Panch Phoran Scented Grilled Bengali Fish

This Bengali-style fried fish calls for a mix of five spices and is tawa grilled, giving the dish a charcoal flavour. What Dijon is to France is what Bengal is to India; both are famous for their style of mustard. The use of canola oil in place of mustard oil retains the delicate flavour of the fish.


Serving Size - 120 grams
Number of Portions - 2
Preparation Time - 15 minutes
Cooking Time - 5 minutes


Ingredients:
250 gm fish fillet (any oily fish) with skin
1½ tbsp kasundhi (bengali mustard paste)
2 tbsp chopped dill
2 tsp chopped green chillies
2 tsp roasted channa dal powder (bengal gram spilt and skinned)
4 tsp canola oil

Panch Phoran Spice Mix
2 tsp fennel seeds (methi seeds)
2 tsp nigella seeds (kalauṃji)
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera seeds)
2 tsp mustard seeds (sarason ke beej)


Instructions:
1. Cut the fillets into small pieces. Pat dry. In a separate bowl, add the kasundhi, chopped dill, green chillies and roasted channa dal powder. Mix well and apply to the fish. Set aside.
2. Separately, dry roast the panch phoran spice mix. Lightly pound the seeds till they crack open. Sprinkle it on both sides of the fish.
3. In a pan, heat canola oil and pan/tawa fry the skin side of the filet for the first two minutes. Turn the fish and cook the other side for two minutes. Serve hot.

 
Nutritional Analysis per Serving
Carbohydrates 5.5 g
Proteins 16.5 g
Fats 11.5 g
Saturated fats 0.7 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Fibre 1 g
Sodium 370 mg
Calories 192

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Healthy Salad Recipe - Italian Panzanella Salad

Panzanella is a popular Italian salad that makes great use of stale bread and tomatoes. This Tuscan recipe is dressed with vinegar and healthy fats like olive oil, lending it the tag of a healthy salad that's tasty as well. Executive Sous Chef from Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre shares his exclusive recipe for HealthMeUp.


Ingredients:

- 4 cups tomatoes (cut into large chunks)
- 4 cups crusty bread (cut into chunks the same size as the tomatoes)
- 1 cucumber (skinned and seeded, cut into large chunks)
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 bunch fresh basil (torn into little pieces)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup good olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste


Method:

1. Mix everything together, cover it and let it marinate for at least 30 min.

2. Serve at room temperature.

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Ganesh Chaturthi Special: Modak Recipe

This Ganesh Chaturti, do not slave away in the kitchen preparing those time consuming and unhealthy deep fried modaks. Try this easy to make microwave version instead. Ganpati Bappa Moriya!



Ingredients:
1 cup milk powder
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/2 can of condensed milk
1 pinch of crushed cardamom (ilaychi)


Method:
• Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl (preferably glass) and melt it.
• Once the butter is melted, add milk powder.
• Also mix in the condensed milk.
• Stir well and microwave for 3 minutes. Stop and stir after every 1 minute.
• After 3 minutes, add in the crushed cardamom
• Let the mixture cool down a bit. Once you are able to handle the heat of mixture shape them into "Modak" and garnish with almonds.

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Vegetarian Recipe: Roasted Capsicum Soup

During the rainy season, a warm cup of soup is the perfect comfort food. This healthy soup does not contain oil or butter and is made with roasted capsicums, which contain only 23 calories per cup and are loaded with fibre and antioxidants.

 Ingredients:

Red capsicums, halved and seeded-5 medium

• Yellow capsicums, halved and seeded-2 medium
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of chopped garlic
• Corn flour-1 tbsp
• Vegetable stock-5 cups
• Fresh basil leaves-5-8
• Salt-to taste
• Sugar-1/2 tsp
• Black pepper powder- 1/2 tsp

Method:

Prick the capsicums with a fork and roast them directly on the flame on low heat until lightly charred.

Plunge them into cold water, remove skin and chop them roughly.

Place onion and garlic in a non-stick pan and roast on medium heat for a minute. Add corn flour and continue to roast for another minute until lightly browned or fragrant.

Add one cup of vegetable stock, capsicums and two to three fresh basil leaves. Stir and bring to a boil.

Cover and simmer for three to four minutes.

Cool and blend to a smooth puree.

Transfer into a thick-bottomed pan, add the remaining stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add salt, sugar and black pepper powder. Simmer for two to three minutes.

Serve hot and garnished with fresh basil leaves.

