan prepare Tadaka/ temper with all tempering ingredients and pour immediately on the cooked Bisi Bele Bath.
• You can serve this delicious Bisi Bele bath with Papad or Potato chips.

Tomato pickle

 

Usually “Tomato pickle” is made with fresh tomatoes in Tomato season. My mom usually makes with large amount of sundried tomatoes. It will stay at least 4-6 months. Making Tomato pickle using sundried tomatoes is a little big process and it is a time consuming process as well. My version of Tomato pickle is very simple and easy to make. I use canned Peeled Crushed Tomatoes instead of sundried Tomatoes. But we need to refrigerate the Tomato Pickle after preparing it. We can serve this spicy pickle with hot rice, Aaloo Paratha, Idly, Upma and Dosa.

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 Can Peeled Crushed Tomatoes
• 8-10 tbsp. Red chili powder

(For better results use Pickle Red chili powder)

• Salt to taste
• ½ tbsp. store brought Tamarind paste
• 2 tsp. Mustard seeds
• 2 tsp. Fenugreek seeds
• ¼ cup Cooking oil
• Seasoning/Tempering Ingredients/Thadaka:
• 1 tbsp. cooking oil
• 1 tsp. Mustard seeds
• 2 tsp. Bengal Gram/Chana Dal
• 8 Garlic cloves
• 1 big red Chili
• 1 tsp. Hing/Asafoetida
• Few curry leaves

Preparation:

• First we have to prepare “mustard & fenugreek powder” by dry roasting both fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and ground it once the seeds are completely cools down.
• Heat the wide and shallow skillet and add oil.
• Wait until oil gets warm and then pour crushed tomato pulp in the skillet then stir it once in a while and cook it in a medium heat until the pulp becomes thick and oil separates. This process will take at least 20-30 minutes.(Please view the below picture)

• Towards the end of the process, reduce the heat and add Tamarind pulp and mix it well and cook it for 2-5 minutes and switch off the heat.
• Now add red chili powder, salt and previously prepared Mustard & Fenugreek powder.
• For tempering, heat the small pan, add oil and all other seasoning ingredients one at a time and fry it well.
• Add this fried seasoning to the above prepared tomato paste and combine it well. Now taste it and adjust the salt and chili powder as per your taste buds.
• Once the Tomato pickle completely cools down then transfer into an airtight glass container and store the container in a refrigerator.

Tomato Pickle using sun dried Tomatoes and here are the steps for preparing it:

• Cleanly wash all fresh tomatoes and wipe the water with a dry towel.
• Dice all tomatoes and keep it in a container.
• Now sprinkle 2 tbsp. of salt and leave it for 2 hours for marinating.
• Separate the pulp and pieces by lightly squeezing the marinated tomato pieces.
• Dry these tomato pieces for one day in a bright Sun light outdoor. You can also put the pulp outside under the sun light as well.
• Now follow the above mentioned steps for preparing the Tomato pickle using the Sundried Tomatoes. We just need to substitute Sundried tomatoes instead of canned crushed tomatoes in the above procedure. In this procedure you just need to adjust the amount of salt because we have added salt while marinating the tomatoes.

Whole Green Moong/Pesalu & Rice Rava Upma

 

This is different kind of Upma not made with regular Sooji. This Upma is very healthy and tasty and it can be served as a breakfast or at a dinner time. I learnt this Upma from my mom. She usually makes this Upma on fasting days. I usually prepare the Whole Green Moong & Rice Rava well ahead and store it in an air tight container.

 

Procedure for preparing the Whole Green Moong/Pesalu & Rice Rava:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Green Moong/Pesalu
• 4 cups Raw rice (Sona Masoori or Basmathi rice)

Procedure:

• Soak the rice at least 2 hrs..
• Then wash and drain the water completely from rice.
• Now dry this wet rice under the Sun light and make sure the rice is completely dried out and doesn’t have any moisture.
• Coarsely grind the dry rice and Whole Green Moong Dal using the blender.
• Now sieve the Rava and store in an air tight container.

Procedure for making Upma

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Green Moong/Pesalu& Rice Rava
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp. cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp. Grated fresh coconut

Seasoning ingredients:

• 2 tbsps. Cooking Oil
• 1 tsp. Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. Cumin seeds/Jeera
• 1tbsp. Urad dal
• 1 tbsp. Yellow Moong dal
• 2 green chilies
• 1 tbsp. grated ginger.
• Few curry leaves
• 1 pinch Hing.

Preparation:

• Heat the wide pressure pan/cooker or non-stick cooking pot then add oil. (I usually make this in a pressure pan/cooker)
• Now gradually add one by one all seasoning ingredients in oil.
• Once everything is well fried then add water in the pan.
• Heat the water until boiled and then add salt and mix it well.
• Now reduce the heat and then slowly add Whole Green Moong/Pesalu & Rice Rava mix and stir it continuously for a while.
• Sprinkle Grated fresh coconut and 1 tbsp. of oil on top of it; cover it with a pressure cooker lid and put a pressure.
• At this time increase the heat to medium.
• Let it cook until 2 pressures and then switch off the heat.
• Once the cooker completely cools down then remove the pressure cooker lid and stir the Upma nicely.
• Now serve the Upma with any pickle or plain yogurt.