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10 Fun & Festive Thanksgiving Recipes

Halloween may have just ended, but it’s time to start focusing on the most important foodie holiday of the year – Thanksgiving!

In the US, the big day is happening on November 28th and you’re no doubt in the midst of preparing your menu, making grocery lists and trying to establish a way to please even the most fickle eaters in your family. (I’ll take this moment to give thanks to my meat loving mother who had to put up with a vegan daughter from age 12 on.) I’m here to help, but didn’t want to bore you with typical turkey, mashed potato or cranberry recipes. So instead, I’ve gathered ten of my favorite unique Thanksgiving recipes from around the web this fall. No matter what might be currently missing from your delicious lineup, we hope this list inspires!

Cheery pecan cornbread, Martha Stewart

Butternut squash bread pudding, Real Simple

Cauliflower gratin, Real Simple

Cranberry-maple jelly, Martha Stewart

Green beans with bacon vinaigrette, Real Simple

Parsnip apple mash, Martha Stewart

Greens with apricots and fennel, Real Simple

Honeyed carrots and oranges, Real Simple

Stuffed pumpkin, Martha Stewart

Hatch chile corn pudding, Martha Stewart

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15 Mind Blowingly Awesome Vegan Pizza Recipes

Let’s honor the pizza, a favorite among kids and adults alike. It’s cheap and it’s fast to make. They always seem to pop up at every party, social gathering, and game night. Make a vegan version of this American  staple with your favorite toppings, without sacrificing on taste!

1. The Best Homemade Vegan Wholemeal Pizza Dough

2. Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Black Mung Bean Curry

3. Raw Vegan Pizza with Spinach, Pesto, and Marinated Vegetables

4. Whole Wheat Vegan Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Figs, and Arugula

5. Gluten-Free Veggie Pizza

6. Healthy ‘Digestive-friendly’ Quinoa Pizza Crust

7. Vegan Breakfast Pizza

8. Vegan Lahmajun – Armenian/Turkish Pizza

9. Raw Vegan Pizza with Red Pepper Flax Crust

10. Caramelized Vegan Onion Tart With Olives

11. Gluten-free Pizza Base – Your Choice of Toppings

12. White Zucchini Pizza

13. Eggplant, Pesto, and Mushroom Pizza with Tofu

14. Sweet Potato Tofu Pizza

15. Recipe: The World’s Healthiest Homemade Pizza Crust

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Perfectly Spiced Bean Dip

• Yield : 2 cups
• Prep Time : 5m
• Cook Time : 5m
• Ready In : 15m

Perfect for a weeknight dinner, party, or potluck, this easy dip takes simple beans to the next level.  It’s creamy, perfectly spiced and out of this world tasty. Naturally vegan and gluten-free, it also packs a punch of much needed fiber and healthy plant based protein. Serve it with warmed  tortillas or tortilla chips and enjoy how easy it is to throw together.

Ingredients:

• 1 can pinto beans, drained
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup pepper of choice (anaheim, pasilla, jalapeno, etc), chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon or lime juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Method:

Step 1

In a skillet saute chopped onion, garlic, and peppers in the tablespoon of oil, 4-5 minutes until softened and fragrant.

Step 2

When veggies are beginning to brown, transfer them to bowl of food processor, add beans and all remaining ingredients. Puree for 2 minutes until rich and creamy.

Step 3

Transfer dip to a small pot and keep warm on stove until ready to serve.

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Immunity-Boosting Apple Pie Tonic for Cold Season (Recipe)

This is my go-to recipe for an immunity boost at the first hint of illness. Add the ginger and garlic for an extra immunity boost, and enjoy throughout the day and evening. You can also enjoy this recipe to keep your immune system strong, even when you’re not feeling ill. Drink this first thing in the morning to get your digestion running and to alkalize your body. Disease thrives in an acidic environment, so prevent illness by keeping your body in an alkaline state. This recipe is very cleansing and alkalizing!

• 12 oz. hot filtered, spring or alkaline water
• 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (unpasteurized)
• Juice of  ½ organic lemon
• 1 serving organic liquid stevia (for diabetics or low glycemic) or high quality raw organic honey (honey recommended if you have a scratchy or sore throat)
• Cinnamon to taste. Use sticks or shake powdered cinnamon
• To make this an extra immunity boost, add 1 small knuckle diced raw ginger
• To make this an extra extra immunity boost, add 1 diced garlic clove

Combine ingredients in your favorite mug and enjoy warm to hot. Don’t burn yourself! Enjoy as often as desired and remember, prevention is the best medicine!

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Ready in 20: Delicious, Protein-Packed Dal Soup

This is a soup I love to enjoy on a cool evening, with warm bread or just on its own. It is easy to prepare, because the yellow lentil in it cooks quite quickly. Mung dal is a great source of protein, ghee lubricates your microcirculatory channels, cilantro brings in the vitamins and minerals, black pepper makes all these nutrients more easily available to your cells. Above all, the soup is redolent of nature’s goodness, and can be quite addictive.

1 cup mung dal (split yellow lentils)

4 cups water

Salt to taste

A pinch of turmeric

1 tsp ghee

½ tsp cumin seeds

Freshly chopped cilantro leaves, for sprinkling on soup

1/4 cup lemon juice (less if you don’t enjoy it less sour)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Wash the mung dal in several changes of water, until clean. Soak the dal in plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. ( The longer you soak the dal, the faster the grains cook, but I would suggest not leaving it soaked for more than a couple of hours.)

Put the dal into a heavy-bottomed pan with water, salt, and turmeric, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the dal is cooked completely. Mash it with the back of a spoon if you like, or leave it as is.

Heat the ghee in a small pan, and add cumin seeds to it. As soon as they sputter and crackle, pour the ghee into the dal soup.

Toss in the lemon juice, black pepper, and cilantro leaves.

Slurp hot!

Tip: fire things up with the addition of some cayenne powder. The cayenne heat not only adds zing but helps clear the respiratory channels.

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Apple-Almond Quinoa

Since apples are in abundance during the fall season, why not take advantage of this versatile fruit? This vegetarian quinoa dish is full of apples, cinnamon and almonds and adds a fun twist to your quinoa. It makes for a nice gluten-free breakfast cereal or for a savory side dish that goes well with a salad. Very comforting and delicious!

Apple-Almond Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

1¾ cup water

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

½ medium onion, chopped

½ cup carrots, peeled and shredded

1 Granny Smith apple or apple of choice, unpeeled and cubed

½ teaspoons cinnamon

4 tablespoons sliced almonds, lightly toasted

1 teaspoon palm sugar or your favorite sweetener

½ teaspoon sea salt

Dash of pepper

Directions:

• Rinse quinoa well and add to pot along with water. Heat to boiling and reduce to a very low simmer. Cook until liquid evaporates, about 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t stir while cooking.
• Sauté onions and carrots in pan with olive oil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. After about 5 minutes, add apples and more oil if needed. Cook until tender. Stir in cinnamon, almonds and palm sugar.
• Mix quinoa with apple mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves: 4 to 6

Cooking time: 30 minutes

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Making European-Style Butter at Home is Surprisingly Easy

Have you ever made butter from scratch? I hadn’t, at least not since we all took turns shaking a jar in elementary school, before this weekend.  And it’s delicious — really, really delicious. It’s quite unlike any butter, no matter the source or the price, that I’ve ever had. Buttered toast has never been more delicious. And trust me, you’ll want to eat it that way, because this isn’t a utilitarian kitchen staple, it’s the star of the show.

Before refrigerators were invented, butter was almost always made with fermented cream. These days, most people in North America and the U.K. are used to uncultured butter, while our continental European counterparts stick with the traditional cultured butter. And what’s so great about the latter? Well, cultured butter tends to have more depth of flavor and is just a little tangy.

Oh, and the second best part about this recipe? You’ll wind up with butter and real, fresh buttermilk! This is not the buttermilk you can buy at the store, this is the real deal. Use it in baking, in pancakes and waffles, salad dressings and more.

DIY Cultured Butter

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups heavy cream
• 1/3 Cup plain preservative and gum-free yogurt
• 4 Cups ice water
• 1/4 Teaspoon fine sea salt (optional)

Special Equipment:

• 1 Large, lidded container (like a mason jar)
• Candy Thermometer
• Fine-meshed sieve
• Cheesecloth
• Stand mixer (ideally) or food processor
• Parchment

Yield: 12 Ounces butter and 1/2 cup buttermilk.

Instructions:

1. Place cream and yogurt in a large, lidded container and shake well with the lid on. Remove lid, and cover opened jar with clean kitchen cloth. Transfer to a warm spot in your home, around 75 degrees F and let sit for 18-24 hours.

2. After at least 18 hours, stir and taste the mixture. Once it’s thick, silky, and tangy, cover with lid and transfer to the fridge to cool to about 60 degrees F.

3. Place a fine-meshed sieve in a large bowl. Line sieve with cheesecloth. Prepare 4 cups ice water and place in fridge. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on it. Cover the space between the mixer and the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent splattering. Churn butter on high. It will start off-white and the consistency of whipped cream. Over a few minutes of churning, it will thicken and turn pale yellow. When the buttermilk splatters on the plastic wrap, turn mixer off and check to see if the white buttermilk has separated from the yellow curds.

4. Remove bowl from mixer. Pour off as much of the buttermilk into the cheesecloth-lined sieve as possible, without letting the curds drop into it. Next, place the curds into the sieve and let it drain for about 1 minute. Pull the cheesecloth up and around the curds and squeeze out as much buttermilk as possible into the sieve. Reserve buttermilk for a later use.

5. Transfer butter to a large unused bowl. Pour 1/3 cup ice water over it. Using a rubber spatula, smash and fold butter to squeeze out more of the buttermilk. Pour off and discard liquid, and continue pouring ice water , kneading and discarding liquid 5 more times, using just your hands to fold towards the end. If you’re using salt, sprinkle over the butter and fold and smash to incorporate well.

6. Divide the butter roughly in half. Transfer one half of the butter to the top 1/3 of a piece of parchment, and, using your hands, form the butter into a log. Don’t worry about it looking neat. Fold the parchment over the butter and roll the butter back and forth until the log is smooth and consistent in shape.

7. You’re done! Store the butter in the parchment, using tape to secure it. Butter will keep in the fridge for about 1 month.

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5 Places to Sneak Hemp Into Your Diet

Hemp is on my list of top superfoods. Hemp is high in protein and healthy fats, and is very low in cholesterol and sodium. It is also a good source of zinc, and a very good source of magnesium. Hemp contains all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. No other single plant source has the essential amino acids in such an easily digestible form, nor has the essential fatty acids in as perfect a ratio to meet human nutritional needs. Available in concentrated protein, shelled seeds, or oil, there are unlimited ways to include hemp in your everyday diet. I consume it just about every day in one form or another. Here are my top 5 ways to eat hemp:

1. Salad

Adding raw organic hemp seeds to any salad gives it a nutritional as well as flavor boost. Try my favorite Creamy Kale Salad Recipe. Also consider switching your salad oil to hemp oil instead of whatever you’re using now.

2. Smoothies

Hemp is a prime plant based protein alternative to whey, which can acidify the body and create extra strain on your kidneys. You can use concentrated hemp protein or for a creamier smoothie use the shelled hemp seeds. Here’s my favorite smoothie recipe.

3. Breakfast

Many people start their day with a bowl of  heart healthy oatmeal. Sprinkle in a couple tablespoons of hemp seeds to up the nutritional value even more, and add a subtle nutty taste. You can also sprinkle hemp seeds in yogurt or any other breakfast cereal.

4. Dairy Substitute/Ice Cream/Milk

Did you know you can easily make your own raw hemp milk at home? Skip the cartons that have the questionable added carrageenan, and make your own by blending 2-3 tablespoons of raw organic hemp seeds with 4-8 ounces of water. The water to seeds ratio is for you to decide, based on if you prefer a thinner milk, or thicker cream (to replace that unhealthy half and half). Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and a few drops of liquid stevia and vanilla to bring the taste closer to a store bought brand. Make sure to blend the mixture on high for 45 seconds to a minute, preferably with a high speed blender, to fully blend the seeds for a smooth finish. If it’s still too lumpy for you, strain it through cheese cloth or a nut milk bag.You can try adding flax seeds (1/2-1 tablespoon) and even some soaked brown rice. A good rule of thumb to make a quart of milk is 1 cup hemp seeds to 4 parts water. Experiment and see what mixture and consistency you personally like. Store in a mason jar and make fresh every few days and shake it up before pouring. If you’re lucky enough to live in the vicinity of Omega Creamery’s limited distribution area like I am, you can enjoy  not only their hemp milk but also their low glycemic vegan superfood ice cream!

5. Pesto

That’s right! You can make a superfood vegan pesto with hemp seeds! Here’s the recipe. I add this to gluten free pasta, use it as a pizza base instead of tomato sauce, or spread it on flax crackers.

Adding more hemp to your diet will not only improve your health, but can help create more demand for this sustainable crop which requires no fertilizers or pesticides, and help the call for (re)legalization. The hemp plant (Cannabis sativa) is one of the earliest known cultivated crops, and it has many uses including textiles, fiber, wood, plastic and fuel alternatives. And no, it won’t get you high or make you test positive for drugs, but it will make you and our precious planet a whole lot healthier.

